Piece by Piece

70. Dangerous Games

Frustration had become one of the key elements of Davyn's life.

After his talk with Phillip, he decided that bossing Nicholas Harkin around was a lot more industrious than going insane and throwing himself off a building. So when Nicholas next came calling, Davyn agreed to return, but on slightly different terms.

First, Phillip joined them, taking on the moniker of Firefox. Since he was the only person he could truly trust, Davyn had him verifying every scrap of information Baron fed him. He was also his continued link to Rachel and Simon since the three of them had figured out a means to pass on messages before Phillip disappeared.

Second, once fall approached, he decided to do something for his iffy future and go to college. Since he'd been admitted to his first choice university, namely MIT, he'd asked Simon to break into the system and change his name. Now, he'd attended university for a full year under the name Brian Dodgers.

But his studies, even if fascinating, proved to be quite useless when it came to practical things. After his experience with the Counters and witnessing Rachel's prowess, he thought he'd learn how to make substances that actually worked and served for something. Instead, it was copious amounts of theory interrupted by lab works, which created the most basic of things.

As summer rolled around and Davyn returned to Chicago to personally check on his crime empire, he found himself analyzing samples of the serum and stabilizer, hoping to reverse engineer the whole thing. Not that he wanted to remake the serum. Not by a long shot. What he wanted was some of the effects he'd noticed on Freider's kid.

Against his better judgment, he kept the kid under surveillance. He never did it personally. He didn't think he could be anywhere near them without throwing up in his mouth. But for scientific reasons, he'd had one of his better men keep an eye on his brother's family.

A few months after the baby was born, Freider sold the house and moved into a more modern stretch of the suburbs. Ron was forced to come along, and Davyn was glad to see that he was still alive and kicking, even if he spent most of his time away from home, in a boarding school.

The reports were vague unless something notable happened. So far, it hadn't. The child was normal, his evolution the one expected. There didn't seem to be any development issues or odd behavior, and that was the only thing Davyn cared about.

Not the family, not their new house or the bliss that seemed to have befallen them. That was not his problem. Let them be happy until he figured out a way to crush them. His now chosen line of work and study would provide ample opportunities. He just wished he'd be able to develop the drugs he wanted faster.

His obsession had gotten to the point where he'd installed complex chemistry equipment in his office. The building was finally no longer under construction, and he'd disguised it as a spiritual center for Jehovah's Witness. The religious order rented out the bottom floor, while Davyn used the rest of the stories for themselves.

There was a short knock on the door before Phillip let himself in. "Busy?"

Davyn heaved a sigh and pushed the papers he was reading away. "Yeah, but you can come in."

Since he was already inside, Phillip closed the door behind him and let himself drop on the couch in the corner, across the room from the improvised lab.

"I'm guessing you're still working on that."

"I wish Rachel were here." Davyn stood and walked to the desk holding his equipment. "She'd know what to do."

"She'd probably yell her lungs out at you first."

"I'm not trying to make the serum. I just want to figure out what exactly in its composition determines that extreme healing factor."