by Kelly Oram
Major Wilks and all of the other ACEs headed toward the doctor first, but when I followed them Lorenz rose from his bed and met me at the front of his cell, draping his arms casually through the bars and leaning his weight on a crossbar. “Well, well, well, gorgeous, I wondered when you’d come to visit me.”
The guy would be nice looking if he didn’t have such an evil, angry gleam in his eyes. I met his hard smirk with a sweet grin. “I would have come sooner, but I heard you weren’t feeling well, and I wanted to make sure you were all better before I came to torture you for information. More fun for me that way.”
The guy scoffed. “You’re all talk, Angel. You may not remember me, but I know you. I watched you for a long time before you were captured.”
I cocked an eyebrow at the guy. “Sounds creepy.”
His smile turned sinister and pervy. “It was definitely one of my more…pleasurable assignments.”
“The psycho stalker bit isn’t really helping your case here, buddy. You do realize that, don’t you?”
He shook his head, chuckling and relaxing as his confidence grew. “You defend yourself when you have to, but you won’t torture me. You’re a hero type. A do-gooder. You’re always so worried about hurting people with your powers.”
I thought about his words and then grabbed his hands. Startled, he tried to pull back and glared when he couldn’t escape my iron grip. “What do you think you’re doing?”
I gave him my own evil smirk. “Guess you don’t know me as well as you thought you did.”
His eyes narrowed on mine, then snapped wide open. He glanced at my hands on his again. “You won’t,” he hissed, but his voice wasn’t so confident anymore.
“You’re right that I’m a do-gooder type. But I’m not as angelic as you think. I’m really more concerned with not hurting innocent people. You…eh…” I shrugged. “As long as you live, I’m okay with a little pain since it will get me what I need.”
His face blanched. Guess he figured out I wasn’t bluffing. “What do you mean, give you what you need?”
I didn’t bother answering his question. I might have, if I’d thought it would do me any good, but I knew no amount of interrogation would be effective while he was still under Donovan’s control. “This is for attacking me, jerk.”
Without waiting for an okay, I let my electricity flow, and not the good kind that transfers my powers to other people. My power is nifty like that. I can use it to transfer my energy…or I can use it as a defense mechanism. Lorenz got a lovely jolt of electricity, not energy. Big difference.
When he screamed, several of the ACEs jumped into action with startled cries. They gathered around me, but couldn’t exactly touch me without getting fried, so they settled for shouting at me to stop.
“Why? This was what we came here to do, wasn’t it?”
“While safely monitored, Angel,” Major Wilks said. “We don’t want to overdo it.”
Considering Lorenz was still conscious, I figured he was okay. “Don’t worry; he’ll be fine.” I upped my power to the point where Lorenz stopped screaming. I knew, from a horrible failed attempt to control my powers in my first few weeks with Teddy, that Lorenz wasn’t able to breathe right now. There was so much electricity being pumped into his body that all of his muscles had locked up. Oddly, though he was being electrocuted, he would die of suffocation if I kept this up too long.
“Angel?” Major Wilks questioned.
He sounded wary, but he hadn’t ordered me to stop. He was trusting my judgment. And earning more brownie points with me.
“I’m okay,” I assured him. And I was. I was completely in control. As long as I wasn’t emotionally upset, I had a really great grasp of my electricity and what it was capable of. Knowing what would and wouldn’t kill someone was instinctive.
Obviously I didn’t want to kill the guy, but I wasn’t sure I’d fried his brain enough yet, either. “It took releasing a lightning bolt for my head to finally clear all the way,” I explained. “But I don’t want to use any lightning on him, considering what it did to Tyson. This is as strong as I can go where I’m sure I won’t truly hurt him.”
“He’ll suffocate like that, Angel,” Dr. Haggerty warned.
“I know. I’m listening to his heartbeat. I’ll let go once it starts to slow too much.”
There was murmuring behind me, but I didn’t try to understand it. It took a lot of effort to focus my hearing on something specific. I needed all of my attention locked on the steady thud, thud, thud in the superthug’s chest. It was already starting to slow down a little, but it hadn’t become unsteady yet.
After another moment, it got too slow for my liking, and I let go. Lorenz immediately collapsed to the ground. With a cough and a groan, he locked his hate-filled eyes on mine, cursed at me, and then slipped into unconsciousness.
The room was silent as everyone waited for me to move, and then the lights above my head flickered. It’s strange how I’d been fine in the moment, but now that it was over my nerves were shot. I’d been willing to do what was necessary, but I hadn’t enjoyed hurting that man. I wasn’t a monster. I was tough, yes, but not nearly as tough as I pretended to be.
Major Wilks must have understood that I was panicking on the inside, because he moved to my side and, careful not to touch me, said, “Well done, Angel.”
I appreciated the calmness in his voice. It was steadying the way he meant it to be. Snapping me from my distress, I listened for a few more seconds and then relaxed. “His heartbeat already sounds normal, and his breathing is slow and steady. He’ll be fine.”
“And you, Angel?” Abiodun’s low, rumbling voice rolled over me as he stepped up to my other side. “Are you all right?”
For some reason I felt comfortable meeting his gaze, letting him see the vulnerability in mine. He was such a large man, and yet so kind he could never be intimidating. His smile was one hundred percent understanding.
I nodded. “I’m good now. Thanks.”
He flashed me a heart-melting smile that had me grinning when I turned around to face the other soldiers.
I was worried they’d see me differently, be afraid of me now, but I was met with more encouragement. There was no fear in any of their expressions that I could tell. No judgment. Johnny G was the first to break the silence, grinning at me like a proud parent. “Nicely done, Angel.” Not that he’d had anything to do with it, but I supposed he felt responsible for me, being the team leader and all.
Shortstop nodded vigorously. “So awesome.”
“And kind of sexy,” Smut added.
“Definitely that,” Tyson agreed.
I rolled my eyes at them both. “Tyson, are you even old enough to know what sexy is?”
All the guys burst into laughter, but Tyson wasn’t fazed by the insult. “I’m old enough to know that you’re it, Superbabe,” he quipped.
“Ugh. Ryan was right. I really do hate that nickname.”
That earned me a wink from the teenager and laughs from everyone else. When Shortstop opened his mouth, I shot him a warning look and shucked a thumb at Lorenz’s unconscious body on the floor of his cell. “If you even think about calling me that ridiculous name, you’ll end up down there with him.”
Shortstop snapped his mouth shut, and everyone laughed again. I shot them all dirty looks, but really, I was glad that they were teasing me even after watching me fry a helpless man unconscious. They had accepted me as I was. I felt like one of them. It was a good feeling.
Still pointing at Lorenz, I released an over-the-top sigh and said, “You guys may want to stop harassing me and go scan his brain while he’s out. We need to know if the nanobots are dead, and he’s not going to sleep forever.”
Major Wilks clapped his hands together and looked at his team. “You all heard the woman. ACES MOVE.”
The barked order made me smile. I’m not sure when shouted commands had become endearing, but the major was growing on me pretty quickly. Major Wilks caught my grin and
shot me a subtle wink, as if he knew exactly what I was thinking. I rolled my eyes at him, not quite willing to admit to him that I liked him, though I was ready to admit it to myself.
The ACEs handcuffed Lorenz to a gurney, ready to roll him to Medical where they could do a complete MRI, but before we all left, the other superthug called out to us. “Wait!” His voice was faint enough that no one heard it but me. “Please, wait!”
I ground to a halt, catching the others’ attention. Ignoring their questions, I headed over to the last cell and peered in at the man lying on the bed. He looked exhausted and sickly, but he was awake and had his wits about him. “What is it?” I asked.
He looked at me for a moment, and then his eyes slid out of focus.
“What’s wrong, Angel?” Major Wilks asked.
“You didn’t hear him? He asked us to wait. He used the word please.” I glanced in at the man lying on the bed again. An uneasy feeling was gathering in my stomach. His expression became vacant, as if he was no longer mentally there, though he’d been completely coherent just moments before. “He sounded desperate.”
Tex joined me, shaking his head. “He’s been like that off and on since he got here. We can’t make any sense of it, but it won’t do any good to talk to him. Any time you ask him anything, he zones out like that.”
I watched the man a minute longer. His voice had unsettled me. It had sounded like a cry for help. I looked back at the group waiting for me to follow them, then back at the superthug. “Shouldn’t we try it on him, too?”
Dr. Haggerty sighed as she walked up next to me, following my gaze into the man’s cell. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. His withdrawals were much more severe than the other man’s. His heart is much weaker. I’m not sure he’d survive being shocked that way.”
“Come on, Angel,” Eyes said. “We’ll come back to him if we’re successful with the first guy.”
I wasn’t completely appeased, but there was nothing else to do, so with a defeated nod I left the man in the cell behind. “No!” he shouted. “Wait! Please!”
His voice was more urgent this time. I whirled around and met his gaze again. He stared back at me with sharp, intelligent eyes. I couldn’t leave. “You guys, go. I’m going to stay here and talk to him.”
“It’s useless, Angel,” Abiodun said. “We’ve been trying for days.”
“It won’t hurt for me to try, too. The man obviously wants me to, and you guys don’t need me with you to scan his head.” I pointed at Lorenz. “I’ll stay here with Dr. Haggerty. Call us when you figure something out.”
Major Wilks considered it a moment, and then nodded. “Abiodun and Texas, you stay with the Angel. You’re the most familiar with the man. Perhaps you’ll be able to help her figure something out.”
Once the others left, I looked back into the man’s cell. He was still watching me, and he’d relaxed quite a bit now that I wasn’t leaving. I walked from one end of his cell to the other, and his eyes followed me as I paced.
Dr. Haggerty frowned. “It’s odd. He’s not shown this much interest in anything since being in my care.”
I couldn’t look away from the man, and he stared right back. “Because he’s trying to tell me something,” I murmured.
As I said the words, the man’s gaze narrowed and he sat up. He glared at me again, and again I saw frustration creep over his entire body. I wasn’t wrong. This man wanted to talk.
“He can’t tell you anything, Angel,” Tex said.
I shook my head. “He can’t, but he wants to. He’s trying to.” I met his gaze again. “Aren’t you? You’re trying to tell me something, but the nanobots aren’t letting you.”
The man’s gaze slid to the wall of his cell, and once again his attention drifted. I grinned. “Did you see that? I asked him a question he wasn’t allowed to answer. He’s being controlled.”
I looked at the man again and tried to piece the mystery together. “What’s different about me?”
Tex snorted softly behind me. “Seriously, Angel?”
“No, that’s not what I mean. What’s different now? Why would he want me to stay? What can I do for him that no one else could before besides fry his brain—”
I gasped. “That’s it! He wants me to zap him.”
“Are you sure—”
“I’m sure. Look.” I met the man’s hard stare again. His focus was back. He glared at me, but there was no anger behind it. His jaw was clenched tight, and his hands were balled in white-knuckled fists. “He’s not being defiant. He’s frustrated.”
“You may be right, Angel, but he’s not well enough.”
“No, I know. I can hear how weak his heart is. But what if I concentrated the electricity on just his head? If I kept the energy in his brain, would it stress his heart too much?”
Tex, Abiodun, and Dr. Haggerty all exchanged glances. Dr. Haggerty chewed on her lip and stared at the floor, brow furrowed in concentration. “Could you do that?”
The superthug’s eyes were on me again, waiting as curiously for my answer as Dr. Haggerty. It was him I answered. “I’ve never tried, but I move energy through my own body easily enough. I can send power surges to certain objects, and shoot lightning where I want it. Not just aim where I want it, but I can guide the electricity all the way to its target. She’s right about your heart, though, and I can’t promise success.”
The guy watched me again, unmoving with his jaw strained, until finally his attention faded again. “I don’t get it,” I said, turning to Abiodun and Tex. “Why can’t he talk at all, or even move sometimes? Lorenz had no problems running his mouth without zoning out.”
I jumped when the superthug answered me. “My partner is a sick man. He likes his job.”
“Meaning he doesn’t try to answer questions he’s not supposed to,” Tex translated, coming to the same conclusion I was drawing.
I nodded. “He doesn’t fight the nanobots, so he doesn’t zone out.”
“You’re Jamie Baker,” the superthug said, drawing our attention again. “You’re to be considered extremely dangerous, unpredictable, and very volatile. You have a strong conscience and a weakness for helping people in need. You like football.” He grinned then, a shocking, boyish, friendly grin. “So do I. And my favorite food is BBQ ribs. I’ve heard you like great food. If you haven’t had the chance to try barbecue yet, I definitely recommend it.”
The speech was a little dizzying because it was so out of the blue and random, but I found myself grinning. “I’ll put it on my to-do list.”
“I can talk just fine, too,” the superthug said.
“When you say the right things,” I finished for him.
He smiled again. “I like you, Angel.”
“You’re not so bad yourself. For a superthug who tried to kidnap me for human experimenting.”
The smile left the man’s face and he zoned out again. “I know, I know.” I sighed. I was starting to understand this guy. “You didn’t want to, did you? You were compelled to do it. I’m guessing you’re one of the missing soldiers Major Wilks mentioned.”
Dr. Haggerty gasped. “No. He can’t be. We’ve gone through all files. He wasn’t listed. We even checked his fingerprints and DNA. We found no matches.”
I shrugged. “They found no record of Dr. Chen, either. I’m pretty sure Donovan could make any and all records of a person disappear, including military records. Did you actually send his picture out to the military, or just search for him in the databases?”
Dr. Haggerty gasped again. “I can’t believe we didn’t think of that.”
Tex was already reaching for the phone on the wall. “Patch me through to Medical.” After a pause, he said, “Major Wilks, sir, Angel has found a way to communicate with the supersoldier. Sort of. We believe he’s one of ours, and is being held prisoner by the nanobots.”
Major Wilks’s gruff voice was easy to understand over the receiver. “Good work, Tex. Explain it when I get there. We’re almost done here.”
Since we had some time to kill and I couldn’t question the guy until we killed the nanobots in his head, I pulled over a chair next to his cell and he taught me poker while we waited for the others to return. By the time they got back, the superthug and I were well on our way to becoming good friends, and I was sure of my theory—the guy was on our side.
“Major!” I shouted as the ACEs put Lorenz McCreepy back in his cell. “Please tell me it worked.”
I jumped to my feet, grinning until I noticed Ryan had returned with them. Insecurity washed over me. I didn’t like that we had fought, and I hated not knowing how he was feeling right now. But I had no time to dwell on my personal drama because Major Wilks frowned, dashing all of my hopes. “I’m sorry, Angel. Some of the nanobots were disabled, but not nearly enough to free his mind. I’m afraid we’d have to use a much stronger voltage of electricity.”
“It may not even be possible to free their minds at all,” Geek added, looking as glum as I felt. “The lightning you released that stopped Tyson’s heart was only a fraction of the power running in your system at the time you fried your nanobots. Obviously you can handle more electricity in your body than is humanly possible. Who knows how much electricity you actually used to destroy them? We could extract some from the superthugs and experiment to find out, but even if we do figure out what it would take, I doubt a normal human could survive such a shock.”
And there went all of my hopes, up in smoke. My disappointment was so plain on my face that Lorenz laughed. “So eager to torture another man?”
His taunt didn’t bother me. “Nah, Super T and I are totally BFFs now, and I think I know a way to help him. Can’t say as I’d mind going another round with you, though.”
Lorenz came to the bars where I stood, careful to keep out of my reach this time, and scowled. “Why don’t you share some of those powers of yours with me, gorgeous? Make it a fair fight. We’ll see who wins the next round.”
“Tempting, but now that you mention it, that does give me a good idea.”
