Locksley, Potter, and Athos 2

David bent over and laid the blanket over Sara's sleeping form. She had finally fallen asleep, the events of the morning dragging her into unconsciousness. Her sleep was peaceful at the moment, but he wondered how long that would last. He knew she occasionally had nightmares before this morning's incident, and now they would probably only get worse.

The door behind him opened and he turned to see their fellow co-worker, Lucian, poking his head in. David straightened and exited the room, making sure to shut the door as quietly as possible. Once outside the room, he noticed that another co-worker, Alice, was also outside, her face a mask of worry.

"How is she?" Alice asked.

David sighed and answered, "She's sleeping. Peacefully, for now, but that probably won't last." He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

"Why did he call her 'Robin'?" Lucian asked.

"What are you talking about?" David replied.

"That guy, he kept calling her 'Robin', which is not her name; but he acted like he knew her."

"Yeah," Alice chimed in, "and she kept calling him 'Potter'. I thought his name was Harry."

David looked at them incredulously, "You two heard all of that?"

"Yeah. Sorry, boss, but we had to know what was going on in there." Lucian replied.

David sighed again, closed his eyes, and leaned his head back against the wall. He stayed that way, for a moment, not uttering a word. Lucian and Alice stayed quiet as they waited for him to answer. Finally without opening his eyes said, "What I'm about to tell you never leaves this hallway. Under no circumstances is anyone to know what I tell you, even Sara. Got it?"

The two replied in unison, "Got it."

"Before Sara came to work for us, she was a student and Patton Academy. She, along with two other students became friends. They did everything they could together. They were the top of their individual classes, but they were even better as a team. Any team exercise they dominated. They were unstoppable.

Subsequently, a government agency took note of them and offered a job as agents. Each of them shared a love for ancient literature, and that was reflected in their code names. Sara, a fan of the tales of Robin Hood, was named Locksley; but the other two just called her Robin. Harry, as joke, was named Potter, after a children series that had a character with that name. And the third member, the leader, was named Athos. His name came from the tale, The Three Musketeers, and the brooding character suited him.

Years went by and they did a great service for the Alliance; but something happened. During a mission that went south, Athos was killed in an explosion. At least, that's what everyone thought. Potter refused to believe it. He was convinced that Athos was still alive; and that the mission had been rigged from the start. He went of the reservation. Eventually he was branded a criminal. Sara, now without her two best friends, was discharged from her contract and hired soon afterwards by Mr. Reynolds. The rest you know."

He opened his eyes and stared at Alice and Lucian for a moment, gauging their reactions. They were both staring at him. Lucian, he could tell, was still processing the story. Alice, on the other hand, was staring at him with a look of comprehension and horror.

"You're him. That guy was telling the truth. It all makes sense now." she muttered.

Lucian looked at questioningly, "What are you babbling about?"

Alice pointed at David, "He is Athos. He must have had reconstructive surgery or something."

Lucian glanced at David. "What makes you say that? You don't have any proof. You didn't even know the guy."

"You didn't see them when Sara first met him." Alice countered, turning to face Lucian, "She acted like she didn't know him, because as far as she is concerned, she doesn't; but he had this look of concealed recognition and relief on his face. I always thought it was odd, and now I know why."

Lucian pondered this for moment. Then they both looked at David, who had stood quietly the entire time. He was staring at the floor and looked very tired.

Lucian spoke, "Is she right, boss?"

"Yes." was the whispered reply. "and heaven help you if I ever find out you tell her."

Dead Bodies. For Real.

Now there were two in the middle of her living room floor. She stared at them in horrified fascination, not really sure whether to scream or give in to her curiosity and move closer. There was an obscene amount of blood. It was pooling on her carpet and being seeped up into her couch through the blanket that had fallen half to the floor.

Finally, against her better judgment, she decided to embrace her curiosity. Careful not to step on or disturb anything, she loved watching cop shows, she moved closer to the nearest body. There was a hole in the middle of his forehead. What she could only guess was brain matter was splattered with the blood around his head. His face was frozen in a look of shock, eyes wide open and unfocused.  She moved to the other body. This one's eyes were closed. Staring at the body, it's eyes closed and the haphazard placing of the limbs, she reasoned that he had been wounded before the struggle in her apartment. Apparently, after struggling with and shooting the other man, he passed out and bleed to death.

After staring at the bodies for a few more moments, she called the police. Then, she went down to the building's coffee shop to wait. As she waited, she pondered all the reasons of why and how as she sipped her coffee. In her mind, of all the questions these two bodies proposed, the most disturbing one was, "Why were they in her apartment?"

It's Not the End

He closed his eyes and lay still.

The fight had lasted two, maybe three minutes, but it had seemed to go on forever. Guns were fired, knives had been drawn, and punches were thrown. There were many times that he thought the fight would end then and there, only for it to be drawn out. Eventually, however, it was over. He didn't swagger away like the guys in the movies. He was on the ground, gasping for breath, every inch in pain. After a moment, he took a deep breath, held it, and slowly let it out. Then, groaning, he staggered to his feet and walked away. Fighting six (or was it seven?) guys was exhausting.