The Fifth Elemental
Season 1
Shepisode 1
The Coming Storm
A. I. Nasser
Copyright 2015 A. I. Nasser
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Gabriel Wagner strolled into the restaurant like he owned it.
That was usually how he did things, with an air of superiority he knew would intimidate anyone to do whatever he wanted, and he usually got his way. Ever since he had started working in the PI business, he had a knack for staying ahead of the game. What he lacked in experience, he made up for in brains and style, and the occasional lax in morals. He never did anything illegal, but was definitely prone to minding his own business when it came to matters that strayed well beyond the lines of the law. He wasn’t a crook, but he was far from being an honest man.
Gabriel took off his shades and slipped them into the front pocket of his two thousand dollar suit. Smiling at one guest after the other, he pushed deeper into the restaurant until he found the man he was looking for in a corner stall near a window looking out at the parking lot. Gabriel had seen him on his way in, and had deliberately parked his new Mustang in plain sight. He liked to flash his material possessions in front of his clients. He needed them to know why they were paying more than they had to.
“Mister Sebastian,” Gabriel pulled out a chair and sat down. “So sorry to have kept you waiting. I’m glad you already ordered.”
“You know, Gabriel, your incessant need to make a grand entrance has moved from being cute to slightly irritating.” Sebastian was meticulously cutting a steak into small pieces, dipping each in a bowl of gravy next to his plate before eating it, slowly. He didn’t look up at Gabriel.
“I am truly sorry,” Gabriel grinned, hiding his irritation at not having his client’s full attention. “I never intend to aggravate my favorite clients.”
Sebastian smiled. “What do you have for me?”
Gabriel pulled a file out of his briefcase and slid it across the table. “I found what you were looking for. It wasn’t easy.”
“I never said it would be,” Sebastian said between bites. “I would like to remind you how important it is that you remain incredibly discreet about the matter at hand.”
Gabriel held up both hands in a show of surrender and laughed. “Believe me, Mister Sebastian, what you want with the names in there is absolutely none of my business.”
Sebastian nodded and tapped the file with his knife. “Everything’s here?”
“Of course.” Gabriel hated having his abilities questioned. “Everything you asked for and more. Addresses, next of kin, entire education and career history. If I didn’t know better, I would think you were stalking these people.”
Sebastian dropped his cutlery, wiped his mouth and looked at Gabriel hard as he chewed. For the first time in a long time, Gabriel suddenly felt very scared. He faked a smile and tried to change subjects.
“How about my payment?” Gabriel asked.
“The rest of your money will be wired to you within the hour,” Sebastian replied.
“Ok, then,” Gabriel said quickly, pushing back his chair and standing up. “It was wonderful doing business with you. You have my number. Don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything else.”
Gabriel Wagner stuck out his hand, and when it wasn’t taken, pulled it back quickly and walked out of the restaurant.
Sebastian watched the man leave, first across the restaurant, then through the window as Gabriel crossed the parking lot to his car. From behind him, Surage walked up and slid into the seat Wagner had just occupied.
“I don’t like him,” Surage said.
Sebastian nodded slowly. Despite the fact that Surage rarely liked anyone at all, he had to agree with the man about this one.
“Fine,” Sebastian said. He wiped his hands on the table towel and got up from his seat.
No one saw Sebastian leave the restaurant.
No one saw Surage’s eyes burn a bright red.
Everyone was staring at the blue Mustang that had burst into a ball of flames.
Ethan automatically switched the alarm off as soon as it began to buzz. Or at least that’s what he would have told anyone.
In reality, he had grabbed his fifth alarm clock that month off the night table and had thrown it straight across the room, burying his face back into his pillow a moment before it had hit the wall and smashed into pieces. He had stayed up until three in the morning finishing the fluff feature he had been assigned, and if his editor in chief wanted him in the office at regular hours, he would have to come drag him out of bed screaming and kicking.
“That’s attractive.”
Ethan opened a single eye and watched Alicia drying her hair, one eyebrow cocked in amusement and her lips curled into the half-smile he had fallen in love with. She was standing just inside the bathroom door, inches away from where the alarm clock had found its demise. Ethan moaned and pulled the covers over his head.
“My working man,” Alicia teased. “Just so you know, if you get fired, I’m kicking you out.”
Ethan sighed loud enough to portray his annoyance, and rolled out of bed as slowly as he possibly could. Alicia balled up her towel and threw it at him.
“I don’t want to go,” Ethan said. “Don’t make me.”
“Just don’t forget to call your mother,” Alicia replied, closing the bathroom door. “It’s her birthday.”
“Yes mom, I’ll call the florist.” Ethan balanced his phone between his ear and shoulder as he fished for his smart card with one hand while the other tried not to spill his coffee. “The flowers are beautiful, trust me.”
He swiped his card across the little black screen and pushed past the security gate into StanMag’s foyer, nearly dropping the files he was holding and waving away the security guard who tried to help.
“Mom, you picked the flowers yourself,” Ethan said, racing towards the elevator doors. “They just have my name on them.”
He nodded at the new intern, Silvia something or the other, and mouthed a thank you as she held the elevator doors open. She gave him a shy smile and moved to a corner as the doors closed.
“How about I call you after I’m done with work, and then we can discuss what other present you picked out for yourself, ok?” Ethan sighed and rolled his eyes at Silvia. “I love you too, mom. Happy birthday.”
Ethan hung up the phone and pressed the ninth floor, nearly dropping his files again.
“That’s nice of you,” Silvia said.
“What is?”
“Remembering your mother’s birthday.”
“Foster mother,” Ethan corrected, “and she’d never let me forget. You’re the new intern, right?”
“Silvia Connor,” she said, sticking out her hand.
“Ethan Allen,” Ethan replied, taking it. “First day?”
Silvia smiled and nodded. “Looking forward to it.”
“Good, good,” Ethan nodded. “Remind me to ask you again in a week.”
Surage hated waiting.
He had been sitting on the park bench for almost an hour, flipping his lighter between his fingers as he watched random pedestrians walk by. The scowl on his face made sure he had the bench for himself, one mother quickly pushing her child away when the little girl was greeted with an empty stare after asking Surage for the time.
The
only thing he hated more than waiting was kids.
He looked up at the building across the street, counting the floors until his eyes rested on the window at the seventh. His hands were shaking, eager to get on with the job. He had scoped the area for almost a week, checking all the entrances and exits, monitoring his target, preparing. He knew what he was up against, and the fact that he had been assigned a partner for the job pissed him off. He could handle this on his own. He didn’t need a babysitter.
His eyes wandered and caught sight of a BMW pulling up to the curb. A woman stepped out, hair cropped short, sunglasses ridiculously large for her face. He cursed as she walked towards him, her smile almost as irritating as the sound of the children playing in the park behind him. Without saying a word, she sat down on the other end of the bench, crossed her legs and sighed.
“Such a lovely day,” she said almost matter-of-factly.
“Of all the people they could have sent, they sent you,” Surage shook his head.
“Oh, don’t take it personally,” the woman said. “They needed brains to your muscle.”
Surage frowned at her. “This is not the right time to piss me off, Sarah.”
“It never is, Surage,” Sarah said, looking at him and smiling. “That’s why I’m here.” She turned her attention to the same building. “So, what do we know?”
“Her name is Alicia West. Lives on the seventh floor with her boyfriend, works from home, hardly leaves.”
“That’s convenient.”
“Which is why I didn’t need you.”
“Because you handled New York so well?” Sarah cocked an eyebrow at him.
“I was caught off guard,” Surage hissed, furious at her for bringing it up.
“Seems to be happening a lot lately,” Sarah said. “We’ve lost enough assignments for now. How about we just get this one over with without too much trouble?”
Surage sighed and sat back, flipping his lighter on and off. “She knows what she can do. She’s been practicing, too.”
“Does her boyfriend know?”
“He doesn’t have a clue.”
Sarah smiled. “Excellent.”
Ethan waited until everyone left the office before making himself a cup of coffee and pulling out his laptop. He left his work computer on, the log time still counting on the magazine’s mainframe, assuring his boss that he was working hard and steady on his new assignment. In reality, he had finished what had been asked of him an hour before, but he had made plans to meet Alicia for dinner, and the restaurant was only a block away from the magazine’s headquarters.
Ethan turned on his laptop and logged onto the office’s Wi-Fi, sipping at his coffee as he waited for his password to grant him access to the mainframe. It was against company policy to log on from an external computer, but Ethan had pulled his weight and more over the years, allowing him a few liberties. His editor in chief, a loud and burly man who usually smelled like a mix of cigars and Old Spice, turned a blind eye to these things as long as the original work was getting done.
Ethan clicked his way through the archives, sifting through old stories and research, only looking once at his watch to make sure he wasn’t late. He had known Alicia for four years now, a relationship that had grown strong and fast, and if there was one thing she hated more than picking up his clothes off the couch was tardiness. He had learned that the hard way.
Ethan clicked on a desktop folder and typed in a second password, waiting for the files to load. He opened two, dating back to the accident that had killed his parents, memories of the night of his fourteenth birthday hitting him hard when he saw pictures of the burning car and the bodies being pushed away by the paramedics. He stared at the boy sitting with a blanket around his shoulders in the back of a truck, watching the scene unfold as an officer asked him questions. The accident had given him nightmares for years, and only Alicia had ever been able to walk him through the pain and out the other side.
He had met Alicia at a journalism workshop his foster parents had forced him to go to. His foster mother had commented on how talented a writer he was, and had pushed him in that direction from the get-go. He often found her pushes overbearing, but for a woman who was given the responsibility of caring for someone like him, dealing with the trauma he had been through, he knew she was only looking out for him. She reminded him of his own mother, as did Alicia when she raised one eyebrow and called him out on something stupid he would say or do.
It was only when the storms started did his past catch up with him.
The first one had hit when they had first moved to the city, Alicia dragging him along as she switched jobs. At first he had been hesitant, but after a few months and landing a job himself, he quickly got used to it. He still remembered the night all hell had broken loose, the rains coming first, followed by the winds that blew cars over. He had been caught in the middle of it all on his way home, and when the earth had started to shake, he knew he wouldn’t see Alicia again. All around him fires broke out, barely spreading because of the rains, but wild enough to scare. Two buildings had crumbled around him from the earthquake, sending debris in every which way. It had been a disaster like no other, and coming out of it alive had been short of a miracle.
Alicia had picked him up from the hospital where he had been taken for a check-up, and that night he had dreamt again. He had dreamt of his parents driving through the storm, heading home from what could only be described as a disastrous birthday. His father had kept the mood light, joking about one thing or the other, enough to keep Ethan and his mother from tearing out each other’s throats. Even when they had driven through the storm, his father had been smiling and laughing, commenting on how it had reminded him of Ethan’s birth.
They never saw the other car coming.
Ethan’s phone vibrated, bringing him back from his memories to the real world. He opened Alicia’s message telling him that she would rather have dinner at home, pocketed the phone and started to pack up his stuff. He copied an article about a fire in a warehouse that had brought down the entire building without spreading, shut down his laptop and left the office.
Leah pulled up to the small town house and killed her bike’s engine, taking off her full face helmet for the first time in three hours. Although she knew how urgent it was for her to get here on time, she took a moment to breathe in the night air and unravel her hair. It had begun to rain, a soft drizzle that she welcomed, which was unlike her.
She kicked down the kickstand and was about to walk up the front porch when a car pulled up to the curb, slowly, turning off its lights as it parked. She waited with a smile as Nadia and Eric stepped out, both looking like they could use a good night’s rest. Leah hated being the one who had to tell them that they’d be on the move again, but she was in charge as long as Rick wasn’t around.
She watched the two walk up to her, taking Nadia in her arms tightly as Eric patted her shoulder and walked past the two of them up the porch stairs.
“I missed you guys,” Leah said.
“It’s been a while,” Nadia smiled back.
“How was the trip?”
“Sebastian beat us to Gabriel,” Nadia frowned, following Leah to the small house’s open front door where Eric had already let himself in.
“He has the list?”
Nadia nodded. “We’re losing this war,” she said half-heartedly, “which makes this even harder.”
Leah didn’t say anything, closing the door behind them as they walked down the empty hall and turned into a small office. Eric had thrown himself onto a couch, obviously exhausted. Calliope was sitting on the opposite couch, legs crossed, eyeing Leah and Nadia as they walked in silently. Behind her stood two of the Guard, their leather clothing as dark as the shadows they stood in.
Leah had always admired the Guard, quiet men and women who were in so much control of their powers that it made her jealous. Sometimes she even feared them, thanking her lucky stars that they were on her side of the war.
; “This doesn’t look promising,” Calliope said quietly, her eyes dead set on Leah.
“We tried, Cali,” Eric said. “We can’t be two steps behind Sebastian and be expected to reel in results.”
“You’re not supposed to be two steps behind him,” Calliope turned her attention to Eric.
“We’re scattered,” Nadia pitched in. “There’s only a handful of us, and Sebastian has resources we don’t.”
Calliope stood up, furious, and paced to a window at the far end of the study. “Now Gabriel’s just made his job easier.”
“We can’t keep following him,” Leah said. “There has to be a way to get ahead of the Renegades.”
Calliope didn’t answer. It was during times like these she often wished decisions of this magnitude didn’t rest on her shoulders alone. She hated being in the field, ever since the last civil war had nearly torn the Order apart completely. Reforms had been made, leadership had changed, and it had taken her Quartet every ounce of energy they had to maintain the peace. Their influence was waning, though, and she could see it in everyone’s eyes as she patrolled the Order’s hallways. Lucius believed that fresh blood would change things, but they needed more than that. They needed a miracle.
“There’s a new assignment for you,” Calliope finally said.
Eric groaned.
“Cali, this is useless,” Leah started.
“What would you have me do?” Calliope yelled, turning towards the three, eyes blazing. “Just hand everyone over to Sebastian? Let him win?”
“No, but at least change our strategy,” Leah returned. “We need experience, Cali.”
“The only experience that’s left is already fighting on either side of this war,” Calliope said.
Leah sighed and stole a glance at Nadia. She knew how much of a toll this whole thing was taking on her and wondered how much more the girl could take. Eric was probably more frustrated than the rest of them, but it was Nadia who concerned her most. The girl’s emotions were still all over the place, her powers controlled only because she had her Quartet around her. No one knew what the girl would do on her own, and no one was willing to try and see.