The Protector: Hakan & Nisan

Chapter 2

His resolve to stay away from her lasted about two hours. It was like there was an invisible tether from him to her, a force field slowly pulling him back in, making it futile to resist. He would check on her just once he promised himself and that would put his unease to rest.

Hakan was relieved to find Nisan sleeping soundly, her long black hair spread all about her pillow while her dark eyelashes kissed her high cheekbones in submission. Relieved to find her peacefully asleep, he backed out of the room.

Despite his promise to himself, regardless of his common sense, he kept checking back on her every couple of hours.  Inexplicably, the unease never loosened its grip on his guts.  Finally Hakan forced himself to try to get some sleep himself as he settled in a chair in the larger formal room where a few of the others were camped out as well. 

As happened from time to time when utterly exhausted and falling into a deep sleep, a flashback of the original Protector from centuries before came to Hakan in his dreams, calling out to him now that he had taken up the mantle of Protector in this generation.  It was an ancient, secret calling that flowed through his veins, one which he'd reluctantly woken up to upon turning 28 the year prior.  It was a calling and a curse both he'd come to believe, passed on through his ordained bloodline. It didn't come with any particular powers, only a talismanic shirt that rendered him unkillable while wearing it.  The anointed shirt only responded to him in this century for some godforsaken reason and so that, combined with the new burdensome knowledge of an ancient circle of Immortals who were powerful, evil and destructive, left him no choice in the matter.  He was reluctantly the latest in the line of Protectors and he seemed tied to the Original through his eerie and illusive dreams that were more like flashes of actual memories, though certainly not his own.

These flashes were just the quickest of confusing bursts, usually a snapshot frozen in time of the original Protector from five hundred years prior.  Now as he slid into the deep abyss, Hakan found himself suddenly standing a few feet from the Original on what looked like a dry, dusty battlefield the color of golden wheat with dead bodies scattered about. The Original, dressed head to toe in his usual protective leather and armor, had a long sword on one hip and a short, bejeweled dagger on the other.  He was looking straight through him into the distance, as if he wasn't even there, and yet Hakan knew with certainty that the Original sensed him.  Hakan even swore he made eye contact for a fleeting second.

Heightened awareness sparked between the two of them.  For Hakan it was like gazing into a distorted mirror, for the old Protector had his face, his amber eyes, and there was a dizzying disorientation buzzing in his brain because it felt like they were split off from each other, the same and yet separate.

Hakan sensed there was something vitally important to see just behind him, where the Original's eyes were fixated, and yet Hakan could not seem to turn and lay eyes on it himself. It was beyond frustrating. He seemed always stuck and unable to move in these dreams, seeing but not fully. Now, with all of his strength, Hakan tried to push and turn in the dream, to look behind him as was his instinct but the air was like a thick, invisible barrier all around him, pushing back against him with so much force that it was impossible to move a mere inch. Hakan let out a fierce yell in his dream, still pushing at the air with all his might, struggling against the inertia, moaning in the present as he tossed and turned in the chair.

Then suddenly it felt like he was being sucked haphazardly out of the memory and he startled awake just before dawn. He took in deep breaths, looking around him in confusion, shaking off the disorienting flashback as he took in his surroundings. His first instinct once his mind cleared was again to check on Nisan.

He went to rise out of his chair when Zeynep was suddenly beside him, knowingly grabbing his arm. "She's fine. She's still sleeping. I just checked on her myself."

Feeling ridiculously guilty, as if Zeynep had caught him in an adulterous act or, worse, could read his mind, he sat back down and said, quietly, speaking a quarter of the truth out loud in his deep, gravely voice, "I just feel like such a bastard, not thinking to get her food or water." 

He thought about telling her about the rest, this strange, uneasy feeling he had in his gut, growing by the hour, wanting to unburden himself just a little bit to his closest friend, but he dismissed the idea almost immediately. There was a time when he could have told Zeynep anything but that time had passed.

He and Zeynep had quickly bonded as Protector and Loyal One respectively in this ancient fight passed down from generation to generation, both vowing to preserve human life at all cost even as the Immortals sought to destroy and conquer it. There were only a handful of Immortals left roaming the earth but they were beyond dangerous and almost impossible to kill, especially the abomination that was the Vizier, their leader, Hakan's nemesis and tormentor.

The Vizier had wreaked havoc on his life from the moment Hakan had stepped into his calling the year prior, destroying all of his dreams, plucking away almost all of his family and loved ones, tormenting him at every turn, playing games and all the while staying hidden in the shadows and never showing his face.

It had started to change Hakan, harden him, unnerve him, so he was both relieved and pissed off when Zeynep started pushing him away as soon as they began flirting around the edges of their friendship, contemplating something more intimate. Zeynep, always the pragmatic one on mission, quickly ended that exploration before it even really began.  It was undoubtedly safer for them both that way but Hakan had never felt more alone and isolated.  He found himself missing her even though she was sitting right there beside him.

"She's fine," Zeynep assured him, having forgiven him for his thoughtless handling of Nisan almost immediately. "She's stronger than she looks."  

Zeynep quickly filled Hakan in on what Nisan had shared with her before falling into her deep slumber.  She'd been forced to make a virus at the hands of the terrorist group, undoubtedly controlled by the Immortals, this they knew, but it was new and galvanizing information that Nisan knew how to make the vaccine for it as well.  After Zeynep had more or less filled Nisan in on their mission in return, she'd been more than happy to offer her services creating a cure.  Nisan welcomed the chance at redemption, in fact. 

Hakan felt relief and, oddly enough, pride in Nisan.  After all, she was a brilliant scientist who'd managed to survive a kidnapping, a beating or two, and perhaps something much worse.  And now here she was offering to fight right alongside of them instead of falling into a black pit of despair as would have been her right.

Yes, she was undoubtedly strong.  Still, Hakan couldn't even tolerate the thought of the beatings she'd endured let alone the something worse he couldn't quite bring himself to inquire about. Quickly shutting down his thoughts, he surged to his feet and went to check on her anyway.

Of course he was looming silently over her, staring down at her like an imbecile when her eyes fluttered open a few minutes later. She jumped and let out a startled scream to find him standing over her.

Again, he felt like a complete and utter bastard. "I-I'm sorry," he threw out helplessly, backing out of the room into the hallway. What was he thinking? Hovering over her like that? "You're safe," he assured her as she sat up in bed and drew the sheet up to her chin. "I just wanted to make sure you were alright. I'm sorry." He spun on his heel and practically sprinted back down the hallway.

"She's up," he all but spat at Zeynep, grabbing up his jacket slung over the back of the chair he'd slept in, heading quickly for the exit. He needed a little fresh air.  "Attend to her and make sure she is ready to work in a few hours. I'm getting my brother."