Jane immediately walks over to the man and socks him in the face before he has the chance to near Azrael anymore. The man's head jerks back and he groans out in pain.
I'm shocked for a second, before running around to the desk and putting myself between Azrael and this man.
"What are you doing here?" asks Jane to the man after he takes a pained step back and puts a hand to the bruise on his cheek.
"You punched me?!" asks the man angrily, his hair messy.
"You want another one?" asks Jane threateningly before taking a deadly step forward.
"No!" says the man as he raises his other hand and backs up more.
"What are you doing here?" asks Azrael as he tries to step around me and the desk to near the man, but I put both hands on his shoulders and put him back where he was.
I may not know how to punch like Jane, but if I can keep Azrael safe with me standing in the way of danger, that's going to happen. In order to do that, I need to keep him in a position where I will block danger. That means, not moving.
Azrael looks up at me and gives me a confused look, to which I say, "Stay there."
Azrael looks for a moment at me, then nods and then stops trying to move around his desk. I see his hand slip under his desk for a moment, but don't take it for anything.
"How did you get in here?" asks Azrael to the man who seems to have noticed that I had my hands on Azrael, but his anger reasserts itself and then directs itself at Azrael.
"I have names I can use," says the man, touching where he got punched lightly, then wincing.
"I only know you as Cale," says Azrael, "what name did you use?"
"Maybe a name you know, maybe you hold close," he replies, Cale, I know him now as.
"Regardless," says Azrael, "you will show yourself out, or security will do so."
"I have things to say," says Cale, "things your ears will suffer without hearing."
"Such as what?" asks Azrael, tilting his head.
Azrael doesn't raise his voice, but he doesn't talk scared either. His voice is calm, and is not disturbed. It's almost as if his attitude is that when dealing with another business endeavor, and he remains as he usually is when doing those; serious, professional, and smart.
"I'm here to tell you, that this is your last chance of giving my Collection what we want," says Cale, "and if you don't, all your activities in it will be unleashed."
"I have no activities with you," says Azrael, "you have no weapon against me."
"That's what you say," says Cale, and he grins in a way that I wish Jane would punch him again, "but the Collection is more than capable of creating... sources of your collusion."
"You think you can frame me?" asks Azrael, raising an eyebrow.
"I know I can," replies Cale.
Azrael looks at Cale for a few moments, just staring at him with his calm expression. I'm scared that maybe he's starting to bend inside, and am about to say something when Azrael smiles.
"Wait a moment, please," he says, and turns to his computer, where he begins to type things in and pull up certain tabs and windows.
I look over at Jane, and she's just as confused. But she keeps a mighty stance and Cale can't move an inch without a fist faster than the wind grazing harshly on his skin.
Azrael types more, and then finally looks back at Cale, still smiling, not largely, but his usual waning one.
"Heed this," says Azrael, and presses the space bar of his keyboard.
From the computer of his, Azrael begins to play an audio recording.
"What do you mean?"
It's the voice of Cale, and I swear I heard him say that before, but can't think of when. Was it just now?
"I am not for the cause of this group. I do not want anything to do with this collective."
That voice I would recognize anywhere. It's Azrael's. And then I remember where they both said this. At the meeting, more than a month ago, when Azrael departed their clutches. Azrael recorded that entire meeting, and now it's working against Cale and the entire Collection.
"You mean to say, that you're against us?"
"I don't care what happens to this group, and I only came here to tell everyone present that for a long time I have been invited into the activities of this group, but request that all communications with myself cease."
"You can't just leave this group, you're a part of it. You're by nature like us, so you can't get out of it."
"I may share a similar position in a firm, but I don't have anything similar to your kind. And I never indicated interest in this body to begin with. It was by your poor judgement that you assumed I would make a nice addition. You added me without telling me. I'm not an asset."
"Do you think, that we're going to just let you walk out of here?"
"My answer depends, on if you want to find out if there's an afterlife or not."
I recall how at that moment, Azrael pulled out his firearm. And how everyone in the room had frozen in their seats.
In the recording, I hear several moments of silence, before Cale talks again.
"You may have cut your ties with us, Azrael, but we'll get our revenge on you. You won't live long after tonight to enjoy this tiny victory."
"Well, we'll see. But now that I'm officially cut out from here, I'll be making my departure."
Azrael taps the space bar again, and stops the recording. Cale looks equally disturbed as he is frustrated.
"T-that's nothing," says Cale as he opens his mouth to talk again, "I have so many resources that could overturn that piece of whatever you have there."
Azrael crouches down behind his desk, and from under it, where earlier he had slipped his hand, he pulls with the sound of sticky duck-tape an audio recorder. It blinks red dots, recording.
Tapping the buttons on it with his thumb, Azrael holds it up and turns the volume up to maximum. The entire conversation from minutes ago plays out.
"I'm here to tell you, that this is your last chance of giving my Collection what we want, and if you don't, all your activities in it will be unleashed."
"I have no activities with you. You have no weapon against me."
"That's what you say, but the Collection is more than capable of creating...sources of your collusion."
"You think you can frame me?"
"I know I can."
"That there," says Azrael as he puts the audio recorder safely in a drawer of his desk after turning it off, "is more than enough evidence to dispel and dismiss any material you could bring into a courtroom against me. Have I need to explain why?"
Azrael tilts his head, looking at Cale, who's not even trying to hide his angry, seething attitude.
"You!" says Cale, standing in place and bristling, "You're...reprehensible!"
"Takes one to know one," replies Azrael, "have you nothing else to say? If not, then I think this meeting is at an end."
Cale looks furiously at Azrael, clenching his jaw to say something, but then leaves without another word. I spot him look over at me, and his eyes linger on me, but then he's slamming the door open and stomping out. Jane follows after him, and I see Levi near the elevator with several buff guys in security uniforms. I guess Levi noticed something was off, and so decided to get the proper authorities. Jane could probably punch a car window in, but I think other people are better suited for that kind of behavior.
Azrael watches him leave, and after Cale enters the elevator surrounded by security and the doors ding shut, he sighs, and his shoulders ease a little. He also sits back down in his office chair, and looks over at me.
"That was some drama that I don't think either of us were expecting," he says, smiling a little.
"No, I don't think we were," I agree, smiling back.
"I still don't know how he got in here," says Azrael as he looks back at the slightly open office door, "that I'll have to figure out."
"Do you think he snuck in here?" I ask.
"I don't think so," answers Azrael, "I feel his entrance into this building was more... more stealthy, and more obvious at the same time. It's difficult to say."
"Regardless of how he got in here," I say, "you seem to have handled him well."
"Do you think so?" asks Azrael as he raises an eyebrow at me.
"I think so. You were as cool as ice," I say.
Azrael looks at me for a moment or two, then reaches out his hand, saying, "Give me your hand."
I reach out and place it in his. What I don't expect, is him to place my hand on his chest, right above the chest bone. Doing so, I feel his pulse, which seems rather quick.
"Do you feel my heart?" asks Azrael.
"I do," I say with a nod.
"I wasn't calm. I was almost ready to sit down and hide under my desk."
"It definitely did not show," I say, highly aware that my hand is where it is.
"It was quite a shock," says Azrael as he leans back in his chair, and his hands falling to his lap, "no matter how well I masked it."
I thought to pull my hand away from his chest, but I strangely can't now that I left it there. Because I didn't do so when it was best to, it's now awkward to do anything.
"At least you can admit it," I say, and Azrael's eyes open to find mine, "some people can't even think that they might've been scared. They lie to themselves that they're never scared. But you manage to show that you aren't so, and rather you're not afraid to admit your fear."
"You praise me too much," says Azrael, but he smiles at me, "but again, we have to find exactly how Cale snuck into this building. I will have to speak later with the front desk, and also with the head of security."
"That's probably a good idea," I say, "speaking of, I didn't know Jane could land a punch like that."
"Oh, she's a fighter," says Azrael with a laugh, "she could punch through a bank safe."
I share a laugh with him, and I hear Levi come back toward us.
"Everybody alright in here?" he asks us as he walks to our office.
"Yes, Jane was with us," says Azrael with a smile.
"Oh, then I suppose there's no issue here," says Levi, then nods his head back to his office, "I'm going to head back to my work, alright?"
"Sure thing," says Azrael, and Levi nods before walking back to his office, closing Azrael's office door as he goes out.
"I think I should also be getting to my own work as well," I say, walking to the office doors.
"Okay," says Azrael, but then perks up, saying, "oh, and Hogarth?"
"Yes?" I say.
"Thank you for trying to keep me safe," sys Azrael with a smile, and I think his ears are slightly pink, "it...it was very kind of you."
I feel my cheeks heat up, and smile, saying, "It was no issue."
Azrael nods, and I walk out of his office and head to my own, which I inside find my work that I left before lunch. Not that my attention could be taken by that. My mind is too concerned with what he said, and I'm really concerned with how to approach Azrael in the eventual future. i keep being stupid and somehow forgetting to talk about it with him when I see him, and also don't spend time out of his sight thinking how to approach him.
I think I better get started. Not to mention, I know about Azrael, or supposedly enough, according to Jane. I should be able to talk to him, and I know that I like him.
So, what's stopping me? Nothing.