Chapter 180: A Helping Hand

"Tsk, tsk... pathetic, Victor. Look at how low you’ve fallen."Victor Langley slowly raised his head, revealing a face that had grown years older in just a few months.

His face that previously lacked wrinkles was now full of them and his head which only occasionally had a strand of grey hair was now full of it.


His eyes were red and hand bags beneath them, a testament to his lack of sleep in the past few days.

He was currently held in a containment facility, awaiting the next decision by the government.

Victor moved his eyes, expecting to see one of his political opponents here to mock him as they had been doing for the past few days, but was surprised to see a face he didn’t recognize.

"Sir, you’re not supposed to be so close to the prisoner," one of the guards from the facility said as he cautiously approached.

"Is that so?" The man said but continued walking forward till he was right in front of Victor.

"Sir, I’ll need you to step back." The guard said in a firmer tone, his hand moving to the weapon by his side.

But the man didn’t even acknowledge his words this time as he was focused on the pathetic looking Victor.

"This is your last —" but before his words could be completed, a voice interrupted him.

"Stand down."

The guard turned toward the door only to see his superior officer, Captain Reyes, standing there with two other armed personnel behind him.

Reyes’ expression was tense, clearly unsatisfied with whatever was going on, but like the guard, he also had no other choice but to let this man do as he pleased.

"Captain?" the guard asked, confused. "This man, he’s violating protocol—"

"I said stand down," Reyes repeated, his voice leaving no room for argument.

"But sir—"

"That is an order."

The guard hesitated only a moment before slowly lowering his hand from his weapon, stepping aside.

His posture was stiff and his discomfort clear across his face. He didn’t like this at all, but by the looks on his Captain’s face, neither did he.

"Clear the room," the Captain ordered again, "we’ll maintain the perimeter for ten minutes."

The captain turned to the man after his words, only to be face with a small smile from him as he said, "that’ll be more than enough."

With that, the captain and the guards moved out of the room leaving just Victor and the man in it.

Victor had been observing all this while as the man hadn’t said anything but his authority was unmistakable.

Victor had worked with enough powerful people to recognize one simple truth:

Men who could order federal guards around without showing a badge were the truly dangerous ones.

The door shut behind the last guard, the heavy lock sliding into place.

There was a moment of silence between the two before Victor suddenly broke it, "who are you?"

"That’s not important," the man answered with a smile, "for now you can call me the collector, I collect fascinating things and you happen to have had an interaction with one of those things I find fascinating."

"What are you rambling about?" Victor muttered, confused.

"Let’s just say you have bad blood with this particular thing I find fascinating," the man continued before placing a hand under his chin as he thought about it, "though you might not even know it.... Not even when he has completely destroyed you."

His tone sounded as if he was genuinely proud of whatever achievement he was hinting at.

"So what?" Victor said, "are you here to kill me because of this fascinating thing?"

"Kill you," the man chuckld in amusement, "if I wanted to kill you, I’d have done so three months ago when you thought yourself untouchable."

"Now?" The man turned to him, "now, you’re just absolutely pathetic... I’ll find no pleasure in killing you."

The look in the man’s eyes told Victor that it wasn’t a threat, it was a statement of absolute fact.

"So....what do you want with me?" Victor finally asked.

"I’m here to offer you a chance," The man said before looking around, "well, first, let’s get you out of here."

Victor started with a chuckle which then spiraled into a full blown laughter. There was no change in the man’s expression as Victor continued laughing.

The laughter continued for a minute before it stopped as he said,

"Get me out?" Victor scoffed, wiping his eyes. "Do you have any idea where you are? This facility is run directly by the federal government. No private contractor, politician or corporation even knows its location. You can’t bribe our way out of here, no one can."

He leaned a bit forward, his head pressing against the glass that separated him and the man.

"I don’t know how you were able to get in here and get the guards to leave, but let me tell you," he said with a shaking breath, "even if God himself walked in, he would need clearance to get someone out."

Victor expected a change in expression, on the man, but there was none. His face still held a small smile.

"Why are you—" before his words could be completed, the door opened again, revealing the same Captain that had stopped the guard earlier.

He walked in with an even darker look on his face. Whatever happened in just a few minutes outside, was visibly nothing good....well, nothing the Captain was satisfied with anyway.

The captain walked towards the man before handing what seemed to be a paper. With a smile, the man accepted it and slid it in the opening of the glass, towards Victor.

"I don’t know about God, " the man said with a smile, "but I can get you in and out if I want."

With trembling hands, Victor picked the paper up and his pupils immediately shrunk when they beheld what was written on it.

"W-what —"

"As I said," the man leaned back, "I can get you out whenever I want."

Written on the paper was a simple order:

Release Order — Immediate Transfer

Authorization Level: OMEGA-BLACK

Signed: Director Avery Ross

National Security Council

The highest clearance known to exist publicly was Omega-Red.

Omega-Black...was unheard of.

"W-who are you?" Victor asked again.

"This is why people like you are no fun, Victor," the man said, his disappointment evident, "your thoughts are no better than a pebble’s."

"I expected you to at least be smart enough to figure this out," the man continued, "I am beyond what you expect Victor."

***

{Victor seems to have been released,} Athena informed Ethan who was currently in his office, calmly leaning on his chair.

"It was him, wasn’t it?" He asked, already expecting the answer.

{It’s very likely,} Athena said, {all cameras were turned off simultaneously across the entire facility and when they turned back on, Victor had officially been released.}

"I see," Ethan nodded.

The man seemed to be collecting everyone with the least bit of grudge towards him, but for what?

Was he putting together some kind of revenge party? No, that didn’t feel like it.

It felt more like the man was putting pieces on the board, slowly yes, but he was putting pawns on the board before making any type of move.

Ethan, on the other hand, his biggest piece this far was his anymomity. What advantage will the enemy possess if they didn’t know who the opponent they were against was.

But the same could be said for this man.

Ethan didn’t know his identity, and the man didn’t know Ethan’s.

They were two ghosts playing chess in the dark.

Only... this stranger was the only one moving pieces for now. It almost felt like for the first time since his regression, Ethan was staying completely passive.

Or so one would like to think....

{Should we also start gathering pieces?} Athena asked.

"No, not yet," Ethan answered, his tone calm but his eyes far too calm for someone being inactive.

He leaned back slightly in his chair, gaze drifting toward the city skyline outside his office window. Atlanta was peaceful this morning, it was really quiet, almost deceptively so...which was a contrast to the current happenings.

"A game only becomes dangerous when you let someone dictate its pace," Ethan continued. "Right now, he’s moving quickly... he’s probably trying to force my hand, maybe even do something to reveal myself."

{And you don’t intend to respond?}

"Oh, I’ll respond," Ethan said, a faint smile tugging at his lips, "but not in the way he expects."

{And that is?} Athena asked.

He grinned in response to the question, one that looked almost mischievous, "you’ll see."

The game was just beginning, wasn’t it?

He was in no hurry to make a move just yet. Yes, the man seemed dangerous and was an unknown, but he was making one mistake, gathering people Ethan had his eyes on.

"Besides, Napoleon once said," Ethan murmured, "never interrupt your enemy when he’s making a mistake, and I intend not to."