unexpected friends

Faith didn't look in their direction. She was an archangel, and it wouldn't be the first time she'd seen bodies. And she knew her lack of response could give her away, so she looked away, only looking around when the alien came back. She heard him call out to Carl. But he didn't call him Carl. She couldn't be certain given the alien's, Clark's, obvious inability to speak fluent English, but she was positive he'd called Carl Holt. She registered it for later use.

Faith saw Carl's look as she followed the others to safety. She was certain he suspected her of being more than she claimed. Well, if it came to it, she could always say she was police from America or something. After all, one could be good with what to do in a fight while still being a tourist. "I'm fine. It just hurts a lot." Faith answered Carl's question. "Quite a bit more than it did. I'm assuming the adrenaline had something to do with that." She wasn't sure if either Carl or Anne would buy it, though she made sure to banish any of the cold calculation out of her eyes. She didn't bring her smile back, except as a wan thing that mocked her own stupidity. Back home, this wound would truly have been nothing. Here, chances were she'd have a scar, but she could probably get that fixed when she returned home.

Faith spent quite a bit of the ride figuring out how she could unobtrusively get in contact with headquarters for a translator, among a few other things. She wasn't sure it would be possible until the others had gone to sleep. Maybe she should get one for Clark as well, but she wasn't even positive beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was an alien. She made herself focus again, keeping herself as watchful as she could, without being obvious about it.
 
Anne nodded at the man, a place to treat Faith's wounds sounded good enough for her. “Yes I do, thank you for your help, We would have been lost without you,’ she thanked Carl before she stepped into his car, hoping they could indeed trust the man. Yes, he had helped her with her problem but, he had also killed.

Shortly after that Anne sat in the back of the car next to Faith and gave the woman a worried look as she moved closer to her. “Let me help you put pressure on it, that is the least I can do,” she said as she put her hands on the wound and carefully applied a bit of pressure, when the blood still sipped through her fingers she pushed a little harder. To be honest, she had no idea where to put pressure on exactly, she had seen it done so many times in the movies and read about it in books but, pushing on a wound must hurt and she didn't want to cause unnecesary pain by pushing to hard. “Thank you,” she said,"for helping me you, you really didnt had to do that."
 
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Faith glanced over at Anne, grateful the wound wasn't near her weapons. If it had been too low, Anne likely would have felt the hilts of the blades. It hurt, but that was better than bleeding out. "Hey, thanks for helping with pressure. And if I minded helping you out, I wouldn't have gotten involved at all."

Faith sat back and considered all she'd learned, which granted wasn't much. She'd learned that Carl might have given a false name. She'd have to contact headquarters to get all the information on him that she could, but that could wait. She knew now that she really did need a translator, though she'd never be able to explain to Anne how she knew what those around her were saying. And she knew the people following her charge had been payed by someone to stalk Anne. And she wasn't sure she liked how that sounded.
 
Holt held the steering wheel firmy as he drove them to the hotel. There, nobody was going to ask any questions. Not counting the questions he had. Who would want this girl dead? Maybe Miller could help him answer that question.

What was even worse was the fact that he heard nothing from the woman that gave him a contract a few nights before.

Holt pulled out his phone and quickly dialed a number. He pressed the cold phone against his ear as he waited for him to answer.

"Answer damnit..." he mumbled.

A few seconds flew past and he was ready to cancel the call, but a voice shot back from the phone.

"Andrei Miller on the line. Here to make a reservation?"

"Hey it's me, Carl. I'm bringing in guests, just so you know." Holt informed.

"Um... Alright Mr. Carl, would you like to make a reservation?" Miller asked in a redundant manner.

"Oh for the love of - It's me dammit! Your old buddy Carl with his autistic, mute friend." he shot back.

A few more seconds flew past and Miller replied.

"Oh, right. Sorry, caught me off guard there. You said you were bringing guests?"

"Yes, and one of them is 'leaking'. So don't be surprised, and tell your immigrant cleaning ladies to be ready." Holt demanded.

"No problem, you're lucky we don't have many guests." Miller assured.

"Good, thanks by the way."

"No problem." Miller riplied as the line broke.

Holt put his phone away and looked in the mirror. "We'll be there shortly."
 
Anne shortly smiled at Faith before she put all her focus back on the woman’s wound. As she was putting pressure on the wound she heard Holt having a conversation on the phone with someone. “Good,” she replied at the man. Relieved they would be able to leave the car soon. Trying to stop the bleeding in a moving car was far from easy. At least it distracted her from what was happening. From all people, they would pay to stalk her, her the boring girl. In her head, she could nearly hear Fleur joke about the fact that must have fallen asleep.
 
Faith grinned at Anne. "You're doing fine, Anne." She said. Then she mused over what Carl had said. Clearly whoever he'd been talking too on his phone knew him, even if he did have to repeat himself to make whoever it had been realize it. Coded, instead of speaking plainly. However, the pain was making it hard for her to think, and true to her word, now that the adrenaline had worn off, the wound really hurt.

Faith kept as alert as she was able, trying to ignore the pain, rather than acknowledge it hurt. Plus her job was to be on guard, a protector for Anne. Still, it was really hard. She didn't have the upgrades needed to turn down the pain, and being human, that made her job much harder than it needed to be.
 
*****9 minutes later*****

A large skyscraper towered over them like a behemoth. It's glass surface reflecting everithing around it like a mirror. In the hotel's courtyard lay a large metal feather, just as reflective as the reflective tower hanging above it. Holt stared at it's beautiful presence as he drove past it. The tower had 36 floors, each one filled with with luxurious apartments for the inhabitants to enjoy. A perfect mix of modern and old.

Holt drove his car into the large garage beneath the hotel. Once parked, he exited his car ordered everyone to do the same.

"Hurry, so we can get that fixed." he said while casually pointing at Faith's bulletwound.
 
Clark had silently joined the group and he took his place in the front seat next to Holt for the drive to the hotel. Like usual, the man had decided to take charge when they arrived and he was ordering everyone about. The alien watched the one woman carefully. She was not like humans. There was something different about her and he wasn't sure if she would prove to be an ally, or an enemy. She was injured and that was good. It meant there would be time to observe her and study her before he had to make a determination. As for the girl she was mostly harmless from what he had seen and Holt was one that Clark still didn't trust entirely.

Trust, or not he was here. These were the people he knew and there weren't many other options that facilitated his needs in this place. They spoke mostly among themselves and he could listen to them, they fed him, he was clothed, and they provided a place to stay. Slowly the Tannas blinked and he watched the way the injured female moved gingerly toward the elevator. Could her kind use adaptive properties the same as his kind? It was something he was curious about.

Once they were inside the elevator he moved a little closer to the females and decided to try out one of his thoughts. Clark cautiously placed one of his hands on her shoulder and stared deep into her eyes. He maybe couldn't stare at her side without making his intention obvious, but he could watch her face to see if she felt better. Pain was easy to read in the eyes and he waited to see if it faded. If it did then he would need to know what she was. If her body could use adaptive properties and she was not friendly, she would be a powerful enemy.
 
Anne stepped out the car and held her hand out to Faith to help her out the car. Whilst keeping a close eye on the girl she followed the two into the building. Whilst she walked through the hotel she tried her best to keep a neutral expression as possible as she felt some people staring at them. After what seemed like forever they were finally inside of a lift, out of sight.

Inside the lift, she put her hands back onto the wound to put pressure on it. As she was doing so she noticed the strange man coming closer. She was too busy with the wound to really see what the man was doing, likely he was trying to help, she thought.
 
Faith took Anne's hand and let her help her to the elevator as she tried to pretend it didn't hurt. She moved with all the confidence she could muster. It was her job, her duty to keep Anne safe, and she couldn't do that if she let her pain rule her.

In the elevator, Faith tried not to wince as Anne re-applied pressure to her wound. she saw Clark come close, and look into her eyes. The one place you couldn't fake it. You couldn't really hide anything from those who knew where to look. The eyes told all. The pain she was desperately trying not to show outwardly was clear, as was her concern, and her watchfulness. She shifted a little uneasily under Clark's gaze and hoped the others would mistake it as her being in a new place and injured.
 
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"Well, the illegal immigrants working here are going to have fun cleaning this elevator once were done with it." Holt laughed for the first time in a long time. The blood diripping on the red elevator floor was still vissible. Hopefully no one steps on it.

Holt looked on the screen showing the floors they passed. 16, 17, 18,... They stayed on the 27th. Not too far now.
 
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Anne kept applying pressure to the wound as the lift went higher and higher, “At what floor do we need to be?” she asked. She wasn’t done talking or a high pitched pling indicated that they arrived at their floor and the doors slid open. A screen above the door indicated that they were on the 27th floor. Anne looked at Holt to reassure this was the floor they had to leave the lift.
 
They were in the moving box for a period of time and Clark understood that it would not last long. He still wanted to inspect this strange female a little more, but he leaned away from her after a moment. He'd seen what he wanted to with the initial gaze into her eyes. She was in pain and it was more than pain she was hiding. Perhaps she looked like the others, but like him, this was not her natural form. It was likely that she could change herself to look like anyone too, but she was not Tannas. There weren't others that could change like a Tannas that Clark knew of, or read about.

As soon as the elevator dinged he looked toward Holt and waited for the man to do something. He was supposedly in charge, but there was a day that would change. All Clark had to do was learn what he needed to know. Things would change after that.
 
Holt led the group through the crimson hallway to their hotel room. Once they got in, he locked the door behind them. He took off his empty jacket and left it on the coat hanger.

"Alright Faith, let's get that wound looked at." he said as he made his way twards the bathroom.
 
"Yeah, alright. Just give me a couple seconds." Faith called back. She didn't really know what Clark had been looking for, or what he thought he'd found, but she had to make sure her blades were well hidden. The shirt she wore was part of hiding them, and lifting her shirt could expose the hilts. Not something she especially wanted to do.

Faith wasn't sure there was much she could do in the area of hiding them, but she allowed her gaze to wander the room in search of a hiding place. It wasn't possible, not with all of them sharing a room. She hid a resigned sigh and followed Holt into the bathroom. She did not want to explain this.
 
When Carl left the lift she stopped keeping pressure on the wound allowing the woman to walk easier. Anne followed them to the hotel room. “I will come with you don’t worry,” she said as she followed them in the direction of the bathroom. It was clear that the woman was nervous about following the man alone. Something that was logical to Anne, she herself wasn't really keen on staying behind with the other man as well.
 
Faith considered the offer. She really didn't want to leave Anne alone, and understood her reasoning. If not for the simple fact that she didn't want Anne to see her swords, or Carl, or anyone unless she had no other choice, and if not for the fact that she'd been shot, she'd never have entered a bathroom with a man she didn't know. But still..."Thanks, Anne, I appreciate the offer, but I saw the look on your face when you saw all that blood and death. I'll be find for a short period of time. Long enough for Carl to take care of the wound anyway. Besides, you'll be able to hear if anything bad happens in there and vice versa."
 
Holt retreived a Medkit from the cupboard beneath the sink. He opened it to reveal it's contents; penicillin, bandages, bandaids, a surgical sewing needle, sterilized pincers, and tape. Just what he would need to treat a bulletwound. "Alright, i'll need you to take that off." he said, hinting at her shirt. Trying his best not to sound creepy.
Faith didn't even blink. She knew why he needed it. She could have asked him to turn around, but it would have been pointless. She stripped off her shirt, bitterly regretting the blood and the bullet wound. She'd have to get a new one from headquarters. She also hated taking it off. Her sword hilts were exposed for all to see. And someone as competent as Carl would realize they were more than decoration. After all, if she was cosplaying or going to a Rennaisance festival, why bother hiding the blades? But she didn't have a choice. The wound had to be treated or it would only slow her down.
Holt stood there quietly. Remarking what seemed to be some kind of daggers, but he couldn't be sure. He stood firm with a dissapointed expression on his pale face. "Great, just what I needed." He whispered, "Do me a favour and humor me for a second. But could you show me your ears, I just have to be sure." he said in a wary tone. This girl could just have been a cosplayer, and he was hoping it would be true. Why would a girl like her carry those things? He was refusing the possibility, but it couldn't be ignored.

Faith moved the hair covering her slightly pointed ears. They weren't as pointed as an E'artin's ears, but then again, like most Archangels, she was more human than E'artin. The ones who weren't more human were half and half. "Happy?" She asked.

"Are those fake?" Holt questioned. He would know if she was lying. As the old saying went; "Don't bullshit a bullshitter.".

"What do you think?" Faith asked. She was legitimately curious. Not just trying to dodge the question. Most people would assume they were fake. But then again, Carl wasn't most people.

"Answer the question." he said in a serious tone. "And don't try twisting my words."

"I was just curious." Faith said, defensively, "But since lying to you would be rather pointless, no. They're real."

"Just who or what are you. And why the fuck do you carry around those things? He said pointing at the to daggers.

Faith looked at him. "You can't tell Anne." Her voice was low, aware of the room next door, where if she wasn't careful, Anne would hear her. "I know it can't be a secret forever, but I have my reasons for keeping it quiet as long as possible. Do you understand?"

"I am well aware of that. I wasn't my intention to inform the others. So please, go on..." he assured

"My name is Faith Derwan. That's not a lie. I'm here to act as Anne's bodyguard. These swords are my specialty."

A body guard? That was interesting. "Go on." he pressed for more information.

"Basically, I told Anne I'm an American tourist looking for a guide and asked her to help me out. That got me near her without having to stalk her myself. To be fair, it's not entirely a lie. I'm not from this place, or this time. I'm from the future, and before you ask, no, I'm not going to tell you what it's like. I'm part of an organization that travels through time to protect others. My assignment is Anne. And I have every intention of doing that job."

Holt stared at her in disbelief. Not because of what she said, but because she wasn't lying. Was it really possible? It would seem so. He wasn't about to start doubting in his abilities. "Why would you need to protect that girl?"

“It’s my job. You wouldn’t understand, but protecting people in the past is why my group was started. Some have historical significance. Others don’t. I’m not sure which Anne is.”

"Interesting..." he trailed off. "I noticed the way you looked at Clark. I'm guessing you're suspicious of him? Am I correct?"

"Let me put it this way, I've met aliens. Unless they've been to the planet before, they all tend to have the same semi-confused air about them. So, I guess the question really is, am I right?"

"Yes, indeed you are.“ he stated," But for now, we keep this quiet. I might need your help with dealing with him. And no, I don't mean killing him. But i'll give you a full explanation later in private. Now we need to just fix that wound." he exhaled as he opened the white plastic box, "And remember, not a word of this to Anne or Clark. We don't want the alien to be tipped off." he said as he motioned for her to sit on the toilet. "Now let's clean that blood. "

"You got it. Actually, I can contact headquarters while I'm in here. I need to do it anyway. I can get something that will help."

"Before we start. He can't speak any human language, now im not sure if he can understand us or not, but I'd watch what I say around him. He's been listening to the radio for a while now."

"I figured. I'm always careful what I say around him. You never know what someone might understand."

"Indeed... Now the wound."

"Sounds good to me."

several minutes of blood and yelping later

"Thanks, Carl. I mean it. That wound could have seriously slowed me down."

Holt and Faith moved out of the bathroom. "Heh, I didn't help you just to let you die now did I?" Holt chuckled after what seemed like ages, "Now do me a favour and meet me on the balcony in a few, alright?"

"You got it. I just have to report in and ask for some tech from headquarters."

"Just watch your back for eavesdropping."

"You got it."
 
Anne nodded at the woman. As the door close behind the woman she looked around at the strange man she was left behind with. Faith was just behind the door it would be all right she told herself. "What language do you speak?" she asked mainly to distract herself. She got her phone out of her pocket. She had an app she had downloaded to talk with some of the foreign students in their native language. It didn’t work perfectly but, it would at least help to start up a conversation.

Holt and the lady went to a little room together. Now Clark was left with the girl. She was naturally trying to make conversation and he wasn't quite sure what she said, so he went with the greeting he knew. "Hi." Pointing to himself he nodded, "Clark."

"Hey," Anne said as she looked through her apps. There it is, she pushed the little logo of the app and it started up. While it was doing so she pointing at herself "Anne," she said. Her phone made a sound indicating it was ready. "Talk to it," she said nodding at the device. "speak with it" a robotic word answered translating what she just said in dutch.

The girl seemed to be indicating that she wanted him to speak to the little device she was holding. Stepping close the Tannas took the device from her and held it. Staring at the screen he waited for it to start projecting a holographic image. Instead the little multi colored lines kept flashing on the screen with a strange image. After a moment he decided to say something in his own language. That was what she did. "Aeld ghaird fehr hurn." The device kept blinking and he handed it back to her. It didn't seem to work since he had not heard the device say anything back.

Anne was slightly anxious about the strange man taking over her phone. Nervously she waited till the man handed it back. When she looked at the screen, it stated that it couldn't have found the language. Strange, maybe the man hadn't speak clearly. It became that this wouldn't work. She thought deeply and then it came to her and she looked google maps on her phone. She held the phone in front of the man. Firs,t she pointed at her self and then she pointed a the map on the Netherlands. Whils she said slowly, "I came from there." Then she held up her shoulder, pointed a the man and back on the phone, while saying, "Where do you come from?" In the hope he would understand.

This time the girl seemed to be showing him a much more helpful bit of technology. Even if it was a crude sort of hologram it showed what appeared to be a map of the planet. Where she pointed to, he could only guess was where they were currently at. Taking the device from her again he zoomed in and out on the image before he decided to zoom all the way out and turn the little image of the planet around and around. It was actually a very nice looking planet. There was a lot of liquid, but there was also a fair amount of land mass. So far as he had discovered it was a comfortable planet too. Nodding and grinning he handed the phone back to her. That was probably all she wanted from him. She just wanted to show him the planet and that was quite nice of her.

Anne waited patiently as the man scrolled trough the map. It worked she thought, he is looking for the place he came from. As the man handed it back to her she sighed and put her phone away. For some reason the man didn't wanted to tell where he came from. Exhaused she sat down on the ground not wanting to make the chair dirty with faiths blood she was still covered in. She stil couldn't wrap her head around what happened today. This afternoon she was getting ready to home, and now she was sitting in a hotelroom of a stranger after a shooting. Something she defently never thought would happend to her.

For the time it seemed that the girl was going to be done trying to communicate. Clark wished he knew what she had said because he could tell she looked disappointed. Perhaps he had misinterpreted what she meant? He had to comfort himself with the fact that soon he would understand more. It should only be a few weeks and he was here just a couple of days so far. With a sigh he sat down on the chair and stared at the girl for a few seconds before looking toward the bathroom door again.

Anne looked at the man sitting down at the chair. It didn't seem like he was doing any attempt of having a conversation. Anne was out of ideas to try to get some sort of conversation. So, all there was to do was sitting and waiting for the others to be done. Anne sat there silent watching at the door listening to the voices behind it. She couldn't understand what they were saying, but, if something bad happend she would defently be able to sense hopefully.
 
Faith waited until Carl had left, then brought out the one device she actually had on her. It wouldn't stop people from eavesdropping through the door, but it would stop any listening devices. She kept her voice quiet to prevent anything that could be heard through the doors and walls indistinct as she activated her com. "Headquarters, this is Archangel Faith Derwan, reporting in."

"Go ahead Archangel Derwan, " said a voice over her comm.

"I could use some translation devices, three or four should do. If I need to give them out for the duration of my trip, I'll make sure to get them back before I leave."

"Received. Anything else?"

"Yeah, tell me anything you can about a 'Carl.' He may also go by the name of 'Holt.' He helped us out of a jam, but I need to know just who he is, and if he wants anything."

"You got it. Just keep in mind if he's not one of those that affected history significantly, we may not be able to find anything."

"I understand, I'll see what I can find out on my end and keep you updated. Also, be aware, I have an alien on the planet. That's one of the reasons I need a translator, he doesn't speak any language I recognize."

"That's not terribly surprising, after all, we've only officially met three or four separate races and most of them either have translators all their own or speak standard English. Anyway, here are your translators. Remember to only give them out if you need to."

"Yes sir. I will." Faith took the little devices and placed three of them in a hidden pocket. She stuck the fourth under her shirt, and turned it on. It might take a while to translate Clark's language, but eventually, it would do so. It would also eventually translate her words to Clark. This should be interesting. "Archangel Derwan signing out." She ended the call and went to join Carl. This was turning out to be a very interesting mission indeed.
 
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