Blake nodded, then reached into his coat pocket.
“Wait,” Radoslav said, stepping back and raising his hands in surrender. “Before you…how to say…șterge-mă…erase me…”
“Erase you?” Blake repeated, surprised. “Shit, Rado, I’m not going to kill you.”
Radoslav looked at him with wide eyes. “Oh. Is good then, Rado likes living.”
Blake gave him a weird look and then continued. “Victor had a control chip put into my head that made me do terrible things. The things I had you do…I shouldn’t have done that. But, business is business.” He pulled a manila envelope stuffed with cash from his coat pocket and handed it to the interrogator. “This is your payment for what you did for me.”
Radoslav took the thick envelope from Blake and turned it over in his hand. He quickly glanced inside. “Ooh, big bills.” Then, he bounced it once or twice in his hand, feeling its weight. “There is too much in here.”
Blake nodded. “Yes. There’s extra in there to ensure you walk away from this life forever. I hope our paths never cross again, Radoslav. I’m on the other side now, okay?”
“Rado works for all sides, Dark Flame.”
“No, you don’t, and I’m not Dark Flame anymore, I’m Helion. I work with my best friend, Blue Spekter.”
Radoslav looked at him with curiosity.
“If our paths do cross again, it will be because I found out you’re still…chirurg…surgeon…and then I will șterge-mă or whatever you said.”
“I see.”
“Retire, Rado. Enjoy your family. Go on more picnics. Stay away from crime.”
“You have newness of justice. Where is justice go in threatening to me?” Radoslav asked in broken English, pocketing the cash.
Blake took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I believe in second chances now. If you’re smart, you won’t waste yours. So long, Radoslav.”
“Goodbye, Helion.” Radoslav tapped the side of his head and nodded. Then, Blake jumped into the air and flew away, an orange streak of light trailing behind him.
That’s done. Now, just one more thing.
❖
Quinn
After Phil stowed the camera in its case, Blue Spekter descended to Prescott Park where Camilla Brenhurst and her trusty cameraman finished their evening news report. He had spotted her when flying around the city with Ron and Jay St. Germain.
He didn’t bother to power down his glowing eyes or body because there wouldn’t be many people in the park in the dead of winter. Even Camilla and Phil were borderline crazy for filming so close to the cold, brackish river.
They watched him land and Phil grunted. “You again.”
Camilla ignored him. “Blue Spekter, to what do we owe the honor?”
He extended his right hand to her. “I wanted to thank you for sticking up for me; you’ve been a supporter from the beginning when little Oliver named me Blue Spekter. Also, I saw the most recent news broadcasts.”
She shook his hand. “Thanks for not being a jackass. You could have ruined my career.”
He chuckled. “I have no intention of doing that. My thanks to you too, Phil.”
“Uh-huh. Glad the world is a safer place with you around,” he said dryly.
Quinn frowned underneath the cowl and Camilla laughed. “That’s as much of a compliment as you’re gonna get from him.”
“Fair enough. Well, I’ll see you around.”
“Oh, no you don’t,” Camilla said. “You owe me.”
“I do?”
“Yes, you do.”
“Um, okay. What…what do you want.”
Camilla turned to her left and pointed upriver. “I want you to fly me to the top of the green arch bridge.”
“Seriously?”
“Chief Applegate got a ride and I saw you flying around not so long ago.”
Man, I’m going to become the human carnival ride.
“Okay, arms up,” Blue Spekter instructed.
“You can’t be serious?” Phil asked. “Is it safe?”
Camilla rolled her eyes and shook her head. She lifted her arms and then Blue Spekter wrapped his arms around her torso.
“Pardon me, ma’am. Here we go!” Projecting a defensive shield around her, he rocketed into the night sky.
“This is amazing!” she screamed, laughing with pure joy.
It sure is.
He flew slow, giving her an unparalleled view of Portsmouth and the surrounding area before flying to the arch of the Piscataqua River Bridge.
❖
Blake
Minutes later, Blake landed in Dover outside of Alex’s apartment and knocked on the door. An unfamiliar man opened the door and greeted him. “Where’s the pizza?” he asked, looking at Blake’s empty hands. When he noticed Blake’s super suit, his eyes widened. “Wait, who are you?”
Must be the boyfriend.
“I’m looking for Alex. I used to work with him.”
“Uh…okay. ” The man turned and yelled into the house. “Alex! Someone from work’s here to see you. He’s wearing tights.”
“Coming!” Alex shouted back from inside the house.
“Thanks,” Blake said. “They’re not tights.” Well, maybe they are…
The boyfriend nodded and didn’t move. A moment later, Alex appeared, and his face expressed shock with a tinge of embarrassment.
“You better not be fucking this guy,” the boyfriend said.
“I’m not gay,” Blake said.
“Since when did that stop anyone? I know how office trysts work.” the boyfriend replied, stepping back but not leaving the conversation.
“Knock it off, Trevor, we’re not fucking,” Alex said with an annoyed tone. “Sorry, he gets a little jealous.”
“Do not,” Trevor snapped.
“Do you want to come in?” Alex asked.
“No,” Blake said. “I wanted to give you fair warning. Get out of The Order. The chip Victor put in my head…it’s gone now. I’m not Dark Flame anymore. I’m Helion and I work with Blue Spekter. I won’t turn you in, but if they catch you, there’s nothing I can do. And believe me, they’re looking for local personnel.”
Alex stared at him with a sullen expression. “Oh.”
“Have a good night.
Blake jumped into the air and flew home, an orange streak of light trailing behind him.
There. It’s finished. Now I can focus on emptying my mom’s house after school this week without this shit hanging over my shoulders.
❖
Quinn
After returning Camilla Brenhurst to Prescott Park and her cynical cameraman, Quinn flew home. When he approached his neighborhood, he smiled when he saw Keegan’s car parked outside. He powered off his glowing eyes and body and descended to the backyard. Then, he let himself into the house and kicked off his super suit’s boots.
Keegan and his dads were sitting at the kitchen table, laughing with each other.
“Hi, guys,” Quinn said, shutting the back door behind him.
“Hey there, Blue Spekter,” Daddio said.
Quinn pulled the cowl from his head and joined them at the table. When he approached the empty seat next to Keegan, he swooped in and planted a kiss on his boyfriend’s cheek. Keegan grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him in for a proper kiss, which he enjoyed. For effect, he intentionally connected with the power in the room and made sure the kitchen lighting flickered a little.
“Okay, we get the point,” Dad said, staring at the flickering lighting.
Quinn chuckled and broke his kiss with Keegan. “What are you guys chatting about?”
Keegan spoke up. “Your dads just told me about the time you pooped your pants in first grade because the teacher thought you were being a brat and didn’t realize you had your first bowl of chili the night before.”
Quinn rolled his eyes. “That was mortifying. I’m still scarred from that experience.” He dramatically clutched his heart in mock agony. Then, he changed the subject
. “How was your debriefing?”
“Actually, it wasn’t bad at all.” Dad said. “They were very nice to us and asked us all kinds of questions about what Nightmare and his people did to us, but really, they just kept us locked up in the barracks of their facilities.”
“The worst was not being able to warn or contact you,” Daddio said.
“No, the worst was when they took us from the nice barracks and chained us up in that cold reactor core,” Keegan said. “But the interrogation was nice, I guess.”
“Debriefing,” Dad corrected.
Keegan rolled his eyes and smiled. “Yeah, that.”
Quinn smiled at his boyfriend. “You seem like you’re in better spirits about things today.”
Keegan shrugged. “I’ve had some time to think, and they had a counselor there to talk me through things. We’re going to keep chatting, so I don’t end up getting PTSD or anything like that.”
“That’s a smart thing to do,” Daddio said.
“How do you feel about Blake now?” Quinn asked, unsure if he poked the hornet’s nest.
To his surprise, Keegan smiled. “I’m going to keep working on the kidnapping stuff with the counselor, but I saw firsthand how Blake saved us. Like I said, I realize he’s one of the good guys now, but I gotta move past the trauma. I wouldn’t mind hanging out with him as long as you’re around to protect me.”
Quinn smiled again. “That’s awesome. I can do that for you, babe.”
“How did your morning debriefing session go?” Daddio asked.
“Fine. They’re moving forward with some stuff that looks promising, but we’re all glad it’s over for the time being.”
His dads looked at one another and frowned. Then, they picked apart his statement.
“Fine,” Daddio said.
“Stuff,” Dad said.
“Promising,” Keegan chimed in.
“It’s classified,” Quinn added.
They chuckled.
“So, I gotta tell you about Ralph Hargreaves,” Quinn said.
“We know, Quinn. Chief Applegate told us the news today before our debriefing.”
“That really sucks,” Keegan said.
They discussed the Hargreaves family situation for a bit. When the conversation waned, Quinn surreptitiously yawned and stretched, hoping Keegan would catch on. “I’m gonna go change out of my suit and put on some comfy clothes.”
“Can I come up?” Keegan asked, mischievously bouncing his eyebrows.
Quinn smiled and bit his lip. “Sure.”
“It’s a school night,” Dad said.
Quinn and Keegan both looked at Dad.
“So, that means no sleepover. Keegan needs to go home tonight.”
“Fine,” the boyfriends responded together.
“See you later, Mr. and Mr. McAlester,” Keegan said as Quinn took his hand and led him to the stairs.
“Bye,” the dads said behind them, snickering as they marched up the stairs. Quinn connected with the electrical grid again and made the house lights flicker. That’ll get them to stop heckling us.
When they entered Quinn’s room, Keegan shut the door behind him and tugged Quinn back to him. “You didn’t fall in the river or anything, right?”
“No, why?” Quinn asked, chuckling. Oh, duh.
Keegan leaned against the door, lowering his height by several inches so he would be face-to-face, lips-to-lips with Quinn. “This is why.” Then, he pulled his smiling boyfriend toward him and they kissed deeply.
Quinn moaned softly. I just love him so much…I’m so lucky he came around and chose to stay in my life.
Keegan’s hands unbuckled Quinn’s belt, slid it off, and dropped it to the floor. Then, his fingers slid under the suit’s shirt, gently caressing Quinn’s abdominal muscles until they reached his pectorals and tweaked his nipples. “You are so damn sexy,” Keegan mumbled through their kiss.
Quinn felt the blood shift in his body as he raised his arms and let Keegan pull off his shirt. Keegan planted several kisses on Quinn’s chest, and then Quinn reached up and unbuttoned Keegan’s flannel shirt and pushed it off his shoulders.
Quinn outstretched his hand and locked his bedroom door, then pulled his boyfriend across the room. When Keegan moved away from the door, his button-down fell to the floor behind him as Quinn gently maneuvered him to the bed.
Quinn’s hands fumbled with Keegan’s belt and buttons. At last, he pushed the pants down over Keegan’s tenting boxer briefs and paused so Keegan could step out of them. A moment later, Keegan pushed down Quinn’s tights and Quinn used his feet to push them off completely.
“You go commando in this?” Keegan asked with excitement, grabbing hold of what popped up into his hand.
“Mmhmm,” Quinn moaned, the back of his legs hitting the side of his bed.
“I want you,” Keegan huffed.
“I want you,” Quinn huffed back. He grabbed the waistband of Keegan’s boxer briefs, carefully pulled them over the hardness that poked him, and let them slide to the floor. Keegan whimpered and wrapped his arms around Quinn.
They leaned over together and fell onto the bed. They shifted to the middle of the bed and entangled their legs and arms and moved as one as they rubbed against one another and kissed.
“I love you so much,” Quinn said, breathing heavy as he looked into Keegan’s eyes.
“I love you,” Keegan answered, breathing heavy as they enjoyed the pleasure of each other’s bodies. Moments later, they fell into bliss and the bedroom lights involuntarily flickered, along with the all the lights in the house and the neighborhood as the boys discovered a whole new level of intimacy and became lost in each other.
5-30 | The New Normal
Quinn
QUINN BLINKED HIS BLUE EYES in the morning light and yawned. He rolled onto his back, a familiar urge beckoning him from deep within. Although he and Keegan shared incredible intimacy the night before, he was still horny because not having to save the world from certain doom gave his hormones renewed freedom. He slid his hand across his stomach, under the waistband of his boxer shorts, and pushed the covers aside with his other hand.
Oh, Keegan.
A knock at the door startled him. “Time to get up, super son, high school awaits.” Daddio said through the closed door.
Dammit. This’ll have to wait until I shower.
“Yup,” he called out, pulling his hand out of his boxers.
Ugh, let’s get this morning thing over with.
He threw the covers off, rotated himself to a sitting position, and put his feet on the carpeted floor. His toes gripped the carpet as he stretched his hands and arms high above his head and then stood up. He slapped himself in the face a couple of times to wake up. When his morning arousal simmered down, he fell forward to the floor and started cranking out pushups.
One…two…three…
At one-hundred, he flipped over and worked through one hundred crunches.
Ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred.
He collapsed to the floor, his breath momentarily sucked out of him as his abs burned good after his early morning workout.
“Quinn, are you up?” Dad asked through the door.
“Yep!” he answered. This is why I can’t do that first thing in the morning on a school day.
“Okay.”
Quinn pulled himself off the floor and admired his muscular, superhero physique in the mirror over his dresser. He chuckled when he saw how wild his long, wavy, dirty-blonde bed-head hair looked in the mirror that morning. He quickly made his bed, grabbed his towel from behind his door, and made his way to the bathroom across the hall.
When he finished taking care of business and showering, he wrapped the towel around his waist and shaved. Around him, he heard the quiet sounds of his family’s morning routine. Today, however, there was no crazy weight on his shoulders.
Life feels normal again.
Daddio was downstairs in the kitchen, probably whipping up some eg
gs and turkey bacon for breakfast. Dad was in the shower and probably already ran five miles because he was crazy enough to run outside in the dead of winter.
Quinn finished dressing and checked himself in the mirror once more, approving the cute outfit he had put together. He paired a long-sleeved, red-and-white gingham button-down with a gray v-neck sweater shirt, and matched dark-wash blue jeans with red socks and his brown chukka boots.
Yup, it’s a great back-to-school outfit.
In a few minutes, Quinn and his dads sat around the table and wolfed down some scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, a banana, and a glass of orange juice. Dad was wearing one of his usual business suits, and Daddio hadn’t showered or dressed yet. He wore some plaid lounge pants and tank top.
“So, you ready to face the music at school?” Daddio asked.
Quinn nodded. “Let them make fun of me, I don’t care. I saved their lives.”
“Just don’t rub in their faces.”
“Nah. After the party and Peter’s super-cheerleading for me, I think I’ll be okay. It’s Blake I’m worried about.”
Dad spoke up next. “I’m glad Agent Hartman agreed to tell people the truth about how Blake was being controlled. That will help them overlook his actions.”
“Yeah, that and the fact no one got hurt. If someone had died, things would be completely different,” Daddio added.
“Yup,” Quinn said through a mouthful of eggs.
On the news, Camilla Brenhurst and the Paula Anders, the news anchor, discussed the latest story about Blue Spekter and the formation of the Guardians and the government’s Superhuman Task Force. The story was spun a little differently than Agent Potter explained, but Quinn knew it was intended to put the general public at ease.
“That’s awesome,” Quinn said.
His dads nodded, and Daddio said, “It wasn’t so long ago we were discussing the virtues of superhero movies. Now, we can discuss the virtues of superhero life for real.”
Quinn chuckled. “Yup.” That sounds so boring.
“Whoops, where did the time go?” Dad said, pointing at the clock on the microwave. “We gotta fly, Quinn. Well, not literally.”
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