He stopped then, as though he had run out of steam.
He looked at Caitlin and me, and then said bitterly, “You wanted to know, now you do. Hope you’re happy.”
I felt completely at a loss, shocked, and I could feel the same emotions coming off Caitlin.
What ever I had expected, this wasn’t it. I looked at the man across from me, and I noticed things that I hadn’t seen before.
His six foot three frame was covered in lean muscle, and he had not an ounce of extra fat. His hair, though black, had a hint of grey on the side, and when he raised his head, I saw that his eyes were those of someone who has seen way too much, but managed to get through it.
I had seen the look hundreds of times in my job, in the eyes of parents whose child’s murderer stood across from them, defiant, or in the eyes of the man who lost everything in one night.
I couldn’t think of what to say, but Caitlin leaned forward with her forearms resting on her knees and said quietly, “I’m sorry.”
Marc looked at her, and then laughed sardonically. His other laughs were warming and kind, but this one was harsh and cruel.
“Everyone’s sorry. I don’t give a damn. I don’t want any of that maudlin stew women seem to brew all the time. I don’t want sympathy, I want help. I need someone to help me bring down those people. And you two could be the ones.”
I remained the same way as Caitlin, with my forearms on my knees, leaning forward.
And I meant it with 100% of my body and soul when I said quietly. “I’ll do anything I can to help.”
Caitlin nodded, and Marc looked at us and nodded.
“I know.”
We sat there in silence together, in the crummy hotel in the cheap chairs, thinking. The silence was fraught with emotion, and in that moment I felt all kinds of things.
Fear, courage, happiness, hate, anxiety, and a solemn feeling of having just accepted something which would write my destiny, and might very well end it too.
I don’t know how long we would have stayed like that, lost in our own thoughts if the phone hadn’t rung, making all three of us jump.
I reached it first, and the person on the other end of the line said in a bored tone, “Your car is here. Should I send someone up for the baggage?”
Baggage? At this point, I had nothing but the clothes on my back, and I hadn’t seen any baggage of Caitlin or Marc.
“No, I think we can handle it. Thank you, we’ll be right down.” I turned to Caitlin and Marc, who were already at the door, a small satchel in hand.
“Lets go.” We walked down the stairs and out the door, and saw a small car in front.
I turned to Marc. “I thought we were taking a cab.”
Marc only shook his head, and motioned for me to get in the passenger door. “As far as everyone is concerned, we are dead. I killed three animals about the size of a human, and brought them to the wreckage. They will have been burned beyond recognition, and people are so panicked about nanotechnology they won’t bother looking for DNA. So, we can’t take a cab, because it increases the number of people who see us.”
He was matter of fact through out, and I looked silently at this man, who had spoken nonchalantly of killing three human sized animals, as though he did it everyday. However, that wasn’t what I was concerned about, because frankly, if it was some wild animal, or I it was going to be an animal every time.
Caitlin looked shocked. “What on earth did you kill?”
Marc raised his eyebrow. “Bears.”
I gaped, and so did she. “Catching flies?” he asked.
We got into the car. “What about our family, and our friends?” The thought of being out of contact with everyone indefinitely was inconceivable. But then again, Caitlin and I had made a promise to help, and people were ties, and we could endanger them as well.
I knew it before Marc said “Too dangerous.”
I smiled grimly. “I know.” Marc flashed me a sympathetic smile. I didn’t ask where we were going, or what we were going to do there.
We drove in comfortable silence, and then I turned on the radio. I listened to see if there was a song I liked. When I found one, I settled back in my seat and closed my eyes, letting music wash over me.
When I opened my eyes, we were at a small airport in the middle of nowhere. All of a sudden, I remembered that I had nothing on me at all, and the implications of that. In fact, I was supposed to be dead.
“We don’t have our passports!” I hissed at Marc.
Marc seemed surprised, and said “I don’t have one either.”
I couldn’t believe I had been so stupid. Or that Marc or Caitlin had either. We looked at each other, and I felt like hitting my head against a wall.
Then, inspiration struck and I turned to Marc. “I guess its time to see how far I can push my powers.”
I went with Caitlin to the nearest counter, Marc trailing behind. “Where are we going?” Marc, looking doubtful, came up behind us.
“France. Flight A19.” I nodded and turned back to the lady behind the counter, who looked out at us from behind overworked eyes.
“Flight A19, to France. Three first class tickets.” I stated, in what I dubbed my control voice.
The lady, Laura according to her nametag, looked confused. “Of course. Please fill out these forms. May I have your baggage?”
I said in my normal voice, “We don’t have any.” Then I said, “Okay, enough. Give us our tickets.” Again, the lady looked confused. Then her face cleared, and she said.
“Well, that’s enough. I’ll just give you your tickets.” She handed them to us, then threw a “Have a nice trip!” at us before turning to the next people in line.
I grinned at Caitlin, and she smiled back.
Marc followed us mutely, and then bent down to say quietly into my ear, “You’re a little scary, you know that?”
I turned to grin at him as well before walking ahead. When we neared security, I was prepared to go through with no problem other then the passports, which would be easy to fix, thanks to my new power.
But Marc couldn’t pass security, because he was armed to the teeth. I rolled my eyes, but Marc stopped me from extending my power.
He turned to me and murmured, “I want to see how good my power is.” I shrugged at Caitlin, and we walked ahead of Marc, who was talking to the security person.
“You trust me, right? There is no need to check me for weapons. Just pass me through.” His voice was honey, slowly drawing the bee into the trap. The guy looked confused, then nodded.
Marc caught up to us, and Caitlin chuckled under her breath at his expression, which was one of a little kid on Christmas.
When our flight was announced over the speakers, we boarded first, as we were the only people flying first class. Caitlin didn’t mention anything, but I could feel her fear, and it was making me anxious.
So I decided to try something with my power to sense emotions. I sent a wave of calm to her, and she immediately relaxed and got comfortable in the big couch-like chairs. Since we had no luggage, we settled down comfortably, and got ready to be pampered during the long flight.
The speakers came on, and the captain thanked us for taking this plane, yada yada ya.
Finally, we were in the air, and the flight attendants left us alone. Marc lounged in his chair, and then turned to us.
“Here’s the plan. We are going to France, because that is where the old compound was. I have a friend who is willing to let us stay at his place for a night while we look around. When we are there, we can change our appearances. Okay?”
I nodded, but Caitlin spoke up. “You know how you were the only one who got a power in your office building?” she asked me, avoiding my gaze. I nodded.
“Well, that’s not true. I have a power too.”
I must have looked as bewildered as I felt, because she said hurriedly, “Well, I’ve only known you for about a month, and I didn’t want to have to answer to you, like I did to my parents,” Her face twisted. “But now you need to know, and you and Marc aren’t like my parents.”
I nodded, but said, “Caitlin, you know that I won’t force you to do anything. You are your own independent person, so you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
Caitlin raised her head and laughed. “Well, I have to tell you this, because it is important. I am telekinetic.” I didn’t know what to say.
“Can you show us?”
She nodded. “What do you want me to do?” I thought about it, but Marc beat me to it.
“Can you call a can of soda?”
She laughed and nodded again. Three seconds later, a small object came shooting through the air towards us. It stopped in front of Caitlin, who took it and tossed it to Marc.
“Have some soda.” She shook the hair out of her eyes, and both Marc and I gasped.
“Caitlin!” she looked confused, her magenta eyes raking out faces.
“Your eyes, they’re magenta!” I said, shocked. She gaped, and then ran to the bathroom. When she came back, she was looking a little freaked out.
“How on earth did that happen?” I shrugged.
About a minute after the can came, a flustered flight attendant came running up to us. She stared at us, then at the can in Marc’s hand.
“Yes?” Caitlin asked, the picture of innocence. The flight attendant shook her head and began to speak, but I made her forget she had seen anything.
We spent the rest of the flight testing Caitlin’s abilities, and laughing together.
but you do need two things.