Imperfect Perfection

Chapter 7

I sat gently on the edge of the mattress and Joshua followed after a moment's hesitation. He went round to the other side and lay down. I lay next to him and stayed silent. After several seconds, he started speaking.

"There's a lot I haven't told you yet. "

I nodded and he breathed deeply before continuing.

"When my parents got into that accident I didn't come out unscathed. Luckily our car didn't catch a fire but it was a pretty bad wreck. Some large pieces of glass cut me on impact. But most were from when they had to pull me out. Some jagged pieces of metal scraped me. It was a small price to pay for my life though."

"I know a bullet hole and stab wounds when I see them Joshua."

He looked down at me and studied me quietly for a few seconds before he sighed and continued.

"After I came out of the hospital I was put in a foster home. I got bullied a lot because of my scars. Boys said how they were ugly. That I would never be loved because I looked too pathetic. My parents were gone I felt completely alone. When I tried to stand up for myself they would beat the shit out of me.

One day I decided that I had enough of their bullshit. I was around 13 at the time. One particular asshole liked to make rude jokes about my mother. I got so damn pissed. Before I knew it, he was on the ground with a broken arm and busted face.

Well of course he complained to the caretaker. She told me to pack my bags. After one fight. One fight. She didn't care. She was all too happy to ship me off to a boarding school for troubled teens.

That's what I became. A troubled teen. The environment did nothing but lead me further down that road. I fell in with a group of troublemakers. I found myself getting into fights more often and I turned to illegally obtained booze. I would stumble to class in the morning with a hangover. I quickly built my rep there as the regular bad boy. Not only among the students but the teachers too.

Eventually the principal decided that he had enough of my shit and he wanted to expel me. But I didn't have any legal guardian. I don't know how, but he got some guy to adopt me. I was fifteen by that time.

But that man was sick. He would come home drunk every night and every morning I would be cleaning up his shit before school. If I didn't, he would be beating me up instead. I hated him with every fibre of my being.

He reminded me of myself. I straightened myself out really quickly. I took up boxing to let out anger. Cleaned up my act.

One night he came home so wasted. Instead of pounding on the walls and crashing the house, he barged straight into my room. He pulled me right off my bed. I didn't dare move. I didn't really know what he wanted. Then he told me to undress. I just stared at him. I couldn't seem to understand him until he dropped his own pants and I saw what he meant.

I resisted of course. Tried to run. But he grabbed me and pushed me against the wall. I fought back and managed to push him off till he pulled a knife on me. I avoided most of his lunges. Got a few surface cuts but he managed to stab me a few times."

He winced at the memory but continued.

"He exhausted himself eventually and collapsed on my bed. I could only crawl away from the room. I was out on the streets alone when I taxi pulled up. I dragged myself in but I told the driver that I had no money. When she turned around it was the caretaker from my foster home. She ran into legal problems with treatment of her foster kids and bailed on the home.

Thankfully, she took pity on me and dropped me off at the hospital. I had lost a lot of blood but I was fine. The next morning the principal of my boarding school was there. He offered to take me back as he felt bad for getting me in that situation.

I didn't waste my second chance. I got good grades and I took up a lot of sports. I got a part time job to get some money cause I was still on my own and the trust fund wasn't available until I was eighteen.

When I graduated I made it my priority to investigate the jsckass eho took me in and make sure he wound up in jail. And to find out how my parents got into that accident. I was shocked that he was connected to that incident. I figured the asshole who adopted me knew who I was and wanted to finish up his job but couldn't resist having fun first."

My mind was jumbled as I received all this information. This person was related to my parents death as well. I felt like crying as I thought that this was an attempted attack on them. I reached for his hand as we sought comfort in each other.

"My parents were part of the agency. One of their missions was to destroys his drug dealings. He was a drug lord. When my parents intervened he was ruined. His empire was destroyed. His life was destroyed. And he wanted to destroy my parent's life too. He set a bomb in their engine. A small one that blew it from the inside.

I tracked him down and cornered him but I was stupid. I didn't think things through. He had a gun. He shot me. That's where the bullet hole came from."

I couldn't believe the words he said. As I took a few moments to gauge my feelings, I felt his hand squeeze mine. I turned on my side to face him, our hands resting between us.

"I'm sorry Gen, I forget this affected you too."

"It's a lot, yeah. How did you get all that info?"

"The agency. They contacted me. I was in the police a lot. Trying to find out what I could, seeing where things didn't add up. I assume I made myself known. One day I got a call saying someone had information on my parents. Well, I went in and they told me everything. They offered to help me track down the druggie if I joined them. It wasn't a hard choice."

I nodded, still processing everything. I couldn't stop thinking about that druglord. For years I thought it was my fault that my parents died. I blamed myself. I hurt myself. I was crushed. For nights on end, I could barely breathe through my pain. Now I was learning that I wasn't the sole reason. That another person had a hand in their death. Instead of relief, I was consumed with a crippling grief. But I was angry too.

"He's still out there isn't he?"

Joshue reached out to wipe a stray tear from my cheek. Through my muddled mind, I didn't even realise that I had begun to cry. He nodded while pulling me closer.

"I think it's why the agency recruited you. They knew it was time for you to join."

I was perplexed.

"Recruited me? I signed up from an ad on the internet."

He chuckled softly, fingers skimming my knuckles. His arm held me fast against him.

"Gen, the agency would never put themselves out there like that. They intentionally hacked into your computer to make you sign up."

I didn't know how to take this news. I was never really in control of my plans. I found myself questioning if I wanted to stay with agency when I could find other opportunities for myself outside. As I looked across at Joshua, I couldn't imagine myself doing anything else.

Now that I knew why my parents died, I couldn't sit back at let it go unchallenged. Not when I had the chance to set a crime right. To set myself right.

I moved closer to Josh again and laid my head on it chest. He took his hand from mine but placed it on my waist, pulling me against him till our warmth blended and bodies tangled together.

"Let take down this druggie together."

I whispered to him after a few seconds of comfortable silence. He chuckled lightly and ran his fingers through my hair, murmuring a quiet note of consent.

I inhaled his scent deeply. He hadn't put on a shirt so I placed my hand on his chest, glancing upwards to see if he was okay with it. With a smile he nodded and took my finger, tracing his scars. Then he took my hands and kissed it gently.

I leaned upwards and pressed my lips against his warm cheek. I buried my head in his chest once again as he ran his arms across my back. Soon my eyes fluttered shut and I knew soon he would do the same.

**Edited**