Project Jamboree

Chapter Eighteen

Cole's PoV

"They cut your vocal cords?" I asked, horrified.

She nodded, I talked back and fought back. And I screamed.

Natasha shouldn't have had to scream, to fight back. Just another thing in the long list of problems the IAAN had caused.

"And your twitch?" I noticed her eyes weren't moving as much as they used to.

They beat it out of all of us. Her lip quivered, and I held her close to me as she cried.

I felt the same way as the day we brought her in, the day she'd been so scared of everyone. The day my ability helped me connect with her.

I felt like I wanted to find he people who'd hurt her and tear them to shreds, long and slow, make them endure every second of the pain like they did to her. I wanted them to pay.

And I wanted her to stop crying. The way she was leaning into me, shaking. It reminded me of what Liam had told me on the drive here.

She's broken, but you love her. Not because you think you can fix her, but because she's the only person in the world who knows just how broken you are too.

That had been one of his more philosophical moments. I hoped he made it out.

The door opened again. I felt Natasha trying to shrink into me, to hide.

"You have a visitor, Ms. Gray," the PSF who stood there told us, "Your friend can stay."

As the door opened wider, it took me a moment to recognize the man in the room. The door closed.

"Hello," he said in quite a calm voice, "I have come to check on my daughter."

President Gray. No. No, no, a thousand times no. As if Natasha wasn't scared enough.

"Please take a seat," he gestured to two seats at a table I hadn't noticed, sitting in the third.

Natasha dried her eyes before facing him, back strong and upright, head held taller than I'd have thought possible for someone having suffered as much as her.

She signed, Hello, father. Long time no see.

Her face maintained its steel mask, but as she sat down, she grabbed my hand under the table. I pushed our chairs close enough that our shoulders touched.

"I don't speak sign language," the president said.

"Luckily for you, I do," I said, putting all the rage I felt into my voice.

The president turned to me, "Cole Stewart. You're that red outlier nobody's been able to catch. Well, your friends think you're both dead, so there's no chance of rescue. Just so that's clear."

You have no friends, and a very long list of enemies, Natasha signed as I translated, There's a slim chance of reelection, if all goes to plan. Just so that's clear.

"I see you've gotten no less outspoken. You must get it from me, then," President Gray chuckled.

I see you've gotten no less arrogant, Natasha signed furiously, You must still be President, then.

"That I am," President Gray said, "And I've come with an offer. You join my defense task force. You tell the country about the cure, and you're out of this camp. You might even be able to find your brother."

There was no cure. He wanted a Psi spokesperson now that Clancy was missing.

I'll take the deal, Natasha signed, startling me, I have one condition.

The room was dead silent before President Gray nodded, "Yes, anything."

I translated, "Cole comes too." Then, I turned to her, "Nat-"

My choice, she told me, a finger against my lips, You came here after me, this is the price.

"Now that you've taken the offer," President Gray smiled, "Let's get you two out of here. The muzzles and handcuffs are a requirement for now, I'm afraid."

Natasha nodded fiercely as PSFs walked in, apprehending both of us. We were shoved through the building to a limousine in the back of the alley, stuffed into the back.

No security. Nothing but the president in a separate car to our right and the driver in front of us, blocked off by fireproof material.

The muzzles and handcuffs were removed.

President Gray trusted us. Or he had a backup plan. Or this was Clancy's doing. Likely he was just an idiot with a blind spot when it came to his daughter.

I'm sorry, Natasha signed, leaning closer to me, I'm so sorry. I didn't want you to get dragged into this.

"I knew what I signed up for when I planned that Op," I told her.

I can get you out, create a diversion-

I shook my head, "They'll kill you- I'm not losing you again, hear me? We leave together or not at all."

With no warning, Natasha released a whirlwind of fire on the driver's seat. The 'fireproof' material caught fire, quickly filing the car with smoke.

It swerved this way and that across the road, but eventually hit something and flipped, landing on its side.

"Are you okay?"

Natasha nodded, reaching her hand out to pull me out of the car. We stood there in the middle of the road, hand in hand, ready for the PSFs coming in the other cars.

As they got closer, I saw a whirlwind of flame developing, heating Natasha until the air around her seemed to bake. The patches of skin around her neck and throat were glowing red with fire.

When they got in range, she released it all, letting all of the cars flip and be incinerated in the violet flame. The most dangerous flame of all.

"You've gotten stronger," I marveled, looking down at her.

But her eyes were fixated on the one black SUB still moving down the highway, away from us. I didn't blame her; her psychotic father was more than likely the one to escape.

"Natasha?" I asked.

There was something different about her. She wasn't entirely there. It was like talking to a broken shell of who she used to be.

Full of life and color, belligerence and snippy remarks. Now, just gray, just darkness.

I remembered what Ruby once said about camps. The ones with hope were crushed, turning into hollow shells of their former selves. Better to stay in the dark.

Better to stay in the gray.

I didn't want to lose her to the gray. Never, never, never.

The ones with hope were crushed. She knew we'd come for her. She knew the dangers of being hopeful, but she knew.

We were too late. They'd broken her.

Then we'd just have to fix her. Help her piece herself back together. I refused to lose her to the gray.

Finally, she turned to face me, a look in her eyes I didn't recognize as she signed, Let's get moving. We've got a long walk ahead of us.