Velika: The story of a lover

It was almost midnight, within moments the hour hand on the clock in his office would strike twelve. Daniel Heinrich was sitting at his table, facing the window, quietly observing the beauty of the city where the lights were on and represented the vibrant, vivid, colourful nightlife, which would be hidden underneath when the sun rose.

He finished his work already, but he had a resistant impulse which made him have no intention to go home, back to the spacious, empty apartment which had echoes hovering above every inch of the apartment when his footsteps were slightly heavy. There were random times that he felt emotionally sick, he would consider himself as lonely. Well, what could he do anyways? The person who chose this life and was excited about it was himself. At least he had a decent place to live and no longer on the run, well, hopefully, he thought bitterly.

After Astoria Leontes was casted out from Natural, Dean O'Sullivan went along with her since he was the most trusted by her and had no way to survive under the surveillance of Romeo Leontes. Surprisingly, although both Daniel Heinrich and Velika O'Sullivan stayed in Natural, by Romeo Leontes' side like the new dictator had no doubt about their loyalty. The unanticipated trust paranoid them, indeed Romeo Leontes was an arrogant man who believed in his own philosophy, but he wasn't ignorant, he had the whole picture under his own eyes. So instead of being relieved by the semi ending of the so-called war, they had to be more than careful and cautiously behave since they knew their new boss was up to something dangerous, all the kindness was nothing but a deadly disguise.

Velika O'Sullivan lived in the same apartment building as he did. Now they were colleagues, and neighbours. They spent most of their free time together, either had dinner or go out for movies, hanging in the bar to waste nights. But often they just simply stayed in each other's apartment and watch old films from last century, they had to keep their heads low, there was potential danger all over the place, the walls had eyes.

The relationship between Daniel Heinrich and Velika O'Sullivan was slightly complicated. They were intimate sometimes, but both could feel that they remained in a distance, neither too close nor too far, it was an odd balance since they knew each other fairly well, from all kinds of sources. But Daniel Heinrich knew that she still kept lots things to herself and probably would never open up to him. Velika O'Sullivan couldn't file a divorce with Dean O'Sullivan, her husband for nearly ten years, as she had no legal documents to file for a divorce. So, they remained in this awkwardly half married half not state, and this potentially would last for the rest of their lives.

"I don't even know how this will end," Velika O'Sullivan told Daniel Heinrich, with a sarcastic smile when he questioned her reason to stay in a marriage that would only be her mentally burden, "Like there's no way to end it."

"You know you love me." Said Dean O'Sullivan in a cold but gently tone, when they finally had a chance to sit down and talk.

"I doubt that." Answered Velika O'Sullivan bitterly, "But it's pointless, you will never let me go, Dean, I know that."

"Not until I find out what you are trying to hide from me." Said Dean O'Sullivan, with a sneer, who then stood up and gave her a hug.

Velika O'Sullivan stood stiff and did not know what to think.

There were times Daniel Heinrich wonder how he got involved in this never-ending battle and decided to stay as a part of it when he did have a chance to disappear after Astoria Leontes left the division. Part of him believed it was because Astoria Leontes took him as a threat and tried to get rid of him due to his enormous information about her scandalous past. However, what truly made him stay on the side of Velika O'Sullivan instead of Romeo Leontes was, he hated that man no less than the woman who once lost her husband.

Years ago, when he joined Companion due to his intention for revenge. Little did he knew; the whole thing was not as simple as he thought. At first, he thought he already accomplished his revenge by putting a bullet in the man's head who murdered his parents and sister. Later as he built his own network, he realized it was the Leontes behind the scene, manipulating everything, so he made the decision to stay in this game, together with Velika O'Sullivan, he aimed to clear out the notorious family for once.

Part of him mocked at his own thoughts, this was nothing but a pale excuse for his inability to save himself from the insane game these intelligent people played.

Pathetic, he could imagine Velika O'Sullivan saying this word with a scornful smile on her pale face.

Well, at least they were not just sitting there, being controlled by others and waited for their death bell to ring because they weren't planning to be the marionettes that had string attached to their backs and let others manipulate their lives.

Daniel Heinrich smirked and the hour hand of the clock stroke to twelve.

###

It took Velika O'Sullivan a while to finally admitted that her husband, Dean O'Sullivan was never the man she once believed that she could spend the rest of her life with anymore. At first, she denied it, she could not believe or by any means to convince herself that he had become a ruthless creature, whom she could barely recognize if she didn't know him for years. But no, she had to face the cruel truth that Dean O'Sullivan chose his own benefit before anything he had, even when it came to her. She had no clue how Dean O'Sullivan got out of the business Romeo Leontes forced him to get involved in, and she always wondered how he built his complex personal network, gained access to the darkest secret of all the people in charge, some of them even she was unaware of, maintained safe and never had any lethal threats. With nearly the same amount of information he had about Astoria Leontes as Daniel Heinrich did, it was only the German who got mainly targeted and the woman desperately want to get rid of him.

=So, when Dean O'Sullivan chose Astoria Leontes over his wife, yet he still wanted to remain married to her, she had the impulse to say no, but she simply could not, she had things that she wanted to protect, she needed the marriage status with Dean O'Sullivan and he had to believe she was still madly in love with him. She knew by heart that Dean O'Sullivan took her as his possession, she had to be his and only his, regardless of the fact that they didn't love each other anymore.

They might never love deach other at the first place.

When they were sitting in her living room, which she presumed as their possible last conversation in another decade or even longer, they were sitting in a delicate distance, both drinking coffee, like they were just normal friends hanging out in a warm autumn afternoon.

"Heinrich has nothing to do with me," She frowned, took a sip of coffee, "You are not going to give me any information about what Romeo is planning to do with me, aren't you?"

He simply shook his head.

"Astoria and you are just going to sit back and watch Heinrich and I struggle for our lives, even since the beginning I was involved only because of you?" Velika O'Sullivan's tone became bitter, like a sharp knife carved on the wooden desk, carved right into Dean O'Sullivan's heart.

He felt sorry, but he didn't want to show that on his face, he knew he supposed to let this woman leave him behind and find her way out of this maze, then hopefully, start a new life, put all the past behind. But his ego took over him, he wanted her, and he wanted her to stay with him, and kept their vows that only death will do them apart. In his mind, she was a belonging of his that no one else could ever own, an object, a service that could only be utilized by him.

Even though it was a meaningless marriage, even though he knew that she would be better off with Daniel Heinrich, or anyone else in this world.

"Well," He was still trying to phrase his words in a way that would not lead him into any sort of trouble, "The Leontes are done with you two."

"They want us dead, Heinrich and I, it's not a taboo," Said Velika O'Sullivan coldly, "They finished using us as soldiers, of course they are going to get rid of us now, we know too much."

"This is your chance to get out all of these and potentially have a chance to start over." He bit his lips and said slowly, "And you know you can."

She seemed ignore what he said and continued: "Astoria is going to use Romeo to kill Heinrich and I, then she could kill Romeo. Tell me Dean, don't you worry that she is going to write you off as well?"

She had this rage in her eyes, the kind of furious rage that he had never seen in his life. It was all his fault, if he didn't accept the offer ten years ago, if he left her notified, she would not be in this business, she could probably have children and live a normal life without taking every day like walking on the edge of the cliff.

But she never hated him, he couldn't understand the reason. He didn't know what he did that made this woman loyal to him, trusted him and loved him throughout the years without being skeptical about anything though she had major trust issues with others, simply shown by her twisted relationship with Daniel Heinrich.

Or at least he thought so.

'Why does she love me?' He had asked himself this question repeatedly.

"Partnership." He answered plainly.

She nodded and took another sip of her coffee. All she could think at this moment was what Romeo Leontes' plan for her was and tried to get as much information from Dean O'Sullivan as possible before he took off. Without a doubt, it must be something related to XYZ-2421-ERA, the drug Romeo Leontes put years of effort into developing. Searching up deeply in her memory, and from the pieces of fragile details her husband mentioned to her, she then had a name in mind, a name of a place. Then, slowly, she had an almost invisible smile on her face.

"You know," She said sort of aimlessly, like the intense situation was gone and back to the small talks, "When I became the Chair Field Agent in Natural, I swore to myself I will become the second Miss Ade, and have my portrait hung on the wall of the main hall, yet no one can see my face since half of it is covered in shadows."

"You are close," Said Dean O'Sullivan quietly, a little surprised she changed the topic so quickly, "You can be the next Miss Ade if you withdraw from this game safely."

Velika O'Sullivan rose her eyebrow.

Then they kept quiet and mind their own business, buried in their thoughts. Velika O'Sullivan decided she had to talk to Daniel Heinrich as soon as possible regarding their situation and hoping they could find a solution.

When Dean O'Sullivan was about to leave, the last sentence he said to her stirred her semi-calmed mind.

"Remember," He paused, and his pretty green eyes focused on her, like this was the last time he would ever see her, "I love you Velika, and I will always do, it's unfortunate that we can't have a normal functioning relationship."

She said nothing but gave him a hug, he held her so tight against his chest and so did she, and she had two words in mind when he kissed her:

Star-crossed lovers.