Prepare your tissues..... 👀
Chapter Twenty-Eight
I wait anxiously as hours have passed, staring at the chemicals concoction I've made. I quadruple check the very old recipe I have, and it seems to be exact. My family hasn't had to use this recipe since my grandmother was a Maverick, but I am done playing games and my ethics are probably questionable at this point. If I mixed this wrong, it's just poison that will slowly suffocate whomever it's injected into. But if I did it correctly, it will cling to the extra type of blood cells metahumans have and destroy them, essentially eliminating their meta ability.
"Knock, knock," a soft voice says, and I look up to see an exhausted Faith.
"Come in Faith," I say, and I clear the other stool for her to sit. She plops down hard and buries her face in her hands.
"What's wrong?" I ask quickly, I will go to the hospital and keep his heart going if I have to.
"They just finished the surgery, after flatlining five different times throughout the ten hours it took. He is finally stable and as soon all six were replaced, his brain activity increased," she says tiredly. Handing her my not even touched coffee, she slams it back.
"I have a three-hour show tonight and rehearsal in an hour and I have barely slept more than four hours in the last two days," she grumbles.
"I should have probably mentioned that the coffee was decaf," I say, and she groans.
"What is this?" She asks looking at the murky yet slightly glowing purple substance in my hand.
"The plague," I joke, and she snorts and puts her head on the table.
"It looks dangerous, should I be worried you are handling poisons?" She jokes, and I snicker.
"No, because I'm not stupid enough to even open it while you or anyone else is in the room," I say, and she eyes me confused.
"What does it do?" She continues and I give her a flat look.
"Stop asking questions you aren't going to get answers to," I say as I put it in the bulletproof case I borrowed from Aviva's lab.
"Why the sudden secret-keeping?" She asks confused. Sudden? Have we met?
"Why the sudden nosiness?" I retort, and she lets off a huff and eyes the case I just locked. When she leaves, I am going to extract it into the syringes we have which are made with Galvanized Steel.
"Hadley, I'm concerned," she states seriously.
"Why? It can't hurt you," I tell her and that makes her more confused.
"There you are Faith; don't you need to get to rehearsal?" Orion asks walking into my lab. He eyes up his female companion who is still giving me a very baffled gaze.
"Hadley's playing with dangerous chemicals and won't tell me why," she almost whines at Orion.
"I mean she is an ultra-advanced bio-medical engineer Fay; she can do as she pleases," Orion says amused as he pushes her off the stool onto her feet.
"She's got the same look in her eye I get," she says, and I raise an eyebrow at the duo.
"Oh?" I ask
"You are plotting something, and that chemical is a part of it," she says with ease and I smile at her deduction skills.
"Yes, now go to rehearsal. I am leaving to go find Click shortly," I say, and they wave and disappear. How do they even have clearance into this building? The only way to not get seen would be to teleport into the bathroom, but I wouldn't put it past them.
Grabbing the vile back out of the box, I fill two needles with it and lock it back into the box. Storing the now empty container in a biohazard safe Aviva has, I head home to change. Carefully keeping the case in my site as I get ready, it makes me nervous having it. But I am not playing games anymore, I will do what it takes to protect this team.
"Hadley?" Alexander calls out and I yank my mask on and grab the case from my bed. Turning my earpiece on, I see the three of them standing in the living room.
"What's in the case?" Cathleen asks concerned. It isn't very large, barely big enough to hold both syringes.
"Grandma's top-secret recipe," I say forcing some amusement but Cathleen pales.
"You took that card with you, didn't you?" She asks and I snort.
"Along with dad's old pocketknife, your favorite necklace, and mom's favorite photo of us," I say, and Cathleen's eyes wide completely.
"You took my favorite necklace?!"
"Yup, I still have it too," I say amused and I hand her in the case. She wraps it around her thigh with ease.
"Let's move," I say seriously. Aviva disappears and Cathleen grabs us both. We land in our sister cities headquarters where everyone is waiting.
"Omni is stable for now, he has regained brain activity but it's going to be a while before he's back to normal," I say, and Zana looks relieved.
"Well at least he survived the surgery," Spade says, and I nod.
"Why did he need the surgery?" Antibody asks and I pause and look at the other New York Mavericks who are looking anywhere but the men in front of us. Seriously?
"We have some metahumans amongst our ranks that weren't born that way, and sometimes their enhancement's go bad," I say carefully, and they don't look surprised by this, but certainly they weren't expecting it.
"Let's get back to the topic at hand," Zana says quickly, and I nod in agreement.
"I was able to ping a second much older tracker and get a general location down in the abandoned warehouse district," I say, and I pull it up and it really only triangulated to the southside.
"Okay then we will split up again and start searching the area," Zana says.
"It's a lot of ground to cover, and they are probably going to be able to spot us from a mile away so we better all be prepared," I say, and Aviva picks up a bag and tosses everyone slim bulletproof vests.
"Alright let's bring Calikta home," Spade says standing up.
"Aegis split your team in half. Alpha is with me and Invi and Feedback are moving together," I say, and Zana stands up and they easily break off into two groups. I assign different buildings to cover and everyone gives me their most attentive looks. For a moment I feel strange, I'm in charge right now and Aviva seems content with it. I mean, this is my sister that's missing.
"Alright Mavericks, let's move," I say, and we all climb out the hatch and take off. Aviva keeps up with me easily as we find wind gusts in our favor.
"Influx," Alexander says as we land. I spin around to face him.
"Yes?"
"Don't do anything reckless," he says quietly, and I grab his hand and squeeze it before Aviva and I take off to start searching the first building. We find a back door and I see an old-fashioned deadbolt on it.
"Are you any good at picking locks?" I ask her and I can see the curve of her lips under her mask. Grabbing the door handle, she closes her eyes for a split second before she carefully pulls the door open. Building a faint charge in my hand, we are both on high alert as we search the building.
"I don't sense anyone," she says, and I don't either, but there are still live wires which make it hard to figure that out.
"Let's keep moving," I say, and we keep our guard up as we exit the first warehouse and move to the one right next to it.
"Our first building was empty," Zana says.
"Same," Alexander says.
"Keep sweeping the area and please keep your guard up," I say seriously and there are some noises of affirmation as we continue to move. Aviva picks the next lock and we make our way inside.
As we peer into the next room there is a scream. Panic courses through my veins and I grab my phone and use the dark screen as a mirror to see that Click is tied to a massive beam with some heavy plastic chains. Trying to control my breathing, I glance at Aviva and I can tell she is seeing who else is in the building.
"I'm not picking up on anyone, but one of them can clearly teleport. Let's move quickly," she whispers, and I steady myself as there is rustling as Click stands back up and yanks on the chains.
"This feels too easy," I say, and Aviva gives me a confused look. Muting my earpiece.
"Please, trust me with whatever I do," I say, and she swallows hard and I watch her set her jaw before giving me a firm nod. I might be impulsive sometimes, but my split-second decisions haven't backfired yet. Rounding the corner quickly, we rush across the floor, and Click stops her fit of rage to see us.
"Beta!" She says and I smile at her, eyeing her up carefully, it looks just like Click, down to the unkempt mane of red curls.
"Hold still," Aviva says and within a few moments, the chains are undone. Click rubs her wrists before her temper sparks.
"What took you so long! How could you leave me here for days?!" She screams at me, startling me. The rage in her eyes is so real.
"Well in-between trying to find you and Omni nearly dying, it's been a rough few days," I say calmly in return and she clenches her teeth.
"Do you know what they've done to me? Can you even fathom the horrible things they've shown me about you?" She hisses angrily and I take a step away. That seems odd, Click wouldn't say it like that.
"Can we talk about this after we get out of here?" I say, and her eyes start to glow.
"No, we can't!" She snaps at me. Staring her down, she doesn't back down.
"You aren't Calikta," I say simply and take a second step away and stand by Aviva.
"What do you mean? I am too Click! What, do you think I am that awful shapeshifter? In case you haven't noticed, she's horrible at matching speech patterns," Click hisses, but the longer she talks, the less I believe her. She is correct, she is terrible at that. Aviva is stiff by my side and I know she smells it, gun powder. Click doesn't own a gun, neither of us do.
"Prove it," I say, keeping my voice smooth and unconfrontational.
"My father is Viro, after he was put in prison, I moved to New York to go to school, we met in an alleyway," she says recounting details, her anger continuing to peak.
"What is my real name?" I ask.
"Hadley!" She screams angrily and I hope Aviva's earpiece is muted.
"This is all common knowledge," I say bored and her temper snaps and she pulls the gun. Why would they leave her with a gun? In hopes of killing someone?
"How could you abandon me, Hadley?! How could you leave me to suffer for so long! They tortured me," she hisses, and I simply step in front of Aviva.
"Are you so angry I left you to fend for yourself after babying you for years that you want me dead?" I ask unphased and Aviva touches my back worried.
"Wait," I mumble and the redhead in front of me doesn't notice.
"You said you would give me a better life! You promised me I would never be alone again and yet you left me to deal with the villains hunting you," she hisses and my heart squeezes. This isn't real, this isn't her, these aren't her words.
"I'm sorry Click, I should have never let them hurt you," I say trying to play along in this convoluted and rage-fueled conversation.
"It's too late for apologies, you left me for dead," she hisses, and I feel another tap on my back but just knock her toe with my heel. Wait.
"I didn't leave you for dead and clearly the one girl with hormonal manipulation has really messed with your head. We can help you, we can fix this," I say reassuringly, playing into the nurturing sister I am supposed to be.
"It's too late for that," she repeats, and her hands shake slightly as she holds the gun. Without fear, I undo the bulletproof vest and it hits the floor. Taking a half step forward, I stay in the line of fire, keeping Aviva out of it. I won't let her hurt Aviva, this has nothing to do with her.
"Go ahead, if it's too late then, shoot me," I say, and she gasps, and tears pour down her face. looking in the dark grey eyes I know and care so dearly about, I see through her ruse.
"Why would you say that?" She asks through a hiccup and I let out a dark chuckle.
"I would do anything for my family, including die for them. If killing me is the only thing that will bring you peace then go ahead, shoot me. Put the bullet right through my heart," I say, and she grips the gun harder.
"You've gone crazy!" She states and I raise an eyebrow.
"Have I Calikta?" I ask her coldly, ice seeps into my veins as I ignore all my emotions. I need to stand perfectly still, one inch and I'm dead.
"Yes, they were right, you are a bad influence. You are ruining my life," she babbles, and her finger tightens on the trigger as she aims. I feel the metal plate go cold on my chest and I swallow.
"You're right, I am a horrible sister and I will only bring you down with me. Just end this horrible chapter for both of us," I say bitterly, and she screams and pulls the trigger. Closing my eyes, I feel the bullet smash into the metal, and I am thrown backward. Taping my earpiece, Aviva pushes me upwards and I watch the gun fall apart in her hand.
"What an idiot," I grumble before I lunge for the fake Calikta. She tries to fight me off, but I slam into her a wall. Grabbing her by the hair, I flip her face-first onto the floor and smash her skull into the ground. She flips me off of her and when she rises, she is bleeding badly. Aviva grabs her and easily pulls her into a chokehold and knocks her out.
"Okay, what the hell was that?!" She yells at me and I snicker and ping Cathleen to our location.
"The real Calikta would have known that there is a metal plate right there," I say and understanding dawns on her face.
"Did you really have to let her shoot you?!" Aviva screams exasperated and Cathleen appears.
"Open the case," I order, and she does, and her breath catches, and she carefully hands me one of the needles. She immediately snaps the case closed and relocks it. I sense something change and give Aviva a hard look and she senses it too.
"What is that?" She asks me and I snicker.
"Well if she is a natural-born metahuman, it will strip her powers," I say as I build a tight cage of electricity around us.
"And if she isn't?" Aviva asks concerned.
"It will poison her, suffocating her slowly and painfully," I fib, and the horror is clear. Testing the needle, I line it up.
"No!" A female voice shrieks and the rest of the team jumps on the two other metahumans. Slapping the girl, her eyes blink open and I have my knee on her chest, the needle just pricking her skin and a ball of electricity in my other hand.
"You have three seconds to tell me where the real Calikta is," I say to the brunette in front of me. She has receded to her natural form after we knocked her out.
"Never," she hisses, and I snicker and dig the needle deeper into her neck. She cringes and tries to squirm but bring my other hand closer.
"I have a vile full of nasty poison in your neck dear, I suggest you tell me what I want to know," I say smoothly, and she swallows and her eyes dart to the side in a panic.
"Your lying," she hisses, and I laugh.
"I just let you shoot me for kicks, do you really think I would be above poisoning you," I hiss excitedly.
"You are supposed to be a hero," she stutters, and I dig the needle deeper and she makes a noise of pain.
"I'm no hero, just a woman fighting to get her sister back," I say simply, and she tries to squirm again, and I inject her with liquid, and she falls unconsciously quickly. I watch her carefully as the other two meta's are handcuffed. She doesn't start convulsing, nothing happens. Aviva throws me a pair of cuffs and I flip her over and turn them on.
"Bummer, they're manmade meta's," I say, and Aviva looks alarmed.
"She'll be fine Alpha, it won't poison her because there is nothing for the liquid to attack," Cathleen says quickly, and Aviva relaxes and shakes her head at me.
"You are a pain in the ass," she grumbles, and I laugh but stop short when two side doors are thrown open and the Circa City team moves in, Click right in the front. Tears blur my vision as she sprints across the room. Bracing myself, she slams into me crying.
"You are safe now," I say, and she sobs quietly into my shoulder. I shift her in my arms and her head falls onto my chest and that's where I need her. Hugging her tighter I feel it, a gun trained on me. I don't have a moment to even think as I hear multiple screams of distress and the sound of a single gunshot. Pain explodes in the back of my head and the world goes black as I collapse backward. Tears pour from my eyes as I hear Click screaming, at least she's safe with the team now.
I'm sorry!!!! I had to do it 😭😭😭. Forgive me, Xander!! The banner feels very appropriate for this chapter.
XX Cc