Caspian froze. He had been reaching for the door handle.
And now... He was standing in the alley behind the warehouse. What the hell had happened? Teleportation? Did the Institute have something like that? As a defense mechanism it was pretty damn high level. He gritted his teeth. It didn't matter. With some luck it was only installed here and soon enough this place wouldn't even be part of history.
The pixie's request to search the building aside, he couldn't let himself be stopped by anything. This was only the first step in dismantling the group. Maybe this shouldn't even have been the first step but fear for his brothers' future had driven him to start at the closest location. And start big. If the Institute was too busy scrambling to stop him, they wouldn't have the chance to go after his brothers.
He could finally give Dain and Saxxon what he'd been trying to provide all these years. They would finally have freedom and happiness.
And it all began with a declaration of war on the Institute. Every single drop of their attention had to be on him.
Which meant he had to get back inside this building. Fortunately, he did not have to go through the front doors this time. The point of going past the guards was to make it obvious who was declaring war. He'd intended from the beginning to let at least one of the guards live to track him to the next location. As well as to start rumors of his return and intentions.
Since they had seen him, he could reenter now from any point. Including the door from this alley.
This entrance didn't have any electronic security locks, just a plain old key and tumbler set up. The key had probably been inside the security room, but it wouldn't matter. Something this simple he could handle easily. He laid his hand over the keyhole and focused his powers only on this one task. He felt for the mechanism, pushing his power into the space. Forcing his will to become the key, he turned it. And pulled the handle.
"Damn it! Listen to me."
The pixie was standing on his hand.
"Would you stop already?"
No, he wouldn't stop. He would do what he had to. He would get the job done. He dragged the door open and stepped back inside. Moving quickly down the hallway back toward the built-in living quarters. He'd thought about the best way to handle the destruction of the huge building and was sure it would have to be a fire. If possible, an explosion or series of explosions. But for the most impact he would need more than a couple guns.
"You might be the most stubborn pain in the ass dog I've ever met, but one way or another, you will listen to me."
He made it most of the way down the hallway when there was a sudden change in air pressure.
And a "pop".
And he was back in the alley.
"I told you, you had to listen to me."
The pixie fluttered in front of him. Was she trying to take credit for the teleportation? It was true that he didn't know of any Institute security options that included teleportation, but it wouldn't really have surprised him if they'd found some way to create one. They were dead set on exploring any and every aspect of abilities beyond the average human skillset.
"At least tell me what your goal is."
But there was no point in explaining when he could just get to it and show his intentions. Of course, that meant getting back inside. He unlocked and pulled the door open again. With a fast walk he moved back down the hall and made it as far as the barracks double door.
And then popped back into the alley.
"Ready to listen?"
"What the hell is happening?"
"I'm throwing you through space to a set location. And I will keep doing it over and over until you stop and listen to me."
He shook his head. The pixie... was the one to teleport him? Had she lied? Did she work for the Institute? Why else would she try to stop him from fighting them? But it still didn't matter. He could not let anything stop him. He snagged her from the air and dropped her into a garbage can. Slammed the lid closed and returned to the locked door.
There was a tiny painful yank on his ear. "Just what the hell is wrong with you? I thought we could work together, but you... you... I don't even understand what you're thinking or why you are so damn trapped to your one plan. Well, I'm tired of playing this game so let me cut to the chase. You can't do this destroy everything dumb ass plan of yours yet because I will not let you. So, you might as well just stop it, stand still for a minute and listen to what I have to say." She released his ear and flew to in front of his face. "Ready to listen?"
This time he focused on her. He was a man of logic and even if it pissed him off or got in his way, he could find a way to adapt. If his success required taking a couple minutes to listen to the pixie, he could do it.
"I can't believe you put me in the trash." Her tiny hands fisted and thumped against her hips.
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