Curse of the Fallen - 3. Chapter Three: Regrets Unasked For

Chapter Three: Regrets Unasked For

When Aaron saw Andrew head out of the room he took that moment to talk with him. He caught up with him in the kitchen. “Hey, you okay?”

Andrew gazed down to the tile floor. “Yes… no… not really.” Andrew expression, which until now had showed little emotion, twisted into a frown showing how unhappy it really was. “You all seemed to have bright futures lined up but me… I have no future. Don’t get me wrong the Chosen is a real nice boss and all but he is still part of the Coven, still one of the people who took you away from me.”

Aaron wrapped an arm around Andrew and rested his forehead against him. Aaron had no memory of meeting the Chosen but Greg had not been able to hide from him that the Chosen had gone out of his way to protect Aaron from the rest of the Coven. “If you want to work for Greg then I’m sure the Chosen will let you.”

Andrew’s body stiffened. He could not tell if it was Aaron’s warm embrace or his former lover’s words which upset Andrew most. “No he won’t… I’m Coven and Greg is the former heir to the Order. Anyway… the Chosen depends on me to do the difficult stuff.”

Aaron stepped back and frowned. “What kind of stuff?”

“You know uhmmm…” Andrew was about to say more but he then remembered how naïve Aaron often was. “No, I see you don’t. The Coven is made up of a bunch of cannibalistic backstabbers. No matter how good the Chosen is to them they always find an excuse to try to take him down. It’s my job to see they don’t get away with it.” Andrew saw Aaron was still confused. Taking in a deep breath he added; “I’m an assassin. That’s my job. I’m not a lawyer, a solider, or trying to become a doctor. I kill people, not because I enjoy it or because it’s the right thing to do. I do it because that’s my job. He says get rid of a guy and I get rid of him.”

“I need to talk to Greg… the Chosen has no right forcing you to do this sort of shit.”

Aaron made to leave but Andrew grabbed him and forced him to face him. “Look, I might sound bitter and I might not like my job but I was not lying about it being the right thing to do. More often than not it is. The people he has me kill need to be killed or other people… people who’ve done nothing to deserve it, people like you, end up suffering instead. It’s a dirty job but someone has to do it… Might as well be someone who is already damned.”

“You’re not damned!” Aaron shouted; “And clearly you hate what he’s having you do so I’m going to talk to Greg and…”

“Don’t you dare!” Andrew threw up his hands in the air. “I knew it… I knew coming here would be a mistake. I should have just stayed in Chicago and…”

“And do what… microwave a bag of popcorn and watch another Elvira marathon like we did when we were kids? The point is you’re here and I at least am very, very happy that you are.” Aaron grabbed Andrew by the tie and pulled him down to meet his lips. He could feel the heated breath of one of the converted brush against his upper lip. “God… you don’t know how much I’ve been waiting for this.” They kissed, they kissed, and they kissed. Unfortunately that was all they could ever do. It was as Andrew said; he was one of the converted, one of Aaron’s sworn enemies. So no matter what the two wanted at that moment it could not last longer than a kiss.

When the kissing stop both didn’t quite know what to do next. Andrew was the first to speak. “So uhmmm… I understand you and the Congressman are getting hitched.”

“He offered something I needed and I was someone he’s wanted for a long time.”

“So how is he? Can that Republican keep it up?”

“Longer and harder than I can. By the time I catch my breath he’s ready to go at it again.”

“Lucky bastard.”

“How about your sex life? Are you and the Chosen …?

“Doing the funky monkey… you could say that. The Order has its rules about who you can sleep with but with the Coven there are no rules. Can’t say I don’t enjoy fucking every ass I take a fancy to but it does cheapen the experience. No one cares about having a long term relationship. It’s all about the here and now because at any moment you might end up dead or somebody’s dinner...” He saw Aaron go pale. “No… I don’t eat people. The Chosen took steps so I have no urge to. He’s been very good to me Aaron and I do love him for it but his eye is always on the bigger picture. I might want to be in a relationship but he can’t… he can’t afford to have any emotional baggage slowing him down. If there is anyone he does truly love it’s you.”

Aaron’s eyes widened. He had known the Chosen seemed to have some sort of interest in him but nothing like what Andrew was suggesting. “Does he talk that much about me?”

“No, he almost never does but when he does you can tell that while he might talk about the big picture include taking over the Coven and replacing the Master but when he brings you up you can tell that everything he’s does he does for you. That includes all those backstabbing converts he has me kill. One reason why he has some people killed is he’s afraid they might find out about you. You’re his Achilles heel.”

“And you’re mine. I’m still going to talk to Greg so he can tell the Chosen to have you do something else other than kill his enemies.”

“No you won’t. If you ever gave a damn about me you will keep your mouth shut. I didn’t come here to get your sympathy. I came because I don’t know when the chance to see you will come up again. Don’t ruin this day for me by interfering in my life.”

Aaron had dreamed of the day he could see Andy again but not in his worst nightmares had he imaged it would turn out like this. “Andy… Andrew… I’ll… I’ll do what you want. I’ll butt out. I won’t interfere with your ‘important’ work.” He said bitterly. I’m just glad you came… so very glad.” Not wanting him to see him cry Aaron went out of the kitchen through the backyard door.

For a long moment Andrew looked at the partly open door and debated if he should follow. In the end he decided not to. Aaron would get over it. Andrew was sure of that. But would he ever get the courage to face Aaron ever again?

*****

As the party began to break up Jon and Greg noticed they hadn’t seen Aaron for a while. As they had last seen him heading for the kitchen with Andrew they went there but found no one.

It was Jon who heard the basketball. Going into the backyard they found Aaron trying to shoot hoops and doing a lousy job of it. His aim was so bad that he almost hit Greg with the ball instead of even touching the basket.

“Hey… are you blind? The basket is over that way.” Greg tossed the ball back to Aaron only for him to miss catching it.” Getting closer he saw Aaron was looking out a pair of silver eyes. “Oh god he his blind.” Aaron, where’s the contacts?”

“They fell out somewhere… I don’t remember if it was the sixth or eighth beer.”

“Oh no… he’s also drunk.” Jon moaned. Aaron was not a heavy drinker. When he did, he didn’t take to it too well. That meant something had to have driven him to it. “Where’s Andrew?”

“He left… probably will never see him again. And oh… didn’t you know the Chosen is using him as his pet assassin? And he doesn’t want me or anyone who cares about him interfering with his life.”

“Oh god… Aaron. I’m sorry. I swear if I get my hands on that bastard I’ll teach him a thing or to.” Jon took Aaron into his arms and carried him back to the house.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea. He might try to eat you. People in the Coven do that you know… eat people that is.”

“He’s completely plastered isn’t he?” Jon asked Greg. “I’ve never seen him this out of it.”

“A broken heart can do that to a man. Come we should get him to bed. Hopefully he’ll sleep it off.”

“When he does he’s going to wake up with a killer headache.”

Once they got Aaron under the sheets Greg left Jon to take care of him. He needed to make a few calls. The first being to Landon.

As he tried to remember the complex combination of numbers and extensions he once again cursed the fact that neither man could risk him copying the number other than in his forgetful mind.

After the third attempt he hit the right combination.

Landon answered on the third ring. “Yes my dear… did I leave anything behind that need um… fixing.”

“Uhmmm like Aaron’s broken heart that you pet killer just ravaged? That needs fixing.”

“Look whatever issues Aaron and Andrew are dealing with is better left for them to fix on their own.”

“What Andrew left was a half-blind drunk who thinks the first man he ever loved doesn’t want anything to do with him.”

“Its’ been seven years since they broke up. People change. They move on.”

“Like you have with Aaron.” Greg accused

“That’s different… What I feel towards him will never change.”

“Then why are you being so indifferent to the pain Andrew’s causing him.”

“Because there is nothing I can do to fix it. Do you know what it took for me to get him to agree to come in the first place? If I come down hard on him now it will never happen again. Give the kids some time to cool off and I’ll have Andrew give him a call to patch things up. But for god’s sake, Greg, they’re not kids anymore. Let them deal with their own romantic troubles. In comparison to the bigger picture them having a lover’s spat is inconsequential.”

“I hope you’re right. I pray I didn’t make a mistake in asking you to bring him along.”

“Sometimes believing in a dead dream is better than knowing the harshness of its reality. I’m sorry Greg but my hands are tied here. What I need to know is should I still expect you to be at the next scheduled meeting.”

Greg couldn’t believe it he had called Landon for help and all he cared about was one of his damn secret meetings. “I’ll be there. Just make certain Andrew stays out of my way.”

“Will do babe.” Landon hung up.

Greg knew Landon was a cold bastard but he hadn’t expected him to be this upfront about it. All this nonsense of wanting a secret meeting. If talking business was all that important then why couldn’t they have met while they were both in Boston? It was fishy and anything fishy involving the Chosen couldn’t be good. Something was going on… something to do with the bigger picture. Bigger picture was Landon’s code phrase he reserved for the most dangerous of situations.

The meeting was supposed to be tomorrow at dusk somewhere in the D.C. area. He didn’t know where in Washington. All he knew was the time and place he needed to be to meet the first of the couriers. He would lead him to the next meeting spot where a man would be ready for him to be handed over. It was all a bunch of James Bond cloak and dagger nonsense that Greg was sure Landon got a kick out of planning. Not once in their many meetings had he seen any sign of danger. That didn’t mean there hadn’t been any.

After making a few more calls he headed back to the bedroom to check in on Aaron. He had not even the chance to touch the door knob when he heard the rhythmic banging of the head board hitting the wall.

He shook his head and could not hold back from smiling. He had told Jon to watch over Aaron while he was away and Jon had always been the hands on sort of guy. There was also the fact that when the two every came into physical contact with each other there was the exchange of empathic energy.

Not wanting to miss out on the fun. He stripped while still in the hall, popped the door open and joined them. He became a part of their love making as if he had been there from the start. These two were amazing… both in bed and outside it. They were also quite versatile which suited Greg such fine.

The moment Landon pocketed the blackberry, Andrew apologized. “I’m sorry sir. I didn’t want you to get caught up in what is really a stupid matter.”

“If it involves Aaron it’s not stupid. I’m not trying to interfere in your life but I have more important things on my mind then having to worry about you screwing up what remains the best part of your life.”

“I shouldn’t have come.”

“You shouldn’t have but you did. Yet you couldn’t even pretend that things hadn’t changed if only for five hours.”

“As I said sir, I’m sorry.”

“Forget about it. Give me the latest update.”

“The target or I should say targets are expected to be in London sometime in the next three weeks. They are scheduled to address the Grand Council soon after midnight local time two days after they arrive. The intelligence we’ve gathered still points to…”

“Still points to the shit hitting the fan. Damn it if they had just given us a year or two we wouldn’t have to worry about this sort of crap coming up.”

“Give the word sir. Give the word and I’ll have them taken cared of before they even arrive. It will be as if the speech was never going to happen.”

“No… not before the meeting with your brother. I’m not going to have you go on a killing spree unless he agrees to go along with it.”

“Does this have anything to do with Aaron?”

“No, he has nothing to do with it. You chose… no you begged to have this kind of life and I gave it to you. However if you ever want to stop you can at any time. No one is putting a gun to you heard to do it.”

Andrew snickered. “Funny, what I do is put guns to other people’s head… people who deserve it.”

“Are you saying all the targets on the list deserved a bullet to the head?”

“No, of course not, but if it save more lives than will be lost I feel we have the moral obligation to do what is necessary for the greater good.”

“So long as you do what you are told there’ll be little difference between your greater good and my bigger picture. That does not mean we are infallible or that what we try to do doesn’t end up costing more than originally calculated. So say the ends justify the means. You and I seem to take it one step in reverse… our motives for doing what we do justify the terrifying things you and I have done and the tragedy it always results in. The situation with the Council is no different. We can do only one of two things. We can let things take their course and hope for the best but prepare for the worse.

Andrew scoffed at the defeatist suggestion. “Yeah right. Like you’re going to let that happen.”

“Or we can do as you want and kill a bunch of people and still might not change a damn thing.”

“But we got to do something… Think of those who will die and suffer. If we do not act their blood will be on our hands.”

“And if we act but fail won’t they be more stained. There is no Talent for determining the future. We of all people have no right to act on our own. Our judgment is clouded by how far we’ve been willing to go in the past. That is why I must meet with your bother. Out of all of us he has the most to lose.”

“But he is not one of us.”

“Greg is your brother so yes he is. The day I destroyed the school Aaron was at and killed all those children I lost my moral compass. I once hoped to give you yours back but you are still too enraged over loosing Aaron that you wouldn’t take it back even if it were placed in your hands.

“This has nothing to do with Aaron.” Andrew insisted, the bitterness in his tone saying otherwise.

Landon exploded. “It has everything to do with him! Do you think you’re all that different from me? I’ve done what I’ve done for his sake and the sake of all those like him. You’re no different. You do what you do so no one will be made to endure what you have.”

What is Aaron to you other than a kid you came to pity.”

“What is Aaron to me?” Landon shook his head and chuckled softly. “He’s my brother.”

“Your… your brother?” The admission caught Andrew off guard.

“Yes… why? Did you think I never had a family? I was taken from my home like all the Master’s favorites. I had to endure his special training but he never fully broke me. Still when the time came for him to test my loyalty I had no choice but to kill my parents. I was the one who kidnapped Aaron and brought him to the Coven. Everything he has suffered is my fault.”

“I don’t see how. One way or another the Master would have killed your parents and Aaron would have ended up at the compound regardless. At least by doing it you were able to stay alive to look out for him. If you had refused you would have left Aaron at the mercy of the Coven.”

“That’s exactly why I went through with it. I couldn’t save them… that was a given. But I could save Aaron. Not just from being killed but also from the Coven virus. I will continue protecting him and so will you.

“Once we get to Logan Airport I want you to go on ahead to New York. There are still some things I need to take care in Chicago. Don’t worry I’ll be back in time for the meeting. You just make sure it stays secret.”

“My team is in the process of sweeping the area.”

“Better sweep over it several times. I’m trusting you.”

“And I’m grateful I have your trust.”