Saviour
Walking along was when he heard the scream. Heart wrenching and visceral, it made him look up. For a second, he did not know what was happening. A woman was standing on the pavement opposite him, screaming an animal sound. Around her, people were frozen, in shock and horror. Someone was running, very very slowly. In the road, a tanker was moving, the driver looking horrified and terrified. Michael could not ascertain what was going on, until he saw the child, standing in the road, in front of the tanker, frozen in place.
Even years later, he would say he had no conscious idea of what happened next. It was not planned, or at least not from any logical part of his brain. The boy, athletic despite his prolonged imprisonment, ran towards the child. Jumping at the last minute, he grabbed her, pushing her to the ground, using his momentum to push her clear. The wind whistled around his face as he flew, he pulled the child close to him, holding her head as his shoulder hit the ground, skidding along as the tanker flew past them, barely two feet away. He heard his cheap jumper tear, smelt smouldering and a metallic tang as his body came to rest on the road, the child still held close. He rolled, making sure his body was between the child and the oncoming traffic. There was no conscious thought besides the importance of saving the child, shaking in his arms. He heard a horn, a screech of brakes, smelt burning rubber and brake pads and braced for the impact, content in the knowledge that the child would almost certainly survive.
He was still lying there when he felt gentle hands pulling at the child. Resisting, he opened his eyes, the blurred vision telling him his glasses were missing. He could see nothing, he felt fear. Who was the person in front of him? All he could see was a black blur, and he was not letting go until he was sure it was safe. He managed to whisper
"glasses"
though, and the person seemed to understand. As his glasses, miraculously intact, were placed over his eyes, the world swung into focus. The child's mother was standing next to him with another woman supporting her. A man was crouched in front of him, gently easing the child from his grasp. He looked up at the mother, who nodded, so he carefully let go, ordering his uncooperative fingers to release his grip. Once the child was gone, back in her mother's arms, he sat, feeling the pain begin to crawl up his arm in a fiery burst. He could see blood on the road, but the child was uninjured. He slowly rose, feeling his muscles scream in protest, and limped to the pavement.
"thank you, thank you. You saved my daughter. Thank you!" sobbed the woman. He reached forward and brushed his fingertips across the child's hair, her little face pushed into her mother's shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably as the shock of the situation hit her. He nodded then, and shambled away, not knowing how to deal with the attention.
He had only walked about twenty steps when a policeman ran up to him. Michael froze instantly, thinking of the collar, of his initial capture. But instead of grabbing him, the policeman merely said
"That was a very brave thing to do, Sir. We need more citizens like you, willing to take care of those more vulnerable around them. "
"more citizens like me" Michael had to stifle a laugh. He really did not think that Japan needed any more kids giving the First Lady of the USA a Japanese criminal record before her first state visit, or people hacking into and changing police records as a matter of routine. But this cop didn't know that.
"Do you require assistance, Sir?" enquired the policeman "A hospital perhaps? You appear to be injured"
Painkillers sounded good to Michael, but he was not sure how an A&E department would react to someone showing up who was registered as having died three years previously.
No, he reached inside his pocket and found his communicator, smashed beyond recognition. That would explain the stinging pain on his thigh. He cursed silently and decided that, whilst discretion was a watchword of the STNJ, in this case, he was going to need to reveal something of it.
"Do you know Raven's Flat? I need to go there. My um father works there"
the policeman was taken aback, he knew the Flat, had heard rumours about it, but would not go there. It gave him the creeps. Still, there was something abnormal about the kid, even his appearance suggested he was not a native. He decided to oblige, maybe he would have a look at the records later, see if this strange kid was there somewhere.
Michael could see the apprehension in the policeman's eyes, he was also sure that the man would go looking in the records. He smiled crookedly, there were no records. He had made damn sure of that!
He walked through the door alone, the cop had pretty much pushed him out the car door and driven off when they arrived.
The security guard looked up, shocked to see the state the hacker was in.
"you had fun outside then, Michael" he laughed slightly
Michael nodded, still clutching his grazed shoulder. He paused before the main entrance door, suddenly realising something important.
"Umm, I don't know the code for the door. Could you let us in please?" he said in an embarrassed voice. After all, it was his algorithm that determined the new door codes every two weeks.
The guard rose, smiling, and typed the number in
"Just go up the lift to the fifth floor," he said jokily
Michael smiled slightly, directions for inside the building were not something he needed.
He wandered sheepishly into the main office, smiling crookedly at the assembled hunters
"Michael! Couldn't stay away!" Shouted Sakaki
Michael flushed slightly, then mumbled
"yeah, I've kind of hurt myself"
Sakaki wandered over
"Gah! You were only gone a day"
Karasuma appeared
"Michael! What have you done to yourself?" she said, sharply, then, seeing the boy start swaying slightly from shock and pain, switched into command mode
"Sakaki, go get the first aid kit. Doujima, come and help me" She steered the boy towards the couch sitting him down. Doujima grabbed the first aid kit off Sakaki and gently moved Karasuma out of the way.
Michael looked at her with shock as she began gently and expertly cleaning his arm
"What? You thought I was just a pretty slacker?" she laughed
"Most of that was just a front, you'd have noticed me disappearing to SOLOMON more if I had been a regular employee"
"But," Michael looked confused again
"Oh, I do like shopping" she winked at him "But I've got other talents too. There you go" she finished tying his bandage and carried the first aid kit back to its storage place.
Sakaki came over to him next
"So what did happen? Last I heard you were taking a few days off!"
"I saved a life" Michael said, with a slight tinge of wonder in his voice. "She was there, I grabbed her, I saved her life" he grunted as he moved his arm "guess I'm stiffening up though"
"I'll take you home again. You'll feel better in your own bed"
Michael nodded gratefully. He was suddenly overcome with exhaustion, shock and emotional overload from this momentous day. A plate of hot food and a bed sounded very nice right now. But sleep could bring only short term comfort. He had no idea that this small event with the child would lead to his life taking another new direction, albeit a very roundabout one.