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With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility


Sargun II

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His jaw clenched, and the muscles in his arms tensed. He almost rose and threw this man out right then and there, but some intinct prompted him to remain silent and listen through the entire monologue, to not simply toss Evan Hiley out on his backside.

He took a deep breath to try and calm his nerves. Under the desk, out of Hiley's sight, his hands clenched and unclenched, but if nothing else, he was a master of his own body, and he refused to be impulsive.

"Her mother died trying to protect one of her brothers--her other brother was already dead. All three died, in one day, from the sins of my own past. If you seek a hero, I am sorry, but you came to the wrong place. If you are a monster, I am a demon, not fit to pass judgement on you." He paused, sighing, as he slowly relaxed again. "And yet...we have one other thing in common, Evan Hiley. We both love the same woman. And somehow...she does not condemn us for our sins. How is that possible?"

No need to say the name. They both knew exactly who he referred to--one certain former leader that had given up her position for reasons only she knew. Although he was making a small assumption that Sarah knew something of this man's past. "Do you really think the God she believes in cannot forgive us?" he asked, almost wistfully.

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"I think.. I think that she believes that God, or her God at least, can forgive any of us. It is not about who we are or what we have done but who we will be and what we can do. Do you think I would be the man I am today if she and her beliefs could not forgive me? Do you think we would be talking about her in this room today if she and her beliefs could not forgive you?" Evan shook his head.

"Anthony Harlem, I came to you today because of an impulse. A fleeting thought. About her." He swallowed a lump in his throat. "You are correct. We both love the same woman. Perhaps I wanted to see what she saw in you. Perhaps I wanted to see what it was you saw in her. Not that there is a shortage to see," he said with a smile like a man looking back on his past.

"I am not sure. I needed to see you. You are a man who knows what he is as much as I do. We are both fathers, we have both lost our first beloved, we.. it is.. it is comforting to me, to see how much we are alike. Perhaps it is even more comforting to see how different we are."

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"I think.. I think that she believes that God, or her God at least, can forgive any of us. It is not about who we are or what we have done but who we will be and what we can do. Do you think I would be the man I am today if she and her beliefs could not forgive me? Do you think we would be talking about her in this room today if she and her beliefs could not forgive you?"

He could do nothing but shake his head, indicating he agreed with the sentiments expressed in those questions, which he viewed as more rhetorical than anything else. He shook his head because he felt that, though rhetorical, they still deserved some sort of answer.

"Anthony Harlem, I came to you today because of an impulse. A fleeting thought. About her." Anthony watched, his impassive demeanor already cracked by this man's mere presence. The fact that they were discussing--her--ensuring that he listened. "You are correct. We both love the same woman. Perhaps I wanted to see what she saw in you. Perhaps I wanted to see what it was you saw in her. Not that there is a shortage to see." Seeing Evan's smile, he couldn't resist a small one of his own. He would not argue that point, either. It was certainly true.

"I am not sure. I needed to see you. You are a man who knows what he is as much as I do. We are both fathers, we have both lost our first beloved, we.. it is.. it is comforting to me, to see how much we are alike. Perhaps it is even more comforting to see how different we are."

A single tear formed in the corner of one eye, and he rubbed at the offending drop of moisture, trying to make it look like he simply had some irritating speck of dust or some such thing he was trying to remove. "Comforting...I never thought..."

He cleared his throat, trying to form his thoughts into a more coherent form. "Yes, it is comforting to see both our similarities, and our differences. Together, they make us each what we are today. I wouldn't want to be you, and I doubt you would want to be me. Perhaps we were placed on this world for a reason. It's what Sarah would have said, that perhaps there is a reason that we are the way we are. And I know she wouldn't like to hear us call ourselves monsters or demons," he added with a small chuckle.

"She'd say the true evil is someone who isn't sorry for doing what they did, someone who did what we had done and felt not an inkling of remorse. Perhaps she's right..." 'I certainly hope she is,' was the unspoken thought.

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"She is, Anthony. I am sure of it." He didn't add 'She has to be'. Evan took a deep breath and stood up, an indication that this part of the conversation was over. "Your daughter, Melissa.. how old is she?" His tone was of curiosity, not greed or coveting.

///

The trunk of the '68 Camaro popped open and Xenu stretched his body. The soldier rolled his mechanical joints around for a moment before taking his helmet off and exposing his head - and exposing that he wasn't actually Xenu, but a man. He was tall and thin, his ebony skin gleaming in the bright Australian sunlight. With a grunt, he slid the armor off of his body and back into the trunk, then slammed it shut and changed (in the Camaro) into some normal clothes.

Adnan walked into the porch, opened the unlocked door and walked himself right into the house.

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This time, Anthony barely felt the twinge of protectiveness. When his guest stood, he stretched a little before standing himself. A hint of a smirk revealed istelf for the briefest instant as he answered the man's question. "She's almost twenty-two years old. Why, you interested in dating her, Evan?" he said, jokingly.

--------

Melissa had fallen into a state that was somewhere between fully aware and asleep...but she started awake when she heard the trunk slam shut outside. She wasn;t sure what had woken her, really, but she wasn't interested in falling asleep, so after a couple minutes of thought, and after finishing off the can of soda in her hand, she stood and stretched, taking a step toward the kitchen.

Her thought processes were interrupted when someone else came in through the door. "Hey, what's the big idea?!" she protested, unafraid as she moved to step in front of him. The can she still held in one hand crumpled as she clenched it into a fist.

Edited by Subtleknifewielder
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"She's pretty enough, and if she has half of your intelligence I wouldn't mind, but no. I'm just afraid that my pupil will not know how large an age difference of five years can be." As if on cue, a faint "Hey, what's the big idea?!" reached the ears of the two men. As if moving to stop his pupil from dying (which he knew Anthony was capable of doing), he held up a hand and opened the door first. "He knows not to touch."

Evan moved with a deliberate pace and strength, his feet making an unnatural rhythm on the ground. Adnan, who was in the other room with his hands fumbling near his pocket, snapped to what could only be called a stance of attention. His eyes behaved in a manner much like his mentor's, lingering on the red hair of the young woman in front of him.

"Adnan, ha!"

"Evan, ha!"

Evan moved close to Adnan and lowered his head to be near the ear of his pupil. He spoke low in Swahili, and spoke sharply whenever Adnan opened his mouth. The younger man of 17 looked like he had been scolded - which he had. "I apologize for the second intrusion on your home," Adnan said. His English was stale. Evan smiled approvingly and patted the young man on the back, then looked back at Melissa.

"He has never seen red hair," he explained, and Adnan looked straight ahead. "He was not supposed to come inside, perhaps I was not clear enough. In any case, we must take our leave. I have many people to visit before thursday after next. Thank you for your time."

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He almost started when his daughter's protest reached there ears, and he was halfway out of his chair before he even had a conscious thought about moving. But the fact that Evan seemed to know who it was was mildly reassuring, and his words more so.

That still didn't stop him from following the man out of the room to see who had entered his domain uninvited.

Melissa stared curiously, her defensive stance relaxing by degrees as no other moves were made by this stranger to enter further. Though she wondered what about her hair fascinated these two so, and she absently patted her head to make sure there wasn't some bit of dirt or something there that they were staring at instead.

Anthony, though he was not familiar with many African languages, and none fluently, deduced from the tone that Adnan was perhaps being scolded. His words only confirmed it.

"I apologize for the second intrusion on your home."

Anthony and Melissa exchanged a glance--the English might be a little stale, but it was clearly understandable. Finally, she shrugged. "No offense taken," she said, accepting the apology.

When Evan explained that his protege had never seen red hair, she studied him curiously. 'So that explains it.'

"He was not supposed to come inside, perhaps I was not clear enough. In any case, we must take our leave. I have many people to visit before thursday after next. Thank you for your time."

Anthony inclined his head, offering a small smile of his own. "I'm glad I was finally able to meet you in person. I wish you well in your travels." He offered a hand to shake if evan was so inclined...

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"Adnan?"

Adnan blinked and nodded, then turned and bowed his head at both Melissa and Anthony. "Thank you," he said, and walked out of the house without another word. Evan shook his head and stepped towards Anthony, grabbing his hand with a tight grip and shaking it with respect.

"By the way.. the next time you see me, you won't know it at first - look at the eyes." On that note, he let go of Anthony's hand and looked at Melissa again. "Next time I'll be taking you up on that offer for a drink," he said with a grin. Evan turned and left, his left hand forming a fist with his index and middle finger extended. He gave a small salute as he closed the door behind them and walked back to the Camaro.

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Anthony returned the salute just before the door closed.

"Now there goes an interesting pair," he commented.

Melissa watched out the window as they returned to the car they had arrived in. She was smiling for reasons only she knew, though Anthony could probably guess. However, he was returning to the back room, in reality his office here, to send a message to the Administrator.

In it he told Anderson to let them leave the country unharmed, and to assign a small unit to follow them and ensure their safety until they left the country.

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