Andrew Odlum as Nathan Denton

“In no time flat, he’ll be covering Brooklyn to Trenton
Our man, Denton!
Makin’ a headline outta a hunch
Protectin’ the weak
An’ payin’ for lunch...”
-- Newsies, ‘King of New York’

~*~

The lounge was nearly empty – it was a weeknight and Isely employees were not given to staying up this late. For Avery, it was the habit of the last two weeks to come down and have a single glass of Shiraz before returning to Tovar’s fabulous apartments thirty stories above. Tonight, habit mingled with purpose.

“Nathan Denton,” she greeted. The man to whom she’d spoken smiled and rose, gripping his cane and using it as leverage to get to his feet. It was a motion that had always made Avery wince inwardly. He was younger than she, and yet the action made him seem infinitely older.

“It's been a long time, Captain," he noted, his grin easy.

Avery smiled, genuinely. “It certainly has. Come on and let’s get a table.”

After they were seated comfortably in a plush booth, Nathan leaned in a little to grin over at Crane. “So, what’s this all about? Giving me an exclusive interview? Gilda’s not going to like that.”

Avery shook her head. “No. Although if I were going to give an interview, it’d be to you, Nathan. We’re old war-buddies.”

Nathan chuckled. “That we are. Those were some high times, Captain. Going down with you to Neville, flying with you through the Sweep.” He leaned back, his smile nostalgically warm. “High times.”

Avery felt that wrench again. It did no good to pity him, she knew, but the injustice was always hard to swallow. Nathan Denton had lived through as much chaos, devastation and destruction during the Campaign as she had…only he’d done it with a camera instead of a gun in his hand. He’d risked his life, but there were no medals or decorations for him. He’d won a Pulitzer for his war-correspondence stories, but she knew it didn’t matter to him. All that risk, all that danger, he took on because it was the only way he’d ever see battle. It was the closest he could ever come to being a soldier. And he wanted to be a soldier more than anything in the world.

He’d told her about it – about trying to enlist and being turned away because of his leg. It was a mild birth defect, but it cost him his dream. He could’ve turned bitter, but instead he joined the press corps and flung himself headlong into being a war-correspondent. Channeled all his energy and drive into that job, since it couldn’t go into being a Marine. It had paid off – he was the most celebrated wartime journalist of the Campaign. The accomplishment was no small thing, but Avery remembered the longing in his eyes when he stood, capturing on film Crane receiving her commendations. He spoke of the GAF with more love and respect than half her own crew did. He was born to be a soldier and, had his damn body cooperated, he could’ve outshone Avery easily.

Instead, he was the one that cheered her the loudest. His stories about her during the Campaign had netted her fame, accolades and promoted her to the status of war hero. He’d been the one who’d petitioned to have the asteroid belt where she fought her most famous battle named the Avery Sweep. He was the only member of the press who’d dared to decry her court-martial. He was the only media man who had ever truly seen and understood her bond with the Valdosta.

Now, he sat across from her, his guileless face lit with remembering the war. Not a trace of jaded frustration – he was too good for that. Too noble. He was just glad he could’ve been then, seen it, and done what he could.

“I wouldn’t be where I am if it weren’t for you, Nathan,” Avery told him sincerely. “You’re an amazing man.”

“That’s why I’m here? You brought me up from New York to tell me I’m amazing?” Denton chuckled. “C’mon, now.”

“I want you to come with us on an expedition, back out to the Carolina Arm,” Avery told him. “I want you to cover the whole trip.”

Nathan’s smile vanished. “Are you serious?”

“They want to send some Isely PR stooge and I won’t have it. They think we might find intelligent life out there and, if we do, I want the best person able to record it for posterity. I know you, I trust you. I also know that if things get dicey, you won’t lose your head. You’re tough and you’ve been through skirmishes and air-battles before and you behaved like a soldier every single time. I need that, Nathan.”

Denton was quiet for a long time. When he spoke, he chose his words carefully. “Whatever happens out there, Captain…I’m going to tell the truth. No Isely cover-ups. No bullshit.”

Avery smiled softly. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Very cool. I love that you used Denton btw. One of my favorite musicals

“I’m not going to coddle you, boy. You know I never agreed with your mother, god rest her soul. Four years. That is how long you have to make yourself a man.”

"I'll make you proud, father."

"I doubt that is going to happen considering your condition."

"I'll show you! Even with my Zant I'll join up. I'll work my ass off and I'll figure out a way. They will be so impressed with everything else that they will look past my...my..."

"Useless body?"

"Shut up! That's not fair! I'm not useless!"

"Prove it. Prove me wrong, boy."

"I'll make you proud! I swear I will!"

"You better figure out a way to become a marine with that shit body of yours in that case. On that day I'll be proud of you. Until then you are simply a waste of space that is responsible for the death of my wife."

"..."

"I'm done with this conversation. Go to your fucking room and take your god damn pussy poetry books with you."

"Yes...yes, sir."

Denton: "We need to break up."

Amber: "Excuse me?"

Denton: "You have amazing hearing. It's almost as good as your voice. Don't pretend you didn't hear me."

Amber: "Oh, I heard the words. I just have a hard time hearing crazy. Always has been a problem of mine."

Denton: "Amber, I'm not kidding around. This needs to end."

Amber listens to the words ready to offer another quip. However, the look in the eyes of her lover tell her that this is sadly not the time for quips. She sighs at first. However, Amber O'Teil is not a passive girl. Anger quickly takes over.

Amber: "Fuck you, Nathan. No it doesn't."

Denton: "Amber, don't make this even more difficult..."

Amber: "Fuck you! I'm going to make this as difficult as possible. No. My answer is no."

Denton: "What?"

Amber: "We aren't breaking up. I'm saying no."

Denton: "I don't think it works like that."

Amber: "Sure it does. No. We aren't breaking up. We're still together. Unless both parties agree the relationship is still a thing."

Denton: "Amber, cut it out. Denial like that doesn't work. We are breaking up. I'm dumping you. We are over."

Amber begins to cry even as she continues to yell.

Amber: "How can you say that so calmly? How can you just call things off just like that? Things are going so well! Some of your articles have been selling really well! My career is really starting to pick up too! Max says my next set of songs could go really far! Why the fuck are you breaking up with me when things are so perfect? Damn it, Nathan. Why?"

Natahn Denton knew this was going to hard. He was hoping it wouldn't be quite this hard but he knew it was going to hurt.

Denton: "Things aren't perfect, Amber. God, I wish they were, but they have never been perfect and they are never going to be perfect for me. However, you still have a god damn chance."

Amber sniffles.

Amber: "Nathan, what are you saying?"

Denton: "I can't be the man that you deserve. As you said things are going so well for you. If I'm in the picture part of your life is not going to be perfect. I am going to drag you down and I'm trying to avoid that."

Amber: "Baby, that's not true! I love you! You are never going to drag me down. Together we can take on the world and everything will be fine. Come on silly, you are always Mr. Positive. This isn't like you. We can do anything together."

Amber goes in to touch Denton but he pulls away. She looks very hurt.

Denton: "Not this time. I went to the doctor yesterday."

Amber: "So what? You go to the doctor all the time. That doesn't..."

Denton: "I'm dying, Amber. I got the bad news, yesterday. Stage 3. 100% fatality rate. Just a matter of time."

Amber: "Oh god..."

Denton: "That is why we can't be together, Amber. I love you...god, do I love you, but you deserve better."

Amber: "Damn it Nathan! I don't care. The doctors can be wrong! Even if they aren't I don't care. We can get married and be happy. Us versus the world. We can do it....we can do it..."

Amber breaks down and begins to cry. Denton begins to yell.

Denton: "NO! We can't! We fucking can't! I refuse to make you a widow. It isn't right. You have your whole god damn future in front of you! I refuse to watch you waste your happiness as you slowly watch me waste away into death. I fucking refuse! I don't want you staying with me out of pity. When we first started dating you swore I wasn't just a pity fuck. Well, I also don't want to be a pity husband. This needs to end. If you want to stay friends with the dead man I'm not going to stop you. Hell, I don't think I'm strong enough to cut you completely out of my life. However, our romantic relationship is dead as of right now. It needs to be."

Amber: "...but...I love you..."

Denton begins to cry.

Denton: "I love you too....I really do...but I can't do this anymore. Go reach for the stars, kiddo. I'll be here rooting for you. I have no idea how much longer I have left. All I can promise you is that I will always be there for you as long as this shit body of mine is still working enough to get me to a concert."

Amber wipes the tears from her eyes and defiantly looks up at Denton.

Amber: "I will never love another man like I love you."

Denton sighs.

Denton: "I know and I can't apologize enough for that."

Pain and Darkenss.

Tied up and secured.

The taunting voice of Avery's old enemy.

The sounds of Avery Crane being raped.

Powerless to help. Useless and powerles, just like always.

Avery Crane being raped. The only other woman he ever loved. Does he really love her or does he just love all that she represents? All that is good and true about the military? The best of the best. Is it just love or hero worship?

Does it matter?

All that matters is that Nathan Denton, the little useless broken boy, is useless yet again.

Pain and Darkness.

Denton: "Amber, I don't exactly know how to tell you this. Ummm....I guess I'll just be really direct. Due to some very unusual circumstances my Zant is cured. I....I....was wondering if you might consider giving us a second chance?"

Amber just laughs.

Amber: "Your body might be fixed, Nathan, dearest, but you are still a fraud. You are just a pathetic little man playing soldier."

Denton: "What? No, that's not true! I'm a reporter! I'm trying to..."

Amber: "Be a soldier without actually being a soldier. You can't lie to me, Nathan. You never could. There is a problem though. Being a solider is dangerous. Soldiers often get shot."

Denton notices the gun on the table too slowly. Amber picks it up and shoots Denton in the heart. He falls to the ground and quickly starts to lose the battle of living.

Amber: "Soldiers also often die, Nathan. So do useless little reporters. Sad that you are in the second category isn't it?"

The Court: "We the court hereby demand that Nathan Denton has been in dangerous contact with the Crimson threat. His recorded condition of Zant was somehow cured from him using unknown alien technology. We hereby sentence Nathan Denton to Misery for future study. We also herby declare Nathan Denton a traitor agaist Humanity."

Denton: "No, this can't be! It wasn't my fault! I'm not a traitor! The Crimson did it! Why am I being punished?"

Jump to Misery.

Doctor: "Since we are not sure exactly what was done we are simply going to open up the subject to determine how his incurable disease went away."

Nurse: "Should we put him under, doctor?"

Doctor: "He is restrained. I think that should be sufficient. Besides we don't want to ruin the experiment by having extra drugs in his system. His tongue has been removed. The screaming should be minimal."

Avery wasn't seeing the big picture. She thought she was but she really wasn't. She was too direct. She was too loyal. It was just like right before she was put in Misery. She wanted them to play by her rules. She didn't realize that they stopped playing by her rules ages ago, if they ever played by them at all.

Nathan Denton sat alone in his luxury apartment in New York City. He drank a glass of scotch and listened to some classic jazz. His data pad sat on the table in front of him. Nothing interesting in the news today. Not yet.

Avery wanted to rebel. She didn't want to be their puppet. She didn't want to be their dog told to go fetch. It made sense, really. She was Avery Crane, one of the greatest soldiers alive, hell, one of the greatest in history. She wanted a battle. However, she wasn't dealing with other soldiers. She wasn't dealing with a direct enemy.

Acting like a petulant child would accomplish nothing.

Nathan stood up, enjoying the ease of the sensation that so many took for granted. He walked to the window overlooking the city. He looked out the window and took another sip of his scotch. The apartment was costly but the view of Central Park was worth it.

The Syndicate was potentially everywhere. They were a secret organization with potentially unlimited access. It could only be assumed that all of the most powerful humans alive belonged to the group. Better to assume that and be wrong than the other way around. They held all the cards. They were the house. The house always wins in the end. Unless you cheat.

Nathan touched the glass of his window in front of him with his left hand. The apartment programmed to respond to the touch activated the touch screen and Nathan started to scroll through his contacts. He had to find just the right starting point. Information was power and that meant the Syndicate had a hell of a lot of power. However, they couldn't control everything.

Alexander Golikov. Ah, good old Sasha. Yes, he will do nicely. Sure, he was dirty but he wasn't a monster.

Nathan touched the dial button and waited for Sasha to pick up the phone. On the 4th ring he picked up. As usual he refused the video option. Nathan was not surprised. Sasha wasn't a fan of the option, especially in the morning.

"It is very early, Mr. Denton. Could this not wait until later in the day?"

"Everything is relative, Sasha. It is 11:43 PM here in New York. That means it is almost 8 AM there in Moscow. You are a busy man shouldn't you be up and about and doing important things at this point."

"I am not amused, Denton. What do you want?"

"I sat on a story that could have gotten you in a lot of trouble. A little more digging and you might have been looking at 10-20. Does that sound familiar, Sasha, or is your memory a little hazy without that shit coffee you always used to drink. Since you're a stubborn ass I assume you still drink that crap even though you could easily afford better."

It was a very fine line with Sasha. Everything was about respect. You either had to respect the man completely or you had to have the balls to try to force him to respect you. Since Nathan couldn't do option one he had to hope for option two.

Sasha laughed.

"You don't change either. Still bold. Still big balls. Especially for news man."

"Yeah, that is kind of my specialty. Now, lets talk business. I need you to come to New York. Take a vacation."

Sasha stopped laughing.

"As you say. I'm very busy, Denton."

"Clear up your schedule. I want to see you in person."

Denton knew this was dangerous. Sasha was a dangerous man. However, he was potentially a small fry compared to the Syndicate. Denton knew that he had to take some risks in order to get anywhere.

"Why would I do that?"

"It is in your best interest. I have quite a large profile as reporters go. They keep giving me various awards. I can probaby get in any paper I want if I simply ask. I can probably write any story I want and get it published. Does it really matter what I want, Sasha? Don't you think it makes sense to consider my request?"

Silence. Sasha is smart. He is dangerous but he isn't going to risk a new investigation. He only really has one choice.

"Big balls, Denton. Very big. I will see you in a few hours in New York."

"I look forward to it. I will make sure to have some Diaka waiting for you."

"You better."