Tcr 39 E.R.

Scorn walked up to the side of the desk, picked up a letter opener from the desktop, and set it onto Bhram's face just below his eye. "He asked for the Mortons.”

Bhram started to say something but stopped as my woman pressed the point of the blade into his lower eyelid. "Don't. Where are the Mortons?"

After clinching his eyes shut, and gulping, He gave us an address.

We took him with us, just to be sure. The slim guy and the big guy followed us out of the building and the secretary was talking to someone on a phone as we drove off, but we made the twenty minute drive with no sign of any cops.

Someone had dropped some cement highway barriers on the main road between the Earth Free headquarters and the cop shop. Manifest was on the job.

The house my Grandparents were being held in was a weathered two story place in a rundown area built on what may have been the only high spot in the state. As we pulled up in front there were already a few people there waiting for a fight, all of them with rifles and pistols aimed at Aug's truck from behind the railing, out of windows, and from inside of a car up on cement blocks in the driveway.

Seeing me stepping out of the car, they hesitated at seeing my blood stained pock marked shirt. Which Aug had complained about for the last twenty minutes. "Seriously, it’s not like I have a towel to put down for you. Why didn’t you just jump in the back with the tiger?”

I had told her. “He doesn't like me, and I don't want to tempt him." Khan had let out a low growl in agreement through the window to the back of the pickup.

As I faced down the bad guys, I got a text. Holding up one finger I began to dig out my phone. “Hold up everyone, I got a text.”

I looked at it. “Never mind. You guys can have Bhrams. We’re leaving.”

The people guarding the house stared at each other as I tried to drag our hostage out of the car by the arm, my sister held onto his other arm and glared at me as she hissed. “What are you doing? We need him.”

I tugged again. "No, we don't, Grandpa and Grandma are out. But Grandma had chest pains after jumping one of them and is in the emergency room. We got to go.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

She turned and kicked Bhrams out of the truck. I looked down at where he was sprawled out on the gravel driveway. “You come after my family again, and I will put you in the ground.”

Then I hopped into the truck and we drove off.

Aug wanted to know which hospital we were going to. “Just pull over at the shut down gas station we passed," I called Manifest. "I’m sending you a picture in a minute. Thanks.”

How did I attach a picture to a text again? In my defense, it was still a relatively new phone with way too many bells and whistles. The ones I carried as Orpheus were cheap burners, but a lot easier to use.

We pulled over. I took a picture. Scorn laid her hand on my shoulder and gently took my phone out of my hand with a sigh as she saw me start to struggle with it. “I’ll do it.”

It’s nice to date younger people, they get technology.

Half a minute later, all four of us stepped through a portal to a waiting room somewhere deep in the Palace. Aug rushed over to hug our grandfather over where he was pacing. Fable gave my blood stained shirt a horrified look. T-Rex and Khan stared at each other before each of them deliberately looked away and ignored each other.

Shimmer waved away a group of people in white scrubs who were rushing at me with a gurney and a cart. "No, it's okay. He's a Regen 2. Could someone get him a shirt, and maybe some wipes?”

Then she turned to me. “Your grandmother jumped the woman with the bat as we were pulling them out. Then she went pale, and sweaty and was clutching at her chest. We have a Healer 3, Triage, working on her now. But they want to test her and find out for sure what was wrong to make sure the healing took. Your grandfather can go sit with her soon, but they don’t want a crowd back there.”

I nodded in relief, then caught myself before I fell as my knees started to go out. Oh yeah, I got shot. With a shotgun. That sort of thing catches up with you.

Scorn grabbed my arm, concern on her face. My sister turned from looking at the doors our Grandpa was being led through to glance at me. “Oh, he lost some mass and a lot of blood. You guys got a pop machine around here?”

Manifest opened up a portal to the cafeteria, and stepped through, "I'll get you a tray, Mort. Hey tiger, you want some steaks? He's Khan right, so he can understand… and he's over here with me. That answers that question. Let’s get you some meat big guy. Then maybe a selfie?”

Triage, a teenage looking guy but with an adult’s bearing wandered in to announce that my grandmother was alright shortly before Manifest returned with a bottle of orange juice and a plate of brownies and cookies.

Of which I got one brownie and two cookies only because I snagged them all at once before Scorn helped herself. As I had discovered Shimmer wasn’t the only cookie mooch in her family. Khan had gotten a dozen or so porterhouse steaks and a trip back home by way of Mani’s portal.

My sister sat down next to me. “So, Orpheus? Not Corpse Commando or Tomb Raiser? I liked that one.”

I groaned, Aug snagged the last half the my sugar cookie from out of my hand before I could react.

Stupid combat powers. “Don’t steal my food. I need the calories Aug.”

Scorn jumped up. “I’ll get some more food. You need protein, not carbs, and some more fluids.” then she strode out. My sister watched her leave. “I guess she wants to take care of you? What a good girlfriend.”

I shrugged, and she let me steal my half a cookie back. “Either that or she wants to avoid meeting any more of my family. And I’m too old to have a girlfriend, she’s my woman and I’m her man.”

It was also possible that being an Empath around an emergency clinic, even one that didn't seem at all crowded, wasn't a fun time. One of the nurses brought me out a white scrub shirt and sent me to the bathroom to clean off the blood and get dressed. By the time I was done, Scorn was back with a stack of sandwiches and a few cans of pop.

Some of the sandwiches were for me, the others were there to make sure I got them before the various mooches stole them all.

It was one of the dangers of joining a teenage Super team I hadn't expected.