Author's note: Dedicated to someone who also writes about military kids, my hat's off to ya!

James:

I saw him in my nightmares tonight.

My brother, the family assassin himself. Known as Rush, one of the best assassins in the world.

It sucked to be a part of my family. When he was a kid, he was sent to assassin school and trained in the art of how to kill people. Are my parents messed up? Yes. My older brother had to undergo huge suffering while I went to boarding schools and lived it up in comparison.

And for the longest time, I was angry at him and blamed him for our grandparents' death, but now I know it wasn't his fault.

Still if you have a nightmare over someone you love who hates you by the way chasing you down a dark alley and laughing hysterically while doing it, you would pee your pants too, which is what I did so I was not in the right frame of mind to deal with an antagonistic guy who literally jumped out of the shadows and happened to be Maria's brother.

So I improvised...and regretted it soon after.

"Mr. Fantastic", I replied to his question.

"I asked you a question and to my knowledge, you did not answer it. I'll give you one last chance or..." he taunted.

Maria quickly responded in my defense, "Brother, leave him alone, he's had a rough night and we..."

However, he interrupted her explanation. "I said who are you. If I need to say it again bloke, you'll feel the fury of the powers that lie vested in me. Choose your words carefully, my friend." He spit it out.

My eyes saw red and for the first time in a long time, I stopped thinking which is very unwise by the way.

"Who I am? Well, for starters, I am not your friend or anybody's friend, I am someone who deals with threats head on and is not afraid of some little punk who tries to defend his sister's honor. I came here to assist a girl in getting to her family and now have done my duty. So let me go on my way and everything will be good. Is that alright with you?", I answered.

"My name is James if you wanted to know." I said nastily and walked away, irritated at the fact that I had gotten angry at all, I usually kept my temper on a leash. Losing control is not an option with my power...I mean, super speed can be dangerous around other people. I could make them stop breathing.

Author's note: What was James about to say? Hmm.

When it seemed Javier's eyes were going to pop, Maria came to the rescue.

[ "Again." Maria stated.

"What?" the interrogator asked.

"I saved his life again because my brother was going to pop your butt, not his eyes." Maria commented.

"This is my telling of the story. You'll have your turn." I responded.

"Fine." She said and sulked down on her chair.

"As I was saying..." I continued.]

Maria shouted, "Guys, can you please stop fighting over me! As funny as this is, this battle of masochistic wits, I think that maybe we should all go inside and just talk about this like civilized people that we are. Don't you think, James?" I got the hint and let go of his arm which I had grabbed inadvertently during the talk, but I messed up with my last slip.

"Well, I can see how both of you are related, you're both as charming as snakes."

The next thing I remember I was on the floor due to his first punch towards my face. He had knocked one across my forehead! That blubbering fool! I would get him good.

"Who is making that racket out there? I'll hit them with a baseball bat if I catch them!" a man called out from the now lighted doorway.

He stepped out and I saw him in all his glory. A military paratrooper uniform with reflective belt on his waist, staunch eyes, and a weathered rugged face accentuated what I would soon find out to be Maria's father.

Why was I always so lucky? I cursed under my breath and picked myself off from the ground, wiping the blood from my newly bruised face. I hoped it wouldn't leave a scar, I already had one of those...

"Oh Javier. It's only you and...Maria! What are you doing here, my girl?" He wrapped her up in his arms and gave her a bear hug. She followed suit and started sniveling at his feet.

[ "Ow. What was that for?" I asked Maria. She had kicked my leg and stomped on my foot too.

"I was not crying." She stated.

"Yeah, you weren't. I was there, you were practically sobbing like a baby." I answered back.

"No, I was not!" she said.

"Suit yourself." I replied.

"...I dislike you intensely." She muttered under her breath.

"Me too." I told her back.

The interrogator tried to motion for us to get back to the story and we both cried out at the same time,

"STOP. INTERRUPTING. US." Silence lasted for a minute until I went on with my story.]

"DAD, I can't believe you're here! But you said you deployed and I was so worried. I got kidnapped! Like my sister, I know! These bad guys were at the school and I went to a warehouse and all these things happened to me, but he saved me!" she pointed to me after she was done.

His gaze was set on me like a lion to a gazelle-determined and hungry for a chance to strike.

Did the universe have it against me? I let myself wallow in self-pity for a bit til I paid attention to what he was saying. I realized words were coming out of his mouth.

"Is that so, young man? Did you really save my daughter like she said?" he asked.

Suddenly, the moon went behind the clouds and the skies darkened.

"Who did you say you were again?"