The Redeemer Read online

  Chapter 4: The Ones who never forget

  I am strong. I always told myself this because if I didn’t tell myself, how would I know? With all the thoughts running through my mind and all the chaos happening to me, it wasn’t hard to see that Medusa was back. And they were gunning for me. It’s crappy. I mean, you wake up one day with an adrenaline rush and a need to steal things and suddenly you’re wrong. Maybe that was wrong. Then you do something so horrible that you decide to change. And, when you change, you realize that nothing around you is changing how people look at you. I’m still trouble. I’d been shot at, blown up and stuck on a dead end train. Fun was back and here to stay, apparently. Cypress’ appearance was just another in a long line of screw-updom that was my life. Cypress is a dangerous man because he’s not muscle or strength, he’s fear and smarts. Cypress scares me the most. He’s cold and calculating and will do anything to know everything. It’s the worst sort of evil: Evil with the goal of knowledge. His evil, and knowledge, had set him free from the constraints the rest of the world followed. I’d seen some of his creations when we were at Medusa. Besides being appalled, I was impressed. There was only one mind that could rival his and that was Dr. Kinsler. I haven’t seen much of him, or any of the team members, since I got here. It was intentional. It was okay. I was still stiff and bruised from the trainwreck but I was moving around now. The room was pretty big, probably a suite in itself. I found myself in the shower when I heard a noise. I quickly stopped the shower and reached out, grabbing a gun I’d borrowed from the weapons cache. I quickly slid on underwear and wrapped a towel around myself as I latched onto the side of the wall. The noise came again, from the living room. I quickly turned the corner with my gun pointed at the long-haired figure. Leif. I was shell shocked as I held the gun up at him. He put his hands up, cautioning me that he was a friend.

  “You can put that away. I am no threat.” Leif smiled in a non-threatening way.

  I sighed and put my gun down to the floor, “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  “You’re not accustomed to teamwork, are you?” Leif asked.

  I chuckled and sat the gun on the coffee table, “Can’t be too trusting with Medusa on my ass. Besides, most of my ‘teammates’ think I should be locked away.” I said.

  Leif nodded and watched me, “What do you think?” He asked.

  I laughed as I disappeared into my room. I slipped on a t-shirt and jeans before returning to him, “The question is, ‘what do you think?’ and why should I care?” I asked.

  “You seemed to care.”

  I chortled, “Everyone thinks they’re the expert on me because they’ve read a dossier or heard rumors…Without knowing. I guess you got that too since everyone thinks—“

  “I’m not Thor!” He said angrily. He calmed himself before he spoke again, “I do not know why I have Thor’s Mjorn.”

  “Is that what it’s called?” I asked.

  “I don’t know where I come from. I can’t remember.” He said, “I’m not a metal man or super-soldier…”

  “Thank God.” I smiled.

  “You are peculiar.” He smirked, “You’ve been through many things. I’ve heard about the battle of Medusa. I don’t blame you. You did the heroic thing.”

  “I shot my fiancée. I betrayed him.” I said.

  “You vanquished Medusa.” He said, “You’re no ordinary man.”

  I smiled at him. He was definitely cute and everything he said had a nice ring to it. I began to wonder how he could be amnesiac. He looked so strong and unyielding. I guess everyone has a weakness. As I stood at the door, I realized that I hadn’t moved. I had been stationary talking to him. Something about him made me nervous, but not regular nervous. I’m never regular nervous. I moved to the bar and grabbed a bottle of scotch.

  “Ale?” He asked.

  “First thing about figuring who you are, decode the language you use.” I said, “Are you sure you’re not from the past or…possibly a Shakespearean future?”

  “I don’t think so.” He said quickly. He walked over and sat the scotch back down, “I don’t think this will help.”

  I groaned in pain and cracked my neck, “I just got my ass kicked majorly and a mad scientist tried to kill me. I think that this bottle isn’t enough.”

  Leif chuckled, “We need to be at our best.” He said.

  “Yeah, but how is a beat-up ex-criminal going to help?” I cackled, “You don’t get it. I’m just a guy. The rest of this team is super-powered human beings. My special skill set is that I can pick a lock in seconds and I’m extremely good in combat.”

  “Are you sure that’s your only talent?” He asked. I stared at him before he started again, “I should go. There are many things I need to learn about my own powers before the inevitable war.” He sounded so proud.

  “And that war doesn’t scare you?” I asked.

  He chuckled and walked to the door, “No, I relish it.” He said, walking past Dana and David.

  “Making new friends?” Dana asked.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about Anderson or Inik?” I asked, “Could have been useful.”

  “Who told you to stray from here? Haven’t we stressed upon you the gravity of your situation?” Dana asked angrily.

  “I had no things. No clothes, no weapons…”

  “We have weapons.” David said slowly.

  “Not my weapons.” I frowned, “Not my clothes.”

  “I didn’t save you to have you die in an explosion or a train before…”

  “Before it’s time, Dana?” I asked, “Look, I enlisted in your little team. I’m here with you, but if we do it, we do it my way.”

  “This is not your team.” Dana said angrily.

  “And from what I hear, neither is it yours.” I said.

  There was an uncomfortable silence. Dana was appalled and I was holding my ground. David moved between us, trying to diffuse the situation, “How are you? Physically.” He asked.

  “I probably look like a steak after Rocky gets done.” I frowned, “I jumped out of a moving subway train, how do you think I am physically?”

  “Mentally?” Dana asked.

  “What am I, your project?” I asked.

  “This is no project. The fate of the world…” Dana began.

  “You can let yourself out.” I said, turning from them. I turned when I felt someone still watching me, “You know, I meant you too.”

  “It was dangerous.” David frowned. He was standing with his hands behind his back and a concerned pair of eyes on me.

  “Was it?” I asked, “Why do you even care?”

  “You’re my teammate.”

  “I’m not even going to ask why it’s so hard for you to say you care, tiger.” I smirked.

  David tensed at the name, “It’s—It’s not that simple.”

  I laughed, “Relax. The man who cared about me was killed…ironically by me.” I said more sadly than I meant to.

  “You had to, we both know it.” David said quickly.

  I looked to him seriously, “It made me a thief. A true thief. Material things can be given back.” I shrugged, “Stealing gets easier after a while.”

  David slowly walked over to me and put a hand on my shoulder, “We chose you, me specifically, because you spared my family shame and took it upon yourself. It wasn’t your betrayal that I have a hard time accepting, it’s this family’s. You’re a constant reminder that my brother got lost in the war of evil, which my mom did too. What we did…doesn’t compare. That’s the hardest part of being around you. I don’t see your betrayal. I see ours.”

  I stared at him, sincerely feeling him. I hadn’t understood the fullness of his emotion. Why he couldn’t stand to look at me. I thought it was because of my actions, but it wasn’t. He felt shame for his brother and mother. He felt his own brand of guilt and shame. I’d taken on the shame so that his family wouldn’t have to. I took the blame so that they’re family wouldn’t have to. Everything they said I wa
s, I was. But I wasn’t cold or remorseless. I couldn’t help but smile, standing in front of one of the most moral people I knew. There was a reason that his favorite comic book hero is Captain America. He was a hero, through and through. My hero.

  I snapped out of my gaze, “An alien invasion is coming and I can’t get past these issues.” I frowned, “Being a badass has a price. Like a guy named Marvel not being able to look at you.”

  “He’s learning.” David smiled. He watched me this time with a look I’d known too well. I’d seen it on his face before on the night that changed everyone’s life.

  “I may not know how to love, but I know what it looks like.” I chuckled, “Let yourself out.” I said, heading to the bedroom.