Chp. 58 “Old Wounds”

After hanging up with Agent Walker I had no idea what my next step should be. I was too furious at Avery and too confused over Walker that I felt as if I should stay up here a little bit longer. The last thing I wanted to do was go downstairs and accidentally run into Max and have to explain what Avery had told me.

Or worse, I could end up running into Avery.

One thing was for sure though, I needed to find Roger and tell him about the call I had just received. If I was bringing anyone along it would be him.

I decided I should head back downstairs, deciding I would go into the Office Sector and search for Roger, considering that’s where he spent most of his time.

I took two flights down and opened the door, walking into the giant floor that held cubicles, desks, and offices. I had no idea where Roger could be in this place, but everyone seemed to be busy and ignoring me, so I decided to just walk around and look.

I paced slowly through the narrow hallways of the cubicles, hearing phones ringing and printers printing. It was just like an office, and the more I looked around the more I realized these were all Agents like Roger, filing paper work and investigating people.

It was pretty cool.

Then I heard my name, “Andrea?”

I looked up, already knowing who it was by the sound of her voice. I peered into those haunting brown eyes, realizing it was Agent Berkley.

Of course she would be here.

“Taylor, hey,” I didn’t really know what to say, but I figured she might know where Roger might be if I asked her.

She responded, “What are you doing up here?”

I shrugged, “Looking for Roger.”

She smiled slightly then, seeming to be happy that she was able to help me out. She spoke, “Follow me.”

And I did, this time allowing my eyes to drink in her figure. She was really something else, with her tones legs and her shaped butt. She smelt great too, and I figured it must’ve been her perfume. She had her hair down, and I watched mesmerized as it swayed and fell over her delicate shoulders. Her heels clanked against the floor as we entered another part of the office, and I looked up to see Roger sitting at a desk, looking caught off guard by the two of us standing in his door.

“Taylor? Andrea?”

I smiled, stepping in front of Taylor and speaking, “I need to talk to you.”

He seemed to understand the urgency in my voice as he motioned for me to take a seat, and I waited patiently for Taylor to leave the room.

That was until Roger spoke, “Berkley, close the door.”

I looked at Roger, “She can’t hear this.”

He sighed, and I felt Taylor move around the room and sit in the chair beside me. Roger smiled sympathetically, “She’s my partner, and she can hear anything I can.”

You’ve got to be kidding me.

Now I was more distracted by the fact that Berkley was Roger’s partner, and I knew telling Roger about Walker was going to include Taylor now. I rolled my eyes, running my hand through my hair, “Nick Walker contacted me about fifteen minutes ago.”

Roger’s jaw nearly dropped, and he looked as if he was about to fall out of his seat. He spoke eagerly, “What did that bastard say to you? Did he threaten you?”

Taylor seemed cool and collected on the side of me, and she seemed to be watching Roger react with hate just like I was. I knew Roger had beef with this Walker guy, because Walker’s old partner Mendoza gunned down Fred all those years ago. Not to mention Walker tried to kill me as well.

“No, Roger, he offered to talk to me in person. He told me the government is planning to come after me, and that if we don’t work together a lot of people are going to die. Roger I don’t want that.”

“Talk to you in person? Is he mad? He’s just pulling your leg Andy, he’s full of shit and lies… and shit!”

Taylor giggled next to me at Roger’s choice of words, and I had to admit, they were quite funny. I sighed, placing my hands in my lap, “He told me to bring whoever I want, and that he is going alone. Roger I’m telling you he’s telling the truth.”

Roger seemed torn, and I knew he was skeptical, I was too, but for some reason I was still sure that Walker was telling the truth.

Roger raked his hand through his short hair, “Fine. But I’m going, and Berkley’s going too.”

I added, “Max and Gage are coming as well.”

His piercing eyes looked at me, and he nodded, “Ok, what about Avery then?”

I responded quite bluntly, “She’s not coming.”

He seemed a little shocked at my response, but instantly decided that he shouldn’t ask, and I was grateful. I couldn’t tell anyone what Avery had told me or they would most likely kill her, and I couldn’t do that to her. Even though I’m sure she had tried to help others kill me instead.

I just couldn’t believe it.

I spoke, “He wants to meet Monday night, at midnight.”

Roger nodded, jotting down some notes as I handed him my phone, and he wrote down the address to wherever we were meeting. He spoke, “We’re staking out an hour early, just in case, and if he shows up alone we’ll get down, if not… well you know.”

I agreed, and then Taylor spoke, “Did Andrea tell you she acquired my power the other day?”

Roger looked up, looking a little concerned, “How?”

I scratched the back of my head, and shrugged, “It was kind of an accident.”

Roger eyed Taylor suspiciously, as if he was blaming her but I soon interrupted, “Don’t worry, she’s going to help me out. We’re training tomorrow morning.”

He leaned back in his chair, shrugging, “Fine, that’s great. We’ll have two teleports now. Just great.”

Taylor stood, poking Roger in the head with her finger, “Oh shut up, you know we’re useful. I’m going eat lunch; I haven’t eaten a thing today.”

Roger waved her off as she disappeared into thin air, a slight flash of light leaving Roger and I alone. I wasn’t going to ever get used to that. He looked at me suspiciously, and then spoke, “Why did you look so shocked and upset when you found out she was my partner?”

I looked into my hands that were resting in my lap, not really wanting to discuss this with him. I shrugged, “I don’t know…”

He tilted his head and smirked, “Its cause she’s hot, isn’t it?”

I looked at him, appalled that he was talking to me like this. I shook my head, “Roger! No.”

He smiled, “You don’t have to lie, I saw the way you were checking her out when you walked in here. Don’t worry, your secrets safe with me.”

I rolled my eyes, “If you like her so much why don’t you try getting with her?”

He leaned back in his seat, seeming to be a little bummed now that I had mentioned hooking up. He shrugged, “I don’t hook up with coworkers, and I’m pretty sure men aren’t her thing, if you get me.”

Great, just great. Berkley was gay. I should’ve figured something like this would happen with my shit luck I had been having since summer started in the first place. Of course this goddess of a woman would be gay, and of course I would be alone with her tomorrow while we trained.

I pushed the thoughts of Agent Berkley out of my mind as I studied Roger, knowing that he had to be in his mid-thirties. He still looked quite young with his fit physique but you could tell the years had taken a toll on him. And for some reason I wanted to talk about my dad. He saw my stare and questioned, “What?”

I questioned him suddenly, “What was my dad like?”

He seemed taken aback by this question, but soon understood I was asking as a daughter, not a worker. He leaned back in his chair, seeming to reminisce in old memories of when he and my father had worked together before his death.

He sighed heavily, “Your father was a crazy bastard, but a good kind of crazy. He was driven, very much like you, and he was determined to shut that place down once and for all. He really loved you Andrea, even in the short time he knew you.”

I smiled, feeling emotions well up inside my chest, wondering if my dad had talked to Roger about me before I was given up to the Brocks. I spoke, “What happened… the day he died?”

Roger eyed me, and began speaking again, “We were on a mission to save Blaine, but you know that already. He had been kidnapped by the F.P.S., and I don’t know if you know this but we’ve had another outbreak of a pandemic before.”

I nodded, “Yea I know, I know that’s how he got captured too.”

Suddenly I wondered internally if Roger or Henson were ever going to tell me that this government facility created the BD3, not once but twice. I was still curious as to why they were refusing to tell me.

I remained silent as Roger nodded, continuing, “It was late, and we had planned out everything to the point. Your father was going to distract them on the lower floors, and I was going to go in through the top. I knew exactly where I was going too, and everything was going smoothly until we ran into trouble.”

I watched Roger recount that night like it had happened yesterday, and suddenly I realized how hard it actually was for him. He had lost a good friend that night, over something that should’ve never been going on in the first place.

“Blaine and I had managed to find a side door out of the building, and once we were outside I thought everything was going to be fine. That was until I saw your dad bowed down in pain, as if he was paralyzed, and then I watched helplessly while Carson Mendoza put a bullet in his head.”

I heard the pain in his voice as he recounted the night, and he shook his head while rubbing his eyes. “I should’ve known better, you know? Your dad was weak even though he had all that power in him. He was dying, and I shouldn’t have let him join me on that mission Andrea, but he wanted to so bad. He wanted to save Blaine and touch him. He wanted to get the Healing power, so he could raise you without fear. And he wanted to take that place down and expose them to everyone, and it’s my fault he couldn’t.”

I touched my face only to feel a slight stream of tears rolling down my face, and I watched Roger keep it together even though I knew now that he had been feeling guilty over my father’s death.

“I just wanted him to live Andrea; he was one of my best friends.”

I shook my head, “Roger, it wasn’t your fault he was murdered.”

I suddenly felt bad for bringing up my dad, but I was grateful Roger had told me about his death. He died fighting, just like I knew he would’ve, and I knew if I ever saw Teal again I would tell her.

He slammed his fist down on the desk, “We’re going to finish what he started Andrea, and we’re going to take them down.”

I remembered Avery then, and how her dad was somehow involved with them. How was I going to go into that place fighting, not knowing which man was her father?

And what if her father was the guy we were going in after?