The Chosen by Lee Borromeo

Chapter Five

Daniel stood at the edge of the building's helipad. He was mentally pacing back and forth.

He looked down. It looked like it was about 80 or so stories. I must be on that new building, Olympia Tower. He didn't know what to do. He had nowhere to go. David could just put his arm right through him, like he did Ranjee.

"Uhmmm... It's not healthy to be on the edge of a helipad," David chimed in gracefully. He was standing about twenty feet away, by the access stairs, his hands in his pockets. Zeke was right next to him, looking a bit more nervous.

Daniel just looked at them, and then an idea came to mind. Maybe I'm needed alive too. The thought grated at him. These people had ruined his life, and now he was supposed to be... part of a chess game? Not if I can help it.

All his life, Daniel had never wanted to be used. It was an obsession with him, since he had no control over his life - at least, not while his father was alive. He had read too many things about people being used by other people; he had seen his dad use his mom -- he knew about the other family, about his mother's political connections, how their marriage was one of convenience; how he was just a convenience to his father. He knew about a lot of things about people using others. He'd be damned if he was going to let himself be a pawn in a game that he didn't like the looks of.

He simply whispered to himself, "You're not going to use me."

He stepped off the side of the helipad. He saw Zeke try to go after him, but David held Zeke back.

He fell face first. I will see how I die. Daniel had never been so calm. It was as if the certainty of having nothing to go back to had given him a fearlessness of death.

He closed his eyes. Last time I'm going to blink.

Then he felt someone catch him gently.

When he opened his eyes, He saw that he was in Patrick's arms, and that they were floating in mid-air, the whole world not noticing them. Patrick just looked at him with his mismatched eyes, the darker one becoming a pool of understanding, the lighter one flashing with his reflection.

<I understand. >

He felt Patrick's mind flood into his -- all the emotions, all the regrets, and all the apologies for doing this to him. He also felt Patrick's cruelty, his determination to stop the world's self-destruction at all costs, even if it should make him a monster. He also saw his tender side, that as much as he had to kill Lance, he had not enjoyed killing just to be sure. And underneath all that, he simply felt one simple fact; that Patrick, for all his abilities, was simply human. Not Chosen, not Salamangka. Just Patrick.

<Shhh.>

Daniel started to cry. They stayed there for some time, floating.

David was staring down at the whole scene from the helipad.

"I knew it. That's the other reason." He started chuckling to himself. "It's about time."

David walked away, to join Zeke back in the kitchen for some more coffee.

To be continued

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