Chapter 4

A/N: so as you can probably tell, for the next few chapters I'm going to do a lot of character development within the plot but I might revert back to the action, I'll see how it goes and how it pans out. Enjoy!

The hustle of the school drowned out the thoughts of Luke as he entered the swinging door. The staring glances of the students were more than off putting to say the least.

"Come on you fool, you've been in a literal war zone! You can handle a few snide goons every once in a while"

His self made prep talk hardened his resolve and he sped towards class. He was wearing a worn out leather jacket, with a 'Damned' band shirt underneath, his hair curly and ruffled. People back home knew he was the punk type, and in all truth most were, but here there were cliques and hierarchies and trends. Suffice to say, he hadn't made his life easy.

At last, he saw Will standing next to a locker, the friendly face attracting him, he was still at a loss as to why his heart quickened as he drew near.

"Hey" Will said, noticing him for the first time.

"Hey" Luke replied "I think we're in the same class for first" he checked his planner, cross referencing it with Will's.

"Yeah its chemistry first; Always a good one." Will commented.

"Good, it's my best subject" Luke said.

"Hey, is your friend Mike alright?" Luke asked, getting him a glance off of Will.

"Yeah, he's in a pretty bad state but he should be alright, the car hit him good"

Luke looked up, expecting Will to say something completely different. It felt good that Mike was on his side. The bell rung suddenly, giving Luke shivers and making him inhale a sharp breath.

"Hey are you alright?" Will asked sincerely.

"Yeah, it's just... nothing" Luke replied. "Come on, let's get to class" Luke said, changing the subject.

Will and Luke walked into Mr Clarke's class, the latter being held back by a meter stick.

"Hold on class, looks like we have a new member on our voyage of knowledge" Clarke said "Introduce yourself to the rest of the class" he finished expectantly.

"I am Luke Brenner; I fought in the Falkland's war as part of a terrorist group against the Argentine invaders. I was involved in bomb making and deployment as well as a raid that saw a casualty rate of 50%. I saw my eldest brother get shot in the chest and I and my other brother had to perform emergency surgery to remove the bullet. For my actions in the war I was awarded the south Atlantic medal and the Victoria cross for valour under fire." Clarke started to laugh jokingly, but the dark look from Luke made him stop immediately.

"You're joking right?" He said, looking at the boy in horror.

"Unfortunately sir, I am not" Luke finished by pulling out a military identity card that listed his actions and awards. Each exact to his account.

Luke sat down next to Will, the class of teenagers stunned silent by his revelation. Half shocked, Clarke started the lesson. "Today class we are doing about benzene rings. Who can tell me what a benzene ring is?"

Luke raised his hand lazily in contrast to Will's ecstatic response.

"Luke, yes"

"A benzene ring is a ring of six carbon atoms held together by covalent bonds with a ring of delocalised valence electrons

"Very well done, who can tell me some of its reactions?"

Luke raised his hand again.

"Methylation with CH3Cl and an iron chloride catalyst, Nitration with concentrated nitric acid with a sulphuric catalyst below 55 degrees Celsius, to produce Phenol you first add sulphuric acid to produce benzene sulphonic acid, then you add concentrated Sodium Hydroxide and then add distilled water to produce the phenol, to make phenylamine you first nitrate the benzene and then reduce under reflux with NaOH and a tin catalyst..." Mr Clarke stopped him after about his fifth synthesis.

"Looks like we have a very experienced member of our class here" Clarke said, looking slightly unnerved.

"What do you expect" someone muttered across the class as Luke shot them a death glare.

The lesson passed quickly by and soon the bell rung, signalling the end. Luke packed his stuff away in his shoulder bag as Mr Clarke walked up to him.

"How are you settling in then?" He asked amicably, sitting on a nearby desk. Will came up behind him.

"Good thankyou sir" Luke said formally.

"How did you know all of that stuff?" Clarke asked; his eyes furrowed in a mixture of intrigue and respect for his new student.

"My parents were both scientists, it must be congenital" Luke shrugged it off.

"Did your mother move up here as well?" He asked.

"No, she died before we left, that's why we are here actually. I'm living with my father" the word gave a vile taste in his mouth. Monster is more fitting Luke thought.

"I'm sorry to hear" Clarke said.

"Are you serious about what happened on those islands, did you actually fight in the war?" he asked, softening his voice.

"Yes, I did. I lost some good friends and did some things I am not proud of, but nonetheless things I had to do; to protect my home and my family." Luke finished, standing bolt upright, trying to repress the memory of Alex's brains splattered over his face as the bullet passed through his head.

"What you did was very brave, if you ever need it, my door is always open" Clarke said.

"Thankyou sir" Luke said genuinely.

The next two periods went by quickly, English and maths, both a favourite of Luke. When Lunch came, he took out his sandwich and was beckoned over by will to join his friends. Lucas, Max, Dustin and a very worse for wear Mike sat down at the table eating their lunch, or in mikes case attempting to eat, on count of his broken jaw and arm; the morphine having fully worn off. Luke looked sheepishly at the group, half waving silently.

"This is Luke, he's new and is kind of a badass" Luke replied, gesturing towards the boy.

Luke and Will sat down with the others, soon the talk started.

"So Luke" Dustin started. "Do you like star wars?"

"Yes actually, I've seen each of the movies about three times" Luke replied, continuing with his sandwich.

"What about lord of the rings?" Will asked.

"Read all of them, even the Silmarillion" Luke responded nonchalantly.

"Okay he is a bit of a badass" Lucas said.

"He also fought in war" Will drops, making Max choke on her food, Lucas smacking her on the back to stop her fully choking.

"That needs more explanation" Max said, recovering from her coughing fit.

"We were invaded, I was in the cadets and knew how to fight" Luke stated, continuing with his sandwich.

"What did you do?" Lucas asked, as interested.

"Lots of things"

"Such as?" Dustin asks, craning his head to look at the boy.

"Making bombs, shooting at them, being a sniper that sort of stuff" Luke replied curtly.

"That sort of stuff" max mimicked.

"Did you know...?" Lucas asked getting him a punch in the arm off of Will. "Kill anyone?" the latter part of the question was no more than a whisper.

"22 confirmed as a sniper, many more in other actions" Luke said, not flinching from his sandwich.

"Is that hits or..." Dustin asks

"Kills" Luke replied nonchalantly.

"How can you be so laid back about that?" Lucas asks.

"The past may haunt you, but it can't hurt you" Luke mimicked his brother's words.

A familiar voice broke the group's attention.

"Hey Freaks, looks like you've got a new exhibit" Troy said, sneering as he said this.

"Go away Troy" Will said, not in the mood for a confrontation.

"What happened to frog face over there?" Troy pointed towards Mike, his arm in a cast.

"I said go away troy" Will repeated more sternly.

"Shut up fairy" Troy half shouted, shoving Will to the floor.

"Is there an issue here" Luke said, standing up from his seat, glaring troy and a few of his cronies in the eye before helping a blushing Will up.

"You must be new around here, I'm Troy" he extended a hand, noting the boy's physical build.

"I'd rather not mate, you see I'm having my lunch and I just washed my hands, don't really want to shake hands with shit" Luke quipped, the other's eyes nearly dropping out and Troy being stunned silent.

"Do you know who I am?" Troy shouted; outraged at Luke's audacity.

"I think the question is; do you know who I am?" Luke asked, squaring up to the bully.

"I've heard rumours" troy said, backing away from the taller and stronger boy.

"Then have you also heard of the rumour that I planted a bomb that killed ten men?" Luke replied, still glaring Troy in the eye. "Or about the rumour where I hit a soldier in the neck from a mile away, killing him?" Luke continued, edging forward to Troy as he edged away in fear "Or about the rumour where I made a gas bomb, man you should've seen the gore they were coughing up" Luke chuckled darkly, shaking his head as Troy's face went white. "If I were you mate, I wouldn't come near me or my friends again. I'd hate for you to have an accident one night" Luke finished by gently slapping Troy's cheek twice, as the bully scarpered off into the bustle of the dining hall with his cronies.

Shocked, the others sat silently and wide eyed as Luke rejoined them, resuming his lunch.

"You didn't do all those things did you?" Dustin asked, not sure whether to rejoice or be afraid.

"No! Of course not the chemical weapon one was my brother's idea" Luke said in-between mouthfuls of sandwich. When he had finished he put his box away in his shoulder bag and resumed talking to the others. This broke the ice yet again and the group talked animatedly until the end of lunch. On the way to fourth period, Will asked Luke something.

"What was it like in the war?"

"Scary, to be honest with you, nothing was normal and everything was tilted. The worse bits were the waiting, in burnt out buildings or ditches you would have to sit there until you saw the perfect opportunity to detonate the bomb, or take the shot, but between that you just had to sit there in the freezing cold. It would let your thoughts catch up with you, let the fear catch up with you. At least when the action does kick off you feel numb. Not like in senses because everything is magnified then, but in terms of emotion. You don't feel remorse or regret; you don't feel fear or anger. All you feel is this desperate need for survival, this desperate need to kill. It overwhelms you, takes away your humanity, as though you weren't in control anymore" Luke finished his speech, groaning as the dark memories flooded back. "I'm sorry, I don't need to burden you like this Will, I don't even know why I'm telling you all this"

"It's alright, you can trust me. I know how that feels" Luke eyed the boy with dubiousness.

"It's a long story" Will admits, entering the classroom.

"Long Day?" Matthew asked as Luke collapses onto his bed.

"What makes you say that" Luke replies, the sarcasm dripping in his voice.

"What happened?" Matthew asks, moving away from the book he was reading to sit next to his brother.

"Why has the world got to be full of Dicks?" Luke asked.

"If this is some weird form of coming out then..." Matthew joked, earning a smile from his little brother.

"You're an idiot, you know that right?" Luke said, smacking his brother on the arm.

"Have any more flashbacks today?" Matthew asked, changing the subject.

"Only one, and that's when we were talking about it" Luke replies.

"Who's we?" Matthew asks, giving his brother a smirk.

"Will Byers, he's a good friend" Luke says, turning to lie more comfortably on the bed.

"Is that it, nothing else?" Matthew asks, making Luke grow red from embarrassment.

"No, nothing like that" Luke shifts so that he's facing away from his elder brother.

"Hey, I'm not blind right. I can see that you show an interest in..." Luke's sigh cuts him off.

"Listen mate, it's alright, you can tell me anything. I'm not against it personally, but I know others might be. If you want me to keep it quiet, I'll do that for you"

"You'd do that for me?" Luke asks, shifting so that he is once again facing his brother.

"Of course I would, you're my brother after all" Matthew said. "An annoying little shit, but still my brother" this earned him another punch off of Luke.

"We've been through a lot; don't act like it isn't much because it is. People have come back with limbs missing. Edward barely made it you know and we shouldn't act like it's some distant memory. Talk about it mate, if not with any of the teachers come talk to me. We've seen some messed up stuff and we must get over it together. Otherwise the black hole will get us." Matthew said solemnly, the huff from Luke being his response.

"Okay, I'll talk about it. But with a teacher first, I've had enough of your dark humour" Luke replied jokingly.

"Come here mate" Matthew wrapped Luke in a great big bear hug before ruffling his hair and half launching him off the bed.

"Where are Edward and our father?" Luke asked, not seeing the two for a few days now.

"I don't know mate, they're probably working" Matthew said, somewhat dubious.

The cold tiles made the faint patter of shoes on them echo around the corridor, door after door zooming past as the lab coat draped man strode past them, ignoring the screams and sobs coming from some. Eventually he got to a wooden door, different to the iron ones that he walked past, and knocked.

"Come in" a voice said through the door.

"We have finished the reports on the subject, the testing was extensive and unfortunately he was exhausted to the extent where we had to put him down" the scientist said.

"This is bad news, nonetheless, we have many more subjects to learn from" the white haired man at the desk said, ignoring the suffering described on the white sheets of paper led out in front of him.

"I have a mission for you" The white haired man said "Take out subject 013. Test her next. I'll make you head of this experiment and if you prove yourself to be capable we will take it from there" Brenner said, analysing the documents on this desk.

"I shall not let you down, Father"

A/N plot twist or not, I don't know what to call this one. R&R.