Ethics
Chapter 2
Disclaimer: This work of fan-fiction is not intended for personal profit. All characters utilized herein which are not creations of myself belong to The CW.
"I was one of the lucky ones who survived the beta test ... this part of me was supposed to stay dead."
John hadn't been able to hide anymore. Not after that disastrous night in the bar.
He'd gotten so good at that protective coloring - acting for all the world like he was one of them. Homo Superior. The Tomorrow People. Those who had powers, but couldn't kill because something prevented them from doing it.
But he knew the truth: the cold, hard, disgusting, unvarnished truth. He, John Young, could remember those days as part of the Annex Project: being poked with needles, prodded, measured, studied, all so Dad–no, Jedekiah could put a gun in his hand and see if his best Ultra agent could murder another person.
And he did. To think he'd volunteered, even!
And the guilt grew in him each time he did it.
Whoever said it got easier each time - they lied. It never really did get any easier; just... less overwhelming to pull the trigger.
Maybe that was why he pushed at Stephen so much; why he was so damn insistent, along with Cara, that the Tomorrow People represented not just a new physical stage, but a new ethical stage, of evolution. Why they scorned ordinary humans so much. It wasn't just that he and the others had to hide away; that was livable.
But what wasn't, was knowing that Ultra knew that disadvantage, counted on it, made them unsure and afraid to fight back.
And that night—
It had been as easy as punching holes in paper. Three small movements of his finger, and the Ultra agent was dead.
But Cara's stare - oh, God, that stare ...
At first she'd been relieved. But then she saw him and that gun, and even from far away, he knew what she had to be thinking. He wasn't normal; he was some kind of freak who could murder them all if he wanted to. He could see the fear in her eyes, and something wrenched unpleasantly inside him even as he bellowed, "Get out of here!"
But he'd done it to save Cara's life. That was what counted, wasn't it?
So why did he wish he wasn't a killer?
Author Notes: Another little vignette. The Tomorrow People 2013 reboot is promising to be very interesting. :)