“How did you know?” said Maitho. He looked across the empty landscape of the underground parking lot. Almost empty. There was one other car parked close to the elevators.
“Ye live alone. Ivery chance ye got, ye wantit tae leave the team. Then thare wis sudden shift in yer behavior. Ye went from bein someone who daes no tak any shite from anyone, tae someone who juist took the beatings without sae much as a resistance,” she snapped her fingers, “juist like that.” She looked outside the window, her face a mask of ponderance. “Ye accepted yer death like it wis nothin. Ah feel as though this wasnae the first time ye thought aboot it.”
Maitho thought back to the time he was in the hospital, before Charon had reached out to him with the offer of becoming a Guardian. As he lay there in the recovery room, a white sheet giving warmth to most of his body and tubes exiting his arm like plastic leeches drawing blood, there was a moment when he had thought that everything had come to an end. After much consideration, he had decided that it was time to put a period at the end of the short sentence of his life.
He hesitated to say anything more, yet he realized that he had already revealed so much to Epona. Pushing against the resistance of his mind, he confessed. “I had thought about it. Before I met Charon.” Epona didn't react. She didn't try to offer false sympathy. She looked at him and gave him space to talk.
For the first time, Maitho saw her in a different light. She always seemed like an ally, someone with whom he needed to form a temporary alliance in order to accomplish a goal. Yet now he noticed that she was genuinely trying to make amends for her past mistakes, especially about the way she had treated him when they first met. He began to wonder what compelled her to react in the manner she had done. Was it peer pressure? Maybe a direct order from Brigid? More than likely.
“You understood me. That's quite perceptive, said Maitho. "Althought when one needs to recognize certain signs in someone, it's definitely easier if one has faced something similar.”
Epona’s eyes lost their focus. For the first time, it seemed as though all the rigid angles of her face smoothened out. It gave the impression that she had finally let go of some control, allowing the true person underneath to surface, even for a little while. Maitho did not disturb the transformation. He allowed her the quiet she more than likely required to arrange her focus.
It didn’t take long for her to speak. But when she did, it sounded like the voice of another person. Epona was quieter, seemingly devoid of her boisterous energy that she had tirelessly displayed since morning. There was a note of sadness in her voice, yet it escaped arm-in-arm with relief. The words poured out of her like she was reciting a tragic story of someone else. “We were in an accident, juist like ye. Except for me. Na, that's no right. Ah wis in the same accident, but tae say that ah endit up here juist like the others is a lie.”
Maitho understood. This was her introduction. She had been wearing the suit of Epona, the loud-mouthed warrior, for so long that it was difficult to step into the shoes of someone more vulnerable and unfastened. So, he waited. He didn’t ask for any clarification. She will provide them in her own time.
He looked at her in the rearview mirror. He wanted to show her that he wasn’t the distracted audience member. Rather, he was encouraging and supportive. He listened. He didn’t want her to feel awkward or frustrated.
“Ah did become a Guardian after the accident,” she continued. “Probably like any other guardian oot thare. But ma life wis in danger long before then. It wis in danger because o me.”
She turned her attention to his eyes in the rearview mirror, finally ready to release that weight she had been holding onto. “It wis either the accident or the large amount o sleepin pills ah haed wi me tae carry oot the job. Ay ah know. No an original idea, but it wasnae as thouch ah wis a bloody professional.” She snorted and Maitho gave a soft smile to show he understood her reaction, but was not going to laugh at her joviality, simply out of respect for her story.
After a quick exhale through the mouth, she said. “It's a crazy shite isnae it? The accident actually savit ma life.”
There was so much Maitho wanted to say, but he chose to apply the power of silence. It felt as though no matter what he said, he would be wasting words to fill up the silence. He had never felt uncomfortable taking a trip down the quieter moments of life, when the sounds were not of speech, but of the environment speaking its own language. After all, he had been living for so long all by himself. The silence was like a constant companion, telling him that even though there was no one, there was always something.
“The team is all ah have,” said Epona. “They dinnae realize it, but they keep ma,” she looked away, “compulsion, from gettin stronger. Juist the fact that we are able tae save lives gives me purpose. Althouch now ah'm beginnin tae doubt whit kynd o lives we have been savin.”
He understood her apprehension. Everything they had discovered lately seemed to change their entire perspective on what it meant to be a Guardian. Yet he knew that if there was one thing they weren't doing wrong, it was their mission. “You may have been tricked, but your intention to save people is still honest.”
He once again looked at the only other car in the parking lot. He wondered if that was another magical vehicle, a different version of Quinn. Wouldn’t that be something delightful? He knew that there never could be enough versions of Quinn in the world.
“Let’s head down,” said Maitho. “Before Brigid decides to come back up here again.”
Epona nodded. “Ay, ah agree.” She stepped out and closed the door behind her gently.
Maitho took a moment to collect himself. Before he could exit the car, he was interrupted by Quinn. “Listen, Maitho dear,” said the car in the voice that should probably belong to a concerned parent. “We should have done better when we approached you.” There was an exhale of breath. Outside, Maitho saw Epona standing near the automatic glass doors. She threw the occasional glance his way, but did nothing to show that she was curious or impatient. “If you want to walk away from this, don’t let us hold you back. You don’t owe us anything. Just know that if you ever need a ride, or a partner to back you up, you just need to let me know. Or if you want to just ride a fancy car. You know, I can transform into practically any vehicle out there.”
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It was at that point that an idea struck Maitho. He didn’t understand why it had happened. But he knew something had to be done at that moment. It wasn’t that he didn’t have an idea already plotted in his head. It was simply that he had found another option to ensure that he covered all tracks.
“Quinn,” said Maitho. “I might need you to do something for me.”
Maitho explained. Quinn listened. When all was said, the two exchanged brief, but friendly farewells.
After exiting the car, Maitho began to head towards the glass doors. He realized that just like his previous visit, he was once again unsure of what fate awaited him. It was odd. He had gotten to know more about the Celtic team’s base, but had come no closer to knowing if he was indeed wholly welcomed by them.
When he stepped into the elevator, Epona commanded the cabin to move to the lowest floor where the security room lay. Maitho was transported to the time when Raiden had first made an appearance at the base. He recollected standing next to Epona, although at that time, the gap between them was filled with the kind of energy that repelled.
At that time, he had barely understood what he had gotten himself into. He still didn’t understand everything, but at least he had a few answers to act as guiding points.
He knew what awaited him in the security room. Brigid would ask him about his powers. He considered the possibility of evading her. Or maybe he could throw in a lie to keep her distracted. He felt his heart racing at the idea that his power would finally be exposed. It didn’t feel right. He felt like he deserved to hold onto something that was truly his.
“Dinnae back away,” said Epona. “It daes no matter whit she says. Dinnae think aboot us. Be wha ye were.”
Be what he was. He wondered if he could walk out of the ooze of self-doubts that was settling in his mind, coating his thoughts with its sweltering presence. He wanted to offer a response. Instead, what he said was a thought that had popped into his head a mere moments ago. "I just want to eat something spicy." He started to feel a little better. "Then maybe have a beer or two, with a friend or two. If I’m going to die, I might as well eat and drink with a few people. Won't change the ending, but at least it'll make the waiting a little bearable.”
When the elevator doors opened, Maitho found himself looking at a familiar hallway. He remembered tackling Epona and Brigid, holding them at gunpoint to ensure that he wasn’t being kidnapped. He wished he had walked away from them in the cafe.
The walk up to the security room seemed to take longer than he remembered. He felt as though he was dragging stone weights by his legs. Each step made him want to take two back. Eventually, all Maitho could focus on was to tell himself to put one foot in front of the other.
Epona reached the door. She looked back at him. “Fight back.”
She opened the door and stepped inside the room. Maitho took one long breath and followed her inside.
Brigid was perched on the edge of the desk in front of the bank of monitors. Her arms were crossed and one corner of her mouth lifted up as soon as Maitho entered the room. He wanted to say something. Rather than wait to respond to her remarks, he wanted to initiate the conversation by going on the offensive.
He truly wanted to.
Rather, he simply walked over to the sofa in the middle of the room, where Bevan was already seated. Maitho threw a quick glance at Epona, who had made her way to the armory wall and was placing the revolver she had used back into its slot. Her eyes met his for the briefest of moments.
Maitho quickly reached into the back of his jeans and pulled out the handgun given to him. Part of what he was doing was to get rid of the weapon, since he won’t be needing it anyway. But the most important part of the reason was to avoid showing Brigid that he had shared a look with her teammate. He didn’t want to put Epona into a tricky situation.
He settled back into the seat and allowed for the inevitable to happen. Bevan simply chose to look at the floor, each of the fingers of one hand tapping on his knees to a different rhythm. Even his foot could not help but drum on the soft carpet.
Even though it was distracting, Maitho didn’t ask the man to stop.
“I don’t think we connected really well when we first met,” said Brigid finally, pushing herself off the desk and making her way to the empty seat opposite Maitho. She balanced herself on the armrest, crossing her legs.
“I still don’t think we are connecting,” said Matiho.
“Which is something you should change, correct?”
Maitho noted the use of you instead of we. Rather than allow his mind to focus on that aspect, he looked into Brigid’s eyes. The words were at the tip of his tongue. They were something along the lines of “I guess you are going to tell me how”. They felt appropriate for the moment.
Instead, what came out was, “What do I do?”
The satisfaction that appeared on Brigid’s face was both forcefully obvious and obviously belittling. Maitho had once been immune to its effects. He could have just as easily shrugged it off. His rebuttals would have been twice as scathing as whatever insult thrown his way. He could not believe that within the span of just a day, he was becoming vulnerable to Brigid’s words.
The Celtic team leader leaned back, the marks of victory spreading across her face. “Firstly, you are, under no circumstances, to engage in any trivial conversations with my team. You are here to assist us. I don’t want them influenced by your agenda.”
The words “I don’t have one” swam to the surface of Maitho’s mind and just as quickly, sunk to its depths, as though something underneath had pulled it away. “Anything else?” he asked. He didn't need to see Epona's face to know that she would probably be disappointed.
Brigid held up a finger. There was no need for her to tell him to shut up, but it was a show of power. “Keep a close eye on him, Epona.” She turned to Bevan. “I know this is difficult, but you need to know that we, the three of us, come first. We what we have been through. We know how to heal our wounds are bolster our strength. We understand how to show us the care and,” her features softened, “love that others cannot.”
Bevan adjusted in his seat, his smile appearing and leaving his face like a faulty lightbulb. He pulled down his shirt, slid his palm along his jeans, and pinched his nose, all in the vain attempt to give himself more time to respond. Maitho knew it was no use. “Understood, Brigid,” said Bevan. This time, the smile managed to stay for a few seconds longer before the man found a sudden interest in the monitors.
“Fantastic,” said Brigid. “We come to the matter at hand. Tell me everything about your powers. Best not to hide the little details.”