valentine | the old guard

v. ready or not

The shovel is heavy in my hands as I stand over the ditch, burying our torn and bloodied clothes. 

"Here," Booker offers, patting me on the back to catch my attention. He takes the shovel and carries on moving the dirt, covering the visible scraps of fabric. "I'll do it."

I sit back, resting on my haunches with my head in my hands. How could this happen?

The shoveling stops and Booker lets out a sigh.

"One has to admire Mister Copley's attention to detail," Joe muses, hands on his hips as he hovers in the space behind me. "Those shoes were a particularly gruesome touch."

I turn to him, pursing my lips together and reaching out to lightly touch his knee. He returns the favor by lightly running a hand through my hair.

"I knew this would happen." Andy's voice catches with emotion as she speaks - causing my head to snap towards her. She's rarely ever upset by anything, showing the gravity of our current situation. "I said it."

I let out a quiet sigh. "We did everything right. We played it by the book, Andy."

Nicky nods, agreeing with me. "We did this for the right reasons."

"And what did it get us, Nicky? What?" Andy snaps, earning stares from the rest of the team. She casts her eyes back down to the ground beneath her, speaking again but quieter this time. I can see the tears in her eyes threatening to overflow. "Nothing. We've done nothing. The world isn't getting any better... it's getting worse."

"That's not Nicky's fault," I hiss, my voice raw. "That's not on any of us; not you, not me, not Joe, not Booker and certainly not Nicky."

Booker joins me and Andy on the ground, sitting back with a blank expression. "I checked him completely. Everything seemed fine. Normal, even." He stands back up, restless. "I'm sorry, guys."

"They know who and what we are," Andy states. She pauses for a second. "We have to find Copley."

I nod, rising to my feet beside Joe. "We have to end this - tie off all the loose ends."

Booker looks to me then Andy. "And then what?"

"And then nothing," Andy replies. She shakes her head and I wish above all else that I could comfort her, to reach out and tell her that it's okay. But I can't. Our eyes meet and I can see that the tears have vanished, a glint of rage replacing them instead. "The world can burn for all I care."

With that, she's on her feet. She takes a kick at a rock pile beside the newly buried pile of clothes and the stones scatter across the sand. Grabbing her axe and her bag, she starts to walk away. "I'm done."

The rest of team start to grab their belongings but I can't seem to move. I'm frozen to the spot - shocked, appalled and powerless to act. That's when I take a step forwards, my bag still propped next to Nicky's. 

I move to follow Andy - to force her to change her mind by whatever means I can - but a strong hand clutching the back of my t-shirt stops me. My instincts force me to spin around, ready to throw a punch, but I stop when I see that it's only Joe. Tears flood to my eyes as I drop my hand and fling myself into his chest. 

My tears flow, hot and fast, soaking the front of his clean shirt as I sob. Joe wraps his arms around me, pulling me into his embrace and holding me tightly. I feel another arm wrap around my back as Nicky joins the hug, whispering soft and soothing words into my ear. 

When I look to the side again, Booker is standing back, a sad expression on his face and his arms folded across his chest. "I'll go and speak to her," he says in his familiar low growl.