Paragons

Issue 10- Old Wounds

John Hunter Hospital

A nurse let out a shriek and dropped the clipboard he was carrying as a cloud of pink smoke appeared in the middle of the emergency ward, and three figures stepped from it. Every set of eyes in the ward turned to the new arrivals and froze upon them; superheroes popping into places was a common thing in a place like New York, but it was rare anywhere in Australia let alone the smaller city of Newcastle.

 Amira took a slow breath as she gingerly rose from her seat and moved slowly towards the three of them, unable to greet their eyes with her own. Her hand clutched the empty water bottle in her hand so tightly that she had crushed it halfway, even with the lid still firmly attached. She had tried to fill that hollow pit in her stomach with the drink, but only found it made her want to vomit even more.

 "What happened?"

 It took Amira a moment to realize that it wasn't Darktruth who had asked, like she expected him to, but instead it was Pixie's voice that questioned her. A voice that trembled in the air. She felt the pit grow even deeper at the strain in the normally cheerful mutant's voice.

 "We-we went out and..." She did her best to find the right words to explain it, even as she did her best to not replay it in her mind. She swallowed and gritted herself. "A White Eagle stabbed him. Then fled. I called an ambulance."

 "A what?" Finally a question from Darktruth, his voice unusually flat.

 "They're..." Amira started softly, only to stop as her face scrunched up in concentration. "I don't know. A group? A cult? Assassins, I guess. They kill and manipulate to try and 'save the world', at least their twisted version of it." Amira swallowed. "I was with them once. You were attacked by them, and me, in Sydney."*

*Back in issues 12-14 of 'Darktruth and Pixie' - darktruth

 Megan's hand rose to her mouth. "I remember that. Why? Why did you help them?"

 Amira gave a weak shrug. "I was told you were dangerous. I'd like to say I was tricked into it, manipulated or controlled. Truth is I... I was a bit of a mess and he told me I could help people."

 "He?" Seren finally interjected into the conversation.

 "Mathew," Amira said softly as she blinked at the young woman. "Who are you?"

 "That's just our daughter from another reality or future or something," Darktruth dismissed quickly. "Whose Mathew?"

 "The 'Grey Eagle'. He leads them. I used to think he cared about me."

 "So why did they do this? Why attack Cody?"

 "To get to me. Mathew wasn't exactly... pleased that I left him." She wiped at her eyes. "This isn't the first time he's gone after people close to me."

 Pixie suddenly moved forward and wrapped her arms around Amira tightly. "That's awful."

 Darktruth took off his hat and ran a hand across his shaven scalp. "We need to deal with this." He pointed a finger towards Amira. "And I don't care what you say, you're not leaving. We'll lock you down if we have to. We don't care how dangerous it is for us, we aren't letting you face this alone."

 Amira blinked at him. "Why would I go anywhere?"

 Darktruth rubbed the brim of his hat. "Well, I mean, that's what you're supposed to do, right? An enemy from your past puts those you love at risk so you run off by yourself to try and keep them safe, even though just means you're all now separated and more vulnerable. I mean, that's what I do. It's just... what you do. Right?"