Author's note: 3 chapters left after this one for the epilogue. That means it'll be finished by next week-eek!

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The absurdity of the whole situation had just hit him when a cry of anguish rang out in the distance.

"AAAAAAAAHHH!!!!", Tomas shrieked until his lungs gave out.

He collapsed to the floor and broke down for the first time ever that night, muttering, "I lost my wife and I killed some guys. No, they tried to kill me first; it was self-defense. I didn't mean for it to happen."

His breathing started to suffer as he kept gasping out the words, "I'm a freak. I'm a freak. I'm a freak. I'm a freak." The only other sound heard at that time would be the manic swaying of his whole body as he tilted it as a young child would by comforting themselves after a long nightmare.

"Hello?", a call was heard from Tomas's brother out in the hallway.

Tomas, however, chose to ignore it and continued his childhood antics, hoping in the back of his mind that he would soon wake up from the horror present before him and not have the blood of two men laid right by his feet.

"Tomas? Are you in here? Oh, Tomas. I heard...wait, why is there red stuff on the floor? Did you eat in here?", Alexander inquired as he stepped around what he presumed to be ketchup.

Tomas remained silent and stared at the floor, wondering if Aila was really deceased or not. Had it all been just a bad dream and he'd imagined the Russian gangsters this night? Were his wife and he still not speaking and he somehow sleeping on some bench in the city?

One thing was for certain. Somehow there was unexplained spots of liquid now where there weren't before, and the only adequate explanation terrified him.

Tomas stuttered, saying, "Aila...gone...Ukrai...nians...bro....thers...try...murder...I...think...I...might...kill..."

"Brother, I know you've been through a lot tonight. If you want, we can just go home and..."

"No!", Tomas interrupted, "Alexander, something happened tonight that can't be explained by logic."

"You're not making any sense, Tomas. You're always the sensible one in our dynamic. I know Aila's death must be traumatic and we will get through this together, I promise."

"There were men in here.", he confessed.

"What?"

"I said..."

"What do you mean..."

"Alexander, I may have gotten involved with the wrong people..."

"Tomas, what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!", he yelled as he threw his hands up and stood up to face his brother.

"Are you alright? Do we need to get a therapist to see you?"

"IgotanintershiplastyearwithourfamilyrelativeanditturnsoutheisamajorcriminalandfiredthesemenbecausetheywerestealingandIcaughtthem."

As Alexander tried to process this latest information, Tomas, speaking clearly now, added, "Tonight they broke into my house, killed my wife, tried to kill me again here and I think I murdered them, but I don't know how I did it. One minute they were there; the next, there was taco sauce on the floor."

"You manifested your power? Wow. I did not expect that to happen."

"Did you just hear what I said? Two men are dead! And I killed them!"

"First of all, never say that again. Second of all, one of the things I learned as a lawyer was 'Deny, deny, deny'. Innocent til proven guilty. Unless they can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt you did it, you go scot-free in the justice system."

"What are you talking about? Why do you sound so calm about this?"

"I'm not, but I'm very good at hiding my emotions. Poker face, remember? Being a good lawyer is being able to be out of the courtroom as much as possible. Why do you think so many court cases are solved with settlements or deals? Having a trial drag on is costly and people who start lawsuits generally want money.", he said while emphasizing the word 'money'.

"But what does that have to do with me?"

"Everything! Even if you did accidentally kill these guys..."

"Accident?"

"Were you planning on doing it?"

"No, but I did want them to die in my head right before they were liquefied..."

"I will pretend I did not just hear that. Rather 2nd degree than 1st degree premeditated murder."

"But I'm a murderer!"

"Another point for you to consider is that even if you turn yourself in and call yourself guilty, they'll have to open an investigation into you and search the crime scene. Make sure you're not a faker pulling their leg and wanting glory for a crime someone else committed. Trust me, you don't want to be charged for anything if you can help it.", Alexander explained.

"I deserve it though! I'll accept my fate because it's the right thing..."

"Stop it, Tomas! You have no idea what you're doing to people like us! Do you know what happens when they figure out the unusual way they died?"

"No..."

"They'll label you a freak and either lock you up in an asylum the rest of your days or send you to the FBI's supernatural unit to be tortured and experimented on! Do you want that?!"

"How would you know all that? Wait, did you say people like us?"

"I'm also a super like you and so is Lauren. Before you ask, my ability is the gift of persuasion and hers is charm by way of her scent/natural musk. You know how I'm allergic to perfume, right? Well, I'm the only guy that likes Lauren when she turns off the perfume her body gives off."

Tomas thought, that explained a lot on how the two were together, but kept his mouth shut for reasons of propriety.

"But I..."

"Think of your son! Do you want him to see you in super prison or dead in an electric chair if they deem you a threat to humanity because your superpower leads you to, I presume, change states of matter at an atomic level? I'm guessing since I only ever took one Chem class in undergrad."

"My baby...", Tomas cooed and thought of his fears of leaving Aila's poor child an orphan. Anything but risking that fate for little Matthias.

"It was an accident and you happened to use your power in a crisis to protect yourself. Survival instinct. No need to get the cops involved. Also, remember they would look into how the Ukrainians know you in the first place, so any criminal activity I should know about...actually, don't tell me. I advise you as your attorney to not reveal anything illegal to me or anyone you know. Better to forget this whole thing happened."

Tomas pointed towards the mess nonchalantly and Alexander grabbed paper towels and mopped it off haphazardly.

"The janitor can get the rest, ok? Let's go over this one more time. Both of us have an alibi that we were in the bathroom, these guys are criminals, they probably left the hospital if they even came and the cops will be looking for them. We keep our mouths shut and act the part of grieving victims. No one will believe you took down two fugitives by yourself after your wife died, so just act natural and everything will be fine."

By that point, the fog in Tomas's brain had started to clear and he linked all the missing puzzle pieces together to figure out his next move.

The chess game was about to begin.

"I gotta go."

"I can drive you home and the nurses can see us walking out of here together...what did you say?"

"I have to cash in a favor.", Tomas exclaimed.

Alexander pondered that if the fact that his brother had just done a 180 from sniveling accidental murderer and recent widower to cool cucumber was supposed to be a good sign or not.

"Drop me off, will you? For old times sake?"

"Should I be concerned?", Alexander realized Tomas seemed to be almost a different person.

What happened to his shy and nerdy brother? He didn't recognize this smug, methodical man in his place that replaced the snot-covered lump lying on the floor a few minutes ago.

"I have to pay a quick visit. You'll understand soon enough."