‘A Raven with Blood on its Wings’ // OxO // OPEN

“Something about this makes me not want to believe you.” She took his arm as she walked out the door with him.

"Oh, trust me. It's not anything bad." he chuckles, starting to stroll casually down to the docks.

“Whatever you say…” She sat down at the docks and stared out at the ocean.

"Well, I take that back. . . it is bad, but maybe not in the way you were expecting." he murmurs, still standing.

He watches as the sun drifts down past the horizon, as the stars come out to play.

“Oh? Then what is it?” she asked, looking up at him.

He takes a breath.

"I've been ordered to kill you."

She looked up at him, stunned. “Wait, what?”

"As of today, the government apparantly no longer wants you alive and in custody. You need to get out of the city, tonight." he sighs, sitting down and popping open the bottle of wine.

“But- but you have to come with me. I can’t just leave you…”

He looks over at her, the rising moon highlighting his hair in silver.

"Look, if I disappear with you, they'll know. I'll get my affairs settled, put in notice, go through the whole routine. After all, I did say I wouldn't be killing, but here we are." he murmurs, taking a swig straight from the bottle.

“I won’t see you again, will I?”

"You will. Eventually." he replies, taking another swig of the bottle.

He stands up, looks at the bottle, then throws it on the ground, where it shatters, wine staining the old wood.

The first outburst he'd had in a while.

Afterwords, he stares at the ground.

“Hey, hey. It’ll be okay…” She stood up and gently embraced him. “We’ll be okay.”

He clings to her tightly, not wanting to let her go.

"How can you say that? I'm losing my best, my only, friend in this city."

“We’ll see each other again.” She gently rubbed his back. “I swear.”

"How? When? Where?" he asks, leaning back to stare at Reia.

“I- I don’t know, but I’m sure we will…”

Zeeshan slowly shakes his head.

"I'll go find you, then. . . I can settle my life here, and go find you when that's done. Okay? Go far away from this city, this country. Start a new life, or create a new Resistance. I'll go find you." he says softly.

She let out a sigh and stared down at her feet. “You promise…?”

He tilts her head back up and looks her square in the eyes.

"Promise." he nods.

She gently hugged him, staring out at the ocean.

He hugs her back, her thinner frame fitting easily against his bulkier one.

After a few minutes, he lets her go.

"Go get your suitcases packed. I'll be along later with a car." he says softly.

“Thank you.” She forced a smile. “I’ll see you later then.”

He nods, and disappears quickly.

Later on, she was in her home, busy packing her suitcases.

Zeeshan shows up with an unmarked car; no license plates, no identifying scrapes and no identifying paint job. There wasn't even a brand on it.

He knocks softly at the door.

Reia opened it. It was clear she had been crying. “Oh. Hey.”

He takes a look at her face and gently pulls her into a hug.

"Hey yourself."

She hid her face in his shoulder for a few moments. “I’ll miss you.”

"And I you. . . but we need to focus. Are you done packing yet? If not, I'll help." he replies.