The P. P. A. Project: Revelations

Chapter Twelve - Hero

Chapter Twelve - Hero

I sat in my bunk staring off into space for a long while that next morning. Everyone else had still been asleep but I was wide awake trying to figure out how this all made sense. The horrible things I had done could not be justified by simply sitting by and allowing myself to take credit for being a hero when Ethan was finally destroyed, if that was even possible. No longer was my rage the issue but the guilt that had come over me was eating me alive.

It was funny to me to watch these three real heroes sleep, however. Chief sort of slept like a corpse whereas Pandora slept like a dog, sprawled out, leg jerking every so often as well as light snores. Connor on the other hand slept like a lady with his hands tucked tightly under his pillow and a delicate little face with no snores at all.

Allowing myself to laugh just once, I sat back and dwelled on the day previous. It was all a lot to take in but the words from my sister seemed to resonate with me the most.

“My name is Pandora…”

I said it to myself several times as I watched over everyone in the large, dark place. It was as strange as meeting a hero from a comic book or a heroine from a film. She seemed to be such a foreign concept with everything that had just happened. My life was somewhat normal before I had heard that name. Selfishness was the most direct of causes for my fear of her and envy for the things she had already accomplished.

I hated myself for being such a little man and allowing, yet again, something to stand in the way of the fact that this woman, this character, was my sister. She twitched once as her eyes then opened and saw me sitting up. Her hair was crazy, wild like a bird’s nest, when she sat up but she patted it down and cleared her throat.

“Been up long?” She asked looking down at her watch. It was only about 3:30 am although in the confines of the hidden warehouse it was hard to tell.

Shrugging, I cleared my throat as well, “Couldn’t really sleep.”

She laughed a bit as she stood and motioned for me to follow her out of the area of the sleeping quarters and to the commons area with the food and drink. From there she prepared a pot of coffee which began to brew and the two of us sat across the table from one another. Nothing around was all that fancy or elaborate with the exception of the Independence; a beacon of Pandora’s dedication to rid the world of evil and save her family.

What had I accomplished? Not much.

“I had that problem the first few years after I discovered what I was. Being away from my family after I had just found them was pretty rough but the people I found myself missing most were the ones I had made my family.”

“Do you mean Dr. Wilcox?” I asked. She laughed and nodded her head.

“Yea, I can’t get over you calling him that.” She got up and poured us two cups as they came out. She, like myself, was far too impatient to wait for the pot to completely finish brewing, “Liam had been my doctor for a long time and soon after a good friend. Chief was my protector in more than one aspect and Connor… well… it’s hard to explain how we bonded so fast but he quickly became more of a brother to me than some random individual during a trip to the past. Leaving that all behind was so hard but I did it and I can’t say I regret having kept you all safe.”

“I bet you hated me. How could you not? I was technically trying to kill you.”

To my surprise, Pandora laughed again, “Families fight! Ya learn to no longer sweat the small stuff. And as for hating you, that’s not possible. It might sound weird but I watched you grow up. I felt as if I had known you all along.”