Jamie wasn’t willing to bury anyone else, especially not the man he was beginning to deeply care about.
They turned a corner and Jamie caught sight of the rest of the team—his family—corralled in a waiting room, everyone still in their combat uniforms with weapons at hand, huddled up as they waited for news.
Jamie picked up the pace, more than ready to join them.
The incessant beeping of machines that he could no longer ignore meant he was alive.
Kyle really wished he weren’t.
He kept his eyes shut as his sluggish mind shook off the hazy clutch of deep unconsciousness. Kyle couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this exhausted, either as a human or a metahuman. Right now, breathing felt like it was too much effort, and he’d happily go back to sleep, except something had dragged him out of his dreams. Something he couldn’t ignore.
Or rather, several people.
“<>”
“<
“<
“<
“<
Kyle wrenched his eyes open using every last bit of strength he could find. Blinking his bleary vision into some semblance of working order, Kyle focused on the circle of familiar faces surrounding his hospital biobed.
Alexei stood at the foot of the biobed, arms crossed over his chest, looking for all the world like he wanted to murder someone, even though Kyle could read the happiness in his gray eyes. Standing on either side of the biobed at about where his knees were, Kyle could see Valentina on his left, his littlest sister’s chestnut-colored hair pulled away from her pretty face in a loose braid, the nineteen-year-old’s slim hands gripping the rigid edge of the biobed like it was her lifeline. Opposite her stood twenty-three-year-old Tatyana, the only blonde in the family. She clutched her hands together as if she were praying, despite being a life-long atheist, her blue-gray eyes locked on Kyle’s face.
Standing closest to him on either side of the biobed were the people Kyle considered his parents above all others, no matter what his birth records on file stated. Maria and Evgeni Dvorkin were a thin, dark haired couple who’d survived a lifetime of hardship before coming to America and taking him in as one of their own. Both looked as if they’d been put through the wringer, and Kyle knew enough to know he was the reason for their reddened eyes.
“<
Maria leaned over to gather Kyle into a careful hug, kissing him hard on both cheeks. “<
She moved aside so Evgeni could wrap his arms around as much of Kyle as he could reach. Kyle weakly gripped his father’s shirt, blinking back the sudden wetness in his eyes. “<
“<
Maria gripped Kyle’s left hand in hers as Valentina squeezed in to carefully give him a hug once their father let him go. Kyle patted her on the back weakly with his right hand before she was nudged aside by Tatyana, who peppered his face with kisses before pulling away.
Overwhelmed, Kyle could only look at where Alexei stood and say, “<
“<
“<
Kyle weakly wriggled the fingers of his free hand at Alexei. “<
Alexei rolled his eyes, but he came around the biobed to give Kyle a tight hug without further protest, ignoring their parents’ admonishments for him to be careful. After three years of watching Kyle shake off injuries that would kill other people, Alexei knew when he needed to be careful and when he didn’t.
Kyle wrapped his arms around Alexei as tightly as he could, pressing his face against his brother’s shoulder as Alexei whispered in his ear. “<
Alexei let him go after a long moment and Kyle slumped in the biobed, tiredly rubbing one eye, mindful of the IV embedded in the back of his hand. Nearly all monitoring was done wirelessly, but IVs were a tried and true mainstay that would never be replaced.
Kyle was about to ask for a sitrep, because his last clear memory was the chaos of a firefight, but the sound of the door to his private medical room opening caught his attention. Dr. Gracie Gold stepped inside, a smile on her tired face and a tablet in her hands.
“Welcome back to the land of the living,” Gracie said.
Valentina thrust a glass of water into Kyle’s hands and he gave her a thankful smile. His mouth was bone dry and tasted like something had died in it. The water helped, but only marginally.
“How long?” Kyle asked, in English this time, even though it took a few seconds to swallow the sound of Russian curling over his tongue.
“Three days, one of which was spent in a medicated coma. It’s Sunday.”
Kyle winced.
“You had a rough go of it, but I’m happy to inform you that, between your power and mine, you’ve made a full recovery,” Gracie said.
“Doesn’t feel like it.”
“That’s to be expected, considering what your body went through.”
Kyle sighed. “About that.”
Gracie gave Kyle’s family an apologetic look. “If you could excuse us for a couple of minutes?”
“Of course,” Evgeni replied.
He and the rest of the Dvorkin family, sans Alexei, filed out of the hospital room. Gracie approached the biobed, scanning the readings on the attached display to get an updated assessment of Kyle’s real time condition. “Dr. Patel’s attempts at a therapeutic vaccine fell well short of that goal. It isn’t a vaccine at all. It doesn’t stop the immune system from overreacting to a threat, nor does it counteract Splice. If anything, it’s still far too unstable to even be considered for animal clinical trials, much less human.”
Kyle blinked in surprise at that. “She seemed adamant she was on the right path to finding one when we pulled her out of the CDC.”
“Her control group of cells only consisted of human lines, and they became weakened over time. Long-term, I don’t think her work would hold up against Splice in a living body. Aside from that, she never worked with metahuman cells before.”
“Why would she have to? She was looking to save humans with the vaccine.”
“Yes, but the thing about searching for cures is that sometimes you end up discovering something worse by accident.”
“It kill us,” Alexei said quietly. “It kill metahumans.”
Kyle looked at his brother for a long moment before returning his attention to Gracie. “How?”
Gracie patted his arm before adjusting the IV line hanging over his biobed. “The so-called vaccine targets the instability of a metahuman’s changed DNA. The cellular upheaval it caused in Everly’s body is akin to what Splice causes in humans. You’re alive because of your ability to rapidly heal yourself. Everly didn’t survive the process.”
Kyle flinched. “That isn’t something we want getting out.”
“No, it isn’t. Dr. Patel’s research is being confiscated by the government. The director already has hackers sifting through the CDC’s databanks to remove all traces of the research. Her mind and those of the scientists who came with her, as well as anyone with knowledge of the research project back at the CDC, will be telepathically altered to keep them from communicating in any way about what happened here and the results of their research.” Gracie smiled thinly, her eyes tired. “I’m not a fan of such draconian measures, but she accidentally created a weapon, not a cure.”
“That why terrorists w
ant it?” Alexei asked.
“I think they truly believed it was a vaccine, or as close enough to one to someday be viable. If people can be inoculated against the body’s reaction to Splice, terrorists lose a weapon of mass destruction.”
“And governments lose metahumans.”
“Yes, well, that wasn’t the main reason her research is being confiscated and destroyed, but it is a close second.”
Because war was big business and always would be. Governments prized metahumans above all other weapons. Considering the damage they had incurred from just a handful of enemy agents, it wasn’t a surprise governments wouldn’t want to lose access to enhanced people with powers.
“Two other labs are working on something similar. What’s going to happen with them? They aren’t under American control,” Kyle said.
“The director will be making discreet inquiries to those governments in regard to their work. If that research is any way similar to Dr. Patel’s, it will be dealt with. The only thing that matters is this so-called potential vaccine is no longer in anyone’s hands except our own. Even then, I’m not sure the director will hold on to it. Sometimes total eradication is necessary to keep the peace.” Gracie tapped a few commands into her tablet before nodding to herself. “What you need is rest, Kyle. Your vitals are stable across the board, but this took a lot out of you. Sleep. Food. Those are what the doctor is ordering.”
“I’m not gonna argue that,” Kyle said with a tired smile.
“Good. You and your brother argue enough when I send my nurses your way. Your family can stay a little longer, but you need some rest.”
“What about the rest of my team?”
“Out in hall,” Alexei said. “I get them.”
Gracie held up a hand. “Five minutes.”
Kyle nodded, not really up to arguing considering he could barely keep his eyes open. He watched tiredly as his family returned, along with most of his teammates, all of them appearing with relieved smiles on their faces. Kyle’s family stepped back to allow the others access to their teammate. The amount of scolding he got from his team rivaled the hugs and shoulder pats he received. Kyle skimmed his gaze over those gathered around his biobed and came up one short.
Katie seemed to anticipate that, giving him an apologetic smile. “The director needed Jamie for a meeting with brass from the DOD. The aftermath of the attack is keeping us all busy, but him most of all.”
Kyle nodded, not in the least angry about Jamie’s absence. Duty came first for them, whether it was a mission or embracing the suck of paperwork and meetings required in order to make the government and military run smooth.
“He’ll come by when he’s free,” Donovan said. “We’ll let you get some rest. I don’t want Gracie relegating me to the couch for keeping you up.”
“She wouldn’t,” Kyle muttered, fighting to keep his eyes open.
“You bet your ass she would.”
His team said their goodbyes, leaving far happier than when they’d arrived. Maria stepped up to the biobed once they were gone, smoothing her hand over Kyle’s hair.
“<
“<
Maria was known for putting any potential boyfriend or girlfriend her children brought home through an interrogation that would make even a Russian intelligence officer proud. Kyle didn’t think Alexei had told them what was going on between himself and Jamie, considering they weren’t supposed to be seeing each other in the first place, but their mother had sharp eyes.
“<
“<
Kyle closed his eyes and slept.
It must have been hours later when he woke to a darkened room, the sun having long since set outside the window. Blinking his eyes open, feeling better than he had hours earlier, Kyle turned his head to look at the visitor waiting patiently on the chair beside his biobed.
Jamie was in his service uniform instead of his combat one. He carried a Beretta M9C3 9 mil on his hip while his AKR-75 assault rifle rested against the wall, a testament to the unease everyone still felt stemming from the attack. It wasn’t Kyle’s preferred model, but the Marines had always favored that one over all the rest. Recon Marines were no different.
“Hey,” Kyle croaked, making a face at the way his voice sounded.
Jamie quietly got to his feet and poured him a glass of water. Kyle took it from him with eager fingers, swallowing down the cool liquid. The interior window that looked out into the hall on a minimally staffed nurses desk was darkened to keep out the bright lights beyond the room. The door was cracked a little, letting some of that light in, enough that Kyle could make out the tired expression on Jamie’s face.
“C’mere,” Kyle said, tugging at Jamie’s arm.
Jamie took the empty glass from him and wordlessly set it aside before following Kyle’s incessant pull. Jamie leaned over him and Kyle curled his fingers around the collar of Jamie’s uniform as tightly as he could.
Kyle didn’t care about where they were, about who could walk in and see. It was a risk he was willing to take, and Jamie didn’t fight him. His mouth still tasted like something had died in it, but Jamie didn’t seem to care as Kyle leaned up a little to kiss him. Jamie slid his hand around the back of Kyle’s head to hold him there, tongue slipping past Kyle’s teeth as the kiss deepened into something edged with leftover desperation.
“I’m alive,” Kyle murmured against Jamie’s mouth when they parted.
“I know,” Jamie said just as quietly. “But it’s hard to see that when you’re halfway dead.”
Kyle shrugged, the sound of his loose medical shirt shifting over the sheets almost loud in the room. Jamie moved his hand until it rested against the side of Kyle’s face, thumb stroking gently over his cheek. Kyle leaned into the touch a little, never taking his eyes off Jamie.
“I heal.”
“Yeah. Doesn’t stop me from wishing I could make you promise not to do something like that again.”
Kyle blinked slowly, still keeping Jamie right where he wanted him. “You could.”
Jamie smiled, a bittersweet look in his eyes. “I could, but that’s not fair to either of us. So I won’t.”
Because they were both soldiers in this long-running war and always would be. A good commander knew better than to give an order he knew would be disobeyed. Asking Kyle not to put himself at risk during a fight would be hypocritical of Jamie. Putting themselves in harm’s way was their job, but no one ever said it would be easy. War didn’t discriminate. It never had and never would, no matter where a person stood amidst the bullets and the bombs.
“Did you find out who Everly was working for?” Kyle asked.
“The director has analysts looking into it. There’s a good chance something will come of the mental information the MDF retrieved.”
“Good.” Kyle unclenched his hand to stretch out his fingers, placing them against the firm line of Jamie’s mouth. “My family came.”
Jamie kissed the tips of his fingers before pulling Kyle’s hand away. “I had Katie fly them out.”
“Didn’t think Alexei would’ve ever agreed to something like that.”
“Your brother wasn’t in any condition to really argue it at the time. I took advantage of his distraction.”
“Sneaky. I like that.” Kyle stroked his fingers over the stubble on Jamie’s face, trying not to yawn. “You need a shave.”
Jamie leaned forward to press a soft, gentle kiss to his mouth. “Later. I’m not going anywhere right now. Neither are you.”
Kyle nodded, never letting go of his hand as Jamie retook his seat and dragged it closer to the biobed. Kyle watched Jamie in silence until his eyelids became too heavy and he fell asleep, safe in Jamie’s hands. This time when Kyle slept, the hollowness of nightmares didn’t have room to keep him company, not with Jamie to keep them at bay.
NOW
2284
___________________
18
Keep Me In Your Sights
“Last round is on me,” Trevor announced to the table at large.
Madison and Annabelle cheered his generosity with their empty pint glasses while the rest of the team shouted out their preferred drink order over the noise of the bar. They’d claimed a corner table in the back with a decent view of the door that had steadily eroded over the hours as The Eagle filled up with patrons.
The bar was paneled in ancient wood on the walls and filled with synthwood furniture. It carried a wide selection of beer on tap and liquor, its bartenders ready and willing to serve up whatever drink was requested. Everyone, from the bartenders, the bar backs, the wait staff, and the customers, was either active or retired military, in or out of uniform. That tradition had held firm for over three hundred years and it wasn’t about to die off anytime soon if the bouncers had anything to say about it.
Jamie leaned back in his seat, stretching his arm behind Kyle’s chair beside him. They’d squeezed eight chairs around a table that comfortably sat five, but everyone made it work. Katie had spent a good thirty minutes in the beginning cleaning out a group of young-looking Army soldiers who seemed perfectly fine with losing money to her in exchange for field stories, all three of them hanging onto her every word before she eventually left with a friendly wave.
Annabelle, Alexei, and Donovan seemed hellbent on eating their way through the entire menu the tiny kitchen had to offer over the course of the night. The detritus of their gastro explorations littered the table, no matter how many times the server who brought their drinks managed to clear it. Madison and Kyle were still deep in conversation on the latest show she had got him addicted to while he recuperated in Medical, arguing about a plot twist in the season finale.
Once Trevor returned carrying four pint glasses, with their usual server handling the other four, everyone gathered around the table, leaning in to retrieve their last drink of the night. The team had downed quite a few over the course of the evening, each person contributing to food or drink to the collective table. Beer ranging from dark Guinness to pale ale was passed around with a tumble of thanks falling from everyone’s lips.
In the Wreckage: (M/M Sci-Fi Military Romance) (Metahuman Files Book 1) Page 29