Twisted Choices

Chapter 23

"So, Jens-"

"Jeb."

Markus forced down the urge to roll his eyes and smiled, "Jeb. Are you sure you don't have any other family?"

Jeb was about to answer until Hero strides to Markus' desk with a handful of documents. He said, "I tracked the bloodline down. The only family he has left is Ivan's brother. He's a Russian soldier too but he's in prison."

Jeb's eyes widened with hope until it filled with horror. "Why?"

Both Markus and Hero answered simultaneously, both giving Jeb an eerie and stoic look, "We locked up people who were against the revolution."

Jeb kept his mouth shut after that. Both Hero and Markus looked at each other with a raised eyebrow before Markus asked, "How old are you?"

"13."

Hero bit back his laughter. He could see Markus clearly was too. Laughing at the teenager's height would be hypocritical since Hero's own height doesn't match up to his age. Hero distracted himself with a question, "What do you expect from coming here?"

Jeb bowed his head and spoke softly, "I was hoping you could give me a home, sir. The orphanage here doesn't really... Take care of us properly."

Markus immediately answered, "So it's shit? Hero, look into that."

Hero narrowed his eyes and spat under his breath, "Language. And yes, of course sir."

Hero stalked away to prepare a letter of warning to the orphanage of him coming over to check around. He updated his tight schedule with a quiet sigh but kept himself alert, listening to the conversation between Jeb and his brother. While listening, he spaced out for a second, causing him to slide his hand across the knife stabbing down some documents on the desk. He pulled back with a forced down groan and inspected his hand. The cut across all of his knuckles made it hard to bend them. He quickly shuffled for some sort of gauze in the drawers before pulling out some old ones. He hastily covered his fingers, while the white slowly turned to a pink with blood.

He muttered a cleaning charm on the blood stained desk and an anti-infectant on his bandages. Yes, he was a certified medic but he just had to deal with Jeb before he can tend to his personal needs. He froze in realization when he recalled that he did not even grab breakfast earlier on. He was eating less lately. He sighed softly, relaxing his tense muscles before he proceeded to Markus' side.

"-you're free to food, a bed and maybe Hero can arrange some tutors for you or get you to a school."

Hero woke up, "Wait, what?"

Jeb looked ecstatic while Markus was smiling fondly. Hero reckoned he missed something. Markus just switched his fond smile from Jeb to Hero and explained, "He can stay here. No biggie, right? We got way too many rooms and..." He turned to ruffle Jeb's hair. "I always hated being the younger brother."

"You adopted him to our family when I was away for a few minutes?!"
"You're the younger brother, my Lord?"

Markus looked baffled at the shocked expressions both Jeb and Hero gave him. Jeb just looked a little confused, disappointed even while Hero looked pissed. Markus answered both questions at once, "Hero, he has nowhere to go. And Jeb, Hero is, what? A year older than me?"

Hero furrowed his eyebrows and spat, "Three. And I'm not too sure about this, Markus. As your general and brother, please ponder this for at least a few days before you come to a decision."

Jeb looked crestfallen, "Where am I going to stay until then?"

Hero bit his lip before sighing, "There's a guest room. Just, don't interfere or distract any worker here. Me and Markus included. After Markus has somehow convinced me to let you stay, we'll just give you what you need. Markus, don't forgot that I'm your older brother. I have the final say in certain decisions."