CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

A Couple of Weeks Ago

Turner Sans lit a cigarette with a golden Zippo lighter, flicked it shut and slid the Zippo back into his vest pocket. DarkFlood stood before him, arms crossed, face drawn on by the alleyway shadow. He finished hearing what this joker had to say, and gave him his already predetermined answer, "You make an interesting offer, Mr. Sans. But I must decline."

"This will not be the last you hear from me."

"My answer will always be the same."

"The time will come when are roles shall be reversed."

DarkFlood had nothing else to say to him. He wanted to check on the kid. He knew he would be able to as Jack Hanover without causing a scene as DarkFlood. A quick teleport to the apartment and back finally shook this southern hack off his back and Jack returned to the fire, now finally put out.

The kid still rested on the floor, along with his father, Dr. Randolph, Jason, and Moses who had a boy of his own now huddled amongst all of them. The boy who Jack saved from the fire was okay, just still in shock. He continuously gasped for air, as if he was still suffocating in that bathroom. Poor boy was deeply traumatized.

Jack came back over. His wounds were healed. He had stopped sweating. All his tells were wiped clean. He got to Randolph and Jason and asked what happened. They played along well and nobody was the wiser. DarkFlood's identity remained concealed.

For now...

Jack got down next to Dr. Randolph, who was still not at ease. Dr. Randolph knew they needed to help more, knew Jack needed to help more. With DarkFlood now gone, he must come up with a solution anyway. Randolph looked around, "Ah..." he spoke up, "This is my colleague Dr. Hanover," He leaned over to the boy's dad, Lazarus, "He is a specialist."

"Specialist of what?" squawked Turner Sans, back from the alley.

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"Neurosis."

"In English?"

"I am a brain doctor." bluntly put Jack, as he spent no more time with this bullshit. He put his hand over the boys head and could feel his hyperventilating lungs charged with fear. He absorbed that fear and his lungs tensed briefly before releasing and returning back to normal. The kid breathed easy once again and opened his eyes freely. "Dad?" he said as he raced his hand under the chin of his father, Lazarus. That was all he said and did before he passed out from utter exhaustion.

“It’s okay,” Dr. Randolph reassured them, “He’s just sleeping it off.”

"Thank you," Lazarus said to both of them. Jack shook his head and got up, ready to leave with Jason. Dr. Randolph remained.

"If it is okay with you, I would like to follow up with your boy."

"I don't have insurance."

"I will work pro bono just until I am sure he is okay."

"You got yourself a deal, Doc."

Jack walked away with Jason as Randolph finalized a follow-up visit and caught up to them. Jack and Randolph immediately began discussing the fire. "They had cameras, Jack."

"I had no choice."

"I know. We seem to have covered our tracks though. Creating a complete identity for you as a Doctor."

"There's one loose end."

"Who?"

"That hillbilly... He caught me in the alleyway and could put the two together. He told me something unbelievable, Randolph. I will debrief you about that later though. We have much more to discuss."

"Where did the hillbilly go?" replied Dr. Randolph.

"Was he one of the ones who took a picture?" retorted Jack.

Jason walked ahead feverishly, he had no questions. He only had one thing on his mind. "I can't wait to see the news tonight."

Dr. Randolph had more pressing matters in his head. He insisted, "Your powers are growing. I noticed you are using more than one at a time now."

"The training has helped me tremendously.” Jack turned from Randolph to Jason, “I owe your grandfather a lot."

Jason had almost completely forgotten about what had happens just days ago. In the heat of all this action, a suitable distraction from all the despair and grief was born. But now it all came rushing back. And for a second the kid blamed Jack. But that also faded away when Jason thought about the man that took him in.

The man who was also known as DarkFlood.

A living superhero.