Chapter 67: An all communication black out

Brent wouldn’t end up sleeping in Aunt Dina’s unit. This was partially because the others were worried about her being alone with Brent, and also because of Brent’s warning.

If Brent disappeared from her apartment? There was no telling what Aunt Dina would do to the city. Brent wouldn’t even be able to scold her for her actions either, since he would have been the one who disappeared. She’d managed to keep most of her sanity after her lover was killed. Brent did not want to be the reason she got pushed over the edge.

The other reason was her windows weren’t as covered as she would have liked. That was why Xavier and Esper Parker had been on the phone. Their teams had been working on several apartments below to get them ready.

Brent was going to move between all of them with different Espers sleeping nearby to respond in a heartbeat. Brent was now a very, very important person to them. Especially if he now held the James family by the balls.

Brent knew it was a big deal, but they were speaking more in their world. Brent held the biggest Guild in the area by their baby hairs.

Brent was technically the ’founder’ of the Chronos Guild. Was it fucking hilarious that he was in charge of a Guild that meant time? Hell yeah. He was hoping that Rhys would be able to laugh with him about it once this hell was over. He hoped Kellen would be able to as well.

Either way, Brent now had a lot of power. It was another thing if any of them actually listened to him, but with the Phoenix Guild backing him now, there were a lot of shitty, behind the scenes things that Brent could do.

Like disbanding the Chronos Guild without the Captain knowing.

Was it a shitty thing to do? Oh absolutely. Brent hadn’t even met the Captain of the Guild before, but Aunt Dina told him he wasn’t missing anything special. He was a bitter, angry man who wouldn’t be reasoned with because he had been put in that position of power by Brent’s brother.

There was a high chance that he was an E.A.G. member, even as an S Class Esper, and Aunt Dina made it known that she would gladly burn him to a fucking crisp without prompting. Brent would gladly let her do it, but after he met the man. Just to say that he had before he green lit another murder.

God, that was a bad thought.

Brent during this whole process was slowly winding down, the feeling of anxiety over the fact that he needed to reveal so much finally fading until he felt like he could think a little clearly. One of the things that he realised was that…he hadn’t brought up contacting the Saturn Guild.

But…neither had Aunt Dina.

“Aunt Dina,” Brent said at one point while she was speaking to her Lieutenants. Zaria and Vance were still with him on the couch but everyone else was moving, chatting. Getting things done. Aunt Dina had looked up immediately, her gaze going to him. Her expression softened as she caught sight of him.

“What is it, Brent?” She asked. She sounded like she was speaking to someone she cared for. Brent appreciated it, the softness, but his heart was a little scared to just accept it at face value. It was a silly, scarred part of himself, but he was still here. He was going to trust them. He could trust them. Kellen did, he could do it too.

“Are we going to reach out to the Saturn Guild to let them know that I’m here?” Brent asked and watched as her face fell. Brent felt like his whole body froze at her reaction. “What? What happened?” Brent asked immediately and Aunt Dina moved, slipping onto the couch next to him and taking his hands.

“Communication has been cut off from the Saturn Guild and most of the Guilds in the city because of the gate. They are keeping everything locked down. Nothing can go in Brent. For safety. They do not want another attack right now, and everyone over there is holding their breath. I can’t even get in contact with Henry.” She said carefully. “I got the last little bit of details from them and then I was shut out. People are risking their lives to go in and get footage.” That was the last thing that Brent wanted to hear.

“What? No. That’s ridiculous. Rhys would never let that happen.” Brent was sure of that. He’d lock it down, sure, but letting the people be scared? That wasn’t something Rhys nor Sergei would want. Both men were sure about those things. Firm in them.

Aunt Dina’s face tightened further. She reached for Brent’s real hand intentionally and took it, giving it a squeeze.

“Brent, I can’t say for sure, but I think Captain Rhys is under, just like Captain Sergei.” She said softly. Brent was already shaking his head before she completed her sentence. Did it make sense? Absolutely. Did Brent like it? No, not at all.

However, that was the only way that he could see Rhys letting Kellen go into that fucking gate on his own. The truth was reflected in Aunt Dina’s eyes. Brent closed his own so that he didn’t have to look at it.

“No, that’s wrong. That’s…that’s ridiculous. They wouldn’t trust the D.E.C. to hold a damn candlestick right now.” Brent muttered. He could feel how everyone was turning to look at him, but he couldn’t stop himself. “Who does that leave? Fuck. Taylor? Hill? Miro? Casper? God, that’s really only Hill and Casper, kind of. Captain Sakura is busy with the poison, and Sergei…” Brent trailed off, pain squeezing his chest. “We can’t get anything through?” Brent asked, opening his eyes and looking at Aunt Dina.

A well of understanding met his gaze and she gave his hand a squeeze. She turned her head towards Xavier who didn’t miss a beat. He saluted her and didn’t even glance at Brent as he pulled out his phone.

“I’ll do my best, Captain. I know we’ve already been trying, but I’ll try harder. I would want to know if one of my team members was missing too.” He said and Brent let out a deep exhale. He practically collapsed in on himself and Aunt Dina was there to catch him.

“There you go. It’s alright, dear. We’ll make sure they know.” She whispered and Brent shivered. He nodded, shaking. “I think it’s about time that Brent got some sleep. Is there a room ready for him yet?” Aunt Dina asked, turning her attention to everyone else.

“There’s a room ready. I’ll go down with him as well to make sure he’s safe. I’ll make sure the team that arrives is briefed on the situation as well.” Esper Parker spoke up.

“I’ll go too.” Vance said, standing up. Brent glanced up towards him but Vance just smiled at him before he joined the others. “It’ll make them feel better knowing I’m there. The other Espers aren’t used to seeing injured Guides. I am sure that they will not take well to his prosthetic.” He said. A murmur of agreement went around the room and Brent almost laughed.

He had forgotten that Espers weren’t all the same. He had gotten used to what the Espers were like on the front lines in Kellen’s home town. They weren’t normal by any means, but they were held in line by Sergei, Sakura and Rhys. They made sure that they weren’t living too deeply into their more insane sides of themselves.

That was not the case for Brent’s home town, and for Aunt Dina’s people.

Even Esper Parker had reacted poorly to him having one arm. He’d gotten over it fairly quickly, but Aunt Dina did have to play a part in it as well.

“We should make sure that they are okay with it. I’m probably not going to wear the prosthetic tomorrow so you should warn them. It just doesn’t feel right to wear it. It’s not a great one.” Brent said, and watched as Vance’s eyes lit up.

“Then may I take it with me tonight to examine it? There is a small part of me that is worried they hid something in this to track you.” Brent wasn’t even surprised by the suggestion.

“Of course. I’ll hand it over now if you want.” Brent offered and Vance shook his head.

“No no. I can wait till you’re asleep or getting ready for bed.” Vance told him and Aunt Dina rumbled. It was a warning sound.

“He’s taken, Vance.” She warned and Vance put his hands up and chuckled.

“I would not dare to do something like that, Captain. I value my life.” Vance said with a chuckle and a smile. “Alright. Let’s get little Brent downstairs and tucked in, hmm?” Brent felt his eyes widen at his words and Zaria started laughing.

“He killed five people today, Vance. You can’t talk to him like you would the other Guides.” She warned and Brent blinked.

“No no, go on. I don’t mind being treated like that. I don’t have any delusions of grandeur. Or maybe I do. Either way, you can baby me.” Brent said, surprising the group. Vance’s smile even faltered in the face of Brent’s words. It was clear that he hadn’t expected Brent’s words even if he was the one who instigated this conversation. Aunt Dina gave him a strange look.

“You…don’t mind?” She asked and Brent gave a nod.

“Yeah. You can treat me like a baby. I like it sometimes. Just don’t forget that I could kill a man if I wanted.” Brent said and a look crossed her face before she dropped her head. Brent worried for a second that he had upset her until he realised her shoulders were shaking.

“I think I’m just surprised because I can never imagine Kellen saying the same thing.” She admitted, raising her head to meet Brent’s gaze. Brent felt his lips curl up.

“You’re right. He doesn’t ask, he just does it. Rhys has no complaints as far as I’m aware. He’s been terrible at letting someone else care for him, but he’s adapting slowly. Rhys was very insistent once Kellen declared that Rhys belonged to him in front of all of his people.” Aunt Dina had clearly not heard that story. Her eyes were wide, shocked, and Brent knew why Kellen’s parents wouldn’t tell her that story.

It was pretty famous within the Guild though.

“I can tell you more stories about what Kellen and I have been getting up to tomorrow. Does that sound good? Something positive we can all look forward to.” Brent said, his eyes glancing over everyone. Esper Parker’s expression was softer, along with several of the other Lieutenants. Aunt Dina pulled Brent in for a hug, nearly squeezing him to death.

“You’re a charmer, Brent. That Esper doesn’t stand a chance against you.” She told him seriously and Brent laughed.

That was not what he was worried about. He was worried about whether he could handle everything that Brent brought with him.

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