Revelation

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

                Darius looked around his apartment, finding everything was just the way he had left it. Or at least, the way Niki had left it. While preparing for their getaway, she had made quite a mess as she tore through the place getting everything together. Because he hadn’t planned on returning, he didn’t care, but now, he was stuck with the task of cleaning up.

                As he thought about the best way to tidy his apartment, he started thinking that it might be simpler to just live with the mess. It wasn’t really that bad and he certainly didn’t need all the space. He hadn’t been a very neat person before anyway. Not until Wynter moved in. She had kept his place relatively clean, and while Darius had helped out so she wasn’t doing all the work, now that it was just him again, he didn’t really see any point in cleaning.

                He cleared some space on his couch and sat down. It really wasn’t as bad as he initially thought. It only seemed that way because he remembered the way Wynter had kept it clean and seeing Niki’s mess as soon as he walked in was a little bit of a shock. Now that he had some time to readjust to what was his usual housekeeping standards, it seemed just like home.

                And if he did decide he didn’t want to deal with the mess, he knew he could always move into another unit. There were several that were already furnished, which would make moving quite simple. And with his telekinesis, it wouldn’t be much work at all. The realization that he could also use his abilities to clean up without much effort dawned on him, but he quickly dismissed that idea. His opposition to cleaning wasn’t the actual work. He just didn’t like cleaning on principle.

                “I should train you to clean,” he said to Viceroy, who was still standing in the doorway of the apartment. The snow leopard looked as if she didn’t know how to navigate the mess strewn across his floor, but Darius knew that wasn’t the case. He’d seen the feline navigate far more difficult terrain than a sloppy apartment.

                Eventually, Viceroy carefully made her way over to the couch, making sure to keep her paws from stepping on any obstacles. She stepped up onto the couch, brushing some things onto the floor before laying down next to Darius. He reached out and scratched behind her ears, almost able to feel comfortable in his old apartment with his fylgja by his side.

                But it just wasn’t right. He had left all those months ago because he wanted nothing to do with Rheingold or the Sumicalts or anything connected to them. He wanted to help the Anitreh take them out, but Commander Barton had only put him right back into the middle of the Sumicalts. While he knew he was on the right side, he had to pretend to be one of them, and that had been one of the more difficult things he had had to do since waking up in the hospital bed in Russia.

                After recovering from his injuries that he had sustained during his capture, Barton had worked with him to prepare him for his new role as a double agent. The first thing he had to do was learn his new identity, since Darius Laporte was officially dead.  Barton had given him the name Blake Kuijpers, and it had taken Darius nearly two weeks to perfectly learn everything about that identity that Blake was almost a real person.

                He had to know that well, since Darius knew that he might come across an Anitreh with telepathic abilities, and if he did, he had to ensure that they only came away with information about Blake Kuijpers, and not anything that would connect him to his old identity. To help with that, Barton has also taught him better techniques to deflect any telepathic probes.

                That had been an exhausting experience, as he never knew when Barton would attempt to break into his mind. Barton was among the best mind readers, and they both knew that if Darius could deflect him, he could keep just about anyone out.