Special (4/?)
Title: Special (4/?)
Word Count: 3,264
Pairing: This chapter has established Nixon/Speirs.
Summary: All over the world, people are waking up with extraordinary abilities. Not knowing how they got them or what to do, they will soon discover that they are not alone. They are all connected. They are all special.
Some questions are finally answered and I get to stop trying to be so mysterious!
Disclaimer: I’m not making any money off of writing this story. It’s entirely fictional and based on the performances given in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and not the actual soldiers. Any ideas or phrases borrowed from the NBC show Heroes belong to the writers of that show, not me. I don’t own anything…so please don’t sue me. I wrote it for your enjoyment so…enjoy!
Here’s a link to the previous parts-
Part 1-http://community.livejournal.com/camp_toccoa/351591.html
Part 2-http://community.livejournal.com/camp_toccoa/352546.html
Part 3-http://community.livejournal.com/camp_toccoa/355060.html
Lewis Nixon, NYC, New York
The autopsy hadn’t shown them anything unexpected. James Miller had not died of any unforeseen wounds. He had died, the coroner concluded, due to death by neurological symptoms that occurred during the removal of his brain.
While Lewis knew he had to give the coroner the benefit of the doubt he wasn’t really sure how that could be concluded without the brain as evidence. But that wasn’t his job to determine.
As he and Buck took this unstartling information back to the office Nixon wondered if Ron and his partner had found anything.
“So,” Buck spoke, “I heard something pretty interesting earlier from one of the cops at the crime scene.”
Lewis rolled his eyes, “Is this something that I’m going to care about?”
Buck smirked over at him, “Oh yeah.”
“Well?”
“He just got word of a triple homicide here and whispers of a double homicide in California and you’ll never guess who bought the farm.”
Now Nixon was curious, “Who?”
“Tony de Luca and his brothers. Two were in Los Angeles on business.”
Nixon’s eyes went wide. The men that Buck referred to were the men that had blown Ron’s cover and taken him hostage during his undercover assignment.
They had all been employees of the man under investigation but had disappeared from public life after Ron had made his escape. Fleeing no doubt in fear that he would come back with Agents bent on at least sticking them with kidnapping and battery charges since they hadn’t had enough time to gather sufficient evidence to link them with the crimes the FBI suspected they had committed.
Buck kept talking, “Word around the precinct is that they’ve been dead for weeks now. Found their bodies buried behind St. Katherine’s. Torn to pieces from the looks of it. No suspects yet since they’ve been slow to solve it. You know how it is; no one wants to find who killed them, because no one cares. But now it’s hopped state lines so we’ll see who gets wind of it on our end.”
Nixon spoke slowly, “Same MO in Cali?”
Buck nodded, “Oh yeah. Must have taken five guys to do that kind of damage. Bet it was ugly.”
Nixon closed his eyes softly, and all the details of his nightmares came rushing back.
Chaos and carnage, men screaming, begging and pleading to be spared.
Blood all over his hands.
Blood all over his face as he looked into the mirror to see himself smiling.
The man in the mirror…it looked like him but…
“Nix you okay?” Buck’s concern brought him back to a present less filled with violence.
“Yeah...uh...just don’t tell Ron yet okay?”
“Sure man. But good riddance right?”
“Yeah…”
Joseph Liebgott, San Francisco, California
When he finally opened the door, and it took a few minutes for him to stop cursing, he wasn’t sure how to feel about the man on the other side.
The man was slightly shorter and definitely older than Joe was….maybe 28? With short dark hair, a strong jaw and a very, very angry look on his face.
Maybe apprehension was the best way to describe how he was feeling.
Joe took a deep breath, “He isn’t here.”
The man’s hand stopped from where it was moving to the inside of his jacket. Joe didn’t want to know, but he suspected the man had been reaching for a gun. “Excuse me?”
“The guy you’re looking for? He’s isn’t here.”
“And how do you know I’m looking for someone?”
Joe shrugged and wondered if this had really been the best approach, “He told me someone was going to come looking for him. But he’s seriously not here. You can look inside if you want.”
WHY had he just said that? Because….David had said the guy wanted to give him a job right? Not kill him.
For his part the man looked hesitant to take him up on the offer, but eventually nodded. Joe stepped back to let him in, but kept the door open.
As the man looked around he asked Joe, “Why are you telling me this?”
“I have no reason not to. David Webster’s been stalking me for weeks now. We’re not friends or anything.”
Maybe that was kind of true, but at the same time Joe believed the future David. He trusted Webster somewhat and Hell-maybe he thought he was a good kisser. By lying he could keep them both out of trouble.
“I see. So he didn’t say anything to you other than I was looking for him?”
The man had officially stopped his search and turned to face Joe.
“He said you worked for some kind of company.”
“Then what?”
“Then I threw a knife at his head. And then he disappeared, time traveled-whatever. “
That made the man smirk, “Well he wasn’t lying Mr. Liebgott.”
Joe paused, “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you know my name. You do, after all, know where I live.”
“My name is Bill Guarnere. I work for a Company who is very interested in what you can do.”
“What the Hell do you know about what I can do?”
The man gave another smile that put Joe on edge, “More than you can imagine.”
Dick Winters and Babe Heffron, Philadelphia, PA
“Do I have to eat this?” Babe poked at the orange goo on his plate, “Bill would have a heart attack if he saw this. Spaghetti isn’t supposed to be orange.”
Dick just paused with his fork of…whatever- half way to his mouth. “It’s not that bad.”
“You could have at least tried to make it.”
“I did try….I just didn’t succeed.”
Babe made a face and swallowed a bite of the spaghetti, the look on his face only worsened. Pushing his chair back from the table he walked with his plate into the kitchen.
Dick leaned back in his chair to watch him, “And just where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m ordering a pizza!”
Dick sighed and was about to argue when his cell phone rang, standing up he checked the number and groaned.
“Is that Bill?” Babe shouted from the kitchen.
“No it’s our boss.” Dick answered before accepting the call.
“Winters.”
“Dick. Hi. Are you busy?”
Dick rolled his eyes at the eagerness in his boss’s tone. He really hoped this wasn’t a personal call.
“Somewhat. I’m…uh watching over Bill’s little brother.”
“I see. Bill’s little brother. And how is Edward doing? Any signs of development?”
“He’s fine and no sir…no signs. Was there a purpose to this call…sir?”
“Right…yes. I have an assignment for you. We’ve found a replacement for our lost investment. I need someone to retrieve him, and I know how good you are with children.”
Dick’s eyes got big and he dropped his voice so Babe couldn’t hear, “You want me to kidnap a child?”
“Everything you do serves the greater good Dick. Remember that.”
“…Of course. Do you think this could wait until Bill gets back? I don’t want to leave Ba- Edward out here all alone.”
“Sure thing Dick. Tell Babe that his brother will be back soon.”
The line went dead and Dick snapped his phone shut. He wasn’t pleased with his new assignment…not at all.
Walking into the kitchen he saw Babe hanging up the main phone.
“So,” Dick started, “what are you getting on the pizza?”
Babe smiled widely at him, “Jalapenos.”
Dick knew where he was going, “And lots of olives?”
“You so get me.”
Dick laughed. Sobel was right about one thing. Everything he did for the Company served a greater purpose. Because everything he did was to help give Babe a good life. A normal life.
Lewis Nixon, NYC, New York
“Please tell me you found them.”
Ron’s partner- Christenson- hung up his phone the moment they walked in and sent a grin towards Buck before answering his question, “Hell yes we did. I just got our New York guy’s most recent address and I’m about to head out there now.”
Ron looked up from the file, “Buck could you go with him? I need to call the LAPD about this girl in California.”
Buck shrugged, “Why not? Let’s go Burt.”
Christenson wrinkled his nose, “Never call me that again.”
As they left the room-Buck casually strolling and Christenson practically running him over in his haste, Lewis hung back and watched his boyfriend look at two files-his expression troubled.
“What’s wrong?”
Ron glanced up, looking surprised to find he wasn’t alone. Lewis tried not to be hurt. But it was pretty apparent that Ron had been ignoring him all day.
Ron dropped one of the files back onto the desk, “There are two California abductions that, according to the interviews, happened on the same day. A Joseph Liebgott in San Francisco and a Sherry Tanner in Los Angeles. I’m afraid that…”
“You’ll focus your efforts on one and the other will die?”
Ron sighed, “Yeah...kind of. We can do little more than warn them right now. Maybe give them a patrol car if they want one.”
Lewis closed the door to Ron’s office and went to sit facing him, on his desk, “Then what’s bothering you exactly?””
“Sherry Tanner is an 8 year old girl.”
“Oh. Y’know Ron…we’re going to put a stop to this.”
When Ron sad nothing Lewis thought maybe he could get to the heart of the matter. “I’m sorry you got involved in this. I didn’t want to bring you in on this but Buck insisted.”
Ron looked up, straight into Lewis’s eyes, angry. “No God forbid I get anything useful done. You’d probably be happy if I sat around pushing paper for the rest of my fucking career.”
Nixon stood up, “Hey I did what I did to keep you safe! That job was going to kill you and we both know it. You wouldn’t be satisfied until you were dead!”
“You are so full of shit.”
Lewis quieted at the venom in Ron’s voice. He’d been trying to keep him safe…but all he really succeeded in was making Ron hate him.
“Ron I just-I love you.”
As soon as he said the words, Ron’s shoulders slumped and the anger and tension he’d been holding in seemed to fade away.
When Lewis looked back at him, Ron seemed…hurt?
Standing from his chair, Ron pressed his lips to the side of Lewis’s fore head, “I know you do. And sometimes I wish…never mind. I’m sorry.”
As Ron walked out, Lewis stood to follow him, knowing he still had more he needed to say. Yet as he was moving towards the door, Nixon caught his reflection in Christenson’s powered down computer and his breath caught in his throat.
His reflection wasn’t staring back at him as it should have been.
Instead, its head was turned to the right watching Ron’s retreating form with a disturbing look on its face.
Lewis stared at his reflection, horrified.
“Who are you?”
Eugene Roe, New Orleans, LA
Because Renee had no known living relatives when she died, Gene had taken on the responsibility of making all her arrangements and dealing with all of her possessions. She had donated a lot of her stuff in her will to charity, but had chosen to leave certain personal items to him.
It was just another sign to Gene that she had been anticipating her death. At least on some level. They had only known each other for a few years, but she had already arranged her will to include him.
Among the things she left to him were her personal diaries and photo albums. With her death still fresh in his mind, he had been unwilling to go through any of them. Until now.
Maybe it was what Talbert had said, about finding her family. To give them closure, to tell Renee’s story. He hoped something in her belongings could help lead him to them.
Maybe it was because he was tied to her death on so many levels. The ability to heal himself…every time he did it…he remembered that night. Maybe he was looking for a little closure himself.
Opening up his closet door, he reached up to the top shelf where he kept the box of her things. It had sat there since the moment he’d brought it home, untouched.
Setting it on the floor of his bedroom, he pulled out a Swiss army knife to get through the tape keeping it closed. Pulling back the flaps, he sat down and began to look through it.
Reaching inside he pulled out a blue bandana that she used to wear every day at work, and tried to fight against the tears filling his eyes.
Wrapping it around his wrist, he soldiered on, pulling out a dusty photo album and what looked like a stack of envelopes.
He opened up the light blue photo album, not sure what to expect. But what was inside was a possibility he hadn’t even considered.
Inside were pictures of a younger Renee, she couldn’t have been more than 16 when they were taken. With her in most of the shots was an equally young man with brown hair and a goofy smile. But in every single picture was…a baby boy.
The last picture in the photo album was a picture of Renee lying in a hospital bed, balloons and flowers all over, a small child in her arms, and the same man at her side, his arms around her shoulders. They looked so happy.
Renee had been a mother. She had a little boy, and maybe even a husband. Keeping his shock in check, he turned to the envelopes.
Upon closer inspection, the envelopes actually contained letters, although there were no addresses, just a name- George Luz.
Not able to contain his desire to know, he grabbed the first letter from the stack and opened it up.
It read:
George,
I have so many things I have to tell you. So many, many things to explain. You have to know that I loved you and Eli very much, I still do. I never wanted to leave you.
Something was happening to me, I was seeing things that I couldn’t understand and I didn’t know who to talk to. Now I know that I should have trusted you with my secrets. You would have understood-you always did.
A man offered me the chance to understand what was happening to me and like a fool I trusted him. He took me to a Company and, at first, they helped. But then they held me captive, I tried to get away but I couldn’t. Not too long ago a man set me free.
I know this must sound crazy but it’s the truth. All I want is to see you and Eli again, but I know that can never happen. They’re looking for me. The only way to keep you both safe is to stay as far away as I can.
I love you both so much.
Always faithful,
Renee
Gene continued to stare at the letter, long after he had finished reading it. There were so many things she alluded to, but didn’t answer.
While he was certain that the other letters held those answers, he knew they weren’t for his eyes. He had to find this George guy, and give him the letters.
Renee had told him that after her parents had moved to America from France she’d been living in New York.
It wasn’t much, but it was a start.
George and Eli Luz, Brooklyn, NY
“Dad! Stop cheating!”
Luz looked over at his son with an offended expression on his face and a Nintendo controller in his hand. “Hey I don’t have to cheat-I’m the KING of Super Smash Bros.”
“As if,” his 8 year old shot back in distress as he watched his character get violently kicked off of the floating island.
“Did I raise you to be a sore loser?”
“Well YOU’RE a sore winner!”
George paused the game and jumped up off the floor, “That’s it! It’s time to super smash for realz! You’re going down little man!”
Eli laughed before standing and trying to run away, but his father caught him
by the waist and tackled him to the couch-tickling him mercilessly.
“HAHA Dad! Stop!” Eli giggled as he squirmed on the couch.
“Not until you say I’m the King!”
“Haha-FINE! You’re the King!”
“Of what?”
“You’re-haha- the ultimate King of Super Smash!”
They both laughed as Luz let go of Eli who ran back to the game console.
George smiled, “We finish this game and then you need to finish up the rest of your homework. Cool?”
“Ugh…FINE.”
“Good.” But the moment Luz sat down the doorbell rang. He turned to Eli, “Wait here.”
When he opened the door he soon became uneasy at the sight of the two men in suits.
“George Luz?” the younger looking of them asked. When Luz nodded he continued speaking.
“I’m Agent Christenson, and this is Agent Compton. We’re with the FBI. We have reason to believe your life is in danger.”
Joseph Liebgott, San Francisco, California
“So you are the people that abducted me?” Joe asked glaring at the man in his living room.
The man had told him all about the Company, its great facilities for testing in New York and its offices for field agents in Philadelphia.
How it helped to lock up bad people with dangerous abilities but worked well with those who knew how to and were willing to control theirs.
Joe was still stuck on the whole ‘abduction’ thing. When Guarnere nodded at his question, Joe continued to rant.
“So you kidnapped me, stuck a tracking device in me, spied on me, and now you want me to go to some place in New York where you’re going to train me to do all that to other people?”
Guarnere pursed his lips for a moment then nodded again, “That’s the deal.”
“Oh good. Cause I just wanted to clarify.”
“What you should be taking away from this, Mr. Liebgott, is that you’ll get the opportunity to discover the limitations of your unique ability. And also be able to put them to good use, protecting people.”
Joe wanted to argue that he didn’t see any good in what these people were doing, but he had to remember what the future Webster had told him- he was the one who had to infiltrate this company.
“Can I have some time to think about it?”
Guarnere nodded and stood up, “I leave for Philadelphia tomorrow night. I’ll need your answer before then.”
The man handed him a business card and walked out of Joe’s apartment. When he was gone, Joe put down the card and dug into his pocket for a different phone number.
Dialing the number quickly he waited, and after two rings someone picked up.
“Hello?”
“Webster you time traveling son of a whore!”
“Joe? Wow you actually called.”
“Do I sound fucking happy to you?”
“Um…no? But it’s a start.”
“Whatever. Get your ass over to my apartment tomorrow afternoon! We need to
talk.”
“Sure thing. Are you okay?”
“No.” Joe sniped and hung up the phone, no longer disturbed by the fact that David hadn’t asked for directions to his place.
Next time: Meet Carwood Lipton, a divorced LA cop who hears the right things at the wrong times. Joe and David come up with a plan to take down the Company while another murder occurs. George and Eli have a dangerous encounter and Babe begins to have strange dreams. Plus Nixon confronts the man in the mirror, and the reality of his nightmares.
Word Count: 3,264
Pairing: This chapter has established Nixon/Speirs.
Summary: All over the world, people are waking up with extraordinary abilities. Not knowing how they got them or what to do, they will soon discover that they are not alone. They are all connected. They are all special.
Some questions are finally answered and I get to stop trying to be so mysterious!
Disclaimer: I’m not making any money off of writing this story. It’s entirely fictional and based on the performances given in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and not the actual soldiers. Any ideas or phrases borrowed from the NBC show Heroes belong to the writers of that show, not me. I don’t own anything…so please don’t sue me. I wrote it for your enjoyment so…enjoy!
Here’s a link to the previous parts-
Part 1-http://community.livejournal.com/camp_toccoa/351591.html
Part 2-http://community.livejournal.com/camp_toccoa/352546.html
Part 3-http://community.livejournal.com/camp_toccoa/355060.html
Lewis Nixon, NYC, New York
The autopsy hadn’t shown them anything unexpected. James Miller had not died of any unforeseen wounds. He had died, the coroner concluded, due to death by neurological symptoms that occurred during the removal of his brain.
While Lewis knew he had to give the coroner the benefit of the doubt he wasn’t really sure how that could be concluded without the brain as evidence. But that wasn’t his job to determine.
As he and Buck took this unstartling information back to the office Nixon wondered if Ron and his partner had found anything.
“So,” Buck spoke, “I heard something pretty interesting earlier from one of the cops at the crime scene.”
Lewis rolled his eyes, “Is this something that I’m going to care about?”
Buck smirked over at him, “Oh yeah.”
“Well?”
“He just got word of a triple homicide here and whispers of a double homicide in California and you’ll never guess who bought the farm.”
Now Nixon was curious, “Who?”
“Tony de Luca and his brothers. Two were in Los Angeles on business.”
Nixon’s eyes went wide. The men that Buck referred to were the men that had blown Ron’s cover and taken him hostage during his undercover assignment.
They had all been employees of the man under investigation but had disappeared from public life after Ron had made his escape. Fleeing no doubt in fear that he would come back with Agents bent on at least sticking them with kidnapping and battery charges since they hadn’t had enough time to gather sufficient evidence to link them with the crimes the FBI suspected they had committed.
Buck kept talking, “Word around the precinct is that they’ve been dead for weeks now. Found their bodies buried behind St. Katherine’s. Torn to pieces from the looks of it. No suspects yet since they’ve been slow to solve it. You know how it is; no one wants to find who killed them, because no one cares. But now it’s hopped state lines so we’ll see who gets wind of it on our end.”
Nixon spoke slowly, “Same MO in Cali?”
Buck nodded, “Oh yeah. Must have taken five guys to do that kind of damage. Bet it was ugly.”
Nixon closed his eyes softly, and all the details of his nightmares came rushing back.
Chaos and carnage, men screaming, begging and pleading to be spared.
Blood all over his hands.
Blood all over his face as he looked into the mirror to see himself smiling.
The man in the mirror…it looked like him but…
“Nix you okay?” Buck’s concern brought him back to a present less filled with violence.
“Yeah...uh...just don’t tell Ron yet okay?”
“Sure man. But good riddance right?”
“Yeah…”
Joseph Liebgott, San Francisco, California
When he finally opened the door, and it took a few minutes for him to stop cursing, he wasn’t sure how to feel about the man on the other side.
The man was slightly shorter and definitely older than Joe was….maybe 28? With short dark hair, a strong jaw and a very, very angry look on his face.
Maybe apprehension was the best way to describe how he was feeling.
Joe took a deep breath, “He isn’t here.”
The man’s hand stopped from where it was moving to the inside of his jacket. Joe didn’t want to know, but he suspected the man had been reaching for a gun. “Excuse me?”
“The guy you’re looking for? He’s isn’t here.”
“And how do you know I’m looking for someone?”
Joe shrugged and wondered if this had really been the best approach, “He told me someone was going to come looking for him. But he’s seriously not here. You can look inside if you want.”
WHY had he just said that? Because….David had said the guy wanted to give him a job right? Not kill him.
For his part the man looked hesitant to take him up on the offer, but eventually nodded. Joe stepped back to let him in, but kept the door open.
As the man looked around he asked Joe, “Why are you telling me this?”
“I have no reason not to. David Webster’s been stalking me for weeks now. We’re not friends or anything.”
Maybe that was kind of true, but at the same time Joe believed the future David. He trusted Webster somewhat and Hell-maybe he thought he was a good kisser. By lying he could keep them both out of trouble.
“I see. So he didn’t say anything to you other than I was looking for him?”
The man had officially stopped his search and turned to face Joe.
“He said you worked for some kind of company.”
“Then what?”
“Then I threw a knife at his head. And then he disappeared, time traveled-whatever. “
That made the man smirk, “Well he wasn’t lying Mr. Liebgott.”
Joe paused, “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you know my name. You do, after all, know where I live.”
“My name is Bill Guarnere. I work for a Company who is very interested in what you can do.”
“What the Hell do you know about what I can do?”
The man gave another smile that put Joe on edge, “More than you can imagine.”
Dick Winters and Babe Heffron, Philadelphia, PA
“Do I have to eat this?” Babe poked at the orange goo on his plate, “Bill would have a heart attack if he saw this. Spaghetti isn’t supposed to be orange.”
Dick just paused with his fork of…whatever- half way to his mouth. “It’s not that bad.”
“You could have at least tried to make it.”
“I did try….I just didn’t succeed.”
Babe made a face and swallowed a bite of the spaghetti, the look on his face only worsened. Pushing his chair back from the table he walked with his plate into the kitchen.
Dick leaned back in his chair to watch him, “And just where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m ordering a pizza!”
Dick sighed and was about to argue when his cell phone rang, standing up he checked the number and groaned.
“Is that Bill?” Babe shouted from the kitchen.
“No it’s our boss.” Dick answered before accepting the call.
“Winters.”
“Dick. Hi. Are you busy?”
Dick rolled his eyes at the eagerness in his boss’s tone. He really hoped this wasn’t a personal call.
“Somewhat. I’m…uh watching over Bill’s little brother.”
“I see. Bill’s little brother. And how is Edward doing? Any signs of development?”
“He’s fine and no sir…no signs. Was there a purpose to this call…sir?”
“Right…yes. I have an assignment for you. We’ve found a replacement for our lost investment. I need someone to retrieve him, and I know how good you are with children.”
Dick’s eyes got big and he dropped his voice so Babe couldn’t hear, “You want me to kidnap a child?”
“Everything you do serves the greater good Dick. Remember that.”
“…Of course. Do you think this could wait until Bill gets back? I don’t want to leave Ba- Edward out here all alone.”
“Sure thing Dick. Tell Babe that his brother will be back soon.”
The line went dead and Dick snapped his phone shut. He wasn’t pleased with his new assignment…not at all.
Walking into the kitchen he saw Babe hanging up the main phone.
“So,” Dick started, “what are you getting on the pizza?”
Babe smiled widely at him, “Jalapenos.”
Dick knew where he was going, “And lots of olives?”
“You so get me.”
Dick laughed. Sobel was right about one thing. Everything he did for the Company served a greater purpose. Because everything he did was to help give Babe a good life. A normal life.
Lewis Nixon, NYC, New York
“Please tell me you found them.”
Ron’s partner- Christenson- hung up his phone the moment they walked in and sent a grin towards Buck before answering his question, “Hell yes we did. I just got our New York guy’s most recent address and I’m about to head out there now.”
Ron looked up from the file, “Buck could you go with him? I need to call the LAPD about this girl in California.”
Buck shrugged, “Why not? Let’s go Burt.”
Christenson wrinkled his nose, “Never call me that again.”
As they left the room-Buck casually strolling and Christenson practically running him over in his haste, Lewis hung back and watched his boyfriend look at two files-his expression troubled.
“What’s wrong?”
Ron glanced up, looking surprised to find he wasn’t alone. Lewis tried not to be hurt. But it was pretty apparent that Ron had been ignoring him all day.
Ron dropped one of the files back onto the desk, “There are two California abductions that, according to the interviews, happened on the same day. A Joseph Liebgott in San Francisco and a Sherry Tanner in Los Angeles. I’m afraid that…”
“You’ll focus your efforts on one and the other will die?”
Ron sighed, “Yeah...kind of. We can do little more than warn them right now. Maybe give them a patrol car if they want one.”
Lewis closed the door to Ron’s office and went to sit facing him, on his desk, “Then what’s bothering you exactly?””
“Sherry Tanner is an 8 year old girl.”
“Oh. Y’know Ron…we’re going to put a stop to this.”
When Ron sad nothing Lewis thought maybe he could get to the heart of the matter. “I’m sorry you got involved in this. I didn’t want to bring you in on this but Buck insisted.”
Ron looked up, straight into Lewis’s eyes, angry. “No God forbid I get anything useful done. You’d probably be happy if I sat around pushing paper for the rest of my fucking career.”
Nixon stood up, “Hey I did what I did to keep you safe! That job was going to kill you and we both know it. You wouldn’t be satisfied until you were dead!”
“You are so full of shit.”
Lewis quieted at the venom in Ron’s voice. He’d been trying to keep him safe…but all he really succeeded in was making Ron hate him.
“Ron I just-I love you.”
As soon as he said the words, Ron’s shoulders slumped and the anger and tension he’d been holding in seemed to fade away.
When Lewis looked back at him, Ron seemed…hurt?
Standing from his chair, Ron pressed his lips to the side of Lewis’s fore head, “I know you do. And sometimes I wish…never mind. I’m sorry.”
As Ron walked out, Lewis stood to follow him, knowing he still had more he needed to say. Yet as he was moving towards the door, Nixon caught his reflection in Christenson’s powered down computer and his breath caught in his throat.
His reflection wasn’t staring back at him as it should have been.
Instead, its head was turned to the right watching Ron’s retreating form with a disturbing look on its face.
Lewis stared at his reflection, horrified.
“Who are you?”
Eugene Roe, New Orleans, LA
Because Renee had no known living relatives when she died, Gene had taken on the responsibility of making all her arrangements and dealing with all of her possessions. She had donated a lot of her stuff in her will to charity, but had chosen to leave certain personal items to him.
It was just another sign to Gene that she had been anticipating her death. At least on some level. They had only known each other for a few years, but she had already arranged her will to include him.
Among the things she left to him were her personal diaries and photo albums. With her death still fresh in his mind, he had been unwilling to go through any of them. Until now.
Maybe it was what Talbert had said, about finding her family. To give them closure, to tell Renee’s story. He hoped something in her belongings could help lead him to them.
Maybe it was because he was tied to her death on so many levels. The ability to heal himself…every time he did it…he remembered that night. Maybe he was looking for a little closure himself.
Opening up his closet door, he reached up to the top shelf where he kept the box of her things. It had sat there since the moment he’d brought it home, untouched.
Setting it on the floor of his bedroom, he pulled out a Swiss army knife to get through the tape keeping it closed. Pulling back the flaps, he sat down and began to look through it.
Reaching inside he pulled out a blue bandana that she used to wear every day at work, and tried to fight against the tears filling his eyes.
Wrapping it around his wrist, he soldiered on, pulling out a dusty photo album and what looked like a stack of envelopes.
He opened up the light blue photo album, not sure what to expect. But what was inside was a possibility he hadn’t even considered.
Inside were pictures of a younger Renee, she couldn’t have been more than 16 when they were taken. With her in most of the shots was an equally young man with brown hair and a goofy smile. But in every single picture was…a baby boy.
The last picture in the photo album was a picture of Renee lying in a hospital bed, balloons and flowers all over, a small child in her arms, and the same man at her side, his arms around her shoulders. They looked so happy.
Renee had been a mother. She had a little boy, and maybe even a husband. Keeping his shock in check, he turned to the envelopes.
Upon closer inspection, the envelopes actually contained letters, although there were no addresses, just a name- George Luz.
Not able to contain his desire to know, he grabbed the first letter from the stack and opened it up.
It read:
George,
I have so many things I have to tell you. So many, many things to explain. You have to know that I loved you and Eli very much, I still do. I never wanted to leave you.
Something was happening to me, I was seeing things that I couldn’t understand and I didn’t know who to talk to. Now I know that I should have trusted you with my secrets. You would have understood-you always did.
A man offered me the chance to understand what was happening to me and like a fool I trusted him. He took me to a Company and, at first, they helped. But then they held me captive, I tried to get away but I couldn’t. Not too long ago a man set me free.
I know this must sound crazy but it’s the truth. All I want is to see you and Eli again, but I know that can never happen. They’re looking for me. The only way to keep you both safe is to stay as far away as I can.
I love you both so much.
Always faithful,
Renee
Gene continued to stare at the letter, long after he had finished reading it. There were so many things she alluded to, but didn’t answer.
While he was certain that the other letters held those answers, he knew they weren’t for his eyes. He had to find this George guy, and give him the letters.
Renee had told him that after her parents had moved to America from France she’d been living in New York.
It wasn’t much, but it was a start.
George and Eli Luz, Brooklyn, NY
“Dad! Stop cheating!”
Luz looked over at his son with an offended expression on his face and a Nintendo controller in his hand. “Hey I don’t have to cheat-I’m the KING of Super Smash Bros.”
“As if,” his 8 year old shot back in distress as he watched his character get violently kicked off of the floating island.
“Did I raise you to be a sore loser?”
“Well YOU’RE a sore winner!”
George paused the game and jumped up off the floor, “That’s it! It’s time to super smash for realz! You’re going down little man!”
Eli laughed before standing and trying to run away, but his father caught him
by the waist and tackled him to the couch-tickling him mercilessly.
“HAHA Dad! Stop!” Eli giggled as he squirmed on the couch.
“Not until you say I’m the King!”
“Haha-FINE! You’re the King!”
“Of what?”
“You’re-haha- the ultimate King of Super Smash!”
They both laughed as Luz let go of Eli who ran back to the game console.
George smiled, “We finish this game and then you need to finish up the rest of your homework. Cool?”
“Ugh…FINE.”
“Good.” But the moment Luz sat down the doorbell rang. He turned to Eli, “Wait here.”
When he opened the door he soon became uneasy at the sight of the two men in suits.
“George Luz?” the younger looking of them asked. When Luz nodded he continued speaking.
“I’m Agent Christenson, and this is Agent Compton. We’re with the FBI. We have reason to believe your life is in danger.”
Joseph Liebgott, San Francisco, California
“So you are the people that abducted me?” Joe asked glaring at the man in his living room.
The man had told him all about the Company, its great facilities for testing in New York and its offices for field agents in Philadelphia.
How it helped to lock up bad people with dangerous abilities but worked well with those who knew how to and were willing to control theirs.
Joe was still stuck on the whole ‘abduction’ thing. When Guarnere nodded at his question, Joe continued to rant.
“So you kidnapped me, stuck a tracking device in me, spied on me, and now you want me to go to some place in New York where you’re going to train me to do all that to other people?”
Guarnere pursed his lips for a moment then nodded again, “That’s the deal.”
“Oh good. Cause I just wanted to clarify.”
“What you should be taking away from this, Mr. Liebgott, is that you’ll get the opportunity to discover the limitations of your unique ability. And also be able to put them to good use, protecting people.”
Joe wanted to argue that he didn’t see any good in what these people were doing, but he had to remember what the future Webster had told him- he was the one who had to infiltrate this company.
“Can I have some time to think about it?”
Guarnere nodded and stood up, “I leave for Philadelphia tomorrow night. I’ll need your answer before then.”
The man handed him a business card and walked out of Joe’s apartment. When he was gone, Joe put down the card and dug into his pocket for a different phone number.
Dialing the number quickly he waited, and after two rings someone picked up.
“Hello?”
“Webster you time traveling son of a whore!”
“Joe? Wow you actually called.”
“Do I sound fucking happy to you?”
“Um…no? But it’s a start.”
“Whatever. Get your ass over to my apartment tomorrow afternoon! We need to
talk.”
“Sure thing. Are you okay?”
“No.” Joe sniped and hung up the phone, no longer disturbed by the fact that David hadn’t asked for directions to his place.
Next time: Meet Carwood Lipton, a divorced LA cop who hears the right things at the wrong times. Joe and David come up with a plan to take down the Company while another murder occurs. George and Eli have a dangerous encounter and Babe begins to have strange dreams. Plus Nixon confronts the man in the mirror, and the reality of his nightmares.