Helen sighed into her glass of wine as she watched her old coworkers empty out the room that was once her livelihood. “That’s what happens when you get fired though…” she told herself as she took another sip of wine. Part of her heart broke at the loss of a job she truly loved, but her broken heart was occupied by the loss of both her daughter and her husband. Morrigan had disappeared the day she tries to escape the city with Torvil, whereas James had been arrested for aiding and abetting terrorist activity. At least, that is what the official reports said.
Helen only wanted to speak to James though; however, according to Jennifer , any one who aided terrorism got labeled a terrorist and a traitor. Which, by rule of thumb, Jen was now a traitorous terrorist as well. That meant James, Rigo and Jen all lost their civilian rights; they were now seen as animals merely to be put down.
Helen smirked sadly at the thought, “if anyone were to turn terrorist, it was certainly Jen.” Her obscure, psychotic and endearing relationship with the woman took a bit of the sting out of the situation as she watched the last of her computer equipment being carried out to the SUV the agents arrived in.
The agent who had been dealing with her stood across the island stoically, waiting for her attention to divert to him. Helen polished off the rest of her wine with an eye-roll. As she set the glass down she glared at him, her eyes demanding him to make his request already. The man dipped his chin in discomfort, “your phone ma’am.” Though she made no notion of it, panic settled in her spine for a moment before she remembered that the Federation gave her a work phone and was technically Federation property.
She cracked an smile as she bobbed her head in understanding, “ah, right.” Helen turned and reached into a drawer next to the sink. She nonchalantly tossed the cellphone over her shoulder. She heard the agent catch the phone behind her and grunt. A small smile creeped across her face as she knew he saw the screen was cracked so badly that it looked like a spider’s nest as well as the metal backing protruding outwards. In a fit of anger she had smashed the phone repeatedly against the edge of the counter upon her umpteenth time being told she was not allowed to speak to her husband or know the status of his pending trial.
The agent hummed inquisitively rather than openly question the condition of the phone as the rest of his retinue stepped back into the kitchen and living room. Helen snorted as she leaned over the sink, “I got fed up with not getting answers about my husband.”
The agent grunted in affirmation. Being an intelligence agent, she knew he was well aware of the situation. Despite her detesting the Federation, Helen could not ignore the loose sense of family between agents. She had many fellow colleagues she still respected and would miss dearly. So she understood the hard position the three men in her house were in.
“There is still the matter of… the access point Mrs. Clarke,” the man said reluctantly. She could hear the remorse in his voice and the simmering fury she kept under lock and key began to dwindle.
Helen hung her head with a heavy sigh. As much as she wanted to take her frustration out on them, she knew it was not fair. Her qualms were with the higher tier of agency within the Federation, not the men and women who did all the foot work. “Upstairs… second door on the left on the dresser.”
One of the agents started up the stairs immediately. She could hear the man enter her room as the other two agents stepped around the island. Helen turned to see the sadness in their eyes. “We are truly sorry to see this happen Helen… you are a great operator,” the man told her. She nodded in appreciation as she brushed the hair out of her eyes. She knew they could see the torrent of emotions swirling in her eyes. There was so much she wanted to say, so much she wanted to scream and rave about, but she could not find the words to match her emotions. The only thing that her emotions could muster were the tears that welled up in her eyes and toyed with the idea of falling.
The third agent made his way back into the fold from her bedroom, carrying the router underneath his arm. The three men gave Helen a long salute in silent respect for their now former colleague. For Helen it was bittersweet. She no longer had ties to the Federation that tore her family apart, but at the same time she lost her network of distant work family.
As she lifted her arm to return their respect, a ringtone from a phone chimed through the silence, followed by the thud of movement. Helen’s eyes widened as she froze, watching one agent spin with a pistol drawn and the other agent dropped the router on the ground to mimic his partner. The agent who had been the one to speak her watched her intently as the sound of movement ended as the ringtone of Helen's secret phone silenced. His expression told her that he had read her reaction correctly; she was hiding something.
Both of the agents moved closer to the wall underneath the stairs, close enough to notice nearly seamless door built into the wall. “Sir, hidden room!” one of the agents called out before moving directly in front of the door.
The man pointed at Helen, silently demanding her to not move as he drew his service pistol. He stepped over to her right to keep both her and the door within his peripheral before ordering them to open the secret room. The agent in front of the door looked at his partner to his right who held up a flashlight underneath his pistol and nodded before fumbling with the door trying to figure out how to open it. Helen kept the half of her that could be seen frozen as she inched her left arm towards the butcher’s block next to her.
The agent finally gave up trying to pry the door open with his fingernails when he heard more movement within the room. His next attempt was to push on the wall which sunk in slightly before gently springing back an inch. With another nod to his partner, he gripped the edge of the wall as they readied themselves for whatever was inside.
Everything happened simultaneously. As the agent pulled the door open, a large blade flew out from the opening space to impale the agent to the right of the door. The door continued to forcefully open as Jen slammed the door into the agent who let out a surprised yelp. Torvil took advantage of his surprise blade, tackling the agent he stabbed to the ground and wretched the blade from the man’s stomach and driving it upwards into the man’s chest. Jen had slammed the hidden door into the other agent, throwing him into the wall behind him as she drew her own knife and repeatedly stabbed the man in the chest before he could recover or squeeze a round off at either of them.
As Jen and Torvil’s assault happened, Helen swiped a kitchen knife from the butcher’s block and adeptly tossed it into her right hand. Before the agent next to her could react, she drove the blade backwards into his stomach doubling him over. Using her free hand, she gripped his hair and yanked his head up enough to expose his neck as she pulled her knife from his abdomen and skillfully drew her arm back. As the edge sliced through flesh, arterial blood splashed across her arm and dress. Helen watched the man collapse and struggle to breath as he bled out in seconds, his fading haze set on her gore covered visage.
Everyone let out a stressed breath as the panic settled. Helen looked down her side and arm, the bloody knife dripping blood onto the floor. “God damn it…” she said with restrained anxiety as she tossed the bloody weapon into the sink and began scrubbing her hand and arm. Torvil let out a vexed sigh as he straddled the body of the dead agent he killed and pulled out Helen’s cellphone.
Redialing the number, he started his simmering rant, “that was the worst possible time for you to call. Arag m’aen chwaede! We now have three dead Federation operatives and it’s only a matter of time until…” Torvil trailed off as heard his sister’s choked breath over the line. “Mo'Emori… what is wrong?”
His question caught the attention of Jen and Helen. Jen's eyes went wide in suspected horror. She and Torvil had spent a lot of time together over the months hiding in her friend’s home. She had pried Torvil’s history out of him in that time, including information about his family and knew if something was wrong with Mo’Emori, the situation was probably dire.
“Sister?” he asked again as he heard his younger sister begin to sob on the other end. His worried glanced shifted to Jen as she shifted next to him and tried to listen. Torvil switched the call to speaker phone and Mo’Emori's sobs echoed through the silent house. Torvil looker between Jen and Helen, his face twisted into uncomfortable uncertainty as Mo'Emori’s unintelligible effort to say something came over the speaker. He had never heard his sister under such emotional turmoil and had no idea what to do about it. Anger he could handle, but he has never heard his sister so sad.
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Hearing the suspected young woman's cries caused Helen’s maternal instincts to kick in. Stepping across the kitchen she firmly grabbed the phone out of Torvil’s hand and took a seat at the kitchen island as she set the phone on its surface. Jen immediately followed leaving Torvil in his confused stupor. “Mo’Emori sweetie, its Helen, Morrigan's mom,” she announced in the way of a concerned mother. She could hear the Eskarii’s crying break at the recognition of who she was.
“No…my brawder… I need…” Mo'Emori tried to conjugate through her broken sobs. Helen glanced at Torvil to see him urging her to continue talking to his sister as he stepped over the body towards the island, returning his knife to its sheath.
“Your brother is here honey. You’re on speaker. Just take a deep breath and tell us what’s going on.”
“I-I'm s-sorry…” she responded before taking several deep breaths to try and rein in her emotions.
“Yes, tell us who has done wrong and I will hunt them down my chwaede,” Torvil affirmed. They could hear a choked smile between breaths from Mo’Emori. His sister had always appreciated her brother’s overprotectiveness and it even made Jen and Helen smile as well.
“I was so close… so close to finding your husband Mrs. Clarke… so close but…then we lost a relay and… I just…” she started after a final deep breath only for the emotions to come flooding back. Her words were strained and only trailed off into formless noise as her tears began to fall again.
Helen's heart ached at that. Not only to have lost the opportunity to find James but to also hear the emotional toll it took on a woman she had only heard about from her daughter. With how often Morrigan spoke of the Eskarii, Helen felt more akin to her than she had expected. She could hear the effort Mo’Emori poured into helping her family even though the woman owed them nothing. “It’s okay sweetie, I understand. These things happen but I want you to know how much I appreciate your effort.”
Mo’Emori sniffled, “Mrs. Clarke I…“ However, Helen cut her off.
“Please, call me Helen. With how often Morrigan spoke of you, you may as well be family,” Helen said heartily to try and raise the woman's emotions. Torvil scoffed which earned him a smack from Jen.
“Why did you hit me?” he asked. Jen merely raised her eyebrow challenging him to reconsider being offended.
“Your brother seems to not like that notion,” Helen said with a laugh, steering the conversation to a lighter tone.
Helen smiled as she heard the girl chuckle lightly through a sniffle. “Torvil will have to get over it,” she stated in slight amusement.
Torvil snorted at that which earned him consecutive slaps from Jen. “Stop bein such a dick and let your sister have more family!” Jen playfully scolded him.
“Who is that?” Mo'Emori asked. Her curiosity pulling her out of her sadness.
“That's Jen, essentially Mori’s aunt,” Helen answered.
“Hey girlie! She’s right, I’m the crazy aunt and also uh…” she paused briefly to eye Torvil, “friends, with your brother.” Jen may have been impulsive and did not believe in boundaries however, she knew better than to mention that her and Torvil had been sleeping with each other on the first meeting. Common courtesy and all.
Mo'Emori snorted at that, “my brawder doesn’t do friends.”
“Hey!” Torvil exclaimed in defense.
“Torvil… Ti eichun sylfaen un cy’mar?” Mo'Emori asked in their native tongue.
Helen and Jen watched as Torvil turned various shades of pink and red. “Y’no am dim’nyr chi’n syr’ad, nid ddim chi’n syr’ad h’yn yn!” He responded rapidly. Jen shot Helen an amused smirk when Helen smirked.
“You know I understood most of that right?” Helen asked. Part of her job had been translating Eskarii intel which gave her enough experience to pick up the gist of the language.
“Pah’sk…” Torvil cursed in defeat as all three women began laughing.
“It is lovely to meet you Jen, I hope my brawder has behaved himself,” Mo'Emori said genuinely.
Jen only laughed at that aware of the slight heat to her cheeks. “Don’t worry…I make sure to keep him in line!” Jen could not help but stir up a little trouble. It was her nature after all. Helen laughed as Torvil rolled his eyes and grumbled under his breath at how all the females in his life were against him.
“I'm sure we will have plenty of stories to share when we all meet officially. Between me and Jen you will get loads of stories about Morrigan as well.”
Jen chuckled at that, “Helen's totally right! I got so many stories about Little Clarke it will drive her insane with embarrassment!”
The mention of a chance to hear about Morrigan sent Mo’Emori into a spiral of sadness. “I would like…” her voice broke as the tears came back stronger. “I can’t…I’m so sorry!” She exclaimed before bursting into tears.
The sudden shift in emotions shocked all three of them as they looked at each other in surprise. There was a subtle fear began to rise in Helen as she tried for focus on the Eskarii woman bawling her eyes out over the phone.
“What do you mean hun…”
Mo'Emori could not bring her emotions under control long enough to try replying. Helen’s fear began to take hold as her own tears started to well in her eyes.
However, Torvil took the lead as he watched everyone’s emotions shift negatively. “Mo'Emori, what is going on?” he demanded.
Despite her struggle, his sister forced herself to reply. “I can’t, I have not stopped looking for Mori! I have not…been able to find her…oh Mori…I’m so sorry!” Jen looked sullen by that while Helen cover her mouth trying to stem her own emotions, a single tear rolling down her cheek as they listened to Torvil’s sister breakdown in guilt-leaden despair over not being able to find Morrigan.
“Do not shed tears chwaede, I am quite sure the young swy’nwr is fine,” Torvil stated firmly. Both ladies looked at him as he listened to his sister intently. “She is resourceful and strong willed. There is no reason to worry for her well being.”
“He’s right. Mori is a little bad ass,” Jen chimed in as she perked up. “I can guarantee she’s giving everybody the most difficult time and kicking ass no matter where she is.” Pride resonated in her words.
A small chuckle slipped from both Helen and Mo’Emori at Jen’s words. “They’re right, my daughter is not one to fall to her knees in the face of danger or shy away for any hardship. It will come down to whether we find her first or she finds us. So please don’t be so hard on yourself honey,” Helen told the young Eskarii.
“Okay…thank you,” Mo’Emori said softly. It was the first time Helen picked up the exhaustion in her voice.
“Sweetie, when is the last time you slept?” she inquired.
“I… I’m not sure.” Mo’Emori’s voice carrying the weight of endless days of nonstop searching. By Jen and Torvil’s frowns, Helen could see they picked up on it as well.
“Listen hun, you need to go and get some rest. Being up this long isn’t good for you,” Helen said, letting her motherly tone seep through.
“But…”
“No buts missy, I don’t think you understand how upset Mori would be if she knew you weren’t taking care of yourself, ” she said before looking around the kitchen in thought. Jen and Torvil watched her with quirked eyebrows as she scrutinized the bodies around them as well as do some quick mental calculations before she continued, “why don’t you give me your address then hop off for some well deserved sleep?”
It was Jen and Torvil’s time to scrutinize Helen with curiosity. “My address?” Mo’Emori asked in a exhaustion addled fog.
Helen smiled about her plan, “Yes hun. We’re compromised here so you can spend the next day getting sleep and rest, so when we get there we can all work together and see who we can find.” Jen looked shocked as her friend gave her an affirmative nod while Torvil gave Helen a smirk of approval.
There was a momentary pause as Mo’Emori’s mind caught up with what was said. “Okay mem,” she said through an amused yawn before the tapping of her nails on her phone screen. Helen and Jen heard the Eskarii say ma’am however, Torvil heard what his sister really said which caught him in a surprised, choking caught that earned him questioning glances.
Mo’Emori's sort chuckle could be heard in the background as Torvil hissed his displeasure, “chi'ä!”
Before anyone could question the sibling interaction, the phone vibrated on the counter. She picked up the phone to look at the address, “a mile outside of downtown, not bad. Alright Mo’Emori, we’re going to get things settled here and head your way. So, I better see you well rested in the next 24 hours.”
Mo’Emori hummed her amusement lazily, “okay. I’ll see you soon. Oh, and Torvil?”
“Yes chwaede?”
“Behave yourself!” She exclaimed in tired excitement before ending the call. Torvil clicked his tongue and shook his head. Jen on the other hand, started laughing heartily.
“She's a brat, I like her already!”
The Eskarii just rolled his eyes in mock frustration, “it’s bad enough the young swyn'wyr is infatuated with my sister.”
That comment made Helen snort which garnered his attention. “She is far more than infatuated, believe me.”
Torvil cocked his head to the side, “how do you know this?”
Helen merely smiled sweetly at him. After a second to think about it, it registered in his brain. “Ah, no greater wisdom than that of a mother.”
“Oh look, I found myself a smart one!” Jen snickered.
Helen nodded and stepped off the stool. “You two start packing whatever you think we need in the next 24 hours, I’m going to try and get us a ride,” she ordered. Both of her partners in crime now, nodded and got busy while she made her phone call.