Visit to Arklay

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and the night goes on

<< with everyone slowly and reluctantly retireing to their own floors and apartments...the time had come to stop talking and start thinking, processing what they'd seen and learned and preparing to go forward. they could ill afford to waste time locking horns and disagreeing now ...especially with one of them already showing signs of confusion and internal turmoil.>>

<< and as the night passed on and dawn approached, they would find more changes in the new day than they could have expected.>>

<< a fog rolls in...but one thing stands clear amongst the fog and all else, Arklay Mansion and the fall out that will come of it.>>

<< and in the midst of the figurative and literal fog...one lone figure moves ...he brings with him a seed of GREAT TROUBLE for the Six, Alycia and Sharon....his past indirectly connected to the Six in a way they dont expect and only just recently ...through his aquaintence of DELILAH, his path now rapidly approaches a deadly crossing with them. Bishop, having escaped the mansion and the creatures there in, now has made his way from Arklay forest to safer ground...he prepares to make his next move.>>
 
[ Delilah returned lethargically to her apartment. She was definitely ready for a shower and some sleep. Silence was definitely golden after the pettiness of their "meeting" back in the war room. She rubbed her stiff neck as she walked down her hallway and into the living room. Something caught her eye and she turned back to the hall table. A folded piece of white paper sat on it.

She did a quick turn through the rest of the apartment, but she was alone. She returned to the hall and picked up the paper. In a half printing/half cursive scrawl, she read:

Meet me on the roof. - C

She stared at the paper. She shouldn't go. Why would she go? She wasn't at his beck and call. And what could he POSSIBLY want that he couldn't just pick up the phone?

But she wanted to go. It was the first place other than home she'd actually wanted to go all day.

She took the stairs, and as she opened the door to the roof, a refreshing rush of cool night air hit her. She took a deep breath, and looked out over the lights of the city. It was so peaceful here. She would have to talk to Morgan about building a patio up here.

Connor stood in the far corner of the building, also gazing at the city lights. He turned as the door closed behind her. ]
 
Connor turned, and saw Delilah, the lights of nearby buildings shining behind her. He walked slowly towards her so that she wouldn’t feel threatened, about half way to her holding up his free hand to show it was empty. In his other hand were several manila file folders, which he held out to her.

“Here.”

Delilah took the files from him gingerly, her fingers only slightly grazing his. She flipped through them quickly.

Delilah: “We’ve been looking for these guys for months – why are you giving them up to me?”

It was true, normally crooks of this low a level wouldn’t even register on his radar. He focused on the killers – the hit men, the bosses. Usually he wouldn’t concern himself with criminals like these until they crossed that line where justice had failed. So why was he helping her?

“Because you still believe in the system. Take care of them or I will.”

He turned and looked back to the city. It was his home, but not. He was just walking through its streets, not connecting to anything. Or anyone. But he had spent more time with and spoke more to this cop than he had to anyone in a long long time.

He heard her voice behind him, tentative.

Delilah: “I’m sorry about your family.”

It was as if he had been stabbed in the chest. And as Connor had been stabbed in the chest before, he knew what it felt like. Before he could think his anger flashed and he turned his head, growling his response at her.

“Don’t ever talk about them!”

He turned back away from her. Breathing deeply, he calmed himself, and he was sorry he had snapped at her. He looked to the park where his life had changed all those years before. He could feel Delilah watching him, feel her confusion, then heard her turn and start to walk away.

“Sometimes in my dreams...”

He heard the footsteps stop.

“Sometimes in my dreams I’m a normal person. All I worry about are football games, ballet recitals, PTA meetings, dinner with the in-laws. I have a little workshop out behind the house. I have a dog, and I take him hunting with my son. We never get anything, but we don’t mind.”

He turned around to see Delilah staring at him, deep concern plastered across her face. He looked into her eyes – right all the way inside them. And he knew she saw who he really was at that moment.

“And then I wake up.”

A single tear rolled down his face – just one – and then it was gone. He looked away quickly. Indicating the folders, he spoke.

“Don’t make me sorry I didn’t eliminate that scum myself.”

With that, he flung himself over the side of the building.
 
[ As Connor spoke about his family, she could see the intense loss on his face. She could see that he really was sorry that he ever woke up in the morning. So that was why he was so reckless, why he had such a death wish. Because he really did have a death wish.

She was about to make a daft attempt at a smart comment, when Connor had pitched himself over the side of the building. She cried out and ran to the edge and looked down, but he was gone. He certainly wasn’t on the sidewalk below as she was expecting. Her breath was coming in short gasps, and she made a split second decision.

She quickly entered the code on the keypad of the roof door and ran to the lobby, moving virtually at the speed of light. She tossed the files to the receptionist, calling something to her about being back for them later, and ran out the door.

She looked frantically around her, thought she caught of glimpse of his moving figure, and made her way west towards the river. She was determined to catch up with him. She saw movement in an alley up ahead, and turned into it, thinking to surprise him.

Just then she felt something cold and hard slam into the back of her head. Her vision went spotted, then everything was black.

She woke, lying on her back, hands around her throat, choking her. A street hood’s dirty face looking down at hers, two others holding her hands and legs. She couldn’t breathe, she had to fight to keep from blacking out again.

And then the one on top of her was suddenly flung away, and a figure similarly picked up the other two. She gasped for breath, doubled-over, coughing. And then as her vision cleared, Connor was there, scooping her up. ]

Connor: "I told you to stop following me."

[ She put her arms around his neck as he carried her, and she murmured a question. ]

“Are…are they dead?”

[ Connor looked down at her, and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. ]

Connor: “Do you want them to be?”

[ Then the flashes behind her eyes took over and all went dark again. ]

******

[ When she came to again, they were on the roof again. Connor was holding a small device up to the keypad. It beeped a few times and then the door clicked open. ]

“Well I guess now I know how you keep getting into the building…I’m going to have to have a conversation with Haleigh about that.”

[ She started to laugh and then regretted it, the pounding in her head intensifying. Connor set her down and they started down the stairs together, she holding onto his arm and one railing to steady herself.

They reached her floor and Connor sat her down in a chair. He pulled out a flashlight and had her follow it with her eyes. He clicked off the light. ]

Connor: “Everything looks okay, but you should see a doctor tomorrow just to be sure. You have a first aid kit?”

[ Delilah went into the bathroom to clean up. Connor sat outside the open door – necessary in case she passed out again in the shower. She emerged, feeling a little nervous around him. She was dressed in her usual tank and pajama bottoms. She sat in a chair with him in another opposite of her. He had the first aid kit in his lap and begun doctoring her cuts and bruises. She noticed the fresh stitching on his arm. Her fingers brushed it lightly. ]

“What happened?”

[ He smiled. ]

Connor: “Nothing – just a scratch. I’ve had worse, darlin’.”

“You should get a new doctor - looks like you sewed it up yourself.”

[ He finished and closed the first aid kit, then turned down the covers on her bed and motioned for her to get in. Her head resting on the pillow, she looked up at him. ]

“Thank you.”

[ And he knew she meant more than just tucking her in. He bent down and kissed her forehead gently and spoke softly. ]

Connor: "I didn't kill them. I knew you wouldn't want me to."

[ He turned to go. Delilah grabbed his arm. She could hardly believe it was her voice speaking. ]

“Will you stay? Just until I fall asleep?”
 
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and so

<< an interesting thing indeed....that Delilah would begin to develope a fondness for one such as Connor and was BALATANTLY violating the security protocalls of Illustra. it appears that Alison had cause for concern after all. >>

<< and so we watch.>>
 
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