The Glass House: Chapter Twenty One
Sep. 18th, 2008 09:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wolfanficsTitle: The Glass House
Author: Sashataakheru
Beta: The wonderfulrana_narsilion <3
Fandom: The Chaser/AusComedy RPS
Starring: Adam Hills, Sepulchre (OC), Wil Anderson, Hamish Blake, Craig Reucassel, Tim Minchin, Julian Morrow, Chas Licciardello, Charles Firth, Chris Taylor, Andrew Hansen, Caleb (OC), Dr Rachel Hardy (OC), Antoinette Laurent (OC), Dr Samantha Reddings (OC), Dominic Knight, Shane Cubis, Gregor Stronach, Tim Brunero, Andy Lee
Pairings: Andrew/Chris; Adam/Hamish; Jules/Chas; Rachel/Antoinette(/Samantha); Adam/Seb; Adam/Wil; Craig/Caleb; Adam/Wil/Tim; Andrew/Craig, Wil/Chas; implied Tim/Craig, Hamish/Andy (after a fashion. XD)
Word Count: 4,968
Chapter: 21/32 [Previous]
Warnings: language, warfare violence, swearing
Rating: FRAO
Disclaimer: I don’t know them, not associated with them, just a slashy fangirl admirer with a very active imagination.
Author’s Notes: FYI, fullwing = winged human capable of flight. Halfwing = fullwing/human halfbreed, usually unable to fly, sometimes have vestigial wings, but can be removed to pass as human and not as winged.
Summary: Andrew unwittingly triggers a raid on the haven that changes the course of the rebellion and forces a retreat.
Chapter Twenty One
Andrew ate, feeling better for not being hungry anymore. He excused himself from Charles' care, the voice urging him on. He had a secret plan, an instruction, to carry out. Charles just thought he was going to the bathroom.
Andrew made his way to Charles' little office, where he had access to most of the communications channels in and out of the warehouse. Shutting the door, the voice assisted him with setting it up so he had a secured channel that wouldn't be recorded.
"The butterfly has just hatched. You might want to come and see how pretty it is," Andrew said. It was the callsign for a raid on the warehouse that the voice had given him.
"Roger that. We're on our way," came the reply.
Andrew spent a moment resetting everything so Charles wouldn't even know he'd been in there before leaving, the voice cooing its praise in his mind, reinforcing what a good boy he'd been.
Andrew returned and smiled at him as he joined Charles in Julian's office to discuss with Adam what had happened to them. Andrew gave the performance of his life. Charles didn't suspect a thing. Julian believed every word he said. Who would suspect little tiny Andrew as being a spy? Turns out no one would.
They will live to regret that assumption. If they live at all, Andrew thought as he and Charles were dismissed.
Adam sat thoughtfully, considering what Charles had told them about his fears of a spy amongst them. He wasn't convinced of its veracity, but it was always a possibility. They made sure to screen everyone thoroughly before they dared let them into the rebellion. Had they let one slip through? Certainly Charles' account was troubling. There were some aspects that didn't make sense. But what else did they have to suspect there was someone spying on them?
"Look, Jules, I'd be as concerned as you are if there was any other proof of our security being breeched. As it is, all we have is Charles' story. I'm sorry, unless there's further reason to suspect someone, we can't do anything," Adam said.
"I know it's not exactly proof, and it's only his account, but what if it is true? Shouldn't we act in case it's real even if it turns out to be fake, just to be safe? Surely security is the most important thing to us," Julian said.
"I can see your point, but unless there are any other suspicions, it seems pointless. Security is as tight as we can manage. If someone's managed to infiltrate and we didn't catch them out, they're not going to give themselves up easily. I don't want to dismiss this lightly, but we've nothing but Charles' suspicions. Unless there's something else to the allegations, I'm going to have to let them slide. What else can we do?" Adam said.
"Surely it's worrying if someone has managed to get inside and we haven't noticed. If they managed to get through even with our tight security, they're serious about spying on us in the long term. They could've been here for months, years even! If we've got a leak, we need to plug it before they decide to attack us first!" Julian said.
"Maybe they didn't need to plant someone. Maybe they had the place bugged and then scarpered. We don't check for that as often as we should, you know," Chas said, waking from his nap long enough to comment on their conversation.
"Could they have done that? Is there any way someone could've snuck in and bugged the place without us knowing?" Julian said.
"Anything's possible, I suppose," Adam concedes.
"It's also possible they tracked Charles and Andrew on their way here, even though Charles swapped trucks. They're not supposed to know about this place! They're not supposed to know about anything! If they know more than they're letting on, we have a problem. This place may be compromised. If that's the case, we need to move to another secured location fast before they exploit their knowledge and destroy us before we've had a chance to attack first. This could cost us everything, Adam! Take this seriously! Do you want us to be massacred before our attack? Because if they've breeched our security and do just that, we're finished. It's all over. If they know where we are, they could come at any moment and crush us. We've survived here for so long because they don't check here. If we've given them a reason to check here, we're in trouble," Julian said.
"I know, Julian! I am taking this seriously! I just don't know what else we have to go on apart from that! Give me something here, something that's not just pure speculation!" Adam said, frustrated. He sighed. "Get Charles in here. I want to hear it straight from him. Then I'll decide."
"Alright, fine. I'll go get him," Julian said.
"Fine. Be quick about it. I've got a lot to work to do," Adam said.
Julian left in a huff, leaving Chas alone with Adam. Chas padded over to Adam, trying to relieve his stress somewhat. He sat at his feet, looking adorable as he looked up at him, nudging his hand with his nose, trying to get his affection. Adam smiled as he looked down at him, stroking his head gently.
"You mad at Jules?" Chas whined, leaning his chin on his knee.
"No, not at Jules, no. I'm just… working too hard to make sure this succeeds. Leadership has brought a shitload more work, although I'm glad we sorted out the allegiance with the Chinese at last. That takes a huge weight off me. I don't have to worry so much about where we're going to get men and weapons and cash from. They're-"
"Shh. Don't say another word. I hear something," Chas said, freezing as he listened carefully.
Adam froze as well, trying to listen for what he'd heard. All of a sudden, Chas leapt at Adam and pushed him out of the way just before a rain of bullets came crashing through the glass nearby, shattering it all over the room. Chas pinned Adam to the floor, protecting him from most of the glass. Neither moved until there was silence again.
"I think we have a spy, Adam," Chas said, licking his face affectionately.
"I think you may be right there," Adam said. "Are they gone?"
"I think so. I can't hear anything. That had better not have been a warning shot before they raid us," Chas said, getting off Adam to let him up.
Carefully making their way over to the shattered window, they peer out, trying to see if there's a massing of Army forces waiting to raid the place.
"I can't see anything," Adam whispered.
"Neither can I. They'd better not be hiding out of sight. We'd better get out of here, see if there's any danger we need to react to," Chas whispered.
"Good plan," Adam whispered.
Taking one last look, they snuck out of the room, half-comforted by the lack of bullets following them. They ran into Tim and Wil as they ran from the room.
"What the fuck was that? Are you guys alright?" Tim said, seeing the blood from the small shards of glass.
"Yeah, yeah, I think so. Um, I'm not sure what happened. One minute we're talking, the next there's bullets shooting into the room. There'd better not be a raid coming. I'm not sure we'll be able to save everything, and there's nowhere to run that's big enough to house everyone. If they're looking to raid the place, we're in serious trouble," Adam said.
"Shit. I hope you're not hurt at all," Wil said.
"Nah, nah, we're fine. Chassy got me out of the way before the bullets came. You hurt, Chassy?" Adam said, turning to Chas.
"Just a few cuts, I'll be right. Are we in any danger? Or was this some sort of fluke?" Chas said, shrugging off his injuries.
"Guys, they're coming, Dom's just got reports of a large contingent from the Army heading this way. We need to make a decision now. Stay and fight, or flee for our lives. Reports are they've got tanks and planes coming. We don't have the fire power to waste on skirmishes, or to fight down that kind of hardware. They'll destroy us before we get a chance to fight back," Julian said, running up to them.
"Shit. Are you sure they're coming to attack and not deserting the army to join us?" Wil said.
"They haven't responded to the callsign. They are not coming here in peace," Julian said.
"Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! This is not supposed to happen! What weaponry have we got then?" Adam said, ushering them back towards the hall.
"The tanks we do have are back at another base. All we have are rocket launchers, a bunch of grenades, some land mines and bunch of machine guns and other rifles. It's not easy to steal tanks and trucks and keep them hidden," Tim said.
"Shit. Alright then. If we run, where do we run to?" Adam said.
"There's nowhere close by. We'd have to keep on running. We don't have enough vehicles to take everyone, although the latest lot of trucks we got does help somewhat. The only feasible escape route is out through the west towards the mountains. They're coming from the south east. If we head west, we might be able to lose them. It's not much, but it's all we've got right now," Julian said.
"Then that'll have to be it. Try and get as many out as possible. If we can pick off some of the drivers and steal their trucks and tanks, all the better. Right. Get everyone organised. We grab as much as we can. Nothing's left behind if at all possible. Everyone's armed to the teeth. Decide who stays behind to guard. The rest get away first. We stay behind and scavenge what we can from the fight and escape afterwards. Keep in radio contact at all times. Do not stop until you're safe, alright? Tim, you organise the escapees. Wil, you organise those staying to fight. Julian, make sure the weapons are gathered up and handed out and that the Chinese are safe. We do not want them getting hurt. It could destroy our alliance completely. Make sure Seb's shrine is moved as well. I don't want any of that being left behind. It's too important to leave behind. Right, get moving! We don't have much time!" Adam said, hoping his plan would work as he made it up.
Wil, Tim and Julian nodded their agreements and headed off to carry out their orders. Chas stayed back with Adam as they went to gather the most sensitive material together and make sure it got out safely.
The haven was a hive of chaos. The approaching army could be heard now, and everyone began to panic, trying to gather up what they could and arm themselves before they got there. Dom was giving updates on how close they were every 30 seconds or so as he ran between those escaping and those staying to fight.
Hamish and Andy were suddenly caught up in everything. Checking to see if Hamish was a halfwing seemed unimportant in light of what they now had to do. Hamish had wanted to stay and fight with Andy, but Adam refused, not out of spite, but out of a dire need to have their best fighters up front, and both agreed Hamish wasn't one of their best. Instead, Hamish was put to work helping Tim organise the escapees. With a quick parting kiss for them both, Hamish watched Adam and Andy hurry off to fight. Tim found him soon after and Hamish was spurred into action.
The ones escaping were herded into trucks with the most important documents and papers and sent off as soon as possible while the others got weapons and tried to get their defences ready for when they eventually came down on them. There was no time to waste.
With the warehouse mostly empty and half the rebels off into the mountains, those who were left got ready for the fight of their lives. Barely two minutes after the first group had left, the army was firing the first shots. There was return fire from those left behind, trying to shoot the soldiers and keep the vehicles and tanks intact so they could be salvaged for later. Adam was running between the groups of rebels, shouting orders at everyone, trying to keep the army at bay.
"Be thankful they didn't bring choppers or planes! Now stop hitting the trucks! Aim for the soldiers! One shot kills! We want those vehicles, remember?" Adam shouted as he ducked by a window just as a stray bullet came flying past. He quickly returned fire, taking out a couple of soldiers in one of the lead trucks just before it went over a landmine. It was enough of a distraction to let the rebels get some more shots in and take out some more before the army began fighting again in earnest.
"We're going to have to sacrifice some of those trucks, Adam! We need to stop some of them getting too close!" Chas yelled, having stayed behind to fight, having immense fun shooting rockets at them.
"Try not to kill them all! We need to get away too, you know! And those tanks would be valuable!" Adam shouted back.
"Alright, alright! I'll aim for the ground in front so I don't damage them!" Chas shouted.
Adam went to reply but there were a few more soldiers waiting to be taken out, which he promptly paid more attention to as he picked them off.
"Move forward! We're gaining the upper hand! There's not as many of them as we thought! Try and get close enough to claim some of the trucks! Keep forcing them back!" Adam shouted.
The rebels rallied to Adam's call, intensifying their attack as they move forward, trying to remain under cover as they try and keep the army back. The landmine defence they'd quickly laid down beforehand was coming in useful. It was acting as a barrier the soldiers were reluctant to cross. It helped them push them back and keep picking them off one by one. The tanks were underused, much to Adam's surprise. Surely you don't bring tanks to a skirmish and then not use them at all. The tanks seemed to be mostly firing into the warehouse, trying to destroy it. The rest were trying to finish off the rebels.
"Andy, get your men over to the left! Push them towards the gates!" Adam shouted just as a tank exploded, taking out several men, trucks and infrastructure.
"Fuck it, we could've used that tank!" Chas cursed, pausing to reload before firing again.
"Shut up, just keep shooting!" Adam said. "Andy, get moving!"
Andy nodded his acknowledgement and signalled to his men to get moving.
"Out of the way, guys! They've got the tanks locked on us!" Chas said, firing a rocket in front of the tanks to discourage them.
Adam and Chas and their men ran, backing away from the incoming shells. There was a loud explosion as the windows where they had been firing from collapsed and flung glass, concrete, and other shrapnel at them. They just managed to get through the large doors before the shrapnel hit. Leaning against the door, they could feel the impact as the doors shook.
"That was close. We probably shouldn't go back out there. We should find another vantage point," Chas said.
"I think that's a very good idea. Come on, this way," Adam said, indicating down the passage leading to the left.
An hour later, they had finally won, had driven off the few remaining soldiers. They'd won a handful of trucks and two tanks. It was the best they could hope for. The warehouse was half-destroyed. No doubt they would return to finish it off to make sure they got everything and everyone. Before he left, Adam set the only bomb they had to destroy the warehouse before the army could destroy it for them. He ran out from the hall towards the trucks where everyone else waiting for him.
"Everyone into the trucks! We have to get out of here now!" Adam yelled as he ran towards the closest truck, clambering in as they started up and drove away from the warehouse and off west to meet the others.
It was darkness by the time the two groups met up. The first had stopped at last in one of the abandoned towns in the hills, setting up in the biggest of the abandoned buildings that they could find. Adam and the fighters had gone as fast as they could to get away without being followed. They'd stopped once they thought they were out of range to check in and find out where the first group had gone.
Tired and hungry, the fighters finally arrived, hiding the vehicles in as many empty buildings as possible before running across to the building that had been chosen as the new base camp. The injured were ushered over to the makeshift medical area to get their wounds treated while the others joined in with the rest of the first group. Adam's first priority was making sure the Chinese delegation was safe. He found them talking quietly with Tim and Dom.
"Hey, you guys alright?" Adam said as he approached them.
"Yeah, we managed to escape unscathed. How about you?" Tim said.
"Lost a few, as I thought we might, but we managed to salvage a few tanks and trucks out of it. Fuck, that came out of nowhere. They'd better not have followed us or got trackers onto us. They were not supposed to be able to find that warehouse. How did they manage it?" Adam said, still taking in all that had happened.
"No idea. We'll have to regroup and figure that out once we're all not dying and hungry. I've sent a few scouts out to scavenge for food. We only took the non-perishable stuff, and that isn't going to keep us all fed," Tim said.
"Got a guard out to spot trouble, should it come?" Adam said.
"Yep. First thing I set up. You sure you weren't followed?" Tim said.
"We made sure to cover our tracks. I destroyed the warehouse before we left. We had to kill a couple of soldiers at one of the checkpoints. I insisted we head in the opposite direction though, just to throw them off the trail. Hopefully, we're safe for the time being," Adam said.
"Come on, I think the scouts are back. Hopefully, they've got some food for us," Tim said, hearing approaching trucks.
Adam followed Tim out to the road, seeing the trucks approaching. They'd have to be safe, or they'd not have been allowed inside the township. The two trucks pull up and the scouts get out, trucks laden with food they'd managed to steal, purchase or generally get hold of.
"Get enough for everyone?" Tim said to them.
"Think so. We did grab a lot. Here, help us bring it back inside," the closest one said, opening the back of the truck to reveal their spoils.
"Is that pizza? You seriously stole pizza?" Adam said, amazed at seeing pizza boxes amongst the hoard.
"Yeah, we raided one of the pizza shops, made them make us a shitload of pizza for us. Figured it'd be most appreciated. Some of this may need warming up. If that's possible, go for it. Otherwise it'll have to be eaten as it is," the first scout said.
"We've got a kitchen in here and miraculously, everything still works after all this time. Maybe they forgot to shut off the power and gas before the town was abandoned? Either way, I've had the boys cleaning it out so we can keep the food there. Should be right to go. Come on, bring it all in, we'll have it heated up in no time!" Tim said, ushering the scouts laden with food inside and back towards the kitchen.
In their new home, Charles was cradling Andrew in his arms again as he slept. Andrew had appeared fine, and Charles wasn't worried about him, but the raid had shaken him. They'd attacked so soon after they'd escaped. Had they tracked them? Was it connected? If it was, why bother doing anything to Andrew if there wasn't any need to?
The more Charles thought about their tactics, the less sense they made. He was still awake when dawn came, Andrew sound asleep in his arms, untroubled by nightmares.
'Sleep, Andrew, sleep on. Conserve your strength for later when we call you,' the voice whispered to Andrew as he slept, reinforcing his obedience.
"Yes," Andrew breathed in answer, happy his acting had been so brilliant to convince Charles he was still terrified. Step by step, the voice was putting its plan into action.
Andy went looking for Hamish as soon as he arrived back at their new home. He needed to make sure he was alright. He found him looking after patients with Sam. Andy watched him for a while, seeing how he entertained the kids and the adults injured in the battle. Andy had almost completely forgotten his own injuries. He'd been shot in the arm, but had continued to fight anyway. Adam needed him. But then there'd been no time to bind it properly before they'd had to run and Andy was left nursing a very sore and bleeding arm. Still, he had gone to find Hamish first, because if he knew that Hamish was alive, he could relax and get his arm treated.
"Hey, dickbrain. I see you managed to survive," Andy said as he approached him.
Hamish looked up and smiled. "Yeah, I made it. I see you did too. You alright?"
"Yeah, arm needs mending though. Fucking cunts shot me, didn't they?" Andy said.
"Hey, watch your language. There are kids around," Hamish said. "Go see Sam. She'll take a look at it. I'll give you a hug later when you're not bleeding."
"Thanks, mate. We'll catch up later," Andy said. He gave Hamish a nod before going to get his wound treated.
Adam had no time to go find Hamish immediately. He was caught up with organising everyone, seeing to everyone's injuries and then Julian and Wil insisted on a briefing to ascertain what they would do now. Finally, when all that was done, Adam had also taken ten minutes out to eat, he went to find Hamish at last.
Hamish was still in the medical ward, tending to the injured. Hamish looked up and smiled as he saw Adam standing there smiling at him. He looked bloodied and tired, but he seemed to be in one piece. Hamish couldn't help himself. He got up and ran to him, flinging himself into Adam's waiting arms.
"Oh, Adam, thank fuck you're alright," Hamish said, clinging onto him.
"Yeah, it'll take more than that to kill me," Adam said with a smile.
"Hey, don't jinx it. I don't actually ever want you dying on me, you here?" Hamish said, pouting at him.
"You'll just have to live with it. I will die before you. There's no escaping that," Adam said.
"Oi, don't you get depressing on me now. Be happy for once, will you?" Hamish said, licking his cheek.
Adam growled and scooped Hamish up in his arms, carrying him away from the medical ward. Hamish yelped and fought and laughed, pretending to struggle.
"So, have we got a room yet? Or do we need to go find somewhere secretive so I can molest you in private?" Adam said.
"Oh, we do have a room, but I like the secretive place idea. Come on, I saw a lovely little nook around the back that I think leads to some sort of basement," Hamish said, pointing where he wanted to go.
"Lead the way, my love," Adam said.
The basement they found was musty, but relatively clean. There was a pool table in the middle of the room in surprisingly good nick, and several other chairs, small tables, a bar fridge and other assorted pieces of furniture that hadn't been looted.
"I wonder why this stuff is still here. Surely someone would've looted it all by now. You could use a lot of this stuff for firewood, or even to sell for money. Why leave this? It's as if it's been preserved like this," Adam said.
"Well, I'd look into it, but frankly I'd rather fuck you instead," Hamish said.
"Oh yeah? Shall we abuse that poor pool table then?" Adam said, wrapping his arms around Hamish's waist as he held him close.
"Well, there's nowhere else to fuck here is the-oh, fuck. Look over in that corner. There's a door there. A hidden one. I wonder where that goes?" Hamish said, breaking away from Adam to see what it was.
It was barely visible, hiding in the wall as if it were just another wood panel on the wall. Hamish pulled out a small knife he'd been using to cut bandages and tried to pry the door open.
"Be careful. We don't know what's out here," Adam said.
"Do you think it even opens like this? Or is it one of those ones you trigger or push in a certain way?" Hamish said, standing back to look at it again.
"Try that button on the floor. See if that works," Adam said.
"What button? I don't see any buttons," Hamish said, looking at the floor.
"Here, this button," Adam said, shifting Hamish out of the way so he could step on the button.
To their amazement, the door hissed and opened, revealing another room beyond the basement. It looked like some sort of office, as if someone was trying to hide the work they were doing out here.
"Should we go in?" Hamish said.
"Well, why not? We might find things we can use in there," Adam said.
They stepped inside the short hallway that led to the office. It was like walking into another time. The office was old and musty, and looked like it belonged in the fifties. Everything was pristine. There was hardly any dust anywhere though, as if someone had been maintaining it all this time. Adam walked towards the desk and looked at the papers lying there.
"These are official Army documents detailing..." Adam paused as he picked one up to read it. "Detailing supply lines and secret codes for the war. War? What war? That's dated... 1953. Wait. There was no war then, was there? Why are they at war then? Who are they at war with? What's going on here?"
"I think you'll find you've broken into my study, mutant. Get out before I kill you," came a voice from behind them.
Adam and Hamish turned to find a ghostly figure of some sort of Army officer before them, all donned up in his regalia as he watched them with harsh eyes.
"Okay, now should we be afraid of a ghost or not?" Hamish murmured to Adam.
"Let's go before we find out either way, shall we?" Adam murmured back.
The ghost watched them as they backed off and left the room. They found themselves in the basement again and watched the door seal itself shut again. There was no indication there was anything under there apart from a flash of light that came from the floor and some sort of engine noise.
"Do we dare go back in there again?" Hamish said.
Adam stepped on the button again and indeed, the door opened again, but what they saw was nothing more than a hidden storage cupboard. Adam was confused. There was nothing in that cupboard that he could see led into any sort of office. Adam stepped back.
"Okay, someone's fucking with us," Adam concluded.
"Ah, Adam, behind you," Hamish said, turning to face the basement.
Adam turned. The basement had suddenly filled with ghosts, playing pool, drinking, dancing and chatting. There was even soft music playing. None of the ghosts seemed to notice them this time.
"Oh, wait. I think I know what this is. It must be some form of projection room. I think we're in some sort of museum," Hamish said.
"Oh, right. And why do you suspect that?" Adam said.
"Because we went to them in school. Tonnes of them. All telling us the same story about our history. I remember rooms like this. This is how they'd do exhibits back then. They'd have these projections like this so you could see how the people behaved. I think they stopped them after someone hacked them and made the ghosts do naughty things instead of what they were supposed to be doing. I didn't think these rooms still existed anywhere. I never saw a fifties one though," Hamish said.
"So these are just projections?" Adam said.
"Yeah, go on. Wave your hand through them. See? Harmless," Hamish said, waving his arm through a woman who was standing and chatting to her friend.
Adam did the same with one of the pool players. They were indeed just projections. "Let's go back to our room. This place is creepy."
"Yeah, good idea. They should shut down when we leave the room. They're usually powered by motion sensors," Hamish said.
With one last look at the ghosts, Adam and Hamish turned and left the basement. The ghosts vanished into thin air, and nothing seemed amiss anymore.
Author: Sashataakheru
Beta: The wonderful
rana_narsilion <3Fandom: The Chaser/AusComedy RPS
Starring: Adam Hills, Sepulchre (OC), Wil Anderson, Hamish Blake, Craig Reucassel, Tim Minchin, Julian Morrow, Chas Licciardello, Charles Firth, Chris Taylor, Andrew Hansen, Caleb (OC), Dr Rachel Hardy (OC), Antoinette Laurent (OC), Dr Samantha Reddings (OC), Dominic Knight, Shane Cubis, Gregor Stronach, Tim Brunero, Andy Lee
Pairings: Andrew/Chris; Adam/Hamish; Jules/Chas; Rachel/Antoinette(/Samantha); Adam/Seb; Adam/Wil; Craig/Caleb; Adam/Wil/Tim; Andrew/Craig, Wil/Chas; implied Tim/Craig, Hamish/Andy (after a fashion. XD)
Word Count: 4,968
Chapter: 21/32 [Previous]
Warnings: language, warfare violence, swearing
Rating: FRAO
Disclaimer: I don’t know them, not associated with them, just a slashy fangirl admirer with a very active imagination.
Author’s Notes: FYI, fullwing = winged human capable of flight. Halfwing = fullwing/human halfbreed, usually unable to fly, sometimes have vestigial wings, but can be removed to pass as human and not as winged.
Summary: Andrew unwittingly triggers a raid on the haven that changes the course of the rebellion and forces a retreat.
Chapter Twenty One
Andrew ate, feeling better for not being hungry anymore. He excused himself from Charles' care, the voice urging him on. He had a secret plan, an instruction, to carry out. Charles just thought he was going to the bathroom.
Andrew made his way to Charles' little office, where he had access to most of the communications channels in and out of the warehouse. Shutting the door, the voice assisted him with setting it up so he had a secured channel that wouldn't be recorded.
"The butterfly has just hatched. You might want to come and see how pretty it is," Andrew said. It was the callsign for a raid on the warehouse that the voice had given him.
"Roger that. We're on our way," came the reply.
Andrew spent a moment resetting everything so Charles wouldn't even know he'd been in there before leaving, the voice cooing its praise in his mind, reinforcing what a good boy he'd been.
Andrew returned and smiled at him as he joined Charles in Julian's office to discuss with Adam what had happened to them. Andrew gave the performance of his life. Charles didn't suspect a thing. Julian believed every word he said. Who would suspect little tiny Andrew as being a spy? Turns out no one would.
They will live to regret that assumption. If they live at all, Andrew thought as he and Charles were dismissed.
Adam sat thoughtfully, considering what Charles had told them about his fears of a spy amongst them. He wasn't convinced of its veracity, but it was always a possibility. They made sure to screen everyone thoroughly before they dared let them into the rebellion. Had they let one slip through? Certainly Charles' account was troubling. There were some aspects that didn't make sense. But what else did they have to suspect there was someone spying on them?
"Look, Jules, I'd be as concerned as you are if there was any other proof of our security being breeched. As it is, all we have is Charles' story. I'm sorry, unless there's further reason to suspect someone, we can't do anything," Adam said.
"I know it's not exactly proof, and it's only his account, but what if it is true? Shouldn't we act in case it's real even if it turns out to be fake, just to be safe? Surely security is the most important thing to us," Julian said.
"I can see your point, but unless there are any other suspicions, it seems pointless. Security is as tight as we can manage. If someone's managed to infiltrate and we didn't catch them out, they're not going to give themselves up easily. I don't want to dismiss this lightly, but we've nothing but Charles' suspicions. Unless there's something else to the allegations, I'm going to have to let them slide. What else can we do?" Adam said.
"Surely it's worrying if someone has managed to get inside and we haven't noticed. If they managed to get through even with our tight security, they're serious about spying on us in the long term. They could've been here for months, years even! If we've got a leak, we need to plug it before they decide to attack us first!" Julian said.
"Maybe they didn't need to plant someone. Maybe they had the place bugged and then scarpered. We don't check for that as often as we should, you know," Chas said, waking from his nap long enough to comment on their conversation.
"Could they have done that? Is there any way someone could've snuck in and bugged the place without us knowing?" Julian said.
"Anything's possible, I suppose," Adam concedes.
"It's also possible they tracked Charles and Andrew on their way here, even though Charles swapped trucks. They're not supposed to know about this place! They're not supposed to know about anything! If they know more than they're letting on, we have a problem. This place may be compromised. If that's the case, we need to move to another secured location fast before they exploit their knowledge and destroy us before we've had a chance to attack first. This could cost us everything, Adam! Take this seriously! Do you want us to be massacred before our attack? Because if they've breeched our security and do just that, we're finished. It's all over. If they know where we are, they could come at any moment and crush us. We've survived here for so long because they don't check here. If we've given them a reason to check here, we're in trouble," Julian said.
"I know, Julian! I am taking this seriously! I just don't know what else we have to go on apart from that! Give me something here, something that's not just pure speculation!" Adam said, frustrated. He sighed. "Get Charles in here. I want to hear it straight from him. Then I'll decide."
"Alright, fine. I'll go get him," Julian said.
"Fine. Be quick about it. I've got a lot to work to do," Adam said.
Julian left in a huff, leaving Chas alone with Adam. Chas padded over to Adam, trying to relieve his stress somewhat. He sat at his feet, looking adorable as he looked up at him, nudging his hand with his nose, trying to get his affection. Adam smiled as he looked down at him, stroking his head gently.
"You mad at Jules?" Chas whined, leaning his chin on his knee.
"No, not at Jules, no. I'm just… working too hard to make sure this succeeds. Leadership has brought a shitload more work, although I'm glad we sorted out the allegiance with the Chinese at last. That takes a huge weight off me. I don't have to worry so much about where we're going to get men and weapons and cash from. They're-"
"Shh. Don't say another word. I hear something," Chas said, freezing as he listened carefully.
Adam froze as well, trying to listen for what he'd heard. All of a sudden, Chas leapt at Adam and pushed him out of the way just before a rain of bullets came crashing through the glass nearby, shattering it all over the room. Chas pinned Adam to the floor, protecting him from most of the glass. Neither moved until there was silence again.
"I think we have a spy, Adam," Chas said, licking his face affectionately.
"I think you may be right there," Adam said. "Are they gone?"
"I think so. I can't hear anything. That had better not have been a warning shot before they raid us," Chas said, getting off Adam to let him up.
Carefully making their way over to the shattered window, they peer out, trying to see if there's a massing of Army forces waiting to raid the place.
"I can't see anything," Adam whispered.
"Neither can I. They'd better not be hiding out of sight. We'd better get out of here, see if there's any danger we need to react to," Chas whispered.
"Good plan," Adam whispered.
Taking one last look, they snuck out of the room, half-comforted by the lack of bullets following them. They ran into Tim and Wil as they ran from the room.
"What the fuck was that? Are you guys alright?" Tim said, seeing the blood from the small shards of glass.
"Yeah, yeah, I think so. Um, I'm not sure what happened. One minute we're talking, the next there's bullets shooting into the room. There'd better not be a raid coming. I'm not sure we'll be able to save everything, and there's nowhere to run that's big enough to house everyone. If they're looking to raid the place, we're in serious trouble," Adam said.
"Shit. I hope you're not hurt at all," Wil said.
"Nah, nah, we're fine. Chassy got me out of the way before the bullets came. You hurt, Chassy?" Adam said, turning to Chas.
"Just a few cuts, I'll be right. Are we in any danger? Or was this some sort of fluke?" Chas said, shrugging off his injuries.
"Guys, they're coming, Dom's just got reports of a large contingent from the Army heading this way. We need to make a decision now. Stay and fight, or flee for our lives. Reports are they've got tanks and planes coming. We don't have the fire power to waste on skirmishes, or to fight down that kind of hardware. They'll destroy us before we get a chance to fight back," Julian said, running up to them.
"Shit. Are you sure they're coming to attack and not deserting the army to join us?" Wil said.
"They haven't responded to the callsign. They are not coming here in peace," Julian said.
"Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! This is not supposed to happen! What weaponry have we got then?" Adam said, ushering them back towards the hall.
"The tanks we do have are back at another base. All we have are rocket launchers, a bunch of grenades, some land mines and bunch of machine guns and other rifles. It's not easy to steal tanks and trucks and keep them hidden," Tim said.
"Shit. Alright then. If we run, where do we run to?" Adam said.
"There's nowhere close by. We'd have to keep on running. We don't have enough vehicles to take everyone, although the latest lot of trucks we got does help somewhat. The only feasible escape route is out through the west towards the mountains. They're coming from the south east. If we head west, we might be able to lose them. It's not much, but it's all we've got right now," Julian said.
"Then that'll have to be it. Try and get as many out as possible. If we can pick off some of the drivers and steal their trucks and tanks, all the better. Right. Get everyone organised. We grab as much as we can. Nothing's left behind if at all possible. Everyone's armed to the teeth. Decide who stays behind to guard. The rest get away first. We stay behind and scavenge what we can from the fight and escape afterwards. Keep in radio contact at all times. Do not stop until you're safe, alright? Tim, you organise the escapees. Wil, you organise those staying to fight. Julian, make sure the weapons are gathered up and handed out and that the Chinese are safe. We do not want them getting hurt. It could destroy our alliance completely. Make sure Seb's shrine is moved as well. I don't want any of that being left behind. It's too important to leave behind. Right, get moving! We don't have much time!" Adam said, hoping his plan would work as he made it up.
Wil, Tim and Julian nodded their agreements and headed off to carry out their orders. Chas stayed back with Adam as they went to gather the most sensitive material together and make sure it got out safely.
The haven was a hive of chaos. The approaching army could be heard now, and everyone began to panic, trying to gather up what they could and arm themselves before they got there. Dom was giving updates on how close they were every 30 seconds or so as he ran between those escaping and those staying to fight.
Hamish and Andy were suddenly caught up in everything. Checking to see if Hamish was a halfwing seemed unimportant in light of what they now had to do. Hamish had wanted to stay and fight with Andy, but Adam refused, not out of spite, but out of a dire need to have their best fighters up front, and both agreed Hamish wasn't one of their best. Instead, Hamish was put to work helping Tim organise the escapees. With a quick parting kiss for them both, Hamish watched Adam and Andy hurry off to fight. Tim found him soon after and Hamish was spurred into action.
The ones escaping were herded into trucks with the most important documents and papers and sent off as soon as possible while the others got weapons and tried to get their defences ready for when they eventually came down on them. There was no time to waste.
With the warehouse mostly empty and half the rebels off into the mountains, those who were left got ready for the fight of their lives. Barely two minutes after the first group had left, the army was firing the first shots. There was return fire from those left behind, trying to shoot the soldiers and keep the vehicles and tanks intact so they could be salvaged for later. Adam was running between the groups of rebels, shouting orders at everyone, trying to keep the army at bay.
"Be thankful they didn't bring choppers or planes! Now stop hitting the trucks! Aim for the soldiers! One shot kills! We want those vehicles, remember?" Adam shouted as he ducked by a window just as a stray bullet came flying past. He quickly returned fire, taking out a couple of soldiers in one of the lead trucks just before it went over a landmine. It was enough of a distraction to let the rebels get some more shots in and take out some more before the army began fighting again in earnest.
"We're going to have to sacrifice some of those trucks, Adam! We need to stop some of them getting too close!" Chas yelled, having stayed behind to fight, having immense fun shooting rockets at them.
"Try not to kill them all! We need to get away too, you know! And those tanks would be valuable!" Adam shouted back.
"Alright, alright! I'll aim for the ground in front so I don't damage them!" Chas shouted.
Adam went to reply but there were a few more soldiers waiting to be taken out, which he promptly paid more attention to as he picked them off.
"Move forward! We're gaining the upper hand! There's not as many of them as we thought! Try and get close enough to claim some of the trucks! Keep forcing them back!" Adam shouted.
The rebels rallied to Adam's call, intensifying their attack as they move forward, trying to remain under cover as they try and keep the army back. The landmine defence they'd quickly laid down beforehand was coming in useful. It was acting as a barrier the soldiers were reluctant to cross. It helped them push them back and keep picking them off one by one. The tanks were underused, much to Adam's surprise. Surely you don't bring tanks to a skirmish and then not use them at all. The tanks seemed to be mostly firing into the warehouse, trying to destroy it. The rest were trying to finish off the rebels.
"Andy, get your men over to the left! Push them towards the gates!" Adam shouted just as a tank exploded, taking out several men, trucks and infrastructure.
"Fuck it, we could've used that tank!" Chas cursed, pausing to reload before firing again.
"Shut up, just keep shooting!" Adam said. "Andy, get moving!"
Andy nodded his acknowledgement and signalled to his men to get moving.
"Out of the way, guys! They've got the tanks locked on us!" Chas said, firing a rocket in front of the tanks to discourage them.
Adam and Chas and their men ran, backing away from the incoming shells. There was a loud explosion as the windows where they had been firing from collapsed and flung glass, concrete, and other shrapnel at them. They just managed to get through the large doors before the shrapnel hit. Leaning against the door, they could feel the impact as the doors shook.
"That was close. We probably shouldn't go back out there. We should find another vantage point," Chas said.
"I think that's a very good idea. Come on, this way," Adam said, indicating down the passage leading to the left.
An hour later, they had finally won, had driven off the few remaining soldiers. They'd won a handful of trucks and two tanks. It was the best they could hope for. The warehouse was half-destroyed. No doubt they would return to finish it off to make sure they got everything and everyone. Before he left, Adam set the only bomb they had to destroy the warehouse before the army could destroy it for them. He ran out from the hall towards the trucks where everyone else waiting for him.
"Everyone into the trucks! We have to get out of here now!" Adam yelled as he ran towards the closest truck, clambering in as they started up and drove away from the warehouse and off west to meet the others.
It was darkness by the time the two groups met up. The first had stopped at last in one of the abandoned towns in the hills, setting up in the biggest of the abandoned buildings that they could find. Adam and the fighters had gone as fast as they could to get away without being followed. They'd stopped once they thought they were out of range to check in and find out where the first group had gone.
Tired and hungry, the fighters finally arrived, hiding the vehicles in as many empty buildings as possible before running across to the building that had been chosen as the new base camp. The injured were ushered over to the makeshift medical area to get their wounds treated while the others joined in with the rest of the first group. Adam's first priority was making sure the Chinese delegation was safe. He found them talking quietly with Tim and Dom.
"Hey, you guys alright?" Adam said as he approached them.
"Yeah, we managed to escape unscathed. How about you?" Tim said.
"Lost a few, as I thought we might, but we managed to salvage a few tanks and trucks out of it. Fuck, that came out of nowhere. They'd better not have followed us or got trackers onto us. They were not supposed to be able to find that warehouse. How did they manage it?" Adam said, still taking in all that had happened.
"No idea. We'll have to regroup and figure that out once we're all not dying and hungry. I've sent a few scouts out to scavenge for food. We only took the non-perishable stuff, and that isn't going to keep us all fed," Tim said.
"Got a guard out to spot trouble, should it come?" Adam said.
"Yep. First thing I set up. You sure you weren't followed?" Tim said.
"We made sure to cover our tracks. I destroyed the warehouse before we left. We had to kill a couple of soldiers at one of the checkpoints. I insisted we head in the opposite direction though, just to throw them off the trail. Hopefully, we're safe for the time being," Adam said.
"Come on, I think the scouts are back. Hopefully, they've got some food for us," Tim said, hearing approaching trucks.
Adam followed Tim out to the road, seeing the trucks approaching. They'd have to be safe, or they'd not have been allowed inside the township. The two trucks pull up and the scouts get out, trucks laden with food they'd managed to steal, purchase or generally get hold of.
"Get enough for everyone?" Tim said to them.
"Think so. We did grab a lot. Here, help us bring it back inside," the closest one said, opening the back of the truck to reveal their spoils.
"Is that pizza? You seriously stole pizza?" Adam said, amazed at seeing pizza boxes amongst the hoard.
"Yeah, we raided one of the pizza shops, made them make us a shitload of pizza for us. Figured it'd be most appreciated. Some of this may need warming up. If that's possible, go for it. Otherwise it'll have to be eaten as it is," the first scout said.
"We've got a kitchen in here and miraculously, everything still works after all this time. Maybe they forgot to shut off the power and gas before the town was abandoned? Either way, I've had the boys cleaning it out so we can keep the food there. Should be right to go. Come on, bring it all in, we'll have it heated up in no time!" Tim said, ushering the scouts laden with food inside and back towards the kitchen.
In their new home, Charles was cradling Andrew in his arms again as he slept. Andrew had appeared fine, and Charles wasn't worried about him, but the raid had shaken him. They'd attacked so soon after they'd escaped. Had they tracked them? Was it connected? If it was, why bother doing anything to Andrew if there wasn't any need to?
The more Charles thought about their tactics, the less sense they made. He was still awake when dawn came, Andrew sound asleep in his arms, untroubled by nightmares.
'Sleep, Andrew, sleep on. Conserve your strength for later when we call you,' the voice whispered to Andrew as he slept, reinforcing his obedience.
"Yes," Andrew breathed in answer, happy his acting had been so brilliant to convince Charles he was still terrified. Step by step, the voice was putting its plan into action.
Andy went looking for Hamish as soon as he arrived back at their new home. He needed to make sure he was alright. He found him looking after patients with Sam. Andy watched him for a while, seeing how he entertained the kids and the adults injured in the battle. Andy had almost completely forgotten his own injuries. He'd been shot in the arm, but had continued to fight anyway. Adam needed him. But then there'd been no time to bind it properly before they'd had to run and Andy was left nursing a very sore and bleeding arm. Still, he had gone to find Hamish first, because if he knew that Hamish was alive, he could relax and get his arm treated.
"Hey, dickbrain. I see you managed to survive," Andy said as he approached him.
Hamish looked up and smiled. "Yeah, I made it. I see you did too. You alright?"
"Yeah, arm needs mending though. Fucking cunts shot me, didn't they?" Andy said.
"Hey, watch your language. There are kids around," Hamish said. "Go see Sam. She'll take a look at it. I'll give you a hug later when you're not bleeding."
"Thanks, mate. We'll catch up later," Andy said. He gave Hamish a nod before going to get his wound treated.
Adam had no time to go find Hamish immediately. He was caught up with organising everyone, seeing to everyone's injuries and then Julian and Wil insisted on a briefing to ascertain what they would do now. Finally, when all that was done, Adam had also taken ten minutes out to eat, he went to find Hamish at last.
Hamish was still in the medical ward, tending to the injured. Hamish looked up and smiled as he saw Adam standing there smiling at him. He looked bloodied and tired, but he seemed to be in one piece. Hamish couldn't help himself. He got up and ran to him, flinging himself into Adam's waiting arms.
"Oh, Adam, thank fuck you're alright," Hamish said, clinging onto him.
"Yeah, it'll take more than that to kill me," Adam said with a smile.
"Hey, don't jinx it. I don't actually ever want you dying on me, you here?" Hamish said, pouting at him.
"You'll just have to live with it. I will die before you. There's no escaping that," Adam said.
"Oi, don't you get depressing on me now. Be happy for once, will you?" Hamish said, licking his cheek.
Adam growled and scooped Hamish up in his arms, carrying him away from the medical ward. Hamish yelped and fought and laughed, pretending to struggle.
"So, have we got a room yet? Or do we need to go find somewhere secretive so I can molest you in private?" Adam said.
"Oh, we do have a room, but I like the secretive place idea. Come on, I saw a lovely little nook around the back that I think leads to some sort of basement," Hamish said, pointing where he wanted to go.
"Lead the way, my love," Adam said.
The basement they found was musty, but relatively clean. There was a pool table in the middle of the room in surprisingly good nick, and several other chairs, small tables, a bar fridge and other assorted pieces of furniture that hadn't been looted.
"I wonder why this stuff is still here. Surely someone would've looted it all by now. You could use a lot of this stuff for firewood, or even to sell for money. Why leave this? It's as if it's been preserved like this," Adam said.
"Well, I'd look into it, but frankly I'd rather fuck you instead," Hamish said.
"Oh yeah? Shall we abuse that poor pool table then?" Adam said, wrapping his arms around Hamish's waist as he held him close.
"Well, there's nowhere else to fuck here is the-oh, fuck. Look over in that corner. There's a door there. A hidden one. I wonder where that goes?" Hamish said, breaking away from Adam to see what it was.
It was barely visible, hiding in the wall as if it were just another wood panel on the wall. Hamish pulled out a small knife he'd been using to cut bandages and tried to pry the door open.
"Be careful. We don't know what's out here," Adam said.
"Do you think it even opens like this? Or is it one of those ones you trigger or push in a certain way?" Hamish said, standing back to look at it again.
"Try that button on the floor. See if that works," Adam said.
"What button? I don't see any buttons," Hamish said, looking at the floor.
"Here, this button," Adam said, shifting Hamish out of the way so he could step on the button.
To their amazement, the door hissed and opened, revealing another room beyond the basement. It looked like some sort of office, as if someone was trying to hide the work they were doing out here.
"Should we go in?" Hamish said.
"Well, why not? We might find things we can use in there," Adam said.
They stepped inside the short hallway that led to the office. It was like walking into another time. The office was old and musty, and looked like it belonged in the fifties. Everything was pristine. There was hardly any dust anywhere though, as if someone had been maintaining it all this time. Adam walked towards the desk and looked at the papers lying there.
"These are official Army documents detailing..." Adam paused as he picked one up to read it. "Detailing supply lines and secret codes for the war. War? What war? That's dated... 1953. Wait. There was no war then, was there? Why are they at war then? Who are they at war with? What's going on here?"
"I think you'll find you've broken into my study, mutant. Get out before I kill you," came a voice from behind them.
Adam and Hamish turned to find a ghostly figure of some sort of Army officer before them, all donned up in his regalia as he watched them with harsh eyes.
"Okay, now should we be afraid of a ghost or not?" Hamish murmured to Adam.
"Let's go before we find out either way, shall we?" Adam murmured back.
The ghost watched them as they backed off and left the room. They found themselves in the basement again and watched the door seal itself shut again. There was no indication there was anything under there apart from a flash of light that came from the floor and some sort of engine noise.
"Do we dare go back in there again?" Hamish said.
Adam stepped on the button again and indeed, the door opened again, but what they saw was nothing more than a hidden storage cupboard. Adam was confused. There was nothing in that cupboard that he could see led into any sort of office. Adam stepped back.
"Okay, someone's fucking with us," Adam concluded.
"Ah, Adam, behind you," Hamish said, turning to face the basement.
Adam turned. The basement had suddenly filled with ghosts, playing pool, drinking, dancing and chatting. There was even soft music playing. None of the ghosts seemed to notice them this time.
"Oh, wait. I think I know what this is. It must be some form of projection room. I think we're in some sort of museum," Hamish said.
"Oh, right. And why do you suspect that?" Adam said.
"Because we went to them in school. Tonnes of them. All telling us the same story about our history. I remember rooms like this. This is how they'd do exhibits back then. They'd have these projections like this so you could see how the people behaved. I think they stopped them after someone hacked them and made the ghosts do naughty things instead of what they were supposed to be doing. I didn't think these rooms still existed anywhere. I never saw a fifties one though," Hamish said.
"So these are just projections?" Adam said.
"Yeah, go on. Wave your hand through them. See? Harmless," Hamish said, waving his arm through a woman who was standing and chatting to her friend.
Adam did the same with one of the pool players. They were indeed just projections. "Let's go back to our room. This place is creepy."
"Yeah, good idea. They should shut down when we leave the room. They're usually powered by motion sensors," Hamish said.
With one last look at the ghosts, Adam and Hamish turned and left the basement. The ghosts vanished into thin air, and nothing seemed amiss anymore.