GABRIEL
Simon canceled the commercial flight that had already departed at dawn seemingly without any issues.
For some reason, I feel unusually tired, so as soon as we board his jet, which turns out to have… a bed in the back, I head there for a nap.
As I lie there, already slowly drifting off, I notice I have an unread message from Marlow.
"Hi, what’s up?"
Just that. I kind of get the feeling it’s an opening to chat, that he wants to talk, but I’m on a plane and extremely drowsy, so I leave it unanswered.
And then sleep finally takes me.
Blue and Simon stay in the main cabin discussing business, but about half an hour later I’m woken by a firm shake on my shoulder.
I open my eyes and see Blue’s pale face.
"Something… happened, Gabriel."
I sit up immediately. He looks bad, slight tremors running through him.
I reach out to pull him closer, but he avoids my hands and says in a stiff voice,
"The plane crashed."
I blink in shock.
"What?"
"The plane, the commercial one I was supposed to take…"
"I don’t understand…" I mumble, still half asleep, and it sounds like something out of a nightmare.
"It took off without any problems. The bomb exploded when they were a few hours away from Japan. They crashed somewhere over the Kuril Islands."
"Fuck! That’s it… Snow warned me about this. He was right, damn it!" I rub my temples fervently.
But Blue is still pale.
"Yes, he was. On board were… people sent to meet with the Japanese…" he trails off.
"Who?" I freeze.
"My nephew, Sariel. And…" he closes his eyes briefly. "Your cousin, Winter."
I go completely still.
This is something that’s almost hard to believe, a situation straight out of a movie.
"Oh dear Fate… poor Uncle Lake and Aiden, they lost their son…" I whisper, my voice shaking. "Poor Winter…"
For several heartbeats, we both sit in a strange daze, in shock. A message of this scale refuses to fully become real, and yet…
"Do you know Winter is the reason I’m here, Blue? He spoke to Jacob on my behalf, he helped negotiate my transfer to Second Chance! If not for him, we never would have met."
Blue blinks, his face almost translucent.
"I’m sorry."
"And I’m sorry about Sariel. I didn’t know him, but I know you were close."
"He was an exceptional young man. And just twenty-two," Blue whispers and sinks onto the edge of the bed, sitting with his head bowed.
"I killed him, Gabriel. The attack was meant for me. Whoever did it didn’t remove the bomb from the plane after I canceled my flight.
I thought they would, that whatever had been planned for that plane would be called off if I withdrew…
The terrorists had almost three days to do it! "
I reach to wrap my arms around him and pull him close.
He finally lets me and we fall back onto the bed, Blue pressed tightly against me.
I can feel the nerves, the stress, the pain in his whole body, as if he wants to cry but won’t allow himself to.
I feel the urge to soothe him, to calm his nerves, and suddenly something rises in my chest, an unfamiliar sound.
Purring?
A low, vibrating sound fills the space, and Blue’s head pressed to my chest vibrates with it. For a moment I worry it might irritate him, but nothing like that happens.
He just lets it be.
My thoughts drift toward my cousin. I wasn’t close with Winter, but I know his parents well. These people are loving and deeply caring toward their children, and I’m sure they’re now living through the worst nightmare imaginable, losing a child, and my heart sinks at the thought of their tragedy.
Didn’t Snow warn his brother about the flight? Or did Winter… not listen? Those of us with special abilities know what it’s like to talk about them to others. Before anyone believes you, they need proof.
We lie there while I keep purring. It calms me too. After a while, Blue falls asleep, and I drift off with him.
I dream about falling from the sky, but somehow, miraculously, I end up flying over the sea and landing safely on a volcanic island.
When I wake up, unpleasant reality hits me: it was only a dream, and they’re all still dead.
◆◆◆
Our arrival in Japan takes place in a somber atmosphere.
The meeting with the Japanese is to proceed as planned, even though two members of the team are missing.
The project manager from DevApp forwards Blue the necessary documents, and Blue has a few hours to prepare for the presentation.
Despite everything, he focuses on work and studies the material carefully, absorbing the information needed to finalize the deal.
But when we land, something unexpected happens.
A huge crowd has gathered at the airport, journalists and other people, all agitated.
I feel a surge of anxiety because I’m alone, Blue for some reason didn’t take additional bodyguards for the Japan trip.
Seeing this, I immediately turn to Simon and tell him to contact airport security and have several officers sent over. Simon complies without protest, and before long, a group of airport security guards arrives.
They decide to escort us through a side exit, but it barely helps. Somehow, the journalists and crowd still figure out where the limousine will be waiting, and by the time we reach the entrance, a sizable group has already gathered there.
I clench my teeth, tense. Fortunately, the guards speak English, so I quickly instruct them to form a protective perimeter around Blue before we leave the terminal through the VIP exit.
The moment we step through the glass doors, noise and shouting crash into us from every direction. Reporters immediately surge closer, cameras flashing, people yelling questions while others try to push nearer just to catch a glimpse of Blue.
Voices and shouting come from every direction at once.
"Mr. Lowen, your nephew died last night on the plane you were supposed to be on, do you have any comment?"
"Mr. Lowen, was the Ferro family behind the attack, who do you suspect?"
"Mr. Lowen, is NFH responsible for this?"
"Your recent increased cooperation with the military, could that have triggered it, is that what this is about?"
"Mr. Lowen, how are you going to look your brother in the eye now, Jacob’s son is dead because of you!"
"Will money make up for the loss of a family member?"
I feel like I’m about to explode from the frustration as we push through the crowd, the security guards forcing people back, shoving reporters aside to clear a path.
I keep my arms wrapped tightly around Blue, his back pressed to my chest, while Simon clings to one of the guards, looking around nervously, squinting against the camera flashes. He’s wearing his usual mask just like me, but I can still catch the panic on his face.
"Mr. Lowen, you’ve made a lot of enemies, do you feel any guilt that your actions are bringing death onto your family?"
And that’s when I snap, because I’ve had enough of the verbal, heartless abuse Blue has to endure.
In one sharp motion I rip the microphone out of a reporter’s hand and turn toward him, raising my voice so everyone can hear.
"You have no idea who Blue really is or what he actually does for people! Blue uses his own money to fund therapy for people who come to him from all over the world, he gives them a place to stay in his own houses, he lives in the smallest one himself, and he lends his private jet to the Omega Red Line Agency so they can help victims more effectively! That's why he wanted to take that commercial flight, because he doesn’t like using his jet! He doesn’t believe that just because he’s rich he should burn that much fuel for one person, he has one butler, not a whole army of staff like other rich people, and he invests his money into research programs meant to help people who can’t afford expensive treatment! "
As I finish, there’s silence around me, just the harsh lights of cameras pointed straight at my face.
I sweep my gaze over them. They’re staring at me wide-eyed, stunned, like they don’t know what to make of this, some random guy suddenly turning into a defense attorney and delivering a full-blown speech.
"The whole damn machine of jealous companies and their media connections is pushing this hate propaganda against him and feeding people this image of him as some kind of monster, instead of actually looking at what he’s done!
And who’s saying this? Me, someone who used to be his enemy.
I saw it with my own eyes, what he does and who he is, and I was against him, so maybe think about that, think about what you’re missing, look at his programs, look at the funding, look at who lives in his houses, who uses his jet, how many people he’s helped, and before you pass judgment maybe do your fucking jurnalist job properly instead of siding with people who have a financial interest in tearing him down! "
I throw the microphone back toward the reporter, and for a second the silence holds, then it shatters as the air fills with voices again, people shouting over each other, firing questions like automatic bursts.
Swearing under my breath, I use that moment to push forward harder, pulling Blue with me, and this time without answering a single question we finally make it to the limousine. Blue and Simon get in first.
My heart is still racing as I climb in after them, and only once the doors close and the car starts moving do I dare to look at Blue.
What I see is… strange.
His expression is somewhat stunned. I can tell he’s trying not to show anything, but through the Bond I still feel it, confusion, strong emotions, something deeply tangled, so complicated I can’t unpack it.
Is he secretly annoyed that I stepped in because it wasn’t my place? I’m just muscle, why would I even speak up? I could have made things worse for him.
I would want to ask what he really feels, but I can’t, because Simon is riding next to us with an equally strange expression, staring out the window.
So I just sit close to Blue, not saying anything.
Then… a movement.