A/N: So this was my entry for Bonkai Secret Santa on tumblr this year. My Giftee, Shadowcatgirl09 (which if you haven't already you should check out her fics), had inquiry about an edit I had proposing this idea, and how I'd write it, so I knew immediately when I got her name this would be the perfect gift. I unfortunately couldn't finish all of it in one go, but this is the first of three parts. I hope you enjoy.
Part I. A Flash of Neon and Smoke
Augustine, it was hell, but the place Bonnie called home for the last three years. She didn't understand why they were transferring her or anyone for that matter—it was one of the most secure facilities in the DUP, Department of Unified Protection. Wherever they were taking her she hoped they had better food—it was the only enjoyable thing she had left and they still managed to ruin that; but it wasn't like she expected more—what do you expect from a bunch of people who don't even see you as human? She was already familiar with this, it only got worse when she became a conduit, correction, bioterrorist. She supposed on some level she deserved it—she had hurt people, good people, but that still didn't justify turning her into a fucking lab rat.
And what about the others? She was sure they didn't kill anyone. The guy across from her, Tyler, looked harmless enough and from the few seconds of interaction they were allowed to have back in Augustine, he didn't seem like a bioterrorist—he just seemed like a scared kid. However, the girl sitting next to her, Katherine, who looked like a bitch she went to high school with, may have pulled some shit back in the day. She had a devious glint in her eye, but she might just be projecting.
She sat back and closed her eyes. This was the most sleep he was probably going to get for the next three years so she might as well enjoy it—before the poking and prodding started again. She was almost asleep imagining he was alive again when she smelled smoke. Alarmed, she opened her eyes and saw Katherine out of her cuffs and about to attack the guard whose back is turned to them.
Bonnie felt a knot in her stomach. Best case scenario they get free; worst case—she preferred not to think about it. It involved lots and lots of pain without even the relief of death in the end. She thought about warning him, maybe they would grant mercy, but she thought better of it, nothing would get them out of this but winning. She took her eyes off what was happening to divert suspicion. Tyler wasn't getting that message as he tentatively watched Katherine. Bonnie kicked his foot lightly to get him to stop, but it didn't matter in the end because Katherine had already made her move.
Katherine grabbed the guard from behind and covered his mouth with her hand. With an airtight seal, she invaded his lungs with carbo dioxide filled smoke. He struggled against her trying to move her hand away from him, but she was determined. He slumped against her and as quietly as she could she dropped him to the ground. She turned to Bonnie first holding a bent paperclip in her hand.
"You seem like you'll be more useful," she whispered as she worked on unlocking Bonnie's cuffs. It didn't take long before Bonnie was free and she moved on to Tyler. "No offense sugar, but you don't look like you do well under pressure."
Katherine was still working on Tyler's cuffs when the guard started to come to. He was about to shout when Bonnie noticed him and shot him with her neon light. The light shot a hole in his chest and the truck hitting the driver side tire blowing their cover. The convoy spun out of control. Right before it flipped, Tyler was free from his cuffs.
Kai ran into Sheila's classroom slamming the door locking it behind him. Her class had ended an hour ago and she had quite a bit of time before her next class—so to say she was startled was an understatement. When she looked to see who had interrupted her grading papers she calmed down immediately.
"What did you do this time?" She sighed and went back to her task.
"Ah, c'mon Sheilz, do you always have to think the worst of me?"
She peered at him through the top of her glasses. Someone banged on the door moments later and shouted, "POLICE!"
"You were saying."
"Point taken." He ran to the back door. "I was never here."
"You never are," she said moving on to the next paper.
"You're a life saver."
"I thought you were never here."
"Right." He exited the classroom and continued his journey around the campus. He blended into the throng of students. After about ten minutes he watched the police leave her classroom and he felt a sense of accomplishment.
Whistling he walked to the cafeteria. They didn't have the best food, but if he was lucky he could find some pork rinds—they'll definitely hit the spot after all the running he had to do. They definitely spent way too much time chasing him over a little spray paint. If you ask me I did them a favor that wall was looking a little bland.
When he was sure the police had given up on finding him he made his way back toward Sheila's classroom. He was a lot quieter when he came in this time.
"Whoo, I really owe you one. That could have ended really bad and then they would have called—"
"Me." His sister's angry voice pierced his ears from behind.
"You called her," he whined to Sheila.
"You're lucky that's all I did. I do not appreciate having to lie to the police."
"Jo," he squeaks out turning to her. "What brings you all the way over here? Don't you still have a shift at the hospital?"
"I did until I got a call about my idiot brother. It seems he got himself into some more trouble."
"Or did he? Because from where I'm standing he just dodged trouble."
"Oh no, he's in trouble. Car. Now," she said sternly.
He rolled his eyes. "You do know I'm a grown man, right? And that you're not my mother?"
"Do you? Because you don't act like it."
He blew out a sigh. Tilting his head toward Sheila. "Bye. Thanks for the lookout." With a tight-lipped smile, he waved and walked past Jo. "For the record, I don't need you to play mommy for me, I already had one for that." He walked out to his sister's car leaving her behind.
"Thank you, Sheila, for calling. I honestly don't know what I'd do without you."
"No problem baby, I know he can be a handful."
"That's an understatement."
"But he is right."
"Huh," Jo inquires.
"He's a grown man, and pretty soon you're going to have to stop acting like his mom and be his sister. His problems are exactly that, his problems."
"You say that, but how can I just give up on him. Our parents did that enough. I can't be a disappointment too."
"I didn't say give up on him, I just said let him deal with things himself. Babying him isn't going to help him in the long run."
She lamented on Sheila's words for a minute. "Thank you, again," she said somberly and left.
They quickly left the parking lot and made their way home. The car was silent for a while before Jo finally spoke.
"You have to stop pulling this crap. I know things haven't been easy, but acting out like a teenager isn't going to solve anything."
"That's easy for you to say you've got things figured out."
She scoffed. "You think I have things figured out? If I had things figured out I wouldn't be leaving work to bail out my 24-year-old brother."
"For god's sake, there was nothing to bail me out from, I escaped."
"That's not the point! That attitude's going to get you arrested or worse. Do you want that?"
"Nothing is going to happen! You're making a mountain out of a molehill as usual."
"Of course, it's always me that's overreacting. You can never do no wrong. What are you going to do when I'm not there? You've burned so many bridges I'm all you have left."
"JO!"
"WHAT?"
"TRUCK!" Her eyes made their way back to the road and in front of them was a convoy skidding its way on its side toward them. Jo's reflexes kicked in and she swerved out of the way. The convoy missed their car but they still crashed into trees.
The crash was gruesome and if she was anyone else it would have ended up a lot worse like it did for the guards. The crash took the majority of the DUP out, but she knew more were on their way. Escaped conduits were definitely going to be a high priority.
When she opened her eyes she saw an unfamiliar figure checking her wounds. She had dark hair and piercing blue eyes. When she was conscious enough she swiped he unfamiliar hand away.
"Get away from me," she shouted. Before the woman could respond Bonnie jumped up and with her powers, she blurred away in a flash of neon. The woman jumped back once she realized what Bonnie really was. Typical, she thought to herself.
She wanted to see how the others were doing, but the sound of sirens in the distance stopped her. She needed to leave now or risk being locked up again. She started backing away from the truck. "I'd say it's been a pleasure, but—" She doesn't finish her sentence before she flashed away again.
Kai was standing at the totaled car. Jo went to see if anyone needed any medical attention after she had thoroughly checked him out. He supposed he could have gone with her, but it's not like he could really help anyone—he didn't have a medical degree of any kind. Plus wounded crying panicky people just weren't his forte—he'd leave that to Jo.
In the distance, he heard a rustling in the trees and then out came a tall brunette woman with doe eyes. He shrugged to himself and thought, not the weirdest thing to come out of the woods. He thought about walking toward her, but thought better of it—he just buried his face into his phone. If she wanted his help she would have to come to him, not the other way around—he didn't want to give the impression that he could do anything.
The woman stumbles her way over to him walking almost as though she was drunk. "Woo," she huffed. "That was quite exhaustin'," she said in an accent that told Kai she wasn't from around here. He didn't exactly know where she was from but if he had to guess he'd say Texas which didn't mean much since that's where he assumed everyone with a southern accent was from, but at least he tried.
"You lost," he said apathetically not looking up at her.
"I haven't got a clue where the hell I am."
"That sucks."
"Hey, is that your car? I could really use a ride, and after five minutes of hiking, I'm done. Excising will never be my thing. I got lucky with the genes."
So she's a talker.
"Excuse me," she shouted finally catching on.
"Yeah," he said starting to get annoyed.
"I asked you for help, the kind thing to do would be to offer it." There was an edge in her voice.
"I'm not kind and as you can see from my totaled car, I'm not much help either, so take a hike." He snorted laughing at his own joke.
"Aw, you think you're funny, I don't have time for funny." She grabbed on to his shirt and pulled her into him—she was surprisingly strong for a girl. "Either you help me or—"
"Kai!" A sound he never thought he'd be so happy to hear, but the wood nymph was getting a little more handsy than he was comfortable with.
"Jo?" he shouted looking for her. She was standing right where his woodland friend just came from.
She was about to shout for him again when she saw him and stopped in her tracks. She's dressed like the girl in the truck. "Kai get away from her," she shouted.
"Yeah, get away from me," she whispered leaning closer into him. "You wouldn't want anything bad to happen." Her voice sounded almost childlike, and it sent shivers down his spine—not the good kind. He tried to push her away, but she had impossible strength.
"She's a bioterrorist!" Jo ran towards her brother.
Katherine switched her position subduing him from behind. For the first time in a while, Kai felt fear. He didn't know what this woman was capable of but she was a hell of a lot stronger than him. She held her hand out to Jo releasing a cloud of smoke in front of her. "Back off cutie pie."
Jo backed away cautiously, but still determined. "Get away from my brother!"
"No, because right now he's the only thing between me and a locked cell."
"I don't care."
"Well, you better because if you don't help me I will hurt him. We don't want that now do we?"
"No," Jo whispered.
"How about you sweetie, you want anything bad to happen to that pretty little face of yours?" He didn't respond. "You know you've been awfully quiet. I don't like quiet; they tend to always have something up their sleeve." She squeezed the arm around his neck tighter. "You have anything you want to share with the rest of the class?"
"No," he wheezed defiantly.
"How 'bout now?" She raised her hand toward his sister, but instead of smoke, it lit up like a fireplace.
He didn't know what she was going to do, but he knew it was going to be a lot worse than a little smoke. He used what little leeway he had to get his arm free. He grabbed on to her hand in hopes of at least diverting her aim. The moment his hand latched to hers he felt his entire body burning, right down to his bones. Distantly he hears both her and his sister scream right before everything goes black.
No one has ever thought of me as much more than trailer trash. I suppose they were right. I lived in a mobile home most my life, born to a woman who had so many track marks on her body it was a wonder how she still managed to get high. Never knew my daddy either. I was such a cliché I even ended up pregnant at 15—but don't let anyone tell you differently, I love my daughter.
Everything I did was for my little girl, Nadia. The robberies, the scams, I even whored myself out a few times—I never made that much which is why it was always the last resort. But it didn't matter in the end just like everything in life my mama screwed me over.
I knew not to trust her—she was never reliable, but I had a job interview and a steady paycheck was exactly what I needed. She had been doing great, hadn't been using for a while—or at least she appeared to be. It was only for an hour—how much trouble could she get into for an hour? A lot apparently.
I didn't get the job and by the time I got home, no one was there. I called and I called and asked around, but they were nowhere to be found. I went out of my mind looking for them. That's when it happened—my powers. I'd have been happy if my baby girl wasn't missing. I had a fire in me so hot I could burn through a whole village.
I went on a rampage, going through her old dealers—none of them had seen her. I finally found her—she was trying to trade my daughter for $20,000. Worst babysitter ever. She even tried to justify it saying we could finally afford to live somewhere better, but I knew what she actually wanted—better drugs. I damn near killed the bitch and would have I didn't feel this sense of loyalty for her. She was still my mom, no matter what.
We were on our own after that—that wasn't different, but now we didn't have a place to live. I got desperate—took a big bank job with a crew—I always work alone. The job went off without a hitch but when it came time to give everyone their cut—they got stingy. I did most of the work, they were lucky I was even helping them. If I wasn't getting paid no one was.
I took them out pretty easily and life was pretty blissful until the DUPs caught up to me. They put my daughter in social services and sent me to Augustine. I vowed when the opportunity came I wouldn't hesitate. I was gonna get out, I was gonna see my baby girl again.
Seven years, seven years locked up, seven years of them testing me, training me, seven years of that sadistic bitch Sybil doing whatever she wanted and finally a golden opportunity arrived. One of them was stupid enough to leave a paperclip—it may not seem like much, but I've locked up enough times to know exactly how to use one even with those cuffs that kept you from doing anything including wiping your own ass.
They were transporting us—perfect timing. I usually worked alone but I figured two were better than one and three was better than two. We all had just as much at stake. I let the girl out first, Sparks, she was a quiet one, but in a jam, I knew she'd be the most useful—and boy was she useful. I let out the boy last, Tyler, not your typical comic book nerd, definitely hotter, but just as squeamish.
When the girl caused the crash the only thing that kept us in one piece was him. Whatever the hell it was he did kept us from tumbling all over the place and killed the DUP guards at the same—last time I underestimate him. I would have thanked him but he was the first to leave from all of the debris. The girl was knocked out cold, I would have helped, but I didn't have time. I made a vow I was gonna get to her and I wasn't letting anything get in my way.
The kid was out when Katherine came to. His sister was cradling him in her arms. She felt bad about what she was about to do but right now it was them or survival. She got up and made her way over to them. Squatting, she made eye contact with Jo.
"Hand me your keys."
"What did you do to my brother?" she screamed.
"I'm sorry, what did I do? That little freak touched my hand and went digging inside my head and you want to know what I did?"
Jo looked at in confusion. "Don't call him that!"
"I don't care, just give me the keys!"
"Why? The car's totaled."
"Trust me, I've gotten cars in a lot worse condition to work. Keys, now." She was starting to panic, she could hear the sirens getting closer and if she didn't get a move on it soon she'd be locked up again.
"I don't have them they're in the car."
"Of course they are."
She wasted no time running to the dinged-up car. It took a few times for the engine to turn over, but when it did she didn't even give the car time to warm up before she sped off leaving Jo holding her unconscious brother in the woods.
Bonnie sped away as fast as she could—she wouldn't get caught again. Guilt may have led to her capture but revenge would keep her out. When she was mid-town she realized where she was. She stopped a moment and took a moment to appreciate that she'd finally made it. Jeremy would be so proud but she hadn't earned it yet. She had to find him and make it right.
He ruined her life, made her his own personal drug mule end, in the end, got to run the whole drug cartel in the Pacific Northwest. No, he didn't get away with that. She was going to find him. She knew enough shady people to find him—he wasn't hidden, had enough people on the police paid off not to need to. But first, she needed to change. Bioterrorist yellow wasn't her color and definitely not going to get her anything other than caught—again.
They were in the back of a police cruiser making their way over to Sheila's with three other government vehicles following behind. That bioterrorist had taken off with their keys and only she had a spare. Jo was looking at Kai warily. He balled up his fists in anger—she was looking at him like their family looked at him—like he was dangerous and about to explode, but Jo never did, not until four hours ago when he ignited an almost burnt the whole forest down. Jo, sensitive, understanding Jo, was now looking at him like he was the devil incarnate when he knew just as much as she did.
The DUP showed up not long after that along with a bunch of Portland's finest men in blue. Jo may have been freaked out but she still loved her brother enough to try and get him to stop whatever he was doing before he got arrested or worse. He stopped right in time because soon after they were approached by Sybil, the head of the DUP and wouldn't hesitate to take him in if she even suspected he was one of them.
I'm one of them, he thought. He was still wrapping his head around it all. Things like this weren't really on his radar. He'd read about it, about all of the attacks but he was a bratty teenage boy with his own problems. He'd only known one bioterrorist in his entire life and he hadn't even hurt anyone before he was rounded up and taken to Augustine. Correction he knew two bioterrorists, but that was obviously before—he hadn't seen her since he was a kid but apparently they had more in common than he thought. He wondered if she was alright.
They stopped in front of Sheila's little house in the woods. The officer driving turned to them and asked if it was the right address and they both nodded. The officer and Sybil got out of the car to let them out. Before he could get out of the cruiser Sybil asked him, "Are you sure that's all you know?"
"Yes, she knocked me out and by the time I woke up she was gone." He decided to play nice for now until he could figure out what the hell was going on.
"She didn't say anything to you about she was heading?" She continued to press.
Probably to find her daughter. "No."
"You wouldn't be lying to me, would you? Because you know how dangerous bioterrorists are, right?"
"I know how dangerous conduits are. What do you want me to tell you? That before she left she told me all her hopes and dreams. What she thought of you? 'Cause, I can make some shit up." He winked.
She tilted her head and smiled—it was not comforting. "Hmm, in my experience the only people who use conduit, are sympathizers or conduits themselves, which are you?"
"Neither," Jo chimed in. "He's neither, he's just my dumb kid brother, who has a problem with authority figures."
"Is she right? Do you have a problem with me?"
"Anarchy rules," he said with a sarcastic smile.
"Rebels always say that until there is actually is anarchy—no one can deal with that much chaos." She stared at him with a challenging smile. He wasn't going to bite.
"Can I get out now? Unless you're going to charge me with something or ask me more questions?"
She moved out of his way and held her and out. He took the queue but walked past her with caution. He couldn't run to Sheila this time, at least without endangering her.
"You know I find it hard to believe that a girl like that subdued you. What are you like six foot? She was quite scrawny and you don't seem weak by any means."
"What's all this ruckus?" Sheila interrupted walking out of her house. "Jo? Kai? What did he do this time?"
"Nothing Sheila. My car got stolen and we're just here for the spare and a ride if you don't mind," Jo answered.
"Of course sweetie."
Sybil hadn't looked away from Kai. He felt uncomfortable under her gaze.
"Looks can be deceiving. You of all people should know that."
"I do which is why I know a liar when I see one. What do you know?" she said sterner this time.
"Nothing! Why are you only drilling me about this Jo was there too? In fact, she probably knows more, she didn't get knocked out."
"Because she's not lying to me, you are. You say you got knocked out, but that's not a scratch on you, nothing to indicate you were attacked at all. Your sister looks more disheveled than you."
"So, that's all you're basing this on?"
"That and my gut, and my gut is telling me you looked way too nervous when the paramedics were examining you. So I'll ask again, what aren't you telling me?"
"Nothing," he said through gritted teeth.
She sighed. "I didn't want it to come to this."
He screamed falling to the ground in immense pain. He didn't know what was happening but he knew he wanted it to stop. When he looked down at his leg he saw a bloody shard of concrete sticking out of it. He looked up at Sybil in anger and confusion.
"Yeah, I'm told that hurts."
"What kind of psychotic bitch—" He was cut off by another shard.
"Don't call me a bitch."
"Sadistic bitch!"
"You know I can do this all night."
"What are you doing to him," Jo screamed running towards them.
"Restrain her."
Jo was immediately taken off her track. Sheila tried to help her but another agent grabbed her too.
"Now, Mr. Parker, was it, what do you know?"
"You have to out of your fucking mind if you think I'm going to tell you anything after this."
"I don't think you understand, you're going to tell me no matter what, how much pain, well that's up to you."
He laughed spitefully. "Go ahead, I guarantee I've been through worse."
"I sincerely doubt that." Another shard popped out a little too close to his crotch for his liking, but he wasn't going to break.
Bonnie roamed the streets freely. It was all over the news, Bioterrorist escape, they even got that bitch from high school, Elena Gilbert, on the air to shout propaganda and scare everyone. Apparently she'd been busy since the last time she saw her—enough to be on the news in a state 3000 miles away from her home. She, of course, had been as discreet as possible but even she found it weird that they hadn't caught her yet, or really looked. They seemed to be rounding up others—poor bastards. She wanted to do something about it but she had a mission of her own.
She strolled through the park sat on the bench and waited. Soon someone would be there to bring her drugs and soon she'd be one more step away from finding that piece of shit. The autumn breeze caused a chill down her spine. She only had a sweatshirt and some torn black tights over shorts to keep her warm. She could have picked out warmer clothes but none of them were her and she hadn't felt like herself in while.
"Sparks?" She turned her head toward the voice. A man with brownish blonde hair who looked to be about in his thirties was sitting next to her. He was wholesome—that was the only way she could describe him. A park didn't seem like out of place for him like one of these kids could easily be his.
"Yeah, how'd you know?"
"You just look the type." He looked her up and down leering.
She didn't look wholesome. With her purple hair and piercings, she looked like trouble. She was the girl parents feared their son would bring home. She knew this, but that didn't help the sting she felt when he said it.
"How much?"
"50."
"For a half a gram?" That was way too much for some crystal, coke maybe, but crystal? He had to be lying about the price. He wanted something else.
"That's going rate around here."
She snorted. "Even drug prices are inflated."
"That's how the market works," he said matter-of-factly. She just rolled her eyes. "So are you still in the market?"
"Yeah, just give me a little time to scrounge up some more." Hook.
"No need, I'm sure we can work out a deal." Line.
"I'm sure we can." Sinker.
His name was Rick, a nickname, but she didn't care what for. She didn't care what she called him just as long as she got what she wanted. If she was good enough he'd give her double of what she asked for—she mentally shuddered. He actually thought that was a genuine gesture.
They took his Mercedes to a hotel. The car was old as hell—but of course, as long as it was Mercedes it was a nice car. He didn't wait for them to get into the room before his mouth was on her. Part of her felt disgusted, but she'd be kidding herself if she said she hadn't made out with worse for less. They tumbled their way into the room with him groping her the whole way to the bed.
He threw her on to the duvet. He stood at the end of the bed taking her in. He pulled the plastic Ziploc bag with the meth from his pocket.
"What are you willing to do for this?" he said with a sly smile.
She internally gagged. "Anything," she said in her most needy voice.
"Undress me."
Bonnie sauntered over to him first lifting his shirt over his head. Not bad, she thought, not that you're going to get very far. She undid his belt next making sure to go as slowly as possible never leaving eye contact. She dropped his pants to his ankles and through his briefs she saw the very prominent outline of his dick. Not bad, she thought again. She hesitated when she got to his last clothing item.
"Are you sure you want to be the only naked one?"
"We'll get to you soon sweetheart." She shuddered at the nickname he gave her.
She hooked her fingers into his briefs and pulled them down slowly. She knew what he wanted next, but she wasn't going to give it. She stood up and looked up at him with her most innocent look.
"What do you want next?"
"Strip."
Unlike with him, she moved a lot faster. When she was down to her undergarments she looked to him for him.
"Spin around for me." She thought that was weird but complied with the request. She heard him groan when her back was to him. "I got to say, you're probably the prettiest meth head I've ever seen—you have your teeth and all. So forgive me—I want to enjoy this." He palmed his dick.
She internally gagged again and decided that this had gone on too long. He was officially in a position more vulnerable than her there was no need to continue this. With a flash of neon, she threw him on to the bed. She fumbled through his pants until she found what she was looking for.
"Hey," he said getting up from his position. A beam of light shot out through her hand burning the pillow near his head.
"Down boy," she said opening his wallet.
"What the fuck?"
"Alaric Saltzman. Lives at 2223 Fern Ave, sounds like a quaint place which means," she drifted looking through his wallet for more than a driver's license. "Yep, wife and kids to boot. I'm curious, do they know what you do for a living?"
"They know enough."
"So, no."
"No."
"You're wife doesn't question when you come home smelling like a halfway house. She has a lot more patience than me." She looked down at the picture again. They looked like your typical average family, like nothing bad has ever happened to them—wholesome.
"What's her name?"
"I'm not telling you that." She fired another warning shot. "You can kill me, but I'm putting them in danger."
She laughed flipping the picture over. "Your line of work does that for you and your wife's need to label seems to have done that now. Jenna, how very upper middle class. I wonder what the kids' names are." She rifled through his wallet searching for more information. "Charlie, Lisa, and Ryder, how quaint, too bad Daddy's a lying cheating asshole."
"Is there a point to this? If you're gonna rob me, rob me," he shouted.
"I don't want to rob you," she said laughing. "I want you to talk," she said in a more serious tone sitting down at the edge of the bed.
"And you needed me naked for that?"
"No, but it adds a nice sense of leverage."
"Who the fuck are you?"
"Don't worry about that." She crawled to him on the bed. "Tell me about your boss."
"What about him?"
"You know, what he's like, where he goes, what he does, who he fucks, the basics."
"Um, well he's drug dealer obviously, kinda creepy but never rips me off, so I couldn't give a fuck. I don't know where he goes just that we always meet at this diner in Tigard. I don't know much else about him—it's a 'don't ask don't tell' arrangement. He doesn't know enough about me so my family is safe and I don't know enough about him so his business is safe—quid pro quo."
"Would you say you're one of his most trusted dealers?" She climbed on him and straddled his lap.
"I'd say I'm one of many."
"That'll do just fine." She trailed her hand down his face, to his neck, until she rested her hand on his chest. "I'm gonna need you to send him a message." Her entire body glowed neon pink. Using her finger she seared the skin on his chest while he screamed in pain. She sat back when she was done and admired her work. His chest was still glowing pink, and in beautifully scrawled cursive, the name Jeremy was branded on him.
She lifted herself off of him and walked over to her clothes. Alaric was still writhing in pain. When she was dressed she grabbed his wallet again this time taking a photo of his family and tossing the wallet on the bed reminding him she knew where he lived.
The baggie of crystal was still on the floor and she paused before picking it up and pocketing it.
"Tell your boss I'm looking for him," she said walking out the door.
"How the fuck am I supposed to do that? I don't even know your name."
"Just show him your chest. He'll know who it is." She closed the door cutting him off from any more questions.
Kai woke up screaming grabbing ahold of his leg. He was surprised when he felt skin. He looked at his surroundings and realized he was in the hospital.
"Jo," he shouted hoping she could fill him in on what was going on. When there was no answer he got out of bed shouting her name again. He tried to leave the room but was stopped by the IV in his hand. He was about to pull it out when the door opened.
Wearing a worried expression Jo walked in with a cup of coffee. She stopped in her tracks nearly spilling the coffee in her hand when saw her brother out of his bed.
"Oh my god," she said rushing to him for a hug.
"Ew, what are you doing?" he said untangling his sister from him.
"What am I doing?" she slapped his arm. "You've been a coma for two weeks, I'm happy you're alive."
"Two weeks?"
"Yeah, that crazy bitch did a number on you."
Yeah, I'm told that hurts. Sybil's voice echoed in his head.
"What the fuck?" he sat back down in his bed.
"We need to talk." Jo sat in the chair next to his bed. "I need to know how you did it."
"Did what?"
"You know, got fire to come out of your hands." He looked at her confused. "Before that crazy bitch and her tactical force showed up right after the car thief left you woke up and you could do what she could. I want to know how?"
"Fuck if I know." He laid back onto the bed. "Shit, two weeks. How was I out so long?"
"I think you were healing which is good because you seem to be the only one that is."
It's especially hard on brittle bones. Kai sat up with a realization. "Wait, where's Sheila?" he asked panicked.
Jo's eyes teared up as she spoke, "She's alive."
"But?"
"Those things aren't coming out of her legs. She'll probably die soon if they don't, it's already causing an infection on top of the tissue damage."
"Why aren't they coming out?"
"Because they're cemented to her bone. To remove them surgically would cause more damage than what is already there. The only way for them to come out is the way they went in."
"That makes no sense, they came out of me."
"You're different—you've changed. Something happened when you touched that woman. Even your blood has changed, and while it came with a few perks obviously I think we needed to figure out a way to get rid of it—it's not natural."
"Fuck, Jo, you're starting to sound like Dad."
"Kai this is serious. This isn't Dad thinking you're a freak, this is your health we're talking about."
"My health? That seems to be in perfect condition."
"For now. What about later down the line? What about when people like Sybil come around again? I don't want you to die."
"I don't want to talk about this anymore. Where's Sheila?"
Jo opened her mouth about closed it thinking better of it. "She's in her room."
"Well, I want to see her if what you say is true, which suck 'cause I think I found Bonnie."
"Her granddaughter? How? No one has seen or heard from her in years."
"Well I didn't find her per se, but when that chick touched me I was in her head. It's like I downloaded every memory of hers. Some of them had Bonnie, I think she was on that truck. You went down there, did you see her?"
"Maybe, there was a girl down there, but I didn't get a good look at her. All I remember was this bright pink light, and then she was gone."
"That was her, that was Bonnie. She's a conduit now or always was. I don't know. It's been a while."
"How are you sure it's her? Like you said, it's been a while. The last time you saw her she was five."
"Trust me, it was her. I'd never forget her."
Jo snorted. "You were pretty sweet on her. You were so sad when she left."
"Yeah," he said softly scratching the back of his head.
"Childhood crush aside, I think you should hold off on telling Sheila that. You don't actually know if it was her, and if it was you don't know where she is. If she's really a bioterrorist, a lot has changed since we last saw her."
"No shit."
After clearing him with a clean bill of health Kai checked himself out of the hospital with a signed AMA. Even though he appeared to be perfectly healthy they were worried about some underlying condition. Kai waved them off and went to visit his old family friend.
Jo gently knocked on the door before entering the room. Sheila had a warm smile on her face that widened when she saw Kai. Kai rushed to her examining the damage. Both of her legs were in slings and completely covered in concrete up to the knee.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen."
"Shh, for once, this isn't your fault."
"But we brought her literally to your doorstep."
"You didn't know she'd do this."
"It's my fault I could have told her what I knew and she would have left you alone."
"No, she wouldn't have. Someone like that, she wouldn't have stopped no matter what. She's already turned half the city upside down looking for them. If not then she would have gotten to me eventually like the others."
"The others? Sounds like someone's been having fun without me." He turned to look at Jo.
"She's enacted a military state. Says it's the only way to keep us safe, but she's racked up a body count higher than any bioterrorist in the area, so I don't exactly know who she's protecting."
"Herself," Sheila shouted. "I've been on this earth quite a while and she ain't unique. She's just like any other authority figure with too much power. She revels in it. She's finally in an environment she can thrive causing as much pain and destruction with no consequences."
"Why isn't anyone stopping her?"
"Because people are more scared of bioterrorist than they are the DUP."
"This is all so fucked up. Did she at least by them dinner? In my experience, you need to buy someone dinner if you're going to screw them that much."
He sat clenching his fist in anger trying to keep the fire at bay. There were few people in life he cared about, and this bitch had just fucked with two of them. He jumped up out of his seat and stormed out of the hospital room. Jo followed close behind.
"Where are you going?" Jo shouted.
"I'm going to fix this."
"How?"
"I'm gonna find Bonnie and bring her back to Sheila and then I'm going to find Sybil and make sure she has Grams when I come back."
"How do you expect to do any of that? That's not a plan!"
"I'll figure it out, Jo! I've got powers now better not let them go to waste."
"No," Jo said grabbing his arm and stopping him. "I'm not letting you put yourself in more danger."
"It's not your choice." He said lowly body now emanating smoke. "I'm not a child or stupid. I know this is dangerous, but I can't do nothing. Unlike you, there's nothing I can do here, so I've gotta find this bitch and take her power."
"Take her power? How do you expect to do that?"
"The same way I got this one. I've just got to get close enough to her to touch her."
They stared at each other in a standstill. Both were stubborn and nothing was going to change their minds. Jo broke first pulling him into a hug. "Do me a favor and don't die."
"I make no promises."
A/N: Shout out to battleships for betaing this. If you haven't already you should check out new her fic Hush on AO3.