Blaze of Glory - Chapter 9
Does destiny choose the person, or does the person choose their destiny?
He's supposed to be just another guy. Just another notch on Brian's belt.
But Justin has other ideas; a whole other master plan that's going to shock Brian about everything he's ever known.
One thing is for sure: whichever road Brian takes, his life is never going to be the same again
Chapter 9:
WARNING:GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF VIOLENCE
Justin turned around, as he heard familiar footsteps.
“Aren’t you going to Babylon?”
Brian waved something at him. “You forgot this.”
“Oh. Michael’s comic. You didn’t have to…”
Brian shrugged.
“I’m okay,” Justin said. He had an inexplicable feeling that Brian had come after him because Brian had been worried.
“Why wouldn’t you be?”
Justin stayed silent. Brian was in a weird mood, and he wasn’t sure how best to respond. Brian fell in step with him clearly intending to walk with Justin, instead of heading back to the diner. Justin decided to let Brian set the pace, both in conversation and in the walk.
It didn’t take long for Brian to get to what was on his mind.
“You know, no one here is watching over you. Judging you.”
Justin looked at Brian quizzically. “I don’t understand. What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about - ” Brian broke off, running his hand through his hair in what seemed like mild frustration. “I’m talking about how structured you are, about how you won’t do anything that deviates from your ‘mission’ of training me and ‘getting me ready’. Come on, Justin. It’s not going to kill you to have some fun. Shockingly, it in fact will not kill anyone if you cut loose for an evening or two. Have some fun. Maybe even laugh. What the fuck do you think would happen if you went out for an evening? Chilled out? Your Professor is going to teleport himself here to put you in your place?”
Justin looked at the tip of his shoes. “I think they got to the Professor before I left. They probably killed him.”
“Oh,” Brian said, the news of someone’s possible death silencing him.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t…” Justin struggled to find the right words. “I didn’t mean to upset you, or force you to be quiet with that. It’s just, I’m not like you. I have a specific purpose. I’m supposed to fulfill that.”
“Yeah, I get that. We all have shit to do, priorities, jobs. But a break now and then will not jeopardise all of humanity is what I’m trying to get at.”
“But...” Justin wasn’t sure how to explain himself. How could he tell Brian that he wasn’t Brian’s equal? Or any of their equal, given that he was a clone? How to explain to Brian that he felt like he would be usurping the role of the real Justin, if he took a step outside of his job description? It had been hard enough to make Brian understand that he was from the future. All of this would undoubtedly infuriate Brian and jeopardise his mission.
And yet, Brian deserved some manner of a coherent response.
“I’d feel bad. I’d feel guilty. My friends are fighting a losing battle. The man who raised me might be dead. If I’m gadding about just having the time of my life…as it is, I get to breathe clean air, eat food that they’ve only read about, I get to…it doesn’t seem fair, and I’d feel even worse.”
“That’s…stupid,” Brian said simply. “Depriving yourself just because others are suffering doesn’t help anyone. You seem too smart to actually believe that. On the other hand, you’re one of the most single-minded people I’ve met, so, there is that.”
“It doesn’t help, but it gives me a sense of solidarity.”
Brian scoffed. “Don’t think for a moment that others will sacrifice for you the way you sacrifice for them.”
“That’s not fair.”
“And yet, it’s true. Fact is, they stayed behind and sent you here instead, with the most responsibility on your shoulders.”
Justin shrugged. “I think there are others who were sent to other locations, to make contact with people like you.”
“Yes, well, that may be, but, none of these ‘others’ are people from your circle, are they?”
“How’d you know that?” Justin asked, surprised.
Brian smiled knowingly. “Because if anyone else from your circle was sent out on a mission, you’d be less tense, less afraid of failing, and you’d be sharing a sense of camaraderie with some other person out there.”
Justin was impressed. “So you’re not just another pretty face. I was getting worried for a while,” he added, with a smile in his voice.
Brian laughed, putting an arm around Justin’s shoulder as they continued walking.
Justin missed what Brian said. Had it sounded like he was trying to flirt with Brian? Did it sound like flirting, because it was flirting? Justin felt flustered; this was precisely what he was trying to avoid.
“No?” Brian asked.
“I’m sorry, I missed what you said,” Justin said. He wondered if he should remind Brian that Babylon was in the opposite direction.
“Come to Babylon with us.” Brian paused. “I know you’re anti-fun, but…”
“But…?” Warning signs were flashing in Justin’s head, because he was already being tempted to cave in.
Brian sighed. “But…I may feel somewhat more comfortable if you were around. Safer.”
An honest Brian was a vulnerable Brian.
A vulnerable Brian was a dangerous Brian.
Sometimes, there was nothing to do but roll with things, and hope for the best.
“I don’t have any clothes, but if you want me to, then…”
“You don’t need any clothes!”
Justin couldn’t see Brian’s face, but he could hear the smile on the man. “Do you really think of me as ‘anti-fun’?”
“Well. I don’t think that this is the -”
“Shhh,” Justin cut him off, freezing in his tracks. “Did you hear that?” Justin hissed.
“Hear what?”
“Shhhh!” Justin hissed again. Brian was loud.
He heard it again.
“A woman. Somewhere east of here. Muffled scream,” Justin whispered to Brian.
Brian turned to look at him, hands on hips, irritation written across his face. “Is this,” Brian paused, and dropped his volume to match Justin’s. “Is this your way of trying to get out of the going to Babylon? Because - ”
Justin rolled his eyes. “Don’t be so stupid. How can you not hear that? There’s a woman in trouble somewhere here.”
“Look at this neighbourhood, Justin. Someone is always in trouble. C’mon. Let’s go. The guys are waiting.”
“We’re not going anywhere,” Justin declared. “We have to go help.”
Brian was clearly more than a tad irritated. “‘We’ are not going anywhere. I am going to Babylon. I’ve done enough for a day.”
Justin narrowed his eyes. “For your information, falling flat on your face daily doesn’t actually count as doing something useful.” Brian opened his mouth, undoubtedly with an acerbic retort, but Justin beat him to it. “I don’t have time to be bickering with you. You can go wherever you want; I’m going to go look for that woman.”
Brian’s implication was right, they had indeed been walking through a decidedly seedy neighbourhood.
Stealthy as a cat, it wasn’t hard for Justin to find the woman whose screams he had heard. The woman was outside his immediate line of sight, but Justin could see that there were two men, both with their back turned to him. Justin surmised that the one of them was about his size, if a few inches shorter. The other guy was about a head taller, about Brian’s height, give or take an inch.
The shorter man was standing slightly to the side. The woman had been pushed up against the wall, and the taller man was practically covering her.
Justin noted the open handbag on the floor, contents scattered. Given that the men had not yet taken off, he came to the conclusion that even if robbery had been the initial motive, the men had moved on to other ideas.
He could call 911. But, the sound of sirens would chase the men away. Also, given the contents of the handbag Justin could see, the victim was probably a working girl. There was no guarantee as to how seriously a cop would take her report. And there was no way Justin was showing his face to cops willingly, and a witness that couldn’t be found was no witness at all.
“Isn’t it enough that you were going to steal from her?”
Both men turned at the sound of Justin’s voice. “Fuck off,” one of them said.
“It’s ain’t a ‘her’,” shorter man said. “You ain’t savin’ some woman. This here ain’t a woman, no matter how he paints his face.”
“And yet, here we are,” Justin said, ambling towards the men, acting as if he had all the time in world to spare. Justin glanced between the two men. In the time it would take him to compel one of them, the other would be all over him. This was a situation that was asking him to get his hands dirty.
“Look kid, why don’t you run along home? Don’t you have some homework to finish?”
“I’m a good boy. Finished my homework before I decided to take a walk about town. Good thing I did, it seems.”
“Looks like Blondie needs us to teach him a lesson,” Shorty snarled.
Justin saw the gleam of the man’s gun. He raised his eyebrow.
“What? You’re going to shoot me, and then rape her? Armed robbery, sexual assault and…murder? That’s quite the trifecta…if you can manage them.”
Justin didn’t look at the woman yet; such a move had the potential to become a distraction. Shorty moved towards Justin, now clearly displaying the gun. Justin heard the woman stifle another scream; the tall fellow had his hand across her mouth.
“I wouldn’t take him on, if I were you. He’s a lot stronger than he looks.”
Brian.
As much as he wanted to, Justin didn’t turn to look at Brian. He kept his eyes trained in front of him. He had been the one to demand that they both come here, but now that Brian was actually here, Justin wondered if Brian was ready, mentally, for what may happen.
“And now there’s two of these fuckers.”
“They’re both probably fags, hanging around here,” the taller man added. “Nothing to worry ‘bout.”
“Get off of her. NOW.”
Both men looked at Brian as he spoke, and Justin used the opportunity. Quick as lightning, he moved to Shorty, grabbing the gun. Before Shorty even knew what was happening, Justin had him in a headlock.
“Told you he was stronger than he looked,” Brian said casually, as he walked to the taller man, his path now cleared.
Brian sounded casual. But it was obvious that he was anything but. Justin didn’t let go of the grip he had on Shorty, but he couldn’t stop himself from staring at Brian.
Brian was almost unrecognisable.
His face was…it was the personification of rage.
It was as if Brian was wearing a deep purple mask, contorted and angry.
If Justin had walked in on Brian looking the way he did now, Justin wasn’t sure that he’d have known who Brian was. The physical transformation, completely unbidden, was incredible.
Shorty whimpered.
Brian yanked the taller man’s shoulder, at once freeing the woman and pinning the man against the wall, the selfsame position the woman had been in seconds ago.
The woman stumbled forward, and turned around to look at Brian.
“Just take your things and go,” Justin said. “Can you…?”
“Yes, yes, I…thank you,” she said, but understandably didn’t stay to watch what would happen. Scooping up the contents of her handbag, she ran, heels clicking in the uneven alleyway.
“What’s this, big man? Am I making you lose your erection? That would be such a shame,” Brian said.
Brian was holding the man in place, with his left hand under the man’s chin, holding him in place. Justin knew Brian’s strength when angry; this was probably child’s play to him.
Brian’s voice was silky and dangerous. “Come, I know there’s a fear boner inside of you…let’s not waste all your adrenaline.”
Shorty bleated with fear under Justin, and Justin tightened his grip instinctively. The man was going to have an ugly bruise. It was a good thing that Shorty couldn’t see his face; there’d be no recognising anyone the morning after. Justin looked at Brian, whose back was turned to them. Though Justin couldn’t see what Brian was doing, he was beginning to get a fairly good idea. This wasn’t going to take long, Justin thought.
Sure enough, Justin heard the popping sound, though Shorty, who likely didn’t hear a thing, was still clueless.
Brian removed his arm that was holding the man in place, and the fellow collapsed to the ground, whining and moaning in obvious agony.
“You should get that checked out,” Brian said nonchalantly. “I hear penile fractures can be a bitch.”
Justin let go of his death-grip on Shorty. “You better go help your friend. I’ll be holding onto your toy, if it's all the same to you.”
“Are you okay?”
They had made their way out of the alley, and Justin was relieved that Brian’s features had returned to normal. They were wandering aimlessly, and Justin briefly wondered if there was a bar nearby where he could get Brian a drink.
“I…fuck! I can’t…”
“You can’t believe you just did that?” Justin asked quietly.
Brian stopped walking, and looked at Justin. “Have you ever killed anyone?”
“Brian, you didn’t kill that man. You did far less to him than he would have done to that woman.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Justin clenched his eyes shut, wishing for a different life for all of them, even though he knew it was futile. “I don’t know. I’ve fought with people that…I’ve been in fights. I’ve shot people. I don’t know that all of them survived. I never had any way of finding out, and no one told me. And…I’m not sure that I would have completely and unequivocally regretted the death of someone who would want to see me dead - all of my friends, anyone different to them. It was also my duty.”
“So you sacrificed your sanity?”
“Sometimes you have to, for what you believe in.”
“I was so angry…I could have killed that man,” Brian said quietly.
“But you didn’t. You made a choice, a decision, even in that haze. That’s who you are. That’s your character. You came, even when you knew I’d be able to handle it on my own. You stood up for a stranger that you’ll probably never see again. You did the right thing, not because you had to, but simply because it was the thing that needed to be done.”
Brian didn’t say anything, but started walking again. Justin moved beside him, matching Brian’s pace. Silently, Brian put his arm around Justin’s shoulders.
“You’re supposed to be on the way to Babylon,” Justin said, regretting each word as he formed it. “Your friends are waiting for you.”
“I’m not going,” Brian said simply. “Come home with me,” he added quietly.
It wasn’t a question, but Justin nodded his acquiescence.
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