New chapter! Sure, it's a month late. Sorry about that, by the way.
Complications 2.16B
"Sir, this is a restricted area. Only patients and authorized individuals can enter."
"I just-"
"This is a restricted area. Please leave the premises."
Greg huffed and squared his shoulders, doing his best to stare down the SWAT officer in front of him.
She was stout, a few inches shorter than him, but a good deal wider. Her skin was dark and her hair a light brown. Her face was set in a blank non-expression, the slightest hints of anger visible in the narrowing of her eyes. With the heavy body armor she had on and the large rifle in her hands, she painted a much more intimidating figure than he did. New muscles or not, he was still pretty scrawny.
Even with the few inches of height he had on her, he was well aware of the half dozen other officers standing around her in identical black body armor and weaponry. All together, they looked much more threatening than one teenager in cargo pants. That is, not that Greg was actually intimidated.
"I don't have time for this. I need-"
"No, kid. What you need to do is leave! You're not authorized to be here!"
Greg...Greg wasn't entirely sure what he felt right now.
If he had asked himself that question two minutes ago, he would have replied with something that rang similar to anger, specifically red-hot rage firmly directed at the ABB.
If he had asked the same of himself sixteen minutes ago when he still stood on that roof, he would have replied with something that was a mix of gratitude for that rogue for the jacket and annoyance at that same rogue for making him feel stupid at not realizing the obvious.
Now, though…
Now, he was just annoyed.
The reason for that annoyance surrounded him on all sides. Several heavily armored police officers stood directly in front of him, their aim to prevent him from entering the barred doors of the hospital just several meters away. Other officers, simple boys in blue instead of the militaristic figures in front of him, stood by their cars with their handguns aimed at his back.
Greg shook his head in frustration for what must have been the fourth time in as many minutes. Honestly, he couldn't believe he was still stuck in this situation when he could have simply done what he needed to do and left.
"Don't you know who I am?"
The stoic look on her face darkened and she took a step forward, shifting the human barricade she and her men had formed with their bodies. "Yes, I know exactly who you are."
Greg blinked in surprise, not actually expecting that. "Y-you do?"
"You're some kid who thinks I'm going to let him walk into an overcrowded hospital simply because he happened to luck out and get some fancy superpowers." The officer raised an eyebrow. "That sound about right?"
"Look, my mom is in there!" He shot a glance at the hospital entrance behind her. Greg shifted in place as the officer's eyes narrowed even further. His eyes locked on her with a laser-like focus, watching her frown intensify, and he felt a grim expression grow on his own face to match.
The officer didn't seem to care too much about his growing ire. "And? That's not my problem. There's no visiting hours. If you haven't heard, there's a bit of a crisis going on. I'm not going to let you in just to talk to your mommy." Her calm tone was offset by the sneer on her face and the implied insult didn't help either.
Greg forced down the insult that he desperately wanted to let out, choosing to simply explain himself. "She's a nurse, okay? Not a patient. I just want to talk to her, see if she's alright."
She raised an eyebrow. "What, you don't have a phone?"
This time, he suppressed the snarl that rose from the back of his throat, forcing it down with a sound that came out as a muffled groan. He had no idea where his phone was but he suspected the Empire Eighty-Eight might have something to do with it. Probably stole it while I was knocked out or something.
Greg's frown deepened as he thought back to his experience with the E88 what must have been a little over twelve hours ago. While they did heal him and clothe him, he couldn't separate their helpful actions from the fact that they were literal Nazis. Short of trusting them not to off him in his sleep, he didn't expect anything much from them.
"No...I don't have a phone."
"That still doesn't change anything."
"What?" His eyes widened before narrowing again in annoyance. "You don't underst-"
Brown eyes steeled and the officer gripped her weapon tighter, unconsciously raising it to match the officers around her.
"Listen, kid! I have a job to do here. That involves securing the premises and keeping the situation in this hospital under control. I doubt letting a kiddie cape into that hospital looking like a poster boy for the Empire is going to do anything but make my job harder."
Greg couldn't hide his flinch at her not-untrue statement. Being blond and blue-eyed in Brockton Bay, you had to expect that most people, even those already in the Empire, would assume that you were either a straight up neo-Nazi or otherwise involved in the Empire Eighty-Eight in some way. It didn't help his conscience that he technically was outfitted in Empire gear. Still, it hurt-deeply.
Clenching his fists tightly, he leveled a glare at the female officer instead of retorting. Hot rage leapt up in his chest again and he took several steps back, more for her safety than anything else. His fingers twitched at his sides and he forced himself to calm down, still well aware that the woman in front of him was nowhere near his physical equal.
"Now, once again, this is a restricted area. Please leave the premises."
"God, shut up already," Greg growled, and the heat rose in his chest again. "I get it! I heard you the first hundred times!"
All the officers surrounding her tightened their grips on their weapons and Greg saw a few raise their large rifles in his direction at the sound of his raised voice.
"Stand down!" The female officer held her hand up and the most of the other officers heeded her signal, lowering their weapons. Despite acquiescing to their commander's wishes, the harsh glares on the predominantly male faces conveyed exactly how they felt about it.
Greg made sure to glare right back, pulling on the distinctive warmth in his eyes that he knew shifted them from blue to red. He wasn't sure exactly what it did but he did know for sure that it made most people scared and the young blond couldn't deny that he felt more than a little thrill go through him watching the officers begin to sweat as he directed his gaze toward them.
Who's scary now, jarheads?
"Kid."
Greg turned his gaze back to the woman in charge, her voice strained as she spoke through gritted teeth. His lip twitched slightly upwards at the tight grip she had on the rifle in her hands. Her eyes were averted but he didn't doubt that if she wasn't wearing gloves, her knuckles would be white.
"Kid, whatever you're doing...shut it down."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Now!"
Greg's lips twitched again, stopping just short of becoming a full-blown smirk. He relaxed his eyes, the warmth fading from them quickly. He pretended not to hear the relieved sighs coming from several of the officers.
"Kid, I am trying to be nice here but you're testing my goddamn patience. It is seven o'clock in the fucking morning and you're some independent cape causing a scene outside of a hospital. I get that you want to see your mommy but that doesn't mean you can use your powers to get what you want. What you just did is basically a felony and you're already pissing me off. Get out of here before I arrest you and add a charge for disturbing the peace on top of that!" The squad leader let out several quick breaths and shook her head slowly as she ended her rant, a hand rubbing the bridge of her nose as she did so.
Greg slowly took a few steps back, staring daggers into each and every officer in front of him. His hands clenched into fists and he paused to glance up, blue eyes following the rise of the cream-colored walls of Brockton Bay Central Hospital.
A little over a hundred and thirty feet. Ten stories, his brain supplied.
He blinked at the sudden thought but pushed it to the side, focusing back on the issue at hand.
The jump wasn't impossible, as strong as he was, but he knew he could never make it more than halfway from a standing position. Not without building some serious speed, at least. Even then, he doubted he would be able to find his mother with the whole place full of SWAT and regular cops hunting for him.
Greg's eyes flickered back down to the automatic doors guarded by several officers as heavily armored as the ones that stood in his way. He didn't doubt that every other entrance was locked down and guarded similarly, the only exception likely being the ambulance bay. More than likely, that had even more people assigned to monitor it. Not for the first time, Greg contemplated simply rushing into the hospital to search for his mother, regardless of the consequences.
"Kid!" the squad leader shouted. The sound snapped him out of his thoughts and he turned back to her. Her gaze turned to the doors and she seemed to read his mind, piecing together his thoughts from a glance. The woman grit her teeth and stepped even further into his personal space. "You aren't getting in that hospital. I already warned you what would happen if you didn't leave. Just..."
The officer closed her eyes, pausing to let out a sharp breath. "Just go, kid. I'm serious, you really don't want us to take you in."
Bright blue eyes narrowed to slits and threatened to shift to red again as he glared back at the dark-skinned woman, equal parts frustration and bitter resentment making up his expression. Greg felt his jaw physically tighten as he held back the words that rose to his lips. Still holding his tongue, he turned his back on them, fully aware that more than one officer still had a rifle pointed at his open back.
He walked away from the heavily armed officers, not even sparing a glance towards their less armored associates hiding inside and behind their police vehicles, pistols still in their hands. Even though he could hear their muttered insults, the barbs they thought they said under their breath, he didn't turn back with the red gaze that he knew would send them running.
Shaking with rage, Greg headed out into the open and empty street, the same words he bit back still bouncing around in his head begging to be let out. He couldn't believe what she had said to him. Take me in? Take me in?
The very idea was ridiculous. He was a cape. Even worse, he was a Brute. They weren't even PRT. Give a bunch of regular cops some bigger guns and they thought they could take him in?
Greg paused his stride. I could have hit her. I could have hit all of them.
Shaking his head, the blonde teenager clenched his fists tightly and continued walking, paying no mind to the pockmarked streets and damaged buildings around him. That was a dangerous line of thought to go down and he didn't feel like taking the first step onto that path. What kinda hero thinks like that anyway?
Greg pushed the thought away and focused on simply walking, ignoring the way his fingers twitched. As he neared the end of the street, his eyes trailed over a dented and scarred stop sign, the metal pole bent almost completely backwards by the force of some errant explosive.
His vision lingered on the sign and, just for a moment, he paused as an idea made it's way to the forefront of his mind. He knew without turning around that the officers were still looking directly at him. He didn't doubt that there were still some guns aimed in his direction. Either way, he was still within their line of sight as he hadn't yet walked a single full block away from the hospital.
His idea was stupid, he knew that. It was pointless, would accomplish nothing of any real consequence and, worst of all, it was simply a waste of time.
Yet...he needed to do it.
His mind made up, Greg stretched out a hand to the damaged sign. One palm carefully curled around the midsection of the bent post while the other held the very top, the portion that was actually attached to the sign.
For a few seconds, he simply stood there grasping the pole, his mind and body trying to come to agreement on exactly what it was he needed to do.
He barely had to flex or exert himself, the steel already bending like semi-hard clay already bending beneath his fingers. Slow, deliberate movements righted the pole even as the metal shrieked in protest. It took mere seconds to ensure that it stood straight.
He had moved slowly so as not to leave any indents in the metal but even then, it wasn't enough. His own fingerprints stared back at him, perfect representations of his strength made manifest in iron.
His hands fell to his side and the pole listed somewhat, the warped metal too damaged to truly stand on it's own. The actual sign itself was damaged beyond repair, the events of the day before marking itself on the sign as much as it did the surrounding area.
Still, he could feel their eyes on his back even from here.
He could turn around and say something now.
An insult, a retort, a threat...Something mocking.
That would be worthless, though.
Something like that would only make him look even more like a kid.
He scoffed. Sure, take me in. You can try.
Greg slid his hands into the pockets of his new jacket and continued walking down the empty streets of the commercial district, the area already long shut down and evacuated for fear of looters and Merchants stealing anything not nailed down. The city had long learned it's lesson when it came to the gangs, after all.
He let out a long breath, paying no mind to the unusually thick cloud of visible air that touched the cold New England morning air. As he did so, Greg felt a tightness fade from his chest, a sensation he hadn't even been aware of till it was gone. This again? He grunted slightly as he let out another breath, this time with significantly less visible vapor to show for it.
His footsteps were steady and unbroken on the damaged pavement, his boots beating a constant rhythm as he walked down the depressingly empty streets. It took nearly fifteen minutes and roughly twelve blocks before he allowed himself to pause again and actually think about what he had tried to do.
"God, I'm so stupid!"
I can't believe I did it again. Greg's shoulders sagged with defeat as the thought drifted through his head. Stupid, stupid, stupid!
You got angry and ran off without even thinking again? Stupid! He sighed out loud, shaking his head at his own actions. This was the third time he'd done this and it was no surprise that he hadn't been successful.
Greg paused in front of a bus bench before unceremoniously falling back into the seat. Groaning, he rested his elbows on both knees and hung his head. Why do I keep getting so angry like that? What is wrong with me? I could have asked politely but no, I had to run up and act like I owned the place.
I still haven't checked on Mom, he thought dully. She's probably been calling me since yesterday. God, I'm so boned!
"Mom's gonna ground me for a month, isn't she?" Greg palmed his face with both hands before groaning again. "Why am I such an idiot? Great job, Greg. You got all worked up and ran to the hospital and then you tried to pick a fight with a bunch of trigger-happy cops. Great plan right there. Real genius work. Get in their faces and bark like you own the place. How did that not go wrong at all?"
He interrupted his rambling with another sigh. "Only good thing that came out of that was that nobody was there to see it." Even as he mentioned that, Greg gave a silent prayer that neither Ev or Sparky had been there to witness it.
Evron would have said something vaguely encouraging while still managing to be a dick about it while Sparky...
How do you get into a dick measuring contest with a lady cop and lose? Not a good look, bro.
Greg flushed at the thought but couldn't help the chuckle that came out. Yeah, that's definitely Sparky. Alwa-
His line of thought was interrupted as his right arm darted in front of his face instinctively an instant before a projectile hit his open palm traveling at almost twice the speed of a fastball.
Greg surged to his feet, jumped back, choked on nothing and let out a shaky breath all in the span of a single second. Behind him, the sound of a wooden bench breaking to splinters against a hard brick wall could be heard but Greg was much too preoccupied.
Currently drawing his full attention was the black and white device in his hand that he recognized as his new phone, with the unfamiliar addition of a glitter covered post-it-note. What.
"Over here!"
His head snapped upwards to track the path of a projectile and his eyes landed on the only possible source. Roughly half a football field away and half again as high was a robed female figure standing on...What.
It was a car. Or, at least part of a car. Most of it had been torn away through unknown means, leaving little more than the hood and the front half of the same vehicle, sans wheels.
Greg blinked as the figure waved at him, her fingers doing the little wiggle thing that he had only seen in old movies and cartoons. What.
He blinked again as the floating wreck she was standing on did a complete 180 and sped off, ducking behind a building and out of sight. What.
Mind racing and still unsure of what to make of the situation, Greg looked down at his hand and could not help but blink dully one more time at the sticky note on the screen of the tinker device.
He peeled it off and stared at the garishly pink piece of paper.
Hey cutie. Found your phone 4 u.
I'm Rune BTW.
Check your texts. Kaiser sent u some.
P.S. Call me. 203-555-0196
As the glitter-covered post-it note fell from his fingers, Greg blinked yet again and, struck with the sudden and unfortunate realization that he was once again utterly lost, summed up the entirety of his thoughts in one single, soft, flat,
"What."
Looks like Greg's got his phone back and a certain teenage E88 member is making moves on him.
I wonder where she got that idea. (I'll give you a hint. It rhymes with visor.)
Anywho, I wonder what Kaiser plans for Greg. Honestly, I'd be more interested in what Rune plans for Greg. Although, that also leaves me wondering what Sophia would plan for Rune if she found out.
Next chapter should be out in a few days. (Don't quote me.)
That's all, folks. I'm outie!
