Pathline (14 page)

Malik walked up to Rune and turned to Suri
.
"
H
ope you don't mind if we take a rain check as well
.
" 

Suri sighed.
"
W
ell, what about you two?" she asked
,
turning to Helo and Blythe who were the only ones still left in the room
. 

Blythe snorted.
"
T
hanks for that secondary invite, but I think I'll pass as well.” 

Hel
o looked between them chuckling.
"I'm sure I don't know what that was about, but if the offer's real I'm in.  I could use some drinks after today's
drills
.  I swear I haven't felt this green since basic training. 
I got hit with so many charges that I still feel them." 

Blythe laughed.
"
Y
eah, he especially seemed focused on trying to catch me every time I
wandered;
it's like he knew where I'
d be
.
"
H
e turned to look at Rune.
"I'm guessing he
's
had practice with high-level W
anderers
.
" 

Ru
ne gave him an apologetic smile.
"
Y
eah, we used to challenge each other.  He probably used you to try to get a sense of the agency training, he wasn't able to hit me today, I'm sure that drove him crazy, although I have to admit it was a close call a few times." 

Blythe groaned.
"
S
o I was target practice?"
H
e let out a laugh
.
"
T
hat explains a lot, but I am determined to beat him now." 

Rune chuckled.
"
I
f you can beat him, then you should be set fo
r future bouts with
C
hargers."

The
group
headed towards the south wing and split up once they reached the lobby. 

Malik turned to Rune once they were alone
.
"
W
hat do you say we grab some dinner to take up to the room?" 

Rune smiled and said
, “
S
ounds good.  Do you mind getting it yourself, I'd like to talk to Rook for a bit, I'll meet you in the room"
.
 

Malik nodded and headed towards the cafe.  Rune took the elevator up to the third floor and knocked on Rooks door.  He was on his phone as he opened the door and motioned her in.  She took a seat on the desk chair while he finished his call. 

"That was Briggs" he said
,
turning to her after he hung up.  "Krit thinks she knows who we're dealing with." 

Rune sat up
.
"
R
eally,
that
quickly?" 

Rook smiled.
"Eri can think what she wants but government sources are never as useful as black-market
ones. 
Last night
I briefed Briggs on the attack details you gave me and he in turn briefed the rest of the team.  Wraith and Krit think they might have heard of a
C
harger that fits the description, and Krit
believes
she may have crossed paths with him once before.  They're working on getting confirmation on his identity and a connection to the attack. 
They said they should have more
tangible
informa
tion for us by tomorrow night." 

Rune sat back in the chair.
"
D
o you think we should share this with Eri?" 

Rook snorted.
"
D
o you think she'd share it with us?  We'll talk to the teams when we have something concrete, and if this guy does turn out to have mercenary ties then my team
will
deal with that separately." 

Rune nodded.
"
O
kay.  So how was your first day?  I think you handled yourself just fine." 
             

He laughe
d.
"I have to admit, it was fun.  I think most of them wanted to kill me by the end, but they definitel
y have potential with some work;
n
othing like bringing the nations best down a few pegs.  Oh, and that Catha. 
She’s got q
uite the attitude on her." 

Rune laugh
ed.
"
S
he did look extra pissed as she left, what'd you do to her?" 

He laughed.
"
S
ame thing I did to Serk, but she refused to learn the lesson
.
" 

Rune shook her head.
"
S
he's not a fan of us 'freaks', I'm sure she hated having to take advice from you." 

Rook gave her a look
.
"
S
he definitely seems to be a fan of Malik." 

Rune shrugged.
"I picked up on that.  But she's definitely had her
chance;
she's worked with Malik much more and much longer than I have.  Speaking of which, I should get going
,
Malik was getting us dinner." 

That night, as she washed up before bed, she paused a moment and fingered the old necklace she always wore.  It had become such a part of her routine that she didn't even consciously notice when she put it on, but she always noticed when it was off.  The edges of the black stone that hung at the bottom of the necklace had become worn from regular use over the years. 
She hadn't thought about it in a while, but the memory of how she got it still made her smile.  It was odd really, having Rook
here;
it felt like her
worlds
were
colliding
in a strange way. 
She felt torn...
between who she'd been with Rook, who she was in the agency, and who she let herself become around Marcus. 
She wasn't sure
which one was the real her in the end.  She took the necklace off, observing the etched silver rune in the center of the
pendant
, running her fingers over it. 

When her and Rook were young they
'd
survived by taking whatever odd jobs came up.  Sometimes that
had
meant working for something other than money.  There was an old woman who used to live alone in the
neighborhood;
she had a hard time getting around so she would often hire Rook or Rune to help her out around the house.  She didn't have much money, so she would
usually
pay them with old trinkets she had laying around her attic.  Rook would in turn take the trinkets to the local pawn shop and haggle with the shop owner to try to get the most money for them. 
Rune would sometimes go with him to look around the shop and admire the assortment of items that found their way there. 

On one such visit to the pawn shop Rune
had been
wa
ndering around looking through the shelves while Rook went to haggle with the shop owner for that
week’s
grocery money.  She
was
halfway
through
a shelf when she
'd
noticed the necklace.  It was hanging between a battered pocket watch and an odd pair of earrings in the shapes of ice cream cones. 
It was the most unique necklace she'd ever seen, she
didn't recognize the mark on it
but something about it looked magical to her adolescent eyes. 
She was still admiring it when Rook finished his haggling and came to get her.  As soon as she realized he was next to her she turned away from the necklace and they
headed out.

About a month later, when sh
e
came home from a job helping out at the local laundry mat, she found a small package sitting over the covers of the old mattress she used for her bed. 
It was wrapped in wrinkled tissue paper and tied with a piece of
black
yarn.  When she sat down to open the package she was shocked to find the necklace she'd been admiring in the pawn shop.  She didn't know how much it must have
cost;
she'd avoided looking at the price tag on the visit since she knew it would be out of her budget.  She only later learned from others that Rook had spent the time since
that day
working every possible job he could find
in order
to earn the money to buy her the necklace.  He had noticed her longing when he'd found her looking at the necklace, he knew she'd never ask for it since they had more important expenses to focus on, but he'd wanted her to have it.  She'd hardly seen him that
month;
he was always out working some job or other.  She'd been worried that the man who let then stay in the attic above his stockroom must have
raised
the weekly rent he charged them.  She'd asked Rook about it, but he'd told her that everything was fine.  When she saw the necklace she realized why he'd been working so much lately, and felt equally guilty and elated
.  She
put the necklace on hesitantly and went to look in the mirror they had hanging in their bathroom. 
It
made her feel special to have it on, but the feeling was bittersweet. 

When Rook came home that night, late as usual, she waited up for him.  He was surprised to find her still up
;
then
noticed
that she had the opened package sitting on the edge of her bed, with the necklace sitting in the center of the tissue paper. 
She
got up and
hugged
him as he walked closer. 

"You really shouldn't have done this
Rook;
we can't afford it, is this why you've been working yourself to death lately?" 

Rook pulled away f
rom her and lifted the necklace.
"I didn't use our house money for this, I took extra jobs, and the money I earned on
those
jobs is
mine to spend as I see fit" he
said, walking up to her and putting the necklace around her neck. 

She
looked down at the necklace again
, with both longing and sadness.
"
B
ut Rook
.
"

H
e
held his fingers over her lips.
"I'm not taking that back, it looks great on you.  You see that s
ymbol?  That's an old bind-rune;
I looked it up, it means inner strength and power
.  You can wear this as a reminder of the power and strength you have inside yourself, the power and strength I've seen there all along.
  I don't want to see you without it.
" 

She
looked up at
him, tears in her eyes.
"Rook, I don't know what to say, what about you?  You could have used that money to buy
yourself
something
.
" 

He
had
smile
d at her and hugged her tightly.
"I don't need anything else,
you're
my
special rune
.
"

Rune looked at herself in the mirror, it had been a long time since the day she'd gotten the necklace
,
and a lot had changed.  She had changed.  She wasn't that girl anymore, but she was still
Rune
. 
She wasn't sure what that meant.  In so many ways her life had gotten a lot better since she'd left the old neighborhood, but it was also a lot more complicated. 
She felt lost.
Rooks reappearance in her life served as a reminder of who she'd been, and of who she wasn't
;
she didn't know where she belonged now. 
She put the necklace back on and left the bathroom.  Marcus had already gone to bed.  She went to
lie
down next to him, breathing in his scent as he wrapped his arms around her. 
She was
Laura
to him, but she wasn't sure what that meant either. 

The next day progressed a bit
smoother
on the training front.  Rook went easier on the others now that he knew most of them would listen to what he was saying and would heed his advice. 
Rune found it odd to train with him this way, they both were trying to keep themselves closed off from the others, and they both were playing off of each other based on what they knew from years earlier.  They'd both changed.  Neither of them
was
the same person they'd been before they'd parted ways all those years ago. 
They were reaching for each other, but there was a gap there that both of them could clearly feel. 
Rook had his place back home, but Rune didn't have any idea what she'd do with her life after she left the agency.  Staying was out of the question, she didn't belong here anymore, if she ever
had
. 
She didn't belong in the old neighborhood anymore either.  She was an outsider even to them. 
She found herself distracted during training, and Rook managed to hit her a couple of times, although he didn't seem to take pleasure from his win. 
His eyes w
a
ndered back to her whenever he had a pause between the others.