Unity and Destiny Pt. 06

"Stop," Esther said. "Quiet."

Javier's blood froze. Everyone waited anxiously for her to explain.

"There is something," she said finally. "I only just spotted a vehicle, parked a mile away. Empty. I should have spotted it. I can't understand. If I—"

Her eyes widened. "Coming up the highway," she said. "Almost to the road. He's incredibly fast. I can barely see him."

Mark was already sprinting for the turn, and Selena had her gun out. Heart pounding, Javier jumped up, looking for something, anything to fight with. The best he could find was a heavy club-like stick.

"Run," Mr. Tanaka said urgently. "Scatter. Leave me, everyone. You too, Tomiko. It's my time."

"No," Tomiko said. "I won't."

Esther had her hand up, the way she'd done in the Oregon colony. She'd stopped Diana cold that way. From her expression, it wasn't working this time. She was still holding the book in her other hand.

Javier snatched it from her, and she barely reacted. He stuffed the notebook in his jacket's inner pocket, just as Mark slammed into something Javier hadn't even seen.

The other man was huge, easily six inches taller than Mark. But that was almost all Javier could make out as they grappled. It was as though he kept looking past him, and Mark was fighting a rippling nothingness. Esther was breathing quickly, rhythmically, the way she did at her greatest concentration.

The fight had already gone on seconds, far longer than Javier had ever seen. Selena had her gun half raised, Nicola to her side, both advancing carefully.

And then Mark dropped limply, his head at an impossible angle. Javier stared in horror, but the attacker was already on the move again.

Nicola bolted towards the man, her scream rising above Javier's hearing. Esther's breath ran ragged, and then the man stumbled slightly. There was a tremendous bang as Selena fired her gun. The first shot missed, but the second hit him in the chest. He barely slowed, but now he was even harder to follow, his path a crazy zigzag. Nicola was aiming straight for him, and Javier had a sick certainty what she intended. But the man simply avoided her as though she were a rock in his way, picking up speed again, a blur he couldn't quite focus on. Selena fired once more, and he thought she'd hit him, but he kept running. Javier moved protectively in front of Esther, holding his club high, but Esther wasn't the assassin's target.

Before he could react, the assailant was past them. In an instant Mr. Tanaka's body was flying bonelessly through the air, to land in a heap on the road. And then the attacker finally froze.

Selena put three shots through his head before Javier landed his first blow. The man fell, and Javier beat him, again and again, until Selena pulled him away. But she still had her gun trained on the man's corpse. Javier was crying, and Esther was gone, running as Nicola screamed for her from Mark's side. He couldn't imagine even Mark could have survived an injury like that. The corpse lying on the ground had been a trained killer. He must have been the one who'd killed Aaron. Tomiko was sitting silently with her uncle's body. And there had been nothing Javier could do, nothing at all.

But there was something now. Esther would be utterly devastated, as Nicola certainly was. He could be with them. He swayed on his feet, walking slowly towards them

* * *

The assassin was dead. And so were two of the bravest people in the world, all because Esther was too weak. Too slow. It had taken her those precious seconds to understand how he was evading her, and then it was too late. Nicola was doing something with Mark's body, trying somehow to straighten his neck, but he had died the instant it happened. All the nerves severed, the heart and lungs stopped irreparably. Still, Nicola was screaming for her, and she had to do what little she could for her friend.

Nicola was singing. Somehow she'd gotten his vertebrae crudely aligned, and something was happening under his skin. Just enough to give Esther a desperate glimmer of hope.

"Join me," Nicola sobbed. "It's not working, Esther. I can't think. Tell me what to do."

Esther knelt and quickly slid her hand under Nicola's shirt, hugging her body close and traveling just far enough in otherspace. In an instant, their ragged breathing synchronized, and Esther felt the awful weight of Nicola's grief, suffusing every nerve and muscle, floating free on her sweat to fill even the air with its own subtle chemistry. And then she plunged with Nicola into the flesh of a man they loved.

Esther knew the basic anatomy of the spine and neck. She knew what the pictures had shown, and little else. Nothing felt familiar. There was blood everywhere, in places it shouldn't be, and she struggled not to retch at the sensation. Everything was broken by that man's horrible strength, and Mark's body couldn't fix this, wasn't even attempting. But Nicola was singing, desperately pushing and pulling with her fingers, trying to move things where they should be, to reduce swelling, to reconnect or seal the broken blood vessels. And so Esther cleared her mind as best she could, and tried to match the abstract in her mind with the viscera she was plunged within.

Nicola was reaching too desperately for Esther's senses, so Esther gave her pictures. Diagrams, matched as best she could. An impossible template to work towards, but Nicola began trying. Esther finally untwisted the bundle of nerves in her mind, and she understood how they should connect, if only they had the skill.

It turned out Nicola had just enough skill. It was crude, a kind of fusing that would barely let signals through. Nicola was already exhausted, so Esther tried to guide her towards the nerves that she thought most important. And suddenly she began to think it was possible.

"CPR," she screamed, or so it felt. Her body barely mumbled it, but Javier was already at her side, and she didn't need to say it again. Javier started doing what he could to get Mark's heart started, though it must have seemed crazy. But she'd said it, and so he'd done it.

And then suddenly, Mark's heart beat once on its own. Again. The shuddering rhythm steadied, and Javier breathed into his lungs, until finally, impossibly, Mark was breathing again. Nicola fell sideways, vomiting onto Esther, and she pulled herself free of her friend's senses, trying to get her mind clear enough to understand what had happened. What she needed to do next.

"You saved him," Javier said, his voice distant. She shook her head. Nicola had saved him. She tried to stand up. Surely there was something she could do for Mr. Tanaka. It wasn't right. This was all her fault. But the ground rose up and Javier let her down gently.

"Tell Tomiko," she whispered. "I'm so sorry. I'm just not strong enough."

* * *

Javier brushed her face, then let her lie there against Nicola. There was nothing more he could do for any of them. None of it seemed quite real as he jogged back to Selena, who was still keeping watch over the dead man's body. She had an astonished expression on her face.

"Did you—"

"Mark was dead," Javier said woodenly. He couldn't even look at the thing on the ground, the first person he'd ever wanted to kill. That he'd helped kill. "They brought him back from the dead. All I did was get his heart going again. I still don't know if his body can repair that kind of damage. We have to prepare for bad news, Selena."

"Javier," Selena said, after watching him a while. "You didn't kill this awful man. I don't think I even killed him, though I intended to. I think he stopped his own heart. That's what had me so terrified that he might just stand up again. He was a monster, Javier. There was no other way."

He nodded mechanically, then walked over to Tomiko, who hadn't moved from her great-uncle. He wasn't sure if she noticed him.

"I am so sorry," he said. "Esther was right. He might have been the biggest hero in history, and no one will ever know. He deserved so much better."

"He wouldn't have cared about that," Tomiko said softly, without looking at him. "He's been waiting to die for thirty years. More than once, he told me everyone would be better off if he just died, and no one ever found out what he knew."

She sighed and rubbed her eyes. "No, I guess I've been prepared for this a long time. And since he woke up, all he's done is scribble and imagine passing along his burden. He thought that was a weakness too, that he'd allowed himself this hope at the very end. Truly, it's the loss of your friend that weighs so heavily on me. He was so brave, and it's all my fault that it came to this. I should have just mailed you that notebook. But uncle was worried, and I was even more scared of what secrets I imagined were in it."

Javier shook his head. "Mark is alive, though I don't know if he will recover. He has incredible healing abilities. Truthfully, my friends accomplished a miracle. Esther wants me to tell you how sorry she is that she couldn't do the same for your uncle."

Tomiko nodded slowly. "I understand. I will direct my prayers for Mark. And I'm so sorry for Esther. I see far too much of my uncle in her."

* * *

"We need to get moving," Selena told Javier. "We have two dead bodies, and Mark to take care of."

There was blood in his peripheral vision, soaking into the gravel of the road. Javier still couldn't look at the body at Selena's feet. But she hadn't moved, either, and she still had her gun out, trained steadily in the direction Javier couldn't look.

Esther said Mark had also been able to keep running after being shot. Maybe the assassin was even stronger than Mark, but this wasn't a monster beyond anyone's understanding. Selena had hit him three times in the head. And then Javier had smashed his skull, over and over. He wasn't coming back. But surely Selena had never killed anyone before, either.

"We can't move Mark," he said. His voice sounded oddly calm. "Whatever they did to help his spine, it must be fragile. We have to wait until Esther and Nicola recover, so they can try to judge. No one heard the shots, right? There wasn't anyone else?"

Selena seemed to be having trouble following him. "I can't hear anyone," she said after a while. "I can't hear shit. Just the fucking gunshots. I thought I damaged my hearing, but it's just my usual noise, louder than ever. I must be in shock."

"Yeah," Javier agreed. "I guess I'll try to rouse Esther. Selena, I think you should put your gun away now."

Selena nodded. "I should. But if you don't mind, I won't, for a while. The safety's on. I'm not going to point it at anyone except this monster, in case he wakes up again."

"He won't," said Javier.

"I know," agreed Selena.

Javier jogged past Mark, past the two women sprawled nearby, all the way around the turn. Still no vehicles aside from their truck and Tomiko's rental. Anything more, they'd have to learn from Esther. And unfortunately, they really did need to know. He retrieved the bag of snacks and a couple water bottles, then headed back up.

* * *

"Sweetie," she heard. "I'm so sorry, but we need you, for just a little. I have some food and water."

She accepted the water, and then chewed the candy bar. It tasted amazing. Something smelled awful, though. Vomit. Her mind reassembled itself, and she took a deep, shuddering breath.

Mark was alive. Breathing more steadily than before. She couldn't say much more than that. Everyone else in the Watch glimmered faintly. Safe.

"We need to know if there is anyone nearby," Javier said. "Any other danger. I already checked for other cars, but is it possible the assassin had a companion? Or anyone else lurking around?"

She closed her eyes and dug deep into otherspace, ignoring the pounding headache and all the other complaints.

"No one," she said eventually, leaving her eyes closed. "He was alone in the car. That much I'm sure of. And he's definitely dead. Selena doesn't need to keep watching him. His brain is destroyed."

Esther could feel Javier react to that, and she knew she should have put it another way. She was so tired, though. And there was something she was angry about, having to do with Javier. She didn't like feeling that way, so she fell asleep again.

When she roused, her head was resting on someone's jacket. She managed to sit up, catching Nicola's eye. Her friend was sitting on the other side of Mark, watching him breathe. Esther ate more candy and tried to think what they should do next.

"Javier says we have to leave him as still as possible," said Nicola. "He's right. I'm trying to build up the courage to look at what we did. I feel sick every time I think about it. I was digging around in his body, like I did with Andrew."

"Exactly the opposite, isn't it?" Esther said slowly. Nicola didn't reply. Of course she'd already have tried to convince herself of that.

"I was going to kill the assassin the way I killed Andrew," she said finally. "He could have snapped me in two, but he assumed I was no threat. I was, though. I would have killed him. I could have saved Mr. Tanaka's life, if I had."

"Maybe," Esther said. "There are so many things that might have happened differently. But you saved Mark's life. I didn't realize it was possible, Nicola. Only you."

Nicola started to cry. "I didn't think I could ever kill like that again," she said. "I was sure it was gone. But seeing him kill Mark, it just broke something loose."

"It's OK, Nicola. You're capable of killing, but you're capable of saving," said Esther. "Just like Mark. Just like all of us."

"There's no one like Mark," Nicola snapped. "I don't think he lost because that monster was stronger. I think he lost because he could never, ever kill anyone. It's no wonder that Abuela loved him so much."

Esther nodded, and she moved over next to Nicola, kneeling to hug her.

"Let's look, then," she said. "It's not going to get any easier."

They were both tired, and sharing senses was clumsier this time. Intimate in ways neither of them wanted. But they looked as carefully as they could, Nicola's fingers hovering just above his skin.

"He's healing," Esther said. "Even some nerves are trying to heal. But I think we need to get more of them connected, if you have the strength."

"I'll manage," Nicola said, gritting her teeth.

Esther finally pulled them out when it was obvious they were starting to make mistakes. Nicola fell back, lying on the gravel to blink at the blue sky.

"His body knows what to do," Esther said. "Better than we do now. I think we'd better leave it."

"Whatever happens, it was a miracle," Javier said. He'd come to sit with them as they worked. "It was impossible, but you two saved his life."

"You as well," mumbled Nicola. "You were the one who got his heart going again."

"Anyone could have done that," he said.

Esther felt the urge to snap at Javier. What was wrong with her? She forced herself to say what she knew was true. "No, you were the only one, in that moment. And you did it."

They watched Mark for a while.

"You couldn't have saved Mr. Tanaka that way," Javier said eventually. "His neck was broken even more badly, if you can believe it. And Tomiko says he wasn't as strong as he used to be. His body wouldn't have responded like Mark's."

Esther shook her head. That wasn't the point. Why couldn't he see? And then she understood what was actually upsetting her.

"Javier," she said. "You took that notebook from me."

He looked confused. Maybe he'd even forgotten. But then he nodded, retrieving it from his coat and passing it quickly to her. Was he really so dense?

"We all heard what Mr. Tanaka said," she continued. "There were two types of people he was worried about. The ones who simply wanted to kill him for what he did, and the ones who were worried about his information. Did this man seem like the *less* dangerous kind?"

Finally Javier understood, and for once he lost his temper.

"Yes, I took it," he snapped. "And I'm not going to apologize for that. Not ever, Esther. You put yourself right in his way, and you're still angry at yourself that you couldn't stop him in time, as though it's only ever your responsibility. Do you think any of us wouldn't die for you if we had to? The way you would die for people you don't even know?"

He waved in disgust and stomped off, presumably to talk to someone more cheery, like Selena. Esther rested her face in her palms.

"You had to hear that," said Nicola. "I'm sorry, Esther, but you don't get to be upset at yourself because you can't fix everything, upset at us because we're trying to help you in every goddamn way we can, and upset that we all love you so much. Like Mr. Tanaka said, there just isn't time for all that. You have the whole fucking planet to save, after all."

Esther gripped Nicola's hand, and Nicola squeezed back harder, enough harder that it hurt. And she didn't seem about to let go. None of them were. That was what Javier had been trying to tell her. She'd wanted a family so badly, and now she was stuck with one. No matter how much it hurt.

* * *

They couldn't call an ambulance for Mark without moving the other bodies first. And then they'd have no explanation for Mark's injury. Mark's rapid healing would immediately attract attention as well. Nicola had ideas about how to wrap Mark to hold him still, when they finally had to move him. Javier was still convinced they needed experts, people who already understood how to stabilize this injury. Maybe they could steal him back from an ambulance crew, before anyone realized he was a fugitive with odd powers. Or maybe they needed to let real surgeons fix him up more, and deal with the consequences.

But in the end it was Mark who decided the matter.

"Hold him!" Nicola yelled. He flopped slightly again, some kind of automatic reflex, probably a nerve reconnecting and sending random impulses to his muscles. They'd been so careful to leave him stationary, and now his head had turned slightly. Javier sat on Mark's chest, sweating as he tried to hold Mark's head still without putting any pressure anywhere. Nicola had already stripped to her bra, and she and Esther hugged close as they once more tried to examine him, their exhaustion obvious to everyone.

"He's fine," Nicola finally said. "Everything is holding all right. The swelling has gone down a lot, and he doesn't seem so fragile."

Javier stayed with Mark while Nicola ran down to the truck, to fetch some duct tape and who knew what other ridiculous supplies. But anything she came up with was better than nothing.

Selena came over to squat next to him. She'd finally put away her gun, though she looked about as terrible as Javier felt.

"Tomiko will want to have his body cremated," she said. "I'm just thinking aloud. I know she isn't going to be interested in having law enforcement involved. I think we should take the two bodies in the truck bed, find somewhere to dump or bury the assassin, drive his car somewhere else. Then call the lawyer, just about Mr. Tanaka's body. Nothing else, of course. See if he knows how we might get a proper cremation without worrying too much about the details of death. They're visiting without proper documents, the niece wants to leave quickly. I don't know, something like that. Unless you think he's too straight an arrow."

Javier got up hastily as Nicola returned with supplies, shooing him aside. Esther came to join them.

"Selena," he said slowly. "You recognized the assassin, didn't you?" Javier still couldn't remember his face. He wasn't sure he'd even looked, during the fight. The hair had been black, matted with blood. He shook off the memory.

Selena was nodding. "He was in the list of people Myra Jackson brought us," she said. "I wish I had Esther's memory. But his last name was Castillo. His file was one of the longest, full of suspected crimes and associations. Pretty sure a drug cartel was on there, but so was a lot of other shit."