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.They hit each other, but not hard enough to seriously injure and even when Emiliochomped down hard on Carhart's ear with his teeth, Carhart slammed his elbow intoEmilio's chest instead of his throat which would have been more painful for the otherman.Emilio released Carhart and stumbled back, rubbing his chest with a scowl as Carhartscrambled backwards and glared at his former partner as he breathed heavily from thescuffle."You're a dick," Carhart managed finally, narrowing his eyes at Emilio."Well, so are you," Emilio retorted, still tense and appearing ready to fight but after a moment of staring at each other, he seemed to deflate and just leaned against the wall,bringing his hands up to cover his face briefly.Carhart reached up to gingerly touch his ear and noted that it was actually bleedingalthough at least it was still entirely intact.He glared at Emilio but when the other manIn the Company of ShadowsInterludescontinued to stand against the wall in a nearly defeated manner, as if he was giving upon the situation, some of Carhart's doubt returned.Despite everything, despite the fact that Emilio pissed him off and deliberately goadedhim into situations like the one that was occurring, Carhart couldn't forget that Emiliohad been the one to breathe life back into him when Carhart's entire life had been bleakand empty after the deaths of his wife and child.He couldn't forget that in his own way, Emilio had been his best friend and Carhartespecially couldn't forget that in the very mission that Emilio was talking about, themission that caused so much distress in Carhart because of the things he'd done andwitnessed in Brighton Community Prison during their seven month long undercoveroperation-- Emilio had saved Carhart's life on more than one occasion."I'm sorry for everything," Carhart said finally, when he'd caught his breath again."But you did what you had to do to survive and I do what I have to do.I may seem like aspineless coward to you but I would never intentionally hurt you and especially notHsin."Emilio dropped his hands finally and he looked at Carhart queerly but didn't reply."The means.the means I use are harsh, and can be problematic, but in a place like theAgency," Carhart tried to explain, shaking his head and wincing slightly."In a place like the Agency, after being here for twenty years, the ends always justify the means, even ifthe means are considered deplorable by society's standards.You should know that,Emilio.You more than anyone."This time Emilio frowned uncertainly and didn't bother trying to hide that from Carhart.He didn't brush off the comments, or the fact that something akin to regret made its wayinto his formerly harsh expression.He was being real with Carhart and Carhartappreciated that fact."You're right," Emilio said finally, almost dejectedly."I'm a hypocritical dumb fuck just like you."Carhart made a face."Thanks."They looked at each other silently for a moment and Emilio turned away finally, holdinghis shoulder which was likely sore from where it'd slammed against the edge of thecoffee table when Carhart tackled him."You're still a poser, though."In the Company of ShadowsInterludesCarhart glared at Emilio and continued glaring even after Emilio once again slammedthe bathroom door shut.Carhart could only imagine what the agent who lived below himwas thinking about the variety of bangs and shouts that had begun to occur sinceEmilio's arrival.===Vivienne's office was pristine and remained almost completely unchanged from themoment she'd made it hers over a decade ago.The same low-lying desk sat in thesame position; spotless, with necessary items perfectly in order.The bookshelvesbehind her only held a few more books than before but otherwise looked untouched.The floor-to-ceiling windows along one wall remained so clean that they almost seemedinvisible; it almost seemed as though the floor simply ended and a gaping hole openedup to the half-destroyed city beyond.The only difference today was that Aisha had replaced the single chair in front of thedesk with two, one each for Carhart and Emilio.As Vivienne watched them, her back was straight and her fingers were interlaced as herhands rested on her desk.Despite the relatively hot day, she wore a skirt suit as usual.Today, her black jacket drew in at the waist with a thin silver belt, a turquoise blousepeeking out from beneath as she shifted.Her pale blond hair was pulled back in a low-lying bun and she wore the same subdued makeup as usual; just enough to enhanceher ice blue eyes and her full lips which were currently tightened slightly, but not enoughto be distracting.Her expression was as utterly unreadable as ever; that same cool mask that sometimesseemed less alive than a statue's.She studied Emilio closely, flicking along the entirelength of him dismissively before settling on his face.Not a hint of her thoughts made itto her eyes or body language; she would probably make a phenomenal poker playerwith how little she gave away.Emilio just stared back, a smirk twitching at the corners of his well-formed mouth asthough he found something incredibly funny about the entire situation or perhaps aboutVivienne herself.In the Company of ShadowsInterludesCarhart couldn't help narrowing his eyes at Emilio slightly, willing his former partner totake the situation more seriously and not fuck himself over by being as disrespectful ashe'd been on his first meeting with Vivienne [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]