Going Camping, Part II

Posted on Tue Aug 29th, 2023 @ 12:42pm by First Lieutenant Bethany Harrison & Private Mattias Tonelly & General Dyami Bentley (Tribal : Bent Leaf)

Mission: HYDRA: Another Head Rises
Location: Shaman's Cabin
Timeline: Present Day

Bethany had been quiet ever since the interview with the girls, and it had been a brooding one. Her professional face had remained well intact in front of the younger girls, but once that ended, that facade fell and she had separated herself from them for a time, and had been waiting at the car for them when they were finished with their burgers and shakes.

It wasn’t that she was trying to be rude, her mind was occupied elsewhere, and she only seemed to vaguely pull out of that when they arrived at the small lake on Dyami’s ranch, far away from anyone else. She absently set to work getting the fire going and handling other mundane tasks that were necessary to make the shaman’s cabin livable after the long absence. Then she sat down on a log near the fire, staring into it, holding her hand up to sap some of the light from the blazing flames as the sun’s dying rays glittered on the gently lapping waters.

After unloading the car and getting Mattias settled into a room with the instructions to get some sleep as they had a very long day ahead of them tomorrow, Dyami approached the fireside and took a seat on one of the time-worn logs near to Beth. “You have been quieter than usual, want to talk?”

“What’s there to talk about?” Bethany asked quietly, giving a slight shrug. “I do know that there are more pressing things I should be dealing with, rather than being here. Just because I’m miserable, doesn’t mean the bad guys are taking a break.”

Dyami sighed, “Trust me daughter I understand the loss you are suffering and the pain of grief, I have been on this path for over a hundred years. I still remember every loss that I have suffered, vividly.” Dyami picked up one of the fire prods and poke it into the fire, raising a shower of sparks to dance in the cool night air. “I know the need to do something, anything to distract your mind from your thoughts. But you need this time, here in these woods, to be able to center yourself. Lest your grief and need for vengeance cost you your life.”

“I risk my life every time I go out into public. Hell, I lost most of the people that meant the most to me at my own secret wedding on a private island,” the young woman responded, her tone saddening. “Losing Jon is killing me as it is, but the others...” her voice trailed off. Most of the men in the world that had earned her trust had died that day. She had lost her entire team in just a few minutes, on what was supposed to be one of the happiest days of her life. “And if I die trying to take HYDRA down, so be it.”

Dyami stared at the fire for a few moments before answering in a serious tone. “How do you think this will play out? Will you fight through Hydra’s forces by yourself? Struggle and somehow miraculously win every time until you finally take the life of whoever it is that is in charge of the whole organization and only then die a noble death? Or do you think that at some point you will make a mistake and die fighting before actually reaching your goal.”

Dyami turned to the young woman, “You know me Daughter, better than most. I am not telling you to not fight this fight. I have been fighting this same battle for over a hundred and fifty years, I need you in this for the long fight. I do not need you to burn out before the end. I want you to exact your righteous vengeance. All I ask is that you spend some time here and ground yourself, go into each fight with your head screwed on straight so that you do not end up dying before you reach your goal.”

“I’m not stupid enough to think I can take them all down myself,” Bethany answered, still drawing small bits of light from the flame as the sun disappeared beyond the horizon. “But sitting here, meditating on my own problems, only means that more people are suffering at their hands, and I can’t justify that. I can take down these cults. Barely trained, using drugs and physical violence to maintain control over their innocent victims. I may not be able to take one of their heads, but I can start carving out their heart.”

The Indian man smiled, “Yes, you are right, but there is suffering and torture and death all over the world. You can only solve one problem at a time my daughter. And the biggest problem I see you facing at this moment is the one that can only be fought with peace, quiet and meditation. You have done this before, when we first met, and there will be more for you to do this time. You will help me train Mattias, starting with introducing him to Talon, which I know you are going to take at least some joy in.” He playfully poked her in the side with the now cold fireprod while laughing quietly.

“I can’t solve all of the world’s problems,” the young light-bearer said, nodding a bit, not even wincing at the poker prod, not being overly ticklish. “But I’m not trying to. These cults are the very bottom of that chain. I know cults. The avarice, the arrogance. Their weaknesses.”

She sighed heavily and stretched, then looked over at Dyami. “Not so sure you can call it joy. I mean, it will be kind of humorous in the long run, but,” Bethany said, shuddering a bit. Talon still gave her the willies, even after all of her years of working with him.

Dyami put on a faux shocked look. “Oh, come on! You know you love the other me!” He exclaimed.

Laughing he continued, “Just give it some time, I am not asking for you to sit on the sideline forever, I will greenlight you and a few others to take out this cult soon. I want them taken out as much as you do.”

“I love to burn and beat the other you up,” Bethany muttered, a hint of playful sarcasm in her tone. Then she sighed and shook her head. “I don’t want another team. I’m just a curse when it comes to working with others. I’m a target and I don’t want to paint a bullseye on anyone else.”

“I can understand what you are saying but you will need backup if nothing else. Just some troops to cover your back, delay reinforcements, and hold the ground you take, if that becomes a problem. I will be arranging for a full strike against them. I will leave the command of it to you though. Does that sound fair?” the blue-eyed Indian offered.

“I don’t trust those people, and I’ve never wanted command,” Bethany said, her face growing pale as she looked over at Dyami sharply. “You know that. And you know why.” There was an edge of terror in her voice that she quickly choked down. She had never gotten past the fact that the Preacher had intended to put her in charge of a terrorist cell. “Jon was our leader and I trusted him. I’m just a soldier. I fight. That’s it.”

“You also underestimate yourself. You have the ability to do both. Leading from the front line is the best way to inspire people to follow you.” Dyami looked at the young woman sympathetically, “I understand that you have reservations but what better way to spite," the man made air quotes, and continued, “he who shall not be named, than to turn his plan on its head and be a leader for those that oppose everything he stood for.”

Dyami looked expectantly at the young woman hoping that she would see the path he was laying before, believing in his heart that if she could just accept the logic, that she had the potential to be one of the greatest leaders he had ever seen.

“People will do stupid things for their leaders, even becoming fanatical enough to be a threat to the team,” Bethany answered, shaking her head. “Besides, I really don’t like the idea of ordering people to kill others, or ordering them off to their deaths.”

Dyami shook his head but didn’t seem upset. “One day maybe I will get through to you, you have so much untapped potential. But that is a discussion for another day. Now we need to get some sleep. We have a show to put on for our young friend tomorrow night. What would you say to a sparring match for him, leading into our night time endeavors?” Dyami held one hand over his heart and another in the air, with a twinkle of mischief in his eye he added, “Do not worry I will go easy on you.”

“I know better than that, Old Man,” Bethany said, giving a bit of a dark chuckle. Sure, he had never actually killed her, but that was likely only because he healed her quickly enough to keep her alive.

The long haired Indian smiled a wry smile. “I go easy like you go easy. Or is it the other way around?“ he rubbed his chin with one hand as if pondering a dark mystery of the universe. “Eh, either way, we can put on a good show, then at the end, I will release Talon for the scare, just remember not to lose it on me too badly.”

Bethany rolled her eyes. “I haven’t truly lost it on Talon like that since the first time you pulled that stunt on me. I mean, yeah, Talon still gives me the creeps, but it’s not the same. I am a little worried about giving Matty a heart attack. Or pushing him into his meta-form. He doesn’t seem overly bright when that happens.”

“Well if it does I will just put him to sleep, assuming of course that is possible since we do not know much about his meta-form.” Dyami thought about it for a moment. Waving his hand he dismissed his doubts. “Either way it will be fine. And if he has a heart attack I will heal him. No blood, no foul right?”

“That form is...” Bethany paused as though searching for the right words, without being overly critical. “He’s insanely strong and seems a bit, I don’t know, dim. He acts without thought. He did seem to be able to understand me, though he spoke and reasoned like a gigantic toddler.” She sighed a bit heavily, shaking her head sadly, as she continued, “I mean, I get it. He awakened in a bad place. I tried to keep him from killing people, but he just ran on doing whatever popped into his head first. Which is the reason I wound up with crushed ribs.”

“Did he seem maliciously violent?” The Indian man questioned. “Or did it seem to be in response to danger?”

The young woman looked up to the sky for a long moment, then shook her head. “It wasn’t malevolent. I think he thought they were going to kill me. His behavior was thoughtless and childlike, but I think he was trying to protect me.”

TBC

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Bethany Harrison
Fractal
Mutant Underground

Mattias Tonelly
(Recruit)
Mutant Underground

General Dyami Bentley
Talon
Mutant Underground