“I don’t know any that do. You are free to go,” the man said. “And...thank you for your help.” He stuttered a little over the thanks, as if he was trying it on.
“It wasn’t as if you gave me a choice. Besides, there was nothing to see. You wasted your time,” Alex said, standing and feeling a little self-righteous, now that he realized the halfbreed wasn’t as much a monster as he had thought.
“Maybe,” the man stood, walking with Alex to the door and even stepping forward to open it. The girl was still there and her smile reappeared for the man behind him. Alex turned and looked at the halfbreed. His face was as blank as before, but Alex could see that what he thought was harsh, cold indifference was really the way the weight of his problem had settled into his eyes.
Alex nodded and left, completely forgetting to worry about the halfbreed at his back.
-----------
After Scythe had given his report about the five interviews and his recommendations to both Captain Reave and Captain Rogers, he met Mercy in the entrance hall to the border patrol station. He looked around, thinking it was a spacious facility for such a small unit. Rogers’ people were dedicated to the terrorist hunt, and it had been made clear that none of his people were available to fill in for those who had lost their lives in the warehouse bombing, so the Juniper unit was working with a limited temp crew until permanent replacements could be sent out. It looked to Scythe as if the building could have easily accommodated the Juniper group as well as the Kin and Human units. He decided to ask Reave why both investigative units were at Huran instead.
“You ready?” he asked Mercy.
She raised her eyebrows and stuck her hands on her hips.
He didn’t want to give her the satisfaction.
She jerked her head, her eyes looking up at the ceiling. “I’ve got all day.”
Scythe sighed, “You ready, han-na?”
She smiled and took his arm in the crook of her elbow, “Yes, kiryo-kun.”
“Look, just call me Scythe, won’t you?”
“No,” she said lightly.
“Let’s go.” Heading to the door, he took her hand and gently freed his arm. “I don’t like to walk all tied up.”
“Right, so you can use your weapons of death at any moment.”
“That’s right.”
“Hey! I was joking,” she sprung forward and opened the door for them.
“I know, but I’m not.”
“Come on! Look around. There’s no one out here. Who are you going to attack?” She swung her arm in a wide half circle, indicating the nearly abandoned street.
Scythe had already scanned the street, visible windows and doorways, and profiled the few people on the street, which was why he let her do her thing while he headed straight for his motorcycle to start getting it prepped. “Maybe that woman,” he nodded at a figure hunched in an alley across the street.
He had dismissed her initially, but when the woman suddenly looked up, and he saw the surprise on her face, he thought perhaps he had been wrong. He paused, frowning. Then something twisted.
Mercy stopped next to him. It was clear that she hadn’t even noticed the figure, even though the shadows that it huddled in were less than fifty feet away. “Where? Oh, that guy? He’s just a poor bum, taking a nap or something.” She squinted her eyes, raising her hand to shade her face. “I don’t think that’s a woman.”
He blinked. Why did she have to stop and stare at everything? He laid his hand on Mercy’s back and guided her the rest of the way to their ride.
“Mercy,” he explained patiently, handing her a helmet, “she is a woman and she’s not sleeping. She’s staking out the border patrol. She is not tired or ill or even Human.”
But, not a threat.
“Really?” she asked, tightening the straps beneath her chin. “Why don’t you tell someone?”
He had good instincts, and he was sure she wasn’t any threat to them. “Two reasons.” He helped her get settled on the bike, showing her again where to put her feet. “One, no one in there is so incompetent that they haven’t spotted her, so it would be a waste of time; if they want to check her out, they will. And, two, I don’t know what her business is, so I can’t say whether or not it is dangerous to anyone. She’s not doing anything illegal, she’s just watching.”
Harmlessly watching.
“She could be a terrorist.”
“Mercy, haven’t you been paying attention at all?” He finished checking the motorcycle, sat down on it, and started it up. As he pulled onto the street, he said into his helmet microphone, “The terrorists are not that stupid. If they were watching, you definitely wouldn’t know it.”
“Even you?”
“Sure, even me. I can’t see everything. There are a few places here where, if I needed to, I could watch unnoticed. Across the street isn’t one of them.”
“What if it’s a double bluff?”
“Still too obvious. Good thinking, though.”
“Well, I am a Young.”
“That’s right. You are very young…”
“What?!”
“...and you desperately need to grow up.”
“That’s not nice,” she pouted.
“It wasn’t meant to be.”
Realizing that he was serious, she asked, “Where did that come from, Kiryoku?”
“You need to be more guarded. You trust people too much and it’s not safe.”
“What do you mean? I’m with you,” she said almost dismissively, as if she was explaining that the sun came up in the morning. She really believed that he could take care of any threat to her. While it was ridiculous, and absolutely unsafe for her to think that, he couldn’t repress the tiny glow that sprouted in his chest when she said it.
“What I’m saying is that a ‘bum’ huddled in an alley is not some poor guy taking a nap, it is a potential danger.”
“He, or she, could be just...you know...not be doing anything wrong…”
“Sure, but you don’t know for sure, do you?”
“No, but I don’t like to assume the worst…” she insisted.
“Fine. Then do me a favor and just don’t assume the best. Do you understand what I mean?”
“I think so,” she said slowly.
Slowly meant, No, please explain.
“Okay, how about that last guy that I met with? Was he a nice guy?”
“I don’t know. He seemed okay.”
“You were smiling at him.”
“I always smile at people. Besides, he seemed really nervous, and I felt bad for him, until I saw the way he looked at you. Then, I wanted to smack him...but, I didn’t. See? That’s acting responsibly.”
“Nice. I don’t even know where to begin with all that is wrong with that.” He actually liked it that she wanted to stand up for him, even though he hardly needed it. He was long past being bothered by the way people acted when they first saw him. He knew that his face was abnormal. Although, he did love the way Alex reacted to her friendliness with him; that was worth a million disgusted looks. “Just because he was nervous doesn’t mean he’s a nice guy, or a safe guy. In fact, people who are stressed are even more likely to do something dangerous or unpredictable, things they wouldn’t do if they were calm.”
“Look, I’m not dumb. I know about that whole, ‘Don’t talk to strangers’ thing.”
“It’s not about talking to strangers, although we both know that you do that without thinking twice. It’s about being realistic about where other people are coming from. No one out here was raised where you were. They don’t think the way you do, so don’t assume that they do.”
“I know that there are bad people out there. It’s just that most people are…well, most people are okay...”
She really believed that. She was such a danger to herself that it was scary.
“Do you know that out here when a woman by herself smiles at a man she doesn’t know, it usually means that she is ‘working’ him?”
; “‘Working,’ like how?”
“It means she’s a prostitute, Mercy.”
She went rigid on his back, unconsciously squeezing him harder across the chest. “I didn’t know that.”
“I know. Don’t worry, you are too...naive...to be taken seriously as a prostitute, but you could save yourself the potential for trouble by guarding yourself a little more.”
“So, what?...No one smiles at people?”
“Just not so easily, and women in particular have to be careful. That guy, the one you smiled at, he was...how can I say this? He doesn’t respect women, and his attitude is not unusual in places like this. Even Adan, who was from the city…”
He realized his mistake right away because at the mention of the man, the memory of Adan’s thoughts jumped forward, as clear to him as when he first experienced them. It brought up the fire inside of him immediately, fast and hot. He gripped the handlebars and his jaw tightened and he pushed it down. He pushed away the desire to tear up the man whose lustful thoughts...who had touched her...
He took a breath and thought about the feel of her arms around his chest. She was fine. She hadn’t been hurt. He hadn’t let anything happen to her. He pushed.
So. This is how it is going to be, he thought and then steeled himself. Alright then. Fine.
It only took him a few seconds until he could continue, which he attributed to years of practice; he didn’t notice that he had controlled it twice as fast as normal or that the aggressive drive was a fraction of what it would have been just weeks before.
“Even he was not someone you would want to be alone with, Mercy. You are used to being respected, because that’s how it is in the city, and that’s how you were raised. You assume that you will be treated in a certain way. But people out here…”
“Didn’t grow up like me. Okay, I get it.”
“Trust me. You aren’t even close to getting it, but the fact that you even understand a little of it will make me feel better. Just...try to pay attention to…”
“Kiryoku, I’ll be more careful, okay? You don’t have to lecture me,” she snapped.
Scythe took a breath and let it out slowly. He was lecturing her, and it was his turn to remember that she wasn’t raised like he was. To the Kin, a good home was one where people expected, even relied on, their family to teach them the things that were important; a Kin child would know to listen to all he was being told, because his family felt it was needed and he trusted them to act in his best interests.
Humans were supposed to be independent; part of their upbringing was fostering the ability to make decisions on their own. They were proud when their children did things for the first time by themselves, to the point of marking each event...each step they took on their own and away from the family...in calendars. The Kin didn’t value those things. To the Kin, independence was lonely, even self isolating; independence was something they distrusted. Also, it was impractical, because no one person could do as well or know as much as a whole group of people.
Scythe told himself to keep in mind that Mercy wanted to be independent, to learn things on her own, because that was an achievement for her. It was how she could feel good about herself, and it would make her family proud of her. He started to think about ways to encouraging the education that he knew she would need in the immediate future, but it was a daunting task. He thought it was a lot harder to learn things the Human way.
Misreading his silence as anger, Mercy said with a sigh, “I’m sorry that I barked at you like that. I know it was rude. I know you just want to make sure I’m safe and all. I just get...I don’t know...offended, like you think I’m too dumb to figure these things out myself.”
“You don’t have to apologize, han-na,” Scythe said, still enjoying the way the word sounded in his ears. “I do think you are intelligent. What you lack is experience.”
The moment the words were out, Scythe blinked. He couldn’t believe that he had just spoken the very same words that were said to him when he was younger. He had been about Mercy’s age when Talto, the governor of Poinsea had told him that he lacked experience. He thought about how the man had reacted to seeing Scythe the second time, after he had gone through some rough times and had gained a little of the experience the man had spoken of.
Talto had shaken his head and said, “Now, I’ll have to deal with your nonsense.” At the time, Scythe didn’t know what he meant by nonsense, but he did now. It was everything that Mercy wasn’t.
Scythe wondered if he really wanted Mercy to change like he had. His instincts told him that she was a danger to herself the way she was, but the part of him that cared about her worried about the cost of that type of education, to her and to him. To protect her, he would have to accept losing a large part of who she was.
“That’s frustrating, since you don’t let me do anything.”
“I know.” Do I really want her to be like me? He asked himself. The answer came to him instantly and thunderously, and left him with a dilemma.
“Scythe,” she said in the quiet that had fallen.
“What?”
“You can trust me. I’m going to do my best, from now on. Okay? No more messing around. I want you and dad to stop worrying about me all the time.”
“Alright.”
“Thanks.”
After a few minutes, he asked, “Mercy, why won’t you tell me about your other vision? You know, the one where you live to see another day?”
“Because...It’s private.”
“Okay. I won’t pry. It’s only that I’m curious because you said it was about you when you are older, right?”
“Yeah,” she said cautiously.
“I was wondering...What are you like, then?” He knew he was reaching, but he couldn’t help himself.
“What will I be like?”
“Yeah. Are you...okay, I’m not saying this right...but...Are you really serious, or playful like now, or what?” Has life robbed you of yourself?
“Hmm, let me think,” she said thoughtfully, and was quiet for a few minutes. “I told you it was kind of hazy, because it was the second one, so I’m not quite sure…”
He wished he could see for himself, but it was obvious she wouldn’t allow that.
She said, “I think I’m about the same, only a little more confident. I’m not sure. Why?”
“Honestly?” Honestly was a tricky question for him. Humans always said, “Yes,” even when they meant, “No,” because they loved to think that they lived with the truth. The Youngs, however, knew what he meant when he said that, so he had a higher chance of success with it. On the other hand, Mercy was a very young Young.
“Of course!”
“Well, I used to be very different when I was your age...actually, when I was younger than you...but the experiences that I had, the ones that taught me to fend for myself, were really hard, and they changed me a lot.”
“Yeah…?”
“So I was wondering how much you will change, before you become the woman you saw in your vision.”
“I don’t know, but I’m not really worried about it. I am who I am.”
Scythe thought about that and then nodded, accepting her statement.
“And, even though you are a lot different, the important things are still the same, Uncle Scythe.”
He wasn’t sure about that, but it reassured him that it might be true about her.
She leaned her head on his back and said, “You’ve always, always cared. You even care about the future me.”
He didn’t answer. There was no need.
“Scythe?”
“Hmm?”
“I’ve always, always loved you, too.”
“I know, Mercy.” Warm. She made him so warm. He reminded himself that this was what would make the rest bearable and held it close.
“You were mad, when I came.”
“Yes. I didn’t want you to mess up my life. Also, you put yourself in a lot of danger, and that scared me. I am still very worried fo
r you.”
“I’m glad, though.”
“You’re glad?”
“That I messed up your life. It was sucky.”
“No, it was great.”
“Ha! Liar.”
“Don't use that word so lightly, Mercy; it's offensive. But, no, really. I had everything the way I wanted it: very organized, predictable, no worrying about suicidal fourteen year olds going over to tuck in and read bedtime stories to anyone they meet on the street...literally on the street.”
“I wouldn’t have done that!”
“Really? I wouldn’t be shocked it you walked off with some ‘good guy’ with pretty blue eyes who you had just met...”
“I wouldn’t! Now you are just being a jerk,” she argued. “Besides, I didn’t even notice that his eyes were blue.”
“No?”
“Nope.”
“Well, in any case, don’t worry, han-na. I will watch over you, and let you learn the way you want to, and help you to be the woman you want to be, because we are okin.”
“Thank you.”
“And if you try to sell your body again to some man, I will definitely run him off before you can.”
She screeched, letting go with one hand to punch him in the side. “Stop bringing that up! You are a mean, mean person.”
Halfblood Journey Page 24