Flight 265 [IC] - Issue 1 - Awakenings

[Kesnit]

Eric McMahon

Eric's eyes popped open in shock. Either Nathan was smarter than he seemed, or a lot stupider. He doesn't strike me as the stupid type... he thought. Still, I don't think I want to be in the middle of this.

He backed away from the other men, wondering if he should follow Robert back upstairs. He decided to stay, thinking maybe he would be able to stop Daniel if he snapped and attacked Nathan. Did fire hurt Superman, he thought, almost laughing.

[ChronicLunacy]

Daniel Horton

"So saving someone from a burning car is a funny little trick now is it?" Daniel retorted, his fist notably clenching at his side, his jaw set and the muscles in his neck standing out a bit. "If I remember, you hid in the van during that little incident. You coward." He felt that old familiar flush rising up his neck. something he'd combated his entire life ever since he threw tantrums as a kid. He was always quick to anger, quick to lash out...it's what had destroyed his marriage.

That thought sobered him up a little bit and his fist unclenched. He turned away from Nathan stiffly, starting to head back towards the stairs. He really didn't need to be pushed anymore, especially with all they'd been through.

Spoiler

Show

So he may need a tiny bit more urging if Nathan really wants to do this. Just warning you.

[Green Bean]

Nathan James

Nathan laughed. "I'm the coward? You put every single person who was on our flight at risk by trying to save those people! You want a coward? Look at someone who does stupid things because he doesn't want to feel guilty!"

[ChronicLunacy]

Daniel Horton

Daniel turned back towards Nathan, grabbing him by the collar and hauling him bodily into the air with one hand. "Saving people's lives is nothing to feel guilty about. he growled, low and dangerous. "Any decent person would have done the same thing. Now shut up about things you don't understand!" he yelled into Nathan's face as he walked him backwards towards the nearest wall and shoved him against it. "Where do you get off talking about people's lives like they matter to you! For all you knew, that briefcase could have been a bomb! You could have blown us all to hell for MONEY and you want to come down here and tell me I'M the stupid one! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

[Kesnit]

Eric McMahon

Eric moved up to try to stop Daniel, but something in Nathan's eyes stopped him. However, he did position himself close enough that the heat from the flames would singe Daniel if Daniel began to really hurt Nathan.

[Green Bean]

Nathan James

Nathan grinned like a maniac as he was held against the wall. "Any decent person? I guess I was wrong. You aren't a coward. You're just an idiot. The world isn't nearly as simple as you seem to think it is. There are no heroes. Just the users, and the used."

[ChronicLunacy]

Daniel Horton

Gah! Daniel had had enough of this creep. Nathan could see his jaw clench, the vein on his neck popping out as the words added fuel to the fire. Nathan was either incredibly stupid or incredibly smart for letting it get this far as Daniel reared back with one clenched fist. He was still holding Nathan against the wall when he brought that fist hammering in towards Nathan's stomach. "SHUT THE F&%$ UP!!"

[The_New_Guy]

There was no flash of light, no sudden explosion of flame or brilliant, angelic swords. There was no sudden release of miraculous power. Daniel merely held the young diplomat and delivered a crushing blow to the ribs. There was a snap of bones, and the involuntary groan the young man emitted on impact.

((OOC: For the record, Nathan is now staggered and stunned))

[Kesnit]

Eric McMahon

Eric froze, stunned. He had really believed that something would happen and Nathan's powers would appear. After a moment, he ran to the steps and yelled, Anne, we need you in the basement. NOW!

[ChronicLunacy]

Daniel Horton

Daniel let Nathan drop to the floor and turned to see the look of shock on Eric's face. He felt a little guilty for hurting Nathan but as far as he was concerned the guy needed a little blunt force medication. He was still angry at the guy. That notwithstanding, he needed help now that his ribs were broken.

"Don't waste your breath. I'll go and get her." Daniel said with a sigh as he marched past the other man.

He rose off of his feet and took the stairs in a few great "leaps" from landing to landing until he got to their hallway, when he walked normally down to their suite. Upon opening the door he called out, "Anne, Nathan's hurt. We need your help if you're not too busy." as he walked in, looking for Lawrence and Anne's room.

[Green Bean]

Nathan James

As Daniel punch him, Nathan watched his world turn white with pain. He slid to the floor, curling up into a fetal position.

[drawingfreak]

Robert Harrison
At hearing Eric's cry, Robert, only halfway up the stairs, bolted back down. He passed Daniel on the way and entered the basement, seeing Nathan on the ground.

"W-what happened?"

[The_New_Guy]

There was almost, almost a hint of "what have you done now you morons" behind Ann's eyes, but it was well disguised by genuine concern. She nodded to Lawrence, and in a flash and, following a moderate to loud popping noise, they vanish from the room - mere moment later reappearing (in much the same fashion) in the basement.

Ann's eyes immediately went to Nathan, lying crumpled in a ball on the floor. "What happened?" she asked, lowering herself near to him.

[Green Bean]

Nathan James

Nathan tries to gasp out an answer, but the blow had left him winded on top of everything else.

[Kesnit]

Eric McMahon

Daniel and I were trying to...shock Nathan's powers out of him. Pretending to hit him didn't work. Catching myself on fire next to him didn't work. He sighed. Finally, Nathan goaded Daniel into losing his temper and... He didn't finish the sentence, instead waving his hand in the direction of the fallen man.

[drawingfreak]

Robert Harrison

With a look of determination, Robert ran back up the stairs. The second he sees Daniel he rushes over to him.

"Just what the HELL do you think you are doing? You could have killed him!"

[ChronicLunacy]

Daniel Horton

Daniel went to the couch and sat down with an exasperated sigh, resting his elbows on his knees as Robert came in and started getting all huffy at him. He gave the kid a look that was half pleading, half irritated and said, "Now's not a good time, Robert." and closed his eyes, rubbing at them with the heels of his hands.

He knew what he'd done was wrong. He'd let his anger get the better of him yet again...something he promised himself he wouldn't let happen anymore. Nathan had been begging Daniel to hit him and he obliged. Unfortunately, to Daniel's sense of morality it didn't matter. Nathan had goaded him, insulted him, picked the fight, but Daniel damn sure finished it. With his new powers his body counted as a lethal weapon. He'd hurt the man...badly. If Anne hadn't been around to help he would be on his way to the hospital at that very moment.

It was always like this. The sudden realization that cleared his head like a shot. The red haze went away in an instant and he realized what he'd done. It had been the same way the day he hit Jessica...the day she took the kids and left him. Daniel grabbed handfuls of his hair and then smoothed his hands through it several times, frustrated and angry with himself as much as he was angry at Nathan for saying those things. Did he always have to resolve things with violence? Was his fist the only answer he had? It wasn't a very good one, that was for sure. That same answer had cost him his wife, his family...it never really solved anything.

He'd told himself that he was going to work through his anger, not let it take control of him again, but he'd just thrown it all away with one punch. It wasn't even over something meaningful. It was a stupid argument. Letting go felt...good...he liked letting his anger out like that, making Nathan hurt, making him stop talking. It was primal and instinctive...and wrong. He shook his head and got up again, heading to pass Robert towards the door. He needed to get out, fly some more. It was the one thing that cleared his head lately.

[The_New_Guy]

"Dammit..."

It was Lawrence who replied to Eric's explanation of events, not Ann. Instead the young woman busied herself with healing Eric. "I'm still not sure how this works..." she said quietly to Nathan "...it usually just does, but sometimes...." She shook her head absently and laid a hand upon the diplomats shoulder. There was, once again, a soft glow, and internally there was a mending of bone and flesh. "There..." she said finally "...it worked."

[Green Bean]

Nathan James

Nathan smiles at Ann as he gets to his feet. "Thank you. I feel as good as new." He looks around. "Where's Daniel? I owe him an apology."

[drawingfreak]

Robert Harrison

"W-wait just a second!" A tremor of doubt in his voice more than likely showed that confrontation was not Robert's forte as he placed a hand on Daniel's shoulder.
"I think you owe Nathan an apology."

[ChronicLunacy]

Daniel Horton

Daniel couldn't help but smile a little at Robert's sudden bout of confidence, but he shook his head, letting a long breath out through his nostrils. "I'll apologize later, I promise. I just need some fresh air. I...I've got a lot on my mind right now. Alright?" he said, giving Robert's shoulder a friendly squeeze. "I'll check back every now and then. If you need me, you or Eric send up a flare, okay? I'll be around."

With that he left the room once again and made his way up to the roof. It was starting to get later in the day, so he entertained notions of seeing the sunset from a couple thousand feet...or maybe flying around a little bit once it got dark, skim some rooftops when no one could see him. He walked to the edge and let the wind whip through his hair for a minute while he stared out at the city/town around him.

Spoiler

Show

If anyone wants to follow Daniel up to the roof and attempt to stop him before he takes off, this would be your opportunity to do so.

[Green Bean]

Spoiler

Show

I'm trying, I'm trying!

Edit: Nathan James

Nathan, not bothering to wait for the answer, heads back upstairs to their room, figuring that he must've been the one to go get help. He reaches the room, and sees that only Robert is there. "Have you seen Daniel around? I need to talk to him."

[Kesnit]

Eric McMahon

Come with me. I'll see if I can get him back down here. Eric led Nathan to the roof. With a deep breath, he looked around for the flying man. Here goes nothing... he muttered, activating Human Torch mode.

Spoiler

Show

I actually leave tomorrow. I went ahead and said I was out of town so I didn't forget to tomorrow morning.

[ChronicLunacy]

Daniel Horton

"Cut it out with the fireworks, Eric." Daniel said as he came around a corner, holding his arm up over his eyes to block out the sudden flare. Being that he hadn't left the roof yet, it wasn't exactly necessary for the bat signal to go up. He'd just been around over to the side away from the roof access door where they couldn't see him as soon as they came up.

When he saw Nathan, Daniel's features hardened a little in remembered anger, but he did his best to be civil. "I see Anne fixed you right up." he said, shoving his hands into his pockets so he didn't ball them into fists.

[Green Bean]

Nathan James

Nathan noticed Daniel was obviously still upset. He decided simply to push forward with his apology. "Look, I'm here to apologize. I shouldn't have done that to you."

[ChronicLunacy]

Daniel Horton

"You're right, you shouldn't have." Daniel growled. "I've been trying to resolve my anger issues for a long time now, Nathan. Pushing me into hurting you and destroying any progress I've made just so you can test a theory is really screwed up." He seemed to visibly deflate. "The last time I lost control like that I hit my wife! My WIFE, the love of my life! So you can imagine how bad it must feel to realize nothing's changed, that I'm still not good enough."

He looked up at the sky and took several long breaths. "I'm sorry I hurt you, Nathan. If it's any condolence I think I felt some of your power just before I connected. It was like I was punching through molasses. There was some kind of invisible force trying to stop my fist. It wasn't quite strong enough but I think with practice you could do something with it. I don't know if it's telekinesis or what, but there you go. I hope you're happy."

[Green Bean]

Nathan James

"Look, this wasn't your fault. A few hours ago, we were on a flight to Los Angeles. Your world's been turned upside down, and then I push it that much further. Anyone would have lost it. Nathan starts to walk back to the staircase, but pauses. "I'll understand if you want to be by yourself for now. But if it makes you feel any better, I was lying through my teeth for most of it. I really think you did the right thing."

[ChronicLunacy]

Daniel Horton

Daniel watched Nathan go before turning to look back at the city for a moment. He almost took off again just to get away from everyone but thought better of it. He couldn't just run away from his problems anymore. The next time he went flying it wouldn't be just because he couldn't stand being around someone or every one of the others...he'd do it for fun. Instead, he turned and walked back to the staircase, following Nathan back to the suite.

[The_New_Guy]

After a rather unusual start to the morning the rest of the day passed away more mundanely. There was some discussion on the local news stations about the unbelievable footage from the highway (although most of the shots were grainy and of a poor quality - cell-phone cameras, it would seem, had not come a long way whilst you slept) and more than a few news outlets carried reports of survivors of Flight 265 calling the station (or a sister station, or in a few cases, how foolish a rival station was for playing into an obvious hoax) but no one contacted the suite looking for you - save for Agent Andrews (who mostly grumbled about the incident on the highway, and how other agents had let their charges talk to the media too early).

For the most part Andrews seemed predominantly concerned in your well-being, the incidents of the morning still fresh in his mind (although he remarked a few times that some of you - especially Daniel - would probably need to protect him if things went foul). The other agents - the ones who had shot up your first suite - did not make a reappearance, and Arthur made it clear why - no one, not even his bosses, knew where you were located. He said it had cost him a dressing down from his supervisor, as well as a couple favours, but intelligence agents working for the NSA had a lot of leeway in what they had to let others know.

Arthur also revealed a few things to you - his bosses were pressing for a clamp down in the wake of the releases to the media regarding the flight. He had fought it, as did most of the other caretaker agents (he seemed to imply there were quite a few other agents employed as he was, looking after survivors from the flight, and also that he had more than one group under his care) but there was a limit to what he could do. Officially you were free, for the time being, but it was clear to him that if you wished to keep that freedom, being discreet would be the best way to do so.

Regarding your display of super-powers, most of the other agents weren't talking a whole lot (what with the NSA and secrets being involved) but he knew for sure that at least some of the others were going through what you were going through. There were also different levels of power - some had angel wings and the ability to stop bullets with their forehead, and others could but hover two feet off the ground. Some of the others displaying powers had been brought back to the facility where you woke up for examination, but he had refused to return you to there until he could be sure you would be safe there (well, his concern was more for the doctors, since they were not going to have the ability to turn into flame or grow wings).

The day passed on into evening, and then night without incident. You had time to practice and refine your powers, and discover more about them, or about your limits.

The next morning broke with a phone ringing in the main room of the suite...

[Green Bean]

Nathan James

Nathan looked at the ringing phone, rubbing his eyes to clear them. He had stayed up late last night, glued to the television news reports; not just looking for updates on the events on the previous day, but also carefully watching the national news, attempting to figure out the current political situation. Things being what they were, he probably wasn't going back to work anytime soon, but old habits died hard.

Nathan checks the caller ID ((if there is one)), then switches on the speaker.

"Hello?"