"You just wait 'till I get my hands on you, you little piece'a…" the man murmured with his face to the ground. He started struggling, rocking back and forth and trying to raise up from the ground.
Scott quickly placed his foot on the larger man's back and gave it a decent push. The man grunted under the pressure and stopped moving.
When Scott raised his eyes, the blond victim had disappeared. Confused, his eyes searched the stalls and saw her sitting on the floor next to one of the toilets. "That's a good idea," Scott said to the lady. "Why don't you stay in there. Do you have a cell phone?" he asked. "Any way to call the police?" Under his foot the large man started struggling again. Scott increased the pressure on the man's back, but he still continued to try and pull the restraints free from his wrists.
"Why don't you just relax," Scott said.
"Why don't you just shut the hell up!" the man retorted, and started spitting the dirt from his mouth. He started turning his head sharply, back and forth, and finally got Scott in his peripheral vision. "Hey, what happened to your shades, Shades?" he said, his voice pinched as he strained to see Scott, standing above him.
Scott looked down at the man with disdain. Something strange happened, then, and it turned Scott Summers' blood cold. The rapist, lying on the floor, looked up at Scott and the expression on his face changed from sarcastic arrogance to shock and recognition.
"Hey…" he said. "I know you from someplace," the rapist said. "I saw your picture…"
The man was silent for an instant, undoubtedly searching his memory. Scott didn't know what to think or do. Had this man seen him on TV as Cyclops? Finally, had someone recognized him? Were his memories of the life he'd lived finally validated? Or had this man seen his picture for an entirely different reason? Was it possible that he knew Julia?
"Scott Summers," the man said. "Yeah… yeah, that's your name."
"How did you know that?" Scott asked, with a hint of panic in his voice.
The man beneath his foot laughed. "What, is it a secret?" he said.
"Tell me!" Scott said, agitated. He pushed down hard with his foot until he wasn't sure he could push any harder.
"Okay, okay!" the man finally said through a cry of pain. "Geez! You're a crazy!"
Scott didn't comment on the fact that the man was a sexual offender, he simply let off of the pressure and repeated the question. "How do you know who I am?"
"You're that cop who was in a coma," the man said. "Your name came over the radio a few hours ago saying you'd gone missing. A possible kidnapping, they said."
Cop? Scott asked himself. That seemed strange to him. No one from the police force had come to visit him in the hospital, and this was the first he'd heard of it. It didn't seem to fit. On top of that realization, he now knew for a fact that the police were looking for him. He repeated what the man said in his mind, and something else struck him as strange.
"You're a cop?" Scott said. There was no answer, so Scott dropped to the floor and started patting the man down. He found his wallet in his back pocket and pulled it loose. The wallet fell open, and a bright badge flashed back at him. Scott swore under his breath.
"You're supposed to be helping people," he said. "And you do this?"
The man struggled violently with his restraints, enraged by Scott's comments, but the laces held. Disgusted, Scott drew back his foot and kicked the man squarely in the stomach. He dropped the wallet on the man's back.
"How many people are looking for me?" Scott asked. "How far away are they?"
The man on the floor was coughing and trying to catch his breath. "Go to hell," he said.
Scott stood for a moment, thinking, and knew he'd been in one place for far too long. Rubbing his chin, the beginnings of a plan stirred in his mind, and he headed for the door.
"Hey!" a woman's voice cried. "You're not just going to leave me here with this guy, are you?" The door to the stall swung open and the blond marched out, suddenly very alert and very angry.
Perturbed, Scott was growing impatient. He didn't have time for this… "Did you call the police?" he asked.
"Yeah, I told'em everything. I even told'em the guy said your name was Scott Summers," she said. "But you can't just leave me here."
Scott rubbed his brow. Great, he thought. Just great. Now what do I do?
He was silent for a few seconds, and then suddenly drew his foot back and landed a swift kick across the larger man's face. Once again, the rapist fell unconscious. "There," Scott said. "That should do it."
Once again, he crouched at the man's side and he pulled his keys from his front pocket. Tossing them in the air and catching them, he started for the door once again.
"But you're shot!" the lady called after him.
"I'll be fine," he said, and he left the bathroom. Quickly, Scott walked to the large map illuminated in the travel plaza. His eyes and fingers traced the nearby area, searching for a very specific set of words. Finally, his finger tapped what he was looking for. "Bingo," he whispered aloud. Memorizing the roads and turns he needed to take, Scott repeated the path three times, and then hurried towards the parking lot.
Pushing the "unlock" button on the keys repeatedly, he aimed the device at each of the cars until one finally lit up and he heard the doors unlock. His side burned like fire, so he stepped primarily with his one foot, and held his arm tightly to his side as he walked briskly to the car. Pulling the door open, his eyes searched the cabin quickly until he found what he was looking for. Sitting on the passenger seat was a large police walkie-talkie. He grabbed it, shut the door, and tossed the keys onto the ground.
He hurried to his car, making sure the radio was turned on as he went, and slammed the door shut when he arrived. Taking a deep breath, Scott tried to prepare himself for what he was about to do. There was a very distinct possibility he could die trying it, and an even stronger likelihood he'd be arrested, but something inside him told him that being caught by the police wasn't the answer. His gut told him to go home.
"And that's where I'm going to go," he said. Dropping the gear into reverse, Scott gunned the engine and headed for the interstate. "And nothing is going to stand in my way."
Author's note: Sorry for another short chapter, but I figured I'd better get something up before the weekend. Some interesting revelations this time, no?