Chasing Fate (Sentinel & Guide)

Chapter 61

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Jack was so absorbed in concentrating on Fate that he didn't even notice Elliot escorting his father into the room. He sat up with a subvocal growl before he realized who it was, warning intruders to back off. 

Sigfried was startled, but kept his calm. He'd never seen his son in such a state. He'd never seen a guide in such a state. It was a right mess. In order to protect his son he'd taken over liasing with Anton about the case. There had been some more breakthroughs, more bodies located.  But with Fate in a coma with no prognosis on recovery, the last thing he needed to be worried about was everything going on outside of the hospital. This is what clan was for. They made sure everything was still running while Jack tended to his hurt guide. 

Martha was beside herself of course, too emotional to even set foot near the hospital lest her projections upset everyone. Neha kept her updated and they spent quite a bit of time looking into options that could cure guide-sickness. Meanwhile Elliot and the rest of the sentinels smoothly took over most of Jack's duties. 

Yet it wasn't easy to keep the public in the dark. After Jack had a few missed events, someone had leaked Fate's condition. The tabloids of course exploded, bringing up the bonding under duress and speculating on a tense home life where Jack was driving Fate to the brink. It burned him to see his son's angry fighting face on the front page of websites and cover of tabloids calling him a guide abuser.  

But it didn't rattle Jack. It wouldn't matter if the world burned. He wouldn't care either way. His entire focus was on Fate and nothing else, as if sheer force of his will would snap her out of it. 

Sigfried sighed and gripped the plastic-film wrapped and near impenetrable package in his hand. The other sentinels were helping as much as they could, but some things couldn't be ignored. It was a hunch, but Sig figured that the key to getting Fate back wasn't wallowing in grief. So he'd thrown his weight around to expedite a few things. 

"Jack," he held out the box, "I'll keep watch for the night. Go home, get some rest, get some clothes and food,  and read this." 

Jack did not hesitate to shake his head, silently turning back to focus on Fate, "I can't leave her. Not when I don't even know what's going on." 

Sigfried let out another sigh. He slowly walked into the room and pulled up the plastic chair on the far side of Fate's bed. He placed the box on the meal tray that stretched over the side of the bed, flippign it over so that Jack could reach it. His son didn't move. 

They sat in silence, the only sound the gentle whirring of the IV delivering fluids. After a few minutes, Sigfried sat forward. 

"I thought I'd seen everything there was to see," the wizened man started. Jack took a look at his father, a good look, and was surprised to see the man more tired and exhausted than he'd ever seen him before. There were grey circles beneath his eyes and his beard had grown even greyer than before. His posture was hunched and the skin around his eyes and neck didn't cling as tightly as before.. He looked...Old. 

Jack hadn't really processed it until now, how old and tired his dad was. How soon he'd have to really take the mantle. But how could he? How could he even try to support a clan if he wasn't even able to support one guide? 

"Oh, don't start stewing like that," Sigfried slapped his knee to snap him out of it, "I don't have to be a guide to know you're blaming yourself for all of this." 

"Dad I-"

"No, there was nothing you could have done with the information you had. And Fate, she put up a good front but she was overwhelmed with more than just moving over here. It's not your fault, and it's not her fault either.

"I'm not sure whose fault it is. Maybe the paps? Maybe that rogue sentinel that charged her first. Maybe the whole damn system that put you two in this position. Maybe me, for not giving you enough guidance."

Sigfried tapped the file, "I can't tell you what's in this file. In all my years dealing with the NOGS, I've never had a situtation like this. There's something big in there that they didn't want out. They won't say it. They won't publicize it, but there's something going on that's way bigger than just our clan." 

"Dad what are you saying?"

"Jack, she said she was bonded before, right? But now she's bonded to you. That's supposed to be impossible. But we see right here that it's not. It's not a fluke. You two are bonded." 

"We can't be sure that she was really bonded to Him though. Maybe a surface bond?" 

Sigfried scratched his beard, "As strong as Fate is, a surface bond wouldn't last long enough for him to hurt her so deeply that she had to be institutionalized. I've seen broken bonds before, and I've seen surface bonds before. This is neither."

"This is something they don't want the public to know." 

Sigfried nodded gravely, "Your mother picked up on it when we were adding Fate to the records. She asked about any NOGS files for her original clan and allegedly they're all in here. Everything about Fate was locked in a box that could not be pulled except for her bonded sentinel. Not by her, but by her sentinel, or head of clan."

"They didn't want her to remember." 

Sigfried nodded, turning to look at Fate's sleeping face, "There's something in those files that's got potential to throw everything we know out of the window. They put me through three months of red tape to get this. To be honest, I had to pull some strings and go under their noses for this." 

A dark look passed over his father's eyes for a moment before it cleared, "You'll have time to learn about all the real resources of a clan head AFTER you wake your guide up. But for now, I want you to get somewhere quiet and have a look in that file." 

Jack had always had an inkling that the business of running a clan wasn't the pure sparkling image portrayed by the NOGS, but seeing the dark look in his father's eyes was new. There might be a trail of blood behind this box, but as Jack stood, reaching to grab the plastic-wrapped item, he found that he didn't care.

He'd do anything to protect Fate, to protect the clan.