"Go go go!" The invaders screamed over their radios. The front door came down in an instant, and the smell of tear gas was quickly flooding the house.
Derrick sat up in a cold sweat, his brain not fully processing what was going on until he heard Garrett let out a scream from below. Ariana and Kai suddenly entered his room, shutting the door behind them and locking it. "Derrick, you have to go. Kai and I will buy you some time."
"Mom I-"
Kai stopped him short by gripping him by his shoulders. "Do it!" He screamed, pointing out the window. "Get the fuck out of here. Meet us where we first met you, and don't tell a soul where you are until you see us in person, and hear the word Gargantuan." Kai ripped his cross from the chain it was on and stuffed it into Derrick's hand. "We love you."
Ariana and Kai flung the door open, drawing their guns and confronting the team outside. "Eat shit you Technocrat filth!" Ariana screamed, and soon the house was a hail of bullets that tore through the walls in Derrick's room. Each hit of the bullets into the drywall made him spasm in terror. His muscles moved before he could think, prying open the window and making his way onto the small roof that led down from there in only his socks and pants.
"Sir, we have the kid!" A man in a black swat like riot suit yelled as he raised his gun to Derrick. Screaming and crying, the boy ran as hard as he could and used the roof as a platform as he jumped into the next backyard. Rolling and landing with only dirty knees to show for it, he stood and sprinted for the next fence, pumping all of his magic into his muscles.
Derrick ran as hard as he could, jumping fence after fence, but eventually he came to an open street, where a cop was waiting for him. Picking up a rock along his path, he hurled it with all his might, and froze as he saw it impact into the man's face, blood spraying in all directions. "Oh God." He panted, running right past the cop car to the smashed in body and pulling at his hair. "Oh shit." Reaching for the holster, he undid the belt and took the pistol, tucking it into his belt as he sprinted off into the night.
Derrick ran ten miles before he stopped, his lungs dry and aching for rest. On the side of a building in an alleyway, he finally hid behind a dumpster and crouched down to sob as hard as he could. The cool air of Denver at night whipped it's way through the buildings, torturing Derrick into a state of resigned apathy.
Derrick walked for miles in the night, tuning out the sirens, screams, and party goers of the city. He finally arrived at the dingy hotel he had spent so many years on. "So much for having a home I guess." He mumbled.
Not much had changed since he left the crummy place where dealers and prostitutes roamed, and where it has changed was only to fix damage. The curtains were pulled tight at all the rooms where businessmen cheated on their wives, and the others were open just a crack so the paranoid and meth soaked customers could spy on the world below.
His access route to the roof had been ripped down, the makeshift stepladder torn to pieces and bundled into a ball. Finding the nearest pipe, he wrapped his hands around it and started to climb.
He made it four feet off the ground before he lost his grip from the exhaustion of using his magic on his body earlier, and fell back, letting out a cry as he thumped into the ground as everything went dark.
***
The flutter of pigeons around him made his eyes start to wearily open, and touching the back of his head, he felt a trickle of blood still wet in his hair. "Fuck."
Derrick wandered into the hotel, dirty and shivering from the chill of the night. He dodged the security desk easily and headed for the hallway with the fire escape he knew so well. Taking hold of the doorknob, he jerked as hard as he could and forced it open, gaining access to the metal ladder that led to the rooftop. He looked around at the familiar place, then picked the corner he had slept in for four years and curled into a ball to rest with the wind blowing overhead.
Once again, the pigeons shifting around his body as they cooed started to stir him, but the creaking of the metal ladder had him instantly awake and on edge. Derrick drew the gun and stood, his eyes red and his head rushing with adrenaline. "Stop or I'll shoot!"
Vicente had reached the top of the ladder and put his hands up. "Don't shoot kid."
"Who are you?" He demanded.
"I'm Vicente, we met once when you moved into the house remember? I deliver missions for the group. I was sent here on a hunch to see if you were around...guess I was right." He sighed. "Listen-"
"Gimme the code word or I put a bullet in you!" Derrick yelled.
"Code word?" Vicente looked at him confused. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Kai and Ariana gave me the code word before they left, now give it to me." Derrick cocked the gun.
"Please, just listen-"
"What's the fucking code word!" He screamed as he held the gun on Vicente.
"Kid, just breathe, I don't know the codeword. I'm here with my wife and daughter who are downstairs waiting for me to pick you up. Lower the gun." Vicente had his hands held high with a calm look on his face. "I'm here to take you to a safehouse."
"How do I know you're not with the people who raided my house?" He shook as tears poured down his face.
"Because right now I don't have a clue if any of them are alive!" Vicente yelled. "Only Miles and Jason made it out, so if you want to see them before they croak on my couches, put the fucking gun away!" Vicente was panting as the tension slowly settled, and with shaking hands, Derrick lowered the gun. "Attaboy." Vicente kept his hands up. "Come downstairs and meet my family okay?"
Derrick nodded, wiping his face as he tucked the gun and took a few steps forward. "Please. Just promise me you're not gonna kill me." He whispered.
"Oh Derrick, it'll all be okay soon." Vicente looked horrified at the boys demeanor. The two descended the ladder together, and waiting beneath was a woman with long black hair and a girl who looked to be nine at the oldest. "Derrick, this is my wife, and my daughter."
"Hey sweetie, let's get you home and cleaned up." Estela smiled. "This is Amaia." The little girl waved.
"Did anyone make it out?" Derrick asked her.
"Two. Jason and Miles are at our house waiting for you." She smiled again, holding her hand out. "Don't worry."
"What about the others?" He asked anxiously.
"I'll explain everything, but right now we need to get out of here. It's not safe to be in public right now." She urged him, motioning for him to take her hand. Derrick refused, walking ahead with the three as they headed for Vicente's car. On the ride, Derrick could feel his head pounding from the fall, and his consciousness struggling.
The car pulled up to a home in the country after a long drive, and Vicente exited the car, helping his daughter out. "Come inside, they're waiting for you."
Derrick opened the door and stood on the dirt driveway, looking out at the fields that surrounded them. "Where are we?"
"About an hour outside of where you live." Estela opened the front door to their ranch style house, with Amaia running ahead of her.
Derrick just looked at the side of the building, wondering if he was about to be killed. His body and head were too numb to the blows and shock they had taken in the last days though, and all he had the strength for was heading inside. He looked around at the family photos and baby pictures, the large granite counter and raised ceilings of the living room / kitchen, and the wooden table where Amaia sat back down to grab her laptop.
"In there." Estela pointed. A guest room off to the side had the door cracked open, and Derrick creeped toward it with trepidation. He opened it just enough to see Jason's face on a couch that sat on the far wall.
"Jason?" He whimpered, running forward to hug him tightly only to hear Jason cry out in pain.
"Not so hard, I got shot there." Jason pleaded. As Derrick pulled back he saw the three bandages that covered his body on his shoulder, right side, and his left leg.
"He's in rough shape, kid." Miles rounded the corner with a smile. "Cmere." Derrick ran to him and the two hugged tightly before Derrick started to sob uncontrollably. "Hey hey, we're gonna get them back. Don't worry."
"Back?" He blubbered.
"I'll explain everything. First, we need to get you cleaned up. The shower is down that hall. Go wash up and then we can discuss the plan." Miles held him as Derrick just continued to sob.
"Miles they could be hurt. I heard the gunfire and my wall started shredding with drywall everywhere!" He yelled, hysterical and horrified.
"I know, I know I'm scared too." He rocked gently with the kid in his arms. "We're gonna get through this." Together they gripped each other tight enough that not even a bomb could have separated them.
"What was it like for you?" Derrick looked up, trying to wipe his eyes and regain his composure.
"Well...I heard Garrett yelling but I couldn't make out what he was trying to say. I was dazed. It was the glass breaking that did it for me. Ariana and Kai were heading out to your room right as I cracked my door, and I saw Garrett on the floor of the living room. Teargas was everywhere. I loaded my guns but my senses were dull as hell. I looked out the window and saw them coming up the driveway, so I made my way up into the attic though that panel in my closet." Miles looked dazed as he recalled it.
"From there, it was waiting for the right time. Half of their team diverted to chase you when you bolted, and two were stuck battling Ariana and Kai. I heard them go down...I was scared they were dead. I came back down after they cleared my room and managed to knock out the one in Jason's room, but he got shot in the process."
Jason raised a hand. "I'm ashamed to say that I was asleep until the gunfire hit. I woke up to this guy coming in, so I fought till Miles came in."
"Jason saved my life taking those bullets..." Miles looked over at him. "I don't think we would have made it otherwise. Once their teammate was out, we escaped through a window, bled all over the fucking place, and hid for six hours in a shed three blocks away."
"Jesus." Derrick sighed, sitting down and feeling the exhaustion wrack his body like a storm. "How many raided us?"
"Seven. Two on Ari on Kai, one on Jason and I, Three chasing you, and one leader." Jason counted off on his fingers. "I think my butt is tilted."
Derrick looked confused over at Miles. "He's high as shit on painkillers. Don't mind him." Miles waved it off.
"Speaking of...I smacked my head pretty good, and I might have...killed a cop."
"I saw that report. You're fine, he's in the hospital getting doted on by his department." Miles smiled. "As for that head though, that needs some attention." He went behind Derrick and sifted through his hair, finding a large spot and gash of blood. "Fuck you really did smash your head. Derrick you gotta wash up, and Estela is gonna need to see that."
