~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Raven emerged from the shower feeling almost human again, and dressed in his own clothes. His attire was not exactly the most appropriate to address a large 'distinguished group', but it did put some small amount of his annoyance and discomfort at ease. It was probably for the best anyway, especially if he was truly going to speak in public he would rather look like his normal, disreputable self. He barely knew what to think when he discovered that LeShana was waiting for him in the next room. The cringe that followed this discovery was both unwanted and unavoidable, and he knew without words that she was feeling the same. Their eyes met in an awkward gaze across the small space as she slowly rose from her seat.
"Hello, Raven." LeShana whispered uncomfortably, echoing the feelings that ran rampant through his own senses.
"Hello, LeShana." Raven replied, unable to find any of the words he had thought to say earlier. There was a long, unbroken silence as both of them searched for words. "LeShana, I am sorry." He finally blurted out. "I.. I.. I don't know what I was thinking. I.. I didn't know that I was hurting you. Um.." Raven snorted to himself, as anything else he could have said left him in a rush. Words on a page seemed to come so easy, but when faced with what he wrote about, he lost his prior eloquence. Hanging his head, he felt overwhelmed with guilt and silent recriminations. LeShana crossed the space between them and put her hands on his cheeks, lifting his head to stare deep into his eyes for what felt like an eternity. He wasn't even aware that something had changed between them, they simply fell into each other and their lips met in that instant. Raven suddenly found himself overwhelmed with sensations, indescribably wonderful sensations that cascaded over him like pure rain, and when they finally parted she was smiling.
"When this is all over, you and I need to talk." She whispered to him in a soft, sweet voice that was enough to make his heart clench. His arms now circled her waist and he was very much aware of the lines of her body pressed against his. Even though she was still a stranger, it was somehow the most natural feeling in the world.
"Are you always so calculated?" He asked as own his smile appeared. Laughter danced across her eyes and she ran her fingers down his arms as he held her close.
"Yes.." She murmured in return, her beautiful green eyes dancing with an indescribable light. ".. so get used to it.
"Well I am pompous and arrogant, so you’re going to have to get used to that." Raven told her, chuckling only too readily as he found himself caught up in the sense of mischief that hung in the air.
"No I won't, I am the woman." LeShana replied coyly and laughter came bubbling up inside of him.
"Deal." Raven told her as the laughter subsided. LeShana smiled as she slipped her hand into his and his arms dropped away from her body reluctantly, allowing her to lead him out of the room. They walked through the hallways together and out onto the warehouse floor. For the most part, the large room was empty, but there was still a small gathering to the right side, and that was the direction he was being led. Vosthan, Solair, and Destin were there waiting for them with another man who Raven recognized as one of his guards. All of them were all in uniforms he had never seen before, making them look very regal and poetic, completely unlike many of the Earth uniforms Raven had seen. Each was carrying a sword, and he knew without words that they weren't there simply for show, there was no doubt that they knew how to use them.
"Ready?" LeShana asked as the two of them neared the others, each responding with affirmatives. Solair took one look at LeShana and Raven's interlocked hands and exchanged a happy glance with Destin. "Forin, if you would." The other agent nodded and turned towards the empty doorway nearby, positioning himself directly in front of the empty space. Forin lifted his hands up until they were level with his shoulders and closed his eyes. As he watched, Raven slowly became aware of a strange sensation that seemed to travel up from his feet till it had enveloped him, vibrating through him with a strange energy. From one second to the next, the empty door was replaced with a glowing portal that looked into a marble hallway.
"Cool." Raven murmured. LeShana gave a snort of amusement as she lead him through the doorway. Raven was once more awash with strange sensations. He suddenly felt like he was being stuck in the spin cycle of a washing machine. The feeling only lasted for a heartbeat, and when it ended he found himself standing in the marble hallway he had glimpsed through the magic portal. Destin, Solair, and Vosthan followed them through and the portal closed down behind them. "Very cool." Raven added as an afterthought.
"This way." LeShana directed, as they began weave their way through the halls towards their goal, whatever that might be. As they turned the corner, and Raven spotted the Commander he had glimpse at the Weslyn building. LeShana cursed softly but kept moving and he refrained from comment.
"You can't go in there." The Commander warned as he spotted the small procession.
"Get out of my way, I have every right to be in there." LeShana told him just as quickly.
"Not anymore." The Commander sneered.
"She told you to back off." Raven warned, not about to let him try to intimidate either of them. Deciding that no further warning would be necessary, Raven twisted his power about the Commander. The Commander was suddenly inflicted with an extremely painful migraine. One of the guards lifted his weapon, but that was as far as he got before he and his companions were similarly afflicted.
"Stop it, Raven." LeShana ordered, and he did, but only after they had reached the doors. Solair patted him on the shoulder and gave him a warm smile, but made certain that LeShana did not see it. LeShana added as she threw the doors open. As much as it might bother him to have her ordering him about, he could only appreciate that his bonded, or whatever he was supposed to call her, was a very strong woman.
The argument that was going on inside went quiet as their group started down the stairs of the gallery. There was a long line of ambassadors stacked into three tiers of seats, and all of them stared in disbelief as LeShana started down the stairs. Solair guided Raven into a seat near the floor so that she and Destin could block him in on either side, only Vosthan and LeShana walked out onto the floor. If the Ambassadors greeted her with disbelief and distrust, her counterparts from the treaty countries did not. There was a very loud chorus of telepathic greetings from the other agents from where they were seated behind the ambassadors of the countries they represented. Raven was hard pressed to keep their telepathic voices from overwhelming him. LeShana greeted them quietly and proceeded to take her place behind the American ambassador, next to Admiral Teg who glared at her in such a way that Raven couldn't help of think of those horrifically creative things he could imagine as punishments for the man.
"Yes, it is good of you to make it, Agent LeShana. I believe that Admiral Teg was about to take the floor." The chairman began, trying to recover. Admiral Teg rose, straightened his jacket and descended to the floor, where he took a seat at the table that dominated the center of the open space. He then took the chair with every bit of dignity that he thought was due to him. Raven strangled the urge to run up and beat him into a pudding like substance, something that LeShana was grateful for, having sensed the lines of his thoughts.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the treaty council, I come here to report a grievous violation of an Earth's citizen's rights by the Center and its' agents." Admiral Teg began, pausing as if he expected some kind of shocked gasp from the empty gallery.
"When does the guy with the peanuts come around?" Raven asked, just loudly enough for his voice to carry around the silent room. Many pairs of eyes turned to look at him. Some were glaring hatefully, but a larger portion were showing amusement.
"Eight days ago, a strong potential candidate came to our New York office. He tested higher than anyone had ever tested before. There must have been some misrepresentation, because he fled the scene. We asked for help from the local Center contingent, but they re
fused, claiming that he would not be trained on Earth because, and I quote, 'He's potentially dangerous.'. The Center agents then proceeded to track him down and to deny us any information as to the candidate's whereabouts. The Center agents, lead by Agent LeShana then proceeded to capture him and to deny us access to this person. When I tried to force the issue, Agent LeShana then proceeded to recite the letter and verse of the treaty, forgetting the rights of Earth in this matter." Admiral Teg stated in rich tones that made him sound like an even greater pretentious twit than Raven had assumed him to be.
"Welcome to the pompous channel, today we will report the life and times of Admiral Teg. A man whose head is so large.." Raven muttered, once again loud enough to carry, Solair tried to stop him by digging her nails into his thigh. ".. he can't fit through doorways." Raven persisted, and was rewarded with another round of looks, this time most of them were on the verge of laughter.
"What kind of alliance is this when our citizens can not be protected from the tyrannical reign of these Center agents?" The Admiral sneered the word Center. "How are we to protect our citizens from these.." Raven had heard enough and shoved out of his seat, despite the attempts of Solair and Destin to stop him.
"Your honor, may I say something, since it appears that I am the matter under discussion?" Raven asked, almost yelling, ensuring that all eyes turned to him as his rather powerful voice echoed through the chamber. He was pleased by the way the Admiral seemed to shrink away from him. Raven preened under their gazes, puffing out his chest and tilted his chin up a little.
"And who are you?" The chairman asked, not quite intimidate by him.
"I am Raven Sinclair, the candidate that the Admiral claims had his rights violated." Raven replied, haughtily slurring the words for effect, proving he could show his contempt with the best of them.
"If we let you speak, will you shut up?" The Admiral asked, looking over his shoulder with a scowl.
"Are you going to keep talking?" Raven asked him. The Admiral nodded, not quite understanding. "Then no." The Admiral glared at him in a threatening manner, but Raven lowered his gaze and glared right back. He won the duel when the Admiral turned his chair back towards the other side of them.
"As I was saying." The Admiral began again. There was no way Raven going to tolerate such behavior and he pulled free from Destin's grasp, shoving through the swinging doors. Crossing the floor in five powerful strides, Raven grabbed the microphone and lifted it from the table.
"I have something to say." Raven growled into the microphone, his words magnified many times over.
"Mr. Sinclair, you have not been recognized by the chair." The chairman told him, as if somehow that would stop him.
"Then you are welcome to try and stop me, because I am going to say it anyway." Raven replied with a defiant glare. The Admiral jumped out his seat and reached for the microphone, but that was a mistake and one that Raven wasn't going to tolerate. Almost negligently, Raven put his forearm across the side of the Admiral's head. The petty little man fell back into his seat and was tied there by Raven's gifts. "I wasn't finished, asshole." With a sharp kick, the chair was sent rolling across the floor to collide with the far wall.
"Mr. Sinclair, you are coming dangerously close to contempt!" The chairman warned.
"Funny that, because that is all I have for a supposed body of representation that would allow the injustices that this one has!" Raven yelled into the microphone, his words booming through the room. "Were you aware, that the Admiral has been drugging his candidates to make sure that he had their full 'cooperation'?" Raven paused for a response, and was met with a total lack of surprise. "Well, well, not a teary eye in the house." Raven stated with his full level of contempt and sarcasm, which was not any easy combination to pull off. "How can any of you sit there and claim to be fighting for the rights of 'your' citizens when you take away those rights at the drop of a hat?!"
"Mr. Sinclair, we are here to serve the people." One of the ambassadors interjected.
"I am the people! I am the one you claim to be defending! And I am outraged.. no this goes far beyond outrage, I am enraged by this showing! You sit there and claim to defend the rights of the citizens of Earth, then go back to your homes safe in the knowledge that the injustices you have imposed on other people will never happen to you or anyone you love! I am sickened, I am hurt, and I am disgusted!" Raven told them, his voice cutting like a knife, no one but the agents would meet his sweeping gaze. "I thought perhaps there was one decent human being on this planet capable and willing to lead our world, but Apparently I was wrong about that. Well if this treaty council isn't or won't defend my fellow human beings, then maybe I should ensure that there is a government who will." He slapped the doctor's blackmail files down onto the table. "And I am sure there is enough in these to ensure that there is a revolution in each of your countries by the end of the year, including my own. You see, the Good Admiral here has a habit of picking associates who are every bit as sleazy and corrupt as he is. And Dr. Ronen, my would be kidnapper, has been using his captive test subjects to gather his personal blackmail Empire on each and every one of you. And I assure you, just as I stand here before you, there is enough in here to see each and every one of you lynched by your own people. Let's see, what do we have here.. Oh, America, the land of the free, unless you have a gift. Then into an military internment camp you go." Raven called out, opening the top file and lifting one document up to examine it.
"No one would believe you!" The US representative squawked. Raven turned to look right at him, his eyes blazing with anger. The man looked into them and his gaze dropped almost immediately, his heart full of fear.
"Oh no, I assure you, all of these are nice and official, sealed, signed, and everything." Raven expounded, quite enjoying himself by this point, even if LeShana was going to eviscerate him a short time later. "Oh, China! Someone's been a bad, bad boy. Hording illegal weapons in the Ten shin mountains, that's not very nice." Leaving behind the table he began to walk the floor naming crime after crime, flipping the copied documents through the air in the direction of those behind so many terrible things.
"You won't live long enough to tell the people." Someone threatened, and Raven turned to glare in that direction.
"Oh, please, kill me right now. I Dare You, I double dare you. And I promise, I swear to you, it will be the last mistake you ever make! Because within 24 hours of my death, the first of these official documents will be in the hands of the media. And it will be GLORIOUS, it will be a Shit Storm to end all scandals. Go ahead, put a bullet in my chest right here, right now. Because I will take every last one of you mother fuckers down with me!! If not here and now, then when the lynch mobs come pounding at your doors!" Raven ranted right back at them without hesitation or fear, far too pissed off to give one single thought as to his own life, since the moment they would have gotten their hands on him his life would have been over anyway. "Put a gun to my head and pull the fucking trigger, because you will be the one to face the point of a gun not long after. I have tried for eight days to reconcile what has happened and what I have heard claimed! But no matter how hard I try, I can't make one damn lick of sense of ANY of it. Now I’m a pretty smart guy, but I can't find a single, solitary explanation that would give this whole bloody mess any kind of sense. WE RISE and WE FALL by what we claim, and you sit here CLAIMING to be the champions of the people, and yet not one of you cares ABOUT anything that has anything DO with the PEOPLE! I am sickened by what I have learned. CRIME AFTER CRIME AFTER CRIME!!!" He started throwing handfuls of papers at those in the front rows of the room. Each document was a travesty, a tragedy, and each thing, each official act, was an act of cruelty against their fellow humans. "HERE they are! THIS is your LEGACY, acts so VILE that each of you should be on trial for War crimes. Each of these represents the people YOU FAILED to protect!! When I look at all of you, I am sickened just to be in your presence!
There is not a word in any language that come close to explaining what I feel when I think of this group!!! May all of you burn for all of eternity what you have done!!"
His final words spoken, Raven threw the remainder of the pile up into the air, turned and walked away, flipping over the table as he left. The room was filled with a piercing, horrible sound of electronic squeals caused by the microphone, which forced the assembled mass to try cover their ears against the tumult. At the back of the room, he viciously kicked the doors open, his anger burning in him like a wildfire. The Commander threw himself in front of Raven, and like with the Admiral, this proved to be a very bad mistake. There was no warning and no second chances as Raven swung with all his strength, planting his fist across the Commander's face. The man dropped like a rock and hit the floor hard. Feeling a little better after that, he stepped over the Commander's prone body and kept walking with a smile on his face. The guards were far more wise, stepping back and making it clear they were going to stay out of his way. Raven couldn't hear the applause that followed in his wake, not through the angry pounding of his heart. He simply kept walking until he found a place were silence reigned, where he could lean against the wall and close his eyes. His breath was ragged and his heart pounded brutally in his chest, his rage still burning in his senses even as self recriminations started to follow. He forced himself to take long, deep breaths in an attempt to beat back his monstrous temper before some fool happened upon him.
"Raven, it's Solair." Warned of her approach, Raven was not surprised when the comforting hand touched his shoulder. "Did.. did you plan that?" Solair asked him nervously.
"Not really.. and I should probably warn LeShana about my temper.." A laugh with no real amusement in it came forth.
"Are you going to be all right?" She asked, taking in his ragged breathing.
"Eventually.." Raven replied before taking another deep breath.
"You've done that before?" Solair asked softly.
"When I needed to make a point." Raven told her in return, and sensed something from her in that moment. "What?" Raven asked, lifting his head and opening his eyes.
"I think we should forget about making you an agent and put you into the diplomatic corps." Solair whispered, causing Raven to chuckle as he leaned his head back against the wall. "Do you want to go back to the warehouse?" She asked him. His blood slowly started to cool, though it wouldn't go away completely without an internal fight.
"What about LeShana?" Raven asked, suddenly nervous about his performance.
"It is all right." Solair reassured him with a warm smile. "She thinks that it would be for the best."
"Then we should probably go back." Solair nodded and put her arm in his as she began to lead him back to the place where the portal had been formed.
"You can make a very.. formidable, first impression." Solair told him as they walked through the halls. They returned to the warehouse and Solair was immediately assaulted by a barrage of question by the gathered agents there. She told them to wait and took Raven to a quiet spot before fetching something for him to eat and drink. He ate only as a matter of routine while great waves of guilt flowed through him, dreading the moment LeShana returned to take her own anger out on him. Solair and the others remained at a distance, and only wisps of sound reached Raven's ears on the far side of the warehouse floor. The agents were keeping their thoughts quiet, which came as something of a relief, since the last thing he wanted was to hear the tale recounted. Eventually, boredom and the need to distract himself from his circling thoughts caused him to wander off in search of his computer. With the device firmly in hand, he returned to his former place and did his best to try and distract himself with the one thing that might be able to push aside such recent events. Occasionally one of the agents would stop and interrupt him to ask him if there was anything he needed. He was polite in his denials, since the one thing he wanted at that moment was for LeShana to reappear and give him the beating he could only expect after his actions.
"She's coming back." Solair warned him after what felt like an eternity later. He pushed out of his seat to join the gathering of agents, waiting to greet her upon her return. The portal opened with a flash, but she was not the first one to step through. Raven recognized the individual who appeared as one of the agents that had been at the meeting. Another one followed her, and then a seemingly endless line of them appeared. Long before LeShana arrived, three more portals opened nearby and still more agents flooded the room in great waves. Somewhere someone else yelled 'Let's party!' but he ignored them, as he only had eyes for LeShana. Raven was suddenly afraid that she would not appear, but she was there seconds later, closely followed by Vosthan. The gate closed behind them and LeShana looked around as Raven fought his way through the crowd to get near her.
"Raven." LeShana called when she finally spotted him pushing past the last few people to get to her side.
"LeShana, I am.." Raven did not get any farther before she threw her arms around his neck and dragging him down to kiss him passionately. They did not part for quite some time, and when they did, LeShana was the first to find her voice.
"You don't need to say it." She told him, leaning her forehead against his. Her smile was contagious and he could not help but smile back while the torment of the last few hours was forgotten in an instant.
The gathered agents let out a whole-hearted cheer, causing the pair to turn together to see what was going on. At the far end of the building the food had started to arrive. It took almost all of the local contingent of agents to bring it in, and once they did there was a tidal surge of people towards the food-laden platters. The tables quickly filled, and some were forced to perch on the stairs to the upper level of the offices. Halfway through the meal, a high pitched noise very much like a bird's call pierced the tumult. The agents respectfully quieted down as someone stood up on one of the table and raised his glass in the air.
"Here's to the end of the aggravations of the last three years. May the treaty council never forget the lesson they have been served today!!" The man yelled, much to crowds delight. A roar of sound rushed across the room as a multitude of glasses were thrust into the air. The agents quieted once more as the speaker raised his glass to continue. "And here’s to the instrument of ignorance's demise. To Raven, who's eloquent speech may well end so much pain and anguish." The speaker added before tipping his glass towards Raven. Everyone turned to toast him, and to his embarrassment he blushed at the unexpected praise. Fortunately for him, most of the crowd was too far away to see it. LeShana, however, did see the blush, and try as she might, she could not help but laugh. He gave her a look that promised retribution later. The speaker raised his glass once more. "Here's to LeShana, for having the wisdom to bring along our newest young recruit." All the agents toasted LeShana, and she preened under the praise. "And here's to me for making sure she got there." The final toast was greeted with a hail of food and balled up paper. The speaker descended in an attempt to escape the barrage and the laughter that followed.
"Are you all right?" LeShana asked him as the cacophony died back down. "Are all these people bothering you?"
"I'm fine, it's not bad right now." Raven reassured her, taking her hand and planting a kiss on her knuckles. "Thank you."
"For what?" LeShana asked tilting her head to look at him.
"For putting up with me." Raven whispered. The smile she gave him was worth more than his weight in gold. The party lasted for another three hours before it started to break up, and the agents drifted off to create portals to return to their home bases. Raven figured that there would be a lot of hangovers in the morning, unless of course they had discovered the cure to the common hangover along with all their other accomplishments. Raven helped some of those that lingered to clean up as best as they could, considering the vastness of the mess. Only after a rough clean-up was completed did Raven remember that he had left his compute
r out on one of the tables. Cursing, he went in search of the expensive object, only to find it in the possession of one of the agents that had stayed behind. She was sitting at the table where he had been sitting and she had obviously been reading his work in progress. Struck by a moment of uncertainty, Raven stopped a few feet away, unable to think of a way to ask for it back without being outright rude. Even in comparison to the other people, she was unique, so he took a good look at her while he waited. She was extremely beautiful, but in a different way than LeShana. Her hair was a pure silver-white that fell down, unbound, to her shoulders and down her back. There were a few strands of hair that fell across her face, but she did not seem to notice them. Her face was angelic with perfectly carved bone structure, and the sculpted body of a fighter or a dancer. Her eyes were a cool silver gray, surprisingly enough, the exact same color as Raven's own eyes. She was an elf, like Vosthan, and had the same senseless grace as he did. She wore clothes that were typical of a Center agent in so much that they just did not seem to fit into current fashions. She looked youthful, but Raven felt that she was slightly older than him. In that moment as he stared at her, she looked up and spotted him.
"Did you write this?" She asked him with a smile.
"Yes." Raven replied, approaching to sit down across from her.
"It's good, in fact it's very good." She told him softly. "I know some people back in the Salak'patan that would pay you a big advance based on these pages."
"I toy with writing once in a while." Raven replied modestly.
"That probably means that your a writer." She commented with a chuckle.
"Eight or nine best selling novels." Raven told her, bragging just a little.
"If working as an agent doesn't suit you, you can make a killing writing novels." She told him.
"That is the second alternative career that has been suggested to me today." Raven commented back to her.
"What was the other?" She asked him intrigued.
"Diplomat." He replied. She laughed warmly without any sense of mocking in her tone.
"A man of all trades, I like that."
"I wouldn't think fantasy would be that popular in the Salak'patan. I mean, it sounds like a fantasy world as it is." Raven remarked to her.
"The truth is never what people want, and the Salak'patan is the truth." She replied with an honest smile. "Here." She closed the screen and slid the device back across the table to him, and Raven accepted it with a nod of thanks.
"Maybe sometime later you can show me some of the other things that you have written." She suggested.
"I would like that." Raven told her honestly.
"By the way, my name is Sarath." She stated, offering him her hand.
"Raven." Raven replied, completing the offered handshake.
"For now." She added with a grin.
"For now." Raven agreed.
"Don't worry, I'll track you down." Sarath added as she stood up, smirked, and walked away. Raven watched her go, and as he sat there he felt the weight of the day descend. Despite being only the first hours of the evening, he went in search of his bed and the promise of sleep. His footsteps carried him back to the work room on instinct and he slipped inside. He was just about to turn on the lights when he spotted the candle light and the sleeping form of LeShana on the bed. Cursing softly, he hoped she wasn't angry that he had messed up their private meeting, but knowing he couldn't avoid her, he put the computer on the table and walked to the bed. She woke up at his approach.
"I'm sorry." Raven told her.
"It's all right, blow out the candles and get in this bed." LeShana ordered softly, and he wisely did as he was told. LeShana wrapped herself around him, kissed him on the cheek, and promptly fell back to sleep. Raven was less than half a step behind her.