The Protector: Hakan & Nisan

Chapter 3

Hakan came back later that afternoon, dragging his half-dead brother Levent with him.  He'd been tempted to leave his older brother strung up like a sacrificial lamb in the same dungeon he'd found Nisan in.  

Levent had just betrayed them all once again by volunteering his blood to the Immortals in exchange for his own immortality. As one of only two that remained of the anointed Protector bloodline, Levent's blood was marked and had been used to help make the virus that Nisan had been forced to create, a virus that had just been released out into the population and was proving to be deadly to humans.

Of course the Immortals had never planned on making Levent one of them, nor of ever letting him go in fact. Luckily for him, Hakan was a better man than he and had come to his rescue. Again. The younger brother had finally given up on the older one once and for all but still he would not leave him to die at the hands of the enemy. Levent was his only remaining family member, after all.  Too, they needed his blood according to Nisan, for the vaccine she was to create to counteract the virus.  

Still, after this latest self-serving stunt that came with innocent casualties, Levent was no longer welcome in Hakan's world.  Once he'd served his purpose here today and healed enough to walk out of the hostel, he'd be ostracized once and for all.  It was much safer for everyone that way.

Zeynep and a few of the others were right there to take Levent and half carry, half drag him to the infirmary. "She's in the library," Zeynep threw over her shoulder at Hakan. It was an implied command.

Hakan took in a deep breath, preparing himself for the confrontation as he headed down the hallway to the library. Nisan was reading through the spines of one dusty bookshelf across the room, her back turned to him in the doorway, her long dark hair cascading down in large waves that almost reached her backside. Inexplicably, his fingers itched to touch it. All of it. He hesitated, shocked at himself, flexing his fingers as he studied her a moment.  Then he said her name as gently as he could. Still, she jumped and whipped around, her hand on her heart.

He took one step towards her, arm outstretched, saying hastily, "It's okay. It's just me." He took another careful step towards her. "You don't have to be scared of me, Nisan." Why did he always feel so goddamn guilty around her? So...emotionally invested in her reaction of him?

She studied him for long, heavy moments while her heart rate steadied. He swore she was looking straight into his soul in that moment and he stood very, very still. He was terrified of what she saw there. She was older, wiser, cleaner, more innocent than he. Standing before her as her piercing gaze all but split him open, he felt like a stupid, foolish boy trying and failing miserably to do a man's job. He felt seen by her, exposed, vulnerable and lacking. Then slowly she gave him the smallest of smiles, a gift of trust and forgiveness.

Though he still couldn't quite put his finger on what he was being forgiven for, his heart leapt and relief flooded through him. He gratefully accepted her gift. He moved closer then, instinctively drawn to her like a moth to a flame but he stopped himself a few feet away. 

"My brother is in the infirmary," he said quietly. "We need you now." There was definite need there, he found himself inexplicably thinking but he stepped aside, giving her a wide berth and letting her pass by. He followed her down the hall but not too closely.

Once inside the infirmary she took over, in her comfort zone, gaining confidence by the second. It was impressive to see her organize the room within minutes, tools and people alike, snapping on sterile gloves and expertly inserting a needle into Levent's arm and withdrawing the blood she needed. Then she hooked him up to an IV of replenishing saline and got to work.

Hakan couldn't seem to take his eyes off of her. He stayed right there as the infirmary morphed into her personal lab. She sterilized everything and immediately began measuring and mixing ingredients, including Levent's blood, as quickly and efficiently as humanly possible. A few times throughout the afternoon she needed additional liquids and equipment, ordering couriers to and from the hospital lab downtown where she worked.