Beneath This Mask

by Victoria Sue

  He took a step forward, but Gael’s eyes widened and he backed up.

  “What do they mean, Jake?”

  Jake tore his eyes from Gael’s stormy ones. He didn’t want condemnation to weaken the last memory of them, when Gael was sated and replete. Gael had been so gorgeous.

  Vance, Talon, Sawyer, and Finn all stood there watching them. Connie had retreated and was talking to some lady. Gerry and Mac had gone back to their truck. Jake didn’t know whether the privacy was by accident or on purpose, but delaying the explanation by getting in a car would be worse.

  “I spent four years on a SWAT team, as you know. The last op our team was called to was a report of an enhanced who had gone crazy in a shopping mall. Reports of explosions, multiple casualties. When we got there, it was chaos. People shouting. Fire. A lady said there was a man standing in the middle of a kids’ toy shop holding some sort of device in his hand and screaming at everyone to be quiet. There were customers, children, trapped between him and the door. We raced into the store just as the guy turned around and held up what looked like some sort of trigger switch.” Jake’s voice caught, and he struggled to get air into his lungs so he could speak.

  “Steven Shaughnessy. Seventeen,” Talon said quietly. “He’d transformed just then in the middle of an argument with his father about wanting the latest game system. Not only is he only the second child we think to have ever transformed while awake, he is the oldest to transform, as far as we are aware.”

  “I didn’t know,” Jake whispered, the horror eating at him. He had been a child, and he was dead because of Jake.

  “Because you didn’t wait to find out,” Sawyer sneered.

  “Look,” Talon said. “Jake was exonerated. It was complete shit, but he was following orders.”

  Jake begged Gael silently. They stood amid the tatters of guilt, recrimination, and regret. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair that a child had lost his life. It wasn’t fair that a scar could make people lesser than others, and it definitely wasn’t fair that just when Jake thought he might have found a new life, it was being ripped away.

  Vance, who had been quiet up to that point, stepped forward and handed Gael some keys. “It’s in the lot. He did it straightaway as a favor.”

  Gael wrenched his gaze from Jake’s and took the keys. Sawyer made a disgusted noise and started walking away. Vance turned around as Connie walked over, and they finished packing away some leftover food.

  Talon glanced apologetically at Jake, then looked at Gael, who stood frozen, holding his truck keys. “If you need somewhere to crash, you know where we are.”

  They were all giving Jake and Gael the space to process this. Finn opened his mouth but shut it at Talon’s look, and they both walked to the lot. It was just him and Gael.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Gael said, still not meeting Jake’s eyes.

  “Gregory said to give you time to get used to me first.”

  Gael looked up, incredulity written all over his face. “And fucking me? Was that the easiest way of getting me used to you, or just the fastest?” Pain made the words sound raw on Gael’s tongue.

  “Gael…,” Jake pleaded and took another step.

  Gael held up his hands. “No. I could forgive the shooting. I’m not stupid. We live in a world where a lot of shit happens and an out-of-control enhanced could have killed a lot of people. Am I sorry for him? Of course I am. There are way too many children who suffer at the hands of those supposed to be protecting them, and I don’t even mean just those with a scar on their faces.” Gael heaved a breath as if starved for oxygen. Jake would have given him all he had right there. Gael’s eyes narrowed. “Did you think it was funny? A pity fuck to keep me quiet? Amenable until you’d gotten your place on the team?”

  “Gael, no!” Jake begged. “I would never—”

  He touched Gael’s shoulder just as Gael turned away from him. Gael was still not as fast as him, but he was stronger. Fuck, he was stronger. Jake had a split second to decide not to duck and avoid the fist that Gael swung at him in anger and desperation, because he deserved it, and then he connected and Jake went down. The pain erupted in his jaw just as everything went black.

  GAEL STOOD completely still, stunned at what he had done, and stared at Jake, lying six feet away on the ground in a heap.

  “Gael!”

  Gael heard the shout from the cars and saw Talon and Vance running back to where he was.

  “Shit,” Talon swore, falling to his knees. He put a hand to Jake’s neck to feel for a pulse, the relief in his face obvious when he felt one. Talon quickly stood, lifting an unconscious Jake in his arms. “For fuck’s sake, Gael. What were you thinking? You know we’re much stronger.”

  A squeal of tires announced Finn driving up in Talon’s truck. He looked at Vance and Connie. “Vance, follow us. I’m taking him to Tampa Gen.”

  Vance held the door open while Talon slid into the back.

  “Gael, get your ass in here.”

  “We’ll follow,” Vance shouted and bundled his mom to the truck, Connie hurrying to get in, everyone staring at Gael like he had killed someone. His heart was pounding, but it was the only thing in his body capable of movement. For a second he met Talon’s gaze, and then he turned and did the only thing he could.

  Run.

  Chapter Eleven

  WHAT DID I do?

  Gael fisted his hands to stop them from shaking. He was a coward. He hadn’t even waited to see if he’d badly hurt Jake.

  They were stronger. That was originally why they had brought Drew in to spar with Finn. Him and Talon could easily kill a regular human, and Vance? He could probably take out an army.

  He had meant to hurt. Everything in him at that second wanted to blame Jake. Blame him for Gael thinking he had found someone who didn’t see the scars, or perhaps someone who saw the scars and still didn’t care.

  Gael blew out another breath. He was sitting in his truck outside the phone repair shop. The meter for the parking had long since run out, but Gael didn’t seem to be able to move. The expression on Jake’s face was running in a constant loop in his head. He’d seen Gael swing. Gael was stronger, but Jake seemed to have instincts that Gael didn’t, and he knew Jake could have gotten out of the way. For an instant he had caught the sadness in Jake’s eyes, the apology, and knew he deliberately stood and took the punch. Gael had finally found someone who didn’t seem to think he was a monster, and what did he do? Behaved exactly like one.

  He clutched his phone tighter. Carefully, slowly, he texted a message to Finn. He was too ashamed to ask Vance and Talon. He was sure the censure would have been apparent in the reply.

  It took the longest time, and when it got to the point where Gael thought his heart would pound out of his chest, he got a reply.

  Concussion. Awake. No permanent damage.

  Gael took a shaky gulp of air because he had stopped breathing and hadn’t realized. His phone bleeped again.

  He’s asking for you.

  Shit. Gael silenced his phone and stared at the text. Jake was asking for him? Gael’s first thought a few moments ago was right. He was a coward. He could no more walk into Jake’s hospital room, knowing he had put Jake there, than he could run into a burning building. No, that wasn’t true; the burning building was doable.

  He took another breath and started the engine. He could take Derrick his mended tablet back and visit with him for a while. Assuming he was allowed. Gael pulled away from the curb, and the car coming up alongside him nearly took the fender with it. Gael cringed, held up his hand in apology, and took the barrage of insults offered by the guy driving the minivan.

  The next attempt was better. At least the only collision now was his heart against his ribs.

  “FUCK.” JAKE accompanied the curse with a pathetic moan and opened his eyes. His jaw had to be broken, and he felt like his head had split in two.

  A large hand settled on his, and for a second, tears pricked his eyes until they focused on
Talon. Disappointment hurt more than the fist.

  “You look like shit,” Talon said flatly. “They reckon concussion but no permanent damage.”

  “T,” Finn admonished, pushing him out of the way and pressing the button on a small controller that tilted the mattress up a bit. Finn reached for the glass and straw on his bedside table and solicitously offered it for Jake to take a swallow.

  Jake cracked his eyes open a little more as his stomach rebelled a little at the water. He saw Vance sprawled in the chair in the corner, regarding him steadily. Finn and Talon were the only others there. He sighed before he could pull back the reaction.

  “I’m gonna break a confidence,” Talon said slowly.

  Jake squinted up at him, trying to keep him in focus.

  “You know Gael’s mom left him when he was six? Well, he transformed when he was eleven, and his dad, already a complete shit, got even worse. He was a drunk. Gael spent all his time either keeping out of his way or keeping Wyatt out of his way. His school attendance was spotty even before the mark. Anyway, one morning before school, his dad caught Gael standing on a bathroom stool, trying to cover the scar with some old makeup his mom had left that his dad had never thrown away. He was getting shit at school for it every day, but even worse, Wyatt was getting it too. His dad was drunk, hungover, whatever, but this time he went psycho on him. Screamed if he wanted to cover it so badly, he would help. He had one of those handheld gas lighters for the stove in the kitchen, and he pinned Gael down and held the flame to his cheek.”

  Bile rose in Jake’s throat and he grabbed weakly at some tissues.

  Talon squeezed his arm, and he waited a few seconds. “Neighbors called the cops because of all the screaming, but Gael was convinced him and Wyatt would get split up in care, so he said he’d done it.”

  “And they believed him?” Jake was aghast.

  “Early days of enhanced, ENu. There were quite a few injuries caused by people trying to cut the scar away,” Talon answered bluntly. “That’s why he has the scars, and that’s why he is convinced no one could like him just because he’s a good guy. He’s convinced they will always see the scars. He’s used to people being scared of him, being disgusted, so when those ENu bastards said what they did, Gael immediately thought he’d been used, that you couldn’t possibly be with him because you genuinely liked him. I guess I have to take some responsibility, because I knew and I didn’t tell the team. I’m just getting used to the whole leader stuff, and I’m gonna make some mistakes.”

  “Talon, you weren’t given the option,” Finn said and smiled slowly up at Talon.

  Jake stared. Fuck, but he so wished someone would look at him like that. No, not just someone. The ache in his gut had a much more specific person in mind.

  He picked up the glass again and sipped his water. Just then a nurse bustled into the room and checked his vitals, responses, name tag, and then held out a small plastic cup with what looked like two horse pills in it.

  “I’m not taking them,” he said decisively.

  She frowned. “Mr. Riley, I’m willing to bet your head feels like it’s going to explode.”

  Jake remembered not to nod. “Yeah, maybe, but I’m not staying, and I need to be able to walk out of here.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “Not staying,” she parroted.

  “Nope, so bring me whatever you need me to sign.”

  She threw her hands up, muttered something Jake was sure wouldn’t be complimentary, and turned on her heels to walk out.

  “Are you mad?” Finn asked.

  “Possibly,” Jake allowed. “Has anyone managed to get him on the phone?”

  Vance shook his head. “Going to voicemail,” he said, not making any attempt to pretend he didn’t know who Jake was talking about.

  Jake squinted at the clock on the wall. It didn’t take a crystal ball to know where he would be. “I don’t suppose anyone would give me a ride to Bayside Psychiatric?”

  Talon grunted. “Like we would let you go on your own.”

  THE SAME nurse from the previous day was sitting with Derrick when Gael arrived. Gael showed the doctor on call the small tablet he’d had repaired, and he was allowed through with it. Dr. Maya had approved him as a visitor.

  Isaac, the nurse with the train pattern on his scrubs, was in awe when Gael explained what Derrick had done with the computer. Derrick stared straight ahead, as usual, when Gael perched on the bed, and Gael immediately started signing, “Hi, my name’s Gael” on the back of his hand.

  “Where’s the other computer tablet he had?” Gael asked, passing over the mended one he had brought.

  “One of our other patients wanted it, and Derrick was asleep,” Isaac said apologetically, but Gael got it. Derrick wasn’t the only child who needed help.

  Gael laid the tablet next to Derrick and talked quite conversationally to him. He stopped for a second as his fingers were cramping. “You gonna say hi, Derrick?”

  Isaac came closer to the bed, and Derrick did a little head tilt, but because his eyes weren’t focused, Gael didn’t know if he was listening or had noticed Isaac. Derrick reached out and touched the tablet.

  The tablet bleeped, and Gael tried not to laugh stupidly. Actually, he wanted to grab Derrick and hug him, but he didn’t know how that would go down, so he didn’t.

  “Hi, Gael. FBI.”

  “That’s amazing,” Isaac said in awe, standing closer to Derrick.

  Gael chuckled. “This is Isaac,” he said and signed.

  “Train.”

  “Train,” Gael repeated and looked at Derrick. Train? “Train?” he asked, signing the word as well.

  “Derrick. Train.”

  The door opened and Derrick’s supper arrived. Isaac left to take his own meal break.

  Derrick let Gael feed him the meatloaf and mashed potatoes, even though Gael knew he could do it himself. Gael kept up the chatter, although he couldn’t keep signing as well. Derrick didn’t say anything else, but he looked content enough. After he had finished, Isaac returned, helped him to the bathroom, and gave him two tablets, which he swallowed obediently.

  “Sedative?” Gael asked, trying to keep any opinion out of his voice.

  “Mild,” Isaac replied, showing Gael had failed spectacularly.

  Isaac fussed around the room, disappeared for a few minutes, and then brought Gael coffee in a white vending machine cup with a lid. Gael thanked him and sipped slowly. Isaac dimmed the lights in the room. He nodded at Derrick, who was lying back against his pillows and yawning. “Let me know when you leave so I can come and check on him.”

  Gael signed lazily on Derrick’s hand, more so Derrick knew he was there than for any expectation of a reply. The tablet was on the bed beside him, but Derrick hadn’t even looked at it for at least an hour. Gael sat and watched Derrick’s eyes droop and then close. In another few minutes, he stopped the signing.

  It seemed odd for Derrick to use the word train, but it wasn’t as strange as Derrick writing FBI after Gael’s name. Gael looked around the room and stood. Then he smiled. Isaac. Of course. He had pictures of cartoon trains running around his scrubs. Gael would bet anything that was what Derrick had seen.

  Gael said goodbye to Isaac and the other nurses, told them he would do his best to visit again tomorrow but to please call him if Derrick got upset over anything.

  A nurse buzzed the door so Gael could get out of the unit into the reception area. Should he call Talon, rent a room, or spend the night in the truck? Gael was still trying to decide when he looked up and stopped.

  Finn, Vance, and Talon were sitting on chairs, all smiling at him. Jake was lying with his head on Finn’s lap and looked fast asleep.

  “What the hell?” Gael whispered, eyes focused on Jake.

  “He’s concussed. You need to—”

  Gael held up a hand to shut Finn up. He knew what to do. “Why isn’t he in the hospital?”

  “Because he’s as much of a stubborn bastard as you are.” Vance yawn
ed and stood. He walked over to Jake, went to shake his shoulder, and sighed. “Go get in the damn car, and I’ll pass him to you.”

  Gael nearly ran to his truck. He opened the door, turned the engine on, and scrambled inside, ready to take Jake from Vance. Vance lowered him into Gael’s arms and put his legs on the seat. Jake grunted but didn’t open his eyes. Gael gingerly felt over his scalp, but didn’t find any obvious lumps. His jaw, however, was a different story. Gael could already see the red and purple shadowing on his face.

  “Jesus, I’m sorry.” Gael’s voice caught.

  “You should take up boxing,” Jake muttered, then hissed a little when his mouth pulled in a smile. “Where are you taking me?” he mumbled.

  “Home,” Gael promised.

  GAEL MADE Jake wake up when they got to his place. He wanted to see exactly what Jake’s pupil reactions and his verbal responses were. Vance helped Gael get Jake upstairs.

  “They said he wasn’t allowed ibuprofen, just Tylenol,” Vance said as Jake groaned pitifully.

  “They won’t if it’s a suspected concussion,” Gael answered. “He can’t have anything that increases the risk of bleeding.”

  Talon put Jake’s phone and wallet on the nightstand. “You call us if there is anything you need,” he instructed. “I won’t call the team in unless there are any developments, but either way, Jake definitely is off tomorrow, and I don’t want him on his own. How was Derrick?”

  Gael followed him back downstairs and smiled a little, explaining about the word train.

  “Maybe his eyesight isn’t as bad as they think? I mean, if he can see things like that.”