Chapter 7 of The Edge of the World
Perma-note: Dames’ name is Dexter in this series. I’d already named him before Book 2 came out so I’m keeping it that way here 😀
A/N: This chapter, we’re finally gonna take a breather from the action-packed insanity that was the last three chapters! This here is mostly filler to set the stage for what comes next. It also features some borrowed dialogue from canon. Hope you enjoy it!
The song lyrics at the end are from Within Temptation’s song Where is the Edge
Summary: Left behind, Sloane and the rest of the gang have regrouped and learned what happened to their friends. What will their next move be?
Meanwhile, as Dexter reflects on earlier events, he begins to grapple with feelings he can’t seem to place. And Harley has his own perspective on the matter . . .
Disclaimer: Characters/canon belong to Pixelberry
Dexter winced, rubbing his temple. His head had been pounding ever since they’d left the forest, which was strange because he’d never hit himself there. He’d certainly taken quite a few punches from Damien and Alana, but their strength paled in comparison to his. On the other hand, the things they said were throwing him for a loop; messing with his ability to focus because of the word choice. Images would flash in front of him for a few seconds only to disappear before he could make sense of it.
One particular moment stood out to him.
“Where’s Maya?!”
“The hell does it matter to you?” Dexter fired back.
Damien looked him dead in the eyes. “Everything.”
‘Everything.’ Why couldn’t he stop fixating on that word?
Dexter took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he focused on the image that would occasionally blur his thoughts; the voices and images were vague and no matter how many timed he analyzed the surroundings, nothing was coming back to him.
This is a memory. His lips curved into a bitter frown. And I’m ready to bet it isn’t even mine. Yet somehow it was. He could feel everything in that scene like it was happening to him, though it was more like watching through a looking glass.
He leaned his head back against the wall and let out a sigh, barely concealing his irritation as he tried forcing these thoughts to the back of his mind.
Dexter knew his purpose; what he’d been programmed to do. He’d followed Cecile’s instructions to the letter; navigating through the Louvre and catching up to Damien’s friends while said detective was being ambushed. They’d bought the act, so the role had been easy enough to play.
At least until the one glaringly obvious flaw that set him apart from Damien came back to bite him in the ass. If only he’d known . . .
Dexter stole a glance to the back of the van where Maya was sitting with Damien and Alana. She was leaning on Damien’s shoulder while he whispered to her. Alana occasionally interjected as they engaged in a tense conversation in hushed voices, aware that they were being watched.
“Any idea where they’re taking us?” Alana whispered.
“Cecile sent Sloane an address,” Damien said. “She wanted to trade you two for Hayden and Steve.”
“Like hell she’s gonna honor that deal.”
“That’s so typical of her,” Maya snapped. “She sees humans and matches as objects to be played with. All for the so-called ‘advancements in science’. That selfish-”
She was interrupted by the sound of Dexter clearing his throat loudly. She shot him a withering glare that she knew he could see, but he didn’t respond, instead keeping his gaze trained ahead. He straightened in his seat, his movement deliberate enough to convey his warning.
Frowning, Maya lowered her voice and leaned closer to Damien to continue their conversation. “He showed up with Alana minutes after you left. You’re saying that in that time . . .?”
“I was ambushed.” Damien nodded. “They were waiting to separate me from everyone so they could lure you away.”
She shook her head in disbelief. “I . . . I had no idea then. You were just going to the gift shop and he came out so soon. If I’d suspected anything . . .”
“It’s not your fault.” Damien said sadly. “I saw him, fought him. I know how realistic these clones are. I don’t blame you at all.”
“I was so worried that something happened to you. I didn’t know where you were and Harley tried to make me think you were-”
“Hey. Don’t worry about me,” He emphasized. “I’m not going anywhere. We’ll get through this.” He looked to Alana and she met his gaze with a fierce nod. “All of us. And I swear to god, if he hurts you again . . .”
Dexter’s eye twitched. The restrained anger in Damien’s tone was setting him off again . . . as if he could relate to it. Another image flashed in front of him. This one was not so clear but he did catch a brief glimpse of a familiar man. The man called Father. What the hell is going on with me?!
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again,” Damien said firmly. “I’m not letting them-”
“As touching as this little scene is,” Dexter cut in sharply. “Knock it off. If I wanted to see a soap opera, I’d go to an actual theater.” His brows were furrowed in annoyance.
“If it’s so touching, why do you have a problem?” Maya snapped.
“It was touching five minutes ago, when you were doing that cheesy holding your bound hands together behind your backs or whatever.” He grumbled, earning a chuckle from Alana. “Now it’s just pathetic.”
“Perhaps we may agree on something after all,” Alana said dryly, ignoring Damien when he rolled his eyes. “Any chance I could get in on the show when we reach the location?”
“Not where you’re going,” Harley chimed in from where he was sitting up front. “This place is a little too . . . understated for what you have in mind. You’ll see when we get there! Won’t they, Dexter?” His grin faded when he noticed his accomplice staring straight ahead with a troubled frown on his face. “Dexter?” He spoke a little more loudly to get his attention.
“Hmm?” Dexter snapped out of whatever he’d been thinking about and quickly nodded. “Yes, of course,” he said absentmindedly before continuing to look out the window. “Everything will come together soon.”
——————————-
Later that day…
A communicating device. That was all that was left on the ground when everyone reached the clearing. The grass was flattened and uneven, long tracks embedded in the mud patches; clear signs that a chaotic fight had taken place here.
The only sounds that could be heard now was Nadia crying. “They took them . . .” Her voice was wavering as she sniffled. “And Maya . . . I didn’t even get to see-”
“I know,” Steve was rubbing her back gently as he soothed her. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll find them.”
Hayden was leaning against a tree, his hands clenching and unclenching into fists. If he wasn’t frustrated before, he was now. Not only had they failed to find Maya, they’d lost Alana just as quickly as they found her. And now Damien had been captured too. No matter what they did, it always seemed like Eros was two steps ahead of them
Sloane was tinkering with the device, trying to locate the signal of whoever had last sent a transmission. Static buzzed through the speaker for a few minutes, until she finally sighed and put it down. Her shoulders were slumped as she looked up at him. “I can’t find anything. They must’ve cut off communication after leaving.”
“What about history of the last few transmissions?” Steve asked. “At least that could tell us where they-”
“I think we already know where they’re going.”
Another uncomfortable silence overtook them; each second that passed was like adding more to the burden already weighing them down. When they all looked to each other, their expressions said the same thing – the next and only option that they had left, through the prospect of it was still unacceptable.
When no one spoke, Steve finally cleared his throat before volunteering. “I really hate to say this, but . . . I think that our only choice here might be to go to the location.”
“What?!” Nadia stepped back, completely appalled. “Steve are you serious?! You know what’ll happen if we go there!”
“Of course I do,” he argued back. “But these guys are way more dangerous than what we encountered back in the Arctic facility. I can’t let that happen again!”
“But-”
Steve took her face in his hands. “Nadia I love you, but I won’t be able to live happily, knowing that it came at the cost of your cousin’s life, and your best friend! If turning myself in will keep them safe, I’m willing to do it.”
“B-but I . . . no . . .” Nadia’s eyes brimmed with tears again and she began to shake her head. “We have to find another way!”
“Steve, do you honestly think they would be okay with that?” Sloane cut in, frowning. “Maya risked everything to get you and Hayden out of that place. Even Damien stayed back to fight for both of you, when not too long ago, he didn’t even trust you. In spite of all that, you’re just gonna walk right back into Eros’ grasp? Absolutely not!”
Hayden was watching her morosely. “Sloane-”
“No don’t you ‘Sloane’ me, Hayden Young! I gave up everything to protect you!” She stood, raising her voice as she faced her friends. “Because I wanted to save the Matches from the company that treats them like objects instead of people-”
“And that also happens to be treating people like objects!” Hayden argued. “Where does it end, Sloane? I’m not letting them suffer just so I can live based off a past that wasn’t mine to begin with!” The words were barely out of his mouth as Sloane’s face fell. “Wait . . . I didn’t mean that, I’m sorry.”
She took a deep breath, biting her lip and glancing at the device next to her. When she looked back at him, there was regret in his eyes that reflected in her own. “You know I don’t want them to be hurt either.” her voice was reduced to a broken whisper as she struggled to hold back her tears.
“I know that Sloane,” he said softly.
“And I also don’t want you to be hurt. There’s a reason they’re going to such great lengths to get you and Steve back.”
Hayden nodded in agreement, remembering the information Rowan had let slip to Maya. “They want to study us and use their findings to improve a fresh batch of robots with questionable priorities.”
“We can’t let that happen,” Nadia fumed. “But what do we do now? They’re probably already near the location!”
“I’ll tell you what we won’t do. Even if they are planning to give them back to us, we’re not trading one life for another.” Before Sloane could go further, her cellphone chimed again, showing a notification from ‘Unknown’.
Nadia crossed her arms, glaring daggers at the phone. “Oh, look who’s up.”
Shaking her head, Sloane opened the message to find a pre-recorded video. Everyone watched with bated breaths as she opened the attachment.
Distantly, they could make out what looked like a loading dock of some sort; several cargo containers were lined up along the area. The footage focused on a black van that had just pulled up. The doors opened and there were vague sounds of a woman shouting. Then the guards finally appeared on screen again as they stepped from around the van, forcing Alana along with them. Her body language was rigid, but she remained stoic as she was brought to an open concrete field in the center.
Hayden’s brows furrowed when he focused more on something else. “Are you guys seeing this?” He pointed at a certain person on the video.
Maya stepped out of the van and was guided forward by who they could only assume was Dexter. She was resisting and tugging herself back as she looked for Damien, who was being hauled more forcefully by Harley.
Frowning, an increasingly impatient Dexter took Maya’s elbows and began pulling her further along until they reached the field where Alana sat.
“Is it just me or is he being . . . gentle with her?”
Unlike Harley and the guards who’d carelessly shoved Damien and Alana to the ground, Dexter had moved his hands to Maya’s shoulders and was applying pressure, slowly pushing her down. “I suggest you cooperate,” He said evenly. Maya was looking at him warily, then at Damien, before she gave a rigid nod and got down on her knees.
“Sure as hell wasn’t what I saw back at the museum.”
A hand appeared in front of the camera, perfectly manicured fingers waving at her newest captives, who merely responded with scathing glares of their own. Then Cecile stepped around the camera, allowing them to see her face.
“Good evening, Sloane,” She greeted her sweetly. “Just wanted to give you an update. Look who decided to tag along for the ride . . .” She gestured to Damien, whose angry gaze was still trained on Harley.
Then the camera zoomed in on Maya, as if to proudly display her bruised jaw and dirtied clothes.
“Pity that this has to be dragged out for so long.” Cecile said unsympathetically as she sauntered over to them. “Frankly, I’m sure my guards are quite tired of chasing you across the globe.” She was pacing back and forth until she eventually stopped in front of one of them. “I, on the other hand, am glad that I finally get to do this.” She suddenly rounded on Alana, who was fumbling with her bonds, and backhanded her hard enough to knock her off balance.
Damien was watching, infuriated, as Alana’s jaw smacked against the pavement. Only Harley’s strong grip on his shoulder was holding him in place, keeping him from retaliating. Alana’s face showed no reaction as she moved to sit back up.
Alana shrugged her shoulders, whipping her hair back, and then let out a low chuckle. “Cute.”
The video suddenly panned back to Cecile’s face as she stood next to Maya. “See you soon, Sloane. Tell Nadia I said hi.” Then the screen went black.
By the time the video ended, Sloane was gripping the phone so tightly that she had to remind herself to move her thumb to actually close the video.
“You were right, they have them now!” Nadia was seething. “When we bust in there, that corporate witch is mine!” At Steve’s surprised look, she stood tall, wiping her tears. “That’s right, they can shove their stupid deal! We’re taking the fight to them.”
“And this time, we need a plan,” Sloane said. “Eros isn’t getting their hands on any of us again!”
“I’m guessing you mean that we’re going to have to slip in undetected,” Steve said. “There’s guards everywhere on that loading dock. We’ll need disguises.”
“Probably like the guards,” Sloane affirmed. “Steve’s right. Question is, how do we get them?”
Everyone went silent for a few minutes, ruminating on the different courses of action, until Hayden finally spoke up. “I could do it.”
“What? How?”
“Because of Harley.” When Sloane didn’t respond, Hayden elaborated. “Think about it, Sloane. Eros found a way to infiltrate us by using a clone of Damien-”
“So we can take a page out of their book!” Nadia exclaimed. “Hayden, you’re a genius!”
“I see what you’re saying, Hayden.” Sloane shifted uncomfortably. “But sending you in there alone could be risky.”
“They already see us as the weak members of the group,” Hayden said. “With Damien and Alana missing, our planning experts are gone and with Maya missing, there’s no one left to rally us together; at least according to Eros. I’m telling you, they’re gonna be expecting us to give in easily since we’re desperate enough to get them back. They won’t be anticipating this at all.”
Sloane thought on it some more. It was a risky plan one way or another. No one ever said that venturing into enemy territory was going to be easy. But on the other hand, no one standing here knew Cecile’s ethics better than her – that she was going to make her move, regardless of what they chose. At least this way, there was some chance of all of them making it out . . . perhaps while doing a little well-deserved damage to Eros.
And with that, a slow smirk spread across Sloane’s face. “All right,” she declared. “Eros likes robot switches? That’s exactly what they’re gonna get.”
“And thanks to Cecile, we know exactly where they are,” Nadia added. “Their little plan is about to get some imminent danger!” Then she paused. “Wait, that came out wrong! I meant-”
“We know what you meant, Nadia,” Hayden’s brightened smile radiated his optimism through the rest of the group as they all stood tall, resolute. “Ready to make Eros’ plans backfire spectacularly?”
“Let’s get our friends back.”
——————————-
Sometime earlier . . .
As they neared the location, the guards had stopped to refuel the van, several of them staying inside to watch their prisoners closely. Dexter was still lost in thought when he stepped out, mulling over the unexpected turn of events today.
The plan had been to slip out of the museum with Maya under the pretext of having a private moment, only to hand her off to Harley. She would’ve easily fallen for it, given her attachment to Damien; just as Cecile had told him. For obvious reasons, his personality was not flawless enough to deceive Maya forever, but it was enough to lead the others into a trap in their desperation to rescue her; not knowing that Damien was missing and that they were trusting a Match wearing his face.
But before he’d been able to execute the plan, Maya had put him on the spot with that damn painting. Then he’d received a message that Damien had escaped and was on his way to warn the group. Luckily, Maya had been too busy reeling from her new discovery to notice Dexter responding to the change of plans. He’d exploited that panic to remove her from the area and get to the parking lot where Harley was waiting. Despite the minor hiccup in their plans, everything seemed to fall into place and the plan was in motion.
Only it wasn’t so simple anymore.
Initially, he’d had no problem carrying everything out; except for when Damien’s personality would kick in at the worst possible moments. When Maya first fought him, he’d restrained her with ease. But later, seeing the bruises he’d left on her had stirred something in him he couldn’t quite place. That feeling had grown stronger after Harley had roughed her up.
She wasn’t supposed to be harmed.
The thought of his accomplice made him look up, only to find Harley watching him curiously from where he’d appeared. “Something on your mind?” Dexter asked.
“So that was a pretty interesting stunt you pulled.” When Dexter looked at him questioningly, Harley elaborated. “Back at the forest.”
Dexter rolled his eyes, knowing exactly what he was referring to. “The group had caught up to us,” He said plainly. “I was trying to keep us moving and your little power trip put us both at risk.”
“Oh please,” Harley let out a scoff, shaking his head accusingly. “You undermined me right in front of them!”
“Like I said-”
“I hope you have a better explanation than that for defying Father,” he snapped.
Dexter’s temper flared at those words. “Oh sure, I’m defying him by trying to make sure she’s brought to him in one piece, which by the way, was his order.” When Harley rolled his eyes, he pressed further. “Don’t think that I didn’t know what you meant by her ‘not taking your warning seriously’.”
“And your point is?”
“Our orders are just to bring Maya to him alive, not to beat her up! This wasn’t part of the plan!”
“Oh you wanna talk about things going according to plan?” Harley challenged. “How about the fact that we were originally supposed to bring her and Damien? But somehow we ended up with his crazy ex too.”
“You’re blaming me for that?” Dexter demanded. “I did my part taking his place! It’s not my fault those idiot guards couldn’t take him down! And if anyone’s screwing with the plan,” He stepped forward, jabbing a finger in Harley’s direction. “It’s the one who’s too busy playing mind games rather than actually doing his job!”
“Watch yourself, Dexter.” Harley snarled, pointing right back at him. “I can kill you just as easily as I could kill him.”
“Is that a threat?” He stepped forward menacingly.
“You better believe it.” He spoke through clenched teeth. “I’d break every bone in his body if I could. You think his lookalike matters anything to me?”
“Is that supposed to scare me? I don’t give a damn what you do to him.”
Harley was silent for a moment. Then he tilted his head to the side, crossing his arms as he studied his partner’s face skeptically. “Somehow, I’m not convinced of your sincerity.”
“You’re the one with the ‘sincere’ protocol, not me.”
“I meant towards this mission,” Harley leaned forward, softening his expression just a little. “Look, you share Damien’s personality. I can understand some level of conflict-”
“I’m not conflicted-”
“But it’s not yours to feel.” Harley stared at him for a few more seconds. “Remind me, what was the direct command we were given?”
“Capture Maya.”
“And?”
“Bring her to the location and interrogate Damien.”
“Then lure the rest of the group . . .?”
“And occupy them until the boat arrives.” Dexter remained silent for a moment, then looked up to find Harley watching him questioningly. “I know the plan.”
“What we’re doing here is important, Dexter. Father’s vision for a new world is at stake and they are getting in the way.” Harley pointed towards their captives, disgust written plainly on his face. “Of the whole lot, those three are by far, the most dangerous. You’ve seen it.” He jabbed a finger at Dexter’s chest, directly over his heart. “And you’re feeling it now too.”
Dexter slapped his hand away crossly. “My hardware is doing just fine, thank you. It’ll take more than a syringe and a couple fistfights to weaken me.”
“That’s not what I was referring to.” Harley stared at him for what felt like hours, then turned to walk back to the van as the guards climbed back inside. “Your assigned personality is crucial to our plans. If there’s anything-”
“I said I’m fine.”
“If you say so. Just remember what I said. Father won’t tolerate insubordination.”
“And I also know that he won’t tolerate failure.” Dexter replied curtly, narrowing his eyes. “So don’t touch her again. I do not want a repeat of what happened in the forest.”
Harley merely rolled his eyes and continued forward, muttering a reply that his partner never heard . . .
Because as soon as the words were out of his mouth, Dexter saw Maya again, decked in an elegant purple gown. They were standing at a forest trail that looked much different than where they’d just been. The sight of it was more . . . tranquil. She was gazing at him with wide eyes, projecting an innocence that felt familiar to him. Then he’d heard a voice that sounded like his own:
“You’re . . . you’re everything, Maya.”
What the hell was that supposed to mean?!
In the shadow awakes a desire,
Which you know that you can’t realize
And the pressure will just keep on rising
Now the heat is on . . .