Hidden Hero

by Nix Whittaker

  Freya stepped back. “Did it work?”

  His eyes searched her face. “Did what work?”

  She smiled. “The shaking. Has it stopped? I thought if your mind was dwelling on something else that you might be able to stop.”

  She picked up one of his hands. It was still. She grinned. “See, all cured.”

  He studied his hands for a long moment and sighed out. “Oh.”

  She turned back to the box he had brought. “Thank you for bringing this. I don’t want anyone to know I’m still working on the cure, so I can’t use my usual couriers.”

  He frowned. “Why? I mean, Hal hinted at something, but she never explains things very well.”

  Freya grinned at that. “She can if she puts her mind to it. But one of the city Councillors is behind the Ambrosia. If they find out what we are all doing, they can take us out.”

  Rawiri snorted. “They have been trying to take out Hal and Misha and they have failed miserably so far. Those two are bulletproof.”

  From what Warren Nasser had said, they really were bulletproof, but she was unsure what the Agent knew of the atramento.

  He also scared her a little, but she put on a smile. “Well, you should get back to Hal. She’ll want to hear about the shaking.”

  Rawiri nodded and stood up from the stool, but he seemed unsure of himself.

  He stammered, “Nice to meet you, doctor.”

  She studied the contents of the box so barely noticed his sudden shyness. She really needed to get over her fear of strange men. “Call me Freya and it was a pleasure agent.”

  “Yeah,” he answered softly.

  When she looked up next, he was gone. She blushed. She had done it again. She had fallen into her work and ignored him.

  Her parents always railed on her, she would never find a man if she ignored people when something interesting distracted her to the point she forgot people existed.

  Worse yet, the agent had been kind of cute. Dangerous but also cute.

  Chapter Two

  Whatinga: March, 2088

  Rawiri stumbled into the courtyard. He was shaking again and he struggled to open the door as he couldn’t put in the code easily with his hands a blur. Eventually he made his way into the junkyard outside the warehouses. He put his hand on an old vehicle but it left a buzz in his arm. His knees buckled and he leant heavily on the vehicle.

  He called out, “Hal.”

  Rawiri pushed himself away from the old truck and took the few steps to the doorway.

  Hal called back from inside the building, “What?”

  He leaned against the doorway of the warehouse and yelled again, “Hal.”

  His legs gave out and he shuddered as he went to the floor. He looked at his hands on the floor and they were still blurry. Her voice was much closer now when she said, “What!”

  He looked up and Hal stood over him. She hissed, “Come along. We need to fix this.”

  She caught his arm and dragged him to his feet. She asked, “How long has this been happening?”

  He growled, “Since the Hill.”

  She swore softly. “How did you get back then? That’s almost an hour journey on the bus.”

  The concern in her voice was clear. He sighed. “Well, it wasn’t so bad when I got on the bus.”

  Rawiri thought about the kiss the doctor had given him. He wished she hadn’t been playing doctor and that the kiss was for real. But he also wasn’t surprised. He didn’t deserve a smart and beautiful girl like her. She certainly wasn’t anything like what Hal described.

  Freya had pale skin and blue eyes. Blonde hair that was probably extremely long but she had kept it in a braid down her back. He fantasied of untying the braid and running his fingers through it.

  Hal tilted back on her heels and looked at him up and down. “Wow, what were you thinking of then? That left your EM field perfect. Keep thinking that and I’ll be able to fix this very quickly.”

  Hal helped him to the tattoo chair. She muttered for a moment. “I should have put these on first. I think from now on I will. Everything seems better with them, anyway.”

  Rawiri asked, “What are you putting on me now?”

  Her work already distracted her as she said, “Mmm, the balance atramento. I’ve found it helps with the more unstable atramento.”

  He turned his head to look at her. “It made me fast, though. The atramento I mean.”

  She grinned as she worked. “I wouldn’t have put it on you if I didn’t think it worked.”

  She worked for a little while then said, “So, what are you thinking of? I can tell you’re thinking of something good as your EM Field is calm.”

  He grunted. “I don’t think I want to tell you. You will tell Misha and he’ll tease me.”

  She laughed. “Who says Misha will tease you? I will.”

  He rubbed his cheek on his arm as he thought about Freya.

  He asked Hal, “Did you ever worry that you weren’t good enough for Misha?” He knew his own past was dark. Not something he would want to taint others.

  The ink gun stopped and she brought her face closer to his.

  Hal frowned. “I’ve never felt that I’ve ever had to measure myself against some imagined yard stick someone has in their mind. It’s never a very good judge anyway. I think that might be why I don’t get on well with others but that’s their problem and not mine.”

  She went back to inking his skin but there was tension in the air. After a long moment of awkward silence Hal said, “Nothing in your past. Nothing in your blood or lineage makes you less human than anyone else and everyone deserves a good, decent life. I don’t care what happened to you or what you think might be wrong with you. You deserve a good, decent life.”

  The ink gun stopped and she wiped his skin off. He turned to look at her. “It feels different. What exactly does this balance atramento do?”

  She shrugged. “From what Warren says about the word and what Misha has told me from the reaction, I think it is to help regulate the flow of your chi. Usually what happens is that the atramento collects power from your EM field and releases it slowly like the health one and the strength. They are constant. But there are atramento which collect power and then release it suddenly. Well, it becomes difficult. There is this burst of power when it is kicked into action and it unbalances the other functions. I’m thinking the speed one works like this. The sudden burst when you need it. It would chew up too much power for it to be a constant thing.”

  She flicked her hands as she thought it over. Eventually, she motioned for him to get up. “I’ll figure it out. Tell me if anything else happens.”

  He grinned at her. “Don’t worry, I’ll be your faithful guinea pig and make sure that if I go crazy from the atramento, you will be the first one to know.”

  She turned all serious and he remembered that some had gone crazy with the atramento. He winced. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way.”

  Hal shook her head and waved off his concern. “No, I can already see that your EM field is balanced enough to deal with the atramento. You won’t be going crazy.”

  Rawiri wiggled his eyebrows and said in an effort to dissipate the tension in the room, “Well, you might just drive me crazy but I don’t think the atramento will.”

  She grinned but there was still a sadness in her eyes. “Oh, I consider that my mission, to drive you crazy. Now are you going to tell me what you were thinking about?”

  He was glad that they were on an even footing again. “What are you offering?” he countered.

  He could enjoy this. He didn’t have many friends and Misha was one of the few. He had been a little standoffish when the man had hooked up with this little hellion but Rawiri saw what his friend saw in her.

  ___

  “Mom?” Freya called as she opened the door.

  “In here, Sweetheart,” her voice was muffled as she was further in the house.

  Freya found her mother painting one of the spare rooms. She leaned on a rol
ler and had paint splatters on her face.

  Her mother liked change. It still amazed her that her parents were still together. Freya would have thought she would get sick and tired of the fights and just leave.

  She glanced over her shoulder at Freya. “What brings you around, my dear? I never see you during the week. Has work been troubling you?”

  One thing Freya could say for her mother was she had always supported her ambition to become a doctor.

  Freya’s answer was distracted. “Work is fine. I think I might be close to a breakthrough. Someone managed to get me early samples of the drug. So now I’ll be able to map the development of the drug, though the main component is still the same.” She waved it off and said to her mother, “That isn’t why I came here. Today this guy came into work—”

  Her mother squealed and interrupted her, “Oh, was he handsome? Oh, don’t tell me you did your usual and ignored him? You know that annoys men.”

  Freya sighed. “I did. I didn’t mean to. He brought something interesting.” She threw up her arms and paced as she continued to explain, “He was so cute and interesting but Mom he scared me a little as well. Should I pursue something with him or is it better he thinks I’m an idiot who zones out?”

  Her mother put her roller away and cleaned off her hands with a cloth. “Come have a cup of tea. We can talk.”

  Freya followed her mother and they were quiet as her mother made some tea. It was a ritual they were long used to.

  Into the silence Freya asked, “How can you want me to have a relationship when your relationship with dad is so—so, well, conflicted?”

  Her mother placed the cups on the table. “What your father and I have is complicated but I wouldn’t wish it away. We have worked hard to stay together over the years and there is one thing I can say with every ounce of my body. Your father loves me and I love your father terribly. We fight because he sometimes forgets that I love him just as much. That is mostly my fault but we love each other and love isn’t easy. I can wish you will find a partnership that isn’t as fraught with conflict as mine.”

  Freya took a sip of the tea as she thought. “Why do you argue so much if you love each other so much?”

  Her mother sighed. “The truth is I made a mistake early in our marriage. I think it would have been fine if I could only forgive myself. You see your father forgave me years ago but I couldn’t forgive myself.”

  She took a sip and then looked at Freya. “Don’t make mistakes lightly, Sweetheart.”

  Freya stared at her mother surprised by her confession and finally said, “I don’t think I’ll ever have a relationship, let alone mess it up by making mistakes.”

  Her mother patted her hand. “Now tell me about this young man. Maybe we can find a way for you to get his attention back. Then he will see how awesome you are.”

  Freya rolled her eyes. “It isn’t as simple as that, Mom. I’m just so awkward with guys.”

  Her mother waved that off. “Nonsense. You’re a beautiful girl and anyone would be lucky to have you.”

  Freya sighed. “I don’t think it’s my looks that are the problem, Mom. I think guys get intimidated by me. Seriously, when they hear that I have two doctorates and that I managed to get those before I was twenty, they think that no matter how much money they earn they will never be able to compete with me.”

  Her mother took another sip of her tea. “What about this guy that you met? What job does he have? Will your brains intimidate him?”

  Freya rolled her eyes at the dramatic tone in her mother’s voice. “He is an Agent.”

  Her mother grinned. “That is perfect. He is unlikely to be intimidated by you.”

  Freya shook her head. “He is dangerous, Mom.”

  Her mother went suddenly serious. “What do you mean, dangerous?”

  Freya shrugged as she wasn’t entirely sure. “I don’t know. There is just something about him that whenever he is about, he makes me shiver all over.”

  Her mother grinned and lost her serious tone. She leant forward and patted her hand. “Oh, that is all right then. You kind of want that.”

  “Mom!” Freya whined, amused more than horrified by her mother’s matchmaking.

  When her mother just grinned at her and wiggled her eyebrows she asked, “Mom?”

  Her mother’s eyes twinkled as she spoke. “Well, just think. Some of the most important things you have done in your life have scared you. Remember your first day at University. But it sure was worth it. I think you will regret not finding out if you have something with this guy. If it gets too scary, you can always pull back. Besides dangerous men can be fun.”

  Freya sighed. “I still don’t know, Mom. I was so awkward. He probably thinks I don’t like him.”

  “Then you need to make sure the next time you see him to tell him you like him.” Her mother advised.

  Freya chewed on her lip as she admitted, “I will probably never see him again.”

  Her mother sounded hopeful. “Oh, do you at least have his number?”

  Freya chuckled at her mother’s eagerness but answered. “Yes, Hal gave it to me. But you’re not going to convince me to call him.”

  Her mother turned and brought out some alcohol. “Maybe some liquid courage.”

  Freya shook her head. “You know I can’t drink with my Bioware.”

  Her mother sighed dramatically but put away the alcohol.

  ___

  Rawiri dropped his keys into a bowl by the door. He unstrapped his weapon as he moved through the house and placed it in the lock up drawer.

  He leaned against the kitchen counter and took a deep breath. His home always made him feel safe. Unfortunately, when he had been undercover, he had rarely been here.

  Rawiri knew little stability in his life. When he had come to Whatinga city as a young man he had gone to live with an old Maori woman. He had been such an angry child that it hadn’t lasted much more than a year. He had spent the next few years of his life moving from foster home to foster home until he had fallen into the police academy.

  The best thing that had happened to him. For the first time he could deal with his anger in a productive manner.

  Rawiri poured himself a drink of water and moved to the balcony. He took in the fresh breeze that came from the fields. It wasn’t much of a breeze and was only there because of the heat of the buildings compared to the cooler fields.

  The closest field grew corn and made a soft shushing sound in the breeze. He had a couple traps in the field he would check later.

  Some idiot had brought rabbits into the city and now the farmers had trouble trying to control the small pests. But the rabbits made a good stew so he didn’t mind he could supplement his food with fresh meat. He didn’t have the space in his apartment for a hydroponics setup like he had seen in other people’s houses.

  Rawiri had tomatoes growing on his balcony and he picked a few of the ripened ones and went inside to make his meal.

  His phone went and he grumbled as he answered it, “What?”

  The voice on the other end was almost drowned out by the blaring of sirens. “Agent? Something has happened.”

  Freya didn’t introduce herself but he could tell it was her. His heart jumped erratically. There was another voice on the other end as a man told her to stand back.

  Rawiri asked, “Where are you?”

  Freya rattled off her address and he hung up. She probably hadn’t noticed as he had heard her talking to someone else on the other end of the phone. He didn’t need to know what was wrong yet. He knew no matter what it was he needed to be there.

  ___

  Freya shivered as she watched the fire. The small cottage she had lived in smouldered in parts. Fire was always treated expeditiously as it could damage the Shield.

  One fireman had placed a blanket around her shoulders but the chill that ran through her had nothing to do with temperature.

  Rawiri stopped next to her. “Are you alright?”

  Glancing
at him and the man who stood behind him she had seen Agent Harold before, though she had never spoken to him. She hadn’t even thought of calling him when she had come home to find her home on fire. Instead, she had called Rawiri. It was always good to have dangerous people in your own corner when they were fighting for your side.

  She looked at Rawiri and without a word she wrapped her arms around his neck. She shuddered with her unshed tears. He closed his arms around her. “It is alright, Freya. It will be fine.”

  Agent Harold murmured, “We should get her out of here.”

  She nodded against Rawiri’s neck but she didn’t move. There was no way to save anything from her house. All the knickknacks she had collected over the years were gone.

  Rawiri didn’t set her back so they could leave, instead, he slipped his arm under her legs and lifted her up against his chest. Her arms around his neck tightened but he didn’t seem to have any trouble carrying her large frame.

  Agent Harold said, “They think it was an electrical fire but there is glass at the back. Someone broke into the house first.”

  Rawiri grumbled and she could feel it where she was pressed to his chest. The sound of commotion fell away as a door was closed behind them and Rawiri sat down in a car seat with her still in his lap.

  There was another door opened and Freya glanced up to see it was Agent Harold. She murmured, “Thank you for coming.”

  Agent Harold grunted and Rawiri smoothed a hand through her hair and she glanced at him. His voice was soft when he spoke, “It’s our job.”

  She deflated at that comment. Was he only here because he was an Agent for the city? She realised then that when she had called him, she had wanted him. Just him.

  Chapter Three

  Whatinga: March 2088

  Rawiri placed a cup of pseudo coffee in front of Freya. She looked pale and he worried about her. She had been through a lot that night and he knew things weren’t going to get any easier with Portland as her enemy. He hated she would have to fight a battle that really wasn’t hers to fight.