Antihero (Indefinite Hiatus D: )

Chapter Thirty-One

** Dedicated to @ZankCrave for always checking out new chapters and reading both of my books. You are the best! **

For the last few months, Christopher had been inhaling his training as though it were the air he breathed. Every minute of each day he listened to my advice, obeyed my instructions. The days I was away, off hunting down Affected or interrogating Unregistered for ARC, he continued to train, pushing his mind and body to the limit.

No matter how many times Mira bugged him, Christopher would never tell her why he wanted to be a superhero, or what it was that kept him driving for it so hard. I wondered if it had something to do with DeMarlo, his forgotten past, or even simply his ability, but I didn't care enough to ask.

"Looking good," I encouraged as Christopher stopped punching the bag, breathing ragged as he rested his hands on his knees.

"You think?" he asked, flicking a lock of dirty blonde hair from his face.

His hair had grown out so much, but it was smooth and shiny, not matted and dirty as it used to be. Christopher was against getting another haircut, for another reason unknown to me, but he wouldn't have much of a choice once he applied to become a registered superhero. I would cut it myself if I had to. Superheroes rely a lot on their reputation, how they appear to the public, and I was pretty sure the public wasn't looking for a long-haired surfer dude.

"Sure, you're definitely a lot stronger," I commented offhandedly, jutting my head towards the door as I moved. "That's enough for today, we have a late night and I need you at full strength tomorrow."

"Really?" He looked happy as he scooped his water bottle up and jogged towards me, a big grin breaking out across his face. "Am I coming to work with you?"

"Tomorrow's the day." I nodded, pushing the doors open and making my way out into the night air. There weren't many stars out tonight, which made me frown in disappointment. "Think you can keep up?"

"I don't know," Christopher laughed and slapped my shoulder, something he had been doing often these days. I took it as a sign that he was more comfortable around me, but I didn't really like it. It felt too... chummy. "You tell me."

"Probably," I shrugged, smirking at him. "I mean, if you die that's less work for me, right?"

"Oh, please," he scoffed taking a huge gulp from his water bottle and wiping the drops from his chin before continuing. "There's no way I'll die. Plus, it'll make you look bad if I did."

"Very true." I looked up at him and eyed how the edges of his eyes crinkled when he smiled. "Why are you so happy?"

Christopher had filled out - a lot. He was always taller than me, and always would be, but now that he was at a healthy weight and had completed a lot of weight training, his height seemed even greater.

"It's the first time I'm coming with you to work, of course I am happy. It means I've improved enough to actually help you."

I scoffed loudly and rolled my eyes, sending him a sideways glance. "Don't get too ahead of yourself, okay? This is easy work."

"Same thing," he mumbled, pushing the door open as we stepped into the main house.

It's true, it really was easy work. A simple track-and-grab of a few Unregistered who we believed had information on the ever-elusive Sean, or whatever he was really called. I had been hunting him for months and still was no closer to finding out who he really was, or what he really wanted. If anything, I felt like a mouse caught in a trap, with a straight line drawn to a chunk of cheese I knew would kill me. Sean was after something, I just couldn't figure out what.