Witnesses

Chapter 8

Miller greeted them as they arrived.

"Welcome home," He said, and even though he was dressed in his nightclothes, the look on his face was pure ice.

"Miller," Hawthorne said nervously. "We–"

"Save it," The man snapped, then turned to the four Witnesses that surrounded him. "Get them freshened up, then drop them off at my office. We're gonna be having a long chat."

The four agents did so, and Hawthorne could only grit his teeth as he was dragged through the scanners and taken upstairs. He didn't see why he had to be punished as well when the whole thing had been Miles' fault. He was the one who had dragged them into the obvious trap, and he was the one who might as well have aged that harbor to dust. It wasn't Hawthorne's fault that his mentor was an idiot.

The agents dragged them into a darkly lit room and shoved them in. "Go get changed and wake up your friend. We'll be coming back in five minutes."

"Assholes," Hawthorne muttered as they left, then noted the gray prisoner's clothing that was rolled up for them both, alongside the curtain that was set up a few feet away. "Well, might as well get to it."

He shook Miles. "Wake up, dumbass."

"Mmh." The gunslinger groaned as he turned, but a loud shocking noise was heard, and he jolted awake. "Gah!"

"Welcome to the holding cells." Hawthorne said as he walked over to the curtain. "As you can see, they didn't take what you did too well, so now you gotta get changed."

"Great," Miles sighed as he reached for his own set. "Gonna have a job explaining this to Miller this time."

"What the fuck was that anyway?" Hawthorne asked as he finished, opening the curtain to see Miles as well. "You never quite explained yours."

"You know Kronos?" Miles said, and Hawthorne nodded. "Well, sometime after I joined, I ended up getting my hands on a piece–a relatively tiny bit, mind you–of his power. It let me reverse time to an extent."

"Then how can you accelerate?" Hawthorne asked, and Miles chuckled.

"It has the little benefit of growing whenever there's another time manipulator using their abilities." He said as footsteps began to approach, and he swallowed nervously. "Now, I believe you should get ready."

The men entered the room once more, and one of them chuckled upon seeing Miles. "Not every day you're on the chopping block, Blackwater."

"Shut it, Parker." He growled, but another man slammed the butt of his pistol into his head.

"Both of you, quiet. I don't want a peep until we get to Miller's office." He said, then grabbed Miles by his arms with another Witness. "Let's go."

"Right," The other Witnesses replied, and the gunslinger and the magician were marched to Miller's room. Miles was silent the whole time.

"Here we are," The leader said, and the witnesses thrust them to the door. "Good luck. You'll need it."

Miles offered no reply as he reached for the door, and Hawthorne could have sworn that the man was scared. His face was white, and even though he'd had his normal demeanour earlier, his face was pure fear.

Just how dangerous is Miller? He thought as they entered the room. Every damn time he comes up Miles freezes. The other Witnesses seem to be nervous as well...

"So," The man said as he drummed his fingers on the desk. He'd changed back into his officer's attire, and the glare he sent them both made Hawthorne want to shrink back. "Mind explaining what happened there?"