Authornote:
Hello everyone!
Not too much to say about this chapter. This chapter ended up as another long one, but I'm sure none of you guys will mind too much. ;)
An enormous thank you to the very awesome Violetfic and Coulrosaurus for being my betas! You guys really helped improve this story a lot and you're awesome!
Please note that several characters use the F-word extremely frequently in their everyday speech. You have been warned.
Dr. Vess and Karam were created by Violetfic, and I am using them with her permission.
If there are any artists who would like to draw for this story, please let me know and I'll add your artwork to the chapter on AO3 so everyone can see it!
If you're enjoying the story so far, please let me know your thoughts. I'm open to all suggestions and criticisms as it helps me improve the story.
Happy Reading!
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The Broken Silence
Chapter 62
Niagara Falls
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Crackle glanced down at his watch and then glared over at Otterman who took a sip of his milkshake and carefully avoided his gaze. The entire team were in a restaurant while the RV was being repaired in the garage next door. They'd been waiting for over two hours now, and Crackle was in a terrible mood.
The RV hadn't passed inspection when the garage had looked at it, and the mechanic had estimated the repairs to be over three thousand dollars. That took almost all of their earnings from the last mission and Crackle was furious. Otterman had apologized knowing this was entirely his fault and had been trying to set up another mission for them as soon as possible. Matryoshka was seeing what she could do and she promised to call them back as soon as she could.
Moose Boy wrapped an arm around his partner's shoulders, knowing how stressed he was about the RV. Findus was sleeping on Otterman's lap hidden by the table cloth, and the other two cats were in carriers under the table out of sight.
The restaurant had been incredibly busy and they'd had to wait ninety minutes before their food arrived. Otterman hadn't made a single comment about the massive amount of food the team ordered, and simply sat quietly trying to avoid Crackle's gaze. Everyone except Siren had ordered a large lunch knowing the wait was going to be a while. Siren had slept at the table during the wait and it was only when the food arrived did Roosevelt poke him awake.
"You need to eat something!" Theodore coaxed, nudging Siren gently.
Siren was incredibly hung over and he was sitting slumped over the table with his eyes closed. He didn't respond to his brother and simply let out a groan of complaint.
"Come on, Del, you can have some of my burger," Theodore offered, nudging him a bit harder.
"Leave me alone, I'm dying," Siren responded without opening his eyes.
"You're not dying, you have a hangover, love," Neal informed him helpfully, "You need to drink something or your headache will never get better."
Siren cracked open an eye. "Why the hell would anyone willingly do this to themselves?!"
Neal grinned at him. "It's a lot of fun while you're drinking, but not so much the next morning."
"Ugh," Siren commented, slowly glancing over at Theodore's plate.
His gaze fell on the massive burger that was dripping grease, cheese and mayo all over the plate and he felt his stomach lurch. Clapping a hand to his mouth, he sprung from the table and ran for the bathroom. Everyone stared after him and Dash rolled his eyes.
"How much of that vodka did he drink?"
Crackle furrowed his brow. "About half the bottle," he replied, "Which one of you was responsible for that by the way? You know I don't allow hard liquor unless it's a special occasion."
No one spoke up and Crackle glanced from person to person but couldn't detect any guilt. He was still suspicious of Neal, but he wouldn't make any accusations without proof. Crackle let the matter drop and turned his attention back to his food. He silently ate for a few minutes until their waitress wandered by and he waved her down.
"Everything okay?" she asked, glancing around the table.
"It's great," Crackle assured her, "But could we please get some dry toast and water?"
"Nothing on it at all?" the waitress asked in surprise.
Crackle indicated the empty chair at the table. "One of our group is a bit hungover."
"Ah gotcha," she replied, "I'll bring over some gatorade as well. Give me ten minutes and I'll be back with the toast."
"Thanks," Crackle replied, giving a smile and wink at the waitress.
The young girl flushed and smiled back and then quickly fled to the kitchens.
"Wow, she's crushing on you hard, wombat," Neal observed with a grin.
"Rather pathetic really," Dash commented rudely while cutting up his mushroom omelet.
"You're just jealous she's not fawning over you ," Neal teased.
Dash let out a snort. "Hardly."
"Well, do you want me to fawn over you, Dashie?" Neal offered with a cheeky smile.
Dash side-eyed him for a few moments and watched how Neal was stabbing at his food with a fork since he couldn't cut it with his injured arm. Letting out a deep sigh, Dash reached over and cut his steak up for him. Neal seemed a bit surprised but he certainly wasn't complaining.
"There," Dash stated, "Maybe now you won't choke like a dumbass."
"How is your arm feeling?" Crackle asked, glancing at the sling with a frown.
"It feels fine as long as I don't move it very much," Neal replied.
"Then stop trying to wheel yourself!" Dash snapped, "You're going to hurt yourself even more."
It was extremely uncomfortable to move himself in the wheelchair, but he hated not being able to get around. Neal didn't answer and took a bite of his eggs instead, and Crackle frowned at him.
"Stop trying to move yourself," he ordered, "If you need help just ask for it. We need you healed as fast as possible and you're probably delaying things."
Dash studied Neal's expression and could see the tired resignation in the other man's eyes. Leaning over so he could whisper in his ear, Dash said something softly that only Neal could hear. Neal's reaction was immediate and his eyes widened and he stared at Dash in shock and amusement.
"Well now, that makes things a bit better," Neal said with a laugh, "Something to look forward to!"
"What'd he say?" Moose Boy demanded.
"Shh," Otterman scolded, having a feeling they didn't want to know, "None of your business."
Paper Star reached over and swiped a nacho off Roosevelt's plate who didn't seem like he minded. Normally he was very food possessive, but he moved his plate a bit closer to her in case she wanted another one. Theodore finished half his burger and then kept glancing in the direction of the bathroom. When the waitress returned with the toast and drinks, Theodore set his burger down with a frown.
"Maybe I should go check on him…"
"He's just hungover, Ted," Crackle stated, "There's nothing you can do."
Theodore made an unhappy sound in the back of his throat and it was clear he was getting worried. The twins were insanely overprotective of their brother, and after what happened with V.I.L.E, Crackle didn't blame them. When Theodore made no effort to relax, Crackle slowly got to his feet.
"I gotta take a piss and so I'll check on him while I'm in there," he promised.
Theodore relaxed and nodded.
Crackle headed for the bathroom and hoped they wouldn't be waiting for too much longer. The mechanic wasn't able to give them any sort of time estimate since he was bound to run into issues during the repair. The RV was old, and Crackle was incredibly angry over the whole situation. He'd already lectured Otterman about it and so there was no point in beating a dead horse. What was done was done and nothing would change that.
Crackle entered the bathroom and saw Siren was standing shirtless in front of a hand dryer, trying to dry out his shirt. Assuming he'd thrown up on himself and then washed his shirt in the sink, Crackle didn't comment and just headed to the urinal to take care of his business. Siren pretended to not notice him and his expression was absolutely thunderous as he stood there tediously drying his shirt. Siren was wearing more clothing borrowed from Paper Star and Crackle knew they really needed to get him some clothes of his own.
Crackle washed his hands without a word, and then approached the dryer next to Siren. As he stood there beside him, he glanced over and saw there were stains on the front of the shirt that looked suspiciously like blood. Crackle snatched the shirt out of Siren's hands and unfolded it and saw that despite being washed, there were faint brown spots clearly from blood.
"What happened?" Crackle shouted over the sound of the dryers, "Are you throwing up blood?!"
Siren glared at him and snatched the shirt back. The dryer cycle ended, and Crackle stopped Siren from turning it back on again.
"Do we need to take you to the hospital?" Crackle demanded, "Tell me what happened."
Without a word, Siren pointed to one of the nearby stalls. Furrowing his brow, Crackle crossed the bathroom and pushed open the stall door. There was an unconscious man seated on the toilet with blood pouring from his head and face. Crackle gaped and then spun to face Siren.
"Delano, what the hell ?!"
Siren said nothing and simply turned the dryer back on to continue drying his shirt. Crackle hurried over to the bathroom door and locked it, not wanting any civilians walking in to see this.
He then wandered back to the stall to check for signs of life. Crackle inspected the man and was glad to see he was still alive, but that didn't reassure him at all. Crackle once again approached Siren and then pointed towards the bloody stranger.
"What the hell?" he repeated.
Siren ignored him and so Crackle grabbed him by the upper arm and yanked him away from the dryer before he could press the button again.
"What is this?" Crackle demanded, "Did you do this?!"
"No," Siren replied, shaking his arm away from the other man.
Crackle tightened his grip on the arm. "How can you say you didn't do this?! You're covered in his blood!"
"I found him like that and he coughed blood on me," Siren replied angrily. "Now get your fucking hands off me!"
Crackle knew there was no way Siren was telling the truth and hoped the other man didn't just beat someone half to death on a whim. He knew absolutely nothing about Siren, and wasn't about to take his word for anything.
"Don't lie to me," Crackle said firmly, "Tell me what happened in here or we're going to have an issue."
Siren eyed him for a moment and then heaved an irritated sigh. "Fine," he snapped, "He was a pervert, okay?"
Crackle released his arm. "Explain."
Siren rubbed at his arm and glared in the direction of the stall. "When I was being sick, this drunk asshole came up behind me and kept touching my hair and back. He was saying the most disgusting shit but I couldn't do anything about it because I was busy puking up my liver. He locked himself in the stall with me, and he started removing his pants. The second I could, I grabbed the lid off the toilet and slammed it into his head...three or four times."
Crackle glanced back at the unconscious man and saw the man's jeans and belt were unfastened. He had a feeling if Theodore had checked on Siren instead of him, that man would not be breathing right now.
"Did he hurt you?" Crackle asked in concern.
"No," Siren replied, "He never got the chance."
"We can't leave him here," Crackle said glancing around, "The restaurant will call the police and that's not something we want to deal with."
Siren shrugged and went back to drying his shirt. Crackle inspected the man a little more closely and could smell the stench of alcohol coming off him. He assumed the man must have been out drinking all night and came in to get food in an attempt to sober up.
"How drunk did he seem?" Crackle yelled over the sound of the dryer.
"Absolutely plastered," Siren yelled back, "He could barely walk."
Crackle had a feeling it would be quite a while until the man woke up but he didn't want to chance anyone finding him. Crossing the room, he glanced out the window and saw it faced an alley away from the street. Opening the window, he poked his head out and saw there was a dumpster directly below the window. Perfect.
"Help me toss him out the window," Crackle ordered.
Siren set his shirt aside and without a word, he helped Crackle drag the man across the bathroom to the window. It was awkward and difficult lifting the man high enough, but after a few seconds of struggle, they successfully shoved him through the window. The man fell into the dumpster out of sight and Crackle closed the window and then surveyed the damage. The lid to the toilet had been shattered, and Crackle gathered up the pieces and tossed them into the dumpster with the man. Siren made no effort to help him with the cleanup and he simply washed the blood from his hands and put his shirt back on. Crackle spot-cleaned the droplets of blood from the floor and then he too washed his hands.
"Come on, let's get back before the staff notice I locked the door," Crackle suggested.
Siren was still feeling miserable from his hangover and he left the bathroom without comment. When they took their seats back at the table, Crackle was annoyed to see half his fries were missing.
"Dammit, who stole my fries?!" he demanded.
"Sorry, I thought you were done," Theodore answered, turning to look at Siren, "Crackle got you some toast."
"Ugh," Siren complained, staring at the two pieces of dry toast with a frown.
"I promise it will help your stomach," Crackle informed him, "I've had my fair share of hangovers over the years. Take tiny bites of the toast and wash it down with the gatorade."
Siren rubbed at his throbbing temple and picked up a piece of the toast and took a miniscule nibble, certain it was going to make things worse. When it didn't bother his stomach, he took a slightly larger bite and made no mention of what happened in the bathroom. Paper Star was staring at the blood spots on the shirt and she furrowed her brow, but she didn't ask about it. Siren silently glared at her, not liking how touchy feely she was getting with Roosevelt. She was leaning into his side sharing his nachos, and he found it revolting.
A ringing com made everyone look up and Otterman looked visibly relieved as he glanced down at the screen.
"It's Aunt Alexandria," he stated, "Hopefully she found us a job to pull."
Otterman stepped away from the table so he could speak with her in private, and Crackle frowned in his direction. Everyone else had finished eating and so they just sat there with drink refills as Crackle and Siren ate.
"The garage called, Graham," Dash said a bit uncertainly.
Crackle looked up. "Oh?"
"Promise you're not going to kill, Sven," Moose Boy ordered.
Crackle narrowed his eyes. "Why?"
"Just promise," Moose Boy said firmly.
"Of course I'm not going to kill him," Crackle snapped, "I haven't killed any of you yet, have I?"
"The repairs are going to be $6100 and the RV won't be ready until tomorrow," Dash informed him, "Pretty much everything in that heap of junk has to be replaced."
They were now in the hole financially. They'd only earned five thousand from the sugar shack and now they had to pay for a motel stay and meals for another day. Crackle took a very deep breath and then turned around in his seat to stare in the direction Otterman had disappeared to.
"You promised!" Moose Boy reminded him, "No hurting Sven!"
Crackle rubbed the bridge of his nose and counted to ten very slowly. "Do we have the money for this?"
"I don't know," Dash replied, "That would be a Sven question."
Crackle's appetite was officially gone and he shoved his plate over to Theodore as he waited for Otterman to return. When he came back five minutes later, Otterman took one look at Crackle's angry face and instantly knew the others had told him about the RV.
"How much do we have in the cashbox?" Crackle demanded, "Do we have enough for all of this?"
Otterman flushed and immediately hugged Findus, knowing Crackle was going to be mad. "No, after we pay the extra $1100 out of the cashbox, we're not going to have enough for the motel stay unless we all stay in one room."
Crackle took another deep breath, but he kept careful check on his temper. "And what did your aunt say?"
"She found us a job in Niagara Falls for $10k," Otterman replied, "If we can just find the cash for tonight and for the gas, we'll be fine once we reach Niagara Falls."
"How far is that from here?" Dash demanded.
"About a six hour drive," Otterman replied.
"Everyone empty your pockets," Crackle ordered, "How much cash does everyone have?"
Team Crackle all dug in their pockets and tossed over everything they had.
Otterman began counting the cash with a worried frown. "Is this all you guys have?" he demanded.
"You keep all the cash and so you're lucky we had any at all!" Dash shot back.
"Two hundred and forty-three dollars and sixty seven cents," Otterman stated, "That's not enough."
"Del, you have cash," Theodore said, giving his brother a nudge.
"No, I don't," Siren replied, sipping on his Gatorade with a glare.
"Yeah you do!" Theodore insisted, "You had a whole wad of money in your pocket yesterday!"
"...I spent it," Siren lied.
"Where?" Dash demanded, "We were in the woods all night!"
"Come on, Del, you gotta help out too!" Theodore scolded.
"No, I don't," Siren challenged, "I'm not part of this team and so why should I support it?"
Crackle opened his mouth to argue, but Theodore held up a hand to stop him. Theodore wrapped an arm around Siren and offered him a smile.
"Well, would you do it for Roose and I?" he asked, "Would you help us out?"
Siren scowled knowing very well Theodore was emotionally manipulating him. He'd been planning on using his cash to buy a good pair of headphones, but he found himself reaching into his jeans pocket for his cash. He threw it at Otterman and then sat there glowering, wishing he didn't have to remain there.
Otterman counted the crumpled wad of bills and he let out a breath of relief. "With Delano's $350, that puts us up to $593.67 plus whatever is left over from paying the mechanic. If we're extremely careful, that should get us to Niagara Falls."
"What's the job?" Crackle demanded.
"Nothing too hard for us," Otterman assured him, "An artist loaned a painting to the local museum and now can't get it returned to him after he had a fight with the director. The painting has no real value, but the artist is willing to pay us $10k to get it back for him."
Crackle nodded, knowing that seemed easy enough. "Do we have the information on the museum?"
Otterman handed Crackle his com who scrolled through the information Matryoshka had sent over. The museum barely had any security and he knew they could probably complete this job with their eyes closed.
"Alright, hopefully this will be the last problem we have on this journey," Crackle commented, handing the com back, "Let's pay our tab and check in at the motel."
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Michael stared down at his new limbs and struggled to move them. The limbs were the most expensive ones available and he was supposed to be able to move them just like his old ones. The new limbs had been attached directly to a round device that was fused directly to his muscles and bone of his stumps. This device was what powered the limbs and detected when he wanted to move. So far he hadn't been able to figure it out even with the doctors and sales manager helping.
The limbs cost more than Michael had ever dreamed about, but his grandparents had paid it without question. The technology was beyond anything even the military had access to and it used special neuron sensors to bind with Michael mentally. The limbs were supposed to detect his every thought and then move just like his old limbs. Michael felt absolutely nothing however. He was warned that there would be a burning sensation as the limbs connected with him, but they hadn't reacted at all.
He was advised that it might take time for him to learn how to control them, and he got more and more frustrated. After spending hours just trying to get his limbs to twitch, Michael lost his temper and began yelling at everyone around him.
Mikhael had scolded him harshly and then left him in his office as he escorted the others away. They would be back in the morning to help him again, and Michael felt humiliated. He was too stupid to connect with the limbs and he was going to stay in a wheelchair forever.
Michael sighed as Tiger rested her chin on his knee and he shoved her away irritably. Wanting to take a look at the thick instruction manual again, Michael glanced towards his grandfather's desk. The desk seemed so far away and he glanced down at the new leg uncertainly. Slowly pulling himself up to his feet, he balanced on his good leg and tried to make himself take a step. He immediately fell hard to the floor and he let out a pained curse. Tiger began barking in alarm and she pushed herself underneath his arm to help him back up.
Leaning on the dog heavily, he managed to get back to his feet and he once again balanced on one leg. He hopped towards the desk and once again face-planted into the carpet. The new leg felt heavy and it was throwing off his balance. Swearing in frustration, Michael rubbed his chin where he'd hit it, and then allowed Tiger to help him back up.
Michael's balance was completely thrown off, and he fell again and again. Finally he gave up and awkwardly crawled his way to the desk using his good leg and arm to pull himself. Once there, he pulled himself up into his grandfather's chair and opened his desk. The massive manual was sitting in the center of the drawer and he picked it up, hoping it would help him. Flipping open to the first page, he stared and quickly saw it was in Russian. Throwing the manual across the room, Michael's gaze fell on something else in the desk. Reaching inside, he pulled out a cellphone and saw it was his old V.I.L.E phone that had been confiscated.
Michael stared at it and then slowly powered it on. The battery was extremely low but he caught a glimpse of his background before it died. The picture was of him and Vess and he felt his breath catch in his throat. His phone was filled with pictures of Vess and he knew these were likely the only ones in existence. Michael felt tears come to his eyes and he hugged the phone to his chest in desperation. He'd be able to see Vess' face again any time he wanted.
The office door began opening and Michael quickly shoved the phone into his hoodie pocket. Mikhael and Sebastian entered and when they saw him at the desk, both seemed slightly surprised.
"Did you walk?!" Mikhael asked hopefully.
"No," Michael snapped, "The damn things must be defective. They won't move at all!"
Mikhael seemed a bit disappointed but he still offered her grandson an encouraging smile. "Sometimes rehabilitation takes a while," he assured him, "Do not fret, you'll be walking again in no time!"
Sebastian helped Michael back into his chair who let out an irritated sigh.
"Can you take me back to my room?"
"No," Sebastian responded, "Master Dmitry will be leaving for a mission and he wants to see you before he goes."
"A mission? What kind of mission?" Michael demanded.
"He did not say," Mikhael answered in disapproval, "My son has always been a very private person and it's rare that he even informed us he was leaving."
Michael felt a little bit of hope at that. Perhaps his father really did want to get to know him? Maybe he hadn't ruined all chances for a real family?
"Okay, let's go see him," Michael stated.
Sebastian nodded and then wheeled Michael out of the room and began heading in the direction of the library. Michael had been told that his father loved to read and had always spent most of his time in the enormous library. Michael had never willingly read a book in his life and grimaced at the thought of doing it for fun. Reading was hard and it was always something he'd hated.
The doors to the library were enormous and were carved with images of the Greek gods, and they were quite impressive. Michael had always loved these doors as a kid, and they were the only doors like that in the entire estate.
Sebastian pushed open the doors and Michael glanced around at the massive shelves of books that stretched all the way to the ceiling. The room smelled like leather and old paper, and Michael thought it was the scent of boredom.
Once they were to the center of the room, Michael's gaze fell on the figure waiting for them. Plague Doctor was standing there in full costume, book in hand, and when they approached, he turned to look at them.
Michael's expression twisted in complete horror as he remembered the Plague Doctor from the lab. He remembered the bloody scythe, the death of all the guards, and the fact he'd been carried out of the flames as Vess was left behind to burn.
"No…" Michael whispered, "No, no, no!"
Plague Doctor could see the fear in his son's eyes and so he slowly removed his mask and approached. Michael shook his head and felt tears come back to his eyes. His father had been the demon in the labs and he had left Vess to die. He'd taken Michael out of the lab against his will and forced Michael to keep living when he'd wanted to die with Vess.
"It was you…" Michael said slowly.
Plague Doctor cocked his head, and the confusion was clear in his eyes.
Michael clenched his hand into a fist and felt white hot rage fill him. His rage felt like fire within his veins and he didn't even notice when his other hand clenched as well.
"You bastard…" Michael hissed out.
Sebastian was completely aghast. "Master Michael!" he scolded, "You show your father the respect he deserves!"
Michael felt himself getting angrier and angrier and before he'd even thought about it, he launched himself out of the wheelchair straight at Plague Doctor. Michael began lashing out at the other man with both fists and he hit him over and over again as Plague Doctor instinctively blocked.
"You could have saved him!" Michael screamed out, "You left him to die!"
Plague Doctor said nothing and Michael kicked out at Plague Doctor with his artificial leg, knocking him back against a table.
"MICHAEL!" Sebastian yelled to deaf ears.
Michael got his hands around Plague Doctor's throat and they both fell to the floor hard as his father struggled to loosen his hold. Tiger was barking in a complete frenzy and Michael let out a scream of frustration.
"You could have saved Numa but you left him to die! You killed him!" Michael screamed hysterically, "It's your fault, it's all your fault!"
Plague Doctor hadn't retaliated at all and he was putting all of his focus into defense instead. Michael tightened his grip on the neck and he stared straight into his father's eyes as he choked him. Plague Doctor's eyes had no anger in them, only a deep sadness that made Michael feel even worse.
Sebastian rushed forward to yank Michael off, but Plague Doctor's gaze hardened as he turned a glare on the servant.
"Don't," he ordered.
Sebastian froze uncertainly and he stared at Plague Doctor as Michael continued his assault. Plague Doctor pried Michael's fingers away from his neck and then he held Michael by the hands as the boy and screamed and struggled to get away from him. Michael said the worst possible things he could think of but Plague Doctor seemed unfazed by it. Michael then began to sob and all fight instantly left him. Plague Doctor sat up and stared down at Michael with an unreadable expression on his face. Without a word, he pulled Michael into a tight hug and simply held him as he cried.
Michael resisted at first and then he sank into that hug as he cried hard.
"I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!" Michael sobbed out over and over.
"That's alright," Plague Doctor stated, "You can hate me if you want."
Michael squeezed his eyes closed at that and simply sobbed in despair. Sebastian watched all of this looking incredibly stressed but he didn't try to interfere. Finally he turned and quickly hurried from the room.
Plague Doctor didn't try to push Michael away and just held him as the boy seemed to shrink in on himself. Michael really wanted to drive his fist into Plague Doctor's face a hundred times, but he couldn't seem to do anything besides cry.
Michael wasn't sure how long he sat there on the floor with his father, but after a time he felt strong hands pulling him away. Looking up, he saw Scorpion kneeling down beside him. Sebastian was hovering near the door and he gave Michael a concerned look.
"I called your therapist, Michael, and I think you should go with him."
Scorpion was giving him a searching look and Michael felt incredibly embarrassed. He allowed himself to be pulled to his feet and to his surprise, the new leg supported him perfectly. Lifting it up, he bent it a few times and then took a cautious step. There was still a lot of tenderness on his stumps but the new limbs felt right.
"Come on, Michael," Scorpion ordered, pulling him towards the door, "Let's go get you calmed down."
Michael took small and careful steps, wincing at the discomfort this caused. He glanced back at Plague Doctor who was still seated on the floor staring up at him.
"I'm sorry, Michael," Plague Doctor said softly, "I'm sorry about everything."
"I hate you," Michael said one last time before Scorpion ushered him out of the room.
The last thing Michael saw before the door was closed was the look of utter defeat on his father's face. Michael swiped at his tears as Scorpion helped him along towards his bedroom. His leg was aching by the time he made it to his room, but Michael was just happy he was out of the chair. Once they were in the privacy of his room, Scorpion released his arm and gave him a disapproving look.
"You need to get your act together," Scorpion scolded, "You're needed and we don't have time to wait for you to grow the fuck up!"
Michael was completely taken aback by the tone and he stared at Scorpion with wide eyes.
"You need to focus on healing for now, and then you're needed for your mission," Scorpion snapped, "I don't have time to keep running here every time you want to act like a pathetic little girl!"
Michael felt humiliated and he averted his gaze to the floor.
"You are a Volkov, and it's time you started acting like one! Once you're leading Volkov, do you think anyone will respect a whiny little bitch? You need to shove aside all these weak emotions and start acting like a man! Maybe Spider was wrong in trusting you!"
Michael kept his eyes firmly on the floor. "...I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize, simply do better !" Scorpion snarled, "I came with important information but now I don't think you'll be able to handle it."
"Information?" Michael asked, looking up, "What information?"
"No, you're too weak to handle what I have to say," Scorpion stated, turning away.
"I'm not!" Michael snapped, "Tell me! Do you know where Siren is?"
Scorpion gave him a long and intense look. "We don't know where he is currently, but we know where he was ."
Michael frowned. "Why would we care about that?"
Scorpion started walking towards the door. "You're to be ready to leave in two weeks time," he instructed, "Don't disappoint me."
"Why would I care about where Siren had been?" Michael repeated, getting a very bad feeling.
Scorpion opened the door to leave. "You should care because he paid the Finnegan manor a visit."
Michael's eyes widened. "What?! Why would he go there?!"
Scorpion's cold blue gaze met his own. "Siren killed your mother and every single one of your siblings," he informed him, "He's now taken away everything you've ever cared about."
Michael was completely frozen.
"Goodbye, Michael, I'll be in touch."
Scorpion left the bedroom and closed the door after him. He got halfway down the hall before he heard the agonized scream. Scorpion smiled and then continued on his way. Michael would play his part perfectly.
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Paper Star let out a surprised curse as something sharp stabbed into her. Sticking her hand into her pocket, she pulled out a whole handful of tacks and stared down at them in confusion. How did those get in her pockets? Tossing them in the trash, she grabbed her boots and began putting them on, knowing the others were waiting for her. Again she cursed and yanked her feet back away from the boots. Inside were more tacks and she frowned and removed them out of the boots. A little bit suspicious now, she checked her jacket and found more tacks in the pocket and lining. She glanced towards the door and had a feeling she knew who was responsible.
Siren hadn't been pleased last night when he found out Paper Star would be sharing a motel room with him and his brothers. He'd argued about it but Roosevelt had insisted she stay since she was his girlfriend. Siren refused to say a single word to Paper Star all night and to his brothers' exasperation, he insisted on sharing the bed with Roosevelt instead of Theodore. Paper Star had shared with Theodore instead and had to endure being glared at for hours by Siren who was making no qualms about disliking her.
Paper Star had overslept because someone had turned off her com alarm and Roosevelt finally shook her awake because they were getting ready to leave. She had missed breakfast, hadn't had time for a shower, and how she'd gotten stabbed by a handful of tacks. Her day wasn't off to a great start and she had a feeling she really wasn't going to like Siren.
Normally Paper Star would have stabbed someone for much less, but she was trying to be patient since the twins clearly loved Siren for reasons she couldn't understand. It was difficult, but so far she had managed to resist slapping him upside the head.
Paper Star did a quick check of the motel room to make sure no one forgot anything and then she grabbed her bag and left the room. Everyone else was already in the RV and she got in, shooting a dirty look at Siren as she did so. Siren was seated on the couch watching a movie on the tv and he returned the glare without a word. Paper Star tossed her bag into her bedroom and then went up front to sit with Roosevelt.
"Oh thank god," Otterman suddenly said in relief, "They fixed the stove. We don't have to waste any more money on takeout."
"How are our funds doing?" Crackle demanded.
"We should be alright as long as nothing else happens before we get to Niagara Falls," Otterman replied, taking a seat beside Siren on the couch.
Siren immediately booted him and Otterman let out a yelp of surprise and moved further away.
"You were too close," Siren responded, not once taking his eyes from the tv.
"Don't pick on Sven!" Dash snapped, kicking Siren back twice as hard, "He doesn't see very well!"
"Ow, fuck! Mind your own business, hat-bitch!" Siren snapped, whipping a cushion at him.
Dash easily caught it and whipped it right back at him, hitting him square in the face. As Siren let out a pained curse, Crackle stepped between them.
"Enough of this!" he snapped, "No one should be hitting anyone else! Both of you need to grow up and act your age! I know being in such cramped quarters can be stressful, but we all need to learn to get along."
"Get bent, Aussie," Siren replied, "I'm here against my will and I have no desire to get along with any of you."
"No one's keeping you here!" Dash challenged, "If you hate it so much LEAVE !"
Siren went quiet and Dash let out a snort. "That's what I thought. You're being an asshole just for the sake of being an asshole. If you're trying to make sure none of us like you, then you're doing a perfect job!"
"Dashie, cut him some slack," Neal implored, setting a hand on his arm, "The guy's been through absolute hell, and now his whole life has been upended. Let's all just relax, okay?"
Neal offered Siren a reassuring smile who narrowed his eyes at him and said nothing. Siren's head was absolutely throbbing and he felt anxious and stressed for reasons he couldn't pinpoint. His hands were shaking a bit and he recognized the clear signs of withdrawal. How long had it been since he'd last had his medications?
"What is the date?" Siren demanded.
"February 21st," Neal informed him.
Siren rubbed at his head and frowned. How had he missed so much time? All the medications Vess had put him on were probably mostly out of his system now, and Siren had no idea what that was going to do to him. He knew he'd been on a whole assortment of pills, but he didn't even know what they were for.
Siren clenched his hands into fists, too embarrassed to bring up his problem. What would his brothers think of him if they knew he was going through withdrawal? The thought of even speaking to a doctor terrified him, and he never wanted to to see another doctor ever again. Memories of Vess loomed over him like a dark cloud, and Siren doubted he'd ever trust another doctor. He'd had to deal with his issues himself and hope everything balanced out once all the drugs were out of his system.
Siren became aware of someone shaking his shoulder and glanced up to see Neal looking at him in concern. Seeing someone that close to him, caused him to panic and Siren lashed out and kicked Neal in the broken leg as hard as he could. Neal let out a bellow of agony and Dash lunged towards Siren and hit him solidly in the face. Siren let out a panicked screech and curled in on himself, screaming for his brothers.
Theodore burst out of the back room at the yells and ran for his brother, taking in the sight that met him in the living room. Dash was standing over a crying Siren with his fist still raised and Theodore saw red. Charging for Dash, he yanked him away from his brother harshly and then shoved him down onto the couch hard.
"Don't you touch my brother!" Theodore boomed furiously, placing himself between Siren and the others.
Roosevelt had pulled the RV over to the side of the road, and he too was making his way towards his brother.
Siren curled himself into a tight ball as he sobbed and Roosevelt glanced around in confusion.
"What happened?" he demanded.
"Dash hit Del!" Theodore snarled, kneeling down to check on Siren.
"I barely touched him!" Dash yelled back, "He's a psycho! He attacked us for no reason! Your brother belongs in a loony bin, not our team!"
"Delano did start it," Crackle confirmed, "but Dash certainly finished it."
"He's tiny compared to you!" Theodore yelled angrily, "No one is allowed to bully Del! He's not a fighter!"
"He attacked Neal and hurt him!" Dash snapped, "The little shit kicked him right in the broken leg!"
Theodore frowned. "Did you do that, Del?"
Siren said nothing and was far too upset to even look at him.
"Come on, Del," Theodore coaxed, "Let's go calm down, okay? You're okay now, no one's going to hurt you."
Siren remained curled into a defensive ball and so Theodore reached down and lifted him up and forcibly set him on his feet. Theodore looked him over and saw the beginnings of a bruise on his cheek. Roosevelt gently touched the bruise and Siren flinched in pain at the light touch.
Turning to Dash, Roosevelt plowed his fist into Dash's face in the exact same spot. Dash let out a furious curse and clapped a hand to his face as Neal let out a cry of outrage. Crackle jumped between them and placed his hands on Roosevelt's chest to hold him back.
"There, now Del's even," Roosevelt stated, "Every mark you leave on my brother, I leave on you , got it?"
Roosevelt glared around the room and it was clear the threat applied to everyone.
"If you have a problem with Del, you talk to Roose or I, but you don't lay a hand on our brother!" Theodore stated, "We love our brother and we will always defend him no matter what."
Crackle stared at the twins in disbelief, realizing that they really meant it. The twins would choose him over the rest of the team. This could split the team and Crackle knew this needed to be dealt with immediately.
"No one will lay a hand on him as long as you stay true to your word and keep him in line," Crackle responded, "He struck first and this is unacceptable . I have a duty to protect this team and Delano can't be allowed to start fights."
Theodore nodded his agreement. "Fine," he said, "It won't happen again."
Without another word, Theodore ushered Siren into their bedroom and closed the door. Siren's head was spinning and he felt like he was going to scream. The second they were in the bedroom, Siren curled into a small miserable ball and clutched at his head, certain his anxiety was going to kill him. He felt Theodore take a seat on the bed beside him, and he heard his brother giving him a lecture of some kind, but his mind couldn't focus on the words. The lecture went on and on, but all Siren heard was the buzz of unintelligible words. Finally he felt Theodore gently pat him on the head and then a few moments later Siren was alone.
Siren's mind felt like it was a scrambled mess of noise and colours and even his breathing felt too loud for his ears. Glad it was quiet in the room, Siren laid there for a long time, simply trying to calm himself down. He heard Theodore enter the room several times, but Siren ignored him and didn't move from his fetal position on the bed.
Finally Siren's mind seemed to clear and he opened his eyes. His gaze settled on the sandwich laying directly beside him and he pushed it away, the smell feeling overpowering at the moment. Rubbing at his eyes, Siren glanced towards the closed door and frowned. He needed to get away from this team. They were too loud, too chaotic, and too numerous for him to deal with. Every time he was in the room with Team Crackle it felt like he was instantly overwhelmed and he hated it. He'd spent ten years away from all other people and now to be suddenly thrust into the small tincan of an RV with 8 people was too much.
Siren knew in order to make his escape he was going to need cash and something to defend himself with. He was certain once he had a plan and left, he could coax his brothers to follow after him. Once they were away from Team Crackle, they could make a new life for themselves elsewhere.
The bedroom door suddenly opened and Siren closed his eyes, pretending he was asleep. The person left again and they didn't latch the door and he could hear what was being discussed in the other room.
"This job won't require all of us," Crackle stated, "Do I have any volunteers to stay behind? I'd like at least two of our muscle to come along."
"I'll stay to keep an eye on Del," Roosevelt stated.
"I'll stay with you too," Paper Star said.
"I'm definitely going on the mission!" Neal announced in a teasing voice.
"Nice try, Neal," Crackle replied, amusement in his tone, "You're not going anywhere for another four weeks at least."
"Do I need to go?" Dash demanded, "This disgusting Canadian air has been hell on my skin and I really wanted to relax with a hydrating face mask for a few hours."
There was a pause and then Crackle sighed. "Not what I would call a priority, Dash, but I think we can spare you for this mission. The security at the museum is pretty much non-existent and I doubt we'll have a hard time."
"Great!" Dash exclaimed.
Siren listened to them as they discussed plans that he didn't care about and he waited until he felt the RV pull over before he sat up. Once it sounded like most of the team had left, he slipped out of the bedroom and was met with the sight of Roosevelt making out with Paper Star on the couch.
"Fucking disgusting," he muttered.
Roosevelt pulled away and looked up at him. "Oh you're awake!"
Paper Star gave him a flat look and he sneered at her in return. Taking a seat on the couch as far away from her as possible, he glanced around but didn't see Neal or Dash anywhere.
"Where did hat-bitch and slimy go?"
"To a spa," Roosevelt answered, "Apparently Neal had a coupon and somehow managed to talk Sven into paying for it."
Siren made a noise to acknowledge he heard, but he'd already lost interest. He glanced to the tv and saw some sort of generic action movie was playing. To his annoyance, Roosevelt continued making out with Siren sitting right there and he turned a glare on his brother.
"Do you mind?" he snapped, "Go suck on the paper hag somewhere else."
Roosevelt glanced towards the bedroom and then towards Paper Star. Paper Star maintained direct eye contact with Siren and then took Roosevelt by the hand and began leading him towards the bedroom. Siren glowered after them and the second the door closed he knew there was no way he was going to stay here and listen to that.
Getting up from the couch, Siren began searching for this weapon stash the others mentioned during their campout. He focused his search on Crackle's bedroom and he wasn't disappointed. He found a hidden compartment in the floor that had knives, nunchucks, piles of paper, a few sawblades and to his surprise a gun. Removing the handgun from its holster, he inspected it and then checked the chamber. It was empty and so he reached down and felt around the edges of the stash and found a box of ammunition. He placed eight rounds into the chamber and then clicked it into place.
Stuffing the handgun into the waistband of his pants, he was about to leave the room when his gaze settled on Paper Star's backpack. Smirking to himself, he unzipped the bag and pulled out all of Paper Star's clothing.
Leaving the room, he entered the bathroom and stuffed all of the clothing inside the toilet. Feeling quite pleased with himself, he put on the empty backpack and then left the RV. Once he was on the street, he glanced around to try to get his bearings.
Siren knew they were in Niagara Falls but couldn't see any sort of touristy attractions within sight. Choosing a random direction, he hurried away from the RV, knowing Roosevelt would discover he was gone shortly. Once Siren had a good amount of cash and a plan, he'd contact his brothers so they could meet up and leave. Until then, he had to avoid being found.
Following the road signs directing him to the falls, he knew the best place to get money would be right in the heart of the tourist district. Shivering from the cold, he had no idea what he was going to do once getting his hands on some cash. He had no I.D and he was in a foreign country. Where would he even start? Make a fake passport to get him across the border?
Siren soon found himself on Clifton Hill and was nauseated by the amount of people around. The entire street was one giant tourist trap, and he wandered up and down looking for the place he was going to rob. He needed to choose somewhere open where he could make a quick escape, and he found his gaze settling on a fancy fudge shop covered in bright shining lights. Customers were lined straight out the door and he knew they were raking in an absolute fortune.
Siren snatched a map and carefully looked it over, memorizing every street in Niagara Falls. Standing across the street from the fudge shop trying to decide how he was going to do this, he felt a sudden tug on his shirt. Glancing down, Siren was met with the sight of a smiling baby staring up at him.
"Ew," he commented, yanking his shirt away.
The baby was wearing a simple paper mask of a bunny and was sucking on a lollipop almost as big as her head. The mother had her back turned and was busy chatting with another woman and Siren found himself staring at that mask. Reaching out, he snatched the mask from the baby and then took off before anyone realized what he'd done.
Crossing the street, he tied the mask around his face and no one seemed to notice or care. Closing the entrance door of the fudge shop, he flipped the sign to say they were closed for lunch and then waited in the incredibly long line. Once the last customer had been served, Siren was now in the shop alone and he gave a glance to the door but no one was around.
"May I help you?" the cashier asked, offering him a smile, "I love your mask! It's really adorable!"
Siren drew the gun and pointed it straight between the cashier's eyes. The smile dropped from her face and she froze, simply staring at him in disbelief.
"Put all the money from the register in a bag and then hand it to me," Siren ordered, "If I can't see both your hands at all times, I'm going to put a hole in your head!"
The cashier mutely nodded and stepped over to the register.
"Slowly," Siren ordered, "And give me some fudge too."
The cashier opened the register and began slowly removing stacks of cash and dropping it into a bag of fudge. Once she was done, she placed her hands on her head and gave him a pleading look. Siren removed his backpack and dropped the bag into it and then zipped it back up.
"Don't move until I'm out of the shop," Siren ordered, slinging the backpack over his shoulder as he backed away.
The cashier had no choice but to nod, and once Siren was to the door, he shoved the gun out of sight and ran for it. He ran as hard and as fast as he could, ditching the mask as he went. He ran far from the tourist district and when he heard sirens, he pushed himself to run faster. Running across a street towards an alley, he heard the screech of tires and the next thing he knew he was hitting the pavement hard.
Siren lay stunned and the intense pain and adrenaline coursed through him, and he felt a familiar wave of confusion slipping over him. Siren could taste blood and his legs and chest were in agony, and he took a large gasping breath that hurt his ribs.
Siren felt gentle hands on him and he slowly opened his eyes and saw the driver of the car was looking him over in concern. Siren's mind was feeling fuzzy and he had no idea what was going on. His mind was spinning and spinning, and he was having trouble forming any coherent thoughts. Raising a hand to his bleeding head, he flinched as the stranger reached for him again.
Siren felt an unnatural terror he didn't understand he let out a screech and jerked back from the man. He scrambled to his feet and the man immediately reached for him, looking shocked Siren was able to get up.
"No, stay down!" the man coaxed him, "You're hurt and I'll call you an ambulance! You're going to hurt yourself worse!"
The man caught Siren by the arm and Siren felt his terror increase and he yanked his arm away with another panicked screech. He then took off running, having absolutely no idea why he was injured or why he was alone. Where were his brothers? Why was he alone?
His confused mind provided him with the information that he was in Niagara Falls and a mental map flashed in front of his eyes and he knew exactly where he was. There was something special about Niagara Falls but he couldn't remember what it was.
Information seemed to swim around his mind and he suddenly remembered an address nearby. He knew this was important and he began running in the direction of that address. He had no idea why it was important, but it felt like this was where he needed to go. Siren ran and ran despite being completely out of breath and in a considerable amount of pain, and when he finally arrived at his destination, he could barely breathe. Slowly making his way up the neatly landscaped walkway to the modest little house, he reached out a hand and rang the doorbell.
Siren shifted on his feet as he waited and then he rang the bell again and then again and then again, getting more desperate by the moment.
The door opened and a lady glanced at him and then at his hand which was still ringing the doorbell.
"May I help you?" she asked, taking in the sight of all the blood.
"Matteo Bouchard," Siren stated, finally removing his hand from the doorbell.
The women frowned at him. "You...know Matteo?" she asked a bit skeptically.
Siren was getting more and more agitated and he began rocking a bit on his feet. "Matteo Bouchard," he repeated.
The woman eyed him for a moment and then glanced over her shoulder. "Matt!" she called out loudly, "Can you come here for a moment?"
There was no answer.
"MATTEO!" she yelled out even louder.
"Okay mum, I'm coming!" came the answer from somewhere inside the house.
They could hear footsteps coming up the stairs from the basement, and a few moments later Player opened the basement door.
"What's up, mum?" he asked.
Player's mother stepped aside. "Do you know this boy?"
Player's mouth dropped open at the sight of a bloody and bruised Siren standing on his doorstep. "Siren!" he yelped out, "What are you doing here?!"
Siren stared at Player and shifted again in agitation. "Matteo Bouchard."
Player shot a nervous look at his mother and then reached out to take Siren by the arm to pull him inside.
"What happened?" Player asked, "Are you okay?"
"No," Siren answered, clinging to Player's arm desperately.
"How do you know this boy?" Player's mother demanded, squinting a Siren suspiciously, "How old is he? He must at least be a senior!"
Player knew Siren looked incredibly young and decided to just go with it. "Yeah, I met him during my week at school," he lied, "He's a real cool guy that knows a lot about computers and stuff. We chat all the time online."
Player's mother was clearly skeptical and her gaze kept going to the injuries that covered Siren. "What happened?"
"Fell," Siren answered, trying to edge away from her.
"Del is a skateboarder…" Player lied, trying to think of a reasonable explanation, "He'll be okay, he falls all the time."
Player's mother stared long and hard at Siren and assumed he was around eighteen or so. Player had never made a real friend before since he had a lot of social issues, and she didn't consider all his online friends to be proper socialization. There was clearly something wrong with Siren, and she wondered if he was perhaps severely autistic.
"Hello, Del, it's nice to meet you," she said a bit hesitantly.
"No," Siren simply said, edging his way towards Player.
"Sorry, Del doesn't really speak much to people he doesn't know," Player explained, "He's really...shy."
Player's mother nodded in understanding and felt a little better about Siren being older than Player. She was worried about him being a bad influence, but she had a feeling she didn't have anything to worry about.
"Should we call your parents, Del?" she gently asked, "You're covered in blood!"
Siren made a small agitated noise in the back of his throat and didn't want to be near her any longer. Player was terrified Siren was going to say something he shouldn't and so he quickly began ushering Siren into the house in the direction of the basement.
"I'll get him some bandaids and text his mum," Player promised, "We're going to play videogames for a while, okay?"
Player's mother stared after them as they disappeared downstairs and then she slowly closed the front door. She wasn't sure how she felt about Player hanging around people older than him, but Siren seemed harmless enough and so she was going to allow it. Crossing the room, she headed for the kitchen to get a few snacks for them.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The second Player had Siren in the privacy of the basement, he let go of him and gave him a flustered look.
"What are you doing here?! My mum saw you! Did you say anything to her?!"
Siren didn't answer and simply stood there rocking and getting more and more upset. Player realized Siren was having an episode and he had no idea how to handle this. How did Siren get to Niagara Falls? Where were the rest of Team Crackle? Did something happen?
"Where's Crackle and the others?" Player asked, "Did they get hurt?"
Siren said nothing.
Player let out a sigh and then coaxed Siren to take a seat on his bed. "Let me take a look at those cuts."
Siren's jeans were shredded at the legs and so Player cut the pant legs off with scissors so he could see how badly Siren was hurt. Both of Siren's knees were scraped and his legs were covered in scratches and bruises.
"Oh man, I wish I knew what happened!" Player said in concern, "One sec, I'm going to grab the first aid kit."
Siren watched Player hurry over to the basement bathroom and he was instantly uneasy. Glancing around the room, his gaze settled on Player's tech corner. Getting up, he wandered over to it and began poking and digging through his things. Player came back and when he saw Siren at his desk, he panicked and rushed over.
"No, please don't touch anything! I have everything set up perfectly!"
Siren picked an object up and stared down at it curiously. Spinning it in his hand, he stared at it and then spun it again and again.
"Oh that's just a fidget spinner," Player stated with a shrug, "You can keep that if you want."
Siren kept staring down at the fidget spinner, and so Player once again ushered him to take a seat on the bed. Player carefully cleaned the rocks and dirt out of the wounds and Siren flinched at every touch but he didn't pull away. Player stuck several bandaids on Siren's legs and then turned his attention to Siren's scraped elbows. He cleaned and bandaged them and then looked at the wound on Siren's head.
Helping Siren remove his shirt, he saw terrible bruising all over Siren's ribs and back. There was a deep gouge on Siren's back and Player felt a little panicked.
"I hope you don't need stitches…" Player said worriedly, "This is really bad looking."
Siren didn't move as Player wiped the blood from his face and back, but he was clearly in pain from the injuries. Player placed several large bandages over the wounds, hoping they would stop bleeding on their own. He'd have to keep an eye on him and if he got any worse, he'd have to get him to a hospital.
Now that Siren was bandaged up, Player handed him a clean set of clothes.
"You can borrow these to wear for now since your clothes are all covered in blood," he informed him, "We're pretty much the same size and so they should fit you okay. You can get changed in the bathroom just over there."
Siren didn't react and simply kept spinning the fidget spinner silently. Player gently pulled him up to his feet and then pushed him into the bathroom, closing the door after him.
Player let out a deep breath and had no idea what he was going to do. Hurrying over to his computer, he was about to contact Carmen when he heard the basement door open.
Looking up, Player saw his mother coming down the stairs carrying a tray with snacks and drinks.
"I brought snacks for you two!" she announced, glancing around, "Where's your friend?"
Player hesitated and then pointed towards the bathroom. Player's mother set the tray down on the desk and glanced towards the closed bathroom door.
"Did you get hold of his parents yet?"
"Er...yeah," Player lied, "They were fine with him staying to game for a while."
"Was Del okay?" she asked, "Maybe I should take a look at him?"
"Yeah, it wasn't as bad as it looked," Player assured her, "Just a few scrapes."
The bathroom door opened and Siren came out wearing the borrowed clothes and still fiddling with the fidget spinner. He was wearing shorts and a hoodie and he didn't make eye contact with either person as he took a seat on the bed. Player's mother gave him a quick look-over but he seemed fine and so she turned to head back for the stairs.
"Have fun you two, I'll stay out of your way!"
Player's mother looked incredibly pleased, and Player instantly felt guilty about lying to her. Letting out a deep sigh, he looked over at Siren who was staring down at the vegetable tray with a frown.
"Yeah, sorry, my mum is on a major health kick right now, She purged all sugar and snackfoods out of the house."
Siren didn't answer and so Player took a seat at his desk and immediately called Carmen. He had no idea what to do and really hoped she answered his call. To his relief, Carmen's face appeared on his screen only moments later.
"Hey, Player, what's up?" she asked, giving him a smile.
"Heya, Red, I kinda have a problem here…"
Carmen's brow furrowed in concern. "What's wrong?"
Player turned his camera so Carmen could see Siren sitting on his bed.
Carmen's expression turned a combination between alarmed and confused. "Siren?!"
Player turned the camera back on himself. "Yeah, he just showed up at my front door covered in blood. I just about had a heart attack when my mum called me to the door."
"What happened?! Where's Gray?" Carmen demanded.
"I don't know," Player answered, "Siren seems to be dissociating again like before and he hasn't been able to tell me anything. I have no idea what happened!"
"Have you tried to get hold of Team Crackle yet?'
Player shook his head. "No, something doesn't feel right and there has to be a reason Siren wasn't with them."
Carmen frowned at him. "You don't think they were the ones to hurt Siren, do you?"
"I don't know," Player said hesitantly, "They are the bad guys after all."
"They wouldn't hurt him," Carmen said confidently, "He's Double Trouble's brother!"
"Siren is part of our team, Red, and we need to make absolutely sure that everything is alright," Player said, glancing over at Siren as he took a carrot stick, "Hopefully he snaps out of this soon so he can tell us what happened."
Carmen felt certain Team Crackle weren't responsible for hurting Siren, but she could see the logic of what Player was suggesting. The only thing she was concerned about was the fact Player's parents had no idea their son was involved in international crime.
"What did you tell your mother?" Carmen asked, "Are you going to be alright?"
Player nodded. "Yeah, Siren looks really young for his age and so I told her he was a senior from the local highschool. She thinks he came over to play videogames."
"And she believed that?!" Carmen exclaimed skeptically.
"Yeah, I think so anyway," Player replied, "I think she was just happy I'm socializing with someone in person for once. My parents are always nagging at me to go outside and make friends."
"We're on the plane heading back to San Diego right now, but if you need us to make a detour, we can be to you in five hours."
"What if Siren doesn't want to go back to Team Crackle? He wasn't exactly given a choice the first time and we all just assumed he'd want to be with his brothers."
This hadn't occurred to Carmen and she frowned, remembering how Otterman had called Siren an asshole. Siren certainly took some getting used to and she hoped he hadn't angered Team Crackle in some way.
"I'm going to reach out to Team Crackle and get their side of the story but I won't tell them where Siren is until he can tell us what happened. If he wants to leave Team Crackle then he'll of course be welcome with us."
Player nodded and glanced back at Siren who had gotten up to pace the room. "That sounds good, Red, just keep me in the loop."
Carmen returned the nod. "I'll call Crackle right now and then I'll call you back."
Player disconnected the call and then let out a deep breath. Turning to Siren, he held out a ps5 controller.
"You want to play Spiderman with me?"
Siren gave him a blank stare and then slowly reached out and took the controller.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Cleo felt completely numb and she found she couldn't react to the words she was hearing. Viper, the red-headed henchman of Spider was telling them all of his eyewitness account of how Bellum had committed suicide right in front of him. He told them of how he'd been planning on rescuing her that night, and how he'd had no idea of her plans to kill herself. He had chased after her in an attempt to explain he was there to get her out, but hadn't reached her in time.
Bellum had thrown herself from the cliff and they had no idea if she hit any rocks on her way down. A.C.M.E had dredged the river for miles in every direction, but there was no sign of her body. The only thing they had found was a bloodsoaked pair of pants and DNA had confirmed the blood was Bellum's.
"Was it possible she survived the fall?" Roundabout asked.
"Unlikely," Viper replied, "Even if she somehow survived hitting the water, it would have shattered her body and the violent currents would have dashed her against the rocks and drowned her."
"This is...unfortunate," Maelstrom commented, steepling his fingers together.
"Aw, a real shame, I liked that little geek," Brunt stated, "She was always so entertaining!"
Cleo had been holding out hope that Bellum would be rescued and returned to them, but now she felt completely gutted. A.C.M.E had marked Bellum as deceased in their files and the footage Viper played them clearly showed Bellum's leap.
Cleo sat there as the other faculty began discussing finding a replacement and she slammed her fists to the table. Everyone fell quiet and stared at her, and Cleo glared from person to person furiously.
"How about if we all show Saira some decency and stop trying to replace her twenty minutes after finding out she's dead?" Cleo snarled, "She was with us for twenty years and she deserves better than this!"
Maelstrom frowned at her. "What would you have us do? We need to keep V.I.L.E moving."
"Just...not yet," Cleo begged, "Pay her some respect and mourn her loss and pretend for just a moment that you have any human emotions."
Maelstrom studied her for a moment and observed the way she was tightly clenching her hands into fists. He then looked over at Brunt and Roundabout who both seemed at a loss of what to do.
"I think you're right, Cleo," Maelstrom finally stated, "We will leave her chair empty for now as a sign of respect. When we're all ready, we will then look into finding a replacement."
Cleo gave a terse nod and without a word, she rose and hurried from the room, not wanting the others to see her facade crack. She clenched her teeth as she strode towards her quarters and she felt like killing something. Shoving several of her assistants out of her way, she entered her private chambers and slammed the door closed.
Undressing from her elaborate dress, she got dressed for bed and simply fell facedown onto the mattress.
"STERLING!" she bellowed out without looking up.
She heard her bedroom door open and Sterling Silver slipped in giving Cleo an incredibly wary look.
"Yes, Countess?" he asked, "You called for me?"
"Bring me chocolate cake and a pint of chocolate icecream."
Sterling took a quick step back. "Pardon?!"
"You heard me."
Sterling glanced around the room and didn't trust this situation at all. "Erm...are you feeling alright, Countess?"
"No, I am not feeling alright," Cleo snapped, "Now do as you're told or I swear I will take out all the unbridled rage I'm feeling on you instead of an obscene amount of calories."
"Did...did something happen, Countess?" Sterling asked.
"Saira Bellum is dead."
Sterling's eyes widened and he audibly gasped. "Countess, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I know the two of you were-"
"ENOUGH!" Cleo snarled, sitting up, "Get out!"
Sterling stared at the despair in her eyes and he knew there was nothing he could do for her. He gave her a slight bow and then backed out of the room to fetch what she asked for. Cleo felt the first tears make their way down her face and she threw a pillow across the room as hard as she could.
"Saira…" Cleo whispered to herself, "I'm so sorry."
Clapping her hands to her face as she sobbed, she knew she would never see Bellum's cheeky and beautiful smile ever again. Never again would she feel Bellum's soft skin against hers or her lips against her own. Bellum was dead and she was gone forever.
Letting out a scream of fury, Cleo vowed to get her revenge against Carmen Sandiego.
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"No, don't even talk to me!" Dash snarled as he pushed Neal into the rv.
"Oh, come on, Dashie, don't be mad at me!"
"You humiliated me!" Dash cried out dramatically, "I've never been so embarrassed in my entire life!"
"I didn't mean to!" Neal insisted, "I've only ever seen spas in movies and that's how I thought they all worked!"
"Bullshit!" Dash yelled, releasing the wheelchair so he could storm away.
Roosevelt opened his bedroom door and stepped out. "What's wrong?" he asked.
Dash simply made an angry noise and went into his bedroom, slamming the door after him. Paper Star peered around Roosevelt and then gave Neal a questioning look. Neal looked incredibly upset and he let out a groan and ran his hand through his wet hair.
"What did you do, Neal?" Paper Star demanded, giving him a suspicious look.
"...I asked the massage therapist if her massages had happy endings…"
Roosevelt looked confused but Paper Star shook her head in disgust.
"I was just joking!" Neal insisted, "But they immediately banned the both of us from ever returning to any of their spas in the future. They interrupted Dash's facial and made him leave after taking his picture to put on the wall of shame."
"And I'm never forgiving you!" Dash snarled from inside his bedroom.
"I'm sorry, Dash!" Neal called back, "I'll make it up to you, I swear!"
Dash yelled something not very polite back and Neal let out a groan.
"You fucked up," Paper Star informed him.
"...yeah," Neal agreed, shifting out of his wheelchair onto the couch.
Roosevelt then glanced around with a frown. "Where's Del?"
Neal shrugged. "Dunno, haven't seen him."
Roosevelt glanced into the bathroom and his gaze settled on the clothing stuffed into the toilet. He could tell the clothes were Paper Star's and realized Siren was mad. Paper Star peeked around him into the bathroom and when her gaze fell on her clothes, she let out a furious curse.
"Sorry, Shiko," Roosevelt quickly apologized, "I'll make him apologize to you and clean your stuff. He must have been having a tantrum..."
Paper Star looked away from him, angry but trying not to say anything that was on her mind.
"Del?" Roosevelt called out loudly.
There was no answer.
Roosevelt frowned and then searched all the rooms to no avail.
"Del?" Roosevelt called even louder, "Where are you?"
"Maybe he's on the roof again?" Neal suggested.
Roosevelt quickly left the rv and stepped out onto the sidewalk. "Del, are you up there?"
When there was no answer, he turned to Paper Star. "Can you see if he's up there?"
Paper Star sighed but she easily climbed up to the roof of the rv. She glanced around and then gave Roosevelt a shake of her head.
"Where did he go?" Roosevelt asked worriedly.
"What's wrong, Roose?" Crackle asked from behind him.
Roosevelt spun around and felt relieved to see the others back. He turned his gaze to Theodore sheepishly.
"Del's gone…"
Theodore's eyes widened. "What?!"
"We checked everywhere but he's not here!"
"You were supposed to watch him!" Theodore snapped, "What were you doing?!"
Roosevelt's cheeks coloured and he glanced over at Paper Star. Everyone followed his gaze and Crackle let out a deep sigh.
"I'm sure he's fine," he stated, "He probably just went to see the falls."
The twins exchanged unhappy looks.
"We need to go find him!" Theodore said, feeling completely panicked.
"He's not a child, Teddy," Otterman pointed out, "This is an incredibly safe city and he probably just wanted some air."
"But-" Roosevelt started but was interrupted by Crackle.
"We'll wait for him to return and if he's not back by suppertime, then we'll all go out and search for him."
"What if he fell over the falls?!" Theodore exclaimed.
"Delano seems like a pretty smart guy and he's not going to climb the guardrails," Crackle pointed out, "Now come back inside the rv before we start attracting attention."
The twins weren't very happy over it, but they did as they were told and went back into the rv without protest. Neal, who was watching tv, glanced up and waved at the others.
"No luck?"
Roosevelt shook his head. "No, he left and I don't understand why he'd do this! Why wouldn't he tell me where he was going?!"
"Because he was having a childish tantrum and did it on purpose," Paper Star responded with an angry frown.
Crackle let out a deep sigh and took a seat next to Neal on the couch. "Carmen has been calling my com for a while now," he commented, "I don't feel like listening to her preach at me about being a vigilante right now."
"Are they still in Russia?" Paper Star asked.
"No, they're heading back to San Diego," Otterman replied, "I just spoke to her this morning. She's going to keep an eye on the A.C.M.E situation and keep me updated."
Carmen had finally told him about Michael, and Otterman wasn't quite sure what to think about that. He'd only met Michael twice and he honestly didn't especially care whether the boy lived or died. Michael had come across as a complete jackass, and he still hadn't forgiven him for hurting Findus. Perhaps someday he'd be willing to be civil with him, but that wouldn't be for quite a long time.
Carmen had requested he keep that information to himself for now, and he had reluctantly agreed and he hadn't even told Moose Boy.
"You can answer my com if she calls again," Crackle told him, "Tell her I'm busy or something."
"Maybe she's calling about Del?" Theodore suggested.
"How would Team Red know anything about your brother?" Crackle asked, "They're likely 4000 miles away by now."
"It'll be okay," Moose Boy assured the twins, "If he's not back soon, I'll help look for him."
Theodore nodded and glanced towards the door still looking worried. Paper Star left to go fish all her clothes out of the toilet, and the others took a seat on the couch to watch tv with Neal. When Crackle's com began to ring just a few minutes later, he glanced down at the screen, rolled his eyes and then handed the com to Otterman.
Otterman answered it and Carmen's face popped up.
"Hi Carmen," Otterman greeted.
"Oh!" Carmen said in surprise, "Hi Sven."
"Crackle is...busy right now and so he asked me to take your call."
Carmen suspected Crackle was just being anti-social as usual and let out a sigh. "I've been trying to reach you guys for a while now."
"Yeah, sorry, we were on a mission," Otterman responded without thinking.
Carmen immediately narrowed her eyes. "What kind of mission? I thought you guys were staying out of trouble!"
"We are, we are!" Otterman quickly said, wincing at the glare Crackle shot him, "We were just helping someone out."
"Oh?" Carmen said skeptically, "Am I going to be hearing about a theft on the news?"
"We're not pulling big jobs like that, I swear," Otterman assured her, "We were hired by someone who just wanted to get his rightful property back after it was stolen from him."
"So no laws were broken?"
Otterman hesitated. "Well, I wouldn't say that…"
"Okay, I'm going to take your word for it because I trust you," Carmen said, "But the reason I called is because-"
"Wait, wait," Otterman interrupted, staring at the television "Just a second!"
The show the team was watching had been interrupted by breaking news and they all watched as footage from a security camera was played showing an armed robbery.
"This is Patricia Moore from Channel 7 news, here on site where a teenage girl committed an armed robbery at the local fudge shop."
The video showed Siren wearing clothing borrowed from Paper Star and a cute animal mask covering his face. He had a gun pressed directly to the cashier's head. Because of his feminine clothing and long hair, he did indeed look like a girl in the video, but every member of Team Crackle instantly recognized him.
"That's Delano!" Theodore exclaimed in shock.
"A gun? Where did he get a-" Crackle cut off suddenly and his eyes widened.
Getting up from the couch, he ran to his bedroom and saw the weapons cache wide open, the handgun missing from its holster.
"That little shit!" Crackle snarled, storming back into the living room, "He stole the emergency gun out of my room!"
The reporter explained the facts of the case and that police didn't yet have anyone in custody.
"Well, I guess we now know what Del's been up to while we were gone," Neal stated in amusement.
"Of all the stupid -" Crackle once again cut himself off as he turned furious eyes to the twins, "I'm killing Delano! I am going to pound him into a pile of guts! Just wait until I get my hands on him!"
Carmen couldn't hear everything that was being said, but she heard what Crackle said loud and clear. She couldn't believe it, realizing Player had been right. Crackle had hurt Siren!
No one was actually that concerned since Crackle was mostly bark, but the twins seemed equally as angry.
"He could have died!" Roosevelt yelled angrily, "If it had gone differently, he'd be in the morgue right now!"
"Crackle, you have to do something about him!" Paper Star demanded, "He put us all in jeopardy!"
"Don't worry, I'm going to deal with him the second we find that little asshole!"
Carmen now knew she'd be arranging to get Siren far far away from Team Crackle. They were planning on sending him to the morgue the moment they got their hands on him!
"No, he's our brother and we'll deal with it!" Roosevelt said firmly.
"Fine, but you'd better !" Crackle threatened, "We don't need A.C.M.E up our ass right now!"
Carmen had heard enough and she ended the call and immediately called Player. Player answered almost immediately and gave her a questioning look.
"What's up, Red? Did you find out anything?"
"You were right and Siren ran from Team Crackle. They're planning on killing him the moment they find him and so we have to keep him hidden until we can get him out of the country."
"Oh shoot," Player replied, glancing at Siren who was sitting quietly playing with the fidget spinner, "Don't worry, he can stay here for now. How long until we can get him to San Diego? Should I look for flights?"
"Keep him there for a few hours and hopefully he'll snap out of it and tell us what happened," Carmen said, "If he's still not in his right mind by then, we'll have to try to get someone to escort him to San Diego."
Player nodded. "Okay, I'll let my mum know he's staying for supper and that will bide us some time."
"Team Crackle clearly has no idea where Siren is and so keep him inside at all costs," Carmen advised, "I have no idea what Siren did to make Crackle this angry, but I'm going to do my best to mediate."
"No problem, he's been pretty easy to keep an eye on so far," Player answered.
"I'll contact you soon," Carmen said, disconnecting the call.
Player set down his com and then glanced up the stairs. "HEY, MUM!" he yelled out loudly.
"WHAT?" his mother yelled back a moment later.
"CAN DEL STAY FOR SUPPER?"
"DID HE CALL HIS PARENTS?"
"YES,MUM!"
"OKAY, THEN I'M FINE WITH IT. HOPEFULLY HE LIKES MY VEGAN EGGPLANT LASAGNA!"
"Oh hell," Player muttered to himself.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
TBC
As always, I will aim to have the next chapter out within 2 weeks. :)
Just a little side-note here, but I just want everyone to understand that for the next little while the story is going to mostly focus on Michael and Siren because this is their arc. All the other characters will still be in the story but they will not be the main focus for this arc. Hopefully you guys are okay with this!
Credit for the names of Otterman and Moose Boy go to Animedemon01
Comments make the author happy! ^_^
Please don't forget to let me know what you think!