Have a Heart
Alexnandru Van Gordon
Before I say anything else, I have to give credit to Victor for lending me the idea of Muriel and her…(cough cough)…current state. I think that's exactly what old one-eye needs to get his mercy showing, a woman with her child. I know he was a father once and, if you've ever read the comics, you should know that losing his kids was one of the hardest things he ever had to do. Having to see Rose (his daughter) go probably hit a sore spot…then again, he didn't even know she was born until she was at least a 'young lady'…Hmmm…now I feel bad for the villain—AH! NO! That can't happen! I support the heroes entirely…or do I O.o?...
Oh yeah—the TEEN TITANS will make an appearance, but not for a while now. Slade has to get out of the Germany first and who better to help him than Wintergreen…
CHAPTER THREE: Sin
It should have been easy. Yes? Go in, grab the guy, and leave through the backdoor. End of story. It would have been even easier if he just had to "Go in, shoot the guy, and then leave through the backdoor", and you better believe he wouldn't mind putting a bullet in someone's thigh, but fate had a funny way with playing with him. It had always been like that. He'd go off somewhere in the world, wreak absolute havoc someplace where he could torment some fool who fought for good and justice (and as if that was even true—no one's that white), and then something would pop to try and dig up the good side of him. He guessed it was true themn. Yu couldn't bury the past or anything else with you.
Talk about a day of the walking dead. If you considered his good side as an actual person, the death date on their gravestone would read at least a decade ago. Unless you considered that one time he helped the Titans defeat Trigon…No, that was revenge. Purely and entirely revenge. He wanted the world destroyed…yes indeed…
Then why did his conscience suddenly rise from the dead?
Muriel had finished crying a short while ago. She was a little red in the face and started hiccupping as she stared out the kitchen window from where she sat next to Eric, and Klaus, sitting on his other side, shifted every five minutes in discomfort. He was probably trying to slip his hands out of the cups but there was no use in doing that. Slade designed them himself. That left Eric who, still all grim and glares, was having a sort of staring contest with Slade. The young man would look away every once and while, but he would eventually go back to glaring at him. He had to admit…it was beginning to be unnerving.
Then more back luck hit.
"Something's burning." Eric said, eyes staring up at the ceiling. "You didn't forget anything in the oven did you Muriel?"
She paused for a second, sniffing the air. "I don't remember….AH! The cake!"
"Why were you making a cake?"
"It's Klaus birthday in two days. I was supposed to be volunteering at the charity banquet tomorrow so I wanted to make it today." She looked at Slade. "You have to believe me when I say that if anything catches on fire in the oven, the whole place will burn down. Unless you want attention from the rest of the neighborhood, someone has to go up there and put it out."
He sighed. This was just what he didn't need.
"Get up." He ordered and she stood. When Klaus moved to stand, Slade glared him down. "I trust you won't leave without your friend. You don't cause her any more pain than what she's already in."
Klaus gulped silently, Eric continued with the glares, and Muriel gave them a worried look before she was led to the front door quickly. Quite frankly, he didn't trust leaving Eric behind. All he had to do was wait for him to make the wrong move…
-E-
"Well, isn't he a barrel of joy." Eric muttered, placing both hands on his lap, the cuffs still locked around wrist, as the front door slammed shut. "Now we have only one little setback…"
Klaus pulled both hands forward as well, still trying to unlock the cuffs from his left wrist. His other one hand, like his brother's, was free.
'Muriel?' Klaus paused, hands resting for a moment as he thought. 'You're not going to…leave her…are you?'
"Hell no! That's the setback from our next escape…I don't know if he'd actually hurt a pregnant woman…"
'…Are you going to fight then?'
"I think I'd die after taking the first blow." Eric admitted in defeat. "I'd try something if I had to, but I don't think hitting him is going to do me much good. The guy is wanted behind bars by almost every hero out there, and many of them he's beaten in the past. What we need…is his attention away from Muriel…Do you know how to start up the car?"
Klaus nodded his head.
"Good. Here." Eric reached into his back pocket and handed Klaus the keys. "Get down to the parking lot and start it up. I'll get Muriel to you but if he finds out, either run him over or run like hell."
'What about you?'
"I'll be fine….I'll have Muriel to keep me company."
With that, they stood, Klaus starting toward the front door while Eric made his away around the couch to the back window. Pausing for just a second to see his younger brother go, Eric opened the large window and stepped up onto the windowsill with one foot. Taking a deep breath, he jumped—
—and caught hold of a large branch. Tall oak tree were planted everywhere behind the building, in any place to show off some beauty. Muriel sometimes painted the trees when there was a nice sunrise or sunset to colour the sky behind it.
Pulling himself up quickly, he stepped onto the branch and then jumped up to settle himself carefully down on the next one. With two more branches, he was level with the identical open window at the back of Muriel's flat.
Climbing out to the end of the branch, he kept himself low enough to hide from their view. The mercenary stood in the doorway, just where he could see Muriel make her way over toward a smoking oven, waving a potholder in front of her face to fan the fumes away.
"Okay…now what?" He muttered to himself. He couldn't get inside without getting noticed. "What do I need to do…?"
Shoving hand into one of his pockets, he fished around for something interesting and brightened up when he hand brushed against someone.
"Temporary…" He said, looking at it in his hand. "But it'll help..."
I hope.
-M-
What a life…How did she get herself into these things? First she has an unborn child, then her husband dies, and now her best friends were about to get abducted. Go figure. No wonder why they say an artist life is nothing like the usual…Although, she didn't think they meant it to such an extreme.
She opened the oven door and sighed to herself when she saw a wisp of the fire inside. Stupid cake…she was never able to cook anything.
Suddenly very calm, she turned around and made her way toward the bedroom where the fire extinguisher was kept in the closet.
"Where do you think you're going?"
She jumped. She hadn't expected him to suddenly pop up in front of her.
"I need the fire extinguisher." She answered truthfully, stepping around him into the room. "But it's on the top shelf."
Amazingly, she didn't have to ask any further. He stepped inside after her and opened the closet door, reaching up with one long arm to grab the end of the fir extinguisher. Her husband had put it all the way up there…
Curse mood swings.
Now following him, they went into the kitchen where he opened the oven door and quickly set the extinguisher off—
—and that's when someone grabbed her arm. A gentle hand made its way over her mouth and the new captor dragged her toward the window…
-E-
"SHHH! You want him to hear you!"
He had to admit, dragging a woman out a window three stories up wasn't the best idea, but the branches held when he fell, catching her and carefully setting her down beside him. That's when she started to cry and buried her face in his chest.
"You scared me!" She wept. "Why did you throw me out the window?"
"Not now, Muriel. Just keep quiet for a second…"
She held her breath, hearing the movement inside her flat…
-S-
One last thing to worry about: a burning apartment building. But he shouldn't have turned his back on her. The front door was visible in the corner of his eye and he knew she stood behind him near the window…but she wouldn't be crazy enough to jump? There weren't one too many women he knew of who would risk losing their child…
Turning around, he quickly peeked into the bedroom in search of her before actually stepping up to the window to check. Sure enough, there she was…with him.
Eric Church was smarter than he looked.
-E-
The instant Muriel's feet were on the ground Eric released her hand and jumped down beside her. Now all they needed to do was get around to the parking lot and find Klaus. Then…hmm, what then? He should probably try to get to the airport but that might be too obvious. What else? The train? Just a drive out of the city to another airport? That would take too long…
But anywhere was better then where he was. He had Muriel and Klaus to worry about. The most logical thing to do was just drive—drive as far away as he could before resting to make up some form of escape.
"EEP!" Muriel yelped, stepping away from Eric. She was gazing over his shoulder…
Spinning around, Eric looked down at the crouching man. Had he jump from the window? That was three stories up! Unless…
Oh yeah, he probably wasn't human.
"Wow…I wasn't expecting that…" Eric muttered, backing up as the man stood to his full height. "What exactly are you?"
"You don't need to know." Slade said, starting forward. "But perhaps you could tell me how you got out."
"Run, Muriel."
The woman listened and fled to the side of the building, making her way around toward the parking lot. Meanwhile, the mercenary came forward with a kick. Eric caught it in the chest and was thrown back quite a ways before he could make it to his feet again, ducking just in time to avoid a hit to the head. The worst part about it was that he didn't have time to hit back. It was just one dodge after the other. He didn't even dare to block anything, worried that he'd break something in the process. His chest already felt like it would collapse on him.
"Hard hitter, huh?" His back hit another tree trunk. "That's okay. Let out all the frustration."
"Are you a psychiatrist now?" The man replied, walking forward calmly to continue the attack. He didn't sound the slightest bit out of breath.
"Hey, I graduated. I didn't exactly get the chance to start up anywhere seeing that I'm constantly on the run." Eric looked up. "But that's okay, just keep fuming."
The man aimed a second side-kick for the center of his chest, but this time Eric had time to act. He jumped up and grabbed the branch above his head, swinging up quickly until he stood on it.
"Whoa…" Holding out his arms, he caught his balance. "I haven't done that in ages. You can come up here if you want, but consider weight."
The man didn't say anything. Instead he jumped.
-M-
She found Klaus waiting in the car, turning in out and stepping outside at the sight of her. By the look on his face, she could tell he expected his brother to be with her…
"Klaus, dear, I need you to do something for me." Muriel began, reaching into one of her overall pockets and pulling out her keys. "Go upstairs into my room and find that large wooden chest which belonged to my dad. Inside that you'll find a smaller red box. Bring that to me."
He appeared confused at first…but took the keys and started up the stairs toward her flat in a made dash. She leaned against the hood of the car and relaxed, taking a deep breath and resting a hand on her stomach. She could do this. Yes indeed. She survived the death of her husband so yeah…She owed this to Pete—Eric and Klaus for all they've done for her.
It was her right to act in defense right?
Muriel was nervous, and the wait for Klaus suddenly shortened to a second for her. With shaky hands she took the small red box and opened it up.
"Klaus, stay in the car…"
-S-
He had to give the young man credit for holding out for as long as he was. There had to be something else in his profession besides a 'guy on the run' and a Physics professor. There was just too much information out of place for this to seem as simple as it really was.
He'd have to ask Wintergreen about searching up 'Eric Church' instead of 'Peter Colin' if he wanted anything worth his time.
Eric fell from one mid-way branches, landing on his feet. But Slade could see him cringe. A bruise was blossoming on his left arm where Slade tore off the sleeve earlier in the day, the same place where Slade grabbed him and threw him down. His knuckles were red from punching back whenever he had the chance and the young man was starting to get out of breath.
"Do you give up yet?" Slade asked, stepping off one of the higher branches calmly. He landed gracefully only a few feet to the side of Eric, straightening to his full and menacing height as he cracked his neck out of its cramp. The boy could deliver a good hit, Slade had to give him that, but unless the young man suddenly drew out a hidden weapon or showed a change from his mortal strength, Eric was good as done.
"Didn't your parents tell you to never give up?" Eric straightened himself, rubbing his left arm where the bruise darkened. "Wait, don't answer that. I'm betting you killed them…"
"No." He answered, sighing. This was taking too long.
Slade came forward with another punch, which was dodged, slapping aside one of the young man's slower uppercuts. Then he caught the young man in the stomach, pausing to let the man curl into the attack. He bent forward slightly, face hidden as gasped for breath.
"I think we're done here." Slade smirked to himself. He had to admit, it was a change from the usual full frontal assault by the Teen Titans, but it was a good one. Now he knew to watch out for people bearing pepper-spray.
A gun-shot pierced the silence in that instant. Slade was partly surprised, unknowing of who possessed the weapon.
Eric pushed away from Slade, straightening as best he could with one hand pressing against his stomach. He stared Slade in the eye…before looking down at the man's right side. There, pouring from a small hole between the ribs, blood began to stain his suit.
Stunned, he turned his body slightly and stared at the new attacker. In the past he had survived an array of different fatal attacks, everything from explosions to a couple dozen bullet sin the chest. This was nothing. When you were immortal, everything was graded on an entirely different chart.
But death was still death and he'd be KO'd (Alex: Means Knocked-out or Killed-off in some games) for a time being until his body could heal. That could take anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of days…
A second bullet caught him in the heart when he turned. And wasn't this an odd little world…
The woman…
He didn't have time to say anything. The ground came rushing up to meet him as he fainted.
-M-
She could faintly hear Eric calling her name as he ran to her side. But she turned away from him. Dropping the gun, she leaned against the building side and vomited as shock set in. There was a buzz ringing in her ears and everything she saw seemed to come from a dream. The numb feeling only made her feel sick.
Sins of the Father…and the Mother…Muriel remembered her grandmother telling her why babies were baptized. It was because a child was born with the sins of its parents weighing down on their sins. Baptizing them cleared their slates until they did whatever crimes they did in the world…
Well, if she died—which she suspected she would after all she'd seen happen—before her child was born, it would murder on its conscious.
Why couldn't she have been an atheist?
"Muriel. Muriel…calm down. It's okay…" She fell to her knees but with Eric's hands holding her arms the fall was gentle. He knelt beside her and let her rest her head against his chest as she cried. What had she done? She killed someone…But he was going to hurt Klaus and Eric and her baby…She couldn't let that happen. Her actions were justified…weren't they…?
"I-I…I'm so h-horrible." She stuttered. Her entire body began to shake. "I killed a man…"
Eric held her close and brought her to her feet. Then he led her around toward the parking lot, bending down quickly to pick up the discarded projectile. "I'm taking you back to America on the first plane leaving Germany tonight. You should stay with your parents until the baby's born."
"Y-yeah…" Yes…that would do… "Home…"
She let her close friend lead her away to his car, letting her sit up front with him as she drifted into the back of her mind silently. She wasn't a murderer….she had a good cause…she had a good cause…a good cause…a cause…
But who would have thought men could come back from the dead…
-A-
I know I'm getting penalized by some of you guys because I had Slade take on a mercenary job. I began thinking, yeah…he seems more like the evil-mastermind villain who would plot his own plans…but then I got the new Nightwing comics and discovered that Slade does, in fact, still do the mercenary jobs every then and again. The last one I read, which was a week ago, was when Blockbuster paid him and a few other mercenaries to get a 'gorilla's heart'…It was weird. But hey, that means my plot is legit. Have fun reading and writing you guys. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Until Again,
Alexnandru Van Gordon