Black Equation - The Gifted Ones

Number Ten

"The most painful love there is, is the love left unshown. A love that cannot be expressed, affection left unknown. The love that withholds touching, afraid of what it would say. The most painful thing about unexpressed love is that it never fades away."

Number Ten

Raskolnikoff had just come back from meeting Zametoff in the Crystal Palace when Atom made a disgusted noise at the backseat. Krad quickly set aside the book he was reading and raised the binoculars to the shuttered windows of the royal suite. The local hotel only had nine floors, making it easier for him to do reconnaissance from the ground.

"Yuck."

"What happened?" he asked distractedly. He noticed that there was movement behind one of the windows. The silhouette was very tall. Ivan perhaps? Did he notice someone was observing them?

"The woman," the boy explained with a sour face. "Her dirty thoughts are so loud. I mean, ugh. Are you sure that these people will help us? Are they worth all the trouble? They made me leave that candy shop so they better be."

Krad raised an arch brow at him. "For someone playing hero, you're rather choosy, kid."

"I'm not playing hero! I really am a hero, like X-men!"

He laughed at the stubborn expression Atom adorned. He raised a hand to mess his already unruly brown hair. "Yeah, yeah. Got it. Back to business, how many are they in there?"

"Five," Atom said in between bites. He was chewing his candy loudly to drown the noise that only he could hear. "Two women and three men. The one called Denna just left, so that’s down to four."

Krad tucked in the package he prepared under his jacket. "Is the Master with them?"

Atom licked the red and violet colors off his fingers before opening a new bag of Skittles. "Yep. That man whose mind works as fast as you has to be him. He was your mentor, yes?"

"He is my father, in ways that run deeper than blood," Krad answered wistfully. It had been four long years since he last saw him, still, that didn't change the fact that Kreuz Creed was the one person Krad respected the most. Guilt struck him hard, but he had to do this. For Faye.

"Bro, chill. That's way too deep for me. Hello. Remember you're talking to a kid here." Atom made a funny face at him.

"Oh. Yeah. I nearly forgot," he answered sardonically. "How can a brat like you ever understand? You're way too dumb to catch up with me."

Atom leveled him with a glare that no ten year old kid could possibly pull off. "That's three more bags of Cheerios and three giant bowls of vanilla ice cream for me later."

Unfazed, he put on his black leather gloves on both hands and placed the earpiece on his right ear. "If I survive this, let's make it five. I'm planning to make you fat."

Instead of a boisterous protest, he received a sniveling whimper from the kid. The grin he wore faded. "Hey."

"Brother, are you sure you don't want me to come?" Atom held his arm in a tight leash. "If they see a kid, they might think twice before attacking you.”

"Don't worry about me kiddo. They won't kill me." Yeah, right. Ivan was more than enough match for him. How about an overly protective daddy and an equally protective though highly emotional lover? As if the news he carried wasn't dynamite waiting to explode by itself.

"But –”

"You're a hero right?" The boy nodded reluctantly, already aware of what he was about to say next. "Then, you should trust me, your partner. I've been to a lot of life and death scenarios. This is basically a stroll in the park."