What Remains

"Aw sweetie, don't take it that way!" Lena Marr took Marcel's tan square jaw between her chalk white thumb and forefinger, holding it still as she French kissed him, withdrawing her tongue afterwards only to quickly lick the tip of his nose playfully, then saying with wicked grin, "I just didn't want to risk the boss of our outfit on a simple hit and run mission, but if you want to come, the more the merrier! Meet you at the car!"

Normally, Lena preferred not having an audience to her work, but she found the thought pleasing that Marcel wanted to come with her. Whether it was Pride in her EGO wheelhouse, or her strong feelings for him, even she couldn't say. She merely went and grabbed her black legacy hacker outfit and got in the car, changing into it as Marcel drove them toward Fortress Kshaa. Marcel would glance at her from time to time, and sometimes would cop a feel of her more private areas, whereupon she would jokingly admonish him by saying, "Keep your eyes on the road and you hands on the wheel Buster! I'd like to get there in one piece, if you don't mind! Well have plenty of time for that after we do the deed!"

As Lena adjusted her amble bosom in the extreme cleavage of the outfit, she asked, "You didn't answer my question Lover Boy. I mean, the money is great and I have no problem offing Lady - she's a sweet kid but scrip is scrip - but don't we have a standing contract with Atticus not to work against those in the Fortress, which would include Lady. I'm just a little confused with who we are working for here. If we break a contract, doesn't the hurt our credibility as a criminal organization - plus the fact, if Atticus finds out it was us that killed his wife, he WILL kill us in the most painful way possible, which for me might be fun in the short term but I don't like the long term implications. Death would be even more boring I think. However, Stevie is offering a whole lot of scrip, and that could put us way ahead of our timetable to buy our island and that's a BIG plus! That - and he'd be a useful contact to have on our side as we grow our criminal enterprise. Food for thought, and since you're the brains of our operation, what do you think?""

Once they reached and entered the abandoned studio, Vo proceeded with setting up generators and other equipment, helping Belle in setting up the studio. When Belle said they were ready to go on air, he thought of staying in the studio behind the camera but then he noticed something was amiss. Actually, someone was amiss and it was Berlin who he had not seen since they entered the TV station. As he didn't want for anything bad happen to anyone of their small team, he showed an okay sign to Belle and Iri and slipped back to the exit, searching for Berlin. He found her standing at the entrance and scanning the environment with her observant eyes.

"Enjoying the view? Or have a bad feeling?" He asked in a low voice, not really expecting a reply. "My friend often says no one should stay alone in a dangerous environment and it's where he's deadly right. So here I am keep you company. I'll watch around and you take cover inside and watch my back. And please don't even try to object. I have an EGO, a shield synchronized with it and you don't."

He would stay on guard for the entire time the transmission was going, looking for any threats that may come driven by the signal of now live TV station.

After considerable consideration, Wolfram von Eschen said: "I know that Volodja Uljanov is going to be be a bit disappointed, because he is going to miss another precious moment, but I give my permission to continue with the procedure. A horrible end is better than endless horror anyway. I believe that Volodja would agree with me. We both have experienced the latter, and we both have lost big part of our lives anyway, so..."

Wolfram was right about that. He spent years in daily drunkenness, trying to erase the memories of war from his mind. Finally he managed to suppress those memories, but not because of drinking, but because he had a chance to begin a new life at the old age. Ever since he gained back his self confidence and social life, he left the ghost of war behind, accepting it as a part of him. 

But Volodja was still struggling with his fate and himself. Too many times he saw his dreams being vaporized and when he finally dared to believe in something again...we all knew what happened. So maybe it was even better than he wasn't around to see the results of his last fight. Man can bear only certain amount of disappointments in life, until he will be crushed under his burden. Volodja lasted more coups than most of ordinary men were able to handle, but one moment his spirit will be permanently broken. Constant dripping of water wears away the stone. Constant tension on metal makes it deform. And Volodja's heart was made from much softer material than stone or metal. Volodja's absence might give Wolfram time to prepare for easing the impact of another blow on his already torn heart, which, knowing Volodja's ill luck, was quite possible. But Wolfram said couple of prayers for Sandy Bell and Volodja Uljanov as well, in the hope that these two can be happily together.

"Hi Starr-gazers, this is your favorite reporter Belle Starr with a special guest, Ms. Iri Seuwell with a heartfelt message to a lost soul, Mr. Chase Lonehart! What y'all want to say to him Iri?"

With the camera on her, she needed a moment to finally find the words she needed.

"Good evening," she started. Before I begin, I apologize to everyone for disturbing you. I'm sure everyone would rather be watching something else instead of an Indogene's plea to the human she loves. But I ask you all just for a moment to say what I need to and then you can go about your regular routine, primarily because of the situation."

She took a moment to collect herself, not wanting to fall apart again like she had moments before.

"Understand, this world has some sort of unknown grudge against the man known as Chase Lonehart. It started its brutality by taking away the only family he had left. It then took away the memories of who he was, along the with his right arm. And when he thought the world had taken me away, he lost all hope, cut out the EGO unit that was in him and he walked out into the Canadian desert without any supplies or weaponry. He hit his limit and chose to allow the world to take his life. Yet, somehow, for a little over a month, he walked from Edmonton to Defiance, a broken man boiled down to his basic instincts. And he is running loose in the town, with no likely clue that he is safe and people who care about him, myself included, are looking for him. That is why I am on this screen and my voice is coming through your radios, hoping that Chase can hear me."

Iri took in a deep breath and blew it out slowly for a moment.

"Chase, please come back to me," she finally addressed him. "Please, trust those looking for you. We wanted to take you home. I want nothing more than to be near you again. I want to help you, you 'll let me. But more importantly, I love you."

She felt the emotional pain, keeping it at bay.

"There is a bit of irony," she continued. "I began my time on this planet without knowing what love was. It's because of you that I know more than just a definition of it. And I can't see myself going on in this existence without you. Please.... Please, come back to me."

Belle appeared to be rather silently surprised by the words Iri had come up with. It took the human to realize that Iri was complete with her statement, turning the camera on herself for a moment.

"Okay, Starr-Gazers," she began. "If you happen to see a one armed man, acting quite animalistic, last seen wearing a bedsheet, contact Lawkeepers Irisa or Berlin. Goodnight. And now back to your regularly scheduled programs..."

Belle turned the camera off, looking at Iri for a moment.


--------------


Stahma watched the broadcast as the Indogene delivered her message. There had been a pang of remembrance that came to her from the words that were spoken. The first of those remembrances was Kenya Rosewater, and how she felt holding her as her life slipped away from her. The second was how she felt when she believed Datak was dead, how she felt at the thought of never seeing the man she loved ever again. She recalled how she felt both of those times. The pain of watching Kenya did was hard to keep down those days afterwards, her wanting to scream at the top of her lungs, to cry and to truly grieve for the love she lost that day. And then the pain and suffering she held back after hearing of Datak's sacrifice, believing him dead. It's not that she didn't care for T'evgin, she did. But after being with Datak so long, even the darkest of moments and the roughest of patches appeared worth it when she missed him. Though she wouldn't admit it, she felt truly sorry for the woman who loves Chase Lonehart, because she could relate. A different species, yet it seemed like everyone was, as the humans put it, cut from the same cloth. It was at that moment she realized what they needed to do.

"Datak," Stahma spoke. "Get Chase from the hiding spot."

Hearing these words must have surprised Amanda Rosewater, as she had done a sharp heel turn to look at Stahma.

"Stahma," Datak piped up. "Our debt."

"It will have to be paid another way," she told him. "Take them to the hiding spot. Get him out."

She turned to look at Datak, but Amanda Rosewater caught her attention. Stahma could see the confusion in Amanda's eyes, though she knew that Amanda still didn't trust her. With all of the actions taken between her husband and her, she wasn't surprised that Amanda Rosewater still distrusted her on.

"Thank you," the human told her.

Stahma nodded, watching as Datak began to head to the hallway, with Volo and Irisa in tow. Datak lead them to their bedroom, moving over towards the bed.

"Please tell me this isn't some trick to get us into a four-way," Irisa quipped.

"On the contrary," Datak replied. “I honestly do not like to betray a friend. But, as you may not realize, Stahma and I have had a bit of a… strained relationship. I think it best not to strain it even more.”

He pushed the mattress off the side of the bed, revealing what appeared to be a barely noticeable discolored patch of fabric in what would be the box spring in which the mattress resided on. Datak reached over, grabbing a corner of the patch and pulling back the fabric attached to a thin, stiff board. Upon the pull, the reveal of an opening inside the box spring. But before they could say a word, a one-armed human flew out of the opening and charged at them. With as much strength as the body could muster, the Animal targeted the Irath due to her size and her position in the way of the door.

Meat and meat impacted, and he cleared the room and sent Irisa bouncing to the floor. Chase began to run down the hallway, trying to get away.

“Chase!” Volo’s voice echoed down the hall behind him, but his voice fell on ears deafened by panic.

He had made it to the main area of the house, finding more people. He tried for the door at full speed, only to feel an arm hook him around his neck, sending him flipping end over end until landing to the ground with a hard thud, his head bouncing off the floor and knocking him out.

————————

Amanda was sure that Datak and Stahma were going to cover like they had before, both attempting to con the group that had come into their home. But Amanda was surprised that Stahma told Datak to retrieve him. Stahma Tarr, who had done so well at keeping things in check so things could go her way, for reasons unknown to her, chose to give up Chase without even consulting her husband about it.

"Stahma, our debt,” Datak spoke, surprise crossing his face as much as Amanda was sure that it was on hers.

"It will have to be paid another way. Take them to the hiding spot.“ she replied rather stoic. "Get him out."

Vol and Irisa followed Datak around the corner. Amanda couldn’t take her eyes off of Stahma. She began to wonder what was going through the Castithan’s mind as she continued to look at the screen, even after the broadcast was over. Amanda Rosewater considered the possibility that somehow, Iri Sewuel’s message had some sort of effect on Stahma, despite it being for Chase.

“Chase!”

The voice of Volo bringing her back to the situation as she turned around to find Chase coming around the corner, a fevered panic on his face. Atticus had the path to the doorway covered while Amanda stood in Chase’s way to the garden.

“Chase, please,” Amanda tried to plea with him. “It’s me, Amanda! You’re not-“

At that moment he tried to bolt in the direction of the door, witnessing as Atticus Batman clotheslined him , causing to flip and land hard on the floor. Amanda couldn’t believe she just witnessed that.

“Was that really necessary?” Amanda asked Atticus.

“Either that or chase him out into the night,” he replied. “This is was the better option.”

Irisa and Volo finally caught up, with Datak Tarr following behind them, Irisa holding her side.

“What happened?” Atticus asked Volo.

“I got to admit,” Volo began. “Even for someone with one arm, he’s resilient. He blitzed us, knocking Irisa down hard.”

“Are you okay?” Amanda asked.

Irisa just nodded with a slight smirk.

“I’ve been knocked down before,” Irisa before. “Much harder and by bigger enemies.”

Atticus looked over Chase for a moment.

“He’s still alive and breathing,” he informed the others. “No serious damage. So, I guess we’ll let Belle know we got him.”

“You’ll have to do it on the way to the NeedWant,” Amanda told him. “We’ve got a room prepped there that we can hold him in until whenever you all are ready to good.”

“Okay,” Volo replied as he headed over to Chase. He looked up at Atticus and began to respond. “I’ve got the head, you handle the feet.”

As they began to leave, Amanda turned back to Stahma, who hadn’t broken away from the direction of the TV screen as it displayed nothing but a dead channel. Still, Amanda had the question of why Stahma chose to give Chase up, as well as what this ‘debt’ that Datak mentioned was.

Table it for later. We need to get Chase secured.

She headed out catching up with the others, noticing Irisa still holding onto her side. She made a mental note to contact Samir to meet them there so that he could check on her.

One crisis at a time, she thought as she took the lead and headed towards the NeedWant. One crisis at a time.

"Just don't break his legs," said Volodja when he saw the glow around Atticus. "Keep in mind that Chase's personality is reduced to basic instincts and needs. At moment he would not even understand the meaning of punishment. And...one more thing. We used Lady's unstable mental condition to affect the court. Without much success, as I remember, but it was still a valid argument. And since Chase was acting in extreme state of mind, he has the same excuse for his actions as Lady. He just wasn't his normal self. So  put your emotions aside, have a deep breathe and try to be as objective as possible. Here we are. Congratulations, Atticus! You managed to deliver Chase unharmed. And now I would suggest strapping him to his bed, because another escapade of his would be...let's say that it would be tiresome and time consuming for us. And we don't break his legs. Not even as a precaution measure to avoid his possible escape. I know that you don't want to do that, but we better suppress even a subconscious temptation of doing that. I consider both of you as friends so don't expect me to do anything else than placing myself between you in attempt to prevent you from hurting each other."

Volodja swept his high forehead and caught his breath. And wondered about Stahma's weird behaviour and possible motives of releasing Chase. She would never act without being motivated. And as much as Volodja knew Stahma Tarr and her personality, she never acted for selfless reasons. Something in that broadcast spoke to her, but what it was?

Volodja also assumed that it doesn't concern him much. Compared with the rest of people in this area, he was a stranger with no previous contacts and social ties. Except that brief moment in N'awlins over a decade ago when he met Belle Starr. But as long as he knew it was one and only time he saw someone from their team or locals, before he moved to Paradise territory and stayed there longer than he intended. Wolfram von Eschen and Arnim Mueller-Stahl didn't count because he knew them both back in Europe. And Marcel Lestrange appeared even later than Volodja, so...He just observes the situation and possible intrigues from the side just like Switzerland and Sweden in WW2 unless he HAS to get involved any other way than a therapist. And somehow he doubted that he is the one, chosen to play the role of The Visitor in "Teorema", although the whole Chase situation reminded that movie to him. 



Now they needed to wait for the rest of their team to arrive. Then they can decide what to do with Chase. Should they try to start with the therapy in Defiance or move Chase along to Red Deer or their base? Decisions, decisions...And those decisions had to be consensus based. 

"Okay, Starr-Gazers," Vo was transferring the translation signal from his EGO to his hailer which had its loudspeaker on so that Berlin could hear what was being transmitted too, "If you happen to see a one armed man, acting quite animalistic, last seen wearing a bedsheet, contact Lawkeepers Irisa or Berlin. Goodnight. And now back to your regularly scheduled programs..."

"Well, if the girl I love was saying this to me through the airwaves, I'd be saddling whatever transport I'd manage to find and speeding to her without missing a bit," Vo sad to Berlin after the transmission finished, "But I've just noticed they didn't actually tell Chase where he could go to meet Iri. Granted, they mentioned Lawkeepers but I'm not sure Chase would willingly turn himself in after what he had done to you to escape. Then again, Belle and Iri didn't follow the cover story we planned to tell, so I hope Belle has another plan on how to actually find Chase."

"Hi Belle! Great performance as always," Vo sent through his EGO, "What's our next move? I'm guarding the entrance, it's all quiet here and our rollers are ready to move if you need to."

Then Belle answered him, telling him that Chase were found and would be kept at Need/Want until they return. When the team gathered at the entrance, Vo suggested to take the tanker truck with them, thinking the city administration would put it to good use. This time the truck was leading the way, with Berlin's roller close behind, Vo keeping an eye on them through the rear view mirror. Once the truck was delivered to a safe place, the team occupied Berlin's roller and proceeded its way to Need/Want to finally meet their fugitive friend.

As Sandy Bell scrambled upwards from the darkness of her subconscious towards the white light, she was not longer climbing but had reached a plateau, with the light on the horizon like the sun rising, but a brilliant white in color. The darkness was now a shade of grey, and as she headed towards the light she was suddenly surrounded by a huge flock of noiseless white sheep. The sheep seemed to instinctively part for her, but also herding her to the center of the flock, where she saw a white robed young man with brown shaggy hair and a brown beard sitting on a rock and nursing a baby black sheep with a bottle of milk.

"Ummm... Hi, I'm Sandy, " Sandy said nervously, shifting from one foot to another as she stood in front of the man, recognizing the Christian religious implications of the scene, but not sure if she believed them as she had always been a bit of an atheist, then asking for clarification, "Who are you?"

The young man smiled warmly, then asked back, "Does it really matter? The real question is who are you and where are you going?"

"Well, I'm Sandy Bell, and I'm headed to that light on the horizon," Sandy answered, somewhat belligerently.

"But who is Sandy Bell, and is that the light you really are looking for? Are you really so ready to leave your friends? Are you really ready to leave Volodja?" Asked the still smiling man, ignoring the tone of her voice.

Sandy looked down at her feet, then back up with intense blue eyes and hesitated before replying, "I don't know... I keep playing out like the pretty actress in a grade-B movie... getting captured by the villain or hurt by the monster... and keep endangering the others who have to then rescue me, then just when I think my character is dead and out of the movie - holy crap, I'm back for the sequel!" Sandy caught herself then, as her eyes widened and she threw her tan right hand up, covering her mouth, and exclaimed, "Aw, Hell, please excuse my language!"

The young man's smile broadened as he replied, "No harm done. I've certainly heard worse. Now, back to the issue at hand: What about Volodja?"

Tears began to well up in Sandy Bell's blue eyes but she refused to cry, for she had always told herself soldiers never cry, so she instead answered in a voice that broke, "I love him so much, really from the first point I met him and almost killed him, and didn't, but..."

The young man furrowed his brow, his kind brown eyes staring at her in concern, as he asked, "But what?"

"I can't seem to make him happy! I mean when we talk and kiss and make love, he seems perfectly fine," Sandy's eyes darted to the young man, checking to see that her language wasn't shocking him, and seeing that it didn't went on, "But it's always temporary! No matter what I do, Volodja slips back into depression so far that sometimes I think he'll never be able to come back out again. I sometimes think that no matter how hard I try to make I'm happy, I'll still wake up some morning, and he'll be gone! I sometimes think that maybe... it would have just been better for him if he had never met me, so he would have one less responsibility and one less thing to be depressed about."

The young man's smile waned, as a look of seriousness crossed his bearded face, and he looked at the black lamb he was held in his arms, still greedily sucking at its milk bottle, then said, "Sandy, you can never MAKE someone be happy, only they can do that for themselves, and they first have to let themselves. For example, the black lamb in my hands. He would eat until he made himself sick, always hungry, at least in his mind. I can stop feeding him, but he will likely then wander off in search of food or worse still, be eaten himself by wolves. All I can do is nurture him the best I can while he is in my care, making sure he knows he is loved and cared about, but also knowing that he will do what he will do in the end all. That does not mean I love him any less, for I love all my flock, but I realize that it may be his nature to leave me at some point, and although that makes me sad, it also makes him even more special to me for he is a unique individual. Do you understand Sandy?"

Sandy stood thinking for a moment about what the young bearded man said, then answered with a grin, "I think so but..." Her blue eyes looked longingly at the bright white disk on the horizon, "I sure would like to see what is in the light, but I guess that is an adventure for another day. Can you send me back?"

"Of course," Replied the young man smiling back at her warmly, but adding a warning, "But there will be complications to be overcome, and Volodja and your friends will be tested yet again by them."

"Great," Said Sandy through gritted teeth, "I'm going to be trouble for them yet again..."

Things began to fade to black for Sandy Bell as she heard the young man's last words to her ringing in her head, "What doesn't kill them makes them stronger - and you as well."

*****

Michael "Sarge" Murphy, Sandy Bell's erstwhile EGO psyche, woke up laying on his back in a bed covered by white linens in a sterile white room that smelled of cleanliness and antiseptics. He immediately noticed two things: First, he saw the wizened face of Wolfram Von Eschen looking down at him and the concerned face of a young Indogene man on the computer screen above his bed; and second, he saw that his chest had two lumps on them that were not there before.

Sarge reach down and grasped the lumps with his two tan hands and squeezed hard, wincing from the pain he caused himself before muttering loudly as he realized what had happened, "Oh Christ, I got boobs!"

"Damnation," Thought Sandy to Sarge through the telepathic link they shared through the EGO implant, "I'm a fucking EGO psyche again!"