Chap 15

Loid POV

The three of us sat here with all this information before us, we've been at it for hours. Yor called us saying she was going to Yuri's and would be home late. Which worked out in our favor since we needed the evening to digest it all. Frankie informed us the inside people they had in City Hall, cover was blown so the crucial files that could connect some of these dots aren't accessible unless we find another way in. Which is frustrating.

Frankie was able to hack the interface of the fitness band app and pull the information into the spy computer. He overlaid it with a more detailed blueprint of the Desmond Estate when we triangulated her location and determined she may be in an underground bunker just east of the property.

Anya points out the lake she mentioned where Damian took her, her eyes immediately downcast after. I try not to allow the thought to fully form in the event she's reading my mind. So I refocus on the mission, and the task at hand.

"Tonight we'll do recon, since we've located her general location, I'll need to scout the area and try to locate the entrance to the bunker." Anya's eyes aren't raised as she seems lost in thought, the fire that was once in her eyes slowly diminished overtime.

I coordinate with Frankie to be my eyes and ears, so we can pinpoint the location. But looking over at Anya and her forlorn expression makes my chest ache with wanting to just shake her and make her feel better. I hate seeing her this way.

Before I could even realize what I had said it was too late to take it back. "Suit up Anya." Her eyes widened at the realization that she was coming with me for the first time.

She stood and with the most focused expression she saluted and said "yes papa sir". I chuckled at her, as she practically ran to her room to change.

"You're staying with Frankie." I say for the twentieth time as Anya argued with me from the backseat of the van.

She wore a skin tight black outfit with a black vest and the steel toe boots she made me buy her because they perfectly matched her bondman costume the previous Halloween.

Her hair tied in a tight low ponytail to keep it low and out of her face. Made her look older and for a moment it was hard for me to see my little girl.

I hand her the ski mask which isn't permission, which she knows because I know she's reading my thoughts. She huffs but sits back in the seat, crossing her arms. Which makes me mentally recant my earlier comment about not seeing her like my little girl.

She tips her chin up obviously still in my head, even as her eyes are gazed out of the window. But she doesn't press for the moment, which makes me wish I could see what she's thinking about.

We can't go through the Desmond estate which means we had to go over the estate wall on the far east side and hike closer to the location without being spotted.

Frankie had a small tablet in his hand as he guided us to the green dot through the forest which was noting Becky's GPS signal. Which took us about an hour trek while dodging security that got heavier and heavier as we closed in on it as we went deeper into the forest.

I took the lead while Frankie and Anya slowly started to hang back, while guiding me on the ear pieces we all had. Since this was a stealth mission, I didn't bring any weapons. The only baton I had I gave to Anya, just in case.

"Half mile north and hang a left" Frankie advises over the comms. I don't respond since I'm deeper in their territory as the number of security securing the perimeter increased, which shows they were on the right track. I had my back pressed against the trunk of a tree as I rounded it quietly as the third security personnel made his round, which left me 20 seconds to get closer to the location.

"You're almost on top of it, look around, do you see anything?" I peer around the trunk to see if I see anything out of the ordinary in the forest. But in the thick forest and the darkness that surrounds us it's hard to pinpoint the location.

"I'll take a look around." I murmur into the earpiece.

I slide between the trees and foliage that was around blending in and searching, thinking like Donovan it must be a hidden hatch or secret entrance. Skillfully hidden in plain sight no doubt.

I started rounding a boulder, but had to retreat a bit realizing there was a Security pissing in the bushes beside it. I peer over my shoulder, and see the other security rounding the corner coming about for his next round.

Shit! They're going to see me.

I rounded the boulder again and prayed that the man finished taking his piss, thankfully he did when he stepped through a bush to go back to his rotation. Although standing in a fresh puddle of piss wasn't exactly winning.

I hear the man I just dodged walk by the boulder but he doesn't come around, I breathe a sigh of relief for a moment. When a flashlight shines in my face "Intru-" I punch him in his throat before he can announce my location.

Fuck I've been compromised, I need more time. I haven't found the entrance.

As some of the others start to come clearly hearing a portion of his word, as I knocked him out and hid in the thick brush a bit away, a black blur shoots out between the trees getting their attention.

"There!" one of the men shouts pointing in the direction of the blur.

One of the men says "You guys go after it. I'll monitor the entrance." he says, hiking his gun off his shoulder and into his palm ready to fire.

Frankie's voice rang through the ear piece "She just ran out like a bat out of hell, I couldn't stop her." I clench my fist.

Dammit Anya, don't do anything stupid.

Anya POV

I knew I had to help Papa, I can't just be put on the sidelines while I watch everyone I love be taken from me. I had to do something, I grabbed the satchel of spy gear Frankie beside him. He barely registered that I left until it was too late, and I heard him cursing in his mind that Papa was going to kill him.

After I got the attention of the men near the entrance I just had to keep them busy until Papa found the entrance. I found an open clearing once I had two of them and a third one was trailing behind a bit playing catch up. I put my hands up ready to put all of Mama's training to work. I'd always ask her to teach me as much as she could about what she learned in her self defense classes.

I stuck my hand in the satchel and felt a ball, recognizing it from the TV shows. I threw it to the ground between us and created a smoke screen. They won't risk shooting at each other with this thick of smoke, but I knew I had to work fast since it won't last long.

I ran toward the larger of the two and punched him in the solar plexus thrusting with my body to make sure my fist pressed into the soft spot Mama showed me to knock the air out of him. Knowing I need to take him out first. Once he was doubled over trying to catch his breath I hit him over the head with the baton knocking him out.

The smoke screen started to clear enough that I could see the outline of the other man as he raised his gun at me. I was close enough I grabbed the top pushing it away from me while unfastening the ammo clip and it fell to the ground with a thump. The idiot still pulled the trigger only the sound of a hollow click between us. As I grabbed the gun with both hands bunting him in the face as he fell to the ground. I was pleased with myself as the adrenaline pumped in my veins. I couldn't believe I just did that, it felt so natural.

I almost felt wired to keep going, when an exclamation from behind me brought me back to the urgency of the moment. The smoke screen had cleared enough that my movements wouldn't be masked any longer. I reach into the satchel hoping I can find something else that would be helpful right now. I pulled out something small that had a trigger in my right hand, while squeezing the baton in my left.

I need to time this right or I could end up eating lead. "Put your hands up." one of them said, stepping over their coworkers on the ground lifting their gun to me.

"Not a chance." I threw my baton at the hand on his gun as he dropped it to the ground in pain, and turned the taser on the other, hitting him in his neck. As he writhed briefly, before snatching the wires yelling out in pain and ripping them from his neck.

I made a run toward the man reaching for his gun while I slid and grabbed the baton, twisting as it made it into my palm and struck the man across the face kicking his gun away from him. The other man kicked at me which felt like getting hit with a sledgehammer in my lower back. But I stood and rounded on him as he swung at me fiercely and I dodged his punches as Mama taught me, and threw in some roundhouse kicks to keep my distance. Telling me to look for their tells and to try and guess their move to find an opening to counter.

Before I could even have a moment to try and do so, he hit me with a straight right on my cheek that I stepped back trying to dodge but barely did as pain still shot into me from the impact. I hear the other man start to stand and I realize I'm in a bit of trouble.

I fight the two of them off for what feels like forever, I never let one of them get behind me. If one of them did, I know it would be game over. Slowly my stamina starts to wane and I eventually get overpowered as one of them grabs my arm bruising it, pulling me toward him and rearing his fist back.

When instinctively looking into his eyes, tuning into his mind and pushing my thoughts… my will into his telling him to fight his partner.

The man turned the punch that was for me and punched the other square in the jaw knocking him back several feet into a tree. The other man exclaims in confusion as the man continues to attack him. Eventually knocking him out and falling to the ground once he finished his task.

I wipe my nose realizing there's blood dripping from it, I'm starting to feel woozy and light headed. I fight the feeling of exhaustion as I run without taking into account the direction I should be going and realize I'm at the edge of the forest, close to the lake on the estate where Damian took me mere weeks ago.

Leaning against a tree blending into its natural shadows, I hear several thoughts filtering in my mind. Even though it's painful, from overexerting my powers earlier. I try to reach them but I can't as my head feels like it's about to split in half.

The wind carries voices to me that I try to decipher and realize as they got closer to the estate in the distance it was Demetrius, Damian's older brother. He's on the phone, but I can't make out most of it only one sentence only because I heard her name.

"Yes father, I just saw Katrina." he says stoically walking up to the estate with his security detail behind. Amongst them I see a figure, I recognize, as Damian with his head down as he follows his brother into the estate tension clear in his posture.

What is he doing here? I mean it is his house, but why…

I'm trying to rack my brain about the possibilities…is he working with his father now? No Damian wouldn't…could he?

Fathers voice rings in through the earpiece, "I've found the entrance and we marked it, let's go Anya." I hold my ear breathing hard "Coming." I say simply as I broke out into a run toward Papa.

Thinking of the men I fought and thinking back on just what I did back there. Is there more to my power than I knew…

"Are you out of your damn mind!?" Papa roars at me when we're home, I'm holding a bag of frozen carrots against my face where I got punched during my fight. I'm really hoping it's not bruised because I won't hear the end of it at school, about me getting into fights in my spare time from my classmates.

"Papa, I did what I had to, they were going to-" He put his hands up "I've been doing this literally since before you were born Anya. Don't you ever put yourself at risk again like that again!" He says his thoughts are filled with fear, worry and pain.

"This was a bad idea, it was too soon." He says more to himself than it is to me.

I stand quickly to rebuttal but fall back into my seat in exhaustion and then he shoots beside me steading me with concern.

"Papa… Something happened to me in the woods." I try to remember, but the light is starting to bother my eyes as I cover them with my hands.

"I don't know how I did it…my powers…it's hard to explain…" I say in a whisper, because I truly didn't, it was something my mind did on instinct to protect me.

"Anya, you had a long night, and you have school tomorrow. I can let them know you're sick if you want to take the day…" I peek an eye at him, "I have to schedule the college tour, I can't skip, Becky needs me." I lower the frozen bag of veggies and can feel the sting of the pain on my cheek and wince as I go to stand.

"I'm going to bed." I announce heading to my room. I felt so many emotions as I awaited sleep to take me, I was proud of the progress we made. I am fearful of Becky's condition and what Damian was doing at his house. But more than anything I was curious about what I'm truly capable of. Pondering and replaying the moment in my head; the scientist's words from so long ago come to my mind.

You'll change the world as we know it.