Vanguard: The Complete Second Season: A Superhero Serial (Vanguard: The Collected Seasons Book 2) (4 page)

Anita held a pensive expression. “It’s not about letting them do anything. This isn’t really our choice to make.”

Erin’s fists tightened. “So we’re just going to give up?” Her words spilled from her mouth faster than usual. “After everything we’ve been through, we’re going to roll over?”

“Honey, we knew the deal when we signed up.” Anita tried to comfort her young friend by patting her knee, but Erin stood abruptly.

“Knew the deal, right. We were doing something great here, now we’re just gonna throw it all away?” Erin pointed at Anita. “You’re supposed to be all about helping people!”

“And I still will.” Anita stood and put her hands on Erin’s shoulders. “Just not as Paragon. I’ll go back to being Anita Jordan. And you, you’ve got your whole life ahead of you.”

Erin scoffed, looking away from Anita’s gaze. “You think I wanna go back to high school after all this? I came here because I wanted to learn how to control these powers.”

“And you have.”

“But I’ve got so much more to learn!” Erin snapped her gaze back to Anita. “You remember what I did at Tora Bora? I changed my body’s composition so that Pyre’s flames couldn’t hurt me. It was just a reflex, but it shows that there’s a whole lot more I’m capable of than I thought. And I can’t do it alone. I can’t just go back to living some stupid, suburban life after this.”

Erin pulled away, turning her back on Anita and folding her arms across her chest. “And what’s worse is that I’m the only one who cares that this team is being shut down.”

Anita shook her head. “That’s bull.”

Erin groaned. “Oh come on!” She turned around. “You were
just
saying how you never planned on staying here! You’re probably psyched to put this freak show behind you!”

“Hey!” Anita snapped. “Don’t twist my words, okay? I just meant I wanted my own place. And I’m sorry, but I went through a lot since these powers manifested. So yeah, maybe I’m ready to relax a little bit and try living a normal life. Is there something wrong with that?”

Erin lowered her gaze. “No…”

“I
do
like what we’ve done since coming here, I like everyone I’ve gotten to meet.”

A tiny smirk creeped on Erin’s face. “Even Dom?”

Anita snickered. “Yeah, when he’s not being a dick.”

“Which is only like two per cent of the time.”

Anita started laughing and the sound caused Erin’s smirk to spread into a laugh of her own. After the laughter subsided, Erin’s face became slightly more serious. “Do you think you’ll ever be Paragon again?”

“It’s not really our choice.”

“Being here isn’t our choice, I’m talking about solo,” said Erin. “Doing what the Exemplar did. Only…y’know, without the breakdown.”

“Well…” Anita rubbed her lips, looking away. “I don’t know. Part of me wants to say no, but if I saw a situation that I could help with…”

“Yeah, kinda where I’m standing, too.” Erin sighed. “You really think we can go back to being normal after all of this?”

Anita shrugged. “Only one way to be sure.”

***

Koji swam laps in the olympic-sized swimming pool located on the lower levels of the Atlas. His Sharkskin form enabled him to breathe underwater, so he had no need to ever break the surface of the water, moving like a large gray blur across the pool.

When Koji finally did rise above the surface, he saw Dom sitting off to the side on one of the metal benches. Koji pulled himself from the pool, his form changing back to his human appearance as he moved.
 

“Feel like I should be humming the
Jaws
theme,” said Dom, taking a sip from a bottle of beer.
 

“You’re a dick,” said Koji, picking up a towel and drying himself off as he sat beside Dom.

“What’d I do this time?”

Koji patted his face with the towel. “Only brought a beer for yourself. Bad form, dude.”

Dom chuckled. “Guess I was just sort of wandering around the old place.”

“How’s this whole leaving thing work for you?” asked Koji. “With your pardon agreement and all.”

“Wondered about that myself, but I talked to Thorne already,” said Dom. “He said Lawson’s gonna honor the agreement and give me my pardon.”

“Even though it hasn’t been a full year?”

Dom nodded. “Seems like.”
 

“Nice.” Koji draped the towel over his neck. “Bet you’re glad to be outta here.”

“Yeah…” Dom took a swig from the bottle. “Y’know, I talk a lot of crap, but I actually liked this gig.”

“Kinda figured,” said Koji. “What’re you gonna do after this?”

Dom shrugged. “Hell if I know. Part of me thinks I might go back to thieving if I get bored.”

Koji wrinkled his brow. “But you just got a pardon?”

Dom grinned. “Exactly.”

Koji snickered. “Dominic Vaughn, always the badass.”

“Got a rep to maintain.” Dom sipped his beer. “What about you?”

“Guess I’ll go back to working as a surfing instructor,” said Koji. “It was a pretty cool job, get to spend all day out in the water. Plus, it’ll be nice to be in the ocean instead of settling for a pool.”

“Think that’ll be enough for you?”

Koji shook his head. “Hell no. But what else we gonna do?”

Dom nodded and passed the bottle. Koji took a sip from it and the two remained in silence.

***

Thorne removed a Cohiba from the wooden box and brought it up to his nose. He inhaled the scent of the tobacco leaves and looked down at the cigar, a smile forming across his face. When a knock came at the door, he set the cigar down and said, “It’s open.”

Jim entered Thorne’s office, looking around at the boxes the Colonel had begun packing. “Bet you’re gonna miss having an office so far from the top brass.”

“Yeah, gonna be rough going back to oversight committees. The nice thing about being an off-the-books operation—no one wants to know what you’re up to.” Thorne pointed to the liquor cabinet. “I haven’t packed that up yet, you want a drink?”

“Sure, bourbon would be great.”

Thorne walked to the cabinet and pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniel’s. He poured some in two glasses and carried one over to Jim.
 

“You decided what you’re gonna do?” asked Thorne.

Jim sniffed the bourbon and stared into the golden liquid. “Not quite. The fact that this organization isn’t using specials makes me a little suspicious about what exactly they want us to do.”

Thorne sighed and sat behind his desk. “Yeah, you and me both. I’m worried they see specials as an enemy that needs to be contained. Or worse, eliminated.”

Jim sat on the edge of the desk, sipping the bourbon. “We could go rogue.”

Thorne scoffed. “Believe me, I’ve thought about it. But not only would we have the usual threats to deal with, the world’s governments will be on us like white on rice.”

“So there’s really only one option, isn’t there?” Jim held the glass between his legs, slightly hunched over. “Can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”

Thorne leaned back in his chair, sipping the drink. “Not my favorite option.”

“Or mine.”

“But you’re right. If I become the Director, I can keep things in check. Try to curb any possible witch hunts that might arise.”

“And I’ll be right there alongside you,” said Jim.
 

Thorne looked up at Jim. “You sure about that?”

Jim hopped off the desk, tossing back the rest of the bourbon. “You gotta have someone to watch your back, Colonel. If not me, who else is gonna do it?”

“It’d be an honor to continue serving with you, son,” said Thorne.
 

Jim held out his hand. “So we’re in this together, right?”

Thorne rose from his chair, setting the glass down on the desk’s surface. He took Jim’s hand in his own. “Absolutely. Let’s show those guys down at the UN how we do things.”

CHAPTER 6

Thorne was escorted by car from the Ronald Reagan National Airport to the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, DC. He stepped out of the car and the driver handed him his bag, retrieved from the trunk. Thorne quickly checked into the hotel and took the elevator up to his room on the top floor.

The Colonel slid the keycard into the lock on the door and the light flashed green. He opened the door and stepped inside the room. Thorne closed the door behind him, but when he looked inside the room, the bag fell from his grasp. He quickly drew the side-arm he kept holstered under his shoulder and took aim at the bald man who sat at the desk up against the window.

“Turn around. Slowly.”

The intruder raised his arms and turned his chair. Thorne examined the man’s features carefully, recalling him from the photos of the people apprehended from Tora Bora. “Clarence Black.”

“Pyre,” he replied.

“You’re supposed to be locked up, how are you here?”

“Seems you’ve pissed off the wrong people and they’ve sent me after you,” said Pyre.

“The same people who’ve kept you imprisoned? You’re going to trust them?”

“Actually no, I hate the bastards,” said Pyre. “But if I don’t do what they say, they’ll kill my family.”

“Who are we talking about here?” asked Thorne. “Who sent you?”

“Don’t know their names, but they seem pretty important. And they think you’re a threat,” said Pyre.
 

Thorne felt the temperature in the room increasing just as Pyre’s skin went from beige to red, his eyes glowing bright orange and flames erupting over his crimson suit.
 

“Stop!” Thorne pulled the trigger but the gun just clicked impotently.

“Guess they took something out when you got your weapon back at the airport,” said Pyre. “Too bad for you.”

Pyre stood from the chair, taking a few gradual steps towards his target. Thorne backed against the door and gripped the handle, but it wouldn’t open. Thorne looked back at Pyre, his eyes pleading.

“Don’t do this!” he said. “You said it yourself, you hate them. Come with me. Identify them and I can protect you!”

Pyre looked down, contemplating the offer. But then flames coiled around his arms, forming into spheres in the palms of his outstretched hands. Pyre looked up, his eyes like burning hot coals.

“Sorry, but it’s not my call.”

Pyre’s flames extended outward, generating a small explosion that took out the room.
 

***

The phone rang in the office of General Nathan Callus. He lifted the receiver from the cradle and brought it to his ear. “This is Callus.”

“General, I’ve just heard the news of a small explosion at the Dupont Circle Hotel,” said Ramsey. “Unfortunately, there was one casualty—Colonel Leonard Thorne was in the room where the explosion took place.”

Callus grinned. “Truly tragic, Mr. Secretary.”

“Indeed,” said Ramsey. “But as crass as it may be, life goes on. And with the top pick for Director no longer among the living, he’s requested your presence.”

“I serve at the pleasure of the President,” said Callus. “Thank you for telling me, Mr. Secretary. Please let the President know that I’ll be there at whatever time is convenient for him.”

“I’ll pass along the message,” said Ramsey. “I’d like to thank you for your service, General.”

“You’re welcome. Goodbye, Mr. Secretary.”

Callus hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair, directing his attention to the monitor on his desk. It was split into a series of screens, showing security feeds from the cells where the specials he had apprehended were being contained. Callus tapped on the feed from Pyre’s cell, the special now back in his tank.

“You’ve done good work, Mr. Black. But unfortunately for you, this is just the beginning.”

Callus turned away from the monitor and shuffled through the documents on his desk until he came to a folder that contained specifications for advanced military hardware. On the cover of the folder were the words PROJECT: HELLHOUNDS.

CHAPTER 7

Erin covered her mouth and shut her tear-drenched eyes, trying to stop the sounds of her sobbing. She felt a comforting arm wrap around her and looked to her side to see Anita standing beside her. The taller woman used her handkerchief to dab her eyes, but otherwise she maintained her composure.

The casket at Arlington Cemetery was closed, pretty much a necessity given the state of the remains when they were discovered. The American flag was draped over the surface. Erin glanced around at the gathering of black-clothed mourners, recognizing not only her teammates but also the new President and the Secretary of Defense. Koji stood by her side staring at the ground, looking uncomfortable in his suit. Erin reached for his hand and he took it, but didn’t shift his gaze.

Dom’s eyes were concealed by a pair of sunglasses and he stood with his hands clasped in front of him. Lee was next to him. Despite being a new arrival to the team and not knowing deceased very well, he still came to the funeral. Jim wore a military dress uniform and his face was a stoic as ever. McCabe kept his mouth covered with his hand, trying not to show any emotion.
 

Erin looked off into the distance. She could see a man standing there, wearing a trench coat and a hat. It was Zenith, but given his current state, he didn’t want to risk being spotted by anyone who would recognize the face of Terrence Gibson.
 

Soldiers removed the flag from the casket and folded it up. They brought it to an older woman who stood closest to the casket, her blond hair turning gray with age. A black veil hung from her hat to cover her face, but it did nothing to conceal her audible grief. They saluted and the casket lowered into the ground.
 

The mourners left one by one, but the members of Vanguard lingered. They stood over the grave, staring down at the headstone, the name LEONARD THORNE engraved on its surface.

“That’s it,” said Dom with a sigh. Slightly more emotion than anyone in the team was used to from him. “It’s over.”

“He’s right,” said Jim. “Any thought we might have had to continuing Vanguard looks to have died with the Colonel.”

“But we don’t even know what happened,” said Erin. “An explosion? Right before he was going to accept the job? How can that be a coincidence?”

“As awful as it is, sometimes bad things just happen,” said Anita.