Project Songbird

Chapter 12

"Ethan! How are you!" Mark gleams as he rushes to greet me, "I haven't seen you in a week!"
"I didn't want to leave Tyler's side, but May shooed me off." I reply, giving him half of the truth. I didn't want to burden him with how everything felt like it was falling to shambles. I should be happy that everyone is reunited and we are working on a way out, but I just feel broken. "You wouldn't mind giving me a hand, would you?" He asks.
"Sure, what am I helping you with?" I try to shake away my sad thoughts.
"I wanted to spar a little bit and Felix is busy making up lost time with his daughter." He smiles. I'm jealous of his happiness. I want to feel it again.
"Absolutely." I nod.
"Cool, let's go!" He takes my hand and I step behind him through his portal where we appeared in a large room that they changed into a sort of gym/training room. "How come Jack's ability makes people feel nauseous but yours doesn't??" I look at Mark as I cross my arms over my chest. Mark turns to look at me, "I think it has something to do with me physically stepping through another dimension. Jack stays in ours, technically it's just moving at an insanely high speed which our bodies aren't exactly made for." He gives a shrug, "The only one made for that would be the speedsters."
"I didn't know we had any." I copy Mark as he begins to stretch his body.
"We also learned that Hailey has retained Felix's Songbird ability. She has much smaller wings that didn't fully develop but she can sing the Lullaby."
He shakes his arms a bit.
"She can?" I tilt my head.
The Lullaby can be passed down?
I could use the song. I wonder if she'd sing for me. My body aches.
"Yeah, Amy found that she retained Felix's changed DNA. It's probably why Andrew kept her alive all these years." Mark guesses. He takes a few steps back from me and then enters a fighting stance, "Are you ready?"
"I don't think I've actually fought anyone. The battle I was in, I used the demon's power." I copy his stance.
"Oh, then you would probably benefit from being taught." He joins me, "Don't worry, it's fairly simple to get a hang of."

"Do you think you could spar?" Mark asks. We were currently taking a water break. Jack, Felix, Bob, Wade, and Hailey eventually joined our session.
Felix steps up, he takes off his shirt and tosses it aside, "I can."
I never took the time to notice just how ripped both men were. Felix was a bit skinnier than Mark but he still looked confident in himself, and he stood a few inches taller than the Asian.
They both move away from the crowd into the center of the room.
"Alright boys, you know the rules: nothing below the belt and no bullshit. Secondary abilities can be used. Are you ready?" Jack asks them.
"Ready." They nod, not looking away from each other.
I know Mark's ability but I have no clue about Felix. I don't recall seeing him ever use it. Maybe he doesn't like to??
"Okay gentlemen, going until yield only, no knockouts." Bob steps in, "We need total focus here. Wade, you have the camera ready?"
I glanced at Wade, "What's the camera for?"
"Some people learn better visually. We record to help everyone see where they may be struggling and help them with working through it." Wade explains as he angles the camera towards Mark and Felix, "The camera is set."
"And start!" Jack shouts, quickly teleporting himself out of the way.
Mark and Felix both rush each other at the same time. Mark throws a punch, causing Felix to duck and sweep for Mark's legs with his own.
Mark jumps over Felix's leg and then adds space between them.
They stare at each other, slowly circling.
Felix shifts his shoulders before slowly backing up and then he rubs his left shoulder as if it's aching.
Mark watches with a tense gaze.
"What happened?" Hailey whispers.
"Mark got a cheap shot on Felix with his ability. He must've half stepped through it to attack when they parted ways." Bob answers softly.
"He can do that?" Hailey tilts her head. She had a lot to learn about them.
Felix lets out a hiss of air and then, in a sudden clash, both men were locked in a fist fight.

"Alright gentlemen, I think we are going to have to call it a draw." Bob speaks up.
I yawn from my place against the wall. They had been locked in this spar for the past two and half hours.
"Already?" Mark asks as they both slow to a stop. Felix chuckles lightly, taking the glass of water that his daughter brought over for both of them, "You know Mark, you haven't really changed."
"I hope that's a good thing." Mark nods thanks to Hailey as he takes the glass she offers him. Wade hums softly as he goes to shut off the camera. He frowns and gestures Bob to his side. They look concerned as they whisper to each other. "What's wrong?" I stand and make my way over to them.
"Oh nothing serious, just the camera being stupid." Wade glances at me then back to the camera. Bob sighs and shakes his head, "Apparently the camera was filming but it seems to have glitched out at some point."
"That's okay, we don't need it." Mark waves it off.
"Ethan, why don't you show everyone that thing you did during the fight." Felix walks over to me, "Maybe the rest of us can learn to do it."
"I'm not really sure how I did it if I'm honest." I rub my arm.
"Well maybe give it a shot." He gestures to the open room.
"I can try." I step forward.
The change was much easier and every time I did it, it made me feel free and whole. I held my hands in front of me, trying to copy the pose I did.
Nothing happened.
I glanced back at Felix, "I don't know how. I don't feel the same thing."
"What did you feel to unlock it?" Felix joins me. I thought about back to the fight, "I thought about how he needed to burn for what he did and suddenly there was a ball of power in my hands that turned to a beam which burned up what remained of his body."
"Maybe you have to replicate it." Jack suggests.
"Would that be safe?" I ask.
"How would we even do that?" Hailey voices my next question.
I face the group and wave at Trixie as she runs into the room, "Guys, guys! Tyler's awake!"
"Would expect nothing less from our healers." Felix gives a small smile.
"Let's go!" Jack yells. Everyone hurried over to the Irish man, quickly linking hands, and he teleported us back to Tyler's room.
Hailey steps away, immediately throwing up.
"Oops, sorry." Jack and Felix go to comfort her.
Mark pats my shoulder and I glance back at him. He gives a small nod of his head towards the door. I look back at the door and swallow the lump forming in my throat. My heart beats erratically.
My palms begin to sweat.
He's awake.
Finally, after all this time, he's awake.
I grab the door handle and slowly push the door open. Amy and May both look up from Tyler's bedside, both give me a gentle smile. May waves me over.
I step into the room and make my way to the bedside. Tyler's gaze meets mine.
I reach forward for his hand that he offers me. Suddenly the erratic heartbeat slows down in my chest.
And there's a calm within me.
"Hey, Ethan," His deep voice was raspy. "How are you?"
"I'm glad to see you awake." I whisper.
His eyes seem to widen slightly before I feel his thumb wipe across my face.
"You don't have to cry."
I can't force the words out of my mouth. I lean into his touch. I felt complete.
"Tyler!" Mark's voice breaks the silence as he hurries over, "Glad to see you up buddy! How are you feeling?"
Tyler shifts a bit in the bed, "Stiff."
Hailey, Felix, Jack, Bob, and Wade squeeze into the room after Mark.
"Clearly I missed a lot..." Tyler's eyes hover over the group, lingering on Hailey. He was being healed when we learned of Hailey.
"It's good to see you awake, Guardian." Hailey speaks up, "I..." She paused before continuing, "...thank you for everything you've done."
I've never heard anyone refer to Tyler as just Guardian. Did he know of Hailey before the rest of us???
"It's no big deal." Tyler shrugs off her words.
"No big deal???" Hailey sounds confused, "It's quite a big deal. If it wasn't for you, Andrew would've gotten away with a lot worse."
"What is she talking about??" Felix asks the question burning in everyone's mind. Tyler closes his eyes briefly before they reopen, letting out a heavy breath, "I knew of Hailey's existence for the past decade."
"What!" Felix shouts, "You knew she was alive and didn't bother to tell me!!"
"Dad wait! I can explain!" Hailey grabs Felix's arm, "Don't be mad at him, I asked him to keep my secret!"
Felix falls silent, bewildered at his daughter's words.
"If it wasn't for the Guardian, I and several others, would have been kept locked up." Hailey starts to explain, "Andrew had been testing new experiments on us. He was trying to find a way to revive his dead daughter that was killed in the incident."
"Is this true...?" Felix's sharp eyes glare at Tyler, who nods his head, "It's true. It happened one night when I was patrolling the south side of the hospital. I could sense people behind closed off walls. So I broke it down, doing my best not to alert anyone. On the other side I found Hailey and a few others kept in these chambers of some sort, tubes connected to them. I found paperwork of what Andrew was trying to do on the desk in the room and then did the only logical thing I could think of." He stops for a breath and Hailey continues, "He broke us out. I was frightened that Andrew would find out that we were missing so the Guardian offered to take us to a safer place in the hospital and to keep our secret. If no one knew we existed then Andrew would never find us." Hailey makes her way back over to Tyler to properly thank him again.
"Andrew would have somehow drained the life from them to revive his daughter." Tyler looks at Felix, probably glad that secret was off his chest.
"I only kept the secret to keep them alive. In any other circumstance, I would have told you immediately."
Felix stays silent. Clearly, he's fighting with how to respond; upset for the kept secret but gratitude at the safety of his daughter. He lets out a hiss of air before turning his glare to the floor, his body relaxing, "Thank you."
"You're welcome." Tyler clears his throat.
"That explains the block in your mind." Wade breaks the silence, "I always wondered what that was."
"Alright everyone, Tyler only just woke up. He still has a long way to a complete recovery, we don't want to stress him out." May reminds everyone.
"Alright, I guess we'll see you later Tyler." Mark starts, everyone else chiming in their own goodbyes, heading towards the room's door.
Tyler just gives them all a little wave.
"Okay, Ethan, if Tyler wants, you can give him a sponge bath. I left you extra bandages and ointment here and do be very careful about his stitches." Amy explains as she points to the medicine she left before turning to Tyler, "And you, do not strain yourself. Ethan has volunteered to be your nurse while May and I will come in for daily checks and tests to make sure you are healing properly. Most of your food is going to be liquid and we will slowly introduce solids back into your diet. And I know it's going to frustrate you, but don't try to get out of bed and do something by yourself. You've been in a coma for over a week. Your muscles are going to need some time before you just stand up, understand?"
Tyler makes a bit of a face before giving in, "Yes ma'am."
"If Ethan comes to me that you've been out of bed, I'm going to give you quite the whack." Amy threatens.
"I got it, I got it. Don't get out of bed no matter what." Tyler repeats the rules given to him. Amy smiles softly, "I'm glad that you're alright, everyone's been worried about you."
"I didn't mean to make anyone worry." Tyler lays his head back against his pillow. Amy grabs his hand, "You have been there for everyone for over a decade, allow us to be there for you. It's the least we can do."
"It probably won't be easy," May giggles, "It's written in his DNA to be a protector."
The two give Tyler a few final instructions before they leave us in the room alone.