Chapter 5 - Pursue

[somewhat mature]

Mid October. Two weeks after Toni's death. Two weeks after Cala started to know the different side of most of them. Two weeks after she got 'promoted'.

Arc and Franz have been able to pick out a handful of suspects in Sequi, meaning a good fifty of them. And to rush things a lot more, four of them were around town. This gave Cala an opportunity to work in the field while testing her discreteness, since there was always a chance that Sequi wasn't finished with her family.

Sitting at a table, in front of a coffee shop, sipping her drink, she was waiting. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do when she spotted a suspect, but she had agreed anyway, just to get her out of the facility for a change. She was also very well equipped, wearing contacts, an earpiece in her ear, a gun tucked in the small of her back, a microphone attached to her shirt.

Then, a complete stranger came and sat down in front of her. He was wearing a long black trench coat, his curly brown hair slicked back out of his face, showing a few ear piercings. A pair of dark brown eyes stared at Cala.

"Hello miss..." he said calmly. From his first impression, Cala noticed that he had a strong accent, most likely Russian. "Would you happen to know where I could find a club nearby? I've just arrived here and I'm supposed to meet a friend..."

"Sorry, I'm not into clubbing, so I wouldn't know..." she said.

"Ah... Well, sorry for having bugged you then..." He started to stand up to leave when she suddenly had the urge to grab his wrist, sit him back down and offer to buy him a coffee. Surprisingly, she did that before she was even aware of it.

"Um..." She tried covering up her embarrassment by standing up. "Can I get you a coffee or something?" she asked hesitantly.

It was at that moment that things got nasty. Franz intervened.

"Cala, he's part of Sequi..." Cala heard him say in her ear. Her eyes widened slowly with fear. She let go of his wrist and stared at him blankly. The man was confused at first, but then realized that this girl knew where he was from.

There was a moment's pause where both their worlds seemed to stop, before he turned around and started sprinting, pushing people out of the way to go even faster.

It took Cala a second or two to figure out what was going on, when she heard the sound of a motorcycle engine right next to her. She turned her head to find Daeus wearing his suit, sitting on a motorcycle, ready to push it to full speed.

"I don't think I need to tell you what to do..." he said, a sly look in his eyes that made her heart flutter for some reason. The two got a few glances from numerous pedestrians.

Without a word, she swung herself behind him, holding on tightly with one hand and reaching for her gun with the other. Just as she pulled it out from her belt, the motorcycle was already speeding down the dusky street.

As they rushed down the road, she noticed that Daeus was very warm, and that comforted her, to the point where she realized that she wouldn't mind sharing his body heat forever. She immediately took it back, knowing that he was her partner at the facility and nothing else.

The wind whisked her hair our of her face, clearing her vision for her to get a good shot at the man. He seemed to be capable of anything, kind of like her, but enhanced.

Turning a sharp corner, she was allowed a clear shot and used that fraction of a second to try and slow him down. Somehow, with all her skills, she missed him narrowly.

"S**t!" she hissed.

"Keep shooting, maybe you'll get him," Daeus called out over his shoulder.

"It won't work," she said, leaning into him so he could hear over the loud breeze. "He's too fast..." She seemed to daze out, noticing that she wasn't only capable of feeling his warmth, but she could also smell him.

He had a warm scent, a mixture of vanilla, a summer breeze and freshly dried laundry. A scent that gave her an image of some sort of paradise. A scent that reminded her of home, the only place she'd ever felt safe before all of this. Her mind was trailing, again, and she had to stop it.

Shanking her head to get rid of those thoughts, she picked up where she left off a few moments ago. "What happens if he decides to slide into a building?" she continued.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen..." he answered. Just as he said it, the man they were chasing down did exactly what Cala had predicted, running into a tall building, approximately 8 stories high. "Or maybe it will... Holy f**k are you insane!?"

Cala had acted before she had realized what was going on. Somehow, she had stood up on a moving motorcycle, jumped off, and landed safely, getting up almost immediately and breaking into a sprint. Daeus was quick to do the same and run after her, letting the motorcycle fly away on its side.

She ran up the stairs, two steps at a time, not tired whatsoever, with only one goal in mind. Get to the man before he could escape. She could see the tip of his coat at every turn, and that drove her to run up the stairs even faster.

She wasn't aware of a familiar presence behind her. Daeus was struggling to keep up with her, and he couldn't help himself but think negative thoughts. What if he couldn't get to the two in time? What if something happened to them? What if something happened to Cala? What if she got hurt? What if she died?

Fear struck him as he imagined her lifeless body on the ground. Although he had seen death way too many times, he didn't know why he was scared. He was certain that he cared for her, just as much as he cared for his brother, but something inside him was telling him that this wasn't it.

He had mixed feelings for her, that was for sure, but was he falling for her? Was she the one who would render him sane? Was she the one who would finally make him genuinely happy?

Pushing all of this away, he forced himself to speed up the stairs to get to her. Now that she was in his line of sight, he was less worried. Suddenly, she rammed into a door, obligating it to swing open, and continued her chase after the man on that floor.

She had kept count of the floors as she ran up, and right now, they were on the 7th. The man seemed to speed up before turning into a room and shutting the door behind him, getting more distance between the two. Crashing through the door, Cala froze, dead in her tracks. He had disappeared.

Or so she thought.

"Did you really think I would let you get away?" she heard someone say. Turning around, she saw the man that she was chasing step out from the shadow the door had created. And to make matters worse, he was pointing a gun straight at her forehead.

Cala had a plan. It wasn't a good one, but it was her only one. She knew there was a large window behind her, and she knew that she was on the 7th floor, but she didn't know how she would manage to survive.

She started backing up slowly, and the man started advancing, taking a more menacing stance. Closing in the distance between her and the window, she tried not to crack under the pressure he was forcing on her. She reached a distance of a meter between her and the window. Then, three things happened at once.

One, she turned around abruptly. Two, Daeus appeared in the doorway. Three, she threw herself at the window, smashing it and ending up falling out.

Daeus had just enough time to capture the man's image through his contacts before running past him and jumping out after her. She was smart enough to keep her arms out to make some resistance, so if he put himself in an aerodynamic position, he would get to her faster.

The shock from the glass made Cala black out for a second. The next thing she knew, someone familiar was holding her waist with one arm and her shoulders with another, forcing her to dig her head into their chest. Their grip was so tight, she took a deep breath out of surprise and caught a whiff of vanilla mixed with laundry detergent. She immediately realized that Daeus had caught her in midair, and now they were falling, head first, from the 7th floor of a building.

Like usual, Daeus was counting in his head, and when it was time, he pressed a button on his belt. But this time, a wire didn't shoot out. He didn't have time to waist, and he knew his gear wasn't working, so he improvised.

In a matter of milliseconds he changed his grip to protect her head, and turned his body sideways so that they would absorb the collision. He winced, bracing himself.

The two crashed onto the pavement somewhat safely, rolling for a good while to brush off the impact. When they slowed down, they knew that people would be surrounding them pretty soon. Coming to a stop, Daeus found himself on all fours on top of her. He was pretty overwhelmed, and the only way he could let it out was to yell.

"Are you crazy?" he shot.

"What did you want me to do?" she shot back.

"You jumped out of a f*****g window without any means of protecting yourself!"

She let out a single hysterical laugh. "Would you rather I die by risking my life to save myself?" He flinched. "Or would you rather I die by being shot in the face and not having tried to save myself?"

He glared at her. All this talk about her dying was pissing him off. He pushed himself up. "Get up." He didn't bother to give her a hand. He started walking, not bothering to make sure she was following either. He soon sensed her close behind, and he could relax a little.

TWO HOURS LATER

Taking the last swig from his second bottle of beer, Daeus was trying to clear his mind. The alcohol helped him a little, but it also brought back some unwanted memories.

A third bottle was waiting for him on the coffee table in front of him. He looked at it, sighed, and took it, popping it open. He slumped back onto the couch. Before taking a sip, he stared at his bare torso for a little, seeing a well built wall of muscles, wondering why he didn't have a beer belly yet.

He brought the bottle to his mouth, forgetting about the world, remembering his brother, his time at juvy, his rage.

TEN MINUTES LATER

He heard a knock on the front door, pulling him out of his misery. Whoever was behind the door tried opening it, surprised to find it unlocked. Daeus had forgotten to lock it.

"Daeus... I can't sleep..." he heard Cala say from where she was standing. She could see him slumped on the couch, holding a bottle of sorts in his hand. He chugged down what was left from it and stood up slowly. Walking towards her, her heart started racing. He wasn't wearing a shirt, meaning that she could see obviously strong muscles.

"I'm coming over," he said with a determined look on his face that hinted her that what he was drinking was alcohol. He passed her and walked from his apartment to hers. Walking behind him, Cala noticed a tribal tattoo on his back, the top of it trailing up to the nape of his neck.

Sitting down on her couch, Daeus noticed what she was wearing and started feeling funny on the inside. Black skinny jeans that shaped her long legs, a huge white oversized shirt whose collar draped down her back, a burgundy bandeau under her shirt. She looked stunning, a bit more than her usual self, but that was probably because of the liquor.

Walking up to join him, she noticed that one of her shoelaces was untied. She bent over to tie it again, and Daeus caught a glance down her shirt. It took him all his willpower to keep calm, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn't.

Cala stood back up, remembering something she needed to do. She made her way over to the kitchen. A minute passed before she felt five things at once.

One, she felt something tug at the back of her shirt. Two, she felt a warmth pressed against her back. Three, she felt two strong arms wrap around her waist. Four, she felt something against the top of her head. Five, she smelled a mixture of vanilla and freshly washed laundry.

Daeus had managed to slither into her shirt, sharing the neck hole, his bare chest pressed against her almost bare back. She was pretty sure he was drunk. She put down what she was doing and let him turn her around, steadying her with the counter. She slipped her hands out of the arm holes, and now they rested on his hips.

He freed an arm so he could tip up her chin. "For f***s sake Cala, can't you be more beautiful than you already are?" Her heart was pounding. His pale purple eyes stared at her with a foggy look in them. She desperately wanted to kiss him, just to know what it felt like to kiss someone who was both extremely handsome and extremely drunk.

She didn't need to ask. The next thing they knew, the shirt was gone, they were walking to the living room and the were making out. Daeus was debating whether this was what she wanted or not, but eventually put that aside.

The two toppled onto the couch, chest pressed against chest with insisting, desirable, urgent, sloppy kisses. Daeus was an amazing kisser, and that could eventually become a problem, especially when they were already starting to memorize each other's bodies. After a long while of breathing through their noses, Daeus broke away to breath properly.

"No," Cala half murmured with a sly smile that got him even more high than he was. She pulled down his chin, forcing him to duck his head to kiss her again.

THE NEXT DAY

Cala's eyes fluttered open. The last thing she remembered, she was making out with Daeus. Looking around, she realized that she was still on the couch, and so was he. His arm was wrapped around her waist, his other arm resting under her neck. He was still half naked, and so was she, but at least the touch of skin against skin kept her warm.

From his breathing, she could tell that he was sound asleep, and he probably had a hangover. She decided to make him a cup of coffee, knowing that he'll wake up soon after she would have left.

Slithering out from under his arm, she picked up her shirt and walked to the kitchen. There, she turned on the coffee machine and got working, putting her shirt back on in the process. When the cup was finished, she put it down next to the small end table beside the couch, and left the room quietly, making her way to the first floor.

There, she was greeted by Franz, who she wanted to ask a question.

"Hey Franz," she said, somewhat cheerfully.

"Hi Cala... How did you find your first mission in the field?" he said.

She paused, remembering the events that had lead up to her partner making out with her. "Can we go into detail on that later? I need you to fill me in on something else first..."

"Alright, what do you need?" he asked.

"Well, last night I had trouble falling asleep... So I went over to Daeus's to see if he could occupy me and found him drinking... I'm pretty sure he's got a hangover now cause he was on his third bottle when I poked my head into his apartment..."

Franz took a deep breath. "Why don't you come over to my apartment... This one is gonna take a while and I'm pretty sure you should sit down for this..."

"Um..." Just as she was about to say yes, he motioned for her to follow, leading her to the second floor and entering a room. His apartment was very similar to every other one in the facility, but what made his unique, was the numerous bean bags in the living room instead of a couch. He flopped onto a yellow bean bag. Cala dropped into a black one.

"Listen, Cala, what I'm going to tell you right now is extremely serious. I don't want you to tell Daeus that we had this conversation unless he decides to bring it up. This is a very sensitive subject, do you understand?" His face was dead serious.

"What is it?" She couldn't help herself but be curious.

"The reason he drinks is because he lost his older brother when he was 16. He started drinking around a year after I took him in and started this branch..."

"Took him in?"