Korse’s eyes narrowed into a piercing glare as ahead of him, standing just inside the cell with the door closed over, was Edward, his arm outstretched with a ray gun pointed directly at the exterminator. The pair stared at each other, unblinking and unmoving. Without even a flicker of an eyelid Edward signalled to Gerard to stand behind him. Without a moment’s hesitation, the young boy did just that.

“Are you okay, Gerard?” He finally asked, still in a staring battle with Korse.
“I’m fine,” Gerard replied. His response sounded a little unconvincing, but he at least confirmed that he was not about to collapse with fear or pain. “He’s going to kill me,” he added quietly.
“No, Gerard, he’s not,” Edward replied scowling at the exterminator with contempt. “I’m not going to let him.”
“I knew you were responsible for his disappearance,” Korse spat. “I’ll give you credit for the fact that, until now, I couldn’t prove it.”
“And I knew you were responsible for his first disappearance, the three rebels that held him and where.”

Korse regarded Edward with a grudging respect. The security officer was the best in the business, added to that he was intelligent, discreet and loyal. Too bad he was honest.

“You know, of course,” Korse growled with distaste, “that you’ve just signed your own death warrant?”
“My death warrant was signed a long time ago,” he snapped back. “I’m not going to let you destroy these boys to enable your ego!”
“Ego?” Korse laughed, spreading his arms to imply openness and innocence. “Why, I’m a loyal BLI agent. I have no ego.”
“You’ve killed, maimed and tortured to get where you are and like I said, you will not hurt these boys.”
“Well,” Korse chuckled lightly, “I will do whatever I wish once you are arrested, or better yet, killed. Do you honestly believe you’ll just walk out of here?”

Gerard turned a worried expression up to the stern security officer. Uncertain what preparations Korse had made was worrying enough, but being aware of what the man was capable of only made him feel worse. Gerard’s fears were allayed only when a knowing smirk crept across Edward’s face.

“You really don’t know me very well, do you, Korse? Either that, or after all this time you still don’t appreciate my ability to take precautions.”

Korse offered an indifferent frown which morphed slowly into a sneer and a small shake of his head.

“My dear Edward,” he scoffed, “I believe it’s you who has underestimated me.”
“Are you referring to the team of draculoids waiting in the lobby or the drones in S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W HQ listening in to body mic?”

Korse took a sharp deep breath and stiffened at the man’s words.

“The dracs are gone...”
“They will return, they’re not going to just accept your orders overriding mine.They’ll know something is wrong.”
“My orders?” Edward grinned.

Reaching into his pocket with his left hand, Edward withdrew a small device, he pressed a button, playing a recording in Korse’s own voice.

‘Gerard has been taken by rebels. New orders. Take your squad to tunnel seven; my information is that they will take that route from the city.’

After a brief pause, the recording continued, the following statement allowing for the possibility of any dissenting or uncertainty.

‘Do not question my orders! Just do what you’re told! Tunnel seven, I’ll meet you there.’

Korse nodded, a slight smile on his lips.

“Very good, you’ve been recording me and edited a statement together. It even sounds convincing. But that doesn’t explain how my team aren’t aware of every word we’ve said in here.”
“No, but this does,” Edward replied calmly returning the recording device to his pocket and fishing out a small black cube. “This,” he began turning it in his fingers, “is a similar device to the one I use in the Way’s apartment to prevent anyone listening in to them. You remember I installed it a couple of years ago after a subversive news sheet began quoting statements made either by them or, more usually, by others in their apartment such as yourself. Of course, it overrode your bugs too, which is why you drafted in Petra to watch and listen to everything they said and did. It’s overriding your body mic now.”
“You think you’ve thought of everything,” Korse snapped. “But as soon as the mic stops sending, there will be more draculoids...”
“No,” Edward shook his head, “I know how your body mic works and I’ve had this transmit the ‘switching to private mode’ message since I arrived. Given what you were doing, I imagine you’d already done that, so if you’ve tried to switch back to ‘transmit mode’ it hasn’t worked. Neither will your personal alarm, so you can forget that too.”

Korse offered an expression that was a curious mixture of fury and of being quietly impressed. There was only one option left open to him if he were to salvage anything from the situation.

“Edward, I misjudged you.” He acknowledged. “I haven’t appreciated your talents nearly as much as I should have. Knowing about the basement of City Tower and saying nothing, knowing about the three rebels who had Gerard and again not only saying nothing but giving nothing away. Well, that’s impressive, I have to say. What do you want? What’s your price to hand Gerard back to me?”

Gerard’s brow furrowed at the question; it seemed there were no depths to which Korse wouldn’t stoop. Glancing up, he scoured Edward’s expression desperately looking for any indication of what his response may be. Would he give him up for personal gain as he suspected so many would. Gerard swallowed hard; he had nothing to offer him whilst Korse could give him anything he wanted. His heart began to beat faster as he waited for the security officer’s response, almost feeling faint as the seconds seemed to drag out.

“What I want, you can’t give me,” he eventually spat with contempt.
“Try me,” Korse sneered believing he had found a chink in Edward’s armour.
“How about the lives of my two friends that you mercilessly gunned down as they tried to return Gerard? How about that, Korse!” He snapped in return, each word emerging with increasing bitterness and contempt.

Korse’s gloating sneer turned swiftly into one of disgust as his suspicions were confirmed.

“So!” He replied, anger spilling from the small word. “You are a rebel sympathiser!”
“They are... were my friends and you killed them,” he snarled. “Rebels or not they...”
“They deserved to die!” Korse interrupted, furious and taunting.

Momentarily distracted by the callous statement, Edward closed his eyes for a second. It was enough for Korse to snatch at his gun and level it at the officer. Gerard gasped in horror, grabbing Edward’s arm and dragging him quickly sideways as a laser bolt lit up the room. With a yelp of surprise and pain as the laser seared across the outer side of his upper arm, Edward reset himself quickly and fired a shot of his own.

Gerard was uncertain what he had been aiming for but the laser exploded on the barrel of Korse’s gun causing it to shatter and fly from the exterminator’s hand. Grasping his singed fingers and holding his hand close to his chest, Korse shot a furious glare at his former security officer.

“You want him?” Korse growled. “Take the brat! He’s no use to me any more anyway. But don’t think I won’t hunt you down Edward. I’ll find you and kill you slowly and painfully!”
“Well, good luck with that,” he replied quietly. “You’ll fail at that the same way you failed today, the same way you’ll always fail.”

Gerard glanced up again, frowning deeply. Something felt wrong.

“So what now, Edward? You’re going to kill me?”
“You know what, Korse?” He began with a sigh. “I really should.”
“You don’t have the guts!” Korse snapped in a derisory tone.

Placing the signal disrupter back into his jacket pocket, Edward reached into the inside pocket and pulling out a wired taser and aiming it at the exterminator.

“It’s not about guts,” Edward began again. “It’s not even about deserving it, because for what you’ve done, you do deserve it.”
“Some sort of moral code?” Korse scoffed. “You’ve killed before, don’t pretend you haven’t.”
“No Korse, this is about Gerard. You could have killed him in the desert and you didn’t, even though he saw you kill Vitkovski. You took a big risk bringing him back here and for all your ego, ambition and determination there is something that BLI hasn’t quite driven out of you. So, for whatever that is, I’m not going to kill you.”

Korse glared back, angry, humiliated but ultimately relieved that no one at BLI had heard the exchange. Not only would he be arrested for the murder of Vitkovski, but even if he managed to convince them otherwise, there would always be the seed of doubt about his loyalty to BLI at his inability to murder his nephew. Without a moment more to consider it, Korse first stiffened then shook uncontrollably as the darts flew from the taser and attached to his waistcoat, the electricity flowing through him and unable to stop it. Releasing the trigger, Edward watched as Korse crumpled to the floor, unconscious and unmoving. Throwing the handheld device to the floor, Edward snatched up Korse’s dropped gun and silently ushered Gerard from the room before closing and locking the door behind them. Pulling the signal disrupter from his pocket, he bent to leave it sitting discreetly beside the door. Even if Korse were to wake, unless he could attract the attention of one of the few night staff by shouting, he would remain locked in and unable to communicate with his staff, only being released when someone came to bring Gerard his breakfast in the morning. They would hopefully have a good head start.

“I’m getting you out of here, Gerard,” he finally spoke as they were half way down the corridor, half guiding, half pulling Gerard along with him. “Out to the Zones, you’ll be safe there.”
“No!” Gerard gasped in return, pulling his arm out of Edward’s loose grip. “I’m not leaving Mikey!”
“He’s coming too,” he replied, turning and frowning as he reached for the boy once more.
“No,” Gerard pulled back again. “You can’t just tear him from his home because of...”

Gerard grew suddenly silent as he noticed the grim, even deeply saddened expression on the man’s face.

“He’s ready to leave, so is Frankie,” he sighed. “We’re all leaving. I’m going to look after you as long as I can. We’ll find Dr D and...”
“What’s wrong with you?” Gerard choked out.
“We’ve got to go,” Edward chastised as he reached for Gerard’s arm again. “We don’t have time.”
“No,” Gerard pulled back once more.
“We don’t have...”
“What’s wrong, Edward?” Gerard demanded with tears standing in his eyes.
“I’ve got about four months left, there’s no cure,” Edward took a deep breath as the large droplets of salty water rolled freely from Gerard’s eyes. “I want to make sure you’re safe. You’re special, Gerard, you can make things happen. You’re a born leader and, trust me, people will look to you. Don’t ask me how I know, I just do. All I want to do is make sure you live long enough to make a difference and you won’t if you stay here.”
“Edward... I...” Gerard’s voice was little more than a strangled cry.

Edward choked back his own tears as Gerard closed the gap between them and hugged him tightly, as if his own life depended on it. With his face buried into Edwards chest, it was only the slight shudder in the boy’s slender frame that indicated his deep unhappiness at the news. Within moments Edward felt the dampness of Gerard’s tears soaking his shirt and although he knew they had to leave, the security officer took a few moments to offer Gerard a comforting embrace, smoothing his hair as he shook with unashamed sorrow.

“Hey,” Edward began softly, “come on, I’m still here for now and I have to get you out of here. Mikey and Frankie are waiting for us and we’re not out of the woods yet.”
“I... I’m sorry,” Gerard hiccuped. “I need to grow up fast.”

Edward’s shoulders sagged and he pulled back before dropping to one knee to look Gerard in the face.

“No,” he said firmly but gently. “Never be sorry for having a feeling, no matter what it is. That’s what BLI wants to take away from you and tried to! I’m flattered that you care so much, but it’s one of the reasons you’re so special. Never be sorry for being special.”
“But... B-but I’m crying. Aren’t you embarrassed?”
“If you were laughing about something, should I be embarrassed?” He asked gently, taking hold of both of Gerard’s arms as if to try to show how serious he felt about what he was saying.
“No,” Gerard whispered in return, puzzled as to what point he was making.
“If you were angry and shouting about something, should I be embarrassed?” He asked.
“Well, no,” Gerard replied, beginning to see his point. “But I’m crying.”
“Which is no more or less a valid response to a strong emotion. Gerard if someone reacts negatively to an emotion your feeling, that’s their problem, not yours. Do you understand? Feeling something, anything, is nothing to be ashamed of. Gerard, feel everything and don’t be afraid to show it. Show the world that it’s okay.”

Gerard took in the words, processing them slowly in his mind before nodding silently.

“Come on,” Edward rose to his feet, coaxing Gerard with a gentle tap on his arm. “We gotta go.”

Notes