Violet Eyes

69: Villain

"Thank you for being here, Nathan." Elizabeth started before Nate heard Rhys let out a soft sigh through his nose. Nate moved his eyes towards Rhys for a moment before he looked back at the Chairman. Rhys hadn't said much since he found Nate in his room that night. Nate didn't know why, but he had plenty of guesses. Maybe Rhys was mad at him because he still thought Nate tried to take his own life. Maybe he felt guilty like Danny, even though neither of them had any right to feel guilty. Nate knew that he was the one who should feel guilty, it was his fault that Z got a shot on Nyx.

"Why exactly am I here?" Nate said in an even tone that lacked any emotion. Danny looked at Nate out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Nate's hair had grown longer and was slightly messy. He hadn't been taking care of himself.

"You're here because I've been made aware of your plan to go after Z." Elizabeth spoke rather coldly. Nate exhaled as his eyes closed, when he opened them again he was already looking towards Danny, the only one he had told about his plan. Danny stiffened, feeling Nate's gaze.

"So what if that is my plan?" Nate asked directly with his tone unchanging as he looked back at Elizabeth.

"That is why I brought all of you in here. I'm telling you that you have my full permission to go after him." Elizabeth said sternly, causing everyone but Nate to look at her with great surprise.

"Really?" Orion said with surprise, "why?"

"Because he has been a problem for any Gifted as long as I can remember. He has killed Sanctuary agents before, and he has now killed my daughter. He needs to die." Elizabeth said slightly angrily as her eyes hardened on Nate. "As luck would have it, I already have a lead for you."

"Really." Nate uttered with a slight downward inflection, almost like he didn't believe it.

"That's right." Elizabeth said as she typed for a moment on her keyboard. A screen of light appeared in front of them all, it was a map of the city. It quickly zoomed in to a small section of the city's slums. "Security camera footage from the lower south side of the city has caught him." She said before a separate screen appeared above the map revealing a frame of him. A black mask over the lower half of his face, one milky white eye and one dark brown eye. This time he had no hood over his head, he had medium length dark green hair that was pin straight and parted to the side. Nate clenched his fists so tightly that his hands began shaking.

"That's him..." Nate uttered softly as he glared at the frame of Z. Rage burrowed into his system, the first shred of real emotion he had felt, other than the heartbreak, of course.

"As I suspected. This isn't the first time he was seen on camera in that area either. So I would start there. This ward is a hub for the cities underground, there are many smugglers, human traffickers, and other evil and horrid people. It will be dangerous, so you must be careful." Elizabeth warned them with sincerity in her tone. "And make sure you keep your eye out for any Gifted." She added before she slid a key across the desk towards Nate. "You have full use of my personal armory. Please, go prepared."

Nate took the key and slid it into his pocket before he wordlessly left the room. Elizabeth looked to the rest of the boys, "Keep a close eye on him, a man who isn't afraid of death is dangerous, to himself....and to others." Danny nodded before he led the rest of his friends out of the office.

Outside the office, the group halted when they saw Kyle. He was standing down the hall a bit, facing Nate, who was standing in between Kyle and the rest of his friends with a blank stare. Kyle had a duffel bag hanging on his shoulder, he had been out of state for a recovery mission, then he decided to stay longer than expected...he needed some vacation time to process Oliver's death. He had just gotten back from his trip, he likely hadn't even gotten to his room yet. His eyes looked slightly wide and shocked. Danny realized that Nate had just told him that Nyx was dead. "Kyle..." Danny uttered softly before Kyle stepped forward.