The Last Straw

[Nox]

The menacing presence disappaited as did the weapon he had been holding.

A cop was asking him if he knew a thug/ganster. Um, how was he supposed to answer that. And why had Vega just left them alone. He could tell their secret to Barovsky and they'd be dead in a heart beat. And Borovsky wouldn't give Aria any chance to explain anything. Vega must not have know that. Secrets were everywhere in the Atharim. Vega was keeping his mouth shut but why? Another problem for another day. He had to deal with this godling cop first.

Aria shook her head. "Met him once."


Nox sighed. "Yes. But before you get the wrong impression we are nothing alike."


Ivan looked at Nox with narrowed eyes as if trying to figure out the truth. "How's that?"


"Sebastian was a thug. And volatile."
Nox gave an awkward laugh, "I'm dangerous but I'm not going to go throwing my power around like some ass hat. I don't exactly want attention drawn to who or what I am. I kinda like my life the way it is - ya know living it."
Nox was fairly certain this cop knew nothing of the Atharim. He was about to get a very big dose of reality. If Vega was going to work with him it would be a miracle.

Ivan looked at him for a moment and then nodded. "Ok."
He looked at Aria for a moment, seeming to study her and looked as if he was going to ask something. When he did speak to her, it was to ask "And you? Do you use the power too?"


Aria glared at him and Nox grinned helplessly. "She's not exactly in a good mood right now."
Nox turned to Aria with a smile, "Why don't you go see what you can salvage?"
Aria looked at him and Nox nodded. "I'm fine. I promise."
He was glad she was concerned but it was getting a bit much. "Go before you burn a whole in his face or something."
It was a joke of course and Aria rolled her eyes at the comment before turning towards the rumble pile. Nox wondered about the mural in her room. Fuck! The last thing of Lucas and it was gone now. This was not going to go over well.

Nox turned back to the cop. "She has her own unique ability. Not like ours, but an ability none-the-less."


****

Ivan watched her leave. She was pretty hot, even with the scowl. Nice figure too, though of course he had to be draped in that stupid long jacket so he couldn't get a proper look. Women could be so inconsiderate at times. Anyway, she was gone and that was ok. Though something about her looked at bit familiar to him. He couldn't figure out what it was though. Maybe another time when she didn't look like she wanted to chew rocks. He glanced at the smoking ruins and felt sympathy. They had lost everything. "Sorry about you and your girlfriend's loss."
He didn't know what had caused the fire though he suspected Volodin, if he had died in there. He really wondered how Vega had known that. Later he told himself.

And now it had come down to it. Except he doubted the guy was in the disposition to help him, what with all that had happened. "You need a place to stay? I know there are emergency services for disasters. I can put a word in and get you at least a bed for the night. For both of you, anyway."


****

Nox smirked - girlfiend - ha!. "She's the farthest thing from my girlfriend, but thanks for the sentiment. We are good. We have a place to go."
They really didn't have a place to go that either of them wanted to be at for long. And Aria's apartment wouldn't fit three and they really wouldn't want to impose upon Ashavari right now. They were an emotional mess. But HQ had bunks and for the moment no one other than Vega knew his secret and as long as Vega kept quiet they would be good for now. It might be good to get out of Moscow though - at least for a little while.

"You think Bas was in there when it went up?"
Nox had a pretty good idea that he was. He'd heard the end of that conversation. And it was Sebastian's idea for them to stay there. He probably came for safety. Dude, putting me and mine in danger like that. Nox growled, stupid idiot!

****

Ivan nodded at him. At least they had somewhere else to go. To his question, though, Ivan shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know. This seems to be Vega's show and he seems to know more than he's telling. To be fair, though, we only just met and started working together."
He was going to get answers. The monster squad was not going to work well if everyone was keeping secrets about their abilities and skills and what not. He'd make sure Vega understood that. If that didn't work, he'd have a conversation with LT about the problems secret keeping was going to cause for all of them.

And now- the important stuff out of the way- he could ask. He lowered his voice, though. Just because he didn't think the team should keep secrets didn't mean he wanted to broadcast this. The noise of all the workers and people was enough to mask their conversation, though. "How long have you been able to use the power? Can you touch it any time you want to?"


****

Nox didn't particular care about the dynamic between the two and merely nodded at his conversation additions. Talking to him was better than talking to Vega at least. That man, if he was anything like Borovsky, would probably have had his head in a hand basket if he so much as sneezed.

Nox was mildly suprised by the whispered question. He grinned as he pulled the power around him. "I've known what I am for almost two years now."
From the line of questions Nox was fairly certain the cop couldn't touch the power for some stupid reason. "My sister and I had to be in physical contact in order to reliably use our power. That was until we forgot who we were and that we were supposed to hold hands. Hell we didn't even know each other."
He was spilling too much information. But if Nox was right, this was a man who survived by pure happenstance and now was trying to break whatever block he had - like Pytor in the tunnels.

Nox dropped the power. He asked the obvious question."You can't?"


****

Ivan felt the familiar sense of danger suddenly loom from the man and a stab of fear lanced through him, the memory of Volodin in the market still clear in his mind- and like that the power presented itself to him all pretty and tied up in a bow and he seized it. Both of them held the power now but did nothing with it. Just held it. Ivan could tell the man was far stronger than him, which only fed the tension he felt. Then Ivan grinned sheepishly. "I have to feel....tense, I guess."
He wouldn't admit to more. After a moment, he deliberately let the power go again, the feeling of loss compounded by the threat that seemed to fill the air. He squared his shoulders and stood up straight, shoving the fear and anxiety to the background. He would not be driven by his fear. Not here. Not ever. The feeling of tension drained away though the menace coming from the guy was still there.

He smirked, thinking of the guy's own old need. "I guess mine is better than that. At least I don't have to have someone with me."
He looked back the woman. "She your sister?"
They didn't look much alike. That didn't necessarily mean anything. People didn't always look like their family- though that might be more do to some extra-curricular exercise mom might be getting. And sometimes people who weren't related looked similar. And then he knew why Aria looked familiar. She bore a resemblance to Alex. They had the same build and everything, though Alex was probably a bit bigger up top. Stupid coat. That made him laugh to himself.He

"Still, it's a stupid thing to need. You beat yours. Can you teach me?"
And then he looked at the smoking ruins and remembered the weaves. "I'd like to understand what it is we can do. I'd do better as a cop fighting monsters and douchebags in markets and all."


****

"Aria is my sister by choice - not blood. My sister is dead."
Saying the words brought new sorrow to his voice. He had almost pushed it away temporarily.

It was a pretty stupid thing to need. It seemed everyone's so-called block had to do with how it manifested. Both Aurora and himself were protecting the other and it became what it was. Tense was likely fear and he was probably playing it to look cool. Nox grinned as the cop pulled the power around him. Nox scared him.

Nox shrugged. "I don't know how I'd be as a teacher. I can show you what I know. Bas was a quick study, another friend of ours was okay at it. I've seen someone try to copy a weave I've done in front of them before and it backfired when they tried to do it."
Nox laughed at the memory of the dickwad he'd met out of the hosiptal - all let me show you who is better just to impress a girl. If Nox could only find that douche bag again, he'd show him a thing or two.

"You need to break that block first thing. Or what I show you is just gonna be gallery tricks. Never save your life if shit sneaks up on you. Though fear is a great motivator."
Nox remembered an old movie, one of Aria's favorites actually. She had a thing for super hero movies. "Embrace it. Be David Banner 'My secret is I'm always angry.'"


Nox thought about all the shit that had happened today. What's one more thing added to his plate. He ran through the events counting the shit that had happened, and as he quicky replayed the events he had an ah-ha moment. Fighting with Aria and Ayden embraced her gift. He'd weilded two weaves! How the fuck did I do that? He'd been holding Aria, he distinctly remembered not tying the weave off. And then he threw a fireball at her feet. Holy shit! Now if I could do it consciously. He grinned at his so called student. "And after that there is a whole other realm of things to learn."


Nox warned, "I don't know many things that are beneficial. I can teach you combat as that's what I do. I can't teach you the finer art of things that benefit a person. But trial by fire. I need to deal with Aria and this."
He waved his hands at the surrounding area. "You have plans tonight?"


****

"I'm sorry man."
He meant it. He had a sister and knew how it would feel if she were dead. Some of the man's expression made more sense. Perhaps now wasn't the best time to ask. But the guy seemed willing enough, at least to show him how he did what he did. That was something. And he seemed to want to fight with the power. If he had been teaching Volodin- and he'd seen first hand what he was capable of back at the market- then it would be good for him to learn. The guy didn't guard his power jealously, which was cool.

The words about fear left him looking at the guy blankly. Was that a quote? He wasn't the quote guy. Stuff like that was forgotten as soon as it was over. Still, the sentiment was something to think about. He hoped it was wrong though. Walking around in a perpetual state of stress wasn't something he wanted to do. Still, just being with someone who knew might lead to all kinds of things.

He stuck out his hand. "Ivan Sarkozy. And yeah, I'm free."
He felt hope stir and it made him glad. Finally. Something deep inside him felt anticipation. This was what he was born for, to protect his people. And now there was hope that he would be able to do that far more effectively.

He looked around. It was time he got back to work. He gave the guy his number and then headed over to join Vega. Which reminded him. They needed to talk.

****

A name - finally. He hated not knowing someone's name particularly another guys. He could be cute and funny with a chick - Duckling worked in all sorts of ways, but he hated giving a guy a name unless they were total tools. And Ivan didn't seem like a tool. He seemed pretty cool. And Nox was looking forward to actually hunting. Though Aria was going to be pissed she couldn't come along. Nox wasn't sure Ivan would go for having a tag along.

Nox offered Ivan his first name. Last names could get him killed. Not that Nox was a common name, but most people wouldn't spell it the way his folks had - he thanked god for that.

He took Ivan's information and supplied his own. Vega could easily look him up now - which sucked but such was life. Before they parted Nox called after Ivan. "Here tonight. 9pm."
Then Nox went in search for Aria. He finally had a piece of good news to share on this horrid day.