FicWad

Earlier that morning

Very much in keeping with the rest of the house, the furniture in both Gerard and Mikey’s bedrooms was largely either antique or at least had that appearance. Both of their parents had been keen collectors of antiques and art and had filled the house in a late-Victorian and early-Edwardian style. Neither of the boys had strong feelings with regard to the decor and neither particularly liked nor objected to the style of the furniture - certainly not enough to replace it. However on the relatively few occasions that something either broke or a new item was needed they tended to choose a piece with a modern flavour yet didn’t jar too much with its surroundings.

Mikey rubbed the sleep from his eyes and yawned, his mouth gaping and contorting while he stretched his arms expansively and the joints of his spine crackled with displeasure at being asked to move after the night’s rest. It was early, too early and as far as Mikey was concerned this particular hour had no business being light but he had something important on his mind and it needed to be done early. Dressing simply in a pair of black jeans and an old faded band shirt, Mikey yawned and stretched again, determined to wake himself up enough to creep past Gerard’s room without stumbling. His brother was a world-class sleeper so he wasn’t particularly worried but if he wasn’t careful, today would be the day that he woke him merely by treading on a squeaky floorboard or kicking some unnoticed object. Shaking out his arms and legs, he nodded to himself, satisfied that he was awake - at least awake enough to get downstairs. Coffee would do the rest.

Moving slowly and carefully, Mikey almost tip-toed towards the stairs. Passing Gerard’s bedroom door, he moved with even greater stealth as he noticed that the door was very slightly ajar and was worried that any sound would carry more easily. He grimaced as he edged forward, barely daring to breathe until he reached the staircase. Heading down he picked up seed, certain that the difficult part was over; the house was very large and once he installed himself in the living room he was sure he would be far enough away to run no risk of waking his brother. On his mind was a particular task - watching the DVD before Gerard so that he could be certain that he wouldn’t discover anything too surprising before he had a chance to explain things himself.

Exhausted after the pizza, chicken and two movies, the boys had opted to leave watching the recording until the next morning. There had been a brief, half-hearted disagreement about Mikey skipping school to stay at home to watch it but Mikey had been insistent that he didn’t want to leave Gerard on his own all day. Gerard had put up a minimal objection; in truth, he wanted the company too, but mostly the news had been quite shocking leaving him concerned for Mikey’s wellbeing and he wanted to keep him close by.

Even though they had barely seen ten seconds of the recording, Emmett’s explanation had been enough to worry Mikey and he was now venturing down to review the tape alone, in case he needed to prepare Gerard prior to their uncle’s arrival. It wasn’t until he rested his hand on the handle to the living room door that he realised the TV was on with the volume lowered. Mikey held his breath as he heard his father talking. Mikey’s initial reaction was to feel hurt that Gerard was watching it without him, but he immediately checked himself given that was exactly what he was planning to do and almost certainly for similar reasons - protection of the other. His second thought was to use his powers to switch off the DVD or turn off the volume, purely for amusement value. Taking a deep breath, Mikey realised that he had been spending far too much time with Frank.

Going with his third thought, Mikey pushed the door open slowly so as not to startle Gerard and also to convey that he was not angry. To his dismay, it had the effect of Gerard believing he was upset and feeling betrayed. Pausing the DVD, Gerard turned a guilty expression towards his brother and frowned deeply, raising a hand to his mouth.

“I… I’m sorry, Mikey,” Gerard began, his pitch higher than normal and speaking quickly. “I just wanted…”
“To protect me,” Mikey smiled and nodded. “I know, that’s why I’m here but you beat me to it.”
“You wanted to protect me?” Gerard asked, pointing to himself with surprise. “But why? I mean…”

Gerard paused, he wasn’t certain how to phrase what he wanted to say. In fact, the more he tried to think about it, the less he knew exactly what he wanted to say.

“How much have you watched?” Mikey asked, uncertain how to respond.

Gerard turned back to look at the TV and in particular the indicator that showed how far along the recording was.

“Almost all of it, to be honest,” Gerard sighed. “I’m going to have to watch it again anyway. It’s a lot to take in.”
“What have you found out so far?” Mikey asked, entering the room as Gerard waved him in and poured a mug of coffee from the pot sitting on the tray on the coffee table. “You were expecting me?” Mikey asked, surprised to see the extra mug there already.
“Yeah,” Gerard’s pitch rose and frowned again, puzzled by his own thoughts. “I don’t know why or how, but I knew you’d be here soon. Brother thing?” Gerard shrugged.

Mikey turned a bleak expression towards Gerard, uncertain what to say. He wanted to tell him everything he knew but he was also aware that it would be something of a shock for his brother and remembering his own reaction to being informed about his powers, he didn’t want to witness the same response from Gerard.



*



Eight Months Earlier:

Mikey turned his head slowly to examine the room: roughly thirty feet square with no obvious entrance. An insipid non-threatening beige paint covered the walls, the ceiling either off-white or merely dirty. The scuffed floor was made up of marble-effect sage green tiles and despite the shine from what appeared to be a recent polishing, they were old and a little dingy. The collection of desks all facing a single one at what, Mikey assumed, must be the head of the room gave it a classroom feel, but there were no books, chalkboard or any other writing surface to be seen. The innocuous appearance would normally have removed any sense of danger or threat but the fact that Mikey had no memory of how he had come to be there, or indeed where ‘there’ was introduced the element of fear. Mikey could feel his heart beating too fast for comfort, his breathing quicker and noisier than usual. A sheen of sweat had formed on his forehead with the rest of his body feeling somewhat clammy. If he could have found a door - a task he had already failed at - he would have tried to leave long before now. As it was, he had been there at least ten minutes, but it had felt like hours and his anxiety had built to the point that he was beginning to feel lightheaded.

Finally a swishing noise drew his attention and in the far corner of the room a door appeared as a section of wall slid to the side. A tall man with dark brown wavy hair and carrying a clipboard walked in; he looked to be in his thirties and Mikey’s anxiety grew heightened as he realised that he had no idea who this man was or what he wanted.

“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting,” the man began as the door closed behind him, disappearing into the wall once more.

Mikey was almost unaware of what he had said, merely staring past him, longing for an escape route to remain visible to him. As the man walked closer, Mikey’s nervousness grew and he was clearly shaking.

“You… er…” the man began frowning at the scared boy. “You know why you’re here? Yeah?”

Mikey merely shook his head, robbed of speech by his tightening throat.

“Oh, this is unusual,” the man rolled his eyes. “So… um… do you know where you are?”

Mikey shook his head again.

The man drew in a deep breath and he regarded the terrified boy with an expression of sympathy mixed with annoyance.

“Okay, there’s no need to be afraid. You’ve been brought here because of your talents and…”

Mikey’s eyes widened and he pushed his seat back so forcibly that it fell clattering to the floor. Backing away, he finally found his voice.

“You lay a finger on me and I’ll bite it off!” Mikey shouted, holding his arms in front of him and standing semi-crouched in a defensive stance. “My brother’ll be looking for me, you won’t get away with this!”

The man’s eyes widened and he found himself backing away from the terrified boy, his arms raised in a mirror image of Mikey’s.

“No, no, you’ve got it all wrong!” He cried with alarm. “This is a school. Just a school.”
“I don’t remember how I got here. You drugged me?”
“No, look, this has obviously been badly handled. You’re supposed to know about us. Didn’t your guardian explain this to you?”
“Gee?” Mikey narrowed his eyes and his brow creased in confusion.

The man glanced down at the clipboard for a few moments before looking back towards Mikey.

“Emmett Rush?” He prompted with a questioning expression.
“Oh,” Mikey replied, much of the fear racing out of him leaving him suddenly drained. “Uncle Emmett? He died.”
“Died?” The man pulled a face and scratched his head. “That’s strange. Er, okay, erm… but you know about your powers, yes?”

Mikey paled once more and merely stared back in response, barely able to think let alone respond.

“You don’t, do you?”

The man appeared to visibly sag at the realisation - no wonder the boy was terrified.

“So you’ve never heard of the Paladin Academy of Research and Training?”

Mikey shook his head and the man rubbed his forehead.

“Okay, this is going to take some time, do you want some water?”

Mikey nodded and the man pressed a button on what appeared to be a small pager attached to his belt.

“I’ve called my secretary, she’ll be here soon. Right, my name is Deputy Principal Amande and you’ve been signed up to attend pretty much from birth. You and your brother Gerard.”
“What did you mean when you said powers?” Mikey asked, his voice tentative and quiet.
“You’re telekinetic,” Amande tipped his head. “You didn’t know? You never moved anything without touching it?”
“I thought we had helpful ghosts,” Mikey shrugged.
“That theory has been tested by the Research Department,” Amande smiled and nodded. “It has happened, but mostly not.”
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Mikey frowned, his pale complexion greying as the reality of the situation became more apparent to him.

Amande’s eyes widened but as he scanned the room for some sort of receptacle he realised it was too late. He made a mental note that when it was Gerard’s time, they would have to tread much more carefully. How these boys had reached their teens oblivious to their abilities was beyond him but there would definitely be questions - not least of which would surround the so-called death of Emmett Rush.


*


“Come on,” Gerard began again. “Let’s watch it from the start, together.”

Mikey offered a half-smile; Gerard didn’t seem too fazed by what he had watched so far. It seemed hopeful that the DVD didn’t contain much that he didn’t already know. What had concerned him most, in fact, had been Uncle Emmett’s arrival. Why hadn’t he given them the DVD earlier? Did he know that Gerard’s powers were emerging now? If he did, then surely he knew that Mikey’s already had but he had stayed away. What had he meant by saying he needed to be thought of as dead? By whom? Was he in any danger? Were they now that he had reappeared?

“Mikey!”

Gerard’s repeated call filtered through the fog that had clouded Mikey’s mind as he considered some of his many questions. Blinking as if waking from a deep sleep, Mikey turned a blank expression towards Gerard before it softened with a flush of pink as he realised that Gerard had been speaking to him and he hadn’t heard a word.

“It’s ready,” Gerard pointed to the screen.
“Sorry, Gee, yeah, let’s find out what’s going on.”

The two boys settled back in the couch with their coffees as the images of their parents flickered to life on the screen. It had been a painful and difficult two years and as much as they had both grieved and learned to take care of themselves, both boys missed their parents desperately. They had shared an enviably close bond with their parents. Their wealth had afforded them a lack of a necessity to work meaning they had much greater time to spend with the children and they had adored them. In return, Gerard and Mikey both loved their parents deeply and their sudden deaths had been traumatic.

In many ways it was wonderful for the boys to be able to see and hear their parents again but they couldn’t help feeling somewhat betrayed to discover their secret life. Emmett had referred to them as gifted spies, even superheroes, but they had called themselves vigilantes. Either way, to Gerard it seemed implausible at best and outlandish at worst.

“Do you believe it?” Gerard finally asked as they DVD drew to a close for the second time.
“Well,” Mikey began carefully, “I doubt they’re lying.”
“What do you think they meant about abilities? Do you think they’re referring to this Academy place? Some sort of spy school?”
“I got the feeling it was more than that,” Mikey exhaled a deep sigh; he had to say something. “Look, Gee…”

As he began again, a loud knock at the front door stopped him. Glancing at his watch to see the time was already almost one o’clock, Gerard beamed with delight.

“They’re here!” He cried, leaping to his feet in one deft and fluid motion.
“Who’s here?” Mikey replied, puzzled by the response.
“No! I ordered a pair of lightsabers for us. A surprise!” he grinned. “They’re being delivered today. That must be them.”

Mikey’s smile formed quickly and spread across his face. The news was exciting enough but Gerard’s enthusiasm was infectious. Pouring them both another mug of coffee each, Mikey waited as Gerard almost ran to the door. The corridor was long and out of view from where Mikey was seated, but even though he couldn’t see what was happening, a feeling of dread sunk deep into the pit of his stomach. At first uncertain, Mikey rose from the couch. He couldn’t say why but something didn’t feel right - it was a new and uncomfortable sensation and he could no longer ignore it. Something inside his head was screaming at him to check on Gerard. Walking briskly into the hallway he broke into a run as the door stood open and Gerard was nowhere to be seen. Reaching the door, Mikey pulled up sharply gasping with shock as he almost ran into Ray and Frank, both displaying expressions of wide-eyed concern and seemed shaken.

“What are you doing here?” Mikey asked urgently. “Did you see Gee?”

Frank threw his arm out to indicate the driveway; he was breathless and seemed to be panicking.

“Two men just dragged him into a car,” he gabbled. “We couldn’t stop them!”

Mikey stared blankly up the driveway; the car was already gone. It was a moment or two before he realised that Ray was supporting him and both he and Frank were pushing him back inside the house.

“No!” Mikey cried. “No, we have to do something!”
“We will,” Frank replied between gasps for breath as he bordered on hyperventilating with shock.
“But first we need to figure out what the hell just happened,” Ray added, more subdued but with a glazed expression, still clearly shocked.