Chapter 33

"The boy is gone!" One of the agents frustratingly says as he rushes through the hospital disguised as a doctor.

"He can't have gone far, they were still there an hour ago!" Orson Briggs replies with anger into his earpiece.

"Shall I abort the mission sir?"

"No, go and check if Stone is still in the hospital. If he isn't then abort…"

"Copy that," the agent replies.

He keeps one hand firmly on his knife under his lab coat as he carefully scans the corridor outside of Axel's room. He slowly opens the door, but to his surprise, he finds a bed covered with a sheet concealing a zipped bag with a body inside of it.

"What is it?" Briggs questions through his earpiece when there is a silent pause.

"Sir, I think Stone is dead…"

"What? How?..."

He slowly steps forward in order to unveil the sheet. As he unzips the bag, the agent is startled and caught off guard when Adam jumps out and grabs his knife. The boxer immediately restrains the agent by locking his arms behind him after kicking the back of his knees, fighting the agent into a submissive position.

Adam holds the knife against the back of his neck then forces him to stand.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Briggs continues to demand answers through the earpiece.

"Speak!" Adam whispers.

"Err…"

"Speak God Dammit! I wanna know who you're working for".

"Abort mission Sir!" The agent instructs.

Adam immediately takes the earpiece to try to hear the voice on the other end but there is no reply. He drops it onto the ground then crushes the device with his foot.

"Who the fuck are you working for? Which CIA agent or Government official?... Speak and I'll spare your life!" Adam insists, pressing the knife further into the man's neck.

"I, I am working…"

Out of nowhere, the man is silenced by a bullet which shatters the window in front of them. Adam immediately takes cover behind the bed before alarms and sirens sound through the hospital. To his surprise, Max then appears and opens the door for him so that he can safely crawl forward and exit the room.

Zan's laboratory complex and home feels like a haven from the outside world with everything the team have endured over the past 24 hours. Blaze quietly sits by Axel's bed, still on high alert. It's almost impossible to just relax and breathe, but she tries for a moment whilst admiring the Winter afternoon sunshine peering through the window. Outside she can see Leon playing fetch with Charlie as Floyd and Estel remain close by arguing about what they can do next about the Y-Twins.

She overhears Floyd insisting that they should kill them along with any associates they have before the city gets out of hand, whereas Estel disagrees and is adamant that the twins must be arrested and brought to trial. All of this conversation is exhausting for Blaze who hasn't slept in almost two days.

Just as her eyes close and she drifts off into sleep, a familiar voice catches her off guard.

"I can't think of a better sight to wake up to."

"Hey you!" She excitedly smiles back then reaches for his hand, relieved that Axel is finally awake. As soon as he tries to get up however, he shrieks in pain and coughs, unable to move any further.

"You've lost a lot of blood and you have to rest. Everything is ok, I promise."

"Where's Leon?" He asks, feeling uneasy.

"He's here and he's doing well! We're all here in Zan's lab and we all made it out of the tower. The others are fine too" Blaze tries her best to appear calm and relaxed.

"And what about you?" He worriedly glances up at her, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

The truth is that deep down she has been anxious, on edge and sick out of her mind. But leaving that hospital and now seeing Axel finally awake lifts her spirits.

"I'm better now that you're ok," she smiles.

"You're wearing it…." For a moment he stares down at her hand, slightly twisting the engagement ring on her finger.

"Yeah! I mean I know this was how things were a long time ago but when I opened that box with all our things inside, it just felt right."

"I thought you wanted to take things slow and gain the rest of your memory back? It's barely been a week since we found you. I know you said your feelings are the same but 9 years is a long time. Is this really what you want?" he questions with a hint of doubt.

"I told you, I made that decision to stick around. Yeah I have almost 9 years to catch up on but Leon is still my son and nothing's ever gonna change that".

"I just don't wanna see him get hurt." he sighs.

"You know that won't happen! The truth is it's you who doesn't wanna get hurt and I understand that. You grieved when you thought I was dead and you were still grieving even a week ago. Yeah, I'm working on getting as many memories back and it's the hardest and most frustrating thing I've ever had to do, but my feelings for you are still the same. So you don't need to worry, ok?" She tries her hardest to reassure him.

"Baby it's not that I'm worried about…."

"Then what's holding you back?"

"I know that being around us will trigger the rest of your memory, but you might not like what you find…."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't run through the lab boy, it's dangerous!" Estel's voice in the distance puts a halt to their intense conversation.

"Dad! You're awake! I was so worried about you!" Leon excitedly rushes forward with his arms wide open to greet him with a cuddle.

"You never have to worry about me kid. I'm just glad you're ok" Axel replies, tightly hugging him close.

"Great to see you looking better," Estel smiles down at Axel.

"To be honest, I feel like a train wreck but it's good to be back" he forces a smile, before briefly glancing over towards Blaze who has now backed away to give them space.

"You ok girl? You look tired" Estel says to her.

"Yeah, I just got a headache. I'm gonna go and lie down…"

"But Adam and Cherry will be here any minute now. We need to discuss what we're gonna do next about the twins and how we can arrest them!" Estel dives in straight to business.

Axel ignores her for a moment and turns to Leon. "Hey, I think Charlie over there is waiting patiently for you to play fetch. He must have missed you a lot". They both glance over towards the spaniel stretched out with his front paws on the ground and tail wagging with the tennis ball in front of him.

"Yeah, I think we're a bit more fun to be around than the old doctor. He doesn't like pets very much" Leon's reply makes him chuckle.

"Go on then. And don't run through the lab."

"Ok dad," the young boy says as he walks away.

"I'm sorry we're late but we have a problem!" Adam enters the lab with urgency in his voice, accompanied by Cherry and Max.

"Why is he here?" Axel angrily snaps as soon as he sees the wrestler.

"I should go..." Max says to Adam.

"No! You're staying here" Adam insists.

"He needs to go now! Max I know you're on our side but you still put my son's life in danger. Go home and sort yourself out" Axel orders.

"As you wish…"

"No! He's not going anywhere!" Blaze cuts in to stop Max. "Yeah, you put our son in danger, but it wasn't your fault. The whole reason why Max went down the path he did is because you abandoned him. He had no support from any of you! And look at what you're doing now!"

"We've always been there for Max, even when he was on drugs. I tried…" Axel argues.

"Well you didn't try hard enough. He's the whole reason why you even found me!"

"Yeah, and did you know he brought drugs into the house around Leon? I don't want that shit around my kid and Max knows that!"

"He's right…" Max admits, hanging his head in shame.

"Well by the looks of things here, there's a lot of shit around our son right now. The Y-Twins and Max's addiction are the least of our problems! We're on the run and Leon won't admit it but he's scared at the moment and so am I!"

"Everything is fine now and the twins are on the run. If he was scared of anything I'd know about it."

"No, you didn't see the look on his face when he was hanging in the cold over a thousand feet high above the city! Or when Leon told me about the bad men who spoke to him, or even how scared he was just seeing you there unconscious and bleeding out!"

"Leon is a tough kid, you don't know him like I do! Like I said, Max needs to go right now."

Blaze sighs before briefly turning to Max. "Do whatever suits you". She then turns back towards the rest of the group, "I'm out of here."

"That's right hon, you always know how to leave and avoid the situation when things don't go your way!" Axel shouts, feeling pissed off.

She ignores him then turns to the others. "If anybody needs me, I'll be right outside with Leon. This meeting is bullshit and I've finished fighting. Good luck with finding the twins, you're gonna need it without me". Blaze then walks away, leaving the group staring at each other in silence.

"You can be such an asshole at times, you know that?" Estel says to Axel. "Come on Max, let's go, we don't need to be here." The others follow her to go and get food upstairs, except for Adam who stays.

"Snap out of it man! I know you hate lying here helpless and sick but as your friend, I'm telling you you're being an asshole".

"Shit…" Axel sighs, placing his palms over his forehead.

"Blaze is right, and whilst Estel and I plan to go after the twins with an arrest warrant, the three of you have bigger problems right now."

"Who is it?"

"I think it's the CIA".

"Fuck! Remember that meeting with Peters nine years ago?"

"Yeah, well it seems they're taking action and going against our agreement 10 years too early…" Adam sighs.

"The agreement was they would let Leon stay with me during my sentence and after. I would train him and in return, they would leave us alone at least until he was 18! He's still a kid!"

"And it appears that a grown man working with the government wants a boy soldier to defend this country. How are Leon's powers right now?"

"They're pretty intense and his chi is only gonna get worse if he doesn't learn to control it."
"How bad is it?"

"One fire ball from me could at most break through into a building and burn down a whole room before it spreads. His most powerful energy burst, accompanied with his electrical chi could likely burn down a two storey building. And it's probably gonna get worse…"

"No shit?" Adam's reaction is full of shock. "What are you gonna do? An agent was killed today as soon as I tried to get information out of him."

"I don't know. We can do everything possible to protect Leon but we both knew that when he was born, he would not lead a normal life. I just wanted him to at least have a childhood without any responsibility. I won't let them take that away from him! There's only one thing we can do to avoid being on the run from the Government. Do you think you can get hold of it by tonight?"

"I'll try. It's gonna be hard to prove Leon's dual nationality, but I can get him a British passport by tomorrow. Once you've recovered, the three of you will most likely need to leave Wood Oak for good."

"I know," Axel replies with regret.