The Never Ending Escape

Chapter Five

We stopped at the cell door. Elio and I watched the hall while Roxy unlocked the cell. I peered into the room to see if the hero was somebody I knew. My jaw dropped and I looked up at the ceiling, apprehensively wishing my eyes had just deceived me and it wasn't him. When the man emerged, I avoided eye contact, hoping he wouldn't recognize me.

"Bro!" He bellowed, pulling me in for a hug.

"Henry." I replied half-heartedly.

"Come on, bro, I haven't seen you in forever! Act a little happier to see your older brother."

"You have an older brother?" Roxy marveled, eagerly shaking his hand. "I'm Roxy, a friend of James'."

Henry got down on one knee, taking her hand and kissing it. Roxy covered her face, blushing furiously. "Lovely to meet as fair a young woman as yourself. I have never met one with such natural beauty as yours. James is lucky to have a stunning lady like you." Henry turned around to face Elio. "And who might this young gentleman be?"

"I'm Elio," He answered stoically, offering a hand to shake.

"We need to continue on, maybe find you a guard outfit." I commented, trying to get things moving.

"Do you know which cells are occupied, Henry?" Roxy inquired.

"Yes, but not for long. I heard everyone is being relocated due to the escape of three prisoners." Henry raised his eyebrow accusingly.

"Then we'll have to move quickly to release as many heroes as possible while they're still in their usual cells. I suggest splitting up. We have a map, and you said that you know some of the occupied cells, right?" I recommended.

"Elio and I will go back the way you came, and you two can continue the way you were originally going," Henry decided. "We'll knock out the next guard we come across so I can take the keys and a uniform."

Roxy nodded. "We'll have some others meet up with you to let you know when our side is clear. James and I will have already left to start working on the Orange level. You should send heroes in small groups to secure an airship. The two of you are free to leave whenever you feel like it. I'm only hoping you will at least rescue as many prisoners as possible before you go," Roxy proposed.

"I don't think Elio and I are leaving until we know all the cells on the first three levels are clear. Right, buddy?" Henry ruffled Elio's hair as he smirked.

Elio nodded calmly.

Roxy sighed in relief. "Thanks. I hope to see you both again someday."

I gave my brother a quick hug. We didn't exchange words but we both knew that we wished the other to make it out alive.I glanced back over my shoulder as we headed our separate ways. It had been a few years since we last saw each other, and I wasn't sure if I was ever going to see him again. I turned my head back around, adjusting my cap as I did so. Roxy put her arm over my shoulder comfortingly. We stopped, and I laid my head on her shoulder. Would Roxy and I ever be split up?

I gave Roxy a fierce hug, forgetting about her injured side. She didn't show any signs of pain, just squeezed me back before we carried on. Was the pain medication that good? Or was her side already better? Roxy pulled out the blueprints, making mental notes of the cells containing heroes. I watched as she leaned back. The pain medication couldn't completely erase the soreness. Was she hiding how much it was hurting her? How would she react if I mentioned the injury?

"How's your side doing?"

Roxy showed a hint of subtle confusion before smiling, "Much better. I can hardly notice the pain now."

This reminded me of something that had happened a couple years ago. We were all jumping from roof to roof chasing some bad guy, when Roxy tripped. She had tried to lie about the injury, but Carter wouldn't believe her. Roxy's ankle looked awful. He ordered her to rest until it was fully healed. She was very unhappy about the whole thing.

Back at the hideout I went to cheer her up with some chocolate chip cookies, her favorite. Entering the room, I glanced over at her. She was standing up normally with no sign of pain. She quickly plopped down onto the bed.

Carter wouldn't let her go on missions for an entire two weeks in fear that she would re-injure herself, even after  proving she could move perfectly fine on it by the third day. Roxy almost broke up with him over the whole thing. Carter kept arguing that he was just looking after her physical health.

I paused for a moment, considering.

"Roxy, do you have healing powers?" I ventured hesitantly.

She frowned at the floor, "Yes. The only reason I didn't tell you is because you would have figured out who my parents are. Carter would nag me to use my powers in public, and everyone else would want me to do the same. Do you know how many arguments I had with Carter about using my invisible platform/shield power on missions?" Roxy ranted, trying to convince  herself more than me.

"I can see your point." I relented. "And I can see why you're doubting yourself."

"I'm not..." Roxy trailed off, watching her feet.

"Carter doesn't see an argument from every side. He becomes confident that he's right, and he'll bring up the argument over and over again. He's not always right. That doesn't mean you're right, but it doesn't mean you're wrong, either."

"You know this from experience?"

"Yep, but now I try to see things from others' perspectives."

    "Wha-" Roxy was interrupted by a guard turning  the corner.