The Elite Forces

Chapter 4

The wolf howls all night.
  The girls are in a different bedroom than us but I can almost see Rue’s torn expression- wanting to find her wolf friend but not wanting anyone to know about it, which is just about impossible in these close quarters.
  I toss and turn, trying to find the sleep that continues to evade me. No luck. Eventually I just sit up and decide to get some night air. I creep out of bed and pad across the carpet, shoes in hand. I open the door very slowly and slip on my shoes. It takes awhile but eventually I find the roof. The door is locked of course but there is a skylight so after checking that there's no cameras around- there doesn't seem to be a lot in this place-I fly up to the skylight, unlatch it and find myself under a full moon.
  I stroll toward the edge of the roof and peer down. There's a large gated courtyard surrounding this building and the gate looks to be electric, with razor sharp curls of steel at the tips. Just in case the would be escaper isn't fried trying to climb the fence.
  Then I see the wild looking white wolf standing close to the gate, howling not at the clear moon but at the building; howling for her friend.
  My heart breaks, watching the wild white wolf and listening to her howls. Then I see something that I guess I should have expected due to their tenacious stubbornness but I'm not too pleased about it.
  I sigh and float over to them, but stay really high because there's got to be a camera around here somewhere.
  “Follow.” I call down.
  Surrounding the juvenile delinquent center is a lot of green land and mountains. Not too far away is a thick area of trees, which is where we head.
  As soon as I land Thia pulls me into a tight hug.
  “Thad! Leo told me-I can't believe they arrested you! I can't believe you're in juvie! I can't believe you never told me about the Elite Forces!”
  “I, um…” I stammer. “I knew you'd want to join and it's just not safe for you, Thia.”
  Thia waggles her nose at me
but she's got more pressing issues to deal with.
  “We need to break you out.” She says.
   I waggle my nose back and raise my eyebrows.
  “I am out.”
  Thia frowns in thought.
  “Yeah….”
  “What happened to it being illegal to break?” Leo mutters.
  “Glad to see you too, bud.” I muss up his hair. “Anyway, that only applies to people who belong in jail. Plus I'm going back anyway.”
  Leo and Thia stare at me in shock.
  “Wha- why?!” Leo demands. Thia just stares at me like I've finally done what she's dreaded all these years- cracked.
  “Well,” I shrug uncomfortably. “I, uh, gave my word to my new gang that I'd teach them how to control their powers.”
  “Gang?” Thia asks.
  “Powers?” Leo asks.
  “The head of the mafia there told me I need a gang to survive. Otherwise I'm fair game to everyone.” I explain. “And yeah, there are other folks with powers in there.”
  “Mafia?” Thia looks apoplectic. “You have to get out of there, Thad!”
  “Marly Thia.” I say sternly and she knows I mean business. “A man's word is his bond. Mom always said that. Would you have me break my bond, and mom’s (may she rest in peace) heart?”
  Thia knows she's beat so she hugs me again and says tightly,
  “We set up camp in here so when you're ready to leave….” she trails off.
I hug her back.
  “I have to help them, Thia.” I whisper. “They need to learn how to use their powers.”
  “I know.” Thia nods unhappily. “And you always have to help, well, everyone.”
  I give her a gentle smile and clasp Leo’s hand firmly in my own. Apparently Matt has rubbed off on me.    
  “See ya, man.” Leo says seriously.
  I nod and take off into the air, returning willingly to good ol juvie.
  A pleasant surprise awaits me on the juvie roof. I say pleasant facetiously.
  There's no hiding from Jasmine that I just flew in- literally-so I wait for her to make the first move.
   It's a surprising one. She nods at me and motions for me to sit beside her.
  “Nice out there?” She asks.
  I give her a suspicious look, wondering what her angle is. Until I figure it out I decide to play along with her.
  “Beautiful.” I reply.
  She gives me a genuine smile- either that or she's a real good actor.
  “I wish I could fly.” She says.
  We sit in silence for awhile till I can't take it anymore. Thia always says patience is a virtue, but not one of mine.
  “You're not surprised that I can fly.” I blurt out.
  Jasmine looks at me. “Yeah.”
Then she shakes her head. “I mean, no, I didn't know you could fly but I knew you had the Malgik Gene.”
  “Um, if you really want a magically good pair of jeans, try Wrangler. ‘Real, comfortable genes.’”
  Jasmine groans. “I mean a gene like your DNA, kid. The Malgik Gene. Your mom had it. That's how your dad met her.”
  “I- my mom- my dad-” My words come out strangled but it's nothing compared to the beat my heart is doing.
  I don't really remember my dad much. He died when I was three. Thia was only one. Mom didn't talk about him much- she said it was too painful. I never understood why.
  Jasmine gives me a look of pity.
“I got a lot to tell you, kid. You ain't gonna like it one bit. You ready?”
  Boy am I ever. I nod and Jasmine begins.
  “My mother is the head of RAVEN, an organization that feels people with powers are too much of a variant. They are afraid that people will worship the magic users and the magic users can use this for their own nefarious purposes-”
  “Like the Youth Lords do.” I agree, finding myself sympathetic to Jasmine's mother's cause.
  Jasmine gives me a glare for interrupting then picks up where she left off.
  “RAVEN researches why some people have magic powers and others don't-even amongst siblings and family members.
  “Their intentions sound pure enough- and they started out that way too-but with time they've sullied and it's all becomes about “for the greater good” and “the end justifies the means” so that they now are using like minded magic users to hunt down others with magic. What they do is experiment on magic users and use this research to see if they can make the Malgik Gene extinct and in the interim, have all magic users report to them so they can control all the magic and use it to their own means- which ought to be not at all if they're so worried about it, but yeah right.” Jasmine says scornfully.
  I'm suddenly not very sympathetic to her mother's cause but I still doubt see what this had to do with my mom and dad and say so.
  Jasmine holds up a hand.
“I'm getting there. Anyway. So your dad, Jason Falk, he was supposedly really charismatic and good looking-”
  I grin, running a hand through my hair with raised eyebrows as though to say so that's where I got my killer looks and charm from and Jasmine rolls her eyes at me but continues,
  “- and he used to work for RAVEN but when they sent him and his charm out to go lure in Alana Quill, a woman with what they call the Malgik Gene- mal because the hypocrites view all magic as evil- he instead fell in love with her-”
  “Like in Spy Kids!” I can't help but interrupt, realizing my origins are a lot more interest than I ever could have imagined them to be.
  “Stop interrupting or I stop telling you what happened.” Jasmine commands.
  I stop interrupting.
  “Anyway, apparently your dad told your mom the truth because after they got married they had to spend their lives on the run because RAVEN now wanted them both. Your mom for her Malgik Gene and your dad for revenge because he betrayed them.”
Go dad! I think to myself.
  “Once they had kids- you and your sister-they pretended their job was Storm Chasers. My guess is that it was a reason for them to always be on the run without you and your sister becoming suspicious as to why you were all always on the move.
  “Eventually RAVEN found their rogue agent- your dad…”
  Here Jasmine trails off and I nod to show that I now understand the circumstances of dad's death. And why it was so painful for mom to discuss him. Mom was always a conscientious soul and she probably found a way to blame herself for his death.
   Jasmine takes a deep breath then continues.
  “Your mom escaped with you kids- you probably didn't even realize what had happened, you two were so young.  She stayed on the move, pretending to be a storm chaser but shortly after y'all arrived in Wisconsin.…” Jasmine trails off again because we both know what happened then.
  “So you and Thia stayed in Wisconsin instead of moving on. Because- you didn't know to. And, well, RAVEN still wants you because the eldest often gets the Malgik Gene passed down to them… and  eventually RAVEN tracked you down there. To Wisconsin.”
  Jasmine looks at me to see how I'm handling the news but I keep my face blank and impassive, just like when Thia and I heard about mom.
  “They're sending a hired mercenary- Blaine Blackmon is his name- after you.”
  I take this news in, bury it someplace inside of me to deal with later, and ask Jasmine to explain the Malgik Gene.
  “It's like any gene.” She says. “Blue eyes, red hair. You can have it inside of you but it can be a recessive gene that doesn't come out in you. It could come out in your kids or grandkids or even great grandkids and if not for RAVEN some people would never even know they have it.”
  Her jaw tightens and I remember that her mother is the one doing all this since she's the head of RAVEN.
  “Did my mother… have powers?” I ask tentatively.
  I don't want this to be another thing she hid from Thia and I.
  “Not as far as I know.” Jasmine says with a firm shake of her head.
  “How do you know?” I ask suspiciously.
  Jasmine gives me a curious look. I suddenly notice again how stunning she is, especially in the moonlight.
  Her hair is a long shower of cascading, glossy black waves and her eyes are a deep azure blue. I force myself to swallow.
  “I read my mother's files of course. I'm like a spy in her own camp. And angels n demons, Thadeus,” she lets out a low whistle. “You've got some file. You get into trouble an awful lot. I was trying to figure out why but after looking between all your cases enough times, I saw the denominating factor. You try to do the right thing. And people take your heroism and throw it back in your face.”
  Jasmine's voice is low, melodious and I remember what she said when I asked her if I'd be in jail if I was a hero. She'd said that it depends on who deals the cards. She'd already known about me then. Put two as two together and realized how I got into trouble because of those in charge, those who dealt the cards.
  I suddenly feel really warm and happy inside even though it's a pretty cold night for May. Then again, we're in the mountains, where everything is colder.
  “That's why you told me ‘I thought you're one of us’!” I realize suddenly. I remember that Rue said it too.
  Jasmine nods. “I thought you knew you were like me. We're the only two like us in here. We have to stick together.”
  I swallow uncomfortably because we're actually not the only two like us in here, but I'm not about to betray the Wolfgang’s trust so I keep my mouth closed.

"You said 'a spy in her own camp'. Where is 'camp'?" I ask after a few seconds.
"Findale, Manhattan. RAVEN operates under the cover of a phone company, TeleCorp." Jasmine replies.
I nod and we sit quietly for a while.
  “Two questions, Jasmine.” I say at last.
She gives me a sleepy look.         

“Mmm?”
  “First off, how would I have known you have powers like me?”
  Jasmine gives a little start. “Didn't he tell you?”
  “Who tell me what?” I ask in confusion.
  “Sid Walters. Y’know, you put his eldest brother Jerry in jail?”
  “Would people stop saying that?!” I demand. “I'd be happy to take the credit for that if it was true but I will not take false credit.”
  “Whatever, not the point.” Jasmine shrugs. “Anyway, his older brother Tom was all set to put you into the local juvie but Sid owes me a favor and when I found out that a merc was being sent after you I asked him to keep an eye on you till I could think of a more secure plan. Then Tom Walters thought up the perfect plan himself- without knowing it was the perfect plan- and Sid let me know Tom was planning on putting you in juvie. I asked him to convince his brother that upstate NY would be a lot worse for you and so, here you are.”
  Jasmine gives me a huge grin.
  “So really, your being arrested was a real piece of luck. Cause it gave us the chance to meet and for me to warn you.”
  I'm secretly happy that Jasmine went to all this trouble for me but still, I have to ask,
  “Couldn't you have called me or sent a letter?”
  Jasmine covers a yawn. “Would you have believed it?”
  I have to admit that I wouldn't have- I'd have thought it a practical joke.
  “So I guess they drugged you before Sid got a chance to tell you about me.” Jasmine mumbles.
  She yawns again and this time she can't conceal it.
  “You had...another question?”
  “Um, yeah,” I say, feeling guilty about keeping her up. “You said...we have to stick together. But, if you're my ally, why didn't you let me join your gang?”
  “Oh.” Jasmine gives a small, sleepy smile. “You had to prove yourself first. I wanted to see your heroics in action and a client wanted Rue’s shower pass anyway so-” she yawns again- “the two tied together nicely. But you joined the Wolfgang before I could offer you a spot so...your loss….”
  Her head drops down onto my shoulder and I look down to find her fast asleep. I smile to myself and listen to the mournful howling of Luna breaking the silent still air of night and think to myself,
  I don't seem to be suffering any sort of loss at all.