Thursday March, 2029

Michael jumped down after Ella, who immediately went up to Jack and started to work out details of a plan. Her body was rigid, her shoulders back and head held high.

He heard Daniel jump down behind him and sidestepped hurriedly when Daniel pushed by him, their shoulders connecting painfully. When he realized what was happening, Michael chased after him.

"Alright, here's what I-" Carver began but Michael stopped hearing his voice when Ella diverted her attention to her left, where Daniel was coming up from.

She reached out just as Michael had, her fingers grazing his leather jacket but it wasn't enough to get a hold of.

"... so then Danny and I--" Carver was cut short by Daniel's fist connecting with his jaw.

"Daniel stop!" Ella lunged forward to grab him but he dodged her efforts and continued to fight with Carver.

Ella dropped back and watched as the two swung years of repressed hatred through clenched fists and powerful kicks. "Damn."

"This is hardly productive." Michael commented as he came up beside her, his arms crossed against his chest.

"It might be." she replied begrudgingly. "They have a lot to talk about."

He indicated to them with an open palm. "This isn't 'talking'!"

Daniel landed a blow to Carver's chest but it wasn't enough to knock him off his feet. Carver came back with a solid punch to the abdomen followed by a dizzying blow to the side of the face. When Daniel recovered, he kept his body bent at the waist as he charged forward into Carver. They both went flying off the side of the road and into a ditch.

"No. No, it's not." Ella finally replied, sighing heavily.

Michael led the way to the side of the street to look down the hill. A trail of brown grass in contrast to the white of the heavy snow showed evidence to where they had tumbled. At the bottom of the ditch was standing water under a thin layer of ice. The two men wrestled in it. Brown, murky water splashed with each movement as Daniel and Carver attempted to kill one another.

"Are you really not going to do anything about it?" Michael asked, slightly concerned.

When she didn't respond, he looked over at her and narrowed his eyes. She looked vacant. Shut-down. Almost as if she were a computer on standby mode. Her eyes barely flicked back and forth to follow their tossing bodies.

"Ella?" he called, his hand hovering over her shoulder. She snapped her head up and he dropped his hand away from her. However, she didn't acknowledge him, but seemed to respond to the fight below.

Daniel was now straddling Carver, who was barely able to hold his head above the icy water, and was punching him relentlessly.

Before Michael could say anything to her or yell at the two men, she was sliding down the side of the ditch.

"Daniel, Daniel! Daniel, stop!" she cried and came to halt by slamming, unintentionally, into his side.

He faltered but landed another two punches while she tugged at his jacket and left arm, in an attempt to relieve some of the pressure off of Carver's chest.

"Daniel!!"

Michael hated hearing her so desperate. That word, 'desperate', wasn't in her vocabulary for as long as he'd known her. Her voice was hoarse and shrill. He wanted to go down with her but wasn't certain he could help. If Daniel wouldn't relent to Ella, he wouldn't relent to him.

"Daniel," she wrapped her arms around his and pulled with all her might. Ella feet slipped slightly in her effort and landed on her behind, her hands going out to keep from falling to her back. The deep puddle water splashed all around her. She was soaked head to toe like the men in front of her.

Michael turned away and walked over to the cart, grabbing at one of the three shackles and unlocking it with the keys he still had. Once the shackles were in his posession he looped the keys around his belt loop and ran back over to the edge of the highway. He peered over the median and down the hill to where the three of them continued to wrestle in the murky, icy, water.

Carver was still struggling to get the upper hand on Daniel. His legs flailed, splashing water with each kick, in an effort to get them under Daniel's body to lift off. His arms shot up and pushed against Daniel's chest and face. With each attempt to free himself, he left himself open to another of Daniel's relentless punches.

Ella threw herself at Daniel, her shoulder colliding at his side - into his ribs - and pushed him off with the weight of her body. Her little stature still carried a heavy with all her muscle and strength.

They landed in a heap on the opposite side of the trench, Ella ontop of Daniel. Carver sat up and coughed slightly, his hand rubbing his bruising neck. As Carver gained his footing, he spit a wad of ditch water and blood into the snow- staining it a brownish red.

Daniel and Ella shoved away from one another and also stood. When he went to re-engage with Carver, Ella stumbled into his path and pushed him back. Her right hand over his heart and her left pushing on his arm, she tried to get words through to him.

"Daniel, Daniel, please, stop!"

He looked down at her, his nostrils flaring his lower lip quivering with lack of self-control. "So when there's something that effects everyone, you curl into a ball and cry, but if it has to do with my personal mission, you're all of sudden back to normal- inserting yourself into my life?!"

Ella swallowed thickly, her eyes fluttering. "Daniel-"

"No, no! Shut up!" He shoved passed her and ran after Carver who was halfway up the hill to the highway.

Michael met Carver at the top and grabbed ahold of his arm and immediately slapped the shackled on his right wrist and shoved him against the cart, shackling the other cuff to the bar on the side.

With Carver restrained, Daniel topped the hill with two large steps and immediately clenched his hands into muddy fists. He was trembling out of control. Before Michael could step in the way, Ella raced forward, her hair caked to the sides of her face and her forehead.

Soaking wet and covered in mud, Ella forced her way in front of Daniel and pushed back. "Daniel stop! For your own sake, stop! Please!"

"What- why?! Why is it so important to you? You have no idea- he slaughtered hundreds of people. People I swore to protect- that he swore to protect! He burned the city to the ground. The people couldn't escape the walls of the city! Do you know what that's like? To hear the sound of a hundred cries... men, women, and children... people-" his breath hitched and he looked away from Ella. His gaze was intense, tears brimmed his eyes. He blinked them away and looked back at her. "people who trusted me to keep them safe with those walls and it's what killed them. When I finally tracked him down? He killed his brothers. Ordered their deaths like they were nothing. Then did it all again. Sioux City- destroyed."

Michael felt goosebumps as he listened to Daniel's strained confession. It was the brief version, he could tell. Still, the words of Carver's crimes against humanity was enough to make him shudder just being so close to him. Children? He couldn't imagine that kind of horror of a whole city of people.

"You have no idea." Daniel finished, looking back down at Ella with desperate eyes.

She sniffled, Michael couldn't be sure if it was of raw emotion or from the drenching cold. "Daniel..."

"You gotta let me do this. He doesn't deserve to live." he pleaded.

"I'm not saying he does." she conceded but stopped him, when he moved to step around her, with a hand over his heart. "Daniel, he doesn't deserve to live. But he has information about a threat much greater than you or I imagined- a threat much bigger than him."

"Bishop."

"Daniel, please..." She looked over her shoulder at Carver who was barely managing to stand up straight.

Michael looked at him with her, wincing slightly. Carver's arm hung limply at the side of the carriage. He leaned against it heavily, unable to lock his knees. Blood dripped from his nose and the side of his mouth- as though on cue, Carver shot a wad of blood out from between his lips.

When she looked back to Daniel she lowered her voice, "I promise, killing him now will not change anything." She held up a finger when he opened his mouth to argue. "He has valuable information on the movement of the Ousia and we need to find Rebecca. If the Ousia are back that has to be priority. For now."

Michael watched Daniel's expressions change so rapidly he thought the mans face might crack open. The internal conflict within Daniel was excruciating to watch even to him- he could imagine how empathetic Ella was right now.

He ran his hand through his hair and grunted, backing away from Ella's hand. Daniel turned away and then back again, stepping closer to Carver. Then back again. He pivoted once more before groaning- an agonizing sound from deep in his chest. Finally, Daniel walked away; crossing over the four lane highway to stand at the tree line, as far away as he could be from them without crossing the median or walking into the forest.

From where they stood beside the carts, beyond the abandoned cars, Daniel stood with his hands on his hips. His shoulders hunched and head hung low.

Michael looked at Daniel's distant form to Ella's dejected posture, then to Carver who looked less disheveled. The man had pulled himself to stand up straight and wiped away the blood from under his nose.

"Ella..." Carver started.

"Shut the hell up!" She shouted and pointed back at him without looking.

Carver slammed his lips together and looked to Michael briefly who just shook his head.

She watched Daniel a moment longer before walking over to him.

Michael watched on cautiously. As soon as she joined beside Daniel, they started arguing. She crossed her arms against her chest while she listened to him yell, his arms waving around them wildly. When he would finish an argument she would retort with just as manic arm gestures. It repeated several times, their words lost to the wind and muting snow around them.

"That's a nice shiner there..." Carver broke the silence between the two of them. "She give him that?"

"No, but if you want, I can give you one to match. Oh wait, Daniel took care of that for you." Michael replied without looking away from the two fighting.

He was still trying to read their lips when Carver spoke up again; "How long have they known each other?"

"Pretty sure she told you to shut up." Michael replied dryly, narrowing his eyes in an attempt to see them more clearly before finally relenting and asking; 'why'.

"They're like an old married couple. I've never seen him act that way with someone before."

Michael looked at him, confused, his brow heavily set over his eyes and lips forming a tight line. "What are you talking about?"

"Danny isn't exactly the 'listening type'." Carver sighed heavily when Michael didn't seem to catch on. "Look at him."

They both turned to watch. Daniel was leaning back on his heels, his arms crossed against his chest as he looked down on her while she gestured at him while simultaneously pointing angrily in Carver's direction.

"That is not something Danny does. Listen to a different person's argument? Nah. Takes years for him to care about someone else's opinion." He paused and leaned against the carriage again, "So, how long?"

Without looking back at Carver, his eyes still fixated on the other two as their roles switched, Michael replied, "Three days. If that."

Carver guffawed. "He's more likely to storm off!"

"He did." Michael blurted.

Ella was listening to Daniel shout his retort, her hands on her hips. Daniel's arms cut through the air and gestured wildly in all directions. Their words were lost to the howling wind.

"He did... then came back??" Carver chuckled to himself and wiped at his bloody nose. "He must really like something about her."

Michael shook his head and hand dismissively. "No, he- it was a coincidence." he rationalized, completely aware of the fact he was being a complete hypocrite in regards to his previous argument on the subject with Daniel only hours ago.

"Uh-huh. It has nothing to do with your precious little Kallitéchnis tou Katastrofí..."

Michael whipped around and went nose to nose with Carver. "What did you just call her?"

"Kallitéchnis tou Katastrofí, the Artist of Destruction. It's what the Ousia call her."

"Why- what- when- why... why are the Ousia calling her anything?!"

"Uh," Carver sniffed and winced slightly at the pain. "She started the war that cost the Ousia a lot more than some lost troops. But now they have the chance to kill her."

Michael was in shock, his mouth agape and eyes blinking rapidly.

"The Waystation that has her panties all in a bunch? Wasn't me, I wasn't even near there. I've been in New York the last few weeks." He cleared his throat and tried to readjust the cuff on his wrist. "She was supposed to be there and everyone else was collateral in order to make it seem like a random terrorist attack."

"Why are they trying to kill her? How do you know this??"

"Well, when you're the patsy for a supreme race, you kinda need to know these things." He ran his fingers through his hair. "As for why; she's a threat. When the Waystation failed and the Elites found out they sent a group, armed to the teeth, to assassinate her. Turns out she ran into Danny and they... managed. obviously."

"Why her!" Michael was losing patience. In order to get the information faster, he grabbed the front of Carver's jacket and slammed him into the side of the cart.

Carver took a deep breath but winced and wrapped his arm around his chest. "I think Danny may have broken a rib-"

Michael slammed Carver into the side of the cart again, "It's Daniel, and I swear to God I'll kill you before he gets a chance to of you don't start giving me answers!"

"Alright, alright!" Carver glanced over the side of the cart to get a look at Daniel and Ella- Michael followed his gaze and also watched as the two continued to argue passionately. "The Waystation was a Huijari attack but it goes higher than them."

"Higher?"

"Yeah, think of the Huijari as the... as the Stormtroopers. The reinforcements are called Elites... they're like Darth Vader- a lot of him. The order for the Waystation was from higher up. From the Emperor- whoever he is."

"Why the Waystation, why do the Ousia care?"

"It was supposed to be a red herring. Ella was supposed to be there- she was supposed to be killed and the by killing the rest it would look like a terrorist attack."

Michael was tired of going in circles and shook Carver slightly, his hands still balled in Carver's jacket. "Why do they want to... kill Ella?" He tripped over the word, watching to make sure she wasn't around to hear it.

"You should be asking why they're willing to cover it up. She's the Kallitéchnis tou Katastrofí but they can't just 'kill her'. She has people from within that demand her protection."

"Who?" He pressed for more information. "Quit being so... cryptic!"

"I don't know!" Carver raised his free hand in surrender, turning his head slightly to avoid direct eye contact. "Just be glad they're around. Otherwise she'd be long gone. Not that they're not trying..."

"She's trying to help you, and you talk about her like she's nothing!"

"She brought this mess on us! She is nothing." Carver negated. "If she can't get Rebecca back-"

Michael held him closer, their noses almost touching. "Don't you dare threaten her."

"Or what?"

"Alright, here's the deal, Asshole." Daniel's voice interrupted their conversation. Both Daniel and Ella stood beside the other two with their hands on their hips.

Michael immediately released Carver and stepped away.

"We're going back to Stockbridge." Ella finished, looking between the three of them.

"Do we have a plan?" Michael asked, swallowing thickly. Ella looked completely oblivious to his previous conversation and he couldn't tell if that made him relieved or more anxious.

"Yeah," Daniel replied gruffly, glaring at Carver as he spoke, "we have a plan."

O.o.O.o

"What happened to Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum?" Daniel asked roughly, pulling his horse to a halt when he came up beside Ella. They both were before the iron gate to Stockbridge Manor, the two guards from before were not present, and the estate looked abandoned from the outside. The iron gate was ajar and creeked eerily as it swung in the bitter winds.

"I don't know. I don't like it." Ella responded without looking over to Daniel.

"Well, there's a lot about this that I don't like. You don't see me complaining."

"For once." she replied haughtily.

He made a sound deep in his throat, like he was clearing it while laughing. "Alright, let's just get this over with."

"It may not go the way we planned." She said honestly.

"Has anything we've done in the last few days gone according to plan?"

She paused and Daniel smirked to himself before urging his horse on, disallowing a response from her.

The courtyard was vacant and papers blew in the wind and caught on various shrubberies and hedges. As they trotted up to the front of the mansion they realized that it wasn't just the gate that was left open but the double door entry into the house as well.

"Should we knock?" He asked as they walked up the front steps of the porch, leaving their horses tied to the post.

"It doesn't look like there was an attack..."

"No, they just got the hell out of dodge."

"but why?"

"Why are you asking me? They're your people."

"No. No they're not." She replied sullenly and Daniel internally cringed. Of course they weren't her people anymore. They'd been replaced. The people running this manor were no more than replacements. An illusion of the company that once resided there. It was a ghost town then but it was now a step below that.

The door creaked ominously in the empty house, accompanied only by the howling winds outside, as they stepped through the threshold. Once they'd stepped inside, the doors slammed closed behind them, blown shut by the draft from inside and the vaccuum of the wind behind them.

Mere hours ago, the house bustled with frantic agents, murmurs of hushed conversations, and the roaring of multiple fires within hearths around the estate. Now it was so empty it left a ringing in Daniel's ears. The fireplaces had been snuffed of their fires, though the embers still glowed a red orange and smoke still billowed from pockets in the partially burned logs. Wisps of burnt papers floated in the air from the chimney. Full journals smoked and fizzled deep within the hearths.

"They destroyed everything." Daniel stated, breaking the ominous silence that hung between them.

"Maybe not, I'm going to check upstairs in Roan's office."

"And what? Hope they left a map to where they were heading?" He called after her as she started to ascend the stairs.

She refused to dignify his comment with a response.

Daniel sighed heavily, shaking his head. He looked around the foyer one last time before moving back into the main area where they'd had all the maps, mission logs, and company journals. The place was a wreck. He was amazed they hadn't burned the whole mansion down.

The hardwood floor was littered with torn and crumpled papers. Entire books were torn in halves and strewn about the room. Broken chairs had been used to demolish tables and separating curtains. The parallel fireplaces on either side of the former ballroom appeared to have vomited embers of what remained of maps and binders. If the Huijari had shredders they would have been jammed so much it would have stalled. For all this to have happened and then the place abandoned as quickly as this was done, the Huijari group must have started to moment the door closed behind them to escort back to Maryland.

He walked over to a pile of papers stacked in front of the fireplace. They were drenched with liquid. He knelt in front of the stack, balancing on his toes, and picked at one sheet gingerly- between his thumb and index finger. The paper disintegrated at his touch. He dropped it and then sniffed his fingers. Gas.

Gas was different from the oil they used to light their lanterns in today's society. The oil was typically made by botanists from various plants. Gas was fossil fuel. Fossil fuel had been banned and were inaccessible for years before the war. During the war no one was able to access it due to the Huijari choke points. By the time the war ended, human ability to find it had become science fiction. It had been so depleted by the time Ousia arrived. That once machinery was inept and fraking amoungst other means had been made impossible, gasoline had become extinct.

"Where did you come from?" He mused aloud and looked over his shoulder in search of the source or other pires doused in it.

He stood up and walked over to a table- the only one still standing, likely only due to its massive size and weight. It was a large round table- comparable to Arthur's knight's table. The giant map that covered it was ruined by ink spilled over it's surface. Whatever notes, borders, or movements marked the map were washed away with the black ink.

Daniel smacked his lips together and huffed in annoyance. Hot, he unzipped his jacket and placed his hands on his hips.

The front door creaked open and he immediately unholstered the gun he'd taken off the guards. He had a fleeting thought about how he'd never see his own weapons ever again. Gun drawn and hammer back, he moved silently across the floor to the otherside of the room. Each step he took the boards beneath him creaked and moaned.

He winced with each sound the hardwood made with his movements until he got to the doorway leading back into the foyer. He pressed his shoulder against the door jam, his gun held up against his chest with the barrel pointed to the ceiling. Daniel thought about Ella upstairs and hoped she also heard the door open and would not be caught off guard.

The stairs leading upstairs creaked under weight of a person and Daniel immediately cringed with regret- as though he'd jinxed the situation into putting Ella at a disadvantage.

Anxious, Daniel whirled around the doorjam and took two long strides forward into the foyer, his weapon pointed outward and finger itching to pull the trigger. He expected Huijari but instead was met with something worse.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he asked gruffly, still refusing to drop the gun away.

Carver stared Daniel down and refused to show fear or concern. "We could see through the windows the place was abandoned." he stated matter-of-factly.

"Figured we might as well join and help." Michael added as he descended down the steps he'd managed to climb before Daniel had barged in with a gun.

"-and get out of the cold." the bruised man of the three added.

Michael pointed at Daniel, "You can drop the tough guy act, Daniel." When Daniel finally complied and holstered his weapon, Michael continued, "Where's Ella?"

"Upstairs, looking for clues, Scooby." He replied curtly.

Carver rolled his eyes and Michael nodded before starting to head back upstairs.

"I'm going to check around back, see if they left a trail of some sort..." Carver stated and started to walk backwards to the front door.

Daniel pulled his gun back out and aimed it at him, "ah-ah-ah! Where do you think you're going?"

"Wait!" Michael came back down the stairs and stood beside Daniel without touching him,

"Danny, you're going to have to trust I'm not going to run away. I'm not here for you. I'm here for Rebecca. I'm not goint to run off without her." He opened the door.

Snow and harsh winds blew threw the opened door in a rush, it blew the papers around and created a small tornado gust in the center of the foyer. A mix of papers, dust, and ash blew in a whirlwind until it fell away and left a pile of rubbage.

"I don't 'trust', period. Get your ass back in here." Daniel shouted, anger heavy in his voice. He cocked the hammer back on the revolver. "Now."

Carver shook his head. "Gotta check for a trail. You can come with me if you want..." He stepped out of the threshold. "but you might want to check in with Kallitéchnis tou Katastrofí, I know she's your boss now."

"What the hell did you just call her?" Daniel snapped.

"It's adorable how you act all buddy-buddy with her, considering you've only known her for a few days." Carver egged on.

"You don't know what you're talking about..."

"Don't I? What do you know of Kallitéchnis tou Katastrofí. How much has she told you about her involvement with the war?"

"I know enough."

"Enough to trust her? Maybe you wouldn't if you knew just how much she had to do with the apocalyptic lifestyle we have today!"

"You don't know anything about her!"

"And you do?!" Carver shouted, now standing outside completely, barely holding the door open. "I've known you for ten years and you'll trust her more than me. You don't even know who she is, do you!?"

"Shut up!" Daniel barked, shaking his arm holding the gun.

"What the hell is going on?!" Ella started to descend the stairs, one hand holding a fistful of crumpled papers and the other gracefully guiding her descent by brushing against the polished railing.

Michael grabbed at Daniel in an attempt to keep him from shooting but in the sudden jolt, his finger squeezed on the trigger and fired a single shot into the wall.

Carver disappeared from sight, walking off the porch.

Ella's speed increased and she ran down the remaining steps. "What the shit is going on?!"

"Your crazy boyfriend made my gun go off, and now Carver's getting away!" Daniel moved for the door.

Michael held his hands up in surrender as he looked up the stairs, still standing in the center of the foyer.

The wind howled through the house and the papers started to fly like little bats through the air. It nipped at their faces and the embers flew into their eyes.

"Daniel, where are you going?!" Ella was nearly down the stairs, her hand clenching tighter around the crinkled papers.

"To get Carver! I'm not going to lose him because he can't follow orders!" Daniel pointed with the uncocked gun at Michael's chest the other grasping the door to hold it open- prepared to go outside.

"Wait!" She called but her voice was drowned out by a loud ringing in their ears.

The floor under them fell out and seemed to disintegrate below them. The hardwood fell apart under their feet, the walls crumbled around them. The whole manor exploded and engulfed them in a large upheavel of dust and debris before falling back in on itself.