[attr="class","manalishilpost"]"
Sir?" Emilio knocked again, but still no answer, "
I'm coming in." The door, unlocked, swung open easily. Doctor X sat quietly at his desk, staring vacantly out the large floor-to-ceiling windows. Emmy approached him cautiously, but he was already used to this, the absence. He set a cup of coffee on his desk and wait. One, two, three, and he stopped counting. He don't want to know how long it took for him to realize he's there. It's the grief and it's only sometimes that he's this out of sorts. Around the rest of the organization, he seemed okay enough. No one else saw it.[break][break]
"
The documents you wanted, sir." He set the folder in front of him, "
And I brought you coffee." He took it and drank, but he still didn't seem fully there, lost still somewhere else. Emilio scowled. The Doctor couldn't go on like this. Not even because the cause would suffer, but because he can't continue to grieve for someone who'd rather him dead. It twisted Emilio's gut. Emilio understood that the job was hard and sacrifices had to be made, but to fall for someone like that? And jeopardize everything for it? He didn't get it, but he knew he hated Nikki for it.[break][break]
He couldn't do much. He was his employee, not his friend, but did Doctor X even have any friends? How long would he spend grieving if no one helped? The wound was surely still fresh and perhaps he would work through it on his own in time, so Emilio decided against trying to suggest anything just yet, but as he began to excuse himself, Doctor X interrupted. "Emilio," Doctor X's eyes turn sharp like they might cut him to the bone, "have you ever killed a man?" And his heart stopped cold in his chest.[break][break]
"Sir," Quiet, slow, he said each word with care and caution, "if you're asking me to kill Nikki— Sir, he'll kill me before I ever get close." Nikki was a highly skilled professional. The number of hits brushed close to one hundred. Emilio didn't come
close to competing with him so where—?[break][break]
"You're absolutely right, he would," And he looked at Emilio with a clarity he hadn't seen in weeks, "but that's not what I'm asking. Have you ever killed someone, Emilio?"[break][break]
"No, sir, I haven't. Bodies are liabilities to spies." Doctor X watched him for a moment and weighed his options one last time, then leaned back in his chair.[break][break]
"Well, maybe it's about time you learned."[break][break]
----
"Steady your breathing."[break][break]
"
I'm trying." This was frustrating.[break][break]
"Take your time. With a bolt action, because the reloading process takes so long, you only have one good chance to hit your targ—" There was a loud crack, muffled by the headphones, and the rifle jumped against his shoulder. Doctor X looked through the binoculars for a few seconds before delivering the verdict: "Congratulations, you hit the target in the neck."[break][break]
"
I was aiming for the head." Emilio pulled away from the scope and rubbed his eyes, "
I'll do better next time." Doctor X didn't immediately respond and instead focused on writing something on his pad of paper. Emilio took the moment to get up and stretch. He'd been laying on the concrete roof of the building for the past two hours and his entire abdomen had tightened up. Stretching hurt, but it was necessary.[break][break]
"Don't worry too much about it." Doctor X put his pen down and looked up at Emilio, "The fact that you hit the target is impressive in and of itself, especially considering you've never used anything larger than a handgun." [break][break]
"
It's more interesting than the math lessons, at least."[break][break]
"You're not done with those yet, either." Emilio groaned and Doctor X laughed, "You're still reviewing pre-algebra. After that it's Algebra I, II, geometry, and then trigonometry."[break][break]
"
Is all of it really necessary to learn how to shoot people from a distance?"[break][break]
"Most of it you need to know to work the functions calculating distance, bullet drop off, angle compensation, et cetera. You ought to know it anyway. It'll get you farther. " He looked down at the rifle and did a cursory visual inspection, "And you'll be working alone. You'll have to do all the math yourself and If you can't do it quick and right, you're dead." Emilio nodded, but it all still felt weird, basically going back to school so long after dropping out. Had they the luxury of time, he might have sought to enroll in community college, but they didn't and so Doctor X and other revolutionists were barreling him through crash courses with no holds barred. "
Let's start again. We'll use the bolt-action for a little longer and then try out the semi-automatic." [break][break]
----
"Did it bruise?" [break][break]
"
I mean, what else would you call it?" Where the butt of the guns met with his shoulder was a massive blooming bruise, "
Is it supposed to do that?" With one hand, he continued to hold up his shirt and with the other he tested the bruise, gauging the amount of pain he felt and how much trouble it might be.[break][break]
"No. You didn't mount it correctly. When you fire, you and the gun are supposed to move as one, so the recoil travels through you. Here, ice." Emilio pulled his shirt back down and took the ice pack, putting it against the bruise. "
If it's not seated right, the gun moves, hits you, and then you move, causing the bruise. We'll work on it some more when it heals."[break][break]
----
Emilio's heart beat in his throat, but his breathing was steady. His palms were damp, but his hands didn't shake. He focused, staring down the scope of his rifle, night vision painting everything green. Doctor X was beside him, pressed down against the roof as he was, intently following the target through his binoculars. And then he could see him in his scope, in his crosshairs, all perfectly lined up. They did some quick adjustments and then came the order: Fire. His hands wouldn't move, though, and he couldn't do anything but stare [break][break]
"Emilio,
fire." He looked back through the binoculars, clicked his tongue in annoyance and set them down and raised his own rifle. A lot went through Emilio's mind in the short seconds it took for Doctor X to line up with the target. The first was that this was important. This man stood in their way and he needed to die. The second was that Nikki wouldn't have hesitated. Nikki would've had this done already. The last was that Doctor X brought his own rifle, so he didn't even fully trust him to be able to do this. Was he wishing for Nikki right now? Was he thinking he wasn't worth the training? The fact that he was disappointing him, the fact that Doctor X didn't even trust him to do it right filled him with a guilt and shame he hadn't felt before and he couldn't deal with it.[break][break]
A gunshot echoed loud through the once still night air and the gun lept violently in his grip. Doctor X lowered his gun and looked at Emilio. "Good job." He said after a second of silence, "Get up, we have to go." But he couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't think. His head, it— He did that. He wanted to throw up and he almost did as he was grabbed by the wrist and dragged to his feet. "
We have to go." He repeated more firmly and Emilio managed a vague nod. His body moved on muscle memory as he packed away the rifle quickly into a briefcase and followed close on the doctor's heels as they fled the scene.[break][break]
"—lio.
Emilio." He jumped, startled from his own thoughts. Doctor X glanced at him, but kept his attention on the road. "Are you okay?" He opened his mouth, but he couldn't think of what to say. His mind ran in circles, the sight of a man's head being torn apart by a high caliber bullet played on loop. He didn't answer because he didn't want to admit that no, he wasn't okay. That was the most horrible thing he'd ever done and he dreaded how he would have to do it again. "It'll get easier."[break][break]
----
"You always have a backup plan." Emilio clasped his hands tightly behind his back as he stared through the windows of Doctor X's office.[break][break]
"Wholeheartedly trusting one plan is how things fall apart. Backups are necessary." The good doctor didn't look up from his paperwork.[break]v
"
Was I always your backup plan for Nikki?" And Doctor X stopped and they stared at each other for too long. Emilio was the first to look away, slowly dragging his eyes back to the window. Grief and regret choked him. Narrowed eyes cut lines across the people below. He turned his head away towards the door at the sound of Doctor X setting his pen down. He didn't want to look at him. Didn't really want to hear his answer.[break][break]
"Emilio, Nikki didn't
have a backup plan. Not really." Emmy still didn't look at him. This was dumb and childish, he knew that, but he'd rationalized it by telling himself he ought to be told to his face that he was a backup plan. The confidence he might've had the beginning quickly vanished once the initial question had left his lips, but now it felt like a knife was being twisted in his gut. This hadn't been how the scene played in his head. "I chose you because I trusted you. I trust you to work as hard as you always have and do what's best for the group. You are no one's replacement."[break][break]
Emilio looked at him sharply. Was he lying? Was he saying it to try to ensure his loyalty? It wasn't necessary. Even if he was just a replacement, he would still give his life for the cause. He ached at his words. Embarrassment? Shame? He wasn't sure, but it felt like a rock in his throat and lead in his gut. "
I have work to do." He couldn't manage above a whisper without his voice breaking, "
Excuse me." He left and if Doctor X called out to him, he didn't hear it. He didn't want to.
