“You gotyourself in deep this time, Severo,” Ender drawled.
“I was in deep the minute I was given the case. I don’t think I could have avoided this, even if I tried. Unless I had passed it to another agent.” Severo sighed.
If he had walked away…would Seri now be in Preston’s hands? What if the person assigned after him had connections to Preston? Or that explosion… What if Seri and Skya had been in it?
Then again…maybe someone else wouldn’t have caught Seri. No…it’s possible they’d have caught him sooner, giving no thought or leeway to him being innocent. Fuck, was there even a point in thinking over all this nonsense. The ‘what ifs’ just made his head hurt.
“I can see you thinking mighty hard there, friend. How about you stop doing pointless shit? You know damn well you’d never give up a case. You don’t have it in you. Not a quitter once you start something. Never have been one, never will be. Part of that is stubbornness, the other part is an unwillingness to let go of anything when you think something needs to be done about it. Makes you good at your job, I suppose.”
Severo snorted. “Stubborn, am I? What does that make you?”
Ender chuckled. “We’re not talking about my stubborn ass. Those Grimms you work for. I won’t deny that they have done some good, but they are too strict on their rules. Rules set by humans, who mostly don’t give a damn about us. Those rules fucked up this case, didn’t they?”
“In part. There are no rules in place when we think something is wrong. Always only a trial, no clearing names beforehand.”
“Right, see those humans get innocent before guilty, and we get guilty before innocent. It’s how they set it up. I'm not saying there aren’t a lot of innocent humans being fucked over by the system—there are. They just have more chances than we do.”
“Do you actually have something private to discuss with me, or are you just here to babble on, you old coot?”
He was really hoping this wasn’t going to end in one of Ender’s long rants on humanity and their faults. He’d heard it all before, and honestly, he was too tired to listen to it right now.
Ender blustered. “I have something to say. But first, let me finish my dang thoughts. Tell me, Severo, why do you work for them, knowing the limits they place on you? Think of what you could accomplish without all those rules. You should come work for me. Think about it. Freer, doing real good in the world. Accomplishing more than you could ever imagine.”
“I’m not out to save the world, Ender. I just like to go on a nice long chase, followed by kicking some criminal’s ass.”
“Hells bells, I’d think you’d be more interested in helping the victims get justice, or to safety. Protecting others is a hell of a bigger rush than kicking some pathetic criminal’s ass, and sometimes, you’d still get to do that.”
“Just drop it. I’m not interested.”
“Yet, you seem intent on protecting this father and child.” Ender leaned a bit, glancing down the hallway behind Severo, where Seri and Skya were sitting and chatting with Quill. “Cute pair, I will admit.”
Severo rolled his eyes. “The point of this conversation?”
“Fine, fine. With Preston being involved… You have to be careful on this one, Severo. That is not a man to mess with without some sort of plan in place to fight back.” He pursed his lips. “We keep an eye on certain big players in the criminal world. It's always good to watch what you can’t take down right away. Lots of activity and money flowing in and out from Preston, if you know what I mean. He wants that man and that child. And he is in the pockets of too many individuals to count. You want to take him down, you need to cut those lines off.
“I imagine you are currently out of contact with your boss. I’m not saying don’t, but if you involve them, they better be keeping it close to their chests, because as you’ve already seen, you have moles in your organization. Moles who will think nothing about handing over an innocent man and his child to a monster such as Preston. Be smart about this.”
“I’m trying to be. That's why I’m here.”
“Why are you here? If it’s protection and a place to hide, we can do it. We can protect him. Hell, we’d have done it in the first place, if he had asked. But he didn’t. All he wanted was fake paperwork. Can’t offer more than they ask for. Not our policy. So, tell me why you are planning to stay with him, and I bet, not here.”
“I can protect him. We just need a safe place, a way to live where Preston can’t find us or get to him.”
“I doubt there is any place Preston can’t get to. It’s the way money is. But we can make him safe enough. Here. But you aren’t needed for that. So why doyouneed to protect him, Severo?”
“Because I need to. I’m the one who dragged him out of hiding. I’m the reason he’s in trouble now. I was literally used to further his fucking trauma. Preston USED me. I will not fucking abandon him, as if I played no part in putting him in the current situation he is in.”
“Is this your pride speaking, or your guilt?”
Severo hissed. “Enough fucking with me, Ender. What do you want from me?”
“I want you to realize that you need to set aside whatever is driving you to do this, and remember that whatever you are feeling doesn’t matter compared to the safety of that man and his child. Guilt, pity, stubbornness, pride, let it all go. Because it means fuck all when it comes to someone else’s safety. You want him safe, then leave him here with us and walk back to your life.”
He clenched his hands into fists. “I can’t… I can’t just leave him. Not after what I know… After what I saw. What I did. I just can’t. I’d be like all the rest if I walked away. Everyone failed him. He has no one. No one looked for him. No one asked. No one… I got a report right before we landed on Earth. Not a single person looked for him. I won’t just dump him, as if he is someone else’s problem, and walk back to my cushy fucking life like he doesn’t matter.”
“You feel responsible.”
“I feel like he deserves to have one person—just one—who cares that he is alive. Who is in his corner, no matter what. Who won’t fucking abandon him. Is that so wrong?”
