Chapter 1.

A few weeks back.

“How long are you going to keep doing this Tane?”

The taut voice echoed in the vast underground room. It could have come from several different directions. A few holes in the ceiling let sun light peak through from the destroyed abandoned building upstairs. The numerous thick columns supporting the remaining ceiling provided good hiding places along with the old rusted desks tossed around, piles of torn blankets and bins. Putrid smells from the right dark corner warned of something either really dirty or dead.

“Aren’t you tired of chasing me? You can’t catch me brother.”

Tane carefully examined the place, taking note of the loosely hanging neon lights and the small pools of liquid here and there. It was obvious he didn’t belong in the place. His immaculate suit, black shirt and neatly combed dark red mane betrayed him right away. The ebony color really brought out the green of his eyes. God, he hoped he wouldn’t ruin his glossy expensive shoes by stepping in urine.

“Firstly, we aren’t brothers anymore Jayson. You became a Fallen the moment you had the bright idea to become a drug lord and affect lives. Secondly, do I look tired to you?”

“You certainly need revival. How about you dye that hair of yours a blond or something?”

“How about I drive my foot so far up your ass you’ll lick my shoes clean.”

Husky laughter echoed back. “You are still trying to hide yourself behind civilized clothes I see. Between the two of us, whose hands are bathed in blood?”

“Someone’s got to do the dirty work don’t you think?”

Without waiting for a response Tane leaned back and pushing his right leg out he kicked the column on his way. Debris lifted as the column snapped apart, pieces and metal cords ripped from their place. Even though he looked lean when he moved the suit filled with muscles moving. Standing still, he narrowed his eyes concentrating.

Tane caught a movement from his left and raised his hands close to his chin. The dark haired man ran towards him, his hands clenched in fists. Tane shifted his balance to both legs and met Jayson’s fists with his elbows. The impact rattled his bones. Those punches could have easily broken weaker bones. He then brought his knee up and drove it to Jayson’s stomach hard. Jayson heaved a groan and stumbled back. Tane raised his fists to his chin and put his head to the right as Jayson recovered.

Black strands fell to Jayson’s forehead, his jaw clenching with anger. With a shout, Jayson threw a right punch. In doing so, he stretched to reach Tane’s head. Tane grimaced as he pivoted his arm. His left hook landed directly at his opponent’s ribs. Jayson’s breath caught,

his body going rigid as Tane threw two more rights. Jayson wrapped his arms around his torso and landed on his knees swearing a blue streak.

“What was that? I didn’t hear you.” Tane cracked his fingers, the snaps accompanied by Jayson’s uneven breathing. His muscles were burning but he liked that. “Great runner... You downgraded to a truly crappy fighter though.”

“You have no authority to attack me!” Jayson hissed.

“I have every authority to hunt down a Fallen.” Tane answered him in a quiet tone that did nothing to hide the authority underneath. “Or have you forgotten our rules? Well you have certainly forgotten how to fight properly.” Shaking his head, he took a step closer to the other man. He knew Jayson’s mind was working on a way to escape but he would have none of that. He finally had him cornered. A chase that had taken him fifteen years was finally coming to a close.

“When you cross the line… There is no warning.” Jayson whispered in a harsh voice.

In the silence that fell part of the anger seemed to evaporate from his tense body. The subtle pain in his features almost had Tane feel pity for the creature before him. He knew far too well what he meant by that. The dear cost that you were forced to pay when you found profit from dark deeds. No need to hear it aloud. But Jayson said it anyway, his voice thick with sadness.

“I knew the exact moment I fell. I lost my wings. No matter how much I tried materializing them. They were just not there.”

Tane frowned in disgust. “Ever heard of free will? Your choices led you to your loss-”

“But…” Jayson met Tane straight in the eye and something in his pale grey eyes made the hair at Tane’s nape shudder in warning. “I found another way. I evolved. I took them back.” The underlining of perverted excitement in his tone was utterly vile.

Before the sound of his whisper had dissipated Tane had gathered back his leg and with a strong thrust he kicked straight upwards. The hit met Jayson’s chin dead center. His head jerked back sharply and crashed to the dirty floor. Tane threw himself at Jayson. He was momentarily stunned. Any attempts to turn sideways were gone the instant Tane climbed on top of him. Holding him in place by throwing all his weight at Jayson’s stomach took a couple of seconds. Same went for pinning his arms beneath his legs.

“Motherfu-” Jayson strangled in vain. “Pretentious bast-”

Tane snarled and squished Jayson’s cheeks distorting his face until his eyes seemed nonexistent. He lifted his arms still holding the man’s head tightly. Wild eyed Tane started banging Jason’s skull on the floor with brute force. Each hit released a muffled scream. Every time cracks appeared on the floor tiles.

Jayson’s lungs must be burning for more air by now. Judging by the raw sounds his throat should be sore. There was no stopping in the assault. Digging his heels on the floor Jayson

tried pushing off Tane. Being aware of your opponent’s physique is an important advantage and having profiled your target makes you the perfect hunter. Jayson was a bit shorter but he was heavier by a few pounds. Exactly the reason Tane was focusing his own weight on the guy’s center. One wrong move was all it would take to blow everything up.

Something was off and not because Jayson had stopped moving. Digging a hole on the floor using someone’s head caused pretty much splitting pain on the attacked person. Any coherent thought was extremely difficult to make. What ticked Tane off was a silent vibration beneath him. Rising his arms Tane had a moment of clarity. A tremendous force was trying to lift him off Jayson. What the-

All he felt was a bolt of energy. And then Tane was thrown back by a massive bulk. Leaping to his feet his mind froze in place. Impossible! Impossible! Every word from his vocabulary had vanished leaving behind that one word that circled his mind nonstop even as his voice stopped working. “…impossible…”

A pair of charred blue grey wings was supporting Jayson’s body. The feathers were severely damaged, their color darker than the original. Tane cringed as he thought of how they must have burned when Jayson Fell. Much like when you were hit in the crotch and the pain blinded you for a second. Just thinking about them both made his whole body shudder involuntarily. A slight pull behind his eyeballs let him know his eyes had contracted into slits. Jayson’s beaten head was hanging on his chest. Blood dripped from his eyebrows to his cheeks and from there to his shirt. With the help of his wings he was standing on his knees.

Tane knew he had to do something. Find a way to incapacitate him completely even if his orders were to arrest him. His muscles though were locked and didn’t obey his brain. Hell, he couldn’t even close his jaw. Dread spread across his chest like a sly disease killing off cell after healthy cell. Every cell in his body opposed the aura of sickness before him. Everything about those charred wings felt wrong, unnatural. The moment you consciously stepped out of the light, when you started to enjoy causing despair on others, your wings manifested on your back and you were helpless while they burned, your whole body exposed to those unholy flames. “How-” Not even aware of forming those words he was startled when Jayson coughed blood.

“P-Pain” The answer came in a guttural tone, less than a whisper. More like a tangible but powerful spell that held him bound motionless.

No! His mind screamed at him. Despite his shock he should release his own wings and not let Jayson escape yet again. Tane jumped to his feet. Four seconds too late. In the time his mind was trying to process the impossible sight before him Jayson’s sickly wings had thrust him up through one of the bigger holes in the ceiling. Rubble from above fell through the opening cutting the cords of two lightings. Crushing together behind Tane they broke apart, sparks flying everywhere. Tane retched as beads of sweat glistened on his forehead. Everything flammable nearby caught fire almost immediately.

Intense warmth spread across his back and Tane took a minute to realize his clothes had also caught fire. Black revulsion had filled his gut. Unblinking he watched the flames lick the

expensive fabric. Bitter disappointment stung his eyes like heated daggers. Another failure added to his pile of useless plans. Hundreds of people were going to keep suffering because he didn’t make it. And that was what broke him most. Inadequacy was a feeling Tane wasn’t accustomed to. But it clogged his throat, making it hard to swallow.

Tane hugged himself as the flames ate the last of his clothes. Unmarred skin was left behind, unscathed from the flames that still danced upon him. Grimacing he thought of how he must warn the others of the monstrosity he had witnessed. A Fallen lost their wings and therefore they couldn’t return to their true form. But Jayson had succeeded in getting back his even in that hideous, vile form. What if he could get back more?

Self-blaming was pointless at this point. Moving forward was always his thing, never giving up. Tane was aware of it yet despite that he resented himself. Perfectly executed plan had led him straight to his prey and at the end, he failed. He had stood still as a century old statue watching the world move on around him. Tane clenched his fists and punched the floor viciously. Broken tile pieces dug into his hands but the adrenaline that rushed in his body didn’t register the pain. Inhaling deeply, Tane let out an enraged bellow until his own scream was all he could hear and all he was.

Present. London, Cornwall Rd.

Blasting rock music from the two story garage shop was a regular theme in the business. Approximately three blocks could pretty much hear ACDC’s Thunderstruck at 10:35 am, either they enjoyed it or not. They couldn’t really do much when it was the mechanics favorite band and the mechanic was your best friend. And he was the half-owner of the place. Anyone who brought their car for service were going to get the best service for it from four car lovers whose sole goal in life was to fix, upgrade, preserve and resale cars.

Cameron Sears looked up from the motor cycle he was working on and admired his garage. Spacious enough for two cars he and his team had put up storage cabinets all across the back wall, bins and generally kept the space clean. A door to the right wall’s corner led to two rooms that they had combined in one and made them into a wood shop with everything they needed in there. The newest addition was a brand new band saw they had fit between a drill press and a belt Sandler. The place had a two story ceiling, perfect to work under the cars with ease plus it was comfortable and due to one of them being a woman there was a relevant neatness to it.

“Hey Cam. Mr. Wagner is on the phone.” Rose’s short black bob peaked from the door to the wood shop. Her petite silhouette was well hidden in the baggy work clothes she wore but paired with her wide smile she looked a lot younger than she was.

“Almost done. Tell him to come by at noon.” Pulling off his gloves he wiped the sweat from his brow. Cameron rubbed with a clean cloth his tanned arms and stared at the stereo tucked on a chair nearby.

“Don’t even think about it.” A thickly accented voice warned him from the other side of the room.

Cameron raised his hands up as a dark skinned guy was pointing at him in the manner of a teacher aware of a student thinking to pull a prank. “I wasn’t going to do anything.”

“Riiiiiight.” In a move Cameron had come to recognize as Tony’s, the guy passed a hand above his skull trim, same as his own, as if he was checking for hair that was growing faster than the rest. Tall, dark and handsome, Tony was the male model of them all. Plus he was almost a head over Cameron’s 176 cm. Always had been the tallest since the moment they all met at college.

“It could have an accident though.” As Tony frowned at him Cameron shrugged grinning. “You can’t deny you’ve never thought about it.” His teasing tone elicited a small smile from Tony who was trying his best to keep a straight face.

“Rose wants to change the picture frame.” Tony whispered.

With a frown Cameron whispered back at Tony’s cue to tone down his voice. Despite the thundering music they had come to be able to talk comfortably with each other with no problem. “Why? Its fine the way it is.”

Tony cocked an eyebrow at him and Cameron pointed with his hand at the large picture frame over their head. Taken two years back at their graduation the four of them were huddled together smiling widely and holding their degrees from a relative career school. Granted they didn’t look professional. Goofy would be more appropriate of a description especially Tony’s pathetic attempt at a goatee.

“It’s an important picture! We are all together.”

Nodding Tony clapped him on the shoulder. “Dude, we can always take another. Maybe a serious shot for once.”

A loud beep from a car horn made them both turn their head as a black 2007 CR-V SUV with thunders at each front door entered the garage and stopped beside them. As the driver stomped on the gas just enough to make the car purr Cameron sighed in satisfaction.

“Better leave you alone with your babe.” Tony joked and nudged him softly with his elbow. “I will take care of the touch ups here.”

Cameron quickly walked around the car and opened the passenger’s door just as the driver killed the engine. “How’s my baby?”

“Not playing in that team mate.” Jack Meadow jingled the car keys then let them fall in Cameron’s open hand. “She is good as new.” He commented caressing the light brown leather seats.

Nodding Cameron ruffled Jack’s blond hair. “You did a really good job here Jack-” frowning he sniffed the seat. “What in the world?”

Jack chuckled. “Cinnamon and oranges. Rose cleaned the inside and she said it’s going to be her signature car perfume. At least until we get a washing machine. It will be gone in a few hours don’t worry.” he muttered as Cameron gripped the door handle. Glancing back at Jack he blinked in confusion.

“So… Did she come on time this morning?” Jack asked casually staring intently at the wheel. Too casually.

“Uuuuum.” Cameron scratched his jaw slowly. Perplexed by Jack’s tone he decided to play safe. “Pal, you know she has gotten herself a boyfriend right?” His friend clenched his jaw tightly and sloppily got out of the car slamming the door closed. “Hey! Some respect to the baby here!” Cameron shouted and followed suit.

Jack was watching him from his side of the car with a tick in his jaw. He was grinding his teeth which he usually did when he was trying to restrain himself from doing something. Most always something bad derived straight from his bad temper. Cameron was hoping that something wasn’t kicking his newly serviced car.

“Jack. Come on dude. You had your chance right?”

“Just because I denied escorting her to that bloody party at that damn yacht doesn’t mean I blew up that chance.”

The rule ‘No relationships between coworkers’ would really come in handy right now. That, or ‘Set aside your ego, admit you are wrong and apologize for your mistake’. Or even how about ‘She is a woman so if you think you are right, think again’.

“For god’s sake Jack all you had to do was wear shorts and get it over with. I doubt Rose was going to walk around dressed solely in a bikini.” Cameron said and rolled his eyes.

“That’s the problem. I do. What if she did?” Jack muttered through gritted teeth.

No it wasn’t. But Cameron could only huff in response. Jealousy is a huge green parasite that sticks itself to your back and whispers poison in your ear. It is a monster that needs a united party of two people to be beaten down. Time is required and maybe it is the only relationship problem that wasn’t solved by love but by commitment and patience. Parts of love but very individually important parts. But what happened when the couple wasn’t united? Wasn’t on the same page? Problems happened.

Cameron shot Jack a stern look. “Rose isn’t that kind of girl.” he said softly. “You know it. I know it. And anyone who doesn’t know it will find out when they talk with her.”

“Shit… ” Jack slapped his forehead at the edge of the SUV’s car.

“Watch it!” Cameron snapped. “It’s our day off anyway. Go cool your head then talk with her. I’m going to head home in a bit too.” He waited till the other guy nodded reluctantly and watched him drag his feet out of their garage.

“Does she really have a new boyfriend?” Jack looked back at him. The look on his face drained any mood for humor from Cameron. You could tease your friends only so far.

“What do you think?” He raised an eyebrow thankful that the music drowned out the exasperation in his voice. Shaking his head he turned back towards the garage.

“Catch!”

Jack’s voice registered and Cameron’s hand was already in the air at the same time his whole body turned toward the sound. His palm closed around a can of Coke.

“Just checking your reflexes.” Jack waved and exited. Cameron didn’t tell his buddy to call him. No need for that. If the guy wanted he knew where to find him.

At twenty four Jack was still boyish, using his baby blue eyes to charm his way into anyone’s good will. Smart as hell he had to give him that though. Man, at times like this he really detested relationships. To give someone that much power over you. Sucks. All the crap about the One were all romanticized fantasies of good fairy tale endings. Either that or he was traumatized by being those two’s counselor each time they fought. He glared at Tony who was meticulously polishing the motor cycle with his brows furrowed in concentration. Yeah, Mr. I-pretend-am-not-here-and-I-didn’t-hear-anything.

“Cam.” Rose turned down the radio and walked up to him. Large eyes framed by thick black lashes stared up at him shining. “Thanks.”

“Nah. We are all a family here. Families are one.” Cameron grabbed her shoulders and hugged her tightly. Her smaller hands gripped his shirt and he felt her nod against his chest. You don’t choose your family. But you choose your friends. The friends that you care about and you think of for no reason and vice versa. That’s your second family. The one you chose.

---

Approximately four and a half hours later Cameron slid the SUV in his house’s garage. He let his hands slide on the leather wheel. “Welcome home babe.” Yeah, he talked to his car. No, he didn’t care if he was crazy.

Trying to stuff the paid bills in the inner front pocket of his leather jacket he lifted his hand and greeted politely Mrs. Evans who lived next door. Sitting with her baby at her veranda she waved back. Mr. Evans was behind his newspaper as usual. It was a habit that got on his nerves. He kept walking kicking a can out of his way. Fathers were supposed to be there for their kids. His pace slowed until he came to a stop and his sight became unfocused.

“Your father can’t be with us honey” he remembered his mother saying smiling in that kind way of hers. “He has a very dangerous job and stays away to protect us.”

Six-year-old Cameron was listening to his mother from beneath his covers. “No! He is never here. Sam said he left us and you are hiding it from me!” he cried.

“Listen to me dear. When you grow up you will understand. Your father loves us. And it’s very difficult for him not to watch you grow. Do you trust mommy?” her kind voice had an immediate calming effect on the small boy.

“Yes” Cameron sniffed. Peeking from under his covers he saw his mom holding an envelope. “What’s that?”

“Well, how about you come here and see? Hmmm I wonder if it could be a letter from him?”

All the covers were swept aside as the young boy jumped up and ran impatiently in her arms.

The flashback ended abruptly as Cameron caught sight of a red Volvo Coupe. Ah crap. Thinking about his father wasn’t going to help him right now. The dangerous job his mother had told him about was probably on the illegal side and the SOB was most likely hiding. No other to explain the generous monthly deposits in his bank account. But money didn’t mean attention.

Shaking his head Cameron put the thought aside and looked at Rose’s car. “Bloody hell. I hate their fights.” he grimaced.

The front door of his house opened and Rose stepped out. Cameron jumped behind a nearby tree and tried to make himself appear as small as possible. His broad shoulders probably picked out but he prayed Rose didn’t have the time or the mood to admire the scenery. Nearing soft footsteps. A pause.

“You do realize you look like a creepy stalker don’t you?” Rose said in a muffled giggle.

“Who? There is no one here.” he answered in the same way. Yeah call him childish he couldn’t resist.

“Cam are you going to step out of there or should I come drag you?”

“You are not scaring anyone.” But he stepped out of his ‘hiding’ place and grinned at her miserable attempt to stifle a laugh. Growing serious Cameron took a good look at Rose. A close good look. Come to think about it. This morning Rose had come in with coffee and a smile as usual but nor he or Tony had noticed the faint black circles under her eyes or the slightly bagged upper lids which let’s face it, it either meant someone had been banging all night or they had cried themselves to sleep. In this case? It was quite obvious it was the latter. “You talked with my mom about him?” Him being his arse hole of a best friend.

Rose’s long face was an answer enough. “Yeah Piper said I should go find him.” Clapping her hands Rose swallowed hard. “I am going back to our place right now.”

Cameron gave her a quick hug and wished her good luck then watched her pull out and drive away. He was going to know how it went tomorrow morning. Nothing could be hidden for long between them.

Two strides and he was up at his front door. With a big inhale Cameron smiled thinking his mom had made him his favorite meal. He hung his jacket and left his shoes next to the door. Walking to the kitchen he checked the oven- Yep roasted beef, he had guessed right. “Mom?” he called out.

Fishing for a fork he dug around. Steam rose up from the punctuations in the beef and Cameron couldn’t resist taking a small bite. “Hot..!!” Unable to close his mouth properly he dove for the sink and drank water to cool his burnt tongue. “Mom? It’s delicious!” His home remained silent. “Mom?!” he shouted. Strange. Rose had just left after all. Where could his mom have gone?

Carefully he closed the oven’s door and stretched. Maybe his mom was doing laundry in the basement. God knew when that machine was on you couldn’t even hear a bomb going off at two feet away. Cameron took a pen lying on the counter and write he would be at his gym if she wanted to find him. His gym. That sounded nice, he thought to himself as he rinsed the two coffee cups.

His muscles were tensing up demanding exercise. Cameron flexed his muscles but that didn’t really give him the relief of the pressure that kept building up in his body. Funny, he could swear in the last year his body needed more and more exercise to keep that pressure off. Hastily changing to a pair of black pants and matching short sleeved shirt he headed to his gym room. Okay, it wasn’t technically a room. More like a modified space in their large back yard.

The iron gate that kept his space secluded had only one key. Not that they needed protection but neighbors had been disturbed when the gym machines had first arrived so they had to put up thick layered fences to partly obscure the view. Come to think of it, this was his father’s idea of a birthday present. Closing the door behind him Cameron started doing warm up exercises. Up to two years back every single year at his birthday starting from age nine his father would send an additional piece to add to the gym. As if he knew his son’s body needed constant stimulation.

Cameron walked to the starting point of the exercise field and clicked on the timer on the floor. Climbing up the four feet wall by lifting his 145.2 pounds with ropes hanging from the top, he stretched like a predatory great cat. Next, were the obstacles he jumped over with backflips and acrobatics no sane man would try. Fourteen feet of crawling on his belly under the narrow low spiked fence was next. Straightening up he jogged to the starting point again with only the slightest of burning in his muscles. He hit the timer’s top to stop it without stopping his jog.

The horizontal bar was next, wide enough for two people, where he did several reps of pushing himself up until he could feel his biceps start to burn. He did two more sets then jumped down and started doing burpees then push ups. He was pretty sure some of the exercises were pretty hardcore but they did the trick and it wasn’t like he ever had questioned this part of himself. All the exercises that didn’t require the machines took him exactly- he checked the timer- ten minutes and thirty seconds.

“I might need to add something more soon” he murmured toweling his face with the bottom of his shirt. He walked to the mini fridge he kept equipped with water bottles and energy bars and grabbed a water bottle to rehydrate his body.

“Your body requires more already? I’m impressed.” A deep, foreign accented voice had Cameron turn his head alarmed.

A tall, lean red headed man smartly dressed in an expensive looking suit and wearing sunglasses was standing just inside the gym.

“Who? How did you get in here?” Cameron double checked his pockets for the key. Where-

“The door was open” the man said and pointed at the door where the key protruded out of the keyhole.

“No I’m pretty sure I closed that door.” Cameron rubbed his eyebrow in confusion. He was sure he remembered himself closing the door yet each passing second the memory became all the more hazed. Like when you try to remember an important detail and the more you thought about it the more it eluded your grasp yet when it was no longer needed it came to your mind on its own. “Who are you?” he repeated slowly taking in the man’s appearance.

Bloody hell but the fabric of that suit looked expensive. The buttons gleamed under the lights along with those shoes of his. He was really tall, probably around Tony’s height and maybe a tad more. Cameron narrowed his eyes as the man ruffled his shoulder length hair before smoothing them back like he knew he was being assessed for being a threat. Definitely dyed hair. No one’s natural hair color was that dark red.

The man tipped his forehead the same way he would have done so if he wore a hat and smiled friendly. “The name is Tane.”

The name sounded vaguely familiar. But… “Doesn’t ring any bells.” he frowned.

The man with the strange name angled his head toward the house. The movement reminded Cameron oddly of a bird cocking his head. “I am an old friend… You could say.”

“I don’t. Leave.” Cameron folded his arms and took up his I-don’t-care-who-you-are-I-will-squash-you pose.

“Well well! Who would have thought! You have grown quite intimidating.” Tane smiled wider like he was proud of him.

“Leave!” Cameron’s frown deepened. The guy was smiling so wide his face should have cracked in half by now and Cameron wasn’t getting any bad vibes from him. His instincts like his reflexes were well trained and if the guy presented a threat he was confident he would have picked it up.

Instead, Tane walked to the timer. He tsked. “Your father’s score was four minutes, forty seven seconds on the same training program. He was two years older than you when he first tried it though.”

Cameron froze in place, a fist holding his heart tightly. “What did you say?”

Shaking his head Tane ignored him and tapped the timer to reset it. “I am a bit disappointed though. I expected more. Maybe more than you are capable of. Of course, waiting for a hybrid to mature is like flipping a coin.” His voice had lowered to a murmur like he was talking more to himself than to Cameron. “You never know if they will surpass their progenitor or stop half way. Still a remarkable time for those kind of standards.”

Cameron scoffed fiercely. Maybe his instincts were wrong this time. “Alright Mr. Deep in Drugs-”

“Tane!” His mother’s voice shut him up as she stepped through the iron gate and started for them. She walked straight at the guy with her arms open and he was hugged her right back in open affection.

“Look at you beautiful girl. You seem to get prettier every time I see you.” Tane said and kissed Piper’s cheek.

“Ah! Always such a flirt.” Piper batted playfully at his chest and laughed behind her hands. “Making me blush.”

What the fuck. Was his mom actually blushing? Not that his mother was past that age, she was getting in her late forties this year. Nor did he want her to wait all her life for his absent father who she remained loyal to all these years.

A vein ticked on Cameron’s forehead as he looked at them. “Friend or not, I really don’t appreciate trespassing through property uninvited.”

Piper walked to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “My boy has become a man.” Tane nodded in agreement and Cameron had the urge to turn invisible, if that was possible. “I should have told you sooner Cam but I was expecting Tane so I left the door open after I finished doing laundry.”

Tane nodded in agreement. “Yes I found the door open but you weren’t anywhere to be found so I thought I should come looking for you. That’s how I got here.”

Watching your mom get all girly with a man you didn’t know, even an ‘old friend’ you knew nothing about, is awkward. Downright awkward. Plus that tone of hers made him feel like a kid being praised and that was just embarrassing. Cameron forced a smile to his face then turned to glare at Tane. There was something strange at the way the guy was looking at him though. There was a concentration in his features that was obvious by the way his brows had furrowed together even if his eyes were hidden behind his sun glasses.

“I can’t stay for long.” Tane glanced at his watch then clasped his hands. “How about we get down to business?”

“Yes, yes. Let’s move to the kitchen. We will talk there.” Piper nodded and caressed Cameron’s cheek. “Go take a shower honey.”

Freshly showered and dressed Cameron walked to the kitchen. He was sure he caught a few weird words when his mother’s ‘friend’ was looking at his timer. Words like hybrid and standards. And what was that about his father? Did they work together? Maybe his visit had something to do with him. Or else why mention him. Had something happened to him? This never happened before. Who was this guy? His mind swam in thoughts and there was only one thing he could if he wanted to get any answers.

Cameron walked in the kitchen to find Piper serving Tane tea. He cleared his throat. Tane looked up to him and put his elbows on the table. “Cam. You mind me calling you Cam? I will call you Cam.” Tane said waving his hand like any objections could and would be ignored.

Thank god his mother was here or the guy would be out the door on his arse in less than two minutes. God, what arrogance. Grinding his teeth Cameron sat on the chair opposite of Tane’s and next to his mothers. His fingers were drumming a silent beat on the edge of the table cloth. “So, what’s doing?” he asked.

“How much do you know about your father Cam?” Tane asked him.

The question caught him unprepared, his hands stilling on the table. Piper sat next to Cameron and squeezed his arm softly. She remained silent and sipped from her tea. Cameron got the cue she wouldn’t be sharing anything new with him. So he said what he actually knew. Which wasn’t that much.

“His name is Evan. He works in the military so that’s keeping him away from us.” With a sideway glance he noticed his mother’s hands were slightly trembling. Maybe being a bit too honest wouldn’t be a good idea. She truly seemed to believe his father loved them and he wasn’t about to hurt her with what he truly believed. “He has been sending us money to support us and sometimes he sends gifts” he finished.

Tane nodded slowly. “Not much but sufficiently enough. Your fathers job is dangerous and by being here he would put you in a tremendous danger. He knew he would have to stay away before he married Piper.” He glanced at her and when she nodded and smiled he seemed encouraged to continue. “About his job. He…” there he paused and licked his lips. “He is not quite in the military.”

“I thought so.” Cameron narrowed his eyes. He folded his arms and got ready to hear the ugly truth. Did they need a suited man to tell them what he knew all along? Evan Sears was probably in the mafia or something. This guy could well be in the business as well. Plus being all friendly and shit wasn’t really doing anything for him anyway. A wild cat could bat her head against your leg to be petted then return the caress with a hiss and a bite. Yeah he had figured it out on his own thank you very much.

Tane raised an eyebrow. “You thought what?”

Cameron made an incoherent sound. His mother and Tane looked at him expectantly and he steeled himself to express his inner thoughts carefully avoiding his mother’s gaze. “Well, something along the lines of… mafia?”

“Mafia?” His mother covered her mouth with his hand. “Is that what you think your father is doing?” she demanded. “Playing Godfather and dealing with drugs?”

“I didn’t say he is dealing with drugs specifically.”

“Evan did infiltrate a similar organization a few years back.” Tane said. “All in order to do his real job of course. Gather the info we needed then execute the next step of his mission.”

Cameron blinked. Was it his imagination or had the guy just paused at the word ‘execute’? “What kind of a job is to gather information? Like spying on someone?” He kicked back his chair as he stood up, its legs making a squeaking noise as they dragged on the floor. “No.”

“Oh yes.” Tane grinned at him then sipped from his tea seemingly uncaring of the bomb he had just thrown at him. “Your father is a spy.”

A spy? What in the motherloving face of the earth was this crap? A spy! A spy for who? For what? Like undercover jobs and stuff?

“Your face tells me you don’t quite believe me.”

“You bet I don’t!” Cameron knocked his fist on the table. He decided he didn’t like Tane. Know all types always got on his nerves. “You can’t possibly think I am going to buy this bullshit. A spy!” He threw his arms high well aware he was probably looking like a madman. But hell if he cared. Honestly, it was much better than thinking the alternative but still… Stuff like this didn’t happen in real life. It just didn’t. It was just unbelievable.

“Honey it’s true.” Piper looked at him calmly and gently pried open his closed fist stroking his palm. “Evan, he… gathers information about foreign operations that could endanger large populations of people. He came clean to me when things started getting serious between us and I was aware he would be away at times.” She kept stroking his palm but her caress had turned more nervous, the fingertips trembling.

“At times.” Cameron drawled out. “A bit different than all the time.” He dragged the words giving in to the temptation of sarcasm. “And I should care about it after all these years?”

Two grim faces drained the sarcasm right out of him. Tane pulled off his sun glasses. Tree leaves dancing in a gentle breeze, a forest breathing like one being. An alive picture captured behind his irises. Contacts, Cameron thought. They had to be contacts. No human could possibly have bright green eyes like those. Almost glowed like neon. Damn how much more unusual could this guy get?! Compared to him, Cameron felt like he was just… brown. Dull. Boringly usual.

“Twenty five years ago we conducted an experiment. There are… certain individuals with special gifts. And we thought that we could all share those gifts. Extended lung capacity, fast and clever metabolism.” Tane folded his sun glasses and laid them on the table. “The tests showed two members of my team positive. Evan was one of them. But like all good things those gifts came with a price.” He explained and gave the cue to Piper.

“A few years after we got married and I was pregnant with you” his mother continued, her posture straight, hands holding one of his tightly “things started to change. Subtle things at first. Insomnia had troubled him in the past as well. So we thought nothing of it. But then, Evan’s body started… deforming, his brain demanding exercise from his body that if it wasn’t relieved it could build up to a violent explosion. No, no, never to me honey” she added patting his hand when she saw Cameron’s eyes darken. “Mostly to himself and objects. He would first die than lay a hand on us.”

“Evan is a treasure to us. Had we known the consequences we would have never done any genetic alteration at all.” Tane added.

“Alright just hold on a minute because I-I’m totally confused.” Cameron backed away from the table. What was happening? Genetic alteration? “Why are you telling me all this? Why now?” he shouted. “You!” he pointed at Tane, his eyes flashing with anger, “Why did you come here? There must be a purpose in this otherwise why would care so much about coming clean about who my father is?”

“Cam-” He cut off his mother by rising his hand and turning his glare at her. “You supposedly knew this and never told me anything. Let me believe the only natural thing that could have come to mind only to change it after twenty two years? What the fuck!” His mother’s face blanched at the cuss but he was too pumped up to feel bad right now.

“Because son…” Tane looked at him straight in the eye and calmly met his glare head on. “I believe you inherited your father’s altered genes.”

Lots of things can be learned about a person just from his eyes. Traits of his personality, his beliefs. It’s all in their eyes. Their very essence. But their stare. It helped you know if you could trust them. Staring back at him unblinking, with all seriousness Cameron found himself accepting Tane’s words. A spy? Yeah he had questions about that, but experiments? Why not? The small boy inside him drank up the information. The grown up wasn’t completely convinced though. Who would? To learn that your father was a James Bond type of person was one thing. To top it off by making him a failed genetic experiment that had attained super human abilities was just too much.

“Alright. For the sake of the argument let’s say I believe you. First question, who does he spy for? You? You said we. Are you an organization? Short answers cause I have more.” Cameron leaned his back against the fridge. “I want a good explanation to understand what is going on here!” he demanded.

Piper opened her mouth to say something but Tane shook his head. “That’s fair enough. Yes he spies for me. My team has an important job to do. A job that is necessary for the protection of innocents. There are bad people out there Cam. People who take pleasure in destroying and we make sure they don’t win. We prevent disasters. We dirty our hands and hunt monsters. Sometimes we need information to ‘hunt’. And at those times we send in members of the team to infiltrate the enemy’s base. So you could say, we are a form of a military unit.”

Cameron breathed deeply and let that sink in. “So my father is one your team members and because of his disfiguration and personality change he chose to be on the job like 24/7?” At Tane’s nod of agreement he continued. Alright. That was rather simple. And not unheard of. You just never expected something like this to happen to you. “That explains the large amounts of money our two bank accounts has been receiving every month.”

“Yes, he is constantly on missions due to his body’s constant need for movement. The experiments were nothing fancy. A bit more complicated than blood transfusion for sure but the tests never prepared us for the actual results.”

“I see. How about you? You weren’t positive for those experiments? How old are you anyway, you can’t have known my father since before I was born. You are what? The same age as me?” Maybe he was a new addition. He definitely didn’t look older than thirty but Cameron wasn’t really good at pinpointing ages.

“I was the donor of the genes.” Tane lifted his tea cup and took a long sip.

No Freaking Way. Cameron scratched his jaw and stared at him in pure disbelief. Now that was just impossible. No way. Noooooo way. Drugs. The guy was high. But then he looked pretty calm and collected. God, did they invite a psycho in their house? “How old can you be to-”

“I’m older than you. Trust me. Next question. But make it fast. I’m leaving in less than fifteen minutes so make the questions count.”

“Why tell me all this? I know it’s not to correct me about what I think of my father. Why tell me all this now and not two years ago for example?” the question came to his lips before he could restrain it. It was an important question for him and he could sense there was something deeper going on. Tane hadn’t come here just to talk for his father. That was just the excuse to start the ball rolling. He didn’t know where to yet. But he wanted to find out.

“That’s because your growth in strength didn’t stop. Evan hasn’t sent you any training machines in two years yet your body requires more. He sent you a training field to entice you to look after your physique but not to this extend. What I saw on that field. It was all you. Tell me something Cam, can you detect details about the world? Recognize what meal your neighbor has prepared. The one three blocks down from your house.”

Since when did this turn on him? Cameron thought. Yeah he had a good nose but he had never thought much of it. And his strength. Heck, anyone training as hard as he could achieve reflexes. A good diet beat protein to a pulp. But what if that was normal just for him? A small voice echoed in Cameron’s mind.

“I will take your silence as a yes. You see Cam. You were born after the experiment. And I have reason to believe that not all but some of the genes were passed on to you. Not the great ones sure but none of the bad ones either.” Draining the last of his tea Tane looked at Piper who had been sitting silent all this time. “I watched you go through the exercises. So I have a pretty good idea of what you might have got, let’s say extra.”

“What?” Strange thing. He kind of knew what Tane was going to say. Little things that made life so much easier. Strong instincts that had helped him stay out of trouble one too many times.

“Enhanced senses and reflexes. Nothing major you could say.” He stopped to make sure Cameron was listening to him. “Pair those two together and wonderful things happen.” Tane answered him and smiled in that friendly way of his, the one that relaxed you somehow. “Well, I hope my answers satisfy you because sadly, we don’t have time for more.” He stood up and Piper followed suit.

“Whoa whoa.” Cameron said hastily almost running to the kitchen door to keep Tane from leaving. He planted his feet in front of Tane and stared up at him. The guy was a good head taller than him, maybe a few inches more too. “That didn’t answer my question. Why. Tell. Me. Now.”

His mother answered him instead. “I thought that Tane could help you. If you ever felt… different.”

“I don’t need any kind of help.” He bit out. “Especially from him.”

“Don’t worry my sweet Piper. I doubt he will reach that level. You shouldn’t worry about him so.” Tane assured her. His tone had something derogatory in it but she seemed relieved. “Cam” Tane turned and stepped in closer until the scent of Old Spice seemed to surround Cameron. “If you keep growing- in lack of a better term, the pressure you feel before exercising isn’t going to go away even if you run eight miles a day. It will keep building until spitting headaches can’t let you sleep at night and the feeling of spikes stabbing your eyeballs won’t let you open your eyes in the day. If that happens, your job at the garage will be good as gone. I can provide the stimulation you will need. Your mother wanted to prepare you for that possibility.”

Didn’t that leave a guy speechless. Forget horror movies. Images like that were much better material for nightmares.

Tane stepped around him and Piper got him to the door. Cameron stayed in the kitchen. He looked at the tea cups on the table. His mother had barely touched hers. Picking them up gingerly he put them in the sink and let water fill them both. His mind felt numb.

There were things that had cleared up and honestly, he was glad his father wasn’t involved in drugs like he had come to believe. And if it wasn’t for the actual proof of his body physique he wouldn’t believe any of that enhanced-genes talk. Cameron couldn’t sugar coat things though. He couldn’t deny that a part of him found a sense of calm, of rightness yet another was whispering that this was the beginning of something.

“Are you alright? Silly question but…” his mother voice quieted. She was standing at the door fidgeting with her jacket’s ends.

All he did was look at her and his mother came to him, her arms wrapping around him. Come to think of it, he thought as he let himself be held, they hugged people the same way.

“Don’t be angry at me.” She whispered and her arms tightened around his waist.

“Do you trust him?” he murmured.

Leaning a bit back Piper stroked his cheek. “With my life. I promise you Tane is a good man. I have known him for a long time honey and he was there for me when your father couldn’t be.”

Closing his eyes Cameron shagged. He believed her. His mother had never lied to him. Yes, hiding such a thing from him wasn’t the best course of action she had ever taken. But she had never lied.

“Alright. I will try to take that guy seriously. But if someone with half or even less of his genes can go mad without help and become violently mental then how does he stay sane? Provided I am supposedly convinced he is the donor of the genes.” Cameron didn’t mean to scare his mother but the sudden paling of her face made him swallow hard.

What if he wasn’t sane? He didn’t really learn anything about him from their conversation at all. And what was that about good genes and bad? If so called ‘enhanced senses and reflexes weren’t good, what were the best? And, his breath caught at the thought, what were the worst?