[ 5 ] 2014

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"We can't and we won't go against his wishes. We owe him everything and as much as it pains us, we have to fulfill his last request."

-

No amount of time they could spend together felt like enough for Harleen Quinn. 

As they pulled away from their embrace, Arthur took her hands in his and he instantly felt the wind knocked out of his lungs. He had been pushed into another dimension, or another time. He couldn't be too sure. But as his eyes adjusted to his surroundings, he saw that he was no longer in the dark realm with Harleen. But rather a place he recognized from a time long before the one he knew then.

It was Harleen's bedroom in Perth. And his heart stopped beating in surprise when he saw her there, laying in her bed, writing a letter. Her blonde hair was dyed jet black and her lips were tinted black too. She had gone from dressing in cute pastel colors when he met her, to adopting his style of wearing all black and a leather jacket. Her mother thought Arthur had also gotten her into trouble and Hayley Davis always suspected the two were up to no good. But there was always a particular resentment in her eyes whenever she looked at Arthur Vega. At his eighteen years of age, he could never pinpoint exactly what it was. 

It wasn't until years later that Arthur found out that the main reason that Hayley disliked him was because he was Claire's son with Bobby. And Bobby had been the love of her life. She had only broken up with him because of her jealousy and her unfounded suspicions that he was cheating on her with Claire. As it turned out, his parents did start a relationship later on. But that had been long after Bobby and Hayley dated. 

As Arthur took a step closer, noticing that she could not see him, he read off the top of the letter. To my handsome boyfriend Arthur. Even as a full grown adult, he couldn't help but blush at the title. Harleen always was like that. Whenever she wrote him letters, she'd start them off with that.

Just as she began writing the love letter, her mother barged into the room without even knocking first. Harleen looked up from her letter and quickly hid it under her pillow. This was clearly around the time that she had forbidden them from seeing each other. But they did so anyway. They went to the same high school, had all of the same classes, and they often skipped their classes anyway to hang out together by the abandoned school building. No one went there because it was old and dusty, and had almost burnt down during a fire. But it was safe enough for the two teenagers to see each other.

"Can I help you?" Harleen asked with annoyance, rolling her eyes at her mother.

Harleen and her mother had once been close, as Arthur remembered well. But that all changed when Arthur and Harleen started dating. Hayley didn't like Arthur, didn't think he was good enough to date her daughter. But she also hated him for being the son of Claire and Bobby. 

"You just got a call from Arthur." Hayley started to explain with disdain. Harleen thought to herself that at least it was some form of improvement from her mother. Every other time Arthur called, Harleen had to race to the phone otherwise she might miss him and her mother wouldn't even mention anything to her. "He wanted to talk to you to say that he wants to break up with you and that he will never call you again. He also doesn't want you contacting him either. I thought I was going to have to get rid of him myself. But it seems he's gotten bored with you already."

Harleen felt the tears quickly begin to sting her eyes and she shook her head in denial. "Arthur would never say those things to me."

Arthur felt a prick in his chest when he saw Harleen like that, but it stung all the more when it wasn't the way he recalled everything happening. He had called Harleen that day, but her mother answered the phone. She told him that Harleen was seeing a boy named Aaron Quinn and that she had forgotten about him. But now he knew it was all a lie to separate them. He regretted not trying to contact her again, but he had been too heart broken, and now he knew that Harleen had been hurting too. 

"Maybe you can finally get over that boy and start acting normal again." Her mother said with venom in her words. 

But Harleen already held her head in her hands and was shedding tears. Arthur wanted so badly to cut the distance between them and embrace her. He also mentally scolded his younger self for not having gone back to Perth to visit and try to win her back. But his aunt had been very sick and he did not want to leave her side. By the time she passed away in 1993 when he as twenty one, he returned to Perth briefly and found that Harleen was indeed dating Aaron Quinn. And not only were they dating, but they were even engaged to get married. It broke Arthur's heart into a million pieces. To see them together, so happy, so perfect. Aaron Quinn was the athlete with perfect grades and a university degree. Arthur was the drop out and the misfit that no one really liked. 

As he thought about those things, he was pulled back to his reality. Harleen holding his hands and both of them standing in the dark hallway. It was then that he remembered that was Harleen's gift. She could make people see her memories and feel her emotions through those memories. But she could also see other people's memories if she so wished to do so. She could see even the memories people wanted to repress. 

With tears brimming her blue eyes, Harleen let go of his hands and brought them to her face to shield herself from his eyes. "I'm sorry." She apologized through a muffled voice. It had been so long since she had used her powers, and it was only logical that she would not know how to control them. "Its just that its the first memory that comes to my mind when I think about you and our relationship."

Arthur felt his heart ache. Even through his heart ache, he always thought of the good memories with Harleen first. And she had been so hurt that she remembered the memory of their break up first. Maybe she really was better off with Aaron Quinn if Arthur was only bringing her heart break. 

"But..." She then started slowly, pulling her hands back down by her sides like a shy teenager. "I was curious and went through your memories of that day and I saw that you called me. But it didn't go quite how my mother told it to me. She told you to stop calling because I was dating Aaron and that wasn't true. He was sending me letters and presents from Melbourne, but we didn't start dating until a year after you and I broke up."

Arthur pulled her into his embrace once more. "Still, I'm sorry for leaving you all alone. I'm sorry for not trying harder."

Harley had gone down to the far end of the hall to give them some privacy. But once she felt like they had been there too long, she returned and interrupted them. Tugging on her mother's arm, she informed her. "We should get going before we lose too many brain cells in here."

"But we can't leave without him." Harleen protested.

Arthur reassured her with a sad smile and a nod of his head. "Go Harleen. I will follow you soon. I promise."

They were both able to convince Harleen and Harley took her mother's hands in hers. Both of them closed their eyes and Harley concentrated hard on getting them back to Arthur's hospital room. There was a flash in her eyes and then she felt the cushions of a couch beneath her. When she opened her eyes, she was back in the hospital. But Calum was there too. Only she didn't have any time to ask him what he was doing there before she passed out into the clutches of sleep. It was one of the consequences of shifting through dimensions. It got her so tired out that she slept for hours after. 

-

With Jack captured, the hunters led by James, were on their way back to the hospital. They had tied up his hands and feet, and gagged him so he wouldn't make a sound. Then Naileah stepped forward and opened up one of her portals. Her gift was the same as Harley's in the sense that overdoing it would cause her a great amount of exhaustion. 

Jack watched in shock and curiosity as a black hold opened up in front of them and they all walked through it, taking him with them. When they emerged from it, they were in the hospital where Michael had visited Arthur when they arrived back in Sydney. The people in the room stared back at the new arrivals with the exception of Arthur who was in a coma, and Harley and Harleen who had fallen asleep after their visit to the other dimension. 

Calum had been sitting by Harley's side, cradling her in his arms. But upon their arrival, he gently got up from his place on the couch and went to confront the current co leader to the hunter's organization. "What are you planning to do?" He asked through gritted teeth. But if they had brought Jack to the hospital, a lot was obvious already. They were probably going to do what Paul thought. They would use him to cure Arthur, and they they would kill him, getting rid of all the shifters' powers. But then, what was the guarantee that it would even work? Or that the hunters would willingly give up their own powers as well?

"We're here to finish this." James replied. 

But Calum insisted. This time he was being the advocate for them to do the right thing, when before he would have been reckless and would have gotten what he wanted by any means necessary. No matter how many people he had to get out of his way. "I agree that we should help my uncle. But Jack should be willing to do it as well. And I don't think we should kill him afterwards."

Naileah stepped forward confidently, scoffing at Calum. She had her people in the room with her and though she was smaller than him, she knew they would have her back if a fight were to break loose. She thought that she knew his real motives for not wanting Jack to die, and she didn't have a problem throwing them out there for everyone to hear. "You just don't want to lose your powers." She pointed out and the hunters nodded in agreement. Their eyes looked to Calum with disapproval and disdain. They saw the shifters as inferior, but also as selfish people who only sought for their own benefit. 

"I wasn't talking to you." Calum glared at her.

Without missing a beat, James kicked Jack in the back of the knees, making him fall forward onto them. The original winced in pain, and James drew out his Diamond Rose. He then held it to the back of his head. Jack could feel the cool metal of it and it sent a chill down his spine. It was the way his father had died, through one of those guns, and he always thought it would be his demise as well.

Paul stepped forward, standing in front of Jack, but he used a hand to push the gun down by James' side. 

"Maybe we shouldn't kill him." He tried to reason with James, his voice calm, but there was an undertone of anxiousness to it. "Maybe we can learn to get along and work together instead of doing all this senseless killing. Maybe we can all use our gifts for good."

James gave a roll of his eyes. It was one of the few times Paul had seen that amount of insubordination from him. At nineteen years old, Paul was the eldest of the hunters, other than Arthur. Most hunters, as well as shifters, didn't make it to old age because both sides were constantly at each other's throats. Because of that, Paul had always been Arthur's second in command. The other hunters looked to Paul. "You've always been the boy scout, Paul. Seeing the good in everyone and preferring to spare them over completing a mission. But people like them are only capable of destroying things and murdering innocent people. That's why we exist because they're out of control."

"I will not argue with you, James. Stand down." Paul said, more firmly that time.

But James quickly refused. "We will not. And if you are not with us, then you are the enemy."

And with a gesture of his head, the other hunters lunged forward, seizing both Paul and Dempsey, as well as Calum. There were more of them and they were able to easily overpower them. 

"This is what the boss wanted, Paul." James said. Dempsey and Paul struggled against their captors who had once been their colleagues. "We can't and we won't go against his wishes. We owe him everything and as much as it pains us, we have to fulfill his last request."

-

i wrote this update at work during my breaks. 

and i really wanted to post it, but i thought i would wait to get home to do some editing. so i hope you all like the update. i will try really hard to write another update or tonight, since i will probably not go out tonight.

let me know your thoughts on this. i would really appreciate the feedback. thank you  so much.

-clary