Evenfall (66 page)

He shot two men nearest Boyd in quick succession and simultaneously took out a hostile to his left, then whipped his gun around and got a fourth man between the eyes even as he had to dodge a bullet shot at his back. Dropping to the floor and rolling, he shot three more people who were aiming at Boyd and avoided gunfire from two different directions before he pulled back suddenly into the shadows of a nearby doorway.

He was barely out of breath but now that he was standing still he could feel two places on his body that bullets had grazed him despite everything he had been doing, though he ignored the pain. Pale green eyes scanned the perimeter ahead and he listened carefully. There was a pause in gunfire as his opponents tried to trace where he disappeared to. He quickly placed one man's hurried movements to reload at the top of the staircase and another's nervous panting behind a low receptionist desk in the room across the corridor.

His gaze zeroed in on the man at the staircase like a crosshair. He could hear the clicking of the magazine but before it could pop into place, Sin appeared in the hallway like the half-second flash of a phantom. Gunshots echoed deafeningly in the hallway as he shot the man at the top of the stairs, got the man who popped up behind the desk and killed two men down the hallway behind him. He ran down the corridor toward Boyd again, ducking in and out of crossfire and the shadows. He was phenomenally quick; his reflexes were triggered almost before he had even identified the danger.

Far ahead of him, he could see Boyd still striding down the hall purposefully, seeming uncaring of the violence erupting around him. Somehow he had managed to avoid any obvious wounds, which Sin could only put down to him wearing the body suit armor that Sin himself forsook.

Sin followed, but the situation became more difficult as the number of hostiles seemed to triple with each one he took out. Pain erupted from his thigh but Sin barely reacted to it as he spun around to take out three more hostiles who had rushed up the hall in quick succession. Looking toward Boyd, he quickly assessed the situation. Although there was gunfire coming from ahead of him, most of the people up there looked to be rookies or new recruits who were hesitant to outright kill; instead, they seemed to be aiming for non-vitals. Even as Sin watched, Boyd was shot in the chest from afar; he jerked from the impact but the bodysuit seemed to have stopped him from receiving any lasting damage. Alarm lights started to flash as a warning, but Boyd jerked his hand up and shot a small box that was huddled against the ceiling near a major junction of hallways. The lights faltered and stopped.

Sin didn't even notice the blood oozing down his own leg as his boots pounded against the tiled floor. He fired quickly and efficiently, killing whoever got in his way and whoever so much as glanced toward Boyd. He was thankful for the lack of skill the recruits showed; it was the only thing saving their asses at the moment since they were completely surrounded and lacking the element of surprise.

Even with all the people Sin had killed, there were more appearing by the second. The situation was rapidly becoming uncontrollable; there were too many hostiles in the compound for him to hold off simultaneously, and too many angles from which they could strike.

If he was killed, there would be no one to watch Boyd's back. Given the way Boyd had been acting, how often he was probably saved only because Sin had managed to take someone out before they could get him, there was very little chance that Boyd would survive.

He ignored another bullet that grazed his cheek, firing automatically and watching as another teenage hostile fell to the floor. Gore and blood spattered the walls, the ceiling, and covered the floor in pools that oozed larger by the second. Dead bodies were littered around like flies swatted from the air, and some of the recruits could be seen running away from the action. People were screaming, a few were crying, and the deafening echo of gunfire created a cacophony of sound. Bullet holes dotted the walls, scattering drywall, insulation and paint flecks around them in a flurry like the snowfall outside.

The barrage of bullets stopped abruptly, the echoes still resounding around them of people crawling over their dead comrades and trying to drag them out of the way. It was unclear what caused the sudden ceasefire but Sin didn't bother to think about it; he took that time to finally catch up to Boyd. He grabbed his arm roughly, yanking him backwards with an angry growl and ignoring the blood that smeared across his fingers from a superficial wound on Boyd's face.

Boyd fell back against Sin's side but then pulled his arm away. His eyes were darting around, and the expression on his face was something that seemed to be a mixture of anger and shock. His face was pale but his eyes burned, and he didn't seem cognizant of the blood of the enemies that had splattered across his form.

There was the sound of footsteps running down the corridor and Sin raised his gun, preparing to fire. He'd almost pulled the trigger when he caught sight of brown hair and a female figure charging towards them, a pistol in her hand at her side. Either the woman was stupid, actually had interest in negotiating, or she had some ridiculous notion that she was going to kill Sin. Whatever the case, she did not pose an immediate threat, and despite her anger, she was probably the one that had called off the fire. She was unmistakably Alexis Denis.

"Some fucking negotiating, kid!" Alexis yelled as she approached.

Boyd's eyes shot over when he saw Alexis approaching. Before Sin could do anything, before Boyd even seemed to give himself the chance to think, his hand jerked up and he shot her in the head.

Sin's face was a study of shock. "You fucking moron," he hissed from between clenched teeth.

He dragged Boyd back the way they'd come, practically carrying him as he heard loud shouting from over his shoulder. The shouting increased in pitch, probably as they found their leader's body, and he could hear people running after them. He couldn't wrap his mind around what had just happened; couldn't comprehend the fact that not only had Boyd just pretty much murdered a woman in cold blood, a woman who held her weapon at her side in a distinct, non-threatening gesture, but he hadn't even attempted to complete any part of the mission.

Boyd moved along with Sin, letting his partner lead him without any resistance. His eyes were jerking around quickly, almost frantically, and the shock Sin had noticed before in his face only seemed more pronounced. Even so, when several of the hostiles were gaining on them, Boyd reached into his pocket and pulled out a detonator with several switches covered by a plastic casing. He pushed up the plastic cover and flipped the switches.

An enormous explosion rocked the compound, followed closely by four others at varying lengths away. The people chasing them suddenly yelled in confusion, breaking apart to go search for the new attack. Although some still followed Sin and Boyd, their numbers were greatly reduced and they were hampered by the dust raining from the ceiling, coating them all.

When Sin and Boyd burst out into the courtyard, they were met with thick black smoke, the burning heat of intense fires, and a sudden, even larger explosion nearly throwing everyone to the ground. The few rebels still running around lost sight of the two in the chaos, and the raining debris and amount of people running everywhere covered their tracks through the snow. A few hostiles looked over at them suddenly and started to shout but Sin noticed them immediately.
Sin shifted, released Boyd and spun around, feet sliding on the snowy ground as he did so. He raised one gun, whipped out the other and fired both simultaneously as he neutralized the remaining threats in their general area. He slammed one gun back in his belt and grabbed Boyd again, not even waiting to see if he would follow on his own.

The confusion caused by the blasts gave them the cover necessary to get out of the compound pretty much unnoticed. The snow had begun to fall heavier, which was annoying since he would now have to worry about leaving tracks outside of where the chaos covered them, but he ignored it and sprinted towards the forest. It was difficult running uphill through the woods with slippery snow, but Sin managed to keep going. Even if they got away before anyone in the compound saw where they were going it was only a matter of time before they noticed the tracks so he tried to waste no time.

By the time they made it to the car, Boyd was reacting just enough to pull the keys out and unlock the doors, dropping into his seat and already turning on the engine before Sin even had a chance to get inside. Boyd waited just long enough for Sin to shut the door behind him and then he was already pulling away, driving quickly in a different direction than they came. He said nothing about his behavior and his expression had shut down aside from slightly widened eyes and fingers that trembled against the steering wheel.

Sin was silent for a long moment, his eyes narrowed and his body completely tense. Half of his face was covered in blood but he didn't notice. His mind was racing as he tried to understand what had just happened.

"Well," he began, his voice a study of quiet rage. "If you want to kill yourself, do it in a more efficient way and stop being an attention whore." He looked over at Boyd, green eyes practically glowing in the darkness.

Boyd watched the road, his eyes narrowing slightly at the comment. He did not reply at first, his expression becoming so closed off that it was impossible to know what he was thinking.

"Understood."

Sin glanced at Boyd again, but he didn't feel the need to say anything more and turned back to the window. The rest of the ride passed in relative silence. They didn't speak again that night, even when they returned to the Agency and went to get their wounds patched up. Neither of them made eye contact, but there was distinct tension between them.  When they were bandaged and able to move, they parted ways without a word.

===

Despite the night passing in growing horror, the next morning Boyd still couldn't comprehend what had happened. It all felt like a bad dream; like a nightmare he just needed to wait long enough to wake up from. He'd spent most of the night curled up on the couch, digging his fingers into his shins and burying his face in his knees, trying to come to grips with what had happened.

He'd killed in cold blood.

It wasn't the first time he'd had to kill on a mission. The first time had been an accident, when he'd meant to incapacitate instead. His aim had been off and he'd watched the man drop from the
gunshot
to the face. He'd watched in shock as the blood sprayed out around him and his body crumpled to the floor. He hadn't had the chance to fully deal with it at the time since it had been in the middle of a fight, but he'd dealt with the guilt afterward.

The knowledge that there was blood on his hands that he could never take back.

He'd thought that was bad enough at the time. He'd felt sick with the understanding that he'd taken a human life, but at least he'd been able to justify it to himself. The man had been aiming a gun at him and had planned to kill him. He'd been able to tell himself it was
self-defense
.

But Alexis...

The anger and shock had lasted him until he'd gotten home but then the guilt and regret had hit him full force. He'd ended up vomiting into the toilet, losing the little food he'd eaten while he'd been waiting anxiously for Sin to arrive at the hotel. Misery and nausea had eclipsed all else and soon tears had tracked down his cheeks as he'd clutched the toilet seat with as much pain as he had the nights he'd been trying to get over Lou's death.

What had he done?

What in the world had he done?

He'd killed people who had planned to negotiate with him. People who had shouted out warnings. And Alexis, known for negotiating, who had held her gun at her side.

He'd murdered them.

The weight of the world felt suffocating on him; blurring the room around him like the tears in his eyes, and everything began to feel more and more hopeless.

He still didn't understand why he'd done it. It was just-- Sin had made him so furious and upset, and on top of everything else that had happened the last month, he'd snapped. He'd thought, if they all knew so much better than him, if they all hated him and his ideas so much, then he'd show them. He'd do it their way. He'd do it Sin's way. He'd go in guns blazing and
prove
to them--

Prove... what, exactly?

That was what he didn't know. He didn't know what he'd been thinking because all his thoughts had left at the idea of Sin hating him. Of not having a second chance. Of not having what they'd had before-- that fragile friendship that he'd somehow so irrevocably managed to destroy.

It was all his fault. Everything was his fault. He'd fucked up so many times and every time he tried to fix it or ignore it, he only fucked up further.

He never should have let the anger overcome him. He never should have let the fear and frustration guide him, and he never should have reacted to the pain at the idea of Sin never wanting him again. Because of stupid mistakes of his. Because one or two things he did that were wrong or ill-advised over-shadowed all the good things he'd struggled to do before then.

Because the night with Thierry, Boyd's valentine status, and the fear born from the aftermath of Lou's murder could wipe away everything else between them. Because it could make all those moments of charged energy dissipate until when Sin looked at Boyd, all Boyd would ever see was impatience and disgust.