The Mediterranean Incident

From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe

by Bruisefairy

(Author's note: This story takes place in the Victory version of Earth, before Nethari came to Virtue.)
It was about six am and I was just getting home to my townhouse in Skyway City after a night of patrolling with the other Misfits. I saw the light blinking on my answering machine when I dropped my weary body on the couch. I debated leaving it for later after I'd had some sleep, but decided to just get it out of the way. There were quite a few messages and I was only half listening while I unlaced my boots and took them off. After a few messages from some of the guys I trained with, there was a message that was not as loud as the rest. It sounded muffled a bit, like the speaker was in a tunnel. I turned the volume up and replayed the message.
"Nethari, it's Jane Haverill. I realize it's the middle of the night on that side of the pond, but you need to contact me as soon as possible. Cheers."
I frowned at the answering machine as Jane's crisp British accent faded. Jane was a member of Alpha Strike, the European super group my brother Micah had joined years ago. The only reason she'd call would have to do with him. I got my address book off the desk across the room and flipped through it until I found Jane's phone number. I glanced at the clock and calculated the time difference before I dialed the number. Almost six am in Paragon City, so it was almost eleven am in London. She was likely not at home at that hour, but I called anyway. Her machine picked up after eight rings, so I left a message saying I'd try headquarters and hung up. Next I looked up the phone number for Alpha Strike HQ, which was under the pseudonym Alpha Services. The group had a front business as private investigators, which was staffed almost entirely by initiates. They even did real PI work sometimes. I called the number and tried to get the hooks on my body suit undone with one hand.
"Alpha Services, how may I help you?" a pleasant voice with a soft accent greeted me when the phone was answered.
"May I speak to Jane Haverill?"
"May I tell her whom is calling?"
"Nethari Rivers from Paragon City."
"One moment please."
I waited on hold, with horrible Muzak to keep me company while I tried unsuccessfully to get out of my body suit. A few minutes later, just as I managed to get all the hooks undone, the receptionist returned.
"Our apologies, Ms. Haverill is out on a client visit." she said. I sighed and told her,
"I'll speak to her boss, or anyone in her department who is available."
"One moment please."
I made a face as the Muzak resumed and shrugged out of my body suit. I paced the livingroom, holding the phone to my ear with my shoulder so I could use both hands to take out my pony tails. As my hair tumbled down around my shoulders, I grabbed the discarded body suit and headed for my bedroom. I threw the dirty suit as well as my underwear into the hamper and layed down on my bed. As my head was sinking into the pillow, the line was picked up.
"Aaron Marston, how may I help you?" asked a deep baritone voice with a refined accent.
My breath caught in my throat. Of all the people to answer the call...
"Hey Aaron."
"Nethari, darling! How are you? And to what do I owe the pleasure of hearing your beautiful voice?" he asked, not sounding like he was joking at all.
" I had a message from Jane on my answering machine when I got home. She asked me to contact her, but she didn't say why." I told him.
"Hmm. I'm not exactly sure why she called you. Let me see if I can find out and I'll ring you back, alright?"
"Alright. But don't take too long, it's after six am here and I just got home."
"Your new team working you too hard, darling?" he asked.
"No, we typically work at night."
"Ah, I see. Well, I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can. Cheers, luv."
The phone disconnected before I could say anything else. I sighed and hit the call end button. Two years ago when I was in Europe, looking for Micah, Aaron had caught my attention and held it, despite the craziness I was putting myself through. The big tanker had helped me hold it together when every new lead on Micah's whereabouts turned out to be false alarms. We'd become lovers in the last three months I was there. He was the one who had called Sarunyo to bring me home, because he was concerned about my mental state. When I left with Saruto to go back to Paragon City, Aaron made me promise him I would come back when I got it together. I hadn't been back to London since the day I got on the plane to fly home.
I watched the sun rise and stared at the shadows on the walls. Somehow I fell asleep without realizing it. What seemed like five seconds later the phone rang, which startled me awake. I grabbed for the phone but knocked it off the bed instead. I lunged over the side to retrieve it and slid off the mattress, landing hard on my knees. I cursed under my breath but ignored the pain and answered the phone.
"Rivers residence."
"It's Aaron. Sorry it took so long to get back to you, I had to track Jane down in the field." he told me.
A look at the clock told me I'd gotten about two hours of sleep. The tone of his voice finally filtered through my sleep-mired brain.
"What's going on, Aaron? You sound... apprehensive." I said, leaning against the bed.
"First, promise me you won't do anything rash, that you'll listen to reason for once." Aaron's voice was almost pleading.
"Well, I can't promise anything because I don't know what you're about to tell me. All I can say is that I will try to be rational and reasonable about whatever it is." I told him, cold dread curling up in my stomach.
Aaron sighed wearily, then said
"Someone reported a sighting of Micah outside of Athens. The report is days old, it didn't get flagged when it first came in."
His voice was very soft as he relayed the news. My grip on the phone tightened until my knuckles were white.
"How many days ago?" I asked, my voice surprisingly steady.
"Three days ago. Jane sent someone to confirm it, but we haven't heard anything yet. The description sounds like Micah so she decided to contact you now rather than wait for the confirmation." he explained.
"I'll be in London in a few hours, let Jane know I'm coming." I told him as I got to my feet.
"Nethari, wait. Hold off until we have confirmation. There's no sense in you haring off across the ocean if this is a false alarm." Aaron said quickly.
"No way, Aaron. Do you honestly think Jane would contact me if it was a false alarm? I am coming to London, today. You will make ready for my arrival, or you will not, but I am coming." I told him as I opened the closet door and began pulling clothes out to pack.
"Damn, I was hoping you wouldn't think of that. Do I need to send a jet to pick you up?" he asked resignedly.
"No. Sarunyo gave me a marker to turn in to Freedom Corps any time I need transport." Aaron whistled.
"You must be special, luv."
"He gave it to me after I almost killed myself flying to Japan under my own steam about six months ago." I replied sourly. The memory of the chewing out I'd received at the hands of my sensei still stung my pride.
"Ah, let me guess... unsubstantiated report of Micah being sighted?" Aaron asked wryly.
"You betcha. Do I need to pack armor or can Alpha Strike outfit me if I need it?" I replied, changing the subject with finality in my tone.
"We have all the toys that bring you joy, luv. Shall I arrange lodging for your stay in London? Or are you going to sweep in, rob the weapons room and rush right off to Greece?"
"No, I'll be there at least one night, I need to rest so I can start out fresh. Could I crash on your couch? Or, if not, ask Jane if I could stay with her. I suppose worse case scenario I could rack out in the infirmary..."
"Hold up, luv. There will be no sleeping on a couch or an exam table! I have finally purchased a townhouse and I have a decent guest room. You will stay there." Aaron sounded indignant at my suggestion of sleeping in Alpha Strike's infirmary.
"Great. One less thing to worry about. Can you send a car to Heathrow about eleven pm London time? I'm almost packed so I'm leaving soon." I asked.
"A car will be waiting, luv. Any other demands?" he said.
I stopped cramming stuff into my duffel bag and sat down on the bed.
"Aaron, I'm sorry. I don't mean to be demanding. Thank you for your help, you have no idea how much it means to me." I said quietly.
"Nethari, we all want him back. He's your brother, by virtue of you being raised together, but he's my brother too. Alpha Strike is not just a team, it's a family and Micah belongs to it. So do you, by extension. We will do all we can to assist you in finding him and rescuing him if it's necessary. So there's no need to say thank you, it's just what will happen." he told me.
"I needed to be reminded, I guess. I'll see you in a few hours."
I hung up the phone after Aaron said goodbye and eyeballed my duffel bag, which was stuffed so full it couldn't be closed. I sghed, went and got a real suitcase and repacked everything. After getting dressed and checking my house over to make sure everything was secure, I called the Misfits base. I left a message there, to let them know where I'd gone and why. But I didn't say how long I'd be gone, because I wasn't really sure how long or if I'd even be coming back. It bothered me that I couldn't say goodbye in person, but Dark Astoria was a bit out of my way and Abigail was sure to be sleeping anyway. I didn't call Sarunyo either, as he would only try to talk me out of my course of action. I contacted Freedom Corps and arranged my flight to London.
It was raining when the plane touched down at Heathrow Airport in London. It usually was raining whenever I arrived in England. Sometimes I wondered if that was an omen. I got to skip the long and boring Customs process. Aaron had apparently declared my visit official Alpha Strike business, because a Customs official led me through the checkpoint without going through my stuff. He directed me toward the driver waiting for me. A young guy, blond hair cut with military precision, in jeans and a bomber jacket, was standing next to the elevators I was directed to. As I got closer I recognized him. It was William Larabie, Alpha Strike's top psionic. The controller's hero identity was Subliminal and he was pretty well known in Europe, having been called the male equivalent of Sister Psyche. I was very surprised to see him and I said so.
"Will, I was expecting a new cannon fodder recruit to be my driver, not anyone as high up as you."
He pulled me to him in a bone crushing hug, being careful not to crush my wings.
"I heard about Japan, I've been worried about you." he said over my head as we embraced.
"Awww hell, did everyone hear about Japan?" I grumbled.
William chuckled and squeezed me tighter. He tipped my face up to his with a hand under my chin.
"You are the most stubborn woman I've ever had the misfortune of meeting. Aaron contacted me today after you said you were coming back. I've appointed myself as you bodyguard for the duration of this mission."
"I don't need a bodyguard, Will. I'm a scrapper, I AM the bodyguard." I said, looking up at him.
"I am going to guard you from yourself, silly girl. You are your own worst enemy when it comes to anything to do with Micah." he retorted.
As much as I wanted to argue with him, I knew he was right, so I settled for an exasperated sigh and stepped back out of his arms. William chuckled again and gestured for me to get in the elevator.
I kept my eyes closed on the way to Aaron's. I found the car ride disorienting, being on the wrong side of the car and the road. William was amused, which made me grumpy. Big surprise there. Aaron was outside as soon as we parked. He hadn't changed much in the year since I'd seen him last, except that he'd put on more muscle, which made his already large frame look positively huge, and his black hair was so long he had to put it in a ponytail. He held the car door open for me as I got out and before I could say anything, he scooped me up off my feet and tried to break my bones with the fierceness of his hug. Without thinking about it, I wrapped my arms around his neck and rested my head on his shoulder. My wings fluttered spastically for a moment, echoing my heartbeat.
"Ahh it's good to see you, Nethari." he said, squeezing me tighter.
I groaned and his grip slackened a bit.
"Sorry, luv. Forget my own strength sometimes."
Aaron was grinning sheepishly when I raised my head to look at him.
"Some things don't change." I said wryly.
He laughed, the rumbles of it shaking me in his arms.
"Aaron, she's getting soaked. How about putting her down so she can get in out of the rain?" William said from behind me.
Aaron didn't reply, but he turned around and walked back up the steps into the house, with me still in his arms.
"Put me down!" I demanded with a laugh, blushing a bit when he stopped and looked down at me.
"Not til I'm good and ready, luv." he told me.
I stared up at him, not knowing what to say or to do, just caught by the look in his eyes.
"I'll just leave this here then, shall I?" William said from the doorway, where he put my suitcase down before letting himself out.
Neither one of us acknowledged his departure. Aaron shifted my weight to one arm and I felt his hand close around the end of my tail. I realized that I'd been flicking it for a few minutes, the way a cat does when agitated. He leaned against the wall and held me, two fingers playing with the tuft of fur on the end of my tail. My wings fanned us with a gentle breeze.
"Why so twitchy, luv?" he asked softly.
I noticed my hands tracing the tribal tattoos that covered both his bare arms and forced them to stillness.
"This is why you insisted I stay with you, isn't it?" I asked, trying not to sound as shaky as I felt.
"You promised you'd come back. Now you're back and I want you with me." he said simply.
"A promise made under bad circumstances. I can't be with you the way you want me to be... there are other considerations."
"All I want right now is to touch you. Is that alright? Everything else can wait until later." he told me, his grip on my tail tightening.
I stared at him for a few seconds, until his words clicked.
"Yes, that's alright." I said.
He climbed the stairs so fast with me still in his arms that he could have been using super speed.
I made Aaron late reporting in the next day. I'd woken up to find that he'd pulled me against his side sometime during the night, my leg slung across his hips. So I knew when he woke up and I couldn't resist temptation and so he was late. But when I walked in the door right behind him, the matter was let go. Most everyone in Alpha Strike knew who I was.
Aaron escorted me to the weapons room so I could collect the items I wanted to take with me. He leaned against a gun locker and watched as I took a field bag off a peg and started selecting my items. Two nine millimeter pistols, several boxes of ammo, flash bang grenades and regular grenades ended up in the bag. I took an armored vest out of another locker and put it on with efficiency.
"You know, you are a superpowered being." Aaron said dryly, watching what I was doing.
"I have no idea what I'm up against, so if I find myself in a situation I can't kick my way out of, I'd like to have a Plan B. As for the armor, yes, I can heal prodigious amounts of damage, but it still hurts when it happens." I told him as I made the final adjustment on the vest.
"Let me come with you."
I looked up at him and sighed.
"This is a scouting mission only. I'm taking the hardware on the off chance that things go south."
Aaron sighed also and put his hands on my shoulders.
"At least promise me you'll come get me or call me before you do anything." he said.
"Ok. I will. Now stop worrying."
I leaned into him and stood on tiptoe to kiss him goodbye. Then I grabbed the bag and walked out of the weapons room without a backward glance. I went up to the roof and launched myself into the sky, heading out to sea.
An hour later, I was thoroughly lost. Frustrated, I rooted through the field bag until I found the comm unit I knew Aaron had snuck in there when I wasn't looking. I continued to hover above the ocean and turned the unit on.
"Ok, I know you're tracking me, so where the hell am I?" I said into the mic. Aaron's rumbly laugh came in response.
"You know my too well, luv." he said through his chuckles.
"Yes, I do. You take the whole protect and serve thing very seriously. So I guess it's safe to assume William is somewhere close by?" I replied.
A burst of static followed by a click came from the comm unit, then William's voice.
"Maybe a mile behind you, to the north. May I join you now?" he asked dryly.
I ground my teeth to keep from screaming my frustration at the both of them.
"You had absolutely no intention of letting me do this my way, did you? No, don't answer that. I'll even be nice, William and wait for you instead of making you play catch up."
"Thank you ever so much, Nethari." William responded sarcastically.
Aaron told me William had a GPS unit with him and we should be able to find our way back on course easily. I grunted and shut off the comm unit, stuffing it back into the field bag. I turned north to look for William, hovering in place. I saw him in the distance. He waved at me. I was still pissed off and didn't wave back. When he closed the gap to about a quarter mile, I turned about and flew off toward the south. I knew William would follow without argument and come correct my course if I was going the wrong way. It annoyed the hell out of me that the both of them were so intent on getting in my way, but I knew it would do me no good to protest. Of all the people I'd met my first time in Europe looking for Micah, it was those two who got Sarunyo involved when I was hanging on by a frayed thread. That they knew me so well and could anticipate what I would do really irked me. So I was being a brat and taking my annoyance out on William by sulking. He seemed content to let me do so.
One minute I was flying along, the next I felt like I was being electrocuted. My body convulsed repeatedly and I started to fall out of the sky, dropping like a rock toward the ocean below me. I struggled to orient myself and fly up but my power wouldn't respond. I felt a sharp pain in my left leg, in the meat of my thigh, just as I managed to turn myself over onto my back so I wouldn't break my face when I splashed down. From so high up, the water felt like a brick wall when I hit it. My left knee buckled and I felt something snap in my right leg. The water closed over my head with a slap, forcing its way into my nose and throat. I tried not to panic as I sank, the armored vest dragging me down fast, but it was hard because my flying ability was not responding at all. Every movement I made to try to swim up to the surface was agony. I'd broken several bones in the impact with the surface of the water. I tried to push the pain away, lock it up somewhere in the back of my head so I could save myself, but that wouldn't work either. I started feeling light-headed and knew I wasn't going to survive much longer if I didn't get my head above the water. The oxygen in the panicked breath I took just before I hit the water was gone. Spots swam in front of my eyes. As I lost consciousness, my last thought was of Abigail, and the rest of the Misfits, how awful it was that I didn't get to say goodbye.
There was a brightness on the other side of my eyelids. It hurt to do it, but I squinted anyway to see what the light was. There was a ceiling several feet above me. It was pristine white with track lighting. I closed my eyes again. I knew I wasn't dead. Heaven wouldn't have track lighting and Hell wouldn't be so white. On the heels of that thought came a tsunami of pain, intense enough that when the noise I was hearing registered, I realized it was me screaming. Strong hands suddenly on my shoulders, my thighs, holding me down against whatever I was lying on as I strained to get up and run away from whatever was hurting me. My battered body couldn't break free. Every movement was torture, sending shockwaves of pain throughout my body and every breath was like a knife in the chest. But still I struggled to get away and still I screamed, as fast as I could draw breath to do so.
"Nethari, can you hear me?"
"Stop struggling, honey, please!"
"Nethari, calm down. You're safe, but you're hurt and this is only making it worse."
I heard the voices, heard the words, but it took a long time for them to filter through my pain-scrambled brain. When I finally comprehended, I made a concerted effort to stop struggling. The pain was still ripping me up but I forced myself to lie still. My screams had quieted down to whimpers and groans, but I could taste blood on my lips. I'd bitten them bloody trying to stop the screaming. I licked the blood away as gentle hands smoothed my hair away from my face.
"Good girl. You can do this. Your will is iron, you can rule this."
I recognized Aaron's voice and figured out soon after that it was his hands stroking my head. I had to try several times before I managed a hoarse whisper.
"What happened?" I croaked.
Moving my jaw was hell, but I gritted my teeth against the pain and did not scream again.
"You were hit by a sapper." That was William's voice, low and gravelly, the fury evident in every syllable he uttered. "The bastard was working with one of those crazy Knives of Artemis women. She kept him cloaked until he shot you with that damn cannon. Then as you were falling, she fired a crossbow bolt into your leg. The bolt was coated in some sort of agent that is repressing your regeneration abilities. Dr. Murphy is running chem analysis right now. We'll figure out exactly what it is and come up with an antidote." he told me. I could feel his anger and frustration like something I could touch. He was barely holding it in check and his psionic powers were leaking all over the room.
"So it was Malta that hit me. Was it random, an opportunistic strike? And how did I get back here?" I asked, all three sentences taking a long time to come out.
Aaron's hands stilled on my temples.
"They knew you were coming, darling. William got that much from the Malta operative. Which means we have a security leak somewhere in Alpha Strike." he said.
"Oh... my... god..." I gasped.
"Rest assured, Nethari, I will find the leak. And when I do, no mercy." Aaron replied fiercely.
I could feel his hands curl into fists and then he forced them to relax and went back to stroking my hair and temples.
"The attack happened too fast for me to do anything to stop it." William said, sitting down on the bed beside me, trying not to jostle me. "I snagged the sapper with a force bubble, but the Artemis mercenary got away. I waited a few moments for you to resurface but you didn't so I reached out for you with my mind. As soon as I realized you were passing out, I wrapped you in a force bubble and levitated you out of the water. I turned on the homing beacon in your vest and HQ 'ported you straight to the infirmary. Dr. Murphy says whatever they dosed you with is repressing your regeneration abilites but not your metabolism. So anything he gives you is burnt right off. The bastards wanted you to suffer if you survived the attack."
"What happened to the operative?" I asked.
Aaron stiffened and again stopped rubbing my temples. William was silent. I asked again, more insistently.
"William... he... well..." Aaron stammered.
"I lost my temper, Nethari. They sent someone who knew nothing other than what you looked like and that you were to be prevented from reaching Greece." William cut in, more angry than I'd ever heard him before.
"What did you do, William?" I asked softly.
For a long moment he didn't say anything at all. Then he sighed and said quietly,
"I killed him, hon. I used my abilities to crush his brain inside his skull. He was dead before his body hit the water."
The pain and self loathing in his voice made me open my eyes, though it was agony to do so. I moved my arm painfully slow until I could grasp his hand in mine and I looked him in the eye as I squeezed his hand as hard as I could, which wasn't very hard at all. I was so terribly weak.
"Thank you, William. You did what I would have done if I could. No mercy, no remorse. Let it go." I told him, then closed my eyes again.
I could feel it through our linked hands when the tension flowed out of him. The atmosphere of the room settled down then also. Dr. Murphy came to check on me and shooed the two of them out of the infirmary. He took my pulse and checked my eyes and then told me that he still hadn't isolated the chemical that was keeping me from healing myself. He said the whole med lab was working on it and promised they would get an antidote soon, even if he had to call in favors and get every other med lab in Europe working on the problem. He asked if Aaron or William had explained why I was not receiving any pain medication. I merely nodded in reply because the pain was growing again and I was afraid if I opened my mouth the screaming would start all over again. Dr. Murphy left, turning the lights out and telling me to rest as best I could. I lay there in the dark, by myself, trying not to give in to the urge to scream. The struggle against my own body brought me to tears, but I bit my lips bloody again to keep silent. The pain crested and merciful blackness dragged me under.
It took over forty eight hours for Alpha Strike's entire medical team to come up with an antidote. I spent those hours in hell when I was conscious. William exhausted himself by staying with me when I was unconscious, so he could keep my mind from translating the pain into nightmares. If not for his efforts, I would have been in even worse shape than I was by the time Dr. Murphy administered the antidote. The stuff was so strong I felt the effects within minutes. As the pain receded, I felt so weary and tired, but I was grateful because I could feel my body start to heal itself. The powers were sluggish at first, but within a few hours all of my injuries were healed. Dr. Murphy gave me a sleeping pill to knock me out so I could get some real sleep. I slept deeply for thirty six hours. The next time I woke up, Aaron was beside my bed. He looked tired and irritated.
"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked after a jaw cracking yawn.
Aaron sighed, ran his hands through his hair and looked at me.
"We went ahead with a team and checked out the area the report came from. Didn't find a damn thing but an empty ops center, temporary setup by the looks of things. If it really was Micah, he's gone again."
"Damn." I said softly.
"Yeah. On the other hand, we found the security leak. One of the recruits brought in last year was an op. Unfortunately, he was a little fish and couldn't provide any useful information."
"Taken care of?" I asked, even though it was unnecessary.
"He'll never see the light of day again. I almost killed him with my bare hands but the others restrained me." Aaron told me, looking unhappy about being stopped.
"So I guess this means I go home empty-handed again."
"As soon as Dr. Murphy clears you, yes." he said.
Aaron took my hand in his and opened his mouth to speak. I held up my other hand to silence him and took a deep breath.
"Don't ask me to stay, Aaron. I can't. I have to go back to Paragon."
His grip on my hand tightened almost painfully.
"It's the new team, isn't it?" he asked.
"Yes. Well, sort of. It's complicated, Aaron. But I know I can't stay here." I told him.
"Not even going to give me a chance to change your mind?"
"If it were possible, don't you think I'd have come back sooner?"
I sighed as I said that.
Aaron let go of my hand, sat back in his chair and crossed his arms.
"Well at least tell me what I'm losing out to." He said it lightly, but his expression told another story.
"An immortal ghost. A werewolf. Among other things." I said quietly.
"Ahh. I guess there's really no competing with that."
"Aaron..."
"I'm trying not to be maudlin here, Nethari." he said.
"Ok."
He shifted in the chair and smiled a small sad smile, saying,
"I'll let you go again, without further protest, as long as its ok for me to come to the States occasionally to see you."
"That would be fine... it would be good, actually. Bring William with you sometimes. He needs to spend more time out of England. He's way too stuffy most of the time for a guy so young."
Aaron smiled again, a happy smile this time. The next day I was on a jet, flying home to Paragon City.