Chapter 16

I woke up in a room with a flickering light. The room was small. No windows. No decorations. One door. It had cold gray walls. The only light was that flickering light that swayed as well beg and forth, hanging from the ceiling. A moderator was in front of me. I had been knocked out. From the smell still in my nose I knew that it was sleeping gas. I recognized it. It had to be methyl propyl ether otherwise known as Neothyl. I used it a ton of times as an assassin to take out my marks.

The moderator came over to me. Checked my pulse, took my blood pressure and then walked to my right. Wrath.

She did the same with him.

I noticed how Wrath looked at me. There was hate in his eyes. There was an extreme malice. I knew that look so well. Wrath was so angry. Neither of us were tied down. I almost assumed by the look on his face that he was going to reach over and attack me at any moment now.

"Your father will be in shortly," the moderator stated.

She was cold. Blunt. She was definitely the same kind of moderators that I knew. They were women who worked for my father's organization. The moderators had no soul. They lacked any sort of personality. They were walking robots really; they were organized, precise and efficient.

With her small talk she walked out of the room as soon as she did Wrath had made his way across the room. I saw it coming a mile away but I didn't stop him.

He gripped me up.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he asked me.

His hand was wrapped around my throat. It clutched onto me. I chocked against it. I gagged a little bit. Wrath was more than angry.

"I believe Sloth's team attacked the cabin. I think they knocked us out with sleeping gas and dragged our lifeless bodies here. I guess we are back in the Assembly brother. Welcome home..."

Home.

Wrath punched me hard in the face. I thought I was almost going to break my jaw when he did. I started laughing really. Since we were a child he had always been so predictable from every now and again I let him get off one of his little attacks.

He tried to punch me again but this time I caught his punch midair. I squeezed his arm so hard that he finally let go of me.

"You're being fucking funny," Wrath replied, "You know what I mean. You shouldn't be here. This is my mission. You had yours. Yours was to protect your friends."

"Friends. Let's be honest. We both know who we really care about."

Desire.

Wrath's face softened. The only thing we had in common. We both loved him. We also had in common the fact that Desire hated both of us.

"Did he get away?" Wrath asked me.

I nodded, "Yes. I made sure that him and the others got out of the cabin before the attack."

Wrath all of a sudden seemed to snap back into his old self, "You were supposed to protect Desire not make sure he got away."

"He hates me."

Wrath rolled his eyes, "You did kill his fiancé. What the hell did you think was going to happen? You think he was going to walk down the aisle with you after that."

I raised an eyebrow at my brother, "I don't think Desire's stalker should be giving me advice on how to win him over."
"What you did was much worse."

"Can we just agree to the fact that he hates us both? That's why we here isn't it. Fools in love...trying to sacrifice ourselves for him."

I laughed. I was really laughing at myself. I was laughing at how unfortunate this was. I had to admit it was a fucked up situation. I could have gone into explanation with Wrath on why I had killed Grayson but I had a feeling he already knew or didn't care at all. I was surprised when Wrath laughed as well. We looked alike when we laughed. We hadn't laughed together since we were kids...and my mother was alive and my father wasn't some homicidal lunatic.

"And he wants nothing to do with either of us at the end of the day," Wrath said shaking his head at that moment, "Funny how that works huh?"

I nodded. We backed up against the walls, sitting on the floor. My head hit the cold wall. I let out a sigh all of a sudden. I wasn't laughing anymore. I was thinking about Desire. I stared up at the flickering light. I saw Desire in everything. I saw him even in this flickering light moving back and forth.

"How did we both end up falling for the same guy?" I asked my brother.

He crossed his arms, "He reminds us of mom."

I took a deep breath.

"Shit. Never thought of that. You think?"

Wrath nodded, "He has her stern look but soft heart. He cooks just as good as she did. He smiles with half her mouth like she did. He has her soul... really. Don't you think, or no?"

I was always closer to my mother than Wrath was. He never talked about her. When my father killed her, Wrath didn't even cry. Come to think of it though that was when Wrath started to unravel. He started to really lose it. He started to become such a horrible person when my mother died. He started to lose his mind really. That was also when I started to grow cold and detached. I guess we both must have lost a part of ourselves when we lost our mother.

I nodded, "You're right. I love that kid, Wrath. I really do."

I had never loved someone like I loved Desire. Every other moment I was thinking about him. Everything was Desire. The fact that I had hurt him in the way that I did was enough for me to give my life away. I didn't deserve to live for hurting him.

Wrath was the one sighing now. He bent down his head at that moment, "I know. I love him too. Well. At least he got away."

"They won't have much time. Desire and the others. You know that right?" I asked, "Most likely he went with Allure. If they track her down, they'll track him down."

"I'll deactivate it. I know the room. I know the sequence code," Wrath replied, "You weren't needed. You should be with Desire."

"He hates me. Wrath give me this one thing to do...please..."

`NO!"

His voice was sharp. There was that crazed look in his eyes at that moment. It was almost like he was starting to unravel again. That was always the problem with Wrath. You never really knew when he was going to completely snap.

"I killed his fiancé. I need to do something for him. I need redemption."

"So do I," Wrath stated, "I brought him into this in the first place. You think you are the only one who needs redemption. You stole him from me. You won't steal my moment to be his hero as well..."

"You do realize Father will kill whoever deactivates those trackers..."

"Don't patronize me," Wrath replied, "I've prepared for this."

I was prepared as well. I had to make it up to Desire. I had to find some way to redeem myself for the pain that I caused him for killing Grayson. The only way I could think of doing that was dying doing something for him and the team. I would die his hero. I would die happily. That was all that mattered.

"It's not on you. I'm doing it Wrath..."

Just like that whatever brotherly bond we had was gone. It was a show down. Wrath looked over at me at that moment.

I looked back at him.

In the next moment he kicked up off the ground and so did I. He swung his fist at me and I backed up a little bit and took a fighting stance.

"Long time coming huh? You stronger little brother?" he asked.

"I have something to fight for this time."

Things started off equal. He punched me in the face. I kicked him in the shins. We both took a few steps back. I attacked him first the next move. I tried to grab onto him and put him in a sleeper hold but he got away from me with a swift kick.

We started to exchange kicks at that time. High kicks, low kicks, somersaults through the air. We were bouncing off of walls. The small room kept us consistently attacking each other. I could feel the rush of adrenaline in me. No one gave me such a challenge in hand to hand fighting as Wrath did.

Wrath picked up one of the chairs we were sitting on. He threw it at me. I dodged the chair just in time. It was a diversion.

Just as I dodged the chair he punched me in my abdomen. I felt a hard sting in my stomach as his fist impacted me. I let out a hard curse and spit.

"Shit."
He tried to grab me when he realized I was in weakness. Wrath's arms left arm grabbed my neck. His body swayed behind me. Fuck he was quick! He was so fucking quick always. He was behind me now! He had gotten behind me so quickly. How could I have been so fucking careless as to not see his attack. He was choking me in a headlock.

As he choked me out he started to taunt me, "You should have stayed with him. You know that. You should have stayed with him. He would have forgiven you one day. Now you are going to die for no reason. You won't be his hero. You won't be anything. You had your chance though."

I could feel myself losing my breath.

I struggled not to pass out. I had to do something. I knew Wrath wouldn't hesitate to kill me here and now. I didn't blame him really. This wasn't the Brady Bunch. We were assassins. Killing was in our nature and we both knew this fight was a long time coming.

I dug my feet in my shoes. Desire. That was what I had to think about.

With that I use all my strength to push back. I pushed Wrath all the way against the wall. His back slammed into the wall. He let out a quick gasp. I elbowed him to the right once and to the left twice. He finally let go of his hold on me.

I grabbed his arm at that moment. He was still behind me. I stretched his arm over my shoulder at that moment and I pulled down. I pulled down as hard as I could.

I heard the snap as his broke.

"FUCK!" Wrath screamed.

Wrath fell to the ground at that moment, clutching onto his arm. He was squirming around on the floor at that moment. I could see the tears falling out of his eyes as he did. He was crying.

"It's over."

"I'm still here."

"I won. Back down."

"Kill me..." Wrath replied.

He was on the floor holding onto his arm at that moment.

"I'm not going to kill you," I replied.

I walked to the door at that moment. I had beaten him. I had finally beaten Wrath. I felt almost as though I had accomplished something huge. I wish Desire could have seen me fight. I was fighting for him. He had made me strong.

"You have a heart after all..." Wrath replied, "Cold Urge with a heart. Don't FUCKING patronize me. Finish the job. Fuck you and your heart. FINISH THE JOB...ASSASSIN!"

I didn't. I was so tired of killing. Killing was the reason that the person that I loved said that he hated me. Killing was the reason that I couldn't be with Desire.

I wasn't going to kill anymore.

I turned my back on him.

"It's over."

"Urge..."

I turned back to him, "What?"
"You should have killed me when you had the chance."

When I looked back Wrath was back on his feet. He had a chair in his hand using it with his one good hand. He swung it at me. How the fuck did he have the energy to do that? I had just broke his fucking arm! It occurred to me at that time when I saw him lift the chair with his left hand with just as much power as he would with his right which was now broken: Wrath had something to fight for as well.

The chair hit me across the head.

Darkness.

 

I woke up in a nursing room screaming.

"Relax son."

I turned to my right. My father. Tom.

I was still in the Assembly and I wanted to scream more. Wrath had knocked me out. He had gotten the upper hand. My father was sitting at my bedside. He was sitting there with that look on his face. My father was so calm. He was a handsome older man that looked like the run of a mill type man. He seem so composed. You would have never thought Tom was who Tom was.

The moderators were behind him. They were walking around in white hospital robes with gloves. They were cleaning tools behind my father. They looked like they were about to start an operation or something.

"You ok?" my father asked me.

I nodded, "Yes sir."

"You redeemed yourself..."

"What?"

"You attacked Wrath when you found out that he planned on deactivating the trackers."

"He told you that?"

"Yes. He confessed to everything after he was caught deactivating trackers," Tom stated shaking his head, "He said you tried to stop him. Is that true Urge?"

Wrath. Why would he do that? He was calling me soft but he ended up looking out for me. He told my father that the reason we fought was because I was trying to stop him. My father looked at me. He was suspicious of that as well. It was no doubt my father knew that I had been trying to protect Desire this time.

My father was right. I was seeking redemption but not by him. I was fighting Wrath over deactivating the trackers. But I was doing it because I wanted to replace him.

"Yes." I lied.

There was no point now. Wrath had deactivated the trackers.

"Oh thank god," my father stated.

At that moment Tom did something that he hadn't done since I was a kid. He leaned over to me and he hugged me. He fucking hugged me on that gurney. I sat lifeless so certain I didn't want to hug him back. I never hated someone so much in my life.

"You're pleased with me?" I asked.

"Yes. I thought you would choose Desire over your duty here. I'm so glad you came to your senses finally. I was honestly concerned. I must say. I had a feeling you would come to your senses though. Just like how I came to my senses about your mother."

"You mean when you killed her?"

He smiled and nodded, "When I did what I had to do. Just like you did. Love is a luxury our kind cannot afford. Desire was a weakness, just like your mother. He reminds me so much of her really. That sick...love. He wasn't good for you. Wrath doing what he did just cemented the fact that I made the right choice in making you my heir."

I hated him. I hated him so much. I forced a smile acting as though my father didn't make me as sick to my stomach as he really made me.

"What about Wrath?" I asked.

"Killed. Of course."

Fuck.

"And the deactivated trackers?"

"He deactivated the trackers of everyone. Assassins in the field have already started to go MIA. I've already started installing trackers back. Right after I leave here your new tracker will be surgically installed again as well. Wrath thought he stopped me forever...but he only slowed me down."

Wrath had done it. He'd gotten his redemption and he paid the ultimate price for it. The fact that my father was so close to me. The fact that he had his guard down was almost like he knew that I was the only son he had left.

What kind of monster killed his own child?

I nodded forcing a smile, "He deserved it."

Yes he deserved it. He got his redemption. I was happy for him. It should have been me. It should fucking been me. Maybe it wasn't too late though. Maybe I could still do something for Desire."

"Don't you worry though. There are still loyalists to me. The moderators will start to round everyone up. It's only a matter of time until we catch Allure, Craving, Love and of course Desire. We are going to make sure we catch him as well."

I looked to my right. Scalping tools. I could grab one of them. I could end this right now. I could kill Tom. I could get rid of him. I could get rid of him right now and make sure that he never tried to hurt Desire.

"You are going after Desire after this?" I asked.

"Yes. Of course. That is priority number 1."

Desire still wasn't safe. Desire would never be safe. As long as my father was alive Desire was in danger. As long as my father was alive Desire would never be able to live happily.

I did it.

I reached for the scalpel.

"FUCK YOU!"

I slashed with the scalpel. He had dropped his guard enough for me to cut him. I cut his throat. I watched as Tom stumbled backward at that moment.

"How could you?" he said.

Shit. Not deep enough. Not fucking deep enough!

All of a sudden the moderators were surrounding me. I tried to fight them off but I was still too weak from being drugged.

My father was over me. He was still holding onto his throat.

It took 6 moderators to hold me down at that moment. They surrounded my bed. I was screaming. I couldn't believe I wasn't able to do it. I couldn't believe I was too weak to finally get my redemption and make sure that Desire was safe.

"I love him," I told my father, "I love him you understand? You can't change that. It is nothing like how you and Mom were. What I have with Desire is real? He's everywhere. He's in my heart. And I'm going to hold onto him and I'm never going to let him go. You'll just have to kill me. You understand that. You understand that you fucking monster!"

Tom looked over at me.

He looked sad. I was so happy that I had broken his heart. I was so happy that he realized both his sons turned on him.

He hesitated but then the answer came, "Drug him. Drug him and kill him. I don't want him to suffer."

The moderators put a gas mask over my face at that moment. I was screaming. I was trying to get loose. It was pointless. The gas slowly started to fill me up. I could feel the room spinning.

I hated myself more than my father at that moment.

I should have been stronger.

Even as I was about to die I couldn't redeem myself. I couldn't surpass Wrath.

"Such a waste," my father said.

Just at that moment I rolled my eyes to the roof. I must have been seeing something. I must have been seeing something because I could have sworn one of the vents in the room opened and then I saw him. Desire.

God. I was delusional.

I was so in love with this guy that I was seeing him everywhere I looked.

I guess it wasn't so bad. I guess it wasn't so bad that he was the last thing that I would imagine before I died. He was gliding across the room almost like he was skating on ice. The drugs in my system must have really been kicking in.

Screams.

What the fuck?

"Stay with me!" I heard a voice say.

It sounded like Desire.

I realized now it was Desire! I don't know how it happened. The gas mask made me so drowsy that I hadn't seen it happen. Now all of a sudden Desire was standing over me. He wasn't alone. He had a knife at my fathers throat.

I no longer had the gas mask on. I was struggling to stay awake.

"Am I dreaming?" I asked.

"I'm here Urge," he replied, "I'm here..."

He was here. I looked around the stretcher. Dead bodies of moderators were stretched out everywhere. All of them had scalpels impaled in them.

The only one that was alive was my father and Desire had a knife pressed up against him.

"How's you find this place?" my father asked him.

"I followed Urge. I snuck on the helicopter. I went through the vents. I found this room," Desire replied, "There was no way I was leaving him."

"Desire."

I was still weak. My heart was beating so much. He couldn't be here. He couldn't fucking be here right now.

"Urge. Urge I'm here..."

I had sat up. I was snapping out of the drowsy feeling. He looked like an angel there. He looked like an angel of death standing there behind my father. He was covered in blood but he never looked so beautiful to me. God. This was a dream.

He came back for me. Desire came back for me.

"Urge tell your boyfriend to let me go," my father stated, "I'm your father. I will have mercy on you. If he lets me go...

"Desire..." I addressed him, "Don't do it. Give me the scalpel."

Desire looked at me wildly.

"You can't be serious. We finally have Tom. Urge. We finally have TOM!"

"He's still my father Desire. You did well. I'm proud of you. You were always dangerous with a knife. But you've done enough, Desire. Give me the scalpel."

I could tell he didn't want to but he did what I said.

"Thank you son," my father started.

As soon as Desire handed me the scalpel I turned it on my father. I slashed at his throat at that moment. This time I didn't miss.

My dad fell over, his throat completely open. He was dead before he hit the ground.

Desire looked over at my father.

I didn't know if he understood. Tom was my father. It was my responsibility to get rid of him. I had to do that for him. I had to.

Just at that moment Desire ran towards me. He was ready to give me a hug but I stepped back. I looked at the scalpel in my hand. I should kill myself now. I was no better than Tom. I had caused so much pain to Desire. I was no better than my father.

I looked down at my father but talked to Desire, "You came back for me."

"I love you."

It warmed my heart to hear him say it but I couldn't allow Desire to embrace me, "I don't deserve you..."

"You're talking about Grayson..."

I nodded. My entire body shaking, "You'd be better off without me."
"Urge. Drop that scalpel."

He knew what I was thinking. Suicide. He knew what I was thinking before I even thought it. A part of me just wanted to end it. I just wanted to get rid of the pain that I had in myself for how I hurt Desire. I still couldn't look into his eyes. I was looking at the ground. I was still so ashamed of what I did.

"You are free now. The trackers are gone. It's only a matter of time before the Assembly realizes the trackers are gone and Tom is done. It's over now. You can have everything you wanted. You can have that white house. You can have those kids. You can have that white picket fence. You don't have to kill anymore. You can find someone who can make you happy."

Desire was standing next to me at that moment.

He touched my cheek. I shivered to his touch. He was so soft and gentle. God, I could smell him all around me. In the next few moments he took the scalpel out of my hand without me even knowing. He was so smooth how he did it.

He threw the knife on the floor. It clashed when it hit the ground.

He looked in my eyes. There was an immediate connection.

Everything I wanted was there in his eyes.

"I've found the person who makes me happy already," he stated.

"But---I killed Grayson."

"I cared about Grayson but I loved you. If you died I would be right there next to you. We could end this in tragedy but I rather end this with that white house and picket fence. You know I really want that white house and picket fence..."

"That was always your dream."

"It was my dream with you. You said that I don't have to kill anymore. I don't have to be an assassin anymore. Neither do you. You are free as well. Don't you want to be with me still?"

I looked at him. I fell in love with him all over again.

"More than anything."

"Then come with me Urge. Let's walk out of here...hand in hand. We'll go right through the front door and leave the Assembly forever."

"There are still moderators around..."

"We are the most dangerous people in the world. I dare one of them to try and stop us."

He was right. I felt so strong with him. As long as I was fighting for Desire I knew there was no way that I would ever leave.

"I love you so much Codename: Desire."
I found myself hugging him. We kissed as well. It was a short kiss but it meant everything. I wanted to stare at him. I didn't want this emotion to end. I put my hand in his hand at that moment and we did what he said.

"I love you too Codename: Urge."

We didn't walk off into the sunset. There wasn't no sunset at the assembly. We walked out of the cold dark corridors of the place that had held us prisoner for so long. However this was our freedom. We were walking out of here freed men...together.

And forever I knew that I would be his one Urge and he would be my only Desire.

 

THE END

 

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