Chapter Seven:
Return to Silver City
Aquila reached into his pack and pulled out a small map, flipping it open and checking where he was going from here. Down the street about a block, then turn left. Got it. He turned and headed that way. Civilians passed as he walked, or at least, he hoped they were civilians. He glanced around, just in case anyone was following him. He rolled his shoulders, his back still aching slightly from his burns, a dull twinge still lingering where he’d been hit.
He turned the corner and spotted his destination on the right. A tiny diner wedged in between two larger buildings, a sign above the door spelling out “GON” in bright red letters, just like on Tammy’s card. This was the place.
Aquila stuffed the map back into his bag and stepped inside.
The inside of the shop wasn’t much more impressive than the outside. It reminded him a bit of Clare’s, the diner back in Briarwood. There weren’t too many patrons, just a handful of workers there getting a late breakfast. A long stainless-steel bar ran the full length of the room, ending at a door leading to a bathroom. Aquila stepped over to the counter and pulled out a stool to sit down.
A door behind the bar opened and a young woman with long black hair stepped out. “Welcome to Gon,” she said, smiling at Aquila and stepping up to serve him. “My name’s Katie. I’ll be your server today. How can I help you?”
Aquila hesitated. He still wasn’t sure if he was walking himself into a trap or not, and he wanted to get his bearings first before going all the way. “I’m not sure yet,” he said, grabbing a menu and flipping it open. “Can you give me a couple of minutes.”
“Of course,” Katie said. “Take all the time you need.”
Aquila tipped his hat to her. “Thank you very much,” he said. Katie gave him one last smile before moving on to greet another customer who had just walked in. Aquila sat back, flipping through his menu while subtly glancing around the room at the other patrons.
There were only about half-a-dozen in total, plus the waitress and the chef he could hear milling about behind the kitchen door. Even if they were all Black Cross, he was pretty sure he could take them. Then again, he thought, glancing around the walls and remembering how the walls had opened up in Doctor Kuchar’s lab to reveal hundreds of soldiers. Maybe he had best keep a clear path between himself and the exit.
Most of the patrons didn’t seem to be paying him much mind as far as he could tell, except for one pair sitting one table over from him. A round-faced boy in a pair of work overalls and a frizzy-haired girl in a beret sat together making small talk over plates of takoyaki, every now and then glancing at him out of the corner of their eyes.
Aquila focused on his menu, pretending he hadn’t noticed. He spotted the items he needed to order immediately, having memorized the details of the passcode pretty thoroughly after deciding to follow through with it. He took a deep breath and closed the menu, setting it down on the counter.
“Ready to order?” Katie asked, coming back over and smiling at him once again..
“Yeah, I think so,” Aquila said. He swallowed, imagining himself crossing a threshold of no return. “Could I get three large bowls of your spicy curry, a bowl of ice cream, and a cup of coffee.”
Katie froze in the middle of writing, her hand hovering an inch off the paper. She looked up at him for just a second, her smile gone, a fiery intensity in her green eyes. “Are you sure?” she asked. “Our large bowls are very big. Most can’t handle even one.”
Aquila held her gaze, swallowing to calm his nerves. “I’m sure,” he said. “Three large.”
Katie’s eyes scanned his face for an uncomfortably long second. Then her smile returned. “Of course, sir,” she said, finishing her note. “We’ll have that right out for you.”
Aquila tipped his hat. “Looking forward to it,” he said.
Katie turned and entered the kitchen without another word, glancing back at him through the window as she did. “We got a new order,” he heard her tell the chef.
Aquila sat quietly as a whispered conversation took place behind the kitchen doors. The chef, who appeared to be an older man with heavy bags under his eyes, glanced through the door for a second before returning to their conversation. Aquila glanced around the room. The pair behind him were definitely watching him now, but everyone else was still eating as if nothing had happened.
One by one, the other patrons started to finish up their meals and head out, most chatting about the workload they expected for the day. Aquila waited in silence, watching them leave one by one. After a few minutes, Katie returned with a tray loaded with three of the biggest bowls of curry and rice he had ever seen. She hadn’t been kidding that most probably couldn’t get through one.
“Meshiagare,” she said, handing the items over to him. “Enjoy your meal.”
Aquila mouthed, his eyes wide. “Um, thanks,” he said.
Aquila stared at the food before him, trying to grasp where to even begin eating it all. He pulled over the first bowl and started digging in. About halfway through, the last patron left, leaving only Aquila and the couple behind him.
About three-quarters of the way through the bowl, the door he had thought led to a bathroom opened up and the familiar face of Tammy Hayes entered the room.
Aquila stopped eating. He turned to look at her just as her own eyes found him. She looked just as he remembered her, with long, slightly curly brown hair and glasses sitting on the edge of her nose. A clipboard was clutched tightly to her chest, just as one always was, a pen held in her other hand. A strange sense of relief flooded through him, receiving unquestionable proof that she’s made it out of that firefight alright. Everything in him wanted to run to her, but he held himself back.
Tammy’s mouth worked for a minute or two as she stared at him, struggling to get any words out.
“Hi,” she finally said.
Aquila smiled gently. “Hi.”
Aquila carefully eased up off of his stool, taking a tentative step toward her. The two agents at the table shifted as he did. He caught out of the corner of his eye a small firearm hidden at the frizzy-haired girl’s waist.
Aquila swallowed. “It’s, um, nice to see you again, Miss Hayes,” he said, tipping his hat and flashing his patented smile.
Tammy’s ears went red and she looked down. “Um, yeah,” she said. She glanced at his shoulder. Aquila’s back throbbed. “I see you got away safely,” she said.
Aquila nodded. “I did.”
Tammy took a careful step toward him. “And the . . . stuff?” She asked, gesturing to her own back.
“Mostly healed.”
“Oh, good.”
Finally, the tension broke. Tammy shoved her clipboard down on the counter and rushed toward him, knocking a stool aside in the process. She wrapped her arms around him and clutched him tightly. Aquila did the same, cupping his hands around her back and burying his head in her shoulder.
“I’m so glad you're safe,” she said.
“I am too.”
Aquila could have stayed like that forever, but he became keenly aware of their being watched. Movement nearby told him that both Katie the waitress and the chef had both stepped out of the kitchen. He cleared his throat and let go. Tammy let go as well, stepping back, her face bright red and her eyes shining. She tucked her hair behind her ear and grabbed her clipboard again off the counter. Aquila looked around. Everyone in the room now had their attention fixed firmly on him and Tammy. It took everything Aquila had to not make a run for it.
“So, anyway,” Tammy said, pulling over a stool and trying to act casual. “What are you doing here?”
Aquila cautiously returned to his own stool and handed over the card she had given him. “I decided to follow your instructions,” he said. “You said you and your people could help me and protect me. Was that true?”
Tammy held the card and glanced down at her clipboard. A thick envelope sat on top. Aquila couldn’t quite read it, but he could see a bright red stamp across its surface. “I’m not entirely sure anymore,” she said.
“What do you mean?”
Tammy looked around at her comrades, her eyes starting to glisten a little bit. “I, uh, looked into the name Sean Cassidy. After I got away.”
Aquila’s heart sank. “I see,” he said.
Tammy avoided his gaze. “As you might imagine, my superiors were a little concerned by the things we found.”
Aquila sat back, looking around at the four agents surrounding them. All four had the tense body language of someone expecting a fight to begin at any second. “I imagine they would.”
Tammy shook her head and met his eyes. “But I don’t think it’s the full story,” she said. She got up and faced Aquila. “I think there’s more to the story than that. And I’m guessing you came here to tell me the rest of the story.”
Aquila looked down. “More or less.”
Tammy glanced around the room at her comrades. She locked eyes with the chef, who nodded supportively. “I can’t let you into the base,” she said. “Not yet. And I don’t imagine you want to tell it all out here in the open. There’s a private space nearby where we can go, you and I and my commander, where we can discuss everything. If you’re willing.”
Aquila tensed, looking around. It wasn’t a great option, but he didn’t really have any better ones at the moment. He can still fight his way out if it’s a trap, he had to remind himself. “I can do that,” he said.
The chef cleared his throat and stepped forward. “Good,” he said. He removed his chef’s hat to reveal a bald patch underneath. He stepped around the counter to join Tammy. He extended a hand. “It’s nice to meet you . . . Mr. Shumway,” he said. “I’m General Edgar Kenpachi.”
Aquila hesitated, glancing at Tammy. Tammy averted her eyes, her expression fixed. “Hello, General,” Aquila said, shaking his hand. The general’s grip was surprisingly gentle.
“If you’ll both follow me,” he said, dropping his hand and removing his apron. “We can get this all figured out.”
He headed to the door and held it open. “After you,” he said. He looked around at the other agents waiting patiently. “Everyone else, remain here until we return,” he said.
Katie looked like she wanted to say something, but held herself back. “Yes, sir,” she said.
Tammy looked at Aquila nervously, holding her clipboard to herself even more tightly. “Come on,” she said. “We’ll take care of this.”
Aquila tipped his hat. “I sure hope so,” he said.
They and the general stepped out onto the street. Was it just Aquila’s imagination, or was it even hotter now than it had been before. Sunshine glinted off the building across the street, almost blinding him. “Come on,” Tammy said, pointing down the street. “It’s this way.”
Aquila followed her, joined by General Kenpachi. He looked around, something not feeling right. This heat felt wrong, unnatural somehow. His eyes fell on the rooftop of a nearby building, where he thought he saw a tiny figure watching him. When he looked back, a flare of light blinded him. It took him a split second to realize what was happening.
“Get down!” he shouted, rushing forward and pushing Tammy and the general to the ground, just as the spot where they had been standing erupted in a blaze of heat and fire.
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