It's been a couple of days since my fight with Gavin. The day after, I spent time with my family, and we went to the mall and had fun there. However, I couldn't fully enjoy myself. My thoughts kept coming back to Arc and Russia; in fact, I barely slept last night. While I didn't need to sleep, Gavin ordered me to catch up on some Z's.
He told me it would be good for my mental state to rest, that's why he gave me an entire day to relax before I head to Russia. Now I was back at the hangar, letting out a soft, relaxed sigh, wearing the comfortable suit of my Red Justice uniform. It had only been a week, but I truly missed wearing this; without it, I felt naked and powerless. I stretched my arms, yawning.
"I told you to get some sleep," Gavin called out as he brought suitcases and other bags inside his private black jet.
Jason chuckles, tossing him other stuff. "Can you blame the kid? He's going to be facing the most dangerous people in history. I would be restless too, in fact, I sort of am."
"Yeah, what he said," I say, before grabbing the nearby pizza box, opening it and taking a slice.
I licked my lips before quickly devouring the food. That has to be the best pizza I've ever eaten. I guess having friends in high places has a lot of benefits. As I chewed, I looked around the area. Everything looks clean, with no cracks or messes caused by my intense sparring with Gavin. Jason noticed my confused look and smiled.
"Oh, I sent my guys here to clean up after you're training. They don't know your identity or why this place keeps getting messed up. I told him that this guy here gets mad whenever he has consecutive rank matches in a game." Jason pointed his thumb at Gavin, who opened his mouth to say something.
"Don't pretend, that's something you would not do given the chance."
Gavin's mouth became tightly shut; he glared at the smug Jason before muttering a string of curses and grabbing a couple more things to put inside the jet. Jason turned to me, his expression changing to a sad one.
"Are you okay? How are you feeling?"
I finished my pizza and swallowed before speaking. "Kind of nervous, not gonna lie."
I forced a laugh, but it came out hollow. Jason regained his smirk.
"I wouldn't be surprised, you're even younger than me when I started basic training."
Oh, that made me curious about something."How old were you when you joined, Jason?"
"Thirteen-years-old."
My eyes shot open, and my jaw dropped.
"T-Thirteen?"
Jason giggled at my reaction. I was absolutely shocked. How did he enter the military at that age!? Granted, I survived a nuke to the face at ten years old, the difference is that I have superpowers, and I don't recall Jason even being a super soldier.
"How and why?"
"Why? Well, that's easy, I needed money. Growing up in the slums of New York ain't fun, and so I ran away from the orphanage and signed up for the military. Since I was taller for my age, as well as some forgeries, I got into the military."
"And they didn't find out?"
Jason snorted. "They found out all right. The only reason I wasn't discharged was because I was good with technology and my stealth abilities. Sure, I wasn't knocking teeth in like Gavin and Atlas, but I was no slouch either."
I raised a brow, crossing my arms. "And they just let you stay?"
"Listen, Ben, if you have talent as a soldier or even potential, they will want you. They might even force you."
"T-They won't actually force you to join, right?" I chuckled nervously.
"Ask Henry Wilson and his drafting bullcrap."
"Who?"
He waves me off, before walking up to me and giving me a reassuring hand to the shoulder.
"Listen, whatever happens, know you have Gavin to assist you and the entire country of Canada backing you up, even if it's in the shadows."
I straightened up. Taking a deep breath before nodding.
"Thanks, I feel a lot better with you and Gavin going to Russia with me."
Jason drops his smile. "No, sorry, kid, I can't go with you."
I blinked, surprised by the revelation. "Y-You're not?"
He shakes his head sadly. "No, I have to stay near my office. It's the only place that is nearly immune to any cyber attacks. Every time I get to the meeting with the Monarchs, they try to hack each other for information.
"You don't even trust each other?"
"Trust?" Jason laughs lightly.
"Nope. We kind of hate each other's guts. No doubt, as soon as you appear in Russia, the spotlight is gonna be on me to explain. And besides, I got to convince that prideful Russian idiot to tell me the coordinates of all the bases."
I bit my lip. I was hoping that Jason would come with us. Not only would I feel better about Gavin having someone else there, but it also wouldn't hurt to have two veterans coaching me in possibly the most important mission in human history. It sucks, but if what he's doing is really important, then I guess Gavin and I will handle it.
"You can do it, little man." He gives a firm nod before stepping away, turning to Gavin, who was just done putting all his equipment in the jet.
"All set to go!?"
Gavin gives him a thumbs-up. Jason smiled, taking a few steps back to face both of us. His eyes went back and forth between us before nodding.
"Gentlemen, know you're about to face a powerful military force more fearsome than even the conjoined power of the worlds. It's going to be rough, but I know both of you will succeed."
He took a deep breath. "Godspeed, both of you."
A grin formed in my mouth. I looked at Gavin, who had a smirk of his own. We both nod to each other. He goes inside the jet and starts the engine; the loud whirring sound fills my ears. I grabbed something from my pocket, and it was a folded photo of my family. It was my ninth birthday.
It was a costume party, Mom was wearing a Wonder Woman outfit, Athena as Elsa and Dad as Slenderman. I was wearing a Superman outfit, and Poochie wore just a simple red cape; he was Krypto. There weren't many people at my birthday parties since I didn't have many friends, so there were my family and some family friends. In the photo, I was stuffing my face with cake, eating so messily that it got all over my face. Athena laughed at me, pointing at my face along with Dad, who was smiling.
The only one not seemingly happy was my mother, who was annoyed that I stained my costume. But I could tell that she was laughing too, on the inside. Poochie was lying on his bed, looking at us with confusion. I let my fingers trail over the photo. I wondered how they would react knowing I was Red Justice.
I wondered how they would react knowing that I was going on a dangerous mission that could cost me my life. They don't know anything about it, of course; all they know is that Gavin and I are going to Russia to chill on the beaches and explore. A place where I would be safe from harm. Guilt struck my heart like a punch to the gut, though I knew I had to do this. If I don't, then the potential tragedy of what Atlas did earlier would seemingly be a minor thing compared to Arc's plans for the world, whatever that plan may be.
I stuffed the photo in my pocket. The plane started to move, and I watched it drive even faster before taking off into the sky. I turned around, giving Jason one last lazy salute before flying to catch Gavin's jet. I narrowed my eyes as the SEE Goggle's visor snapped closed.