-[return - one]-
One moment, he'd been walking down Goldburg street, a lost, soaked cat perched on his shoulder (he'd found it trying valiantly to swim in the flooded street), and the next he was lying on the floor in a room, a familiar room. The walls were cream coloured and the drapes were heavy, velvet and dark red. One had been burned half way and the smell still hadn't left the room. One of the paintings was gone, and the frame of another was cracked and splintered; it hung at an angle. The righthand wall had what appeared to be bulletholes in it, sprayed across and through the door. the only thing untouched was the chair, dark wood and victorian styled, of which his prior captor Mr. Knight had sat in.
The bed Gabriel had lain in was gone, as were the machines that had surrounded him. when he sat up, he leaned forward with head in hands, dizzy from the effort. He felt stiff all over, tired, but worlds better than he had when he'd first woke up there. It felt aeons ago.
An oxygen mask, connected to nothing, hung around his neck and he pulled it off. Shirtless, electrode pads stuck here and there on his chest with no wires running from them. White scrub pants. Nothing else.
No, he was wrong. Gabriel did have something. He could feel it in the back of his mind, twining around his spine. It made his nerve endings tingle. He'd regained his abilities, what Mayfield had stripped him of. He was whole again. But...
Something had happened there, and it hadn't gone well. Knight must have been found, but by who or what he wasn't sure. He thought of sending his projected, telekinetic self out invisible to find out more, but it would have left his body vulnerable.
Gabriel stood, walked the perimeter of the room and stopped at the door. The room was very empty, nothing else left but what had happened before. He rested one hand on the brass doorknob and closed his eyes. Invisible telekinetic energy flowed through his fingertips and into the keyhole, testing the lock. It had been broken, and when he let the energy dissipate and turned the knob, he found it very unlocked.
Old brass doorknobs are heavy, and when they hit a hardwood floor they make quite a thump. When the lock had been broken, it had also damaged the outer knob and it had hung precariously by a small bit of metal. When he turned it, the thing fell.
Shit.
Gabriel abandoned the door, already hearing footsteps on the other side, distant but coming closer and pulled the drapes back from the window. Not only was it locked, it was at least six stories up. He knew he had enough energy left to summon his teke to fight off an attacker, but not enough to break his fall if he jumped from that high up, not to mention breaking the window out. He'd have to find another way.
He pressed his back to the wall beside the door and waited for who or whatever was approaching to enter, and when the door opened and the figure appeared, he cracked it on the back of the skull with a short burst of teke. It fell to the floor, crumpling in a heap on the carpet.
Quickly, he rolled it--him--over, taking stock of the man. Suit, tie, inner holster with a nasty looking, short-barreled gun of some sort with a black matte finish. He found a wallet and flipped it open. Agent Michael Lucas, Central Intelligence Agency.
They always come in pairs fuck fuck fuck--
Gabriel stood, turning as he did, to see a similarly clad walking quickly down the hall toward him, reaching into his jacket for what Gabriel assumed was a gun much like what he'd found. Nothing for it. He threw up a quick teke shield and strode out the door toward the man, gathering energy as he went. The man fired and the bullet stopped inches from Gabriel's chest, stuck in the kinetic energy. He fired again, twice, three times as Gabriel closed the distance. He did not stop until he reached the gunman, and only then did he let the shield drop. Gabriel hit the man in the throat with an energy punch and the man's neck snapped.
Too much energy, too much too fast. He hadn't meant to kill the man.
He could feel he had precious little to spend at this point. He backtracked his way to the room and gathered up the other man's weapon as well. Gabriel held the muzzle of the gun to the man's head, hesitated. No. This is not the way. Instead, he made his way as quickly and quietly as possible out of the room and down the hallway, listening for signs of others in the building, a gun in each hand. He was no marksman and he hated the damned weapons, but he had to have a backup.
Gabriel found that the rest of the floor was much as the same as the first room, full of bulletholes, odd bits of burn, furnishings in various states of demolished. A broken window afforded him another look out and he paused to get his bearings. Out in the middle of god knows where, green fields stretching with scant trees and foliage. Several black SUVs were parked outside, but there was nothing else. The middle of nowhere. Cripes, who knew where he was?
More footsteps were approaching, and he ducked into what he'd thought was another room. Instead, it was a stairwell. He started down the stairs.
((to be continued when mun has more brain))
The bed Gabriel had lain in was gone, as were the machines that had surrounded him. when he sat up, he leaned forward with head in hands, dizzy from the effort. He felt stiff all over, tired, but worlds better than he had when he'd first woke up there. It felt aeons ago.
An oxygen mask, connected to nothing, hung around his neck and he pulled it off. Shirtless, electrode pads stuck here and there on his chest with no wires running from them. White scrub pants. Nothing else.
No, he was wrong. Gabriel did have something. He could feel it in the back of his mind, twining around his spine. It made his nerve endings tingle. He'd regained his abilities, what Mayfield had stripped him of. He was whole again. But...
Something had happened there, and it hadn't gone well. Knight must have been found, but by who or what he wasn't sure. He thought of sending his projected, telekinetic self out invisible to find out more, but it would have left his body vulnerable.
Gabriel stood, walked the perimeter of the room and stopped at the door. The room was very empty, nothing else left but what had happened before. He rested one hand on the brass doorknob and closed his eyes. Invisible telekinetic energy flowed through his fingertips and into the keyhole, testing the lock. It had been broken, and when he let the energy dissipate and turned the knob, he found it very unlocked.
Old brass doorknobs are heavy, and when they hit a hardwood floor they make quite a thump. When the lock had been broken, it had also damaged the outer knob and it had hung precariously by a small bit of metal. When he turned it, the thing fell.
Shit.
Gabriel abandoned the door, already hearing footsteps on the other side, distant but coming closer and pulled the drapes back from the window. Not only was it locked, it was at least six stories up. He knew he had enough energy left to summon his teke to fight off an attacker, but not enough to break his fall if he jumped from that high up, not to mention breaking the window out. He'd have to find another way.
He pressed his back to the wall beside the door and waited for who or whatever was approaching to enter, and when the door opened and the figure appeared, he cracked it on the back of the skull with a short burst of teke. It fell to the floor, crumpling in a heap on the carpet.
Quickly, he rolled it--him--over, taking stock of the man. Suit, tie, inner holster with a nasty looking, short-barreled gun of some sort with a black matte finish. He found a wallet and flipped it open. Agent Michael Lucas, Central Intelligence Agency.
They always come in pairs fuck fuck fuck--
Gabriel stood, turning as he did, to see a similarly clad walking quickly down the hall toward him, reaching into his jacket for what Gabriel assumed was a gun much like what he'd found. Nothing for it. He threw up a quick teke shield and strode out the door toward the man, gathering energy as he went. The man fired and the bullet stopped inches from Gabriel's chest, stuck in the kinetic energy. He fired again, twice, three times as Gabriel closed the distance. He did not stop until he reached the gunman, and only then did he let the shield drop. Gabriel hit the man in the throat with an energy punch and the man's neck snapped.
Too much energy, too much too fast. He hadn't meant to kill the man.
He could feel he had precious little to spend at this point. He backtracked his way to the room and gathered up the other man's weapon as well. Gabriel held the muzzle of the gun to the man's head, hesitated. No. This is not the way. Instead, he made his way as quickly and quietly as possible out of the room and down the hallway, listening for signs of others in the building, a gun in each hand. He was no marksman and he hated the damned weapons, but he had to have a backup.
Gabriel found that the rest of the floor was much as the same as the first room, full of bulletholes, odd bits of burn, furnishings in various states of demolished. A broken window afforded him another look out and he paused to get his bearings. Out in the middle of god knows where, green fields stretching with scant trees and foliage. Several black SUVs were parked outside, but there was nothing else. The middle of nowhere. Cripes, who knew where he was?
More footsteps were approaching, and he ducked into what he'd thought was another room. Instead, it was a stairwell. He started down the stairs.
((to be continued when mun has more brain))