The Arrow & The Huntsman [The 1st Installment of DC HEROES: CHAMPIONS OF EARTH]

[34] Hello, Darkness My Old Friend

Dearden stood underneath the steaming showerhead with one arm braced up against the tile wall while the water beat down over his head and neck. As the spray trickled down his naked body, Dearden stared off into space even though his eyes were focused on the blood coming off his body and swirling down the drain. All the while, images, and flashes of the conversation he had with Malcolm before he got into the show replayed in his mind.

Dearden was curled up in the fetal position and trembled on the floor, as he watched as two of Malcolm's most trusted bodyguards wrapped up the taxi driver's mutilated body and carried it away. His lungs swelled and spasmed as he struggled to breathe through the heavy sobs racking his body. He hadn't meant to kill him. It was an accident! He would never kill someone who didn't deserve it, but he just couldn't hold on any longer. He had to let It out. Otherwise, if he had kept it in, It would have killed him.

Slowly, he looked down at his blood-stained hands and arms and gazed at them analytically. Despite blood covering most of his appendages, there were still visible dry spots on his skin and it was there that he noticed his skin tone was normal again. Gone was the gaunt, grayish-yellow complexion replaced by pale apricot and rosy hue that it once was.

"Hey, Dean, look at me. What do you say if your brother asks you what happened?" Malcolm asked? "I wasn't feeling well and I had to go to the doctor, but you don't have to worry. Everything is fine," he stammered nervously. "Again," Malcolm replied. Dearden took a breath to steady his nerves and said, "I wasn't feeling well and I had to go to the doctor, but you don't have to worry. Everything is fine."

"Again!"

"Dammit, Malcolm, I know what to say!" Dean snapped frantically. "I'm not gonna forget." Just a loud 'thwap' noise rang out in the basement, as Dean felt the hard slap of his mentor's hand across his face. "I'm not telling you to repeat it because I think you'll forget; I'm saying it to you because we need to have our stories straightened out in case--" "In case I get arrested," Dearden huffed sharply. Malcolm grimaced at his reply. "I was going to say in case the police come snooping around where they shouldn't," he corrected. His nephew scoffed in disbelief but remained silent.

"Hey, listen to me! I won't let this get out to the public. I won't let you or your family get hurt by this," he declared strongly. The moment Merlyn mentioned his family, images of his son and Mia, Oliver and Thea, his mother, and Walter flooded his mind, and a new wave of panic slammed into him threatening to take him over completely, as his watery green eyes widened in horror. Suddenly, he felt the room starting to close in on him, and blood rushed to his head at a rapid pace. Black spots danced across his eyes and everything became blurry. "Dean," Malcolm's voice echoed. "Dean, stay with me! Stay with me!"

The last thing he saw was the panicked look in Malcolm's eyes before everything went dark.

Just then, there was a knock on the bathroom door which startled the young man out of his troubled thoughts. "Dean? Are you all right in there?" came the muffled voice of Malcolm Merlyn. Dearden wiped his hands over his face, taking a sharp breath before saying, "Yeah, just give me a few more minutes." After a few moments of not hearing a response, Dearden quickly finished washing off his body before turning off the shower.

Taking a shaky breath, he stabilized himself as he walked out of the shower, Dearden used his hand to wipe away the fog on the vanity mirror and gazed upon his reflection with a wary expression. He was a wreck. Despite looking physically healthier than he has been in weeks, he looked like he was seconds away from having a breakdown. But he knew that he had to power through. After all, it was just like what Malcolm always said to him as a kid, "You can't afford to show weakness because everyone expects you to fail. The world is a cruel place, and if you're not careful, it'll swallow you whole. Therefore, you don't have the luxury for niceties and meek words; you have to be as ruthless and unforgiving as the world we live in."

And so that's what he would do. He would suck it up for now; he would put on a smile and pretend that everything was okay... even if every part of his body wanted to scream and cry out for someone to help him. He would still smile. It was the only thing he could do now.