Risk and Rebel

32: YOU WON'T LIKE ME WHEN I'M ANGRY

Though I hadn't seen Gray after I climbed out of the van, the moment Rebel knocked out three men with the dismembered bumper, I heard him.

I couldn't quite make out what he was saying, but the tone he used made his meaning evident. I thought I heard something like "Everybody back off!" though I wasn't sure. All I knew was that the moment Gray had shouted, his mercenaries crept off the scene, drifting to the outskirts, where civilians were running rampant.

So far as I was concerned, all of that faded to the background.

Then a grenade exploded just a few yards away from me, and everything went berserk.

Instinct kicked in seconds before I felt the heat. I threw up a telekinetic barrier as soon as I realized what was happening, and in the same motion I latched onto Rebel's arm and yanked him toward me. Super strength gave him some extra durability, but not the bulletproof, explosion-proof kind, and I liked my partner better when he wasn't bleeding and on fire.

The fire died around us, and I released Rebel's arm, the two of us pausing just long to check that the other was okay. After we each nodded, we both sprang into action.

Rebel lunged for the man with the rocket launcher without hesitation, and when a few other Kinetic goonies rushed him, I swept them away with a wave of my hand. I drew my gun with my other hand, this time aiming at the armed men that were trying to hide behind the vehicles.

If I saw a head pop up, it went down ... never to come back up again.

Rebel cold-cocked the man with the launcher before he threw the weapon onto his shoulder and turned and aimed it at the SUV. We exchanged the briefest of glances (and the slyest of smirks) before he fired, and I raised a hand and completely over turned the sedan.

The combined sounds of both attacks was near deafening. Yellow and orange flames licked at the frame that was once an SUV, while most of those who had been behind the sedan were now running for their lives.

Except one.

And oh, he should've been the first to flee, but you know what they say about fools and learning.

He marched toward me with all of the determination of a bull, and with an equally enraged look on his face. He was carrying a machine gun, but before he could raise it Rebel had him by the front of his shirt, holding him just high enough in the air that his tiptoes scuffed the ground.

My smile was near maniacal as I moved toward them. "Wow, some people really never learn, huh?" I asked with a sneer, the sound of my voice just enough to stop Rebel from doing anything fatal.

Just enough to let Rebel know to keep the moron dangling.

The young man known as Walski glared at me viciously, his eyes fiery despite his compromised position.

Rebel looked over his shoulder at me with an expression of practiced boredom. "We know him?"

"'Fraid you don't, Reb," I said in a mock-cheerful tone, "but Walski and I, we are well acquainted. Aren't we?"

Walski looked as if he was going to answer, but then Rebel's grip shifted closer to his windpipe, and he seemed to decide against it.

"Do me a favor and drop him, you'll understand soon," I said, standing just a step away from my partner.

By that point, all of the other Kinetic members were either down, or getting out of dodge as fast as their legs could carry them. I should've known Gray would only keep his lackeys on the sidelines for so long ... no sooner had Walski's feet fully touched the ground than did Gray, his mercs, and the other former agents of LASAR approach us.

We were quite the sight to see in the middle of that street, but not many other people were keen on sticking around to see it.

"Who's this, a new friend?" Charlotte asked, the sound of her voice grating on my nerves.

I turned to her with a threatening smile, but Gunner spoke before I could.

"What is this, a group interrogation?" he asked, standing over Desmond's shoulder and glaring down at Charlotte. "Gray," he began to say, "let Alpha do their thing ..."

"I'm just curious as to who you've apprehended," Gray said, his words directed toward Rebel and I.

Rebel still had a firm hold on Walski's shoulder, and he was visibly unamused. His jaw was clenched and his green eyes were hard.

There's a special kind of upset one feels when they're interrupted in the middle of their work. When said work is of a more violent nature, the upset tends to rise to match it. The look in Rebel's eyes told me that if given the opportunity, he would've punched Gray in the jaw.

This wasn't the first time we had been in a situation like this, with Gray intervening in our work. And it was never at a subdued time; it was always when tensions ran high, and aggression hadn't been reined in.

"He's one of the Kinetic," I answered, my own voice sharp. I let my hands drop to my hips, one resting just shy of a gun handle. "He was tracking us down in New York while I was out of stasis."

The implication of that statement was clear enough: Rebel didn't remember because he had still been under said stasis.

Gray nodded slowly while the rest of his mercs looked on in evident confusion. "All right," he said, before glancing around the street. "Your discussion cannot happen here."

"And where do you suggest we go?" Rebel asked through his teeth.

I touched the back of his arm, a small and brief gesture, but some of the tension went out of his shoulders all the same. "Where?" I pressed, my voice void of emotion.

It was Ilga who spoke up, surprising everyone. "I— I have a contact in Munich." She looked to Gray quickly, as though for approval. "Not far from here. I know back ways."

Gray nodded immediately. "We haven't got time to waste, so you can explain this contact as we go. Lead the way."

"We're walking?" Desmond asked quietly.

"Unless you've learned how to fly," Charlotte retorted, following after Ilga the moment she began to move.

Legion and Sergeant both gave the redhead sympathetic pats as Gunner ushered him along. "Tough luck, Freckles," Sergeant said.

Rebel headed after Gunner with Walski in tow, and I stayed just on his heels. Gray was hot on our tail, with Rashid and Elliot behind him ...

I had a strong urge to talk to Rebel, but I kept my mouth shut, biting the inside of my cheek instead. We had company, company that we didn't know, that didn't seem fully trustworthy, and I didn't know what languages all of the mercs spoke.

Something felt very, very wrong.

I moved over to the other side of Walski, walking in step with Rebel, and when Walski opened his mouth, it took me two seconds and one swift movement to have my priorly hidden knife pressed against his neck. "If you enjoy breathing, I suggest you keep all thoughts to yourself until we ask for them," I said coolly.

"I second that," Rebel muttered, squeezing Walski's arm that much tighter until the brute began to nod.

I sheathed my knife soon after. My mind was still racing; Team Charlie were never ahead of Rebel and I, they hadn't been able to anticipate our moves before. For them to know to send agents — much less a kid who had priorly been in America — and for them to be sent to our exact location ... something was wrong.

And I was going to find out what.