When I came to, I was immediately aware that I was in a hospital. I was hooked up to a heart monitor with an IV stuck into my left arm. I groggily looked around to get an idea of my surroundings as my vision came back into focus and was met with the sleeping face of Yasmine with her head in my lap, her curly hair covering part of her face as she snored lightly. I reached out to tap her shoulder, causing her to stir and look up at me sleepily, blinking a few times to focus her eyes. She smiled at me and sat up.
"Hey," she said softly.
"Hey," I replied, my voice slightly hoarse. "Where are we?"
"You're in a medical facility specifically designed to treat omega level superhumans," a deep voice answered from the doorway.
Yasmine and I turned our heads to the source and were met with the face of man with the same milk chocolate skin as Yasmine and dark curly hair that was starting to show early signs of going grey. His dark eyes that were framed by rectangular glasses were piercing but kind as he looked at me and Yasmine. He wore a navy blue two piece suit with a black turtleneck, a gold chain around his neck.
"Who're you?" I asked, even though I had a sneaking suspicion.
"My name is Raheem Knight, I'm Yasmine's father and a member of the Sentinels, the enforcers of the authorities," the man said, smiling at me, revealing the same chipped tooth as his daughter.
My eyes widened a fair amount as I looked between Yasmine and her father and back again. Yasmine covered her face to keep from laughing at the expression on my face.
"It's, uh, nice to meet you, Mr Knight," I stammered, reaching my hand out.
He chuckled and shook my hand. "Raheem is fine or maybe Dad since you two are dating."
"Dad!" Yasmine groaned. "Could you not?"
"What?" Mr Knight said with a mock incredulous tone. "Based on what you've told me about him, it seems he'll be around for awhile."
I felt myself blush and shot Yasmine a look but she refused to make eye contact with me, suddenly taking an interest in the ceiling. I returned my attention back to her father who had pulled up a chair and was sitting next me with an expression of polite interest on his face as he studied me. I don't know what it was, but everything about him radiated power to me. I could tell that he was strong just from looking at him as if his slightly visible pecs weren't enough of an indicator to me.
"I'm here for two reasons," Mr Knight said, breaking my reverie.
I stared at him but kept quiet and let him speak as he leaned forward resting his chin on his closed hands.
"The first reason is to get an account of what happened at the factory outside of the city. My second reason is to an extend an offer to you," he explained.
"An offer?" I asked.
What could he possibly have to offer me?
Mr Knight held up his hand to stop any further questions and I nodded then gave him the full account of what happened at the factory. I told him about the fight, what had led to the fight in the first place and then ended with the last thing that I remembered before passing out. Mr Knight listened attentively as I explained everything, his face revealing nothing as he nodded and sat there. When I finished, he stood up from the chair and went to look out the window that overlooked the city. He clasped his hands behind his back and turned to face me, his expression clinical but understanding as he cleared his throat and then spoke.
"What you've just told me is rather troubling, Josiah," he said quietly.
"Scale of one to ten?" I asked, partly joking.
Mr Knight sighed and began slowly pacing. "If a high school student got ahold of amplification drugs then that means someone's distributing them throughout the city under the noses of the authorities. And here I was thinking that that drug was gone for good after the Rockford incident."
"Rockford incident?" I said, arching my eyebrow curiously.
Mr Knight waved his hand dismissively. "A story for a different time. But this where my offer comes in."
I leaned forward in anticipation, but I had a strong guess as to what his offer was going to be. I exchanged a glance with Yasmine but her expression was closed off which took me by surprise. She was watching her father but it was hard to discern the look in her eyes and Mr Knight was purposely avoiding eye contact with her. So father and daughter shared the habit of looking away when they were being scrutinized by someone. Interesting.
"What's your offer?" I asked.
"I'd like you to work with the Sentinels to figure out who's distributing the amplifiers in the city so that there's not a repeat of what happened today. You'd receive training and wouldn't miss much of school as we'd be able to get permission from your principal," Mr Knight explained.
Before I could answer, Yasmine spoke up.
"Absolutely not," she said, her tone steely.
I blinked. "Yas?"
"No, Josiah. You're not working for them," she reiterated, giving me a look as steely as her tone.
I backed down slightly and glanced over at her dad who was watching his daughter with an expression of slight exasperation. He removed his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he let out a long sigh and looked at Yasmine.
"I think that Josiah should be the one to decide what his answer will be. He'll be under my wing so I'll be there if things become too dangerous but we need him seeing as he has first hand experience fighting with an amplified ability."
"Are you dismissing me?" Yasmine asked, her voice low and icy.
"No, but I believe that it'll benefit the Sentinels to have Josiah with us," Mr Knight said, putting his glasses back on.
I pondered for a moment. The offer sounded nice, but I'd be going up against something that I didn't know anything about. Whoever was giving out the drug had to be powerful with an influence over the black market of the city and training on my own could only get me so far. With the Sentinels training me I could understand my abilities better and be able to actually use them without my body having to pay for it afterwards.
It wouldn't hurt, I thought to myself. But why's Yasmine so against it?
I looked over to my girlfriend who was looking down at the sheets of my hospital bed, her face scrunched up in frustration and worry. I sighed and looked up at Mr Knight.
"I'd like some time to think about it if that's okay," I said. "Can I have a few days to give you my answer?"
Mr Knight nodded. "I'll contact you within a week to hear your answer. Until then, I'll leave you to recover and I'll see you at home Yasmine."
That last statement was followed by a pointed look directed at my girlfriend who scowled but mumbled a goodbye. With one final kind smile, Mr Knight left, the sound of his Stacy Adams dress shoes receding as he walked down the hall to what I assumed was the elevator. I turned to look at Yasmine who was deep in thought as she stared out the window. I followed her gaze and felt myself crack a small smile at the orange glow of the sunset settled over the city. I felt at peace for a moment before my thoughts were interrupted by Yasmine climbing into the bed to sit next to me, her lips pursed in thought as she looked me, or through me for that matter, like she was searching for something and hadn't found it yet.
"You scared me, you know," she said quietly, looking me directly in my eyes.
I chuckled. "Did you think I'd lose?"
Yasmine shook her head. "That's not what I'm talking about, Babyboy."
I frowned. Something about her tone was throwing me off. It almost….sounded like she was disappointed in me about something but what would she have to be disappointed about? There was also the look in her eyes. She looked sad, like she was seeing something that I couldn't and it made me pause.
"I'm listening," I said, turning to face her so that she knew she had my full attention.
Yasmine took a deep breath, almost as if she was trying to find the right words to say to me.
"I saw what you did to Braxton in the final moments of your fight with him. You let your anger control you and you almost killed him."
"Okay but I didn-" I began.
"Let me finish," Yasmine said softly.
I closed my mouth and allowed her to finish, even though I was fighting the urge to rebuttal her.
"You almost killed him, Josiah. That's how much your rage had control of you and it was scary seeing you like that," she continued. "You're always calm and patient and understanding but a few hours ago, you were a completely different person and I didn't recognize you and that's dangerous."
I let her words play through my mind as I thought back to the fight. Had I really snapped that bad? Had my anger really pushed me that far? I thought back to my mom telling me that powers like mine were tied to my emotional state in any given situation and that emotions that I had felt in that moment had made me want to kill Braxton. My rage had been murderous and a small part of me had really been intent on killing my best friend even though that wasn't who I was.
"Do you understand what I'm getting at, Josiah?" Yasmine asked, grabbing my hand and squeezing it.
I stayed silent but returned her reassuring grip.
"I'm not judging you, babe, but it's frightening to see you fly off the rails like that and almost not be able to come back," she said. "Has that happened before?"
I nodded slowly, a particularly unpleasant memory flashing through my mind. "When I was thirteen. It's how I got the scars on my arms. I was so full of rage on that day that I didn't realize my powers were damaging my body."
Yasmine didn't say anything but traced the scars on my arms with her fingers tenderly, her touch causing goosebumps to appear as she paused at the biggest scar on my right arm. It was jagged and shaped like a crack you'd find in the concrete.
"I don't want to see that side of you ever again. I don't want you to lose yourself to your anger that it hurts you and the people you care for," Yasmine said, looking up at me. "If you ever get to that point, I'll bring you back. Deal?"
She held up her pinky, indicating that she wanted to form a pinky promise. I laughed but wrapped my pinky around hers, sealing our promise as the sun finally set.
"Deal," I said, smiling at her.
• • •
I checked out of the hospital three days later. I was still a bit sore but I was able to walk and use my powers just fine. The authorities had sent Braxton off to a rehabilitation facility in order to help him ease back into society and that's where I was headed to today. The weather had fully transitioned into fall since it was now October so I had thrown on my Sherpa denim jacket over a black T-shirt, grey jeans and a pair of Saint Morta black Legion boots. I was nervous since this was the first Braxton would see each other face to face since our fight. I had sent him a text when had first been checked into the facility but he hadn't responded till two days later asking me to meet him so that we could talk. After a few more minutes of walking I reached the stained glass doors of the facility where I was greeted by a familiar face.
"Priya?"
The student council president of my school turned around and smiled at me before enveloping me in a hug. She had her dark hair down to her shoulders and was dressed in a cream cable sweater and black leggings with a pair of brown UGG boots. She smelled like pumpkin spice.
"What're you doing here? Are you visiting someone?" I asked.
Priya chuckled. "I actually work here when I'm not doing stuff for the student council. You must be here to see Braxton. His room is on the tenth floor, I'll take you."
She guided me to a huge elevator with a see through floor that gave me slight anxiety. She was chatty during the ride up, explaining that only a few select people knew about my fight with Braxton due to her and the student council keeping the information filtered at the request of the authorities. She explained that the school had let Braxton's mom know about his month long rehabilitation program and that he'd be out by November at the earliest. She also explained that she had started working here in order to keep an eye on him as a personal favor to me. The elevator dinged when we reached the tenth floor and I followed Priya along the marble floor to a room that reminded me of the phone booths you'd see in prisons except without the orange jumpsuits and guards. All the tenants of the facility were separated from their visitors by plexiglass windows with a circular hole in the center that allowed them to talk to someone. I sat down at the third window. There was the sound of a door opening and the form of Braxton walked in and sat down at the stool in front of his side of the window. He was dressed in a tan hoodie and a pair of dark green joggers. His hair had grown into a short Afro and his face was still slightly bruised. We stared at each other awkwardly, neither of us quite sure of what to say each other now that we were face to face. After mulling it over, I chose the safest question possible to break the ice.
"How've they been treating you here?"
Braxton sighed. "Can't complain honestly. I get free meals, recreation and a personal therapist. But I'm restricted from using my ability until I leave here."
I chuckled. "Doesn't sound too bad. I'd give for a free meal."
"Nah, food here's kinda terrible. Never knew meatloaf could be so horrible," Braxton retorted playfully.
We both laughed at that. It felt like old times but we were both acutely aware of the elephant in the room. The looming problem that had to be discussed before I left here.
"Listen," Braxton said. "I'm sorry. I….I let my petty obsession get to me and cloud my judgement. Coupled with the illegal drug that I was taking and I was one step away from becoming like the guys over at Hanith Island. But you. You stopped me. You didn't give up on me and did everything it took to save me from myself. I tried to kill you, Josiah."
"I'm very aware," I said with mock annoyance. "Nearly killed my sister too and my girlfriend."
Braxton looked away. "Why did you save me?"
I sighed through my nose. "Honestly, I knew that the Braxton I knew was still in you and that was the hope that I was holding onto. I knew that I could reach you but I just…..didn't think I'd have to resort to violence and almost beating you to the brink of death for it to happen. I never wanted things to get so bad that we try to kill each other."
Braxton chuckled softly. "I know it'll be a long time before things between us are normal. But for the time being, I'm gonna see this rehabilitation thing through. I want…I don't want to become that person again and if this is the way to do it….then I'll see it through. What're you gonna do?"
I shrugged. "Who knows. Things with Yasmine have gotten pretty good so I think I'll focus on that, as well as honing my powers so more. Oh, and my birthday is coming up so gotta celebrate that."
For the next hour and a half, Braxton and I joked and laughed and smiled like we had when we first met. Things had changed but maybe it wasn't all bad and I was willing to believe that we had found the silver lining to all of this. I had a lot of things to focus on but for now….this was fine.