Chapter 134: Did we get anything?
Chapter 134: Did we get anything?
"Commander~
You are back, I missed you~"
Lucian spoke with a beaming smile as he opened the door, Evelyn didn’t know why, but her mouth twitched when she heard that tone, she however, didn’t say anything right now, her eyes were on Alaric.
Ashcroft looked at Lucian, then his eyes shifted to Evelyn, he noticed her posture, her flushed face, then her legs and he...
He understood.
For a second, the room became painfully silent.
That was when Lucian raised his hand.
"Before you say anything, this is not what it looks like."
Evelyn looked at him with a deadpan look on her face, that made Lucian pause.
"Actually, that was a terrible sentence.
Never mind."
He shook his head.
Alaric did not react.
"Cross."
He called with the same, authoritative tone as always.
"Yes, Commander?"
"Outside."
"Yes Commander."
Lucian sighed.
He then looked at Evelyn, who seemed a little nervous, and he just smiled at her and mouthed ’I’ll be back’. Evelyn nodded with a light smile. Lucian fixed his clothes a little more and passed Alaric, who was waiting for him to move before he did.
"Could this wait until morning?"
Lucian asked while he was walking past him.
"No."
"Thought so."
Lucian sighed again.
Alaric turned and walked as well, the door closed behind them.
Lucian followed Alaric down the hall and into a small sitting room near the side of the residence. Alaric closed the door, the moment it shut, the air changed.
Lucian did try to redeem it with a joke.
"Today was fun, wasn’t it? We make a pretty good team."
Alaric, however, only looked at him and Lucian sighed in defeat and raised his hand.
"Fine, serious face, I understand."
"You left your assigned position."
"We are starting there, huh..."
Lucian exhaled.
Alaric only looked at him and he—
"I got Evelyn out."
He defended himself.
"You left her."
"She was with Sarah and Elise."
"You were ordered to stay with her."
"The route she was supposed to take had two Fifth Veil Hosts waiting."
"And you made the correct decision by identifying the trap."
Lucian blinked.
That was not the response he had expected.
Alaric continued,
"You also made the correct decision by creating an alternate route. You warned Black and Ward, then you used the enemy’s plan against them and helped capture the Hosts, which might give us vital information."
Lucian was now even more surprised.
"Commander, I am getting scared.
Are you... complimenting me?"
"No."
Alaric’s eyes sharpened, Lucian noticed it instantly.
"You broke protocol."
"I did what I had to."
Lucian answered with a serious look on his face.
"What you had to do was to protect Evelyn Starling, not chase leads. You weren’t told to capture prisoners or improvise secondary operations without approval.
Your primary duty was to stay with her."
"If I had stayed with her, the Hosts would have escaped."
"Then the Hosts would have escaped."
Lucian frowned.
Alaric’s voice remained cold.
"Your job was not to catch them.
Your job was to make sure she survived."
"She did survive."
"This time."
Alaric spoke and Lucian—
He paused for a moment.
Alaric noticed that, but he did not soften.
"You are powerful, Cross. You are fast, durable, and unpredictable, that makes you useful.
But you do not understand command structure.
Command Structure exists for a reason, Cross.
You were right today, that was fortunate.
But what if you were not?"
"..."
Lucian didn’t say anything, so Alaric answered it for him.
"Then Starling’s life would have been in jeopardy."
Lucian’s eyes flickered at those words.
"We cannot have that, Cross.
We cannot afford mistakes because the consequences are too severe.
This is why Command Structure exists, to minimise mistakes and if every member of a team starts deciding their own priorities in the middle of a hostile operation, this structure falls, mistakes rise and so does the risk."
The room turned silent.
Lucian lowered his head, understanding what Alaric was trying to say.
His mind started recalling Evelyn’s face when he placed her inside Sarah’s car, the way she didn’t let go of his sleeve immediately, the way she stared at him when he stepped back.
He thought she was safe.
And she was.
But...
What if she was not?
What if something he missed in that little second happened?
"You cannot protect her from a place you are not, Cross."
Alaric spoke and this time, Lucian nodded.
"I understand."
Alaric watched him for a moment, then—
"From now on, you will stay with Miss Starling unless I personally order otherwise."
"Understood."
Lucian nodded again.
"And since you do not understand protection protocol, you will learn it."
Lucian looked up.
"What does that mean?"
He frowned.
"It means your punishment begins tomorrow."
"What punishment?"
"Paperwork."
Lucian’s expression changed and Alaric continued without mercy.
"You will assist Clara in route approvals, schedule reviews, risk classifications, staff clearance summaries, vehicle assignments, crowd-density assessments, emergency fallback plans, ordinary guard rotations, venue floor-plan analysis, medical extraction routes, and communication chain reports."
Lucian only stared at him, just listening to those words felt exhausting.
Alaric didn’t care.
"You will read the full protection file and sign off on every movement you are assigned to. You will also submit written reasoning for every alternate route you approve."
Lucian slowly raised a hand.
"Commander."
"No."
"I have not said anything yet."
"No."
Alaric looked at him and Lucian lowered his head.
"You are a cruel man, Commander."
"I am aware."
"This is why people fear the Ashcrofts."
"No. They fear us for different reasons."
"This should be one of them."
Alaric ignored him.
Lucian sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"Fine, I will suffer with dignity."
Again, Alaric ignored him. Lucian stared at the commander, already dreading what was going to happen, soon however, he sighed, that was tomorrow’s Lucian’s problem, right now, he had more important things to talk about.
"Commander."
He called with a serious look on his face. Alaric looked at him, waiting for the question.
"Did we get anything?"
Lucian asked.
Alaric looked at him for a short moment, then, he shook his head.
"No."