Meeting Gabriel (1) – Maritsu and Gabriel POV (1)
What would make this young man risk his future? A future which looked very bright to all accounts. After all, he had been a rising star in the army all these years. What would make him risk this future, and what seemed to be the reason he showed disappointment? The despair was easy to understand, by breaking into his office and being discovered he had just ruined his future. Seeing disappointment however was very weird given the current situation.
Were there maybe reasons for him being here? An explanation for his actions, of which Gabriel wasn't aware. Which would explain the choices of the young man, who still stood frozen at the very desk where he had stood when he walked in? Showing no intention to attack or any maliciousness towards the person who discovered him. Which meant he had no ill will against him. However, how could there not be any ill will if he could just end the future the young man took so much effort to build with a snap of his fingers?
What had driven the young man to be here? That is what Gabriel wanted to know. All these questions flashed through Gabriel's mind in an instant. Then and there, Gabriel decided he would give this young superstar a chance to explain himself. Usually he wouldn't do so, but this young man had worked hard, at the risk of his own life, to keep his comrades saved. He deserved a chance to explain, and only after listening to his explanation he would decide what the right course of action was in this instance. So, Gabriel took a deep breath and said: "Follow me and don't come up with any bad ideas. Just follow me honestly."
- Maritsu POV-
Maritsu stood there, frozen to the spot. "What now, he thought? Will I be unable to get justice for my brother? He looked up and saw a kind older man standing in front of him. It was a man who he had never spoken to and didn't recognize. Well shit, he thought, guess it's over." Despair came over him, but what was even bigger than the despair was the disappointment he felt with himself. "It was such an easy thing to do, sneak in, do a quick search and sneak out. I got careless; how could I have messed up something so easy?" The reason for his big disappointment however was that he would have to let his brother down. He would have to go to jail for the foreseeable future, and doing hard time wasn't that scared him. What made him really regretful was the fact that he would lose the position in the armed forces he worked so hard for to get revenge or justice from his brother.
Even though by now his soul had been colored in the righteous colors of his motherland and their armed forces. He never forgot his original intention. The reason why he joined the armed forces could never be put aside. No matter how much he came to love his comrades in arms, the comradery, his motherland and the job itself. It would all have to make way for his original intention. That's why he took the risk to commit the crime of breaking and entering a superior's office. Even though he was fully aware of the risk he was taking.
He quickly considered if he should knock out the man who stood between him and freedom. He couldn't make himself do it, however. Not only that, but he had promised himself that no matter where the investigation led, he would never involve the innocent's, simply because every person on the planet was important to someone out there. Furthermore, he didn't want to be the one to take that away without very good reason. If the person standing between him and the doorway caused his brother's death, he might not have the same scrupulous as he did now. The truth, however, was, that he didn't recognize the person who stood in the doorway. Which meant that he never came up in his investigations. He was very certain of this, simply because he would recognize all the people who came up as suspicious during his search for the truth in a heartbeat.
Therefore, he calmed himself internally and just stood stock-still. Not intending to make a move and just let, whatever happened to him happen next. He wouldn't cross that bottom-line. He would never know that by not showing maliciousness and being this calm, he got a chance he had never expected. The person who blocked his way towards freedom was after all a trained special forces soldier. Worse yet, a sniper. They had amazing instincts, sight, and an ability to assess the situation as no other. Would he have showed hostility, maliciousness, unease or an eagerness to escape? Which would most likely been have caught by Gabriel's fierce eyesight, then everything might have turned out different.
He heard Gabriel say: "Follow me and don't come up with any bad ideas. Just follow me honestly." Afterward, he saw Gabriel turn his back towards him and walk away. The fact that the unknown men turned his back towards him and walked away, was a temptation, but also a sign of trust. After all, in the army, nothing showed more trust in the person standing next to you was by giving that person your back. Especially since everyone in the armed forces knew what kind of horrors could happen in a split second by turning your back on someone or turn your attention away from someone who was hostile towards you.
He wouldn't act on the temptation, but he wondered what deserved the sign of trust. He followed Gabriel out of the office honestly. Closing the door of the office behind him. Making it seem like nobody had ever been there. He took a deep breath. Whatever would happen, would happen, he would wait it out. Getting the sign of trust, though, showed that things might not be as bad as they seemed. Where he before thought that his goddess of luck had abandoned him. He now thought that maybe the goddess of luck, didn't abandon him at all, and he was still in her presence. Maybe this horrible situation might turn out better than he ever had expected, and if it did not, then he would take the punishment he deserved for his actions. At the very least, he could save the embarrassment of being dragged out by the guard for now. He would take that as a win for the time being.
- Gabriel POV-
Gabriel turned his back towards the guy in the office and walked away. He knew he was taken a risk. If he missed his malicious intentions within a few breaths, he could lose his life. He had seen it happen before, but he wanted to tempt the guy. To see what this superstar who had been shooting his way up the ranks, since the moment he joined the armed forces, like a shooting star would do. Would he take the chance offered, or would he follow honestly? Gabriel might seem relaxed, but he had tensed his muscles. In that case, even if he was attacked, he would have a chance to counter whatever what was coming. The chance to counter might give him a sliver of life, but he knew that the man in front of him was very well-trained and the small chance at life, which he gained by being ready and alert, was really that, a very small opportunity.
Several years later, when he thought back to this very moment, he wouldn't know what make him take this reckless choice. He hadn't achieved any of the goal yet at that time. It wasn't like him to take a risk for with his life. After all, he wasn't just living his life anymore. He was living his life with the responsibility of the lives of his brother hanging around his neck, literally and figuratively. Even now, when he was reminiscing about the decision he made years ago, he still had the dog tags of the fallen comrades around his neck. He never took them off. He never would, he would forever work and live in their honor. Achieve his goal so that such tragedy might never befall other soldiers serving their country and wearing their uniforms.
While he was remembering what happened back then, he was scared. At the very same moment, though, he was very grateful for the decision he made at that very moment. That momentary decision had changed his life forever, in unimaginable ways.