Private: The Magic in Me

[taysilva19]

"You have no business calling me that. Only Sam can-"


Only the witch can flirt with the hunter? Sounds like history is repeating itself, if you ask me.





Max had been headache free for the past couple days now. And all of a sudden, his head felt like it was going to explode. He swore under his breath. "Dammit."


A headache? The voice asked. It didn't wait for Max to respond. It just continued. Okay, good. That means we still have a connection.





Max froze as his finger grazed the trigger. "What do you mean, connection?"


Come on, Max. Your name was on the box, remember? You of all people should know that fate has a very bizarre way of leading you on the right path.





Max closed his eyes and breathed deep. "You gotta- you gotta stop the riddle-speak for like... two seconds, and explain what the hell is going on. Why is there a magic, talking gun in a box with my name on it?"


The voice giggled again. It sounded even younger than he originally thought. Very good! You figured it out faster than anyone else. Guess you really are the right Max. If you had to call me by a name, call me Nadya. You're talking to the last person who owned the very gun you're holding in your lap. It's nice to meet you, Max... Gardner? Right?





None of this made sense. "Why can you talk?"


Well... Nadya began, letting the words trail off. That's a really good question. Truth be told, I'm not entirely sure myself. All I know for sure is that I needed you to get a hold of me- err... The gun. I'm afraid you're stuck with me til' I figure it out.





As ridiculous as it all seemed, a talking gun didn't seem too out of place. A witch, a hormonal magic user in training, and a blind hunter. Just add a mascot to the mix, and they had the makings of the world's most disfunctional team. Max closed the box and felt where his name was stamped in.


"Alright, Nadya. Let's find out who, and what you are. Welcome to the family."

 

[Willow Pillow]

"Does it get any easier....."


Sam turned around to see john, his eyes puffy, swollen and red as his hands stayed in his sweatshirt pocket. He had a bag slung on his shoulder, his gaze fixated on the wrapped mummy like body of Macey Marbles.


"No....you just get better at hiding it."


"Why her....she didn't have powers to be a threat....she wasn't going to harm anyone. Why would he shoot her?"


"Because there are people out there who just don't give a shit, kid, and they will do whatever it takes to get what they want."


He didn't seem to like the answer. His gaze shifted to the dirt until max came outside to join the group.


Can you really trust him? He told Frank that this was still his mission....he's going to kill the kid then you.





Sam ignored it. She had to trust him....he wouldnt try to hurt wither one odbthem. Not now. He was blind and needed help not her doubts.


When the whole family was standing together, she drizzled gasoline on the body dropping a match. The human bonfire lit ablaze. John tried stifling his tears but couldn't.


It was only lit for 20 minutes before green fire erupted in it's place finishing the remains in seconds. It extinguished itself and sam dropped cold buckets of water, steam filling everywhere.


"Ok, in the car. We're going to have to leave your motorcycle here, max.....youre blind as shit and I can't fit it in my trunk."

 

[taysilva19]

Although he couldn't see Macey's body burn, Max was surprised at how much he could envision just from smell. It was even stronger than he thought it would be. Despite being a hunter for all these years, he had never experienced a burning body. Between the smell and sound of burning flesh and hair, it took every fiber of his being to not give into the need to vomit. He stood up straighter, listening to John cry, the boy standing to his left. He placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and squeezed.


His thoughts shifted to Frank. How did he find them here? Had he been careless? Left a trail? No, that was impossible. If he left an obvious trail, Frank would've found them in the hotel room, days ago.


Maybe that would've been for the best. A bullet between his own eyes and Sam's would've prevented this.


Stop it right now. Nadya spoke out. I don't like doing it, but when you think like that, I can hear you loud and clear. You and that girl, Sam, are the only two this boy has left in the world. You can't leave him alone now. You know that, right?





The young hunter found himself nodding. Nadya didn't respond.


She could only weep.


-----------------------------


Max held onto the door frame as he faced what he hoped was the street. He turned his head towards where Sam's voice seemed to come from, and nodded. "Yeah, figured as much. It's too bad, that was one of the only things Dad left me." He smiled as he stuck a foot out, carefully stepping down onto the first step of the small front porch. He stuck his tongue out a little as he concentrated, nearly stumbling as he touched the ground, unaware there were no more steps. Sam let out a small cry before he found his footing again. Max stopped walking and threw his arms up in annoyance. "I'd hate to be that guy, but do you think we could stop somewhere so I could get one of those cool canes that'll help me walk?" He paused as he felt her arm reach under his, leading him to the car. "If it's not in too bad taste, maybe some sunglasses too?"


Sam nodded as she opened the front passenger door for him. John spoke out for her. "She's nodding." Max smiled at the boy and managed to place his hand on top of the boy's head, ruffling his hair.


"You guys always have my back. Thanks for that." He leaned into the car, resting his arms on the roof. "Do we have everything?" Sam and John spoke up, confirming they did. Max could feel from the weight of his own backpack that there wasn't much in his. Just his first aid kit, and the box Nadya's gun was in. Almost on command, her voice echoed in his mind.


I know you're not gonna answer me right now, but I want you to know none of this was your fault. Stay with them, Max. You're all either of them have right now.

 

[Willow Pillow]

This was not Sam's first body. But it was a sign of honor and respect to burn a body. You denied evil spirits to bring it back from the dead. You denied the chance for a demon to take possession. John had lost everything....the last thing he would need would be to wory about his Aunt coming back to kill him. It had happened in the past....and her priority was to protect the kid right now.


When Max brought up the fact the motorcycle was from his dad, she bit her lip trying not to feel guilty. She wanted to say they could hide it so he could come back for it later...but the two of them would know it was a lie. And what good would that do?


Sam started the engine, and the beat down Buick drove out of Paddlewood. She watched through the rear view mirror and there was no one peeping through their doors to watch. No one came out and there was not a car to follow them. The place was just quiet, a ghost little town. Collectibles was in ruin and there had been no real attempt from police or anyone to clean up the damage that happened three days ago.


--


Paddlewood was a good four hours from Boston. It wasn't much of a head start for anyone to find them, but Paddlewood was a hard little town to find. Sam drove mostly in silence. She could hear John sniffle from time to time but he had been quiet as well. Going down 95, she finally pulled off an exit close to Boston. Burlington, Massachusetts. There was a diner called Bickfords just off the highway, she parked the car. It looked like Max was sleeping...John was. four hours could do that to you. So she took the time to get out of the car and find the ATM booth not that far.


Most ATM booths need your debit card to get in, Sam just needed to hold the door, green sparks out of her hands and it opened. She placed her hand on the numbered digits, the green charge running through. The machine began to rapidly let out twenties. She released her hand and took the cash. You never needed a job when you had this skill set. It helped you survive the day to day....and right now she had a kid and a friend to help support, not just herself.


She went back to the car and sat in the driver's seat, taking a lot of her wad and putting it in the glove compartment infront of Max. "Before you say it's a suicide mission....considering....We need to go through Boston, Max." She finally said when she saw him stir a little. "But...hey, let's eat! This place has great eggs!"

 

[taysilva19]

As Sam opened the car door, she didn't give Max enough time to even attempt to grab her arm. "Sam! Dammit, why are you being so dumb?" He turned around, directing his attention to John. "Stay in here."


John wasted no time in objecting. "No way! We're nowhere close to any kind of camp. Plus, I'm hungry. She seems to know her way around here pretty well."


"Considering she visited me even when I was living on camp, that doesn't come too much of a surprise to me."


"Is she telling the truth?" John asked. "Heads up, here's your cane." He tapped Max on the shoulder with the folded cane as he handed it to him.


Max thanked the boy as he opened the car door. He heard John open his as well. Unfolding his cane, he placed it in front of him, but quickly found himself lost, even though he hadn't taken any more than five steps. John took his other arm, leading him to the restaurant Sam was bringing them to. "Oh yeah, she's not fibbing. I'm sure the food here is great. I just don't know why she's being so mysterious right now."


The pair stopped as John stood on his tip toes to whisper into Max's ear. "No, not that. Why we're randomly stopping in Boston, if she knows Union lives here? She knows you can't see, but I saw her use her magic to steal from an ATM. That's what she put in the glove box."


Max sighed. "Yeah, I figured she would do something like that. As for why we're stopping, Sam knows how witches are hunted. We met another one that seriously bugged her out back when we first arrived in Paddlewood. Sam could sense some seriously nasty magic coming from her." He pictured Sam using her magic on the ATM. He hated to even think it, but it probably wasn't the first time she had done that either. He appreciated her taking it upon herself to make sure they have enough cash to survive the trip across country, but Max knew he would need to have a word with her about using her powers more and more now that he couldn't see her do it.


He continued talking to the boy before he opened the door to the restaurant. "Keep a close eye out. You see anyone dressed like myself or Frank, you let either me or Sam know. Dudes and girls wearing flannels, blue collar clothes, all that. Got it?"


"Got it. Let's eat first, I'm starving."

 

[Willow Pillow]

Dad had been lucky. The cult was killed and the demon cat was dead when he just up and adopted her and moved out to Colorado. There had been some hiccups here and there but for the most part....he made it a smooth transition for her.


Sam had to worry about a living cult. A scary living cult. She might have been acting a little paranoid, but after getting her ass handed to her by a pawn shop demon and frank of all people, her self confidence in her abilities we're not that great.


As a hostess sat the three of them down, sam looked through the menu looking uo at max.


Shit, he couldn't really read could he?


"Anything you can think of for breakfast, they have it."


"Is your friend on a different team than Max?" John asked.


"Different team. Think Men in Black."


"That sounds cooler than wearing flannel."


"Bigger dicks. If you want to think hierarchy, think top dog."


"So what does that make the first camp?"


"Nuetered dogs by comparison. We will be ok though, I have a plan"


She really didn't have a pla. She was winging it.

 

[taysilva19]

"Excuse you." Max interrupted, furrowing his brow at the neutered dogs comment. "Minus a couple bad eggs, Union shouldn't even be spoken about in the same sentence as those psychos in Task Force or Ashwood." It sounded like Sam was to his left, and John was directly across the table from him.


"Have you dealt with them before?" John asked, the curiosity in his voice peaking.


"A couple times, sure. Never or anything good, though. Task Force usually just showed up at the front gates demanding we give them supplies, just because they needed them."


"What would you do?"


Max shrugged. "We'd have no choice but to give them what they wanted. They're government. Guys are absolute nuts, though." He remembered the gear Task Force members would wear, looking like they just finished filming on some kind of Sci-Fi movie set. It was always a little off putting to him, watching men and women who had so much power in their possession, but worked in such extremes.


"You make them sound like bad guys." John said as he tapped the table lightly with one of the spoons that was laid out in front of them. "Calling them nuts, and everything."


"The ones I've met seemed to be, anyway." Max turned his head, giving Sam the normality of shifting his attention to her. Neither her or John were used to his condition yet. "So tell me about this man of yours." He thought about how she spoke about him having weapons and tools that were designed to kill witches. He knew how much of a risk this was, especially if he really did have the gear she was looking for. How did she know he wouldn't kill her right then and there? "And why are you so intent on killing the girl with the hat?"

 

[Willow Pillow]

Oh Ashwood...good times. Good times.


If she was ever running low on her oxy, they were the best. Speaking of that...she had planned on raiding Macey's house for drugs but with what happened it seemed massively inappropriate, so that should be added on the grocery list of things to get as well.


Max seemed to look directly at her even if she just saw her reflection in his sun glasses, and she knew he was blind as a bat. It was her fault he was blind this way, and her fault why the potion didn't seem to fully work on him. Grimacing she was slightly relieved he couldn't see the guilt on her features as she placed her hand on his.


"To them, kid, we are the bad guys. It doesn't matter what faction they are from...we are the monsters that go bump in the night."


John stopped tapping his spoon when She said that. For maybe five seconds, before he started it again.


"I'm not hell bent on killing Blue." Maybe she was. "I just know there are three of us, a kid a blind man and a witch. Not the world's greatest team. And we just got our asses handed to us by Frank...Frank of all people. So I think we need the witch killing weapons."


Then Max asked the obvious about how she was so sure she wouldn't get killed herself. "Oh look! Server! Yes! Hi, just big stack of french toast please....bacon. Extra crispy."


"Uh...are the rest of your party ready to order?"


John stopped tapping his spoon and looked at the two squabbling guardians he got saddled with. "I don't know, Max...are we?" putting the ball in his court on this one as Sam tried avoiding the subject. Again.

 

[taysilva19]

Max tried his best to turn his head towards the server. He smiled at her, and nodded. "Yeah, that sounds great. Coffee for me, though please. Thank you." The server nodded herself, and walked away, order in hand.


John broke the silence. "She nodded and walked away. She was wearing-".


Max unterrupted the boy with a laugh. "I appreciate it John, but you don't need to tell me every little thing. Although, you keep that up, who needs vision, right?" No one answered him, and he felt Sam's grip on his own hand tighten. He could hear it in her voice, the guilt she had been holding onto since Frank attacked them. For Macey's death, and his blindness, Sam probably felt her presence alone brought this upon them. He moved his fingers along hers carefully, trying to silently calm her.


"I want honesty." He started, getting her attention again. "This guy we're looking for. He won't cause any trouble unless we give him a reason to, right? If he knows about your powers, that's not the issue. I'm worried about you, John. Let's face it, you're half our age, and just as powerful as Sam. If he catches a wiff of a fraction of that, we're done for. I need you on your best behavior, understand?"


"What should I do? Just stand back and act normal?"


"That's the gist of it, yeah." Max responded. "Think you can do that?"


John nodded. "I nodded, yes."


The girl in the hat flashed through Max's head. They hadn't seen her since the day of the pawn shop, which honestly made him completely forget about her. "You're sure she's a problem, right? Maybe we should just keep our heads down and just head West like we said. In a perfect world, we won't have to take any human lives if we don't have to."

 

[Willow Pillow]

She couldn't help ur, she snorted when John said he nodded yes.


Sam bit her lip trying to get our why she thought they would be ok. She felt max return a gentle squeeze, but she let go rubbing her thumb in her palm again. "He might have this...crazy idea....that maybe we might be in a relationship or something....."


"Wait," john straightened up. "Do you just pretend to like every male hunter you hang out with?"


"No! I'm not a whore. Look, working with hunters is literally working with people who want nothing more than to kill you and sell your parts. You do what you do to survive. So he slaps my ass here or there and makes advances. Task force has been up to somrthing sneaky the past few years so I found an in to get intel. Sue me."


"Did you flirt with max to get information?"


She felt her cheeks reddenning. "No I wouldnt....we are actually real friends..."


"She is blushing."

 

[taysilva19]

Max couldn't help but smile when John sold Sam out. He played along with it, trying to ignore Sam flirting with other guys. He knew they weren't dating, but the thought of someone butting in on them aggravated him. He tapped one of his feet to let out some quiet frustration. "Oh is she, now?" His fears were a alleviated a little when she made the comment about being real friends.


"She knows I don't know much about the ins and outs of Union, besides the missions I'm given. She only has herself to blame for being friends with me. Remember that day? Helping me catch that pig I let loose by accident? God, I was such a dweeb." The three of them laughed, enjoying the rare normality they were sharing.

 

[Willow Pillow]

How much harm could a little pig do? Plenty. Sam laughed, as the two of them filled John in on the story about the difference of a pig...and a hell spawn. There was fire, chaos, and many angry recruits. A flaming demonic pig bursting in as young boys were being initiated into Union. Not the greatest story. Flaming pig running through the investigation camps. Waterboarding was a common form of interrogation that Union would practice on Witches or people who harbored supernatural beings. That put a damper in their festivities. She would nudge him with her elbow at appropriate times of the story and snort when it came to how he thought rope could catch and bind something like that.


Her favorite part was when his step father had slapped him upside the head when he realized he was socializing and being friendly with a witch. He was pretty much doomed to being a goof forever in that moment.


John watched the two of them in between his bacon bites and french toast shovings and already felt grossed out by their touchiness. He realized as one story led to another....this was going to be the normal beats in his life. Talking about demonic pigs at a diner were going to be the pieces of normal he would live with now. It made him miss his brothers and sisters...his parents and Aunt Macey, but he smiled along with them, not telling Max he was smiling this time. He'd be a brat later.


"Ok, but...on a serious note," Sam finally straightened up. "This is very important. Abigail Truman is a cover, but if that cover is blown I can be killed. This is very very serious stuff. I'm meeting my friend at the Prudential Center this afternoon. Best case scenerio, he has a job for me and I can have the price be the items I'm looking for. Worst case....I'm going to have to ask him for a favor he will want to call upon later. He will call upon it later. He usually does. He was in Rio with me last week, Task Force assigned him to get a phoenix egg. I helped him navigate the rainforest and deal with the Aes Dae Kai but the egg we finally got broke, he had to go back empty handed. Well not empty handed. Feathers of a phoenix were enough to tie his boss over."


"Wait, so you had two phoenix eggs?"


"No. Just one. That's the point. I had no idea what Task force wanted it, and Union hired me to get an egg at the same exact time. Something didn't feel right so I used a little bit of magic to make my friend believe the egg was broken....by breaking a fake one. Then when I couldn't get a straight answer from his commanding officer about what they wanted to do with it I gave them a fake one. So....don't bring up the egg. Don't even show the egg. I know you've been hiding it John, in your bag, so love of God please trust me that we are all dead if he finds out I tricked him."


"What's so important with a phoenix egg? Why the big fuss anyways."


"One feather can heal your entire body in seconds. The birds are rare. A baby is born maybe every century or so....these birds are practically immortal and regenerate. There are a lot of people out there that would like to experiment on these properties and see how they can apply it to themselves. There's a hunting group in Rio that protect the bird and other supernatural creatures that mean no harm to anyone. But they use their feathers, or scales for some of them, to make their own potions and remedies. Can I trust you two to not blow my cover? We need those items from Task Force but we have a lot of problems that could happen if we don't do it right. And Max is right. If Grizz ever found out you have gifts too....it could look like I'm raising a cult....and we'll be dead before we can draw our weapons if that's the case."


"Yeah, raise a cult of misfits and gimps. Very threatening...."

 

[taysilva19]

Grizz? Max couldn't help but laugh at how compensatingly macho that name sounded. His reaction was noticed by at least John, who between eating his breakfast, inquired about his reaction.


"Do you know him, Max?"


He shook his head. "Nope. Not by name at least." As he finished, another headache flowed over him, leaving a slight feeling of nausea. Resting his elbows on the table, he gripped his coffee mug a little tighter, trying to ignore how hot it was. He wasn't going to be sick, but it certainly wasn't the most comfortable sensation he had ever felt. "Who knows, though? He could've been one of the guys I mentioned that would come to my camp screaming at us, demanding we hand over what we had for supplies.


At this point, Max's disdain for this guy found its way into his little tirade. "Pony tail wearing loudmouth would love having that job..."


John stopped eating, and swallowed. "Um. I thought you just said you didn't know him. How do you know how he wears his hair?"


The question hung in the air.


Wait, what the hell happened? Max said to himself. Why did he just think of that? He started to spin the mug slowly in his hands, trying to explain himself. "Lucky guess. You'd have no idea how many hunters feel the need to be edgy jerks."

 

[Willow Pillow]

There was a long awkward silence as Sam just stared at him and blinked a few times. Max got the description down....pretty well. If he said Grizz had grey hair she might have gone slightlly paler than she already did. Brow raised she looked at max carefully trying to pick up a small whiff of magic somewhere in there. Maybe there was something she missed when they first met. She doubted it. The first time she saw him he had the equivolence of a tooting sound of magic in him. More than the average person mind you, but a toot only really got you....more open to things that go bump in the night. Not enough to have a frikken psychic connection.


"Yes, he wears a ponytail...and he can be a little....condescending to people....Are you ok, Max?"


"Sam is looking at you like you might need a straight jacket."


"Thanks for the help John..."

 

[taysilva19]

Max was feeling like he needed a straight jacket at this point. He continued to grip the table, using everything in his power to keep the screaming part of his brain from escaping. He wondered if Nadya had anything to do with this, but the headaches had started even before the gun landed in his possession. This should've been impossible, he knew that. To make matters worse, Sam confirmed his fears that he was correct in his observation about this Grizz guy.


"Lucky guess?" Max said, trying to convince himself more than anything else. The headache began to subdue, once again disappearing as quickly as it began. He wiped his forehead with the back of his jacket and sighed. "Sorry about that, just a bit of a headache." Max found himself continuing where he would rather have stopped. "Been getting them randomly since I left the camp." He smiled, turning his head to Sam.


"I blame you." He did his best to write it off like a minor inconvenience, but Max's life had been filled with anything but 'minor' inconveniences.

 

[Willow Pillow]

In his entire twelve years of life, John had never been in Boston. In fact, this was the first time he left Paddlewood ever. Even when he was born, his mom told him as soon as her water broke in the house he was ready to come out. Dad's car broke right outside the cemetery and he was born right in the car.


Boston was intimidating. People walked on the streets with cars honking st them, the streets were zig zagged, littered and there was an abundance of homeless people. One in particular that was shirtless and get into people's face's with a stuffed dog to get change out of them.


He watched in awe as Sam drove through the tunnels. The movies didn't really do it justice. "Max, do you see all of....nevermind." he caught himself a little too late as his nose was practically sticking to the glass.


They parked in a garage for the Prudential mall. John didn't tell Sam he was holding the phoenix egg in his own bag. He figured if it was really a big deal, it was probably better she didn't have it on her person just in case this grizz character searched her.


Plus it was really cool.


But he was stuck on babysitting max or max was babysitting him.....it was a weird situation. The first place he went to was the Barnes and Nobles. Sam had watched them go in before going off in her own direction.


"So what's the sabotage plan?" He asked. "Do you want me to lead you to the comics even though you can't read it anymore?"


--


Sam was hoping for best case scenerio. If push came to shove she'd have to kill grizz and get the three of them out there. She could do it too....if she needed to.


She made it to the Froyo shop before she felt arms around her waist from behind. She caught that her reflection came off a toaster so she swallowed her knee jerk reaction to look irritated and pissed, ad instead she had a smile spread. She turned around placing her finger on a man's chest.


Of course he had his shirt unbuttoned to show his chest hair....of course...


She placed the index finger and lightly pushed him off coming off as a tease, "hello stranger."


"Abby. Can't seem to get enough of me can tou? Twice in one week."


"Well,"she eyed him up and down as if on auto pilot. It was very easy for her to slip into a role, like a comfortable glove placed on her fingers. She smirked a little more. Grizz was wearing a suit, unbuttoned shirt with aviatora hanging down because only the coolest of men needed to wear shades....like CSI or other corn like that. "I do have a soft spot for men who take charge"


Soft spot in the head, frikken despised that stuff.


He put his arm back around her waist pulling her in close and she could smell the over power of axe. "I want us to continue where we left off in rio."


Finger back on the chest she pushed him off, but she slowly dropped the finger down to act like she was interested and just playing the game. "First, we talk about what I need, grizz."


"Abby, I break a lot of rules with you as it is, I can't just give you high clearance items."


"Task force can't afford to lose one screamer pistol? I'm pretty sure that goes to your basic foot soldier, I don't need a working one. One thar was damaged and can't be repaired, the ones in the trash bin. Im sure we could make that happen."


"If you need protection, abby, all you have to do is ask. That's something I could do for you."


--


Aggregates with life, Frank was at game stop shoving a girl away from the sample game so he could get out his frustrations. He needed to figure our where that damn witch was now so he could cut her bloody fucking head off already.

 

[taysilva19]

When Max and John walked into the store, the hunter found himself surrounded by the smell of paper and the sound of hushed voices. He personally never understood why people thought these kinds of places had rules like a library.


Were libraries still supposed to be quiet, anyway?


John was about to grab Max's arm to lead him to the comics, but he waved the boy away. "I think I've got this, bud." He started to walk forward, moving his stick from side to side. He heard the click of a cash register, and knew he was going in the right direction. "Register to my right, right? Comics are gonna be straight ahead, on the left."


He was met with silence.


"How did you do that, Max?" The boy asked, more wonder in his voice than there was in the car.


"I've been here plenty of times." Max smiled as they turned the corner. "Always said I could walk through here with my eyes closed. Guess I can do even better than that."


He assumed John wasted no time in tearing open a comic. The hasty turning of pages clued him in on that.


Max's mind wandered, imagining what Sam would be doing to get this Griz guys attention. She did mention she was a bit of a flirt with him, but what she and Max had was 'real'. His hands gripped his stick harder as he thought of some over compensating ass even think about laying a hand on her.


Whatcha gonna do, Mister Hero? Gonna let some stranger touch your girl?





Typical Nadya, saying something like that when she knew he couldn't respond.


"John, I have forty bucks on me. Choose what interests you the most and we'll buy them."


"Huh? Are you sure?" The boy must have noticed Max's expression, following up with another question. "What's up, Max?"


Max felt the gears turning in his head as he pictured the rest of the mall. He remembered where everything was, mostly. He tapped his stick on his foot as he spoke. "We're gonna find Sam and... Grizz." He tried to hide the disdain in his voice as he mentioned them together. "You're gonna be my eyes again."

 

[Willow Pillow]

"I can take care of myself, Grizz."


"Abby, let's be serious for a moment," he grabbed her wrist. "You're considered a monster, one day this little game you play at pretending to be a hunter won't cut it with one of the groups. You will be killed. Retire, let Task Force take care of you. We can protect you. You don't need to looking for devices and worry you'll be killed in this mall."


Yeah. Protect. She knew they kept a database on people. She didn't know the details to shut it down...but the last thing she wanted was to be on that. She'd never be able to run or hide. "I'll let you know if it gets to that point. In the mean time, there has to be some way you can help me out."


"Alright. You win. Can't really say no to you anyways." He dug through his pocket and handed her a folded torn paper. Sam opened the folds to see a coin in a collection at the museum.


She knew what it was immediately.


"You get me that, tonight. I'll have a broken unreparable screamer pistol for you. Deal?"


--


John grabbed the cuff of his arm when he spotted Sam. This grizz guy was dressed like a men in black person, but he had a popped collar and a clunkly looking expensive watch, he looked like a bad pimp you found at a mobster movie. The grey hair in a pony tail didn't help. He fixed his backpack strap and smirked. "They are about ten feet straight ahead. Outside Orange Leaf, does that help?"


He wasn't sure he liked hunters. Not from his experience with Frank. He never would have told the man to leave if he knew about Aunt Macey. He would have told him to shoot himself in the face if he had known. And if Max didn't like him then this was probably bad. He reached out and grabbed the sleeve of a man who was walking with his wife eating icecream. "Please bump into that man and spill your icecream on him"


He let him go and the guy didn't acknowledge John said anything. He continued talking to his wife absentmindely doing in that direction. He collided right into him and there was apologies from his end and red faced from the other. But John grinned. "I think I might like this power."

 

[taysilva19]

Max heard the loud apologies in the direction he was listening in on. He brought the two of them to a nearby bench and kept his head down, fully knowing the smile that was across his face. He did his best to sound like he was being cautious with John. "Don't do stuff like that. You need to be careful with those powers." He paused, before patting Johns knee. "Good job though. Ass probably deserves it. What are they doing?"


John squinted, trying to concentrate on Sam and Griz. "Um. They're just talking. He gave her some kinda paper... He's really close to her."


"How close?"


"Like... Close, close."


Max arched an eyebrow. "Like Sam and I close? Kinda like when we were still at your house?"


"Yeah. Kinda. She's smiling, though."


Max thought about having John send another mind zombie to knock ice cream on Grizz, but pushednit out of his mind. What good would that do? If anything, it would blow their cover. He sighed, collapsed his stick, and placed it in his lap.


Actually. Screw it.


"Wait here. I'm gonna introduce myself. He can probably sense you're specialness if you get to close. For all intents and purposes, I'm just Sam's blind sidekick." Max got up and made his way into the Orange Leaf, waving off John's objections.


He could picture where he was going, and judging from Sam's recognizable voice, and the new tone of Grizz, Max stopped to the side of them, waving. He put out a hand and introduced himself. "Hey there. I'm Max. I'm with her." He motioned to Sam with the top of his stick. "Nice to meet you."

 

[Willow Pillow]

A small part of Sam was relieved Max had come out of nowhere....like a bat using sonar to find her...but most of her wanted to punch him right now. Rule one of undercover work: You never blow your partner's cover. Rule two: Never blow your partner's cover. Rule Three: NEVER BLOW YOUR PARTNER'S COVER.


Grizz was currently wiping the chocolate icecream off his suit. The rainbow jimmies blended in giving little spurts of multi-color stain. He looked at the two of them, his brown eyes narrowing slightly. "Are you asking me for classified items to use for another hunter? Because that would be Task Force jurisdiction, Abby and I would need to know everything about the case. Now."


Abby rolled her eyes crossing her arms. "Yes. Because that makes sense Grizz. Clearly that's my intention." She was going to punch Max for this.


"Then what's with the dog?"


"Injured on duty. This is operation: farm. Otherwords...retirement...happier pastures. You get the idea. I'm transitioning him and his brother."


"Wouldn't other Union Dogs take him?"


"You know dogs, they like to pass away without the family watching. It makes the transition easier."


Grizz looked him up and down, "Probably first and last fight, doesn't look like he's seasoned at all."


"Poor kid just got out of training. Very unfortunate incident. Can we get back to details? This looks like the Museum of Art here, what time and place and I meeting you for the drop off?"

 

[taysilva19]

Yep. Just as much of an asshole as I thought. Max thought to himself as he brought back his hand, gripping his stick. As much as it killed him, he smiled at the Task Force clown and laughed.


"Well, you know you gotta put down injured dogs, right? My little brother has a knack for the job. Has great potential, you know?"


He earned a grunt from, Grizz, who seemed to be distracted. Max realized he must've been trying to get the stain out of his shirt. "You missed a spot." He heard a slight gasp from Sam. "Kidding." He pointed at his glasses. "Blind."


This was killing him. The hell was he doing, degregating himself like this, in front of Sam, of all people. he just wanted to get her the hell away from this ignorant creep.

 

[Willow Pillow]

"Right...." Grizz eyed him carefully as the blind moron seemed to try to get the best of him. He looked back at Abby pointing at the sheet. "New coin exhibit. We just need it returned. You can use any little talent you have at your disposal. We will meet at the Cheesecake Factory here. Just the two of us. Is that going to be a problem for your....pet?"


"Matt." She corrected him. She felt the mistake when she did, her mistake wasn't the name she made sure to use his fake one but correcting Grizz wasn't something the Abby he knew would do. She smiled hoping it wasn't caught. "But he won't be there. I'll see you then."


She started to leave but Grizz squeezed her arm. "Abby, now that you're here. You have the power to manipulate technology?"


"Afraid not. it's not a very common power. Do you need me to locate you a witch that does?" she lied straight through her teeth.


"No...just something to keep in the back of your mind."

 

[taysilva19]

The two of them walked away from Grizz. As they did, Max could feel the tension between the two of them. She wouls noemally grab his arm to lead him to wherever they had to go, but this time she left Max on his own to the bench where he left John.


"So..." Max started. "Now that we're still here, who wants ice cream? Maybe your best friend Grizz can buy us some. Then again, maybe a dog like me is on his own. What the hell is that guys' problem, anyway?" He tapped the end of his stick on his foot again as he stood, a habit he was beginning to form when he was losing patience.


"That bad, huh?" John asked, sighing.


"Yeah. That bad."

 

[Willow Pillow]

She had her arms crossed and just stood there staring at him. She was going to wait until she knew for certain Grizz was gone. "I'm pretty sure John took care of the icecream. What the hell, Max?! You could have frikken gotten me killed. I had a plan! Why did you have to go an attempt to blow my cover? Who was watching John?! What if anything happened to him? We're supposed to be a team you just decide, screw that I'm going to do my own shit?!"


"I'm twelve, I used to babysit my brother and sister all the time." John interjected. Sam just shot him a look and he withdrew a second. "Just saying."

 

[taysilva19]

"Oh, I'm sorry that we waited out here for you instead of futzing around Barnes and Noble." Max didn't turn his head to face Sam this time. He just stared straight ahead.


"Yeah, you're the one that decided you would go see that creep by yourself, anyway. Max just-" John stood out from his seat as his voice picked up.


Max held a hand up in front of the boy to hush him. "John. Just don't. If we're a team, why is it perfectly fine for you to be put into those kinds of situations? That guy gives me the creeps skulking around you like that." Max grimmaced, realizing he just threw John under the bus even more than he originally did.


He finished tapping his stick on his foot as he realized this was a lost battle from the start. Sam was right. He let his feelings for her get in the way, when things could've gone much worse. "I'm sorry, Sam. I know you're more than capable of taking care of yourself, but Task Force is scary shit."