Betrayal - Part 6

She didn't ring the Alliance Defence Council directly - that would be a complete waste of time. Instead, she rang the military division. She wasn't going to wait for the Defence Council to finish their bullshit before seeing her.
Keating spoke to the Alliance, pushing back tears all the way through the conversation.
"... I've found plans for a building," she said, "It belongs to Cerberus. I think you might want to see it..."
"We'll send some people over. What's your address?" was the reply.
At least the Alliance military knew how to get things done.

A military Kodiak shuttle landed outside her apartment ten minutes later. It bore the Alliance colours - blue, black and white. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and answered the door.
They had sent two uniformed officers. Each had a holster around their waist and looked very serious. They were a welcome change to the nonsense of the Defence Council.
"Are you Detective Sophia Keating?" the lead officer asked.
She nodded, "I am. Come in.""
Keating felt completely broken and she kept blinking away tears, but she was determined to hand over the documents to the Alliance. Hopefully they would be able to take Cerberus down once and for all.
She handed the papers over to the officer who had spoken, "... Here you go. I'm not a hundred percent sure what these plans mean but they are for a building made for Cerberus."
Both officers looked over the papers. It took them several moments and neither of them spoke, just the slightest grunt as they passed over a few pages concerning the building's basement.
"What is it?" she asked curiously.
"There appears to be some rocket tubing inside the basement. Detective, if you would kindly come with us..."
"Why? What's wrong?"
"We will be handling sensitive information. Something that could potentially threaten the Alliance security. We need you to sign some documents and report for debriefing."
"Will I be gone long? It's nearly five."
"I don't believe so. You should be back before nine o'clock. Now if you would accompany us back to the shuttle..."

Betrayal - Part 5

But... that wasn't possible. Brian couldn't work for Cerberus - he didn't want her dead. They loved each other... it made no sense.
Unless, of course, Cerberus was only using Brian's company to make the building - but that wouldn't explain why Brian would work for an illegal organisation.
Her heart felt heavy in her chest and her throat was tight. She felt like she was going to cry.
Then she heard the door open.
She exited Brian's office, taking the papers with her. When she reached the living room, she looked across and into the hallway, seeing Brian taking off his shoes.
"Sorry, babe, I had to work late," he told her, "We were just building the roof. It's nearly completed, now. It'll only be about another two weeks or so."
"... Brian," she started.
"What's wrong? Are you alright?" he asked, moving into the living room and towards her.
She backed away slightly, "... No. I'm not alright."
"What's happened?"
"I had a crash in the skycar. I went to see the Alliance Defence Council about Cerberus, and when I left... they sent a gunship after me. I had a crash... that's the reason why I wasn't here last night."
"Well, I wasn't here either. I was working on the building. Are you ok?"
"... No, I'm not ok. I came home and tried to find you and found this in your study."
She showed him the paper, pointing out the Cerberus logo, "... You work for Cerberus."
Brian sighed, "I knew you'd find out at some point. I'm not in the division trying to kill you, however. That's different."
"... So could you help me?"
He shook his head, "I'm not allowed."
"... But I love you."
"And I love you too. But Cerberus is bigger than love. It's fighting for humanity. For a better tomorrow. I can't betray them."
"... But you can betray me?"
"Sophia, look-"
"Get out!" she shouted at him, "Get out and never come back!"
"Soph-"
"I mean it! Go!"
He moved closer but she pushed him away. She began to cry but still turned him around and pushed him out of the apartment.
"Bastard!" she hissed, "I don't want to see you again!"
She closed the door, and activated her Omni-tool. She had to tell the Alliance.

Betrayal - Part 4

Keating opened her eyes, slowly. There was a harsh white light above her which was nearly blinding, forcing her to close her eyes every few seconds before they adjusted.
She started to look around - the room had a white panelled ceiling and a window which looked across the Vancouver skyline.
She was in a hospital. She sat up, realising that she had full use of her arms. She could feel a dull throbbing every time she moved her left arm, but it was fine. That's all that mattered.
A door to her left hissed open and a doctor walked in, wearing a white coat. The doctor was female, looked to be in her thirties, and had ginger hair.
"I'm Doctor Stevenson," she said, "You're lucky to be alive, Detective. A crash at above two hundred kilometers per hour in a skycar. Nine times out of ten it'd mean instant death for anyone who was inside. Your friend wasn't so lucky, though."
"Henry..." she managed to say. Her jaw was aching and judging by the symptoms - blurred vision, headache, barely responsive limbs - she had been given some kind of drug, "... Henry wasn't killed in the crash."
"Is it true what I've been told?" the Doctor asked, "That it was Cerberus?"
Keating nodded, "... I need to go... And see the Alliance."
"Not until you're back on your feet. Your arm was damaged quite badly, so we had to put metal plates in before we fixed it up. Your ribs were also damaged by the impact and we had to rebuild them. Other than that, cuts, scrapes, bruises. Nothing major. However, I was told by someone - a crime scene investigator kind of person - that if you hadn't braced yourself before the crash happened, you wouldn't have survived."
"... It's supposed to be the other way around."
"I know that. You're the only person I've met who has survived a crash like that."
"I want to go home..." Sophia sighed.
"Oh, yes, about that. We notified your boyfriend and he's on his way to see you. Someone came around from... I can't remember what he said, something to do with the Alliance military. Apparently they'll be providing an around the clock security team for you."
"... I'm not in the mood for the bloody Alliance. I just want to go home, get under a blanket and cry..."
"That isn't possible at the minute I'm afraid. Now I just have to take your blood pressure."
The doctor activated her Omni-tool and a blue beam of light scanned Keating's arm, before deactivating.
"One forty over ninety," she said, "That's rather on the high side. You might want to keep stress free when you're recovering so you don't develop hypertension."
"... I can try," Keating answered, "I'll get Brian to look after me."
"We just want to keep you in overnight, to make sure there's been no complications with the surgery. We'll give you an x-ray, a CT scan and an MRI scan and then we'll see how you look."
Keating nodded, "Okay."

The next day came slower than she'd have liked, but it seemed that she was fine. Her arm still hurt, and she was on pain killers for it, but other than that she was back to normal.
She took a taxi back to her apartment. Brian didn't yet know what had happened to her, so he would be worrying.
Keating walked up the stairs to their apartment, which was luckily only one flight in her injured state. She opened the door with a push of the hologram, both metal panels sliding apart with a hiss, and a small beep of recognition from the locking mechanism.
She stepped into their apartment, wanting nothing more than to cuddle up with Brian and forget about the whole crash. The Alliance would send people to protect her, and everything would be fine.
"Brian?" she called out, after noticing that he wasn't in the living room. It was odd, considering that there was a football game on - and Brian had watched every match since the start of the season.
She could see the kitchen from the hallway, and had checked that on her way. He wasn't there, either.
Sophia decided to check his study. When he wasn't in the living room he was in there designing his building.
She crossed through the living room and entered Brian's study through a door at the back.
He wasn't there, either. She turned to walk out, when a document on his desk caught her eye. She spun back around and lifted up the paper, and began to read.
It appeared to be to do with the building designs - the company seemed to be wanting better reinforced armour for the structure. However, the organisation's logo was the thing that caught her eye.
She had seen it before. The orange diamond.
It was on the side of the gunship.
It had been engraved on the bullet.
Cerberus.
Cerberus had commissioned the building.