The Metahuman Agency: The Superhuman War

Second Reunion

The cargo doors of The Panther hissed open, finally cutting short the agonizing wait. Jason stared into the interior of the jet and saw two figures standing on the top of the ramp.

His smile nearly ripped open his face.

Laureen was leaning against the wall of the plane. She didn't look all that bad since Jason had last seen her, save for her hair being undone and she looked slightly paler. She grinned back at Jason, her face practically beaming. "Fucking hell guys," She said, laughing. "We've been waiting here for seems like goddamn forever. You assholes sure took your sweet ass time! I was worried I was gonna have to try and fly this fucking thing!"

Jason broke into laughter, as did James and Audrey. Audrey started to tear up a bit, clasping her mighty hands together. As they all laughed, Jason's gaze went to Max, who was lingering by Laureen's left side, silent.

He wasn't smiling. His face was grim and sour, his messy hair looking greasy. His undershirt looked even dirtier than during the raid on the Agency. He folded his arms, his single eye narrowing into a glare as the others took notice of him and the laughter slowly died.

"Max..." Audrey said carefully. "Its good to see you too."

Max didn't say anything. Laureen rolled her eyes and elbowed him.

"Yo, Earth to Captain Brooding," She grunted. Max barely reacted to her prodding. "Hey! Dude, come on, we're all back together! You should be fucking happy and all that shit. The others are alive! All of 'em!"

Max finally did look up. He fixed his dark gaze on her and snarled, "Happy?" He spat on the ground. His voice rose. "Happy? Why should I be happy?! We've been stuck in this plane for..."

"I estimate at least eighteen hours yes I think that's it oh dear." James piped up before covering his voice. He spoke rapidly still but was muffled. Max shot him a venomous look and James shut up.

"Yeah," He jerked a thumb at James. "That." Laureen gritted her teeth, clearly getting pissed off. Max appeared to not notice or, more likely, didn't care. "I don't see a damn reason to celebrate when our base is in ruins! People are dead! Dead!" He pointed a finger in Laureen's face. "We've just got first row seats to one of the worst terrorist attacks in military history and all you little shits can think about is getting back together, having a little party to celebrate that we're alive! Yay, good for us!" He clapped his hands sarcastically. "Meanwhile, we've been grounded while the monsters that did this are still out there and people like Robertson have been killed! You want me to lighten up are all that in less than two days?! Fuck all of you!" He was screaming now, right in Laureen's face. "And especially fuck you, Laureen, for keeping us here for that long when all this was hanging over our heads! Some leader you are-!"

Laureen punched him. Right in the nose. The unexpected blow sent Max toppling backward and he slammed into the wall. He rubbed his head, panting. Laureen looked down at him, rubbing her hand.

"Cut your bullshit and step back," She snarled. "You think each of us are okay with what just happened? Huh? Cause I got news for you, Max, we fucking aren't. But we're all alive and that's a big fucking victory. Especially when I thought all of them..." She gestured at the group. "...were dead. I give a fucking huge crap about what just happened but I care about my goddamn friends too, shithead. So shut the fuck up. That's an order."

Max wiped a hand across his face, a bruise beginning to form around his nose where Laureen had punched him. An awkward silence settled over the group. Jason looked between them but inwardly, he smiled slightly. He would've done the same thing to Max, honestly. He felt for the guy, he really did, but he was just being a straight up dick now. Jason thought he had gotten over his issues but the whole Akihiro incident had dragged him down considerably. He almost looked pathetic, lying there on the floor of the plane, a shadow of the leader he used to be.