Cain sat, silently watching Jeremiah as he casually drove towards the police station. His eyes were cold, like a predator waiting for its prey to drop its guard. In that split second, he would strike. But the longer they drove, the more he realised it would never happen. Even when Jeremiah hummed along the song on the radio or pulled out his phone at a red light, the barrier around him was always active. Cain pushed into it. It wasn't a tangible thing blocking him, but instead, he was slowly being brought to a halt, like the brakes of a car had been applied.
'Air manipulation. No, it's more than that.' The vibration he felt as he pushed his head into it tickled. Pulling back, he pushed his hands forward. Cain paused when Jeremiah, with his left hand, pointed the gun through the gap in the seats.
"Your head is fine, but the moment your hands go up again." Cain met his eyes in the rearview mirror. Nodding, he pulled back and rested his head against the headrest. He tried to activate his aura, but felt it getting suppressed by the cuffs.
'An Aretefact.' He had seen such things many times before and didn't question that the NPSD had access to them. If they didn't, only a kill order could stop ability users who committed crimes.
"Tell me?" Cain spoke, "Did you blow up the building?" Jeremiah stayed silent. "Come on, one military man to another. I can see you served."
"Don't try to sweet-talk me, Mr Manning." Cain's eyes narrowed.
"How do you know my name?" Cain knew he had never said it. Jeremiah smirked and said nothing, refocusing on the road. He knew he had messed up and tried to play it off. "Who told you my name?" Cain's voice deepened. Jeremiah met his eyes in the mirror again and saw a murderous gaze directed at him.
"I'm so scared, please don't hurt me, I'll tell you what you want." With a mocking voice, he scoffed and shook his head. Cain wanted to lunge at him, to rip his throat out and silence his mocking tone. Taking a few deep breaths, he calmed himself and closed his eyes. It took little thought to know who it was. Xavier could have been an answer, but the police wouldn't have moved just because he asked. But if one of their own made the request.
"Do you think helping Detective Graham is a good idea, sir?" Cain said with a cold voice. "Even if I am put away, which won't happen, someone else will deal with him, and they won't be as clean as I am."
"You're on tape, you know." Jeremiah said without care, "Can I put that under conspiracy to commit murder?"
"Put it under what you want," Cain said, equally unbothered. Jeremiah shrugged, refocusing on the music. Ten minutes passed, and arriving at the station, he pushed Cain through the front door, making sure everyone got a good look at a new player that required his intervention.
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"He is in." James sighed in relief and hung up the phone. Turning right, he stared at Xavier's penthouse with a hateful but scared gaze, checked if his pistol was in its holster and got out. Ignoring the security, he marched through the front doors and took the lift up.
The door opened, and Xavier stood, holding a plate of food. Holding the plate towards James, he smiled, "Want one?" Pulling his gun, he slowly crept forward, holding it aimed at Xavier's head.
"How much?" Xavier moved to a nearby table and put the small plate down, taking one last bite of food.
"How much, what, James. And a gun, really. I thought we were more civilised than this?" James stepped forward, pushing the gun closer towards Xavier.
"How much did you plan this?" The fear in his heart crept up. 'Is he so confident because he already knows the outcome of this conversation?' James took a deep breath, feeling sick in the back of his throat. The city's background noise became muffled in the silence. James felt his back slowly get wet from sweat, but stayed firm.
"James, you can't be serious." Xavier turned around and walked to his living room. Following behind him, he saw a small lizard in a cage. Xavier went towards it, grabbing a nearby leaf and holding it inside for the creature to eat, "Do you think I controlled everything you did until this moment? Did I make your marriage fail? Did I arrange for you to become friends with Peter?" The lizard took the leaf. Xavier turned around, "Did I make it so you would see that footage and fall down this rabbit hole?"
James held the gun firm, shaking his head, "That was Chase. I know for sure it was. He was dead. I saw the report." James took a step forward, "One strange coincidence, isn't it? He, of all people, was the one you could call."
"He wasn't exactly dead." Xavier shrugged, "More near death. The hospitals wrote him off as impossible. But New Horizon has many resources, and thanks to that." Xavier spread his arms, "A miracle. The dead rose." The two looked each other in the eyes. Xavier sighed and dropped his hands. "James, am I a God?"
"What?"
"I'm asking if I am God." Xavier stepped forward and grabbed the barrel of the gun, "Because what you think, only a God can do that." Xavier pulled the gun towards his forehead, "Do you think I have foreseen all this, that the key would be stolen, that you would come to me, that Cain would begin hunting you?" Xavier leaned deeper into the gun, "Or is it more believable to think that with my vision, I can plan many contingencies. After all, if you pulled the trigger now, wouldn't the future change?"
James's hand shook. Staring into Xavier's eyes, he couldn't tell if the man was lying or not. "I don't know." James weakly answered, "I don't know." It was an answer he hated most. Anything else would have been acceptable, even if Xavier was a puppetmaster.
Xavier smiled and let go of the gun, walking to his sofa and sitting down. "Then, why don't you just trust me when I say, I haven't planned every moment of your life." James slowly lowered his hand. "The future is never set in stone, James. I can see it, sure, but even I am helpless against it sometimes. All I can do is hold every card possible, so even defeat isn't my loss." Xavier pointed towards the seat in front of him, "Now, let's be people and not animals. Sit."
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Lying in her room, Rose felt her phone vibrate, a private number calling her. Staring at it for a second, she hesitantly answered. "Hello?"
"You have called the ISD to investigate Mr Manning, and we find him in the NPSD system. I believe we were clear when we said do not approach Mr Manning, as it will impede our investigation." The emotionless voice said without giving Rose a chance to think, "Please explain?"
Rose was stunned, silent for a second. "I know nothing about this, sir. I have kept it myself, I promise."
"Your promise is irrelevant." The voice replied. "Explain." Rose's hand shook. Clenching her teeth, she knew there was only one person who would kick up a fuss.
'That fucker.' Taking a deep breath, she spoke, "There was one other who knew about Mr Manning, but believed it didn't require the ISD's involvement. Detective James Graham. I believe he was the one who allowed the arrest of Mr Manning."
Rose held her breath and waited. The cold typing of a keyboard echoed on the other end of the phone. "We have a Jeremiah Burke being the arresting officer."
"Jeremiah had no clue about this. Only James and I," Rozse said quickly, not wishing to get another coworker in trouble.
"The ISD has begun an investigation. There will be no further intervention." The call hung up. Rose lowered her phone and blankly stared at the wall in front of her.
"PRICK!" Launching her phone at the wall, she groaned and got up after realising what she had done to check she hadn't broken it.