It was getting dark when Steve and Fiona parted ways, she said that she had an appointment with her boss, Mr Gordon so she had to leave on time.
Steve whistled a pleasant tune as he walked back to the motel when he suddenly got a text message on his phone
Meet me at the city's bridge
Dad
"Hmm…weird, why would dad suddenly want to meet me….I better check it out though"
he thought and boarded a cab to the city bridge.
As the cab approached the bridge, he scanned the area and saw Alex leaning on the railings, he stopped the cab, paid the driver and strolled down to meet his father.
It was late in the evening so there weren't many people around, the weather was getting cold so Steve walked quickly so as to warm himself up.
The moment Steve reached where his father stood, his guts gave him a very awful vibe that made him be at alert.
'Wait… something's not right'
"Hello Dad"
Steve said rather warily as he stood beside him,
"Hey"
Alex said and turned,
"Nice evening, isn't it son?"
'son?, Why is he suddenly acting nice?'
Steve thought as he stared wide eyed at his father who was talking nicely to him,
"Wait…..Dad?, Did you impregnant another woman?"
"Huh?"
Alex seemed to be taken aback by the question, he chuckled softly and asked
"No….Where did that come from?"
"Well…. It's weird to see you acting nice"
Steve said in an impatient tone,
"so why'd you call me here?"
"Why are you sounding so harsh Steve, is it wrong to want to spend some quality time with my son and make up for the past?"
"Hahaha"
Steve chuckled sarcastically and retorted,
"Oh, now you remember that I'm your son, after all this time you always acted like we were strangers, now you wanna make up?… it's too late dad, to hell with your quality time!"
"Son, you're breaking my heart with your harsh words"
Alex said softly and made to touch Steve's arm but Steve shrunk away from his touch.
Bzzz! Bzzz!
Steve's cellphone vibrated in his pocket, he furiously pulled it out and looked at the text message.
'Come to the apartment at Lion's blvd ASAP, the fiends beat your Dad up and he's severely injured.'
Grandpa Matt
As his eyes took in the words on his phone's screen, his anger melted as he looked up and stared coldly at the man who stood before him.
"No wonder this man has been acting weird, he's not my dad"
"What's on your cell.."
SMACK!
Steve interrupted the man's statement with a precise punch to the face, the impact of the punch sent him back a few steps and before he could retaliate, Steve grabbed his right arm and flung him over his shoulder out of the bridge.
For some reason, he felt satisfied after that punch, he breathed softly as he leaned on the railings to look at the body of the man he threw down but when he looked down, he didn't see any disturbance on the water surface that showed that something had fallen into it.
'hm…weird'
"You…you murderer!, I'm calling the cops!"
A woman screamed as she fumbled with her handbag to bring out her cellphone.
Steve froze as he heard those words,
'damn…i should've looked around before doing that'
"It's not what you think!"
Steve said and slowly backed away before breaking into a run, away from the bridge.
Steve was disoriented and out of breath when he arrived at their apartment. He briefly paused outside the door to catch his breath before barging into their living room.
When Grandpa Matt said that his father was wounded, Steve thought that it would be just a stab wound and some bruises at worst but the sight he saw made his eyes watery. Alex was a bleeding mess, half of his face was ripped off and his left arm was missing, his clothes were soaked with his blood and had already formed a small pool of blood on the floor where he lay.
Alex was at the brink of death because of the gravity of his injuries, it was a miracle that he had stayed alive for so long, it was probably because he wanted to speak to his son before he gave up.
Steve stood rooted at the door as he saw the terminal state his father was in, his heart softened instantly and it seemed like he had forgotten whatever grudge they had. The room was dark but Steve could see the tears in Grandpa Matt's eyes,
"He has been asking about you since he came back like this, he refused to go to the hospital, he has already lost so much blood"
Grandpa Matt said in a choky voice laden with sadness.
Steve walked slowly towards his father's half dead body and knelt before it,
the tears dropped freely from his eyes
"Dad…dad…please don't die…. I'm sorry I wasn't a good son, please stay, don't leave me like mum did, please dad…please"
Steve couldn't even make out his father's facial features from the disfigured face but he was sure he heard his father's heartbreaking final words clearly,
"No son…. don't apologize[coughs]…I should be the one apologizing for….abandoning my duty to you as a father, [coughs], I… don't have much time left but…I just want you to know…that though…I may have acted like I never cared about you[coughs]…though I may have…neglected your needs, i have never[coughs]…never neglected you in my heart…I hope that one day you'll be able to find it in your big, kind heart to forgive me…Stevie, I…love..you..son".
He suddenly started coughing and shaking violently, his blood sprayed all over Steve's body but he didn't care, he gripped his father tightly and cried out his eyes, suddenly Alex's right hand jerked up and with his last energy, he used two of his fingers to hit Steve's forehead, neck and chest before his heart stopped beating and he finally lay still.
Alex's last action hurt Steve but he didn't mind the pain, the emotional pain in his heart was tearing his soul apart. He couldn't speak because his throat was choked with tears, all he could do was to scream and cry all over his father's lifeless body.
"Dad…come back!, Please come back, I promise we'll get along well, just come back…please"
"Alex…what did you just do?"
Grandpa Matt thought as he stared wide eyed at the Heracles boys.
Bzzz! Bzzz!
Steve's phone buzzed again, he pulled it
out with quaking hands and looked at the message with teary eyes but the words he saw gave him another shocker.
Help!
Fiona
"Grandpa!, Fiona's in trouble"
Steve said as he stood up quickly and threw a piece of cloth over his father's body.
"Where?"
"I don't know but I can track her cell phone"
"Let's move, we're wasting time"
Steve activated the tracking application on his cell phone as they ran out of the house and entered Alex's bike.
"I've found her!" Steve screamed triumphantly
"Where?"
"Graylon city movie agency"
Steve put his cell phone on the bike's dash board and wore his helmet.
"Ready Grandpa?" He asked
"Yeah, let's go"
'Graylon city movie agency?….. wasn't that Mr Gordon?' Grandpa Matt thought,
As Steve and his grandpa pulled up at Tiger's boulevard which was where the movie agency was situated, the red dot on Steve's phone screen began to move.
"Grandpa!, they have started moving!"
Steve screamed over the traffic noise to Grandpa Matt as they rode at full speed down the boulevard.
"What's their general direction?"
"They're moving towards the other side of the city, in the direction of our training ground"
Steve replied, the wind muffling his voice
"Let's cut them off"
Steve smiled at Grandpa Matt's idea as he swerved and pulled out of Tiger's boulevard. He had lived in this city since he was a child so he knew the shortest routes to virtually anywhere in that city. After a few turns and dark alleys, they arrived at the training ground ahead of Fiona's abductors.
Grandpa Matt got down from the bike and once again, Steve had no idea where he got the long silver sword that he held in his hand. Grandpa Matt looked so badass as he stood in the center of the road, his sword shining brightly in the silver light of the moon. Steve got down from the bike and stood with him as the black car that held Fiona pulled onto their route.
"Stop!"
Grandpa Matt yelled to them, the car didn't stop and neither did it slow down as it continued towards them with the same speed.
"Stop!, Or else you'll regret this"
Grandpa Matt yelled, took a stance and gripped his sword tightly as the car came closer, every inch of Steve's body wanted to jump out of the way but he couldn't just leave his Grandpa there and also Grandpa Matt looked like he had a plan so Steve stood and waited there with bated breath.