[Story] Delta – S01 E33

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 33

♣ Josh ♣

My memories of the police station were forever going to be crappy. By the time Stephen pulled into the parking lot, Astrid was in an unconscious state of sorts, probably more dazed than anything else. Not that I could blame her. Stephen looked like he wanted to ask more questions than I could handle at that point, and so I made sure I ignored him as I stepped carefully out of the car, leaving Astrid on the seat.

The rain had finally stopped, leaving the ground damp and sticky and the air fresh but heavy. Dark clouds still hovered overhead, and I glanced up at them before looking towards the police station. It looked as enticing as always – which was to say, not at all – and the back façade of the building was hardly better-looking than the front. I could see some sort of door leading into the station from the back but figured that it would probably be either locked or inaccessible to civilian use. I didn’t, however, want to troop around to the front of the building holding Astrid’s barely conscious figure.

Vacillating, I glanced at the SIS agent. “Should we go inside?”

He shrugged. “What other options do we have?”

I had to admit that he had a point. But that didn’t mean that I wanted to be taking Astrid into the station in her state; it would probably arouse loads of questions that I didn’t feel like answering. Sighing, I pressed my hands over my eyes, struggling to rein in my emotions as her words came flooding back to me: “Charlie’s dead.” It didn’t seem real. It couldn’t be. I had to concentrate, or we would never be able to help Pierre – though by then I was starting not to care.

“All right,” I said finally. “I’ll carry her in, then.”

Stephen raised an eyebrow, as if he didn’t believe that I could, but I chose to pay no heed to that gesture as I stepped towards the car again. Astrid was still slumped against the back seat, but her eyes were open, looking at me with an emptiness that made me feel that I would rather have her unconscious. I forced a smile to my face as I wrapped my arms around her a little awkwardly, moving so that I could carry her easily. She didn’t protest as I scooped her out of the seat.

With Stephen following, I made my way towards the front of the station, praying that Delta had somehow gotten there already. Fortunately, the rain seemed to have driven all pedestrians from the streets, and so our little parade received little to no notice as we trooped to the front doors. As the SIS agent pushed open the glass doors for me, I saw the man at the desk’s eyes widen in shock as I entered with the limp, soaked Astrid in my arms. Staggering slightly by this point, I moved straight past him, placing Astrid on the wooden bench near his desk carefully.