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Jason waited for the darkness to come, his eyes squeezed shut in preparation for at least a millisecond of pain. Seconds passed with no pain and no darkness. He was still alive. Several more seconds went by. He finally opened his eyes and realized the 'deafening' sound had only been the clicking of the hammer on the used up chamber. No explosion of a second bullet discharging. He was still alive and his luck continued, this time without help from anyone else.
Opening his eyes, he studied himself in the full length wall mirror across the room. You look kinda silly, standing there with a pistol in your hand trying to blow your brains out, he thought. He lowered the gun away to find a red donut-shaped mark on his temple where the muzzle of the gun had been pressed.
I'm still alive. The thought brought a smile to his face. Yes, I am. Now what? Seattle's face flashed before him. Behind her were the faces of Tinker, Cinder, Wompun and several of the other kids he'd talked to while being held captive. They were up to something. Despite the odds, they were out to make something happen, to make some difference in the world.
Jason opened the cylinder of the gun to remove the bullets. As his gaze fell on the ends of the bullets, his breath caught in his throat. The used bullet was not in the position under the hammer, which could only mean that the hammer had fallen on one of the unspent bullets. Why hadn't it fired? Jason's knees suddenly felt very weak. He sat down on the edge of the bed to keep from falling.
Moments ago, it hadn't mattered to him if the gun fired. Now, with the image of Seattle and her family still clearly in his mind, life took on a whole new meaning. He longed to be with them, to hold Seattle in his arms, to feel her warm body next to his. He closed the cylinder again, switched on the safety, and placed the pistol in his pocket.
He would get a message to Tinker to have them meet him at the cave. He wanted to be with them. No matter what, he needed to be close to them as soon as possible.
––––––––
JASON LEFT HIS APARTMENT with an irritated Mu-Monk on his shoulder. The monkey had been abruptly awoken from a sound sleep when Jason tested the pistol, and it had taken Jason several minutes of pleading to persuade him to come out of his hiding place. They first went to the food-serve across from the CCC to send Tinker a message. Jason held his breath as he placed the order, nervous that Tinker might not be around. However, when the order arrived, there was a hand scrawled note on the napkin.
Jason left Mu-Monk sitting at the table eating the food while he slipped out to the back alley. Ten minutes later, a boy Jason didn't recognize but wearing Tinker's hat appeared from the dark recesses of the alley. The boy walked cautiously over to Jason and asked, "Is that your monkey inside?"
Jason nodded, disappointed that Tinker hadn't come in person.
"What's his name?" the boy asked, still being careful to keep a distance from Jason.
"Mu-Monk," Jason replied, then noticed the boy relax.
"Tinker told me to tell you he's sorry but he couldn't come. He's tied up in a critical matter only he could address. I'm Runt. I knew who you were but Tinker made me promise to check you out.
Jason nodded. "No problem; I understand. I need to get a message to Seattle at once. It's important that I meet with her and the rest of the Family.
"Okay," Runt replied. "I can get the message to her. Where do you want to meet her?"
"The old place where I was..." Jason stopped. "...Where we first met. It's the one place in the Pipes I know I can find. Will that work?"
"I don't see why not. It'll probably take a couple of hours to round everyone up."
Jason glanced at his recently purchased watch. "I'll hang around here for awhile, then meet Seattle at six unless I hear differently."
He returned to the food-serve to find close to a dozen people huddled around Mu-Monk watching him eat. Sitting at the table with the monkey in his lap was a well-dressed man, his blonde hair in disarray from where Mu-Monk had been playing with it. The man broke off another piece of soy-burger and handed it to Mu-Monk, who quickly gobbled it down. As he noticed Jason approach, he placed the monkey on the table and rose to greet him.
"Sorry to impose on you like this. I've never seen anything like it. It's so charming; I couldn't help myself."
Jason nodded. It happened all the time. Mu-Monk had learned years ago how to play a crowd for all it was worth. As Jason sat down, the man disappeared into the crowd.
It would be good to see Seattle again, Jason thought as he punched in a second order. He suddenly realized how much he had missed her and how fond he had grown of talking to her about subjects that really mattered. He wondered if Tinker had told her about the Archbishop. What would she think about him being the offspring of such a powerful man? Hell, I haven't figured out what I think of it.
Forty-five minutes later, Jason left the food-serve with Mu-Monk on his shoulder. Both of them were in a much better frame of mind as they stepped onto the autowalk that would take them to the district on the other side of the Gambling Zone, where Jason had entered the Pipes that first night. It seemed like eons ago. Neither of them noticed the three men that tagged along behind them.
Changing from one walkway or set of stairs to another a dozen times, Jason slowly worked his way down through the lower levels until he reached the large ductwork that indicated the start of the Pipes. He turned to Mu-Monk. "You know the way from here better than me. Please lead the way."
After a few false starts, Mu-Monk got the message and jumped down from his shoulder and started down the semi-dark passage with Jason close behind. A few minutes later, the man with blonde hair approached the entrance, accompanied by two larger men. The blond turned to one of the other men. "Go call Carmiel and tell him to meet us here. Let him know that our subject just entered the Pipes."
Jason took careful mental notes once again as he continued to try to memorize the winding route through the Pipes to the cave. Each time he made the trip with Mu-Monk's guidance, it made a little more sense. He figured if he really needed to, he'd be able to muddle his way to it on his own. Still, it was good to have Mu-Monk's keen sense of direction to make the trip more directly and without needing to correct each missed turn.
They arrived at the cave about ten minutes ahead of schedule. As they waited, Jason walked around, remembering what it had looked like with the brightly colored drapes and mobiles hanging from the ceiling, mixed with the laughter of the children as they went about their daily tasks.
He walked over to the two metal eyelets still sticking out of the far wall. They'd proven to be effective jailers, holding him prisoner not all that long ago, though now it seemed like ages. So much had changed. He chuckled as he remembered how blind and gullible he'd been. So sure that the world was the way it was and nothing could ever be done about it. Truth be told, he still wasn't certain Seattle and her ragtag band of kids could make any real change, but he was ready to help in whatever way he could.
He heard a muffled sound behind him and turned to find Seattle gazing at him from the center of the cave. They studied each other for a brief moment, then, before Jason knew whether he or Seattle had first moved, they were both in each other's arms. Jason took a deep whiff of the pleasing fragrance of womanhood, as he pressed his face into her long black hair, then found her lips with his own. They continued to hug and kiss for several seconds, oblivious to the world around them, until a small cough from behind them brought them back to reality.
"Good to see you, too," Tinker said, smiling smugly. "Might different greeting this time around, don't you think?"
Jason laughed as well. "I much prefer this one," he said as he bent down and offered his hand to Tinker who hesitated for a moment, uncertain what to do, then stepped forward and took the offered hand. Jason pulled the boy to him and hugged him as well. Despite Tinker's protest, the boy didn't try to pull away. After a couple of moments, Jason straightened up and looked around to find the cave full of children with beaming faces.
Finally, he turned back to Seattle. "We have much to talk about."
"That's what I understand from Tinker," Seattle replied. "We shouldn't stay here, though. This place may not be safe. Besides, it will be more comfortable back at the lair."
Jason nodded. "And to think I had just about figured out how to get here on my own. Is the lair far from here?"
But before Seattle could answer, Jason heard a rustling sound from one of the tunnels. The three kids who had been standing at the entranceway were pushed aside by a large man pointing a stunwand at them.
Everything happened at once. Jason glanced first at the entranceway, then back to Seattle just long enough to see the look of shocked betrayal on her face. Jason quickly looked for the nearest escape, but as he looked around to each passageway, another stranger with a stunwand stepped forward to block the exit. They were surrounded. He turned back to Seattle. "I swear. I didn't know anything about this."