+6+
“Mr. Prince will see you now.”
I nodded to Paris’ new secretary and slowly opened door to his office. Ares followed behind me, taking a good look at the overturned paintings still on the floor and the furniture still ridden with bullets
No one had been in here since The Uprising, except to board up the broken windows. The photos were slashed and obnoxious graffiti was still covering the walls. Paris was in the far side of the room sweeping up broken cognac bottles and coffee cups. He set the broom down when we entered and moved to sit behind his desk.
He hadn’t even been homs two days before he was
back here planning world domination. There were sample campaign posters set up
behind his desk, stacks of backdated newspapers, thick government files and
resumes.
“Leon. . . Ares what brings you by?”
“Business. I need a favor Paris.”
“You took a bullet for my wife. I guess I owe you.”
“It’s not like that. I had on a bullet proof vest.”
Paris leaned forward on his desk and glanced at Ares, “There was a lot going on that night . . . but. . . I saw your face. You forgot you had on the vest. You were willing to die for her.”
Ares raised an eyebrow. I hadn’t planned on telling him about that. He’d draw conclusions.
“Paris, I need you to expedited some incorporation documents for me. The Business Administration isn’t being very friendly to Angels and I know you can forge half of their signatures. ”
“You’re starting a business?”
“Just sign it.”
I set the legal papers in front of him and he flips through them.
“SGI”, Paris reads, “You want to resurrect Helios’s old private military company?”
“If I understand the law correctly if we incorporate we can register with the UN a non-nationalist private military company when they lift the ban.” I tried to remember everything Aria told me.
“Leon”, he pushes the paper aside, “SGI was—“
“Look, Helios may have sent us on some unsavory missions, but I was his partner on a good day. I know everything he knows about security and operations. And I have a lot better intentions.”
“You can’t run a group of mercenaries if you’re an officer in the NADF.”
“Yeah, about that.”
I set my folded military uniform down on his desk next to the paperwork, Ares removed the bundle from under his arm and did the same.
“Oh,” Paris said picking up a fountain pen, “Leaving me. Like 12% of our citizens. Hmm? Getting out while you can. Don’t believe in me do you?”
“Ain’t about you, boss. This is about the fact that I’m about to be a father of three in few weeks and I can’t be the guy taking orders anymore. In the resistance, I put all the skills Helios taught me good use. You made Ares and I the good guys. . Now we’re going to help . . . the world.”
Alright, I wasn’t good at pitching. But I’d learn.
“I can’t say no to a clandestine organization”, Paris takes
the pen out of the ink and signs the papers.
“But Leon, As dramatic as this is-- giving me your uniform doesn’t get you out of the military, there’s an actually process.”
“I know. I filled for retirement weeks ago. This is . . . purely symbolic.”
He smiles to himself.
“So. What happens next?” Paris asks.
“I get a fucking team. Angels and humans maybe? There is so much fucking war and conflict I’m sure we can help.”
Paris laughed
“I guess everyone is in want of a guardian angel.” He says slightly amused
“If you want to be that way. “I straightened, “We’re also going to be looking for Helios. Ares and I know him better than anyone. We’ll find him one way or another.”
His face falls at the mention of Helios.
“I’m surprised he hasn’t come for me yet.” Paris said, “During our visits I used to tell him in detail how I married his ex-girlfriend and fucked her.”
Ares rolls his eyes so hard I can feel it.
“Yeah . . . well. . . I’ll find him, Paris."
“I couldn’t have anyone better on the case.” Paris reaches his slim hand out to me and I shake it. “Thank you for your service.”
He reaches his hand out to Ares, but Ares decline.
“Paris”, I said, “There’s one more thing.”
Ares opens the door and Paris’ face stretches into a sly smile when Seraphina walks in. He keeps the smile on his face when she lays her uniform on his desk with mine, then she moves to stand next to me.
“How long were you standing on the other side of that door”, He ask.
“Long enough.” she said and I know she’d heard everything he said about her.
“Is everyone leaving me?” he asked picking at one of the metals on her folded jacket
“Leon needs me.”
“What she means”, I added, “Is that I’m going to need a partner if I want to make time for my…err . . . the girls and Aria.”
Seraphina nods, even though I knew she was still reluctant about running the organization with me.
“You’re doing this for your family, Leon?” Paris asks moving around his desk.
“Yes, sir.”
Paris steps off the raised dais where his desk sits and begins to circle Ares by the door. Seraphina’s eyes noticeably don’t follow him.
“And . . . Well Ares I know you just fucking hate me”, Paris says, “So you’ll do anything if it means you can leave New Aeterna.”
“Not you I hate. Just your kind”, Ares qualifies.
Paris turns to step back on the dais. Pausing at the top so he is as close to Seraphina’s height as he can get. Which isn’t saying much. In the three days since he’d made his quiet return, I was pretty sure this is the first time they’d seen one another. His eyes have an uncomfortable liveliness to them, a strange pairing with her cold expression.
“What about you? “, Paris finally asks, “What do you want out of this?”
She doesn’t even think about it. She doesn’t have to think about it.
“Redemption”
THE END