Robert Crane - Omega

She nodded sharply, her phone already in her hand. “Isabella,” she said. “Get to the front of HQ, we’ve got wounded.” I heard the soft beep as she cut the connection. A cool wind picked up as I opened the back doors to the van and Ariadne let out a gasp as she looked inside. “What the hell happened? Why didn’t you call?”

“No phones,” I said. “And I didn’t want to slow down. We had to leave Iowa in a hurry.”

I heard doors opening behind me as Perugini came rushing out of the building, rolling a gurney covered in white sheets. Her lab coat matched the sheets perfectly, as though she were a part of the gurney herself. “What the hell…happened here?”

“I led a mission,” I said tightly, “and Clary came along.”

Clary stepped down from the back of the van, pulling Reed out and setting him on the gurney. “It was an accident, I swear.”

“It was a…” I held my tongue. “…Charlie Foxtrot. I’ll carry Scott, you get Kat.”

“Done and done,” he said with a little too much enthusiasm.

“Cancel that,” I said. “I’ll get Kat.” I lifted her up in my arms, trying to cradle her so that her thin neck didn’t bob. “What do we do about the prisoner?”

“I’ll get him,” Clary said with muffled disappointment. “You want him in the cell block, Ariadne?”

“Yes,” Ariadne said, a little pale. “That’ll be fine. What a catastrophe.”

“They’ll be okay,” I said.

“Oh, are you a doctor now?” Perugini said from where she stood over Reed. Her dark skin was flushed red in the lamplight. “No? Then shut up and carry them in while I do my work. Come back for the other one.”

I nodded and started toward the entrance when the door opened again and Zack emerged with Kurt Hannegan. Zack saw me and his face pinched in concern. “What happened to you?” he asked as he approached, his suit flapping in the wind. “You look like you got rolled in dough.”

“Here,” I said and handed Kat to him. He took up her weight, cradling her in his arms like a baby. “I’m going to carry Scott.” I turned back to the van, where Clary was lifting our prisoner over his head, carrying him on his shoulders in a bowed shape. I picked up Scott in my arms and tossed him over a shoulder with as much care as I could. “Clary, get that man to the cell block and don’t let him out of the restraints once you’re there. Let him sleep like that; he’s too strong to let loose.”

Clary nodded as we entered the marbled lobby, the black stone flecked with white that didn’t even show in the dim light. All the recessed lighting had dimmed for the night and Clary made his way toward the stairs, evading the beams shining down from overhead as though he were trying to stay to the shadows.

“I want a full debriefing when you’re done seeing to them,” Ariadne said. “The Director will want to be informed.”

“I’ll be there once I finish dropping them off,” I told her. “Give me about ten minutes?”

She nodded and disappeared toward the elevator banks while we filed down a long, narrow hallway.

“Good to see you,” I said to Zack, and got a tight smile in return. “How was your day?”

“Not as exciting as yours, I’m guessing,” he said with aplomb, repositioning Kat in his arms. “What happened on your mission?” There was a clatter as Perugini rolled the gurney down the hall ahead of us, hitting the small grooves where the tile separated from the carpeted areas.

“We destroyed the Omega safe house.”

“Uh…weren’t you supposed to surveil it?” Zack asked, his face contorting as though he were trying to find a diplomatic way to ask the question that was on his mind.

“Clary,” I said simply as we walked through the doors of the medical unit. I set Scott on a bed, being as careful with him as possible. “He decided to walk up and knock on the door.”

“And then what happened?” Zack asked, laying Kat on the next bed over from Scott.

“Then Clary go boom,” I said, brushing Scott’s curly locks off his forehead. There were some scabbed-over cuts still there. “Our prisoner answered the door by blasting it off its hinges. He’s quite strong, that one.”

“What is he?” Zack asked, lifting the rail on the edge of Kat’s bed into the locked position to keep her from rolling out.

“Clary? An idiot.” I lifted the rail on Scott’s bed and started to adjust it to sit him up at a forty-five degree angle. “As for the meta we picked up at the Omega safe house, I have no idea what type. He didn’t really show any other abilities that I noticed other than an uncanny knack for destroying everything around him.” I frowned. “Is there a nuclear bomb type?”

“Yeah. Aleksandr Gavrikov,” Zack said with amusement. “No fire, though, right?”

“No fire,” I said, as he made his way around the bed and over to me. “Just a lot of property damage that resulted in a house caving in.”

Zack brushed his fingers over my forehead. “Did you get hurt?”

“Not bad,” I said, and ran my fingers through my hair. They came back coated in white dust, and I coughed involuntarily. “I did inhale a few rooms worth of plaster, though, so if I spit out a whole wall later tonight, you’ll know why.”

“I can’t believe Ariadne sent Clary with you,” Zack said, stroking my hair, brushing the dust out of it. “Everyone knows that guy is an idiot.”

“A useful idiot at times, though,” I said.

“You’re not mad at him?” Zack looked inquiring.

“Oh, I’m super pissed,” I said. “I’m thinking about killing him, actually, and I don’t tend to think about that, ever.” Zack raised an eyebrow. “Not seriously,” I added. “But it would be satisfying to smack him around for a while.” I nodded. “And I did, actually. I think we understand each other now.”

Zack looked at me, wide eyed. “You…smacked Clary around? Like, really did?”

“Yeah. Like, I really did. And we’re good now.”

“And he didn’t…splatter you all over a wall?”

I slapped his shoulder lightly. “He’s scared of me. We’re good.”

Zack thought about it for a moment and gave a slight shrug. “I don’t blame him.”

“Would you two please take your pitiful necking activities out of my medical unit?” Dr. Perugini bustled over. “There are sick people here, and if I have to listen to any more of your banter, I will be one of them.”

“You’ve got a great bedside manner, Doc,” I said with a smile. “Did you learn that when you worked for La Cosa Nostra?”

“Oh, you are thinking you are funny!” She jabbed a finger at me as she prodded at Scott with her stethoscope. “But let me tell you something, the disasters you bring me are not funny, they are sad.”

“Will everyone be all right?” I asked.

“Does it look like I have examined everyone yet?” She wagged her finger at me again. “Your brother is fine. Cosmetic damage will heal in the next day or so, but he doesn’t look so pretty until then.” She looked down at Scott. “What happened to this one?”

“Internal and external bleeding,” I said. “Will he be all right?”

“Away from me,” she said, waving me off. “Go to the corner, neck for a few minutes, then come back when I am done.”

“How about your office?” I asked. “We could—”

“Away!” She flailed an arm at me.

“She seems more uptight than usual,” Zack said as we made our way over to Reed’s bed. “Seriously, though, physical stuff aside, how are you holding up?”

“I’ll be all right once I get a shower and…” I let my voice trail off as I pulled my jacket off. It was ruined, the black leather torn in several places. “Bleh. I should have known better than to wear something I actually liked on a mission.”