“Please, give me ten minutes,” said Jon. “I want to try and have him go peacefully, okay? It will make your job easier.” The one in charge eyed him and then nodded.
Jon strode back to Tommy’s room, forcing himself to go inside. Tommy was sitting up in bed, wiping away sleep from his eyes. The door had woken him up.
“Who is it? What time is it?” he asked. Jon closed his door behind him and sat down at the edge of his bed.
“You know I love you, right?” asked Jon.
“Yeah, I know,” said Tommy. “What’s going on?”
Jon sighed, trying to breathe deeply, trying to exhale all the anxiety in his heart. It didn’t work, and he cried. He tried to stop himself, but it only made it worse.
“Are you okay?” asked Tommy.
Jon wiped away his tears.
“There are a lot of things that I haven’t told you, about this place, Tommy,” said Jon. “And we don’t have time for it right now. So I need for you to listen. Because there are four armed guards at our front door—”
“What? What are—”
“Please, Tommy,” said Jon. “Please listen. There are four armed guards, and they’re here for you. They’re going to take you down to a lab, and then you’re going to get prepped for surgery later today.”
“I don’t want—”
“It doesn’t matter,” said Jon. “Believe me. What I wanted flew out the window a long time ago. Shaw wants to test my research on a human subject, and he wants me to help, so he’s chosen you.”
“What kind of surgery?” asked Tommy.
“Your legs,” said Jon. “He wants me to give you your legs back, so he can know it’s safe to get his arm back.”
Tommy looked at him with fear and anger in his eyes.
“Is it safe?” asked Tommy, finally.
“I don’t know,” said Jon. “I think so, but you’ll be the first test. So I can’t guarantee anything. But if I don’t agree to help, he’ll take you, anyway. And there’s no one better than me to oversee this. So please believe me, I don’t want this to happen. I want you to be the way you want to be. Please believe me.”
“I believe you, Dad,” said Tommy. “I’m—I’m scared.”
“So am I,” said Jon. “It’s okay to be afraid.”
“I miss Mom,” said Tommy. “You think she’s safe?”
“Of course,” said Jon. “I’d be more afraid for the rest of the world. She’s tough. She’s an ass-kicker. I should have left you up there with her. You’d be better off.”
“I told her,” said Tommy.
“Hindsight is 20/20,” said Jon. Jon sighed.
“Should I get dressed?” asked Tommy.
“You can wear your pajamas,” said Jon. “You’ll have to change eventually, but I wouldn’t worry about that now. I’m so proud of you.”
“Why?” asked Tommy.
“You’re so brave,” said Jon. “Braver than me.”
“You’re doing okay, Dad,” said Tommy.
“Glowing compliments,” said Jon. “Are you ready?”
“Can I use the bathroom first?” asked Tommy.
“Sure,” said Jon.
Jon pushed Tommy out of his room a few minutes later. The four guards waited just inside the front door. They looked even larger inside, each of them a mass of black armor, with a sleek assault rifle carried in their arms. Jon had thought this scenario out a thousand times, trying to think of a way to escape with Tommy.
All of them ended in failure. No plot, no scheme would work. There were too many systems that stood between them and the free world.
Tommy didn’t cry as he pushed him, and that might have been what pushed Jon over the edge. He felt the heat rise in his chest again, a hard, burning anger, a rage, a frustration, for this terrible situation that he had to face, that Tommy faced bravely. He looked at the four armed guards.
Each of them looked bored. This was just another duty to them, to escort a child in a wheelchair to surgery. Did they question their orders, ever? Even once? Or did they go along because Shaw gave them three hots and a cot?
Jon’s anger rose, angry at these men, who did Shaw’s bidding without question, who followed orders with confidence, and Jon stopped pushing the wheelchair, staring at the four of them.
“You ready to go?” asked the leader, his rifle hanging loosely in his hands.
Jon couldn’t stop himself. He charged him, running at the leader. The look on his face told Jon that he hadn’t expected it, but the element of surprise did little to help Jon.
Jon was a scientist. A researcher. He was lucky to finish a mile in under twenty minutes. He rushed the guard, and his movement surprised him, but the guard was young, and fit, and trained. The guard stepped back, grabbed his rifle in two hands, and swung the butt out at Jon as he advanced. It caught him in the temple, and the world turned to black.
25
“Dad, do you have to go back to work tonight?”
Jon looked into the rear-view mirror, seeing Tommy in the back seat. His legs swung freely.
“I’m sorry, kiddo,” said Jon. “But I do. I have some work I have to get done.”
“You say that every night,” said Tommy.
“It’s true every night,” said Jon. “At least we got to see a movie, just you and me. Did you like it?”
“Yeah, it was great,” said Tommy.
“Who was your favorite?” asked Jon.
“Iron Man,” said Tommy. “He’s funny. It’s sad, though.”
“It is,” said Jon. “But it was for the greater good, right?”
“Yeah, I guess,” said Tommy. “He saved the world.”
“Right,” said Jon. “He saved the world. But in the end, he saved his daughter.”
“Would you save the world for me?” asked Tommy.
“Of course,” said Jon. “In a heartbeat.”
Jon yawned. He had barely slept the night before, but Maya had been telling him for weeks to spend some time alone with Tommy. So they went and saw the new Avengers movie. Tommy had already seen it, but he was happy to see it again. Jon looked into the rear-view mirror. Tommy had pulled out his Switch, the light illuminating his face.
Jon yawned again. His eyelids were heavy. God, he had a long night ahead of him. The grant paperwork needed to be done tonight. He had put it off long enough. He took a swig of coffee and grimaced at the taste. It was the only thing keeping him going.
He’d had a good time tonight. He missed spending time with the kiddo, but he wouldn’t let Maya take all the burden of paying the bills on her shoulders, even if she could handle it. He would do his part, and if that meant some time away from Tommy and her, well, it’s a price he would pay. He’d see them this weekend. The grant paperwork would be done by then, and he’d have a little time to relax—
Heavy impact and glass shattering woke him and he was spinning in the air, and then his head hit the airbag, oh god, where’s Tommy? Jon’s mind tried to make sense of what had happened, but the vehicle was turning in the air, and then he hit the ground with a thud. His knee screamed in pain, wedged between the seat and the dashboard. His head was jammed between airbags, and he couldn’t move. The car spun slowly on the ground, and then came to a stop, after what seemed like an eternity.
He was upside down. He hung, his seatbelt holding him in. The airbag blocked his vision, and he reached for the key, pulled it out of the ignition, and jammed it hard into the bag, popping a hole in it. He could see now, the windshield broken. Everything was upside down, and there was glass everywhere, headlights illuminating.
“He ran the light, I couldn’t stop!” yelled a voice, gruff, and deep. Jon blinked, trying to make sense of the world. He saw a shoe. Tommy’s shoe, a red Nike, he had wanted the red Nikes for a year, but it didn’t make sense. The shoe sat on the ground, and a leg stuck up out of it, but Tommy wasn’t—