Heroes Not Wanted

Chapter 19: Accused

Hal and Brick waited for forty-five minutes until Guardian finally agreed to see them. Awkwardly enough, Diana didn't go up with them, and the two were taken into an elevator with some guards. The silence as they rose up the stories was painful, and Hal found himself wishing for some kind of sickly love-ballad elevator-music to distract him.

After what felt like ages, they finally reached the top floor. The guards shoved Brick and Hal out of the elevator, and the two stumbled forward, the doors sliding shut behind them. The two boys exchanged nervous looks before they moved forward, approaching the desk that Guardian was behind.

The man looked up at them when they stopped several feet from the desk. He indicated the chairs in front of him idly. "Sit."

After exchanging a glance with Brick, Hal sat down. Brick stood there for a few seconds, obviously angry, before sitting down. Hal leaned back, trying to maintain an air of casualness. "You wanted to see us about something?" he said. In the elevator, he'd hissed instructions to Brick that basically said "Be quiet and let me do the talking." Hal did not need Brick's fury over Silence's arrest to ruin their chances of rescuing her.

Guardian frowned slightly, obviously not expecting Hal to broach the subject. That was good; he wanted to keep the older man off-guard. "Yes. You see, I'm sure you've heard about the unfortunate circumstances last night, in which Miss Blackwell, along with several accomplices, including Storm Brendan, broke into my prison and broke Arthur Brendan out of prison. They also murdered multiple members of my staff in the process."

"To be fair, Art never should have been in prison in the first place," Hal pointed out. Maybe he shouldn't have said it, but he hated the fact that his first super friend—aside from Diana, who didn't really count, as he probably wouldn't have befriended her if he'd known about her mental powers—had been imprisoned for standing up for what he believed in.

Guardian raised his eyebrows, indicating his swollen nose. "He broke my nose. It was only temporary, Phoenix. He wasn't going to stay in there for the rest of his life. He was in there to be taught a lesson."

As much as Hal desperately wanted to admit that he'd stopped Art from getting murdered by one of Guardian's men, he resisted. That would be a dead giveaway that Hal had been there last night and would be a quick and easy way to end up in the same cell as Silence. So he kept his peace, for the moment.

When Hal didn't say anything, Guardian leaned back in his chair. "I see that you agree with me. Now, I have good information that tells me that you had something to do with the breakout last night. Both of you."

Hal had been expecting the direct approach by that point. "Good information? I think your information isn't as good as you think it is. I was in bed last night. And, being an incredibly light sleeper, I know for a fact that Brick was too."

Guardian shook his head. "Do you really expect me to believe that?"

"I don't 'expect' you to believe anything," Hal said. "There's nothing to believe. It's the truth. Take it or leave it."

Brick was watching him, probably nervous about Hal's disrespectful tone. However, Hal was confident that he knew what he was doing. Guardian narrowed his eyes. "We could argue about this for hours," the man said. "Or we could just finish this now, for good." He tapped a button on his desk. "Send in Delphi."

Hal kept his face neutral. He really hoped that the guards downstairs hadn't figured out that Diana was fully in control of herself again, otherwise, he and Brick were toast. Hiding his anxious squirms, he risked a glance at Brick. The other boy was stony-faced and basically glaring at Guardian. The man either didn't notice or didn't care.