Story A Brother's Dilemma

[MidwayLives]

They'd nearly done it.

They'd almost killed him.

Years worth of work and dedication to the job that the government had groomed him for, trained him for. All the effort, the heartbreak, the trauma. It was almost all for nothing.

He'd nearly killed them; he WOULD have killed them. They didn't know his condition or even what the hell a 'condition' was in the first place. But someone had reached out and helped them. Someone that he never would have suspected. His sniveling little dickhead of a brother. That same brother had been raised as an infant by his adoptive siblings. Great way to show your gratitude by teaming up with the country's most wanted criminals.

As a small beam of light peered through the broken trees and other foliage laying atop him, he squirmed under it's gaze. That last explosion, the one that'd sent him rocketing through the air and careening through a dozen trees like a living cannonball, it'd torn open his right side and blood had spilled out as though you'd stabbed a water balloon. Raising his right arm, he dug his claws into the flesh of the tree and with some modicum of effort, heaved it off him and to the side, creating a sizeable splash of water that left him coughing and sputtering. Better that then dying by drowning in his own blood and filthy pond water though, no? He clutched a hand over his injured side and paddled to shore. Every movement aggravated his wound and it felt as though he was wading through a sea of broken glass, constantly tearing away at him. Wanting nothing more than for him to submit and give up and drown. But he couldn't die here. He'd see his damnable traitor of a brother pay before keeling over to anyone or anything.

Once he was close enough to land, he began to pull himself up only to pause as he saw a shadow overtake him. His yellow eyes were bleary, and he shook his head to try and clear his sight as he glanced up. It was him: his older brother, Zeke.

<"Damian.">

~~~



"Z...Zeke...th...thank god you're here...." Ink coughed, water spilling out of his mouth, as he tried to pull himself out of the pond but to no avail. He was simply too exhausted from the battle and the injury the Crusaders had left him with was too great to ignore and power on through. Zeke nodded and reached down, wrapping his arms around his injured sibling, he helped pull him out, blood staining the grass as Ink writhed in Zeke's arms. "...look...look at what they did to me...*cough* Zeke." Ink whimpered, gently pushing aside his brother's arms once he was on dry land and moved to stand up, his legs as shaky as a newborn fawn's. "...I almost had them....I was THIS close to doing it. To killing them all...."

Zeke's jacket blew in the wind but he otherwise kept his hands at his side, seeming content to let his brother stand up and get his bearings.

"...did you come alone?"

<"No. Westlake insisted on sending a platoon of soldiers with me. In case I tried to lie about your condition.">

Ink gave out a weak laugh. "...W-What...? Why would you do that....?"

Zeke looked at Ink's wound. <"I confronted Winters and the others. Not that long before I came for you. They told me of what had occured.">

Ink's face scrunched up into a furious scowl. "They did, did they...? Did they tell you what a cocksucking backstabbing piece of shit Multi is...? *cough cough* I would have had them all, Zeke! Aster, Winters, Pajaro, Jenkins! ALL of them! They wouldn't have been able to lay a FINGER on me if he hadn't told them about my condition! That little shit even *cough cough*..." Ink paused and leaned on a nearby tree as his body was awash with tremors. Likely a result of his body desperately trying to fight going into shock. "...He even sacrificed one of his constructs to help them. Got his blood all over me. "

Zeke nodded.

<"...So that's who it was. Winters would not say directly who'd aided them. In my heart of hearts I did not WANT to know who it was. But...that it was Multi does not surprise me."> Zeke said, his mind touching his brother's. <"....But he also told me about the girl. The one living in the home the Crusaders took refuge in."> Zeke's eyes narrowed and Ink blinked. "...what? the kid? what...what about her, zeke?? didn't you hear what I said at all? Multi's a traitor and what, you've *cough cough* got some kind of hangup over a kid?? She wasn't even a Gifted, she's a normal!"

<"Winters told me of how you butchered her parents without a second thought.">

Ink winced and stamped his foot in frustration. "Zeke! I'm bleeding over here and you're concerned about this, WHY?? You know as well as I do how things go! If anyone who ain't with us sees us then they've gotta go! It ain't my fault Winters and them decided to camp in that house! If anything you should be blaming THEM not ME! I did what I had to do! What was asked of me!" The air suddenly grew colder and Ink felt a shiver run through his body. <"Killing with purpose is one thing. It's an ugly reality we're burdened to face. But to kill for the sake of it, to revel in it is another matter entirely. It is abhorrent, sick, deviant even."> Zeke's own hands were not clean but he detested the rules that came with safeguarding 'the big secret' and defied them whenever he could. Ink was not his brother by blood and the two had only met on the cusp of puberty. Zeke had come from a family of elementals in a village on the outskirts of Paris, France. They'd loved him dearly and it was only through force that the US took him. Ink on the other hand had been pulled from his biological family the second he was born and jostled around from home to home, never allowed a chance to grow and love.

He hated normals and having to fit in, to play a role in THEIR society. It never made sense to him. He could kill dozens, no, hundreds of normals before they even came close to figuring out a way to deal with him. Why did they get to live in peace and ignorance while he'd been raised ever since he was a child to serve as the government's weapon. Zeke by contrast could not bring himself to hate normals. He held out hope that someday, a world where all could stand together would be achieved. If not by him then by someone. Someone with the power and charisma to make it happen.

He could understand his brother's hatred but he could NOT justify it. Not anymore.

"...I see what's going on here. Even after all this, even after getting proof straight from me that Multi's a traitor you're STILL gonna take his side! Just because what...he's the baby of the group?? I almost DIED because of him and you're gonna stand here and proselytize to ME?!" The wind grew more fierce and Ink struggled to keep himself from being thrown back into the pond he'd struggled to crawl out of. "I DID WHAT I HAD TO DO, ZEKE!"

<"Multi will get what he deserves. But that does not absolve you of your own sins, Damian. You could have simply taken their lives and been done with it. Instead, you reveled in it. You tormented the child. You ENJOYED killing them. Tell me that I'm wrong and look me in the eyes as you say it.">

Ink winced and stared down his brother.

But the words never came.

"...zeke. don't do this. we're brothers. i love you." Ink started, reaching out a bloodsoaked hand towards Zeke. As he did so, he noticed the dozen or so frozen soldiers off in the distance behind Zeke. It made Ink tremble in fear. Did his brother not want any witnesses to what he was about to do?? "Zeke, please! I'm your BROTHER!"

Zeke spread his feet apart and held his hand out towards Ink, a blue glow focusing in the center of his palm. <"...I know and that's why I have to do this. My hope is that you'll understand in time.">

"In time?! You're going to kill me!!! YOU'D KILL ME FOR WHAT??? DOING MY JOB??? I DID ALL THAT I WAS ASKED TO DO!!!" Ink bellowed but his pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears as Zeke continued to charge his attack. "ZEKE!!! DON'T!!!!!!"

<"I love you, Damian.">

Then the earth gave way.

Or more specifically, the earth under Ink's feet. It crumbled and Ink began to plummet into the depths. Had a sinkhole just opened up and taken his brother? Zeke let the beam fade awaty and reached out towards his brother...but Ink refused the gesture and let himself fall. Wherever it took him, a new place or even into the embrace of death itself. It had to have been better than dying at the hands of your own brother.

Zeke watched as the ground swallowed up Ink, leaving nothing in it's wake. He stood alone amongst a field of trees stained with blood and soldiers frozen where they stood. To simply kill them would have been too barbaric for Zeke's tastes. They would only hear the muffled sounds of everything going on around them. Not enough to decipher it or get a full understanding and that was by design. If they'd seen everything, they might have reported that Zeke had intended on killing his brother in cold blood and that couldn't have been further from the truth. Perhaps in his weakened state, being frozen MAY have activated Ink's condition but killing him was never Zeke's goal. It'd been to freeze his brother and try, whether it be in vain or not, to figure out some way, somehow to get through to him. To reach out to Multi and understand WHY he did this, why he betrayed them. To keep himself from losing ANY of his brothers.

<"Defrost.">

The ice evaporated and the soldiers fell to their knees, coughing and sputtering. Some recovered quicker than others and raised their guns at Zeke. For all the good it'd do them anyway. Normal weaponry had little effect on elementals. "W-What the hell was that for, Agent Zeke?! Explain yourself!!!" One of the soldiers yelled, his entire body awash with shivers. Zeke didn't look back at them, instead keeping his eyes focused on the hole that his brother had descended down.

<"I didn't want any of you doing anything rash while I spoke to my brother. I might not have been able to save you had he reacted.">

"So your answer was to freeze us?? Ugh..." The soldier blinked as he glanced around but saw no sign of Agent Ink. "...Where is Agent Ink, anyhow?"

<"...I...I don't know.">

The soldiers looked skeptical. It was no secret that Zeke often came to verbal blows with the government, he'd even attempted to lead an open rebellion against them when he was younger only to stand down after it was clear he could not defend everyone of his brothers by himself. They didn't say aloud what they were thinking but the looks on their face said enough to Zeke.

They'd believed he'd murdered Ink.

~~~



General Anthony Westlake did NOT care for Gifted in the slightest. To him they were genetic freaks that disgusted him with their mere existence. He didn't care about any of the science or bullshit about gifts=souls and what not. Sure, creatures like Ink and Zeke bled like him and Rostov and Butch looked like anyone else but the stuff they could do was utterly unnatural.

His father had been the opposite. He'd worked alongside the agent that'd adopted Ink/raised him like his grandson. Sure, the two weren't sititng at the dinner table together but Westlake Sr. never disliked Gifted in much the same way his son did.

Which made it seem like some kind of sick joke that he got tasked with leading Zeke's unit. Westlake and Zeke constantly butted heads. Whether because Zeke didn't agree on how a mission should go or how his brothers were spoken to, etc. If Westlake had his way he'd have had Zeke court-martialed and locked away months ago. But the government wouldn't hear of it. Zeke was too much of an asset and the cost in trying to apprehend him, let alone kill him was considered too much of a burden.

He would love to get their take on what he was hearing now.

"So, let me get this straight so there's no misunderstandings. You, not only attacked your comrades and froze them, but you also directly threatened a fellow agent?"

<"I've told you twice now that your men were in no danger.">

"Sure, sure, frostbite, nerve damage. It's all just easily brushed aside." Westlake snarked as he clasped his hands and propped his elbows onto the center of his desk. "But, fine let's go with that. Still doesn't answer my question."

<"I did not threaten my brother. I merely wished to restrain him until I could figure out who'd aided the Crusaders.">

"Winters didn't tell you? I thought that was the whole point of you and RCA going after them?? For christ's sake, you're telling me....what? That you beat the absolute dogshit out of them, didn't arrest them and refused to let RCA take them into custody and you didn't get jackshit out of them?? Or are you just trying to cover for whoever the traitor is? I'm sure the president would love to hear that." Zeke's eyes flared up and he approached the desk. <"Are you threatening me, General?">

"Step back from my desk, Zeke. This is the only warning you'll get. Unless you want every soldier, gifted, and weapon turned on you, you'll take a step back and think long and hard about what you're doing. If Winters told you exactly who the traitor was, it's your obligation as an agent of the United States military to tell me exactly who it is. If it's a false lead then we'll write it off. But if you're withholding crucial information from me then you're playing a dangerous game here. You're strong, Zeke but you're not invincible." Westlake snarled as Zeke glared but slowly took a step back. "Thank you. Now, I want the truth. What did you do to Agent Ink?"

<"I already told you and I'm loathe to repeat myself. I did nothing to my brother. He disappeared and I haven't the slightest idea where he went.">

Westlake slammed his fist against the desk and glowered up at the ice elemental. "Horseshit! You really expect me to buy that?! That Ink, one of our top agents, our best cleaner just disappeared into thin air like a magic trick? If you're hiding who the traitor is, if there even IS one, who's to say that you didn't just kill Ink while everyone else was frozen and disposed of the body, hm? Shatter him into a million pieces and be done with it. I don't care how much you like to throw your ass around here, Beaumont." Westlake spat, using Zeke's real last name. "I'll have you hauled off to the brig or put in a box if you jeopardize the safety and continued mission of this unit. Last chance. What happened to Agent Ink?"

The room grew freezing in an instant and Westlake found a cold hand wrapped around his throat. <"I DIDN'T HURT MY BROTHER!"> Westlake coughed and reached for his side arm only to cry out in pain as Zeke focused his eyes on the limb and froze his arm all the way up to the shoulder. Realizing what he'd done, Zeke dropped Westlake back into his chair and stepped back. He'd openly attacked the leading commander of his brother's unit. He'd made a grave error in his lapse of judgement and it'd cost not only him but his siblings. He truthfully had no idea where Ink had gone but he couldn't stand around waiting anymore. He had to get the rest of his siblings out of here before it was too late. Vanishing out the front door, Westlake wasted no time in reaching for the phone on his desk, brushing aside the snow that'd pooled up around it. "agh....Agah! Get me in touch with the President! This is an emergency! Zeke's gone rogue, again!"

Alarms rang out across the base.

Things had gone to shit all in the span of a half a day...

Racing across the base, keeping his hood up as he went, Zeke felt a sense of panic overtaking him.

<"Damn it, Damian. Where did you go?!">

~~~TO BE CONTINUED~~~