A Tale from the Dark Dimension

Chapter 19: Cade

Cade was definitely having an off day. He couldn't sleep all night, and eventually he decided to just stay up and watch TV. That's when he saw the news. The UTF found Dr. Imran Zhabive in his former lab, dead from what appeared to be a heart attack along with several other injuries all over his body. They didn't know what happened to him, but they were launching an investigation to figure out what killed him and the rest of the lab techs at Cape Verde.

Cade didn't need an investigation to know who did it. He opened a portal to Alpha, right in front of Justin's room. He knocked lightly on the door, and heard him tell him to come in. He opened the door and found Justin on his phone.

"Hey. I just got some interesting news," Justin told him.

"Same. You go first," Cade said, closing the door and sitting in the chair by Justin's desk. His room was simple, just his bed with a TV across from it. The desk was next to his bed, and it held his computer and monitor. On the other side of the room was his closet that wasn't too full of clothes and other things. Justin wasn't one to store a lot of stuff. In fact, most rooms at Alpha looked like this one.

"So, I went to the doctor and found out that while I'm getting faster, the lightning building up in my system could actually burn my lungs to a point of no return," he said.

"Damn. What are you going to do?" Cade asked.

"He said that the fastest I can go right now without hurting myself too much was Mach 8, so that's where I'm capped at for now," Justin explained.

"Ah. Have you seen the news?" Cade asked.

"Yeah. I heard they found Zhabiv back in UTF territory," Justin said.

"Mhm. You have any idea how he got there?" Cade asked him again.

"Maybe he escaped and stole a jet to fly back there?" Justin suggested.

"Yeah, that's what I thought at first too. But I don't think that's the case," Cade said cooly, "I know you killed Imran Zhabiv."

Justin froze, staring at Cade. "Look, I'm not gonna sit here and tell you you're the bad guy or some shit like that. I understand. He hurt the woman you love, so you made him hurt back. I don't blame you. If that were Kara, or Katrina? I woulda burned that whole continent to the ground," Cade told him.

"You know she told me everything he did to her. And not just him, but others as well. The way they tortured her, humiliated her. She can hardly look at herself in the mirror because of them. She showed me her scars. Knife cuts are on her stomach and her thighs, with deep fucking whip marks covering her back. I saw them and hugged her for a while before she finally fell asleep, and when I left her room, all I saw was red and I brought him back to the place that she still feels trapped in and I did it. I tortured him, and I fucking killed him! And I don't regret a goddamn thing!" he yelled, growing more angry as he spoke, "I mean...how could someone do something like that to someone so fucking pure, someone who deserves all of the good in the world and nothing less than that?" He saw tears welling up in his eyes at the thought of what she went through, and he knew it hurt him like hell that he couldn't do anything. Justin wiped the tears from his eyes and laid back down on his bed.

Cade said nothing, but he gave him a sympathetic look. He knew how much Xavier meant to him. He couldn't imagine what he would do if Kara were in her place. While yes, it was objectively messed up, a part of him felt oddly proud. Proud knowing that he would do whatever it took to defend those he loved. Justin was a man who cared very deeply for everyone close to him. Cade wished that he would just tell her how he felt, because they both deserved each other. They deserved to have someone what would fight both for them and with them

"Are you going to tell Sam about this?" Justin asked calmly.

"No. But if they find out, I can't help you," Cade told him, wishing that he could.

"I mean...how can someone do something like that?" Justin asked. He got out of his bed and tried to walk around his room to calm himself down, but Cade knew that he couldn't hold it in for long. So he did the only thing he could think of. He got up and moved to hug him, letting him express the emotions he's been trying to suppress so she doesn't see him like this. Justin started to cry as he embraced him, and he shouted, "Who does that!" burying his face in his shoulder to muffle the sound. "They both deserve so much better than this," he thought to himself silently.

"I think you should tell her. Both about the killings, and what's going on with your body," Cade told him, breaking their hug. Justin stayed silent for a minute, considering what would happen, and then said, "I'm afraid that she'll see me differently if I tell her about what I did to them. I'll tell her about my lungs though," Justin said.

"Okay. I won't force you. But she deserves to know the truth," Cade told him.