The Duns

Powerless

Chapter Twenty-four

Catherine

"Wake up, pretty boy!" Lucas says mischievously to Peter. "The monitor here shows you're okay enough to enter this world again."

Peter opens his eyes slowly and gets up, leaning on his elbows to support him.

"What time is it?" He asks, blinking fast, trying to get adjusted to the light.

"It is," Lucas announces, checking his watch dramatically, "10:30 in the morning. A day since we lost you- 'cause too much blood loss- but you're okay now."

"What's been going on all that while?"

"Nothing much. Ester and Albert are fine, they joined us late on the same day of the attack. You got hurt. Catherine fixed you." His face fell. "Kabir passed away."

Silence. "I'm sorry." Peter says to no one in particular.

Lucas continues, his blonde fringe getting in between his eyes. I walk over to them, the syringe in my hand.

" It's not your fault." I say, pushing him back down gently. "Lie still." I put the syringe into the side of his neck. He doesn't flinch. "It's for immunity- no repercussions. You should be able to stand up in about twenty minutes. Rest your legs till then."

"When did you get so robotic?" He asks me.

"Um... Since my friend's head got chopped off and my boy—" I shake my head lightly, "and since you fell into a coma."

"And when is the Normal Catherine coming back?"

"I'm back now, I guess."

"I heard you fixed me. Do you know where I got hurt?" His voice had a hint of sarcasm in it.

"On your side." I say, giving no explanation.

"On my side next to my navel?"

"Stop talking so much."

"Yes, or no?"

"Yeah, yeah there."

"So. you saw me shirtless- like half naked?"

I rolled my eyes, blush creeping up my cheeks like a tsunami enveloping the beachside. "What do you want?"

"Just one last answer."

"Ask."

His eyes light up, shining, smiling wickedly and I hang my head on the right side, raising my eyebrows and waiting. And then he asks, "Did you like what you saw?"

This boy will be the death of me.

I turn away quickly before he sees my cheeks turning crimson, feeling my face heat up and a smile creeping upwards.

Then, I carefully brush the syringe with a cotton swab once more. "Andrew asked us to meet at the conference room- you know, the one we were at on the first day- to discuss our 'next step'."

I inject him carefully, and when he doesn't say anything immediately, I walk away from the bed and lean onto the counter, "Do you want to join us?" He looks down at Lucas, who nods, and then turns to me, "Sure."

-

"We don't think they're going to attack for some time now. Maybe a week, maybe three. No one knows." Andrew says, putting his hands on the table, looking at us.

The door swishes open, and Peter walks in. "Oh, Peter! I see you've taken the troubles to join us today. How are you feeling?" Andrew asks.

"Much better, thank you."

"Great. Let's continue. So," he lifts us his arms from the position they were in and walks around the room. "What did we do wrong? Go."

Richard sighs. "We split up."

"That wasn't wrong. So many more people would have passed away otherwise if they hadn't been told to hide." Andrew says. "Next."

"What Richard said is true, but only partly." Harry says looking at Richard, then at Peter. "It was good that we split up- but we shouldn't have gone in one's. That's extremely risky." He keeps his eyes on Peter, who looks away, then down.

Once again, Andrew comes to his defense, "it was a decision made on the spur of the moment thinking it would help Kabir escape." He meant to help us, but saying his name out loud is like oxygen to a burning fire.

Everyone abruptly talking, and an unspoken moment of silence takes over. Then, we go back to the discussion. "Next. Anyone else?"

Oliver speaks up, "We've never seen them before and didn't know how they play. Also, it was a surprise. They had more than one advantage."

"Correct. Thank you, Oliver. Anything else?" He looks around. "No? Okay."

"They didn't have a backup team this time." Peter says suddenly, lifting his head.

Andrew looks surprised for a second and then goes back to his usual stern expression. "That's true." He says, almost a whisper. Then Aunt Elle suddenly gets up, her eyes darting around everywhere, her hands shaking.

"What's wrong?" Andrew asks.

"They're going to come for us." Aunt Elle replies hurriedly, scribbling something on a sheet of paper. I look at Peter. Everyone sticks together. As if he can hear me, he nods.

We work in sync, telling people where to go, finding safe houses inside the diamond, gathering weapons. We follow his lead, dividing into groups, (this time I made sure I'm with Peter, the stupid boy can't stay safe) informing all the workers and scientists, and the guards outside.

Suddenly, Peter pulls me aside and whispers in my ear, "I have to go outside and help the guards. It's imperative we block them from the outside, so that they don't get inside in the first place." I frown and push him away, holding onto his wrists. "You're not going outside, it's even riskier."

"We all are. Except Lucas. I'm keeping him with you. I trust him now, enough to know that you'll be safe."

"I'm coming out too."

"No."

"Yes."

"No." He says, shaking his head. "I won't let you."

"And since when did I have to listen to your word without saying mine?"

"Cat, we don't have time to argue about this."

"There's always time to talk about this. You don't want me to come because I don't have powers, isn't that right? He blinks. Then, without responding, pushes me into Lucas' arms and runs out of the diamond.