about each other to assume things. Sure, we've talked, but certainly not so much that I should have attempted to determine matters for you.”
Fucking right, you shouldn't.
“And why are you apologizing now? Here?” We'd been doing fine. Why ruin it?
“Because I believe that one should admit when they were in the wrong. And, perhaps it's selfish, but I didn't want it hanging over our heads,” Axton confessed.
That seemed reasonable to me, so I decided to extend an 'olive branch,' as the Earthlings called it. If we were going to explore a more personal relationship, I would have to give. Not something that came very naturally to me, but I didn't want to be the one that caused it all to fail. Failure equals weakness.
“So tell me more about yourself. Why did you come to this sector?”
His head snapped around, his mouth opening and closing so quickly, I wasn't sure I'd even seen it move.
He sighed and sat up, resting on his palms as he stared upwards. “I told you we needed a change of scenery.”
I shook my head. “If you don't wish to answer something, just say so. Don't lie. I know you three had some motive for coming here, and I'm apt to believe you somehow wiggled into the position of watching over me, despite your initial attitude.”
Silence fell between us, and I laid back down when it became apparent that he didn't want to proceed with the question portion of the 'date,' even though he'd brought it up. If he wanted to continue to pretend, he could. Eventually, it would only become a wedge, but that was his choice. At least, until it affected me, but that could be taken care of later.
My eyes had closed, and I lay somewhere between awake and asleep when he finally spoke again.
“Fine. Yes, we came here for a reason. And yes, when I heard that Master Akai needed a personal favor, I saw an opportunity. You would have done the same.” His tone became defensive towards the end.
“I would have,” I said, nodding. “Look, I'm not faulting you for anything. Everything is transactional, remember? I'm not trying to start an argument, either. It's just something I've been wondering about. Call it a curiosity, if you want.”
“Do you recall when I mentioned Bevan?” He glanced over at me, waiting for my answer.
“I do. You found him and reaped his soul.”
A pinch of sharp emotions speared me, and I waited.
“Right. I told you we didn't find who did it, and we didn't. But we discovered a few things that pointed to this sector. Bevan had been looking into something he thought odd. We didn't learn about it at the time. Maybe he didn't think much of it. Maybe he wanted to be certain before bringing it to the rest of us. I don't know. Later, when we finally decided to go through his belongings, we stumbled across a paper with his code scratched on it. A few names, a few dates, a couple of partial questions, more that we couldn't make out, but none of it listed why.” He sucked in a breath and held it until I was sure his chest ached.
I rolled onto my side and covered his hand with my own. The guilt that he exuded nearly suffocated me.
Hoping to ease it a little, I said, “He made a decision that he probably thought was best. We're all just trying to do what we can. Besides, it might not have anything to do with his death.”
“Maybe. But either way, I want to finish what he started. Anyway, we traced a few names to this sector. One of them you know well. Neil Elliot?”
My body jerked up so fast that Axton yanked his arms up as an automatic reaction.
“That's why you wanted to watch me?” A bitter laugh slipped out. “Well, I think you're a little too late for that to work in your favor. I no longer have anything to do with him.”
“I realize that now. We weren't sure in the beginning, though. When we asked around about Neil in our sector, your name was mentioned several times. We found out you were connected to the Master of Masters. So, when the thing with Master Akai came up, it almost seemed like Fate gave us a hand. A connection to both the name on the list and someone that had access to everything? What would you have done?”
“Oh, I would have taken it. This favor, what do you three get