Collateral Damage (bxb)

13. Through A Broken Mirror

A.N. This chapter begins from the perspective of Aidan.

Wolf was just as annoyed as before Kitty went off for the rest of the night. We are supposed to send her a message when the job is done and we are safely out of harm's way, but she'll be doing her part while infiltrating the system. I just have to get the flash drive into a desktop unseen and exit just as quickly. I think that Wolf will take a circle around the block in ninety seconds so I have that much time to get it done.

He was pacing back and forth while I rummaged around my old stuff I had safely tucked away at the back of the closet. I popped out an old polymer case that had everything I needed. Wolf looked over my shoulder every once in a while, and he was right behind me when I popped the case open. He was giving off a lot of heat because of his pyrokinetic ability and the agitation of Kitty making him be the getaway driver. His powers aren't exactly very subtle and suited for this kind of job.

Wolf perked up from behind me, "You kept your old stuff!" He was clearly excited.

There were radios and earpieces, and some other things. Wolf grabbed them to start setting them up. There was my reliable and water-resistant watch, but I put that aside to lift something folded in a dark navy blue cloth. I unfolded the cloth to reveal a dark polymer frame of a gun and a spare mag. My ability never could be used offensively, so I had to use that thing. The only thing out of place on the gun was that the serial number or any other distinguishing markings were missing or scratch off. This was a gun that could not be backtracked to anyone but the person using it at that exact moment. I got out a few last items: an old dark blue jacket with a hood, a pair of comfortable and thin synthetic gloves with extra kevlar padding on the knuckles.

Wolf came over and saw what I was doing. "Oh! You kept everything, didn't you?" His tone was teasing like he was trying to make me feel old.

"Yeah. I did," I responded in a soft voice. I could not deny that I was reminiscing about the old times: the good things we accomplished, the fun we had, the friends and allies we made on the way. The people we lost...

Wolf snatched the gun out from under me. "You kept this piece of junk too?"

He dropped what he was doing to examine the weapon. A magazine filled with bullets was in but none were in the chamber. Wolf clicked the safety and pulled the slide back to chamber a round before pointing it at the wall away from me. In a swift but elegant motion, he pulled the slide back to extract that round and caught it before it fell to the ground. I rolled my eyes at his attempt to impress me.

I forcefully pulled the round and the weapon out of his grip. "Don't play with it, and you are not holding anything that can explode." I was mothering him as Kitty would.

I emptied the gun and put the round back. He should not hold anything susceptible to heat. "Fine, mom!" He sounded like a teenager, but he laughed it off.

Wolf has always been the rebel in our little group, not listening to orders or advice, goofing around, slacking on the job, but he has this intense side to him, this burning passion within him. It is funny to call it a burning passion, even ironic, but there are flashes of intensity, a determination that comes from years of trauma and pain, and the drive to write those wrong in his own way.

"I'll get ready to head out, you get the radios working," I said to him.

Wolf walked to the desk before saying, "If they still work." I had no comments since I didn't want him to get even more heated.

I had nothing to say to him because I didn't want to set him off since this heat is already killing me even with the windows cracked open. Also, I think that I need to tell him about the pills and that I am taking them once again. The last time that happened, it resulted in Sebastian's death... But nothing bad will happen, I hope... Kitty still blames me for his death, but Wolf feels just as guilty because he gave me those pills. Sebastian is a taboo topic, and it is understandable. I should not tell them that I am taking the pills, but they weirdly interfere with my powers - they dampen them and when their effect runs out, he gets stronger for a while. I hope that there won't be a reason to tell them if I can just make it.