The sun was rising over the mountain tops, it bright rays of light showing the snow covered caps that fell almost to the middle of the mountain, and causing the shade of night to pull back from the skyline. The wind was blowing harshly with a chill bite that would make even the most skilled mountaineer pull in for the day, yet there were two lone figures that walked an unbeaten path across its base. The young female walked directly behind the taller man, trying to cut down some of the wind that was whipping her auburn hair all about. The older man walked on steadily, almost plowing through every obstacle. He had a look of stern determination etched onto his rough features, and his eyes were half closed to fight back against the strong gusts.
“Chance!!” Dessa had to scream at the top of her lungs to be heard, and even then the wind muted her call. “Chance!” She screamed again. This time he had heard her and turned around slowly.
“Where are we?!” She called out, looking around at the trees.
“The Colorado Rockies," Chance called back. His voice carried a little better with aid of the wind.
“Why are we here?”
“To get your answers!” He called at her.
Dessa stepped back and shook her head. She hadn’t remembered even asking any questions. She looked around again and silently wished the wind would die down, and almost on cue stopped. She looked at Chance; all he could do was give her a shrug for a reply.
Dessa thought it was a little odd but didn’t consider it for much longer than the second it took Chance to turn and head up the trail again. She followed him for what seemed like hours and the only thing that had changed was that the trees seemed to be getting denser around her.
“What questions did I ask?” She said breaking the silence suddenly.
Chance turned around slowly, his eyes seemed to stare right through her as they always did when he was about to scold her. “Why you’re here of course," he said bluntly.
Dessa blinked once and then twice, even a third time before she spoke up. “Why I’m here? I know why I’m here. To train with you and become a hitman.”
Chance shook his head and then stepped back his arm motioning behind him. Dessa nearly fell backward as she saw her childhood home in the middle of a plateau. “Why you’re still here.”
Dessa had to take a double take to make sure she was seeing what she was really seeing. She even pinched herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. “Ow!” She exclaimed quietly and then rubbed the spot on her arm where she had pinched it. She wasn’t dreaming, so it had to be real. She stepped past Chance and toward the door, looking back to her mentor for strength, only to find that he was gone. She was alone on the path and the wind picked up even stronger as she turned toward the house.
It was her home, the white horse fence surrounding the yard, a gate that was in dire need of repair, and rose bushes that once held prize winning roses; but now were nothing but overgrown hedges. She opened the gate and heard the familiar squeal from the rusted hinges; she was filled with a sense of warmth that she hadn’t felt in a long time. She felt like a kid again, and ran up the cobblestone sidewalk and straight to her front door. The screen in the door was still torn, the wooden jamb that surrounded it was still lime green and the porch was white as the walls in a hospital. The porch swing was swaying slightly from the wind and Dessa wanted to just burst into the house and run right into her mothers arms. It had been so long since she had seen them, her mom and dad, and the longing in her to barge in pulled so strongly that she felt her feet almost moving on their own.
Logic finally sparked Dessa to step back. Her parents were dead, and her home wasn’t on the middle of a plateau in the Rocky Mountains. She let her gaze drift over every detail and just shook her head. It was then that she realized she was dreaming. She knew she was asleep, and yet she didn’t want to wake up. In her dream, this dream, she could walk into that house and see her mom and dad again. Did she really want to give that up so quickly?
“I know I’m dreaming," She said aloud, and her voice seemed to echo around the yard.
In reply, the wind seemed to blow even harder. She focused her thoughts and once again wished that the wind would stop.
It did.
“Why am I here?!” She screamed out.
There was no answer.
“What am I supposed to see by being here!?” She called out again.
Again there was no reply.
“Damnit! Answer me! I’m in my own head and I can’t get a clear answer!” Dessa spun around and then faced the house again.
“Keep it down!” A little girl’s voice called out to her.
Dessa sprang back as a young child moved out of the door and toward her. She had auburn hair cut short and was in overalls, her face covered in dirt and her bare feet were just as dirty. “Mom and Dad are sleepin.”
Dessa’s mouth dropped open and she was sure it had hit the ground for as wide as it had opened. She was looking at herself at five years old. She was a tom-boy when she was little, being just as rough and tumble as the boys in her neighborhood.
“Dessa!” The younger version of herself turned to the house and then back to the older her. Her face a mask of fear and anger.
“See what you did! You went and woke them up!” The little version of the female assassin ran off past the gate and deep into the forest.
“What?” Dessa asked confused more than anything. She looked back up at the house and found that she was no longer on the mountain side, but back on her old street, her home was still there and looked as it did before. Suddenly she remembered exactly where she was. It was a memory, she was five and she had just been scolded by her mom for waking her dad up. He worked nights, and always slept during the day.
Dessa moved forward, she knew that she had hid in the garage, but for some reason, she stayed in the yard. In a few seconds, she found out why she needed to stay. A lone figure was walking down the street; he was tall, slender, and familiar to her now. She saw a much younger looking Chance. She didn’t know if he went by “Suicide” yet, but he was definitely a lot younger then he was now. He moved steadily and with a purpose toward her house. Why was he heading there? Chance had told her that he didn’t know her family.
She watched him move up to the front door and knock. She moved in close behind him, sure that this was indeed a dream of her memory and even more sure that Chance wouldn’t turn around and see her. She saw her mom open the door and gasp and quickly open the door, ushering Chance inside. The door closed and Dessa was left outside.
Well that won’t do.
Once inside she was greeted by the warm and inviting smells of her childhood. The smell of fresh baked bread and her mothers cleaning supplies. Her house was always spotless; it was a wonder how it stayed that way with how dirty she remembered getting as a child. Pushing the warm and inviting smells from her mind, she moved into the living room where Chance was sitting patiently in her father’s armchair. He looked at ease, but she knew better; Chance was a master of deception and body language. He was always ready to strike out or move away in an instant. She turned and looked down the hall, seeing her mom come out of the master bedroom and wipe her hands nervously on her pants.
“He’ll be out in a second Mr. Suicide," She heard her mom say.
Dessa had to stop herself from laughing. “Mr. Suicide?” She’d have to tease him about that later she reminded herself.
Chance nodded and then continued to seemingly stare off into space. Again Dessa knew better, he was looking at the house, checking the set up, looking for hidden nooks and crannies where a potential weapon might be. He had taught her the same trick soon after they had started their partnership.
“Suicide, my friend," She heard her dad say, and turned around quickly. She felt her heart drop, for there he was walking down the hall. She could even smell his over powering aftershave as he passed. She missed her parents of course, but her dad more than anything. Her fondest memory as a child was sitting on his knee watching the football game on T.V. for hours on end.
“Mr. Kelly," Chance stated coldly. The tone of his voice sent a shiver up Dessa’s spine.
“What brings you to my door?” Mr. Kelly asked as he offered his hand for a handshake. (One that was promptly refused by Chance.)
“You know why I’m here Mr. Kelly.”
Dessa’s father seemed to step back; he was clearly shaken by her mentors tone and body language.
“I… Yes I have it," Mr. Kelly said wiping his brow. “Can we do this out back, my wife doesn’t need to know about this," He said as he motioned to the kitchen where Dessa’s mom was busy cooking.
Suicide stood and moved through the kitchen and out into the backyard, heading straight toward the shed that Dessa’s father had for storage. She didn’t wait a second long, and followed both of the men out. Once inside the shed, she had wished she had woken up before this had even started. Inside were two tables that were lined with cloth, on top of the cloth were guns, guns of all types and sizes.
“Got it yesterday," Her dad stated flatly.
“I’ll send someone to pick it up tonight. We’ll be in touch again Mr. Kelly, I assure you," Suicide turned on his heels and left abruptly.
Dessa turned to follow him out, and then saw her own five year old face staring back at her. “He knew," She said quietly.
Dessa nodded in shock.
“He knew my parents…” Dessa felt anger bubbling inside her. It was coursing through her veins and into every pore. She wanted to scream, to cry, she wanted to pound in Chance’s face! How could he have lied? How could her father have lied? She had questions for Chance now, and she was going to get her answers.
“Time to wake up Dessa," Her younger self said brightly.
“What?” Was all she could ask before she felt a powerful pain shoot through her chest!
* * *
“She’s flat-lining! Hit her again!”
Dessa heard the voice, understood the panic, but it all seemed so foggy.
“Clear!”
The violent shock tore through her chest, and she felt as if she was being prodded with a thousand needles. She wanted to open her eyes but for some reason she couldn’t.
“Again!” She heard.
Not again!
“Full power!”
Not again! Tell them damnit!
“Charging.”
“Okay! Hit her again!”
“NO!” Dessa felt her lungs burn as she screamed out!
“She’s alive!” She heard someone say.
Dessa panted heavily as she tried to force the defibulator pads off her bare chest. Her hands felt weak and numb, but she managed to grab the doctor’s wrist and pull it away from her. “Not again…”
“How did she survive?” Dessa heard one of the nurses say. “She was code blue for almost five minutes.”
“Some people just don’t want to give up.”
* * *
Sergeant Dean Royale wasn’t having any luck as he tried to follow the large man nicknamed “Bear," He knew that Bear was the person he and Thomas were looking for, but without an admission of truth, they really had nothing to go on but a hunch. It was a strong hunch though, how many almost eight foot tall Olympians were there? Not many, and Dean knew it. All they had to do was follow Bear around long enough, and he was sure that they would be lead to the others. The only downside to a stake out with his partner was that Thomas wasn’t a patient person. He was even less patient when they had General Tyler breathing down their necks to find these “Chimera’s” and bring them in for questioning.
He didn’t know what was so special about the Chimera’s, or why they were so important, all he knew was that the Higher Ups in the Government wanted them found. Something about “National Security” and all that jazz. “This makes me want to watch grass grow," Dean said suddenly breaking the silence in the car.
Thomas looked at his partner incredulously and then laughed. “What? You don’t like following the big ape around all day and watching him teach the elderly how to float?”
“We’ve been following him for two weeks Thomas. What do we have to show for it?”
“Well, he did bring us out those bottles of root beer," Thomas answered sarcastically.
Dean shook his head in frustration. Bear had indeed brought them out some bottle of root beer earlier on in the week. They had been sitting outside the community pool for the better part of three hours when the large man had walked right out to the car they were in and handed them two cans of root beer and then walked back into the building.
“Look, he knows we’re here and knows that we’re following him. He won’t lead us to anyone until he thinks we’re long gone,” Dean grumbled, obviously upset at the fact that they had been made.
“We can always go back to HQ until he feels that he’s safe.”
“I doubt it. He’s not that stupid Thomas.
Thomas only shrugged and placed the binoculars up to his eyes again and continued to scan the pool. He wasn’t too disappointed by the view. A bunch of twenty-something’s strutting around in bikinis were keeping his attention off of Bear and more on his own libido.
“Did you hear the rumor about these things?” Dean asked as he reached for the cold pizza that was on the backseat from the night before.
“Come on now Dean,” Thomas said trying to hold back his disbelief. “You don’t honestly believe the rumors from the grunts do you?”
“I don’t know. Look at Bear, and that report on the news. Don’t you think something odd is going on around here?”
“Don’t ask questions, even if you do; you’ll just get told that it is top secret.” Thomas said without even pulling the binoculars away from his eyes. “Besides, you don’t really think that a human being can change shape do you? Or produce an electric charge from his body? I saw the report just like everyone else. The guy had a portable generator on him. His coat was all bunched up on his shoulders.”
Dean just shook his head. He had seen the report, and it didn’t look like the man had any portable generator on him, near his shoulders or otherwise. They had been told to watch Bernard Greer for “any suspicious activity,” and then report what ever they found. Suspicious activity? This guy was as normal as everyone else; he just had a little height on him that was all. He had seen lots of people over seven foot tall, just look at the basketball players now and days. They were huge compared to average human standards. No one considered them dangerous. Why was Bernard such an interest to the mucky mucks?
“He’s leaving!” Thomas exclaimed suddenly, nearly causing Dean to bite his own tongue.
“Did you have to yell in my ear?”
“Heh, sorry Dean ol’ buddy.”
Thomas was very excitable, he seemed to jump at every opportunity to investigate, tail, interrogate, and even turn in any suspect. It definitely made Dean’s life more interesting, but Thomas’s excitability could be very trying on his patience at times. After being on a stake out for the last three weeks with nothing happening at all, Thomas was working on Dean’s last nerve.
He tried to push the thoughts of wrapping the cord of the binoculars around Thomas’s neck from his mind, but they were just too enjoyable. In his small mist of a daydream, Bernard had pulled out of the pool and was on his way to the same diner he always went to. It was Friday, so he was heading to the diner that had the “fifties” theme to it. He would order a double cheese burger, order of fries, and two chocolate shakes. For a man Bear’s size, he really didn’t eat that much. Dean figured it was his metabolism, and once they were on better terms he would ask him how he kept so trim. He looked down at his own expanding waistline and frowned.
“He’s not going to the diner tonight,” Thomas said loudly, and from the tone it sounded as if he had been trying to get Dean’s attention for some time.
“Huh? Why not? It’s Friday, he has gone there for the last three weeks.”
Thomas didn’t say anything, but just pointed, and sure enough; Bear had driven past the diner and was picking up speed.
“Think he’s trying to lose us?” Thomas asked.
“I doubt it. Why try and lose us now? He’s known we’ve been watching him.”
* * *
The two agents followed Bear’s car for some time, the large man had passed up all his favorite restaurants this night, but he had a reason for it. He was going to the lake, Lake Michigan to be exact. It was the perfect time of year for him, no one was around because of how cold it got and he could have the whole lake all to himself. He would be to the lake just after night fall, and out of the water hours before sunrise. He had a friend in the park system that would let him in to swim. The Park Ranger was a former team member on the U.S. team Bernard had been a part of. The Ranger was so grateful for the medals that he always let Bear in to swim.
Bear didn’t want to do his night swim with the two agents following him, but he found that if he stayed out of any body of water for too long, he tended to get really antsy and even got tired easier than normal. But once he was out of the water, be it a lake, river, or even an ocean he found that he felt like a brand new man. He would get really giddy and found it hard to stop smiling. He looked into the rearview mirror and saw the familiar headlights following him once again. He didn’t want to swim with them around, but he had no choice. This was his only available time.
Bear found that being under the water was more comforting than even the sound of his car’s engine purring. It was something that always seemed to put him at ease, but when he was under the water, he felt like a predator. When he was a young boy, he would pretend he was a shark and sneak up on unsuspecting fishing boats. He would jump out of the water and onto the boat roaring, only to be laughed at by the local fisherman that had experienced his “wrath” many times over. They would always tell him to “be mindful of the hooks in the water” or “you’re scarin’ all the fish” but he never really worried about the hooks. Under the water he could see perfectly. Even better than he could on land.
Bear drove on reminiscing about his childhood and could only laugh to himself. He turned on the radio and turned it to his favorite station, one that played hard rock, and then turned it up as loud as the speakers could go. He remembered one time, after he realized he was different from other boys, that he tried his hands at stalking the fish under the surface. He let himself glide around searching for fish he could catch. He had been so into finding the fish that he forgot to come back up for air. He knew he didn’t have to, but to “keep up appearances” his mother had said, he needed to come up for air at least every two minutes or so. He had forgotten and had about twenty people looking for him. He bobbed his head above surface ten yards from the shore to see them all panic. It was then that he realized just how different he was.
After that day, Bear was comfortable with his deformity; even happy with it. He didn’t want to change that about himself and wouldn’t change his plans for anyone, even federal agents.
* * *
Dean and Thomas followed Bear for what seemed like hours. The radio was off and neither had spoken a word since they had left the city limits. Dean didn’t mind, he liked the quiet. He hoped that Thomas had fallen asleep.
“Where in the hell is he going?” Thomas asked suddenly breaking the silence.
“No clue. But I do know that if he takes this freeway any farther, the only place he can go is the lake.”
Thomas looked from Dean to the back lights of Bear’s car and back again, “But the lake is closed now isn’t it?”
“No, it’s still open. Only for the hard core swimmers though. They let them in to swim laps late at night. The cold water makes it easier for them to get the blood pumping so they learn to swim faster,” Dean said seriously.
“Really?” Thomas asked.
“Of course not! The lake is closed at dusk.”
“Was that sarcasm?” Thomas asked still a little perplexed.
Dean rolled his eyes, “Yes it was sarcasm.”
“Oh. You need to work on that.”
Dean’s jaw clenched tightly, his knuckles turning white on the steering wheel. It was all he could do not to smack the younger agent right out of the moving vehicle.
* * *
Bear pulled off onto a very familiar stretch of dirt road and then up to a small guard shack. He saw his Ranger friend waiting for him and he waved him forward. Bear made small talk until his tail could catch up, as soon as the Park Ranger saw them, his face blanched and looked at Bear. “It’s okay, they’re with me. You aren’t in any trouble”
That seemed to calm his friend a little, but he was still weary as he let the two vehicles pass. Bear lead the agents to a small camp ground and parked his car. He got out and pulled a cooler from his back seat and quickly put it on the lunch table. He made a point about not even acknowledging that the agents were there and went about his normal routine. He pulled a bottle of spring water from the cooler and took a large swig, held it in his mouth and felt the oxygen filter through his gills as it passed through, his beard becoming soaked instantly. With that, he took a gigantic gulp of what was left and then tossed the bottle in the nearest garbage can.
Bear took off his shirt and then his pants. He pulled on a pair of bright blue trunks; the blue was so electric that even the two agents in the car could see the color clearly. He wore them just so he would feel comfortable if he was ever caught. Swimming nude was better, but he always took precautions. He gave a stern wave to the car that housed Dean and Thomas, and then moved toward the water.
Bear could smell the fresh air, could smell the water, it smelled like home to him. He took a running leap and hit the icy water with all the force of a bolder raining down the mountain side. As soon as he was under, he took a giant gulp of water and felt his lungs fill with air. He never understood how his lungs worked with the gills, but he just knew they did. He didn’t want to understand it actually. The more he thought about it, the more he didn’t want to know how he came about being the way he was. He kicked his legs and dove deep under the glassy surface, his eyes almost immediately adjusting to the darkness. He couldn’t see like a normal person, the best way he could describe it was, he saw smells. The smell of the lake weed gave off a wavy bluish tint, fish gave off red waves, and the lake bed was a multitude of colors. He could navigate easily through everything as if he had flood lights on his shoulders.
He let himself get lost in the calm lake water, watching fish, snakes and all manner of lake creatures swim by him. Then right in front of him, he saw something he had never seen before. A fresh water turtle snapped up a decent sized fish! The water was flooded with fish blood, the sent pouring into his nostrils, flooding through his gills. He wanted to reach out and grab the bleeding fish; the scent was so strong and so inviting. It reminded him of the tastiest steak dinner he had ever had; he could feel his mouth water even under the water. Bear shot forward, as if on instinct, and snatched the fish right out of the mouth of the turtle. If the turtle’s expression was readable, it looked as if it was saying, “Hey, get your own!”
Bear couldn’t stop himself; he brought the raw and still wriggling fish to his mouth and took a large bite out of it. The taste was pure ecstasy, the flavors touched parts of his tongue he didn’t even know he had. He took a second bite and felt his stomach give a violent lurch. He let go of the now dead fish and raced for the surface. Once he breached the water, he heaved. Bits of raw fish and bone hit the water with a sickening splash.
Bear slowly moved his way back to shore and pulled himself out of the water, once he touched the soft gravel of the shore his stomach gave another heave and the rest of his meal landed nosily on the ground. He pushed himself to his knees and wiped his mouth just in time to hear the sounds of car doors closing. He looked up to see Dean and Thomas moving up to him quickly.
* * *
Thomas looked at his watch, they had arrived at just after eight and it was not fifteen after eleven. Bear had gone under and hadn’t surfaced once. That was three hours that the large man had been under the water! Thomas knew that it was not humanly possible to be under that long on a single breath.
“Three hours plus,” Thomas said as he checked his watch again just to make sure.
“That’s impossible. No one can hold their breath that long. He has to be dead, got caught in lake weed or something.”
“Should we call in that our prime lead drown?” Thomas frowned.
“We’re gonna have to. Call the dive teams out to retrieve the body,” Dean said through a yawn.
He looked over at Thomas and saw him staring in disbelief, “What? What is it?”
Thomas could only point. They had been watching the lake surface for three hours with binoculars and night vision goggles, nothing had broken the surface at all during those hours, yet there he was, coughing up something all over the shore. Bear, he was still alive.
“Does this count as suspicious behavior?”
“Definitely.” Dean answered in all seriousness.
Both men leapt from the car and rushed over to where bear was heaving the last remaining bits of his lunch all over the shore. Each one grabbing an arm and helping the big man to his feet. They moved him over to the lunch table and pulled out another bottle of water from his cooler and handed it to him. Bear took two huge swigs and tossed the empty bottle aside.
“What happened!?” Dean said softly.
“Had a fish swim into my mouth,” Bear lied.
“You didn’t surface once in three hours, you want us to believe you were under there this whole time and only came up because some fish swam into your mouth!?” Thomas said excitedly.
“What are you talking about?” Bear asked, trying to keep his accusatory tone under control.
“We watched the whole thing. Not once did you come up!”
“This is a big lake man, I’m an Olympic swimmer, and I came up farther out.”
The look on Bear’s face was enough to give away that he was hiding something, if not lying outright, and Dean knew it. There were barely any waves on the lake tonight, and the noise of someone breaching the water would have carried over the silent night.
“Bernard-” He was cut short by a glare from bear. “Ok, Bear, are you ok?”
“Yeah, just feel sick is all.”
That wasn’t all he felt. He felt like he was going crazy. He couldn’t stop himself from grabbing the fish, out of all the years he had gone to the lake at night nothing like that had ever happened. He felt the urge before, sure, when he was younger and playing “shark” with the fisherman, but he would never have really eaten a raw fish! He hated sushi, why in the world would he eat a fish that was still breathing? He could still feel that predatory instinct, buried deeper now that he was out of the water, but it was still calling for him to go back in and find another fish. The thought made him gag, and he bent over and his stomach emptied what small amount of food was left all over the ground.
“We’re gonna take you to a hospital,” Dean said, putting as much concern in his voice as he could.
Bear shook his head, “I just need to go home and sleep.” He hoped that was all he needed.
“Are you sure?” Dean asked.
“Yeah,” Bear nodded. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
Bear stood up and grabbed his cooler. He walked to his car on unsteady legs and literally tumbled into the driver’s seat. He hit the ignition and turned towards the road he came in on. His mind was swimming with weird thoughts. Thoughts of eating and killing fish, stalking wounded prey, circling it over and over till it was close enough to bite. He shook his head and pushed those thoughts from his head. He needed sleep, when he had a clear head and a full stomach again he would try and piece together what had happened.
She cried to herself. She thought, trying to put the thoughts into words. She thought to herself, and moved to open the door.
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