Evenfall (20 page)

"I don't know, guys," Ryan piped up seemingly randomly. He was chewing on the end of a stylus and peering down into the panel with a frown. It almost seemed like he was continuing a conversation although he hadn't been talking out loud to anyone else in the past few seconds. But that seemed to be how Ryan's mind worked. Always going, even when he was talking about something entirely different.

"I mean, do you really think Warren Andrews is in league with Janus? I know they've been swallowing up all of these teeny groups and whatnot but his profile doesn't seem... to be what they usually scoop up. Know what I mean?"

Boyd paused and, since work-related topics were coming up, he settled back in his chair. Jeffrey and Owen stopped talking.
"Janus
does
seem to go for the assholes," Owen agreed, tilting his chair back and frowning. "And Warren's not really their style unless he held up an old folks'
blood bank
for the poor when I wasn't looking."

"Faction 53 isn't as aggressive as they used to be but they still have power," Jeffrey said pointedly. "Janus could simply be expanding their selection pool. It wouldn't be the first time they shifted their targets."

"Yeah, but something dreadful this way comes," Owen said, waving a hand vaguely and looking over at Ryan. "Right? They've got the right hand slapping the left is what your source said. And once they break up they're gonna lose any power they held which makes them prime meat for the vultures." He paused and frowned. "Or I guess rotting meat?"

"I dunno. It's just a personality thing, is all I'm saying." Ryan shrugged and put down the panel, looking around at the other three men. "He doesn't seem the type to want to be controlled by some giant puppet master, or at least that's what my sources have been saying. I hope we end up negotiating rather than just wiping them out."

"The only indication so far is that he's thinking about it, correct?" Boyd asked.

Ryan nodded, messy black hair bouncing around with the motion. He shifted in the chair and arched his back in a stretch. "Yeah, from what I've found, he seems hesitant about it. But then again he's super paranoid about everything ever since the split with Aarons."

Boyd had read about the split on his panel. Shortly before he joined Carhart's unit as active duty, faction 53's two main leaders, Jason Aarons and Warren Andrews, had had a falling out. The group had initially formed because Warren and others had an issue with the way the city was policed in Carson, the next city over that shared some of the wastelands.
Faction 53 felt that the lack of reconstruction in the poor neighborhoods, combined with what they felt was over-policing of the destitute, created an unfair environment. Eventually, 53 had taken to terroristic acts to prove their point, but Jason Aarons was more aggressive and took it further than Warren Andrews. That had ultimately caused friction between the two until Jason left abruptly and formed his own group, which was labeled 62 in Agency records.
Aarons had taken about one-third of the followers with him but rumors among the other groups was that some were already debating returning. However some of the people who stayed behind in 53 seemed to be having second thoughts as well.

It left both groups in a vulnerable position, but especially 53 which was being recruited by Janus. Allegedly, some of the people in 53 wanted Warren to accept Janus' proposition. The fact that he was hesitant about it was raising questions about his leadership skills among some of them.

"He should be paranoid," Jeffrey said flatly, his stark features completely unsympathetic. "He can't keep his group together and he's letting enemy agents with little training infiltrate the compound. He's lucky there hasn't been a mutiny."

Owen raised his eyebrows. "Being kind of harsh on the dude, aren't you? He doesn't seem like too much of a douche. Also, I'm pretty sure half a year of hardcore boot camp isn't 'little training.'"

Jeffrey shot Owen a look of distaste and grabbed his briefcase as he stood. "I forgot; it's love the enemy day," he said sarcastically.

"Well, mark a calendar then," Owen said with a yawn, looking as though he'd used up whatever energy he had and was ready to fall asleep again. "I won't always be here to remind you."

Jeffrey scowled and left.
Owen watched Jeffrey go and then looked at Ryan and Boyd, his gaze turning bleary. "It's way past my bedtime," he mumbled, even though it was barely 10 am. "'Night and bedbugs and all that." He ambled out of the room with a huge yawn that Boyd could hear even as the man wandered down the hallway.

Boyd stood to leave as well.

"Boyd, do you have a sec?"

Ryan had half stood up and was looking at him hopefully.

Boyd paused, looking at Ryan blankly. It was the first time the other man had asked him to stay behind. He sat back down in the chair, wondering if it had something to do with the mission and what had been bothering Ryan about it. "Yes."

There was a moment when Ryan just looked at him slightly oddly before the R&D agent just shrugged and sat back down. "Do you mind if I pick your brain a bit about your partner?"

Boyd stared at him, wondering at first if this was some sort of joke. But Ryan seemed serious and it left Boyd at a loss. "Why? Surely you know him better than I do."

"Ha! Not even close." Ryan reclined in his chair and raised his arms, threading thin fingers behind his head. The black jacket he wore over a faded anime t-shirt shifted with the motion. "I haven't had a conversation with Hsin since I was, like, I dunno... ten."

Boyd watched him for a moment. It was the first time he'd heard someone refer to Sin as 'Hsin' when they weren't using it in context of his full name. It was an oddity, considering Ryan apparently hadn't spoken to him for a long time. "Were you close prior to that?"

The other man gave him another confused, odd stare and sat up straight in the chair. "No... That was like when he first got here. He stayed with the Connors for a little bit because he was so young but it didn't work out and I never had direct contact with him again."

"Then why do you refer to him as Hsin? No one else appears to do the same."

"I dunno. Because that's his name? People just call him Sin because it was originally mispronounced so everyone started doing it." Ryan gave one of his huge shrugs, his shoulders nearly going up to his ears, and smiled. "Plus, I like his real name better."

Boyd considered that; even if it was Sin's real name, Ryan was the only one who seemed to care. It seemed like a somewhat familiar way to address a man who was not exactly approachable and he briefly wondered if Sin had a preference either way. He leaned back in the chair with a nod to acknowledge the answer.

"What did you want to discuss?"

"I'd just wondered what he was like one-on-one. He never shows up for briefings, even back when he had the other trial partners." Ryan's words were coming out casually but he was avoiding Boyd's eyes after he started talking.

Boyd's eyebrows drew down in confusion. "Why does it matter?"

"Because I want to know what he's like and you're the only person he's in contact with." Ryan frowned and started packing his stuff up. "If you don't want to talk about it, it's fine."

"I don't mind," Boyd said with a shrug, frowning faintly to himself as he considered the question. He shifted in the seat and crossed his arms. "I don't have much of an answer. This latest mission was the first time we spoke on terms that were equal in any way. Typically we don't converse much or, when we do, it's regarding the mission parameters or he's being sarcastic."

For some reason, the last part caused Ryan's lips to shift up into another grin. "The few times I have seen him in the past few years, he's always such a smart ass. It's pretty funny, I think. He just doesn't give a crap about anything here the way everyone else does."

"I find it to be irritating at times, to be honest," Boyd said mildly. "Especially since he seems to enjoy calling me sarcastic pet names such as sweetheart."

At that, Ryan's eyebrows shot up. "Why does he call you that?"

"To be obnoxious or patronizing, it seems," Boyd said, leaning back in the chair.

"Or..." The mischievous grin returned, making the other man look far more youthful than he already did. He seemed to be on the verge of saying something but stopped himself and hid his grin behind the case of his laptop as he put it away. "Well, anyway. He could just be trying to get a reaction out of you."

Boyd quirked an eyebrow, watching Ryan for a moment before he looked away. "I suppose it's possible. Did you speak to his previous partners? I assumed it was something he did with anyone he spent any amount of time near."

"The pet name thing? Nah, not as far as I can tell. None of them lasted very long. I mean Laurel made it probably a month before she got killed and she was the longest. We actually had hope for her." Ryan made a face and said the last comment somewhat dryly. "But they never made it sound as though he really... joked around or anything. At any extent."

That was interesting. It brought to mind questions he'd had before, wondering how exactly his predecessors had failed.

"What happened with them?"
Ryan stopped putting his equipment in the huge backpack he carried and tilted his head to the side. He studied Boyd for a moment, gave a little nod to himself, and began digging around in his backpack. There was an assortment of discs, flash drives, and memory cards in a large
plastic
bag but he seemed to have no trouble finding the one he wanted.

"Give me a sec and I'll set up a whole demo," he explained to Boyd.

He moved to Carhart's position at the table and popped a drive in before fiddling with the computer. He made various 'hrm' and 'ah-ha!' sounds before finally organizing whatever he was trying to do. After that it took only a brief moment before the hum of the holograph machine echoed in the room and an image popped up between them.

The man in question looked to be in his early to
mid-thirties
and had fiery red hair and explosively blue eyes. His expression was hard and unkind.

"That's Evan McCoy. He was bachelor number one and the mistake they should have learned from. At first they were hiring these big guys from Counter-Terror. Macho men with hero complexes."

Another image popped up, this one of a younger man with deep chestnut colored skin and surprisingly light hair. "Michelin was the same way. He was bachelor number two."

This time Ryan's fingers flew over the keyboard and two images popped up side by side. One was a thin looking man with long black hair who also looked to be in his early thirties. It seemed that most field agents were around the same age which caused one to wonder what happened to an agent who passed his or her prime. The other image was of a youthful and attractive woman.

"Laurel and Coral. I wonder if anyone else noticed that they rhyme." Ryan grinned at his own joke.

Boyd studied the pictures and then looked over at Ryan. "How did they die? All Sin said was that they thought he was their pet and they were killed in self-defense."

Ryan shrugged hugely again, his indigo eyes flicking from picture to picture. "No one really knows. I mean, Hsin doesn't exactly put his information out there even if it's in his own defense. So there's like, no way to tell if it was legit self-defense or if he just murdered them himself, or let them die on a mission deliberately. I can see a couple of them instigating shit with him just because he's an easy target and they kinda thought they had him in his place but... I dunno."

"How long ago did all that happen?"

"The winter before you started, I think. That's when Laurel died and they locked Hsin back up again." Ryan frowned, his boyish face clearly troubled by whatever had crossed his mind. "I thought they were gonna terminate him. It really depressed me for a long time. I'm kind of a Hsin fan."

"Why?" Boyd asked, turning his gaze onto Ryan. "If you've hardly spoken to him and rarely see him, why do you care what happens to him?"
Ryan rolled his indigo eyes and raised his hands up. "Why is everyone so dumbfounded just 'cause I like the guy? I just like the fact that he doesn't let them break him. I respect him. He's literally the best and most amazing op we have. And also, he's amazingly gorgeous if you didn't notice so I have a
teensy
crush on him."

"Hmm." Boyd studied Ryan. He had to agree that Sin's unique features were attractive. "Do you tell everyone all of this?"

"Which part?"

"Any of it, but particularly your crush."

"Oh." Ryan waved a dismissive hand and started stuffing things in his backpack again. "It's not like it's any big secret that I'm gay. I never date girls and I've been here since I was a fetus. Also, if anyone starts ragging on Hsin in my earshot I'll talk about stuff. People figure it out pretty easily."

Boyd nodded again. "I see."
He fell silent for a moment and reached down for his messenger bag. He could have stayed silent but in some ways, Ryan reminded him of Lou, who had always been quick to defend the bullied. It wasn't something Boyd could think about in any way other than a passing glance, because remembering Lou was often too painful of an endeavor. But because the connection was there in his mind, he couldn't ignore it and he couldn't let the moment pass by without commenting.