Gifted | Sleepy Bois Inc

Chapter Two

Wilbur was gone by the time that I was up.

It wasn't much of a surprise. As a pop idol, he was always spending time with his agents, figuring out... well, pop idol stuff. What with his life of fame in the daytime and helping me out of sticky situations at night, it was a wonder that he wasn't a walking zombie.

I tugged a sweater overtop of the shirt I had slept in and ran a hand through my hair. It was wild and all over the place after being squashed on my pillow for so long, and it probably looked horrible, but I didn't own a hairbrush. Wilbur probably did, with his perfect quiff and all, but something about searching through his room made me uncomfortable. I already felt bad enough about making him sleep deprived.

I found Philza sitting at the kitchen table, sipping a cup of coffee, dark circles prominent below his eyes. He looked even more sleep deprived than Wilbur.

"Rough night?" I asked, sliding into the seat next to him.

He barely glanced up at me as he examined the newspaper before him. "Yeah. The media is going to be all over me the second I get to work today, so I needed to figure out what I'm going to say."

I nodded. Tryxel --- the organization we both worked for --- was pretty secretive about what they did. Not a surprise, since bounty hunting and other stuff wasn't exactly the most legal thing in the world. It didn't matter though. The world allowed for it, and if the world allowed, then the government had to allow as well.

Even so, Tryxel didn't have too great of a relationship with the government. Something about "stealing work from the police" and "wrecking property" and a bunch of other junk. But the government needed Tryxel. Us bounty hunters were the only people that could actually catch the big bads with their powers and murderous intents --- and the occasional want for world domination.

I rubbed my eyes. Phil yawned and set down his newspaper, looking over at me. "So, did you get your target last night?"

The fact that Wilbur hadn't told him about it yet made me feel immensely grateful, but I knew that Phil would find out the truth sooner or later. "No," I admitted. "I'm losing my touch."

My adoptive father scowled, though it didn't look like he was mad at me. "You can't, Techno. Especially not now. After what happened with Storm...."

His voice trailed off, but I knew exactly what he meant. Storm had been one of the best. If she could die so carelessly, then the rest of us didn't stand a chance.

"Don't lose faith in yourself," Phil said, reaching over and placing a hand on my shoulder. "You're one of the best, too. Now it's up to you to set an example."

"I hate being the example," I grumbled.

He patted me on the back. "Too bad. Don't you have school today? Do you need a ride to the college?"

"Yeah, that would be nice."

Phil stood up and stretched, then smiled tiredly down at me. "Alright. Let's go."

***

I gazed out the passenger seat window of Philza's car as he pulled up in the parking lot of the college. It was a big school, with lots of students and lots of rooms that I had absolutely no idea what was in them. I didn't really want to be in school, since the curriculum was wack, but Phil had insisted on it.

Funny how he hadn't insisted it upon Wilbur.

"Take care," Phil said as I opened the door and stepped out.

"I will," I said, rolling my eyes. "Really, Phil, it's not like I'm going to get attacked at school."

"Don't jinx it," he grumbled, but he allowed himself a smile. "Stay safe, alright, Techno? Don't get into fights you can't win."