CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Flip watched as Kane stepped out of their circle and walked off into the evening light. He kissed the top of Nat’s head and followed his friend. The weight of their dilemma was now firmly on Kane’s shoulders, and Flip knew that he, Adam, and Spook would need to help their teammate.
“I can’t do this,” he whispered to no one, anyone, to Flip.
“You can,” he said, standing next to Kane. “You can, and you will, and we will help you.” Flip shuffled back and forth for a minute, searching for the right words.
“Listen, Kane, I don’t know what the future holds for any of us. Hell, no one knows that, but I think that’s the one skill we lack right now,” he said with a sardonic smirk. “What I do know is this group of people are the most amazing fucking people I’ve ever had the privilege to know. We have gifts that no one can even comprehend. We have abilities that no one is able to harness. I think with the right leader, we can help the world. We can help people in all the ways we want. All the ways we’ve always wanted to help the world.”
Kane looked at his friend, searching his face in a questioning manner.
“Kane, do you remember when you first joined the Army? How you felt?” Kane nodded. “I do, too. I wanted to take down every bad guy out there. I wanted to protect the world and be fucking Superman! I wanted to make a difference in the world. To help the little guy, the underdog, and crush the evil forces doing vile things in this world. I wanted that more than anything and then realized that the government wasn’t going to allow me to do that.” He laughed low and shook his head.
“Yea, fucking Superman,” said Kane, “I guess we all thought we could be him.”
“But we can, Kane. That’s the irony of all this. This team, this group of people, we are fucking Superman together ! We are nothing apart, but when we act as one, we’re going to be able to accomplish amazing things. We have skills that are only written about in comic books and superhero movies. No one in this world can comprehend what we have on this mountain. Not even Karena Viskoff. She has no clue what we are together, what we can do together.”
Kane nodded once more, looking out at the night sky, the soft flakes falling slowly, their crystals flickering in the light like fireflies in May.
“We have to kill her, Kane. Like it or not, we have to hunt down Karena Viskoff and kill her. If she lives, we will always be in danger.”
“Yea,” he said, letting out a long, slow breath, “yea, I know. I just hate the idea of putting any of us at risk.”
“We have the upper hand. We know we can communicate with one another telepathically now. She thinks Regan is dead. The files are burned, so she’s only relying on her memory. I think, just like with Cullen, Uri, and the others, we find the men she has working for her and offer to get them out. We get them help, or we go in with a plan A, plan B, and a fucking plan Z if we have to, but we rid ourselves of this woman and focus on saving the rest of the world or at least doing a little bit of fucking good.”
Kane nodded again and gripped the shoulder of the big man beside him. Flip was changing for the better. He was calmer, more composed, much more relaxed, and at ease. Kane knew it was because of Nat and wondered what would happen to Flip if anything were to happen to her.
“Nothing will happen to Nat.”
“Fuck! We have got to learn to control that!” said Kane. Flip laughed and nodded, shrugging his shoulders. “Alright, let’s meet tomorrow morning, everyone.”
And in his head, like a massive answering machine, Kane heard the sounds of every member of their little band of misfits.
I’ll be there, Kane…
Me too…
See you there…
Get some sleep, big man…