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John Young sat in the a back room of the main office. He laid on the couch trying to calm his thoughts from what just happened with the new breakout.
He'd never felt a stronger telepath before. Maybe with Cara once upon a time, but this girl was different; she answered his call on the first response. That has never been done by anyone he knew. Audrey was different than the rest. He had to know what exactly made her so strong, even at the breakout stage.
Normally with each person going through the changes there are stages involving many emotions interspersed together. It can be extremely hard to make sense of anything when you first find them growing inside you. Audrey bloomed very late, well past adolescence, that was also odd to their kind. Tomorrow people start to breakout during their first moments of puberty, including John's own personal breakout.
Audrey was an adolescent, still not old enough to drink, possibly, but old enough to vote, live on her own and fend for herself. Why did she react so late? He wondered. What was in her blood that made her seem so...mysterious to him? He couldn't understand it. Maybe after some tests have been done the team will find some solutions.
If there was anything John hated, it was not knowing something that hasn't been explained yet. Even with TIM helping the crew out, they were still waiting for the results to come up.
"TIM, do you know anything yet?" John asked, looking to the widescreen projector.
"John, I calculated a basic status of Audrey's back story, nothing involving her genetics history. Pulling up the vitals up now."
Russell Kwon walked in the room eying TIM then John.
"How is she?" John asked, unsure of the answer.
"She's alright, still sleeping from the wild ride she just had."
John nodded, sitting up straight, clasping his hands together.
"Where's Cara?"
Russell shrugged, "She and a few others went top side to get dinner. We need some grub in this joint. Too much junk food doesn't make a body good."
Ordinarily Russell's quips would make him slightly smirk, but John had better things to occupy his mind with than dinner.
"She needs to come back, it's been long enough to just teleport and walk around in New York to steal food. Cara should know better."
"Ah, she will. The list wasn't that long and I told her to check out this really sweet Korean barbeque place in the West Village. Luckily enough, totally Ultra-free."
John stood from the couch and leaned against the desk, crossing his arms. He stood there for a long moment as Russell stared on.
"Man, if you didn't block my attempts to find out what you're thinking so much, people would know not to ask you."
John's brows twisted in confusion. "What?"
Russell shrugged. He knew he wasn't going to get very far but he still brought it up anyway.
"You man, it's like the answers you give have to be 10 words or less. It's rare when you just talk, you know, shoot the shit. I realize we're stuck down here until it stops, which is probably going to be for a long time, but dude, you're all business it seems."
John's mind went on full recluse mode. He didn't want to have to explain himself to Russell, even if his friend was making a valid point. John just wasn't that guy. Not even with Cara, which put a recent strain on their relationship.
John gruffly cleared his throat, throwing all those personal feelings away like a soldier would before battle.
"It has to be Russell, sorry I don't have the time to be so frivolous. I have to make sure you're all alive. It's my main priority. Being anti-social is the least of my concerns."
"Just saying...I'm your best friend, even I don't know what you're thinking 99% of the time."
John kept his cool, but it didn't stop him from forming a fist. "I hope Cara didn't put you up to this, we're very discreet when we talk to each other."
"She didn't John, I'm just asking." Russell cleared his throat. "You're a lot more closed off than ever since last week. Look, I know you're not that dude who'll just open up, I don't know a lot of guys who are. But if you wanna talk, I'll spot you. I'll just listen, as your friend. No judgements."
But you would judge me Russell, that's the problem. John was a professional at blocking fellow telepaths from his deep secrets. Even from close confidants. It's just the way it is.
"There isn't anything to share Russell, Cara has no reason to think I would hide anything from the lair. I'm only focused on keeping our kind out of the trenches from the main threats and you know this." John said, wanting the subject to drop as he shifted his weight.
"Alright, man. I'll go check on Irene, maybe she'll tell me something about this girl." Russell spoke, leaving the office without another word.
John nodded almost numbly and shut his eyes. When he opened them he began to walk out of the office and into the center foyer of the lair. New breakouts intermixed with veteran tomorrow people were in small groups, trying to bond, make friends, share jokes, play games and just relax from the life they were forced to combat daily.
John sometimes felt like it was all a burden. That he, the leader of the lair couldn't show how he really felt to the ones he protected. If he fell apart at the seams, his entire existence would fail and he couldn't allow that to happen. John had thought about it many times too. He longed to just be vulnerable, show his human side, if only for a few moments. Just to know how it felt like to be heard and listened to other then divvying out orders and rules for the lair. He craved to be really seen.
It was better everyone thought he was cool, calm and collected. Possibly emotionless. He was the swift brain and brawn of the operations. John didn't have time to be weak. Time is not an option anymore. Even Cara knew this, which is why he pushed her away as he kept the biggest secret of his life, to protect her.
Even something as small as love, an emotion he wasn't personally good with, took a back door to what matters most.
Saving lives. The mission. Nobody how many times his team was knocked down, they must get up. Dying is not an option.
"John, hey, um, it's about the girl..."
Russell moved aside so John could walk in front of him to the recovery room. John knew he was going to have to prepare a speech he rehearsed so many times for any new breakout that they find. His semi shaky hand found the door, turning it to the right.
ns 15.158.61.10da2
