Being cooped up in that suite all day was the most annoying part of all this. I felt as if I left the room, Medusa was going to attack me again. I wasn’t feeling one hundred percent yet but I had to train. Crazy thing is that before I started my life as a thief, I’d never trained a day in my life. It was like one day I woke up a different guy. I hoped that no one would be in the training room, but no such luck. As I walked into the training room, I was aware of Electra and Birkoff training in the corner. While Birkoff merely sneered, Electra waved before going back to her training. Birkoff’s appearance used to be primal a viral and sexy and it still was, but his scars gave him a rugged, worn look. I’m sure his scars looked worse to him, but they weren’t that bad to me. They’d been made by an Ansai knife, one of the strongest knives on the planet due to the steel that makes them. He was also one of Cypress’ experiments, for it was Cypress who had done this to him. His own personal brand of torture. I saw Archer, or Harrison Liah, standing at the archery range. As I walked over to him, I watched as his strong arms pulled the bow back and released it, causing three arrows to shoot out and each hit one of the circles of the target. When he finished he turned to me and I looked at him intently. He looked like a video game character, Leon Kennedy, from Resident Evil. From the hair right down to the weird smirk and strong arms.
“Hey!” He said quickly, “I heard you were on the trip from hell.”
“More like the trip to Hell, but—“
“You okay? I mean…you’re not seriously injured are you?” He asked.
“Nah, just bruised on eighty percent of my body and I think my neck is a little broken.” I frowned, “At least I know my spidey sense works.”
“Inik says you handled yourself well, which I knew you could.”
“Why, cause it’s in the files?” I asked shortly.
He chuckled, “No. I’ve seen what you can do.” He smiled, “Healing isn’t one of your talents, though.”
“First rule of being a thief: Never get hit.” I chuckled, “Well, maybe’s it’s not but it should be.”
I noticed that his smile was fading and his gaze was behind me. I turned to see Birkoff staring at us with angry eyes. But that wasn’t what Harrison was staring at. His eye was on Electra, who was hitting the punching bag with so much force it nearly buckled.
I turned back to him, “What’d you say? I was—“
“Staring at Electra?” I smirked, “I noticed. Why don’t you say hi?”
“Same reason you don’t exactly speak to David.”
“You killed her brother?” I joked. Even the joke hurt.
He looked at me suspiciously, “The past really is the past. I’m not going to lie and say no one blames you for that night, but you did what you had to.”
“Everybody says that. And it may be true, but I can’t help how I feel.” I said, “If I could go back, I wouldn’t do the right thing. The right never pays off.”
“Maybe it does.” Harrison nodded, “Maybe it just takes a while to see it.”
“I could still be running from Medusa…oh, I am!” I chuckled.
“Only because they know what we know: You brought them to their knees and you can do it again. Maybe not alone, but that’s why you’re on the team.” Harrison said.
I looked around to Birkoff, “With teammates like this, who needs enemies?” I asked.
“Exactly what I was thinking.” Birkoff said as he walked over to us, “I thought this was a team for heroes, not two-bit criminals.”
“Says the guy who fought by my side.” I said with more cheer than he liked, “No one remembers that.”
“We tend to forget our bad ideas.” Birkoff frowned.
“Tell you what, while you think about it, I’ll save the world.” I smirked.
“How many people have to die in order for you to save the world this time?” Birkoff asked.
I frowned. Electra stood by, just as Archer did, watching the exchange. Neither one of them knew what to say to even begin to diffuse the situation. I think, honestly, it was too late to diffuse the problem. Every situation has that one obstacle. It was too early to tell if he was the leader of the team, but he very well could be. I had to assert some kind of dominance. I wasn’t just going to let him do or say whatever he wanted.
“Why don’t you go and put your spiffy new suit on, Iron Man, and we’ll see exactly what you’ve got.” I said casually.
“To deal with you? I don’t need a suit.” Birkoff said angrily.
“Usually, I don’t do this but you’re a dick.” I said, punching him in the face.
He staggered back, surprised. But he smirked as he wiped the blood off his chin. I tossed another right hand, to which he ducked and punched me. I grabbed my chin. This is what I had been waiting on. He lunged at me, tackling me to the floor! I used his energy to roll him over and punched him until he pushed me off. From the ground, and with lightning fast reflexes, he brought his foot around and I nearly flipped over his foot, missing it by half a second. I quickly flipped backwards, avoiding another kick. I stopped on one knee, looking up as he quickly picked up a barbell and chucked it at me. My eyes widened as I dove out of the way. The barbell smashed through the wall and into another part of the tower and I stood, now thoroughly pissed. He could have killed me. I ran over to the wall and jumped up it, grabbing an old Chinese katana and running towards him. As I got closer, I threw the katana and it spun around until it stopped in mid-air. Something told me to stop running, but my body kept going. I jumped into the air, ready to knock the jerk off his feet but stopped in mid-air, hovering there beside the katana. It was then that I wondered how the knife had stopped in mid-air. It wasn’t Birkoff. He couldn’t do anything like that. It was only when I turned my head that I saw her.
“Sofia Sangaria.” I panted.
Sofia Sangaria was a woman I’d come in contact with just before the battle at Medusa. She’d helped me solve the mystery of Medusa. She was a record-keeper at the USA government records office in D.C. and was pregnant the last time I’d seen her. She wasn’t now. She had developed the power of psychokinetics, or more precisely, telekinetics. This power was only manifested when the rest of the superhuman powers were manifested. She was a short, Latino woman in her late twenties. Her hair was, as always, cut short and close to her head and her beautiful hazel eyes were centered on me. Not only her eyes, but Anderson, Dana and David’s also.
“How’s the husband? The kid?” I asked, still hanging in mid-air.
“What are you doing?” Dana asked impatiently, “Look at the damage! You could have killed each other!”
“Skirmish?” I gave a nervous chuckle, “It’s not as bad as it looks. I just wanted to maim him…well, more.”
Birkoff growled and moved closer, only to be grabbed by Electra. David stood with his arms across his chest, looking ever more like a superhero. All judgmental and self-righteous. Anderson, who hadn’t spoken a word looked around in astonishment and whistled, eliciting a grim look from Dana.
“Do you know the damage you have done?” Dana asked, turning to a smiling Anderson, “You can’t condone this! This is not what we’re about!”
“I’d say they were training.” Anderson shrugged.
Dana looked even more enraged, “They could have killed each other before the invasion has even started!” she frowned, “Then where would we be? Two men down? What if someone else had gotten hurt?!”
“But they didn’t. I like what I see. It wins wars.” Anderson smiled, “Next time, save it for the real enemies.” He said, turning and leaving without another word.
“Can someone let me down?” I asked.
Dana nodded to Sofia, who looked to be concentrating hard on us.
“I’m not doing that.” Sofia said, “Not Pete.”
Everyone’s attention turned to me and suddenly, I dropped from the sky. When I picked myself up off the floor, I was surprised to see that they were still staring. I dusted myself off and grabbed the katana from mid-air and
tossed it at Birkoff’s feet.
“They’re not going to be around to save you always.” I said, leaving. As I got outside, I noticed someone following me. Instinctually I thought of David, but when I turned I was surprised to see Sofia, “Sof. How’s life?”
“I helped you take down Medusa for a reason. Not so you could screw up your life, but so that you could find new meaning.” Sofia said, “You were a thief and nothing more when we came to you.”
“And you were pregnant. We all change.” I motioned, “How is the kid?”
“Dhalia is doing great. I miss her.”
“Then why are you here?” I asked.
Sofia smiled to me, “David thought you needed someone you felt was on your side.” She quickly nudged my shoulder, “And they thought of me.”
“Go figure.” I said.
“Few people know what you did that night. In fact, about three of us.” Sofia said, “I’m thinking that you’re starting to forget.”
“This is cute and all, but you have a family. A husband, a Dhalia…probably even a dog by now. They need you.” I gestured around, “If you haven’t heard, I’m living high off the hog.”
“They told me about your apartment. And Medusa’s back. That can’t be easy on you.” Sofia said softly, “It brings back memories of that night, doesn’t it?”
“Peeing brings back memories of that night.” I said, “Look, I understand, you’ve got a BA in psychology or something, but don’t psychoanalyze me. We’re better than that.”
She chuckled, “Aliens are coming to Earth…didn’t that make you want to help?” she asked.
“You believe this whole ‘alien’ thing?” I asked.
“You don’t?” Sofia asked, “After everything we’ve seen, you don’t believe?”
“In aliens? Not really.” I said quickly, “If Medusa’s back, it’s not long until there is a war so I figure if I stick around long enough, I’ll get to see some action.”
“You don’t like action. You’re stealth and cunning. Why are you really here?” She asked.
“Atonement. Redemption. And because he asked me.” I said quickly.
She smiled at me with a knowing smile.
“Don’t smile at me.” I said quickly, “Before I did all this, he was my friend. I owe him and his mother this.”
“Are you going soft?”
“I don’t know, ask your husband.” I chuckled, “You need to protect your family, to be with them. Medusa’s not going to stop at just me, they’re going after everyone who had a hand in it. I’d say bring them here.”
She looked at me with fascination, “This whole self-less thing you’re doing is really attractive on you.”
“Don’t get used to it. I just can’t imagine where I’d be without a mother.” I replied, “I mean, I’d still be stealing but I’d be so much more messed up.”
“How could you get anymore messed up?” She asked.
“I could murder for fun.” I shrugged.
The Redeemer Page 6
