“Overwatch, Harmony is not to be underestimated!” Bulwark sounded like he had quickened his pace to a dead run. His breathing sounded labored, his footsteps thundering on concrete.
“I freaking helped bring you back from the other side, you think I don’t know that? But I also know Verd, I know what he’ll do, I know the politicians he’s bought and the people he’s got under his thumb. We need a live witness.”
“Dammit Bruno, you will wait for me to…”
Scope reached up and felt about Bruno’s head for his comm unit. She turned it off, and then hers. She grabbed Bruno by the front of his flak jacket and brought his face within an inch of her own.
“Listen to me!” she hissed. “Harm’s getting away! Go! Remember what you promised me!”
“We finish this today,” he said.
“We finish this today,” she nodded.
Bruno hesitated, looking down the tunnel where Harmony had fled, and back to Scope. She couldn’t see him, but her eyes were wide open. He had always been so taken with how intense they were. While the rest of her shook with anger, her eyes stayed fixed in place. She couldn’t see him. She never had, and he suspected now she never would. How could someone who could see with such clarity be so blind to what was right in front of her? It occurred to him that perhaps Harmony was right. Scope’s vision was a crutch. And if she couldn’t see him one way, then perhaps another approach would have to do.
He released the bottom half of his mask, and then hers, and cupped her face gently with both hands.
“Bruno,” she said. “What the hell…”
He kissed her, and felt her scorn melt away to astonishment, and right at the end, he felt her kiss him back.
“Stay here,” he breathed, pulling back reluctantly. “God, I’ve wanted to do that for a really long time. God willing, maybe you’ll let me do that again.”
Scope just nodded. She had stopped shaking with anger. Instead, she just looked utterly bewildered, even a little lost. Which, given her other possible reactions, Bruno read as positive. Bruno refastened his mask, sprang to his feet, and raced off.
Scope could not have moved, and it had nothing to do with her injuries or her blindness. She felt completely paralyzed, mentally and physically stunned. Blind-sided. Never had a word been more appropriate.
Finally, she spoke aloud, though there was no one to hear her.
“Well, that just happened.”
* * *
“…FBI, CIA, Interpol, you name it. Hell, even Red Saviour has a file on him as thick as your thumb. They have all got little task forces trying to nail Verd to the wall and have been for years. He always gets out of it, Bull! Present evidence and either the judges he bought turn him loose or his lawyers throw enough doubt on it that he gets off.”
“You’re telling me that full recorded testimony and corroborating evidence by Tesla’s actual murderer won’t be sufficient?” Bulwark said, his tone incredulous. He huffed as he continued to run.
“Yes I am. You keep forgetting, my folks are the section heads for their FBI division, which means they need to think and plan past the arrest. Any good lawyer could present evidence claiming to show we edited it, made it up out of whole cloth, or otherwise tampered with it. And they have, over and over again. That’s how he keeps getting off.”
“Somehow, I don’t see Harmony being the most cooperative of witnesses upon capture. Leaving a statement and jetting is one thing for her, but taking the stand is quite another. We know how good an actor she is, too. She’ll say and do anything she wants, and she’ll be convincing. If I had an entire squadron, it might be different, but the risk involved here, for something so uncertain…”
“It depends on what kind of deal she can get out. I expect it will be a good one. Deal, that is.”
“You expect a deal? Really? She fingered Verdigris, but she took full credit for the act herself? How good a deal could she get?”
“I’ve watched DAs and Federal Prosecutors deal with Mafia assassins, hitmen of all sorts. I’ve watched them give them full immunity and put them in the Witness Protection program when the stakes are high enough—”
“Overwatch, is this really the time for a debate? You just overrode a direct order from their field commander.”
“Yes, I did. They’ve been operating on their own for months, and doing damn well at it.”
“And now they’ve cut communications and Bruno is off to attempt capture of a seasoned killer. You just sent him off to die.”
“When are you going to let them grow up? When are you going to stop trying to protect them and let them do the job you’ve been training them to do? When will you allow them to make the same level of sacrifice you ask of yourself? Isn’t that what our job always comes down to in the end? Being willing to sacrifice whatever it takes?”
“This isn’t just some job!” he roared, now breathing hard. He came to a stop, panting. “I send soldiers off on missions. I give orders that can be met and executed. I just don’t think…”
He paused.
“You don’t think he can beat her, do you?”
“No,” Bull said finally, and began to run again. “I don’t.”
* * *
Bruno raced down the tunnel, keeping his footsteps light, straining to see or hear anything ahead of him. He should have been terrified. His heart should have been beating hard enough to erupt out of his chest. It was, actually, but not from fright. He was reliving the kiss, again and again, and he could hardly believe that it had happened.
I did it, I kissed her, I can’t believe I kissed her, and she kissed back, she did, I know she did, I felt it…
As he rounded a corner, the thunder of gunshots brought him crashing back to the present.
Oh, right. Harmony.
He dove under the shots, rolled, and came up shooting. He heard Harmony curse and duck back under cover. Bruno took shelter behind an inset doorway, gulped down a breath of courage, and returned fire.
“Bruno!” Harmony yelled, as she fired a few more rounds at him.
“What?” Acrobat yelled back, as he squeezed off a few more shots of his own.
“This is stupid!”
“Of course it is!” Bruno shouted. “If you stop and think about it, the last few months have been a complete waste of time! We should be working together! Kriegers, remember?”
“I meant this!” Harmony said. “Right here, right now, you and me! You know you can’t take me, so why are you even trying? You were in the Blacksnake barracks, so you must have heard all about me. You know everything they told you? It’s true. Yes, I’m the one Blacksnake would send in to take out Op Threes. I’m the one who got the entire Coredonne clan. I’m the one that took down the head Yakuza of the Blood Tigers, and his bodyguards.”
“Oh yeah,” Bruno agreed. “We heard all about you. Talisman, the lady who can suck you dry with a touch. Talisman, she’ll always see you coming, but you’ll never see her, not before she’s got you pinned to the ground. You know what no one said about you? Your staying power. You’ve got none, Harmony. You’re spent from running, you’ve left a trail of blood ever since Scope dumped a load of lead into your legs, and now I’m guessing you’re not nearly as fast as you usually are. I’m guessing you’re pretty hungry right now, too. But if you want to eat me, guess what…?”
“I’m going to have to fight you,” Harmony said. “You’re covered up. You both did your homework.”
They had been trading volleys of gunfire, each ducking behind their respective corners as the other opened up. This time they both leapt out, each rushing the other, their firearms raised. Triggers were squeezed, but nothing happened, their ammo was spent. And neither of them had magazines left to reload with.
“Been a while since we sparred,” Harmony said, and smirked at him. “In a way, I’m happy about this. Do you have any idea how much it sucked, having to always throw fights to you?”
“I’ll bet,” Bruno said, and dropped his pistol. “Care to make a wage
r on this one?”
“I don’t do sure bets,” Harmony replied, also dropping her gun. “There’s no sport in it.”
“That satisfy the pre-fight banter portion?” Bruno asked.
“Meh, it’ll do,” Harm said, and launched herself at him.
Bruno rolled under her kick, but Harmony’s follow-up backhand smashed him to the ground. She might have lost a lot of speed, but she was still fast enough, and strong. He flipped over, threw his arms up to block a heavy dropkick, and was rewarded with a howl of pain. Harmony fell back a few steps, and he used her brief retreat to flip up to his feet. She wasn’t used to being so drained, or wounded. Why else would she have made such an amateur mistake? He looked down at her legs. Bits of torn flesh were poking out of her leggings. She had willed them to heal, just enough to stop the bleeding, but she wouldn’t be trying another kick any time soon. They circled one another, and Bruno caught a flicker of fear on her face. At least, he hoped so.
She’s cunning. She’s got great acting chops. Don’t underestimate her.
He darted in and threw a few tentative jabs. She slapped his hands away contemptuously, but missed the feint as he dropped down and went for the sweep. Harmony cried out as his feet buckled her legs, just behind the knees. She toppled over, and received a solid boot to the temple before he dove away. She was on her feet in an instant, though she seemed a bit unsteady.
She’s weak in the legs, she’s weak in the legs…she’s cunning, she’s cunning…
He tried again, leading with soft strikes to her head and chest, which she easily deflected and dodged, and dropped down to drive an elbow at her kneecap. Harmony screamed as he rammed the side of her leg, and he heard something snap. She drove down with both fists and slammed him to the ground. He pushed himself up, grunted as she sent him flying back with an enormous uppercut and went limp as he collided with the tunnel wall. He fell to his knees, massaging the back of his head. He felt a little dizzy, and suppressed the urge to vomit.
“All right, you stupid boy, you want to play?” She hissed at him, and Bruno watched as her features began to distort. Claws erupted from her hands, fangs extended from a mouth that seemed to unhinge. Her skin, which had always seem to gleam with eternal youth, grew dry and scaly. And her eyes! They seemed to sink back into her head, her pupils dilating until only luminous black beads stared back at him in anger. She drew in a long, raspy breath and exhaled. Slowly, the wounds on her legs began to mend, and with an awful crack her kneecap righted itself. When she finally spoke, it wasn’t her usual voice, high-pitched and sublime. It was something dark, sinister and bestial. It was hungry.
“Let’s play,” she growled, and leapt towards him.
Bruno launched himself straight up, snagged an exposed ceiling rung and pulled himself up. Caught up in the charge, Harmony flew beneath him and braced herself for impact with the wall. She recoiled, spinning in mid-leap and attempted to propel herself up to claw the dexterous man down from his perch, when her face met with Bruno’s feet as he swung down. She flew back, but not before lashing out with in a wide-arc with her claws, catching him low on the leg and tearing up a sizable portion of his calf muscle. Bruno grunted in pain and landed a bit clumsily on his feet.
Just need to keep her occupied, keep her from rabbiting, until help arrives. Come on Bull, what’s keeping you?
They circled each other warily, both hobbling a little and favoring their good legs.
“Give it up, Bruno,” Harmony rasped. “Just walk away. What do you hope to accomplish here? I gave Verdigris to you! There’s nothing left here for you, except whatever pitiful price your tired sense of justice and honor demands of you.”
“Y’know Harmony,” Bruno said, “you’re talking an awful lot for someone who thinks this fight is so one-sided. I think you’re stalling.”
Harmony grinned, and the sight of her lips curled around those horrific fangs chilled Bruno more than he cared to admit.
“Of course I am, you idiot,” she chuckled. “Did you really think your locker room chats with Blacksnake minions would make you privy to all my secrets? You think you know so much about me, but you’ve barely scratched the surface. And with each second, while you bleed and tire, I’m just getting stronger.”
“You’re bluffing,” he said. “You still need a boost, even you’re not that good an actor.”
“Not that good an actor?” she said, incredulously. “I had you all fooled for years, boy! You have no appreciation for what I endured, just to live amongst you, like some common…”
“So you’re method, I get that. You’re the Marlon Brando of the meta world, kudos. You think it matters now, Harm? All that work, all the lies, and for what? What did you accomplish here? What are you accomplishing now?”
“Well, right now I’m educating one sad little kid who thinks he’s developed a lot more than he has.”
“You know what I think?” Bruno said, coming to a stop. “I think you’re struggling with yourself. I think you actually made friends here, found people you care about. I think that’s why you didn’t just take Bull out when you had the chance. I think that’s why you hesitated with Scope. I think that’s why I’m still standing. You’re fighting yourself. You just can’t bring yourself to do it. It’s not too late, Harmony. You’ve already set Verdigris up, but good. They’ll listen to you if you carry it through. They’ll give you a fair shake if you come back and hammer that final nail in his coffin.”
He extended a hand and his eyes bore into hers.
“Come back to us, Harmony.”
She had stopped moving, and heard him out. Her face was so reptilian now he found it difficult to gauge what she was thinking. She looked down at his hand, and for a moment he thought she would reach for it.
“BRUNO!” Bull’s shout rang out far behind them, and they heard thunderous footsteps in the distance.
Harmony hissed. “You little, two-faced shit, you were stalling too!”
Bruno grinned, and shrugged. “What can I say? Fast learner.”
With a roar, she turned to run, but stopped as he pulled in front of her.
“It’s over, Harmony,” he said, quietly. “This ends today.”
He danced lightly on the balls of his feet, moving from side to side, but his intentions were clear. If she was going to escape, she would have to get through him.
“I say when it ends,” she snarled, and lunged at him. She swung wildly, in desperation, hoping to break through his defenses with sweeping rakes and quick shots to the head and stomach. Bruno stayed on the defensive, dodging what blows he could, deflecting those he could not. He neutralized her sudden and reckless desire to flee with cold and detached blocking maneuvers, neatly diverting her fury and forcing her to retreat with rapid counterstrikes and feints.
The footsteps were close now. Too close, Harmony thought. She took a step back, and with a final, desperate lunge, she tackled Bruno to the ground. They fell, rolled together, and with a tremendous effort Harmony reared back and smashed his head with her own. Bruno gurgled and went limp. With a cry of victory, Harmony laid her hand upon his masked face to pry off his goggles. She hissed as they stuck fast. The little shit had sealed his gear together! From his goggles to his fitted gas filter, Bruno had left nothing exposed, and Bulwark was almost on her…
She took a breath and reared back with one clawed hand. With a final, desperate surge of strength, she plunged her hand into Bruno’s chest, tearing through his body armor. Her claws slipped between his ribs, and she felt the tips puncture his heart. She sighed in relief, and began to gorge herself on his life-force, siphoning his strength greedily. She felt her wounds heal, the pain subside, and as she came to her feet, ready to sprint away at full speed, her legs were ravaged with a storm of bullets.
Her eyes went wide in disbelief. Her legs, which had just finished healing, buckled again as fresh wounds erupted in gouts of blood. She sank to her knees, and stared as Scope hobbled closer, her guns still at the ready.
“
Give me a reason, Harmony,” Scope muttered, and pressed both muzzles to Harmony’s temple.
Harmony didn’t answer, and simply closed her eyes.
Scope looked down. Through his thick goggles, Bruno stared back at her. He lay in a growing pool of blood which seeped from his chest. His breathing, shallow and sporadic, slowed and came to a halt. Scope let out a startled sob, and with a scream of loss she squeezed both triggers. Harmony’s head snapped back, her body went limp, and collapsed on top of Bruno.
“SCOPE!” Bull shouted as he ran up to them. “We needed her alive! Why did you do that?”
Scope glared at him. She knelt down, dropped her pistols, and gently pushed Harmony off of Bruno. She laid a hand on his neck, found the hidden clasp, and pulled off his entire mask. Softly, she pushed his hair back from his forehead, and closed his eyes.
“She gave me a reason,” Scope answered. She shook her head. “Besides, do you really think a couple of bullets to the head would kill her?”
Bull tore his eyes away from Bruno, and watched as Harmony continued to breath. Her wounds had stopped bleeding too. From her legs and forehead, Scope’s bullets were slowly pushed out by healing bone and tissue, and fell with a clatter to the ground. He knelt down, fished the reinforced restraints from his belt, and locked them about her wrists and ankles.
Over the radio there came only a single strangled sob. Then Vickie’s voice, hoarse and choked. “Overwatch to ECHO. Man down. Harmony captured. Dispatch security team to grid 4-8-1 with containment suit and full metahuman restraints.”
Scope leaned down, and held Bruno’s still body close to hers.
“Hey Bruno,” she whispered. “We did it, geekboy. We got the bad guy.”
Her head sagged, and her body shook with silent sobs as her arms tightened around him. When the security and med teams arrived, she didn’t notice, not until Bull gently pried her away.
Revolution: Book Three of the Secret World Chronicle - eARC Page 54