With Fear or Without

21- Take Two

Armed with their next questions and confident in their promise, Cleo opened the door to lead her friends out of their small planning room. When she did, she found herself face to face with a wide-eyed and red-faced Cassian.

She mirrored his embarrassment once the memory of the words she had yelled about him slowly came back to her through her newfound confidence. That was fading quickly. At the time, she hadn't cared if he could hear- in fact, she almost wanted him to. But now she just wanted to crawl into a hole and never face him again.

Neither of them know how to start a conversation anymore. They both forgot the reason they were standing in that doorway. The one time Cleo wished for nothing more than one of Charlie's sarcastic comments or Andy's reminders, they both stayed silent. Figures.

"Um," Cassian finally started. "I was just... you know. I came to see if you... reached a decision yet."

"Right."

"Yup." He rubbed his neck nervously.

Cleo was just thinking to herself that she better bring it up and get it out of the way. Just apologize and move on. Even though she had nothing to really apologize for. Clearly he heard everything, which meant he was hanging around, probably eavesdropping. Why should she apologize?

Thankfully, Nolan saved them. "If you're done, you should probably head back in there." Boots propped on the desk, Nolan didn't even glance their way. His attention was focused on the string he wove between his fingers, apparently not caring if they saw him this time.

Cleo looked back at Cassian, who was still standing blocking the door. He opened his mouth to say something, then decided against it. He turned on his heel and crossed the room.

"That was interesting," Charlie said quietly from where they hid behind Cleo.

"Yeah, thanks for the help guys," Cleo threw over her shoulder before leaving them in the doorway.

Before long the four of them were back in their chairs in front of the leaders of the Goldari rebellion. Cleo noticed one chair was empty; the young man with the off scars along his jaw was missing from the group. She wondered what sort of business would pull him away from this meeting. It couldn't be anything good, she decided.

"Welcome back," Maedrian greeted them, the glass circlet laying in front of her this time. "Do you have an answer for us? Or do you return with more questions?" she added with an amused smile towards Andy.

Cleo shifted to sit straighter in her seat. "Actually, yes. We do have some more questions." She answered slowly, careful not to trip over her words. Or to pay any attention to Cassian, who stared at the table.

Maedrian waved her hand to encourage Cleo to continue.

"Well, I guess the first would be why us?"

"We mean, why call Cleo to get him out of trouble in the first place?" Andy clarified, gesturing vaguely at Cassian without looking his way. "You clearly have some support here, why call someone with no experience instead of a champion?"

"Ah, that is a good question," Maedrian began. "One that we did intend to explain soon enough, but no time like the present. You see, Cleo here is one of a small population we call the Chosen."

For a reason she couldn't explain, Cleo's mind brought up specific moments from the past couple days. Getting messages from Cassian in her dreams. Finding her way to Charlie's demon-induced memory. The way the pink glow guided them and opened the door when she stepped up to it. The guards, frozen with their eyes glazed over. And the shifting images of the building she was in now. What Cassian had told her.