Ouroboros

The Real Thing (Part One)

     Roman sat there for a moment, catching his breath. The crowd stared in silent disbelief. He looked up, turned to Jim, and said softly, "It's all right, sir."

     Jim gazed down at him, wide-eyed and breathless. "Roman...you..."

     Roman stood up. The firing squad lowered their guns. He looked down at his shirt and saw no holes, no blood, nothing at all. He smiled wide. Jim raised his hands. They hadn't even bothered to handcuff him. He must have known it was a sham as well. Nevertheless, Jim sobbed. "You didn't have to..."

     Still smiling, Roman took Jim's bionic hand and walked up to the barrier with him. The guards did not even try to intervene; he suspected their weapons also had no bullets. People reached through the bars, as if trying to pull them to safety. Roman raised his voice. "This is what good people do. We help each other. We protect people! If I can do it, what's your excuse? What's their excuse?"

     The crowd erupted in applause. Roman's phone started buzzing in his pocket. He switched it to mute and climbed back over the barrier, pulling Jim with him. The guards and the firing squad all took their phones out and started calling for help. Fighting to ignore the panic building inside him, Roman cupped his hands in front of his mouth and shouted at them. "Go home! Go home!"

     A few other people took up the cry. Then a few more, and a few more, and so on. Soon, the whole crowd was screaming at the bluejackets to go home. A couple of them did. Or so Roman hoped. All he wanted was to see his dad and know that he was okay.

     Fiver came, seemingly from nowhere, and grabbed Roman's arm like a black cat snatching a mouse. "What the fuck are you doing? What just happened?" they demanded. "You think you're some kind of Dr. King?"

     Roman tripped over himself in surprise. "Who? What?"

     "Come with me. We have to get out of here." Fiver pulled them both along, straight through the crowd. No one panicked. It was as if they wanted Ice Five there, despite everything the ICA had said and done.

     Roman swallowed hard. "Where's my dad?"

     Fiver didn't answer. Jim looked utterly petrified, like everything had been pulled out from under him. "Where are the others?"

     Someone familiar appeared amidst the mass of people. Hunter Orono put an arm out to stop them. "Come with me for a minute. You'll need what I've got."

     They followed Hunter through the increasingly agitated crowd and over to a parked pickup truck. Tegan, Chris, Sofia, and a few others were already there and gearing up. "I didn't think you all would need it today, but alas, you probably will. Come here, Roman."

     Suddenly petrified, he stepped forward. Without knowing what to say, he put on whatever she handed him. Bulletproof vest, knee and elbow pads, helmet, gloves, goggles, and a riot shield. As she placed the shield in his hands Fiver tapped him on the shoulder. "Your goal's going to be to keep as many people safe as you can. Got it? Once help arrives for the bluejackets, they'll need someone like you."

     "Why me?" he asked. "I'm just a..."

     "You're not just anything. It doesn't matter how old you are, how smart you are, how other people look at you, what they say you can or can't do. If you have a good heart, then use it." Fiver looked him straight in the eyes. "Your mother always used to tell me that."

     Roman gulped. "M...my mother?"

     "For what you did today," said Fiver, "she'd be proud. So would your father. What you did today, that was the real thing. But we aren't done yet. Not yet."

     Tegan stepped over. "You're sure about this? Do we really want to endanger him?"

     Roman balled his hands into fists. "I'm...I'm not a little kid, Tegan. You can't make me stay behind. Now where is my dad?

     "We don't know," she said. "They took him away. We thought he was dead, but now we're not so sure..."

      Roman yelled at her. "Why didn't you tell me? My dad was getting shot today...did you think I couldn't handle it? Of course I can't fucking handle it! Neither should you! No one should!" He inhaled sharply. "We shouldn't hurt each other. Is that too much to ask for? Is it?!"

     Tegan opened her mouth, but no words came out.

     "Well?" said Roman. "What's the plan, Fiver?"