Scott Mason: Gay Superhero (boyxboy)

Chapter 28

[SCOTT'S POV]

Ignoring texts and calls from everyone except my Mom, I worked in a furious fever at the stack of papers that we had gleaned from the hideout.

The blueprints were a loss for me; it wasn't like I was a handyman or anything. They all looked unfamiliar to me. Lines of walls and incomprehensible scribbles with arrows flew around my mind. Would we all have to split up to go to each of the different water plants? Could we hold off whatever Blanch had in store for us?

Deciphering and connecting all of the different sheets of paper and the information that they had was taxing. My room was a mess; my desk was a mess; I was a mess. The sun was dim on my windowsill by the time I slumped in my chair. I felt hollow. How could we do this? This was huge!

The key was when Blanch was going to launch his attack, not where.  Well, maybe not attack, but more mass-poisoning-of-the-whole-state-capitol-area. Diabolical shit. A knocking on my door interrupted my thoughts.

"Scott?" I heard Grahm's muffled voice through the door. "Scott, I've been trying to contact you all day. Is everything OK?" The door creaked as Grahm pushed it open. I glanced over to the door and offered a wry smile. My hands trembled slightly.

I could see the gears turn in Graham's mind as he took in my disheveled appearance. He shut the door behind him with a nearly inaudible click.

"Something's changed, hasn't it?" Grahm asked softly. I saw that he had a grocery bag in his hand.

I nodded and waved him over. I held up the sheet of paper I found on my desk. "I found this in the papers we got. I don't know if it's real or not, or if it was there before, but if it is I don't know how we're going to go up against him so soon." Grahm took the paper out of my hands and set down the bag he had. His eyes flickered over the paper once before he went noticeably pale.

"Who's W.O?"

I shrugged and rested my head on the desk. I heard Grahm pull out a device and call Nitroa and Fusion. Fuck. FUCK! How could we do it? There were only four of us, and we didn't know how many people Blanch had. He could have a whole army by now!

Grahm said my name. "-there, Scott?" I snapped out of my panic and looked over at him. He didn't look as good, either. His hair, as always, was a fucking mess. "How many water treatment plants were there?" He repeated.

"Three."

Pitch clenched his fist and repeated it into the phone. I zoned back out into my stupor. What if I came face-to-face with Blanch? If Pitch wasn't there, I'd be toast! I'd have no chance, no matter how much I charged up or prepared. He'd suck all the energy out of me. I looked down and shifted through the papers again. Three water treatment centers. Theoretically, if he poisoned just one we would fail. We had to protect all three or nothing. I jumped when I felt Graham's arm wrap around my shoulders. He had gotten off of the phone.

"Hey, it'll be ok," he assured me. I brought my hand up and hugged his arm in return. It was hot, solid, and firm. Relaxing. I felt the tension ease itself out of my muscles.

"How are we going to do it?" I asked hollowly. "There's so much to protect and so little time to prepare."

Grahm spun me around in my chair and looked at me in the eyes. "Fusion just said that he'll anonymously tip the police and see if they can do anything. If they do, we have a chance. If they don't..." he drifted off, "Well...we won't think about that."

I nodded as he pulled away and held out his hands.

"Get up. You've been cooped up in here for too long." He smiled. I slumped in the chair.