Here we go! Chapter two! I'm pretty proud of this chapter, personally. I hope you guys enjoy it!
Chapter Two
Alfred jogged all the way from the apartment to the gym without breaking a sweat. He loved the feel of the air and wind rushing past him, but he knew it was nothing compared to flying. He had to fight of the strong urge to just simply kick off and take flight right then and there on the sidewalk. Instead, jogged up to the gym entrance and went inside, a spring in his step. The place looked like how anyone would imagine a gym to look. Bright lighting, rows of treadmills, weight lifters, shelves with assortments of weights and dumbbells on them, and lots of sweaty people working out or lounging on the big inflated exercise balls, which really just looked like beach balls to Alfred. Alfred could immediately pick out Kat working out by herself on one of the treadmills. She was a bit hard to miss. He strolled up in front of her and waved to get her attention, as she had that intense, focused look that Alfred only saw her get when she was working at something very hard.
"Oh!" She exclaimed upon seeing him, her face melting to a look of surprise before it turned into a pleased expression, "Alfie! You usually don't come here on Saturdays."
"I needed to blow off some steam," Alfred told her simply. Kat nodded her head sympathetically, and Alfred started to set up the treadmill beside her to use.
"You are doing well?" Kat asked him.
"Yup, I'm doing pretty good, overall. You're doing good too?"
"Yes, I'm fine as well," Kat replied. This was how their greetings usually went, vaguely saying just if they were fine or not, and never really going into detail. Neither really minded this, however. They were only exercise partners, after all. They usually worked in comfortable silence, and sometimes chatted aimlessly about random topics. All of the men completely salivated over Kat, and gave Alfred the evil eye. The same went for girls eyeing Alfred like he was made of chocolate, and Kat like she was garbage. It was almost enough to make Alfred think he was going against the natural order of the universe not to be attracted to Kat. But he had come to terms with his sexuality all the way back in freshmen year of high school, and if he hadn't, he would probably have been going through a crisis of epic proportions and questioning his manliness and sanity. But because he had already gone through all of that, and concluded he could still be his manly awesome self as long as he still enjoyed doing manly things and keeping in shape and still dressing like a normal person and all that, that he would be ok. Nothing about his habits or personality had changed. He just preferred men. Preferably men that were as cool and manly as himself, and not all effeminate and girly. It really wasn't his style.
Alfred supposed that Kat most liked his company because he was practically the only guy the whole gym that hadn't hit on her or try to grope her or anything like that. Alfred found those men disgusting. Had they no pride as men? Alfred always respected women. Well, unless they were complete bitches or something. But since Kat wasn't anything like that, she had nothing to worry about. Of course, when Alfred had first encountered and helped Kat, she hadn't known this and was obviously a bit wary of him. He offered to help her, and even thought it was hard for him not to stare at her chest (come on! They were HUGE!), he made no advances on her of any kind. And when she finally figured he wasn't interested, she took to him almost immediately, craving a friend that made her feel less awkward, and less like a piece of meat every time she worked out. Thanks to being with Alfred, she gained a bit of confidence, and could work out by herself without becoming flustered and self-conscious.
As Alfred's mind drifted beside her, Kat subtly noticed that Alfred didn't seem to be tiring at all. He seemed perfectly contented to just keep running at his medium set speed, and Kat almost supposed that he might be able to run like that forever. Alfred just let his mind go, until it had finally settled on that perfect memory and sensation of flight. God, he craved that feeling. It was a constant urge he had to suppress, like a dull aching in his heart. He just wanted to lift off and soar through the skies endlessly. He frequently remembered having dreams of flight constantly throughout his life, almost every night. It was then, in that instant where Kat was studying Alfred, that she noticed something off.
"Oh, Alfred! You aren't wearing your glasses today," she exclaimed, finally able to put her finger on it. Alfred almost stopped running in surprise, which would probably have caused an accident.
"Oh, yeah, that's right. I, uh, got contacts," Alfred told her, his mind reeling quickly, "My roommate had been nagging me that I could damage my glasses while working out so much that I decided to get them." The explanation was surprisingly believable for Alfred just pulling it out of his ass. He silently thanked Arthur for his nagging, as this argument had actually occurred, and Alfred remembered it in the nick of time.
"Oh, that's very sweet and thoughtful," Kat replied.
"You only think that because you haven't been targeted by his criticism before. I swear, he's always complaining about something that I've done or haven't done." But despite Alfred's words, he couldn't help the slight endearment in his voice, or the grin on his face. Arthur may have complained a lot, but it was only because he was so socially retarded that it was really the only way that he had learned to look after people. Alfred felt a bit obligated to become the man's friend when they were children, because Alfred had always seen him alone or getting picked on for his wild hair and eyebrows. Because, really, what kind of hero would he be if he didn't come to his rescue? And from that point on, they had become reluctant friends and were subjected to each other's bad habits and the abrasive parts of their personalities, which they had to endure. It really wasn't so bad once Alfred realized that Arthur's criticism was just the only way that Arthur knew how to express himself, and it really wasn't meant to harm or mock. Most of the time. Kat smiled fondly at Alfred.
"Yes, I understand. You stick by them despite their flaws. You two sound like close family. Like me and my siblings. I stick with them through everything." Alfred could see the tell-tale signs that Kat was starting to get emotional and might start to cry.
"Through everything," she repeated in a water voice as tears started to form along her bottom eyelids.
"Why don't you step off the treadmill before you hurt yourself?" Alfred offered, and he helped her get off of it.
"S-sorry," she apologized, wiping her eyes with her hands and arms. The two of them developed a bit of a kinship at that moment, over the simplest of things. But Alfred couldn't deny that Kat had sort of grown on him. He honestly would have considered her a friend in a heartbeat, and could easily think of her as a sister if he really wanted to. And Kat could sense a good friend in Alfred. A bit later, the duo prepared to leave the gym. Though Alfred wasn't really that tired, he had worked all of the excitement out of his blood, though it still singed for the skies. He had a feeling that the need would never really go away. For now, it had mostly faded into white noise in the back of his mind, the pull not as strong as it had been before, when he first was overwhelmed enough to take to the skies. Alfred and Kat had the same route for a couple of blocks, so they walked together, conversing amicably.
After about the first block, Alfred sensed a subtle shift in the air that sent him on edge. He could feel the muscles in his back tensing, waiting to spring at any moment. He didn't know what it was, maybe an animal instinct, but he just knew that something was wrong. Kat noticed the sudden concern that flickered on Alfred's face, and her own expression became worried.
"What is it?" She asked, but Alfred quickly put his finger to his lips, and she quieted. Alfred listened intently as they walked, the streets not really having any people on them due to being in a residential part of the city, where apartment complexes were everywhere. Alfred could barely hear the faint sound of steps behind him, wishing that he had been given super hearing as well. Then it would be easy to tell how many people were following them.
"How much farther is where you stay from where we usually part ways?" Alfred asked her quietly. She started to fluster as she replied.
"Oh, uh... it is quite a ways... maybe five blocks? Oh, I am not very sure..." Kat told him.
"Just stick with me then. They might get discouraged if they see you aren't going to split off by yourself." Kat gulped and nodded. They walked a distance, past where they usually separated, but the footsteps behind them continued, ever persistent. Alfred reasoned that if whoever it was still wanted to attack even with Alfred there to protect Kat, either they had a weapon, there was a group of them, or both. Alfred had no clue when they might decide to do something, but he knew that Kat wasn't rested enough to run the whole way back to Alfred's apartment just yet. Kat nervously looked behind her, and squeaked softly before turning back.
"Alfred... oh, there are at least four of them! One of the men has a baseball bat. What are we going to do?" She whispered.
"On my signal, we're going to run, ok? Grab my hand and don't let go. Got it?" Kat nodded meekly.
"Ready? Three... two... one!" Alfred and Kat shot forward, Kat grabbing onto Alfred's hand with a vice grip. Alfred felt the adrenaline pumping in his system, his legs pounding the pavement. He tried very hard not to drag Kat behind him, but it just seemed that she was going so slow. He could hear the group of men behind him, and he gritted his teeth. He could feel a sort of pulsing in his back, and he wrestled the feeling down. 'Not now!' he thought. He could hear Kat's breathing becoming labored and harsh. She could feel the burning in her lungs, and she didn't know if she could make it any farther.
"Alfred! Alfred, I can't...!" she cried, but Alfred held onto her, even as she fell, and stopped to shield her from the ground, before getting up and facing the men behind them. She staggered to her feet and stood frozen, like a deer in headlights. Alfred raised his fists and steeled himself, his eyes narrowing dangerously. If he had to, he would just beat the crap out of these guys until they left them alone. The men were all ugly and dirty looking, their clothes grimy, sagging, and even torn. The three were gangly and looked kind of weak, but the forth holding the baseball bat lumbered behind them, as he was very heavy set. Alfred was loath to think that it was all more muscle than fat.
"We were going to catch the girlie off by herself, but you just had to step in, didn't you?" He sneered as the caught up and started to circle them. Even if Kat ran now, she probably wouldn't get very far, as she was panting and tired, and would probably be easy to catch up to. She had a better chance just staying put and letting Alfred protect her or, if she could, fighting herself. But Alfred would rather she didn't. He would hate it if she got hurt. The men were advancing on the two, steadily backing them into a dead end alleyway. Alfred tried to use this to his advantage, so that he could keep the men in front of him so that they would be able to attack them from behind, as he kept Kat behind him.
"You guys better back off before I kick your ass," Alfred snarled. The four all started to laugh and the man with the bat spoke again.
"Nice try, but that won't work with us. You're outnumbered. We're going to own you." He snapped his fingers, and the three other lackeys leapt at him. Alfred socked the first in the jaw, before rounding a kick to the second's gut, and then leaping and swinging his foot violently upward into the third's jaw, sending his head snapping back as he fell backwards. The leader took this opportunity to crack his bat on the side of Alfred's face, sending him slamming into the brick wall. Kat screamed as Alfred's mind spun, and he could feel the blood welling in his mouth and in his hair on the side of his head, almost on his temple. He struggled to stay on his feet as his vision started to clear, spitting the blood in his mouth onto the ground. He then felt another blow come down on his head, thankfully from a fist and not the bat again, sending him to the ground, where he caught himself on his elbows and knees. He was kicked violently in his stomach, causing him to spit out more blood from his mouth. He was then grabbed up by his hair and then held from behind by one of the thugs.
"Don't worry, we'll take nice care of your little girly friend," he heard the leader sneer at him.
"Fuck off!" Alfred shouted, causing another blow to his gut.
"Alfred!" Kat shouted, "Oh please stop! Just stop it!" Alfred looked up to see her grabbed by the other two lackeys, and she struggled vainly. Soon, her cries became frantic, and her speech degraded from English into her native language.
"Someone shut this bitch up!" the leader shouted, and smacked her hard across her mouth. She froze then, stunned, and one of the thugs pulled out a rag and gagged her mouth with it. Alfred started to shake with fury as the leader advanced on Kat, and he became blinded by rage. Who the hell did these guys think they were! He had to save Kat! He let out a roaring yell, that turned into a violent shriek, that sounded much like the war cry of an eagle. His wings burst forth from his back, completely ripping the back of his shirt, and breaking the bones in the forearms of the guy that was holding Alfred with the power and speed that they ejected, making him slam back into the wall. The other men and Kat stared in complete shock. Alfred bared his teeth and lunged forward, cracking his fist hard against the leader's face, both feeling and hearing bones just breaking and giving way under his knuckles. It sent the man slamming back with a force that no human could possibly have produced with that simple action alone. Alfred grabbed the man's shirt violently and lifted him up until his feet couldn't touch the ground anymore, and slammed him down to the ground, before stomping down and breaking the man's legs. Alfred grabbed up the bat the man had dropped and turned to the other two that were holding Kat. They trembled and let her go, and she fell to her knees. They backed against the wall, but Alfred wouldn't let them get off so easily, and cracked the bat hard against the first's gut, making the man spew blood from his mouth, and it projected and landed on the opposite wall. He fell limply to the ground. The last man was now begging for his life and groveling on the ground. Alfred brought his foot down mercilessly on the guys hip, fracturing and shattering it. The man let out a wail of pain before passing out from its intensity.
Kat trembled as she slowly pulled the gag from her mouth, as if not wanting to make any sudden movements, lest she make Alfred attack her as well. Alfred stood there, panting, letting the bat slip from his grasp to fall on the ground. His shoulders slumped and he turned to Kat slowly, with a worried look on his face.
"You aren't hurt, are you?" He asked, eyes searching her for any wounds. She appeared fine, if just shaken up. There was, however, a large distinct bruise forming on the side of her face where she was slapped, and harsh bruises where she was grabbed around the arms by the thugs when they were holding her. Alfred, however, had a gash on the side of his head, a split lip, a few broken ribs, a bit of internal bleeding, and a high probability of a concussion, with the way he had been hit with the bat earlier, not to mention the bruises on his face and chest. Kat trembled, but finally found her voice again.
"A-Alfred... I... Thank you so much! You... you saved me..." She felt ashamed for feeling scared of Alfred when those concerned blue-gold eyes looked at her so kindly, and was so worried for her health even though he looked far worse than she did. She wiped her face with her hands , tears that she had been crying when she saw them beating up Alfred still sliding down her cheeks.
"B-but, you really need medical attention more than I do," she sniffled. Alfred chuckled, wincing as he did so.
"Yeah, you're probably right. Come on, Arthur should still be home. He'll have a first aid kit somewhere," Alfred told her.
"Um... your.. ah... wings," Kat pointed out meekly.
"Oh, right," Alfred said, before concentrating hard to get his wings to retract and slide into his back smoothly. Alfred and Kat then retreated from the alleyway and Alfred led Kat back to his apartment. The seven flight of stairs were complete torture for the pair, but they managed to make it to the top floor and the end of the hallway. Alfred checked the door, and sure enough, it was unlocked. Alfred pushed open the door and walked in. Arthur was, as he originally planned before all of this had started, curled up on the couch under his hand-made blanket reading his book of Shakespeare plays. He looked up lazily before his eyes widened and his mouth slid open in complete surprise and horror.
"Good God, what happened?" He yelled, before surging up off the couch and helping Kat inside.
"We were jumped by a group of thugs, but I fought them off and took Kat here," Alfred informed Arthur.
"My lord, you must be terrified. Come with me, lassie, you can use my bathroom to get fixed up, since it's sure to be far cleaner than Alfred's. Here, Alfred, sit on couch and I'll come back with the first aid kit. But before you do that, go and get some of your clothes for the lady to change into, since she'll be able to fit into your clothes better than she would mine. I'm shorter than she is." And with that, Arthur bustled out of the living room, Kat following him, and back into his room. Alfred went to his room and pulled out an extra pair of sweats and one of his large night shirts for Kat. He came into Arthur's room and set them down in the bathroom for her as Arthur looked through his bathroom cabinets and found the first aid kit, before the two of them left Kat with the bathroom to herself and shut Arthur's door behind them. He felt his sweatpants' pocket, and was relieved to find that his key and phone were still in there and not broken or anything. He and Arthur returned to the living room and Alfred sat on the couch while Arthur took out the cotton balls and rubbing alcohol to clean out the cut on Alfred's lip.
"You can't even go one day without getting into some sort of trouble," Arthur admonished him softly. He looked into Arthur's eyes when he was done cleaning the small cut.
"Alright, tell me the damage," Arthur spoke.
"Well, I know I have to have some cracked ribs. And I have a gash on my head," Alfred told him.
"We'll have to wash the blood out of your hair to be able to see it. Wait here, I'll get a washcloth from your bathroom. You do have one in there, right? A clean one?" Alfred rolled his eyes.
"Yes, I do. I'm not a complete slob, Artie," he replied. Arthur then left and came back quickly with a damp washcloth. When he looked at Alfred, however, he froze.
"Dear lord. How many surprises am I going to have to suffer through before this day is over? Alfred, the cut on your lip is gone," Arthur told him. Alfred blinked.
"What?" He asked intelligently, before bringing his hand up to feel his lip. It wasn't split anymore. Arthur was staring at him again, not saying anything.
"What? What's happening?" He asked.
"Your bruise... on your face... it's just fading," Arthur said, eyes transfixed as Alfred's face rapidly healed itself.
"I know that birds don't have super healing," Alfred said.
"Well, then obviously you have other powers besides the wings and your sight," Arthur told him, rolling his eyes.
"That reminds me... I have super strength. When I was fighting the thugs that attacked Kat, I literally punched one guys face in, and lifted him off the ground. And the guy was huge."
"Alfred..." Arthur hesitated, "You didn't... kill them, did you?" Alfred sat there ,thinking.
"I... don't think so. The one guy only had broken arms, and I broke the other's face and legs... and I hit the third really hard in the intestines with a baseball bat. He was bleeding real bad from his mouth, but I don't know if it was enough for him to die from... and the last guy, I broke his hip with my foot when I stomped on him." Arthur just stood, his mouth having fallen open, just staring at Alfred.
"They really pissed me off! They were going to hurt Kat!" Alfred spoke, "I regret nothing!" He threw his hands up in the air. It was then that Arthur's door opened and Kat came out dressed in Alfred's clothes, hair wet. Her bruised face seemed even more painfully obvious than before for some reason, but the large shirt covered the bruises on her arms, as it was large enough that the sleeves came to her elbows.
"Thank you so much for taking care of me," She told the two of them. Arthur nodded, and cleared his throat a little.
"Oh, no, it was no trouble at all, my lady," He said, going into gentleman mode. Alfred smiled at his behavior.
"We couldn't just leave you hanging. It would be stupid of us not to help you out," Alfred told her. She smiled warmly.
"Well, thank you so much. Both of you," she looked around, and her eyes settled on the knit blanket, "I had noticed a lot of knit clothing and a knitting an embroidery kit in your room. Are they hobbies of yours?" She asked sweetly.
"Oh, well, yes. They are. I've been doing them ever since my mother taught me," Arthur replied, a blush creeping onto his face even as he tried not to look embarrassed.
"How wonderful! I myself was taught by my mother to knit as well! I am so glad I have found someone else who does crafts! None of the other ladies at work do, and since I can no longer garden, being in an apartment and all, I just feel so left out an lonely. I was so very glad to meet Alfred at the gym and get to become his friend."
"Hold on, you garden as well?" Arthur asked excitedly. 'Dear lord,' Alfred thought, 'the man is such a woman. I have a feeling these two are going to be super good friends.' While the pair talked pleasantly about their girly hobbies, Alfred shuffled to his room, suddenly feeling really tired. Alfred didn't know if it was due to his super healing, or just the fact that it had been such an eventful day, but he suddenly just couldn't keep his eyes open. He opened his bedroom door, shut it behind him, emptied his phone and keys out onto the dresser, kicked off his socks and shoes, and then finally flopped down onto his bed, crawling to the other side to pick the covers off of the floor where they had been left from when he had tumbled off of it when he had woken up previously, and curled into his sheets contentedly, falling asleep almost immediately. The clock on his night stand read 7:02.
And that's it! I hope you guys enjoyed the fight scene. I really don't write many of those. More plot and action picking up soon! Reviews are greatly appreciated. Very greatly.