Chapter 331: Just a kid

It seemed like everyone but Brent realised what kind of toll this would have on him.

Brent practically collapsed against Sergei in the elevator up to the third floor, and Aunt Dina reached for him. Her grip was firm on his upper arm, tight, but not punishing. She was offering him support, even as her face remained flat and neutral.

Even as Sergei fully supported him, she made sure to hold him in some capacity. Brent, huffing, wasn’t sure what that meant at the time, but he honestly felt like he was losing his mind as they moved up from the basement.

Aunt Dina kept her hold on Brent as she guided them to the bathrooms with showers. They were clearly for a bathroom and gym combo that was nearby. Who it was for, Brent had no idea since there was no one around. Brent was grateful for that, since it meant they didn’t have to answer any questions.

Aunt Dina would have come in with them to help Brent bathe if Sergei hadn’t asked her to go grab him some clothes. Brent was mostly unaware of it, his body in shock. Sergei’s body felt hot against his rapidly cooling one and he clung to the Esper for support.

Aunt Dina scowled, but did as was asked of her. Warning that she’d be in if he took longer than 20 minutes to get him washed and changed. Sergei agreed to her terms.

Brent, for his part, was dazed. If Sergei asked him to stand, he would, even if he swayed like a baby deer on his feet. Sergei helped him undress in the shower stall he’d selected. It was a large one, meant to be used for someone in a wheelchair, but given Brent’s state, maybe he should have been in one.

Sergei, with his powers, brought a chair into the bathroom after he stripped Brent down. He didn’t seem to care if his own clothes got wet, just making sure that their essentials didn’t get soaked.

Phones, keys, things of that sort. They got suspended in the air nearby. In the line of sight, but outside of the splash zone. From that point on, Sergei turned up the heat of the water and began to bathe Brent.

It was like he knew that Brent would be cold with how hot the water was, and Brent was normally a cool shower kind of guy. He didn’t even like baths that much unless there was another reason for them.

However, Sergei didn’t seem to care. He hummed a soft tune to himself, grabbing a disposable loofah from somewhere and lathering it up. He began to scrub Brent in earnest, the water a dizzying, bright red as the blood washed off of him.

Sergei was rather calm about the whole thing, and in a strange way, so was Brent. He was foggy, his breathing still ragged, but there was a calmness in his mind now that he hadn’t had before.

Colby was never going to pick him up suddenly ever again. He would never have to worry about his brother asking Colby to find him and Colby just...being able to teleport to him again.

He wouldn’t be able to do that.

Brent had gotten another arm. Brent had gotten his life back. Brent had taken the first blood, drawn the first lines, and now he’d let the animals who had smelled the fresh blood loose.

Colby was never going to make it out of that basement. If he was to come up again, he wasn’t going to be in the same state he entered in, that was for sure.

Did that make him as bad as his family? Brent didn’t know. There was the smallest part of him that spoke with his brother’s voice and said yes, he was. He was just like them. He would never be able to escape the craziness that ran through his veins.

Despite that, and despite how deeply that small voice affected him, there was a much larger part that spoke, and this voice had Kellen’s voice. This voice told him that Brent had worked too damn hard to let bloodlines win.

One could even argue that Brent wasn’t of the same bloodline since they had messed with his DNA so much. So what if he looked like his brother? He didn’t get off on cruelty. He didn’t take joy in it.

All Brent had done was get revenge for the boy that he had been. The boy that had been scared, lonely, and had needed someone to save him and no one had. That is why Brent did that for, and he had been able to stop himself before he even considered being like his brother.

He’d been cruel, yes, but what he had done was a sick kind of vengeance that others rarely got. His hard work was done, and now it was up to the others to finish it.

He was going to be fine. He was safe. There were people who loved him, cared for him, cherished him. He wasn’t that little lonely boy anymore.

That was when the tears fell.

Sergei, the sweet man that he was, got on his knees before Brent, the water soaking his back through his jacket. His expression was pained, as if seeing Brent suffer like this hurt him deeply. He hung the loofah in the air, washing his hands before he cupped Brent’s face. He pressed his forehead against Brent’s, his body shaking as Brent sobbed.

"Shh, zaichonok. You’re breaking my heart." Sergei whispered and Brent shook his head, unable to stop.

"I never asked for them to do that to me." Brent whispered, his eyes wide even as he cried. He watched as Sergei’s own eyes watered. "I was just a kid. A child! What did I do that was so wrong?" Brent asked the question that he’d always wondered. That he’d screamed until his throat hurt in the hours, days and weeks that had followed for his recovery.

After he had watched Colby dangled him over the ocean and dropped his arm into it. Never to be retrieved, never to be recreated. An act of evil that had broken Brent and made it hard for him to trust again.

That made it hard, even now, to easily accept the affection that Sergei showered him in.

"Oh Brent." Sergei breathed, his voice pained. "Sometimes...Sometimes you can do everything right and it doesn’t matter. Evil is just that, evil." Brent liked that he didn’t have an answer. That he wasn’t trying to make up an excuse.

His father had done that, as had his grandfather, and look where they both were now? He had no idea if his father was still alive and his grandfather was very much dead. Sergei just looked pained, as if he was experiencing Brent’s pain as his own.

"I was just a kid." Brent repeated. "A fucking kid. I had no mom, no dad, everyone constantly reminded me I was a stain on the James family name." Brent hiccupped, his eyes spilling over endlessly. "I just wanted someone to choose me. Protect me." Brent spoke a deep, old pain out loud.

Sergei’s arms wrapped around him, hugging him tightly as he buried his face into his shoulder. The warm water splashed on his face, forcing Brent to close his eyes as Sergei held him.

Brent couldn’t understand the words that Sergei said next, the man falling back into his native tongue as he whispered, holding him. Brent didn’t think he needed o hear it though.

The pain, the love that he uttered those words with brought more tears to Brent’s eyes. His body felt cold, his bones chilled, his blood like glacier water in his veins, but between the hot water and Sergei, Brent knew that he would be okay. There was no way that he wouldn’t be.

He wasn’t alone anymore.

~

Aunt Dina almost ended up storming the shower rooms. It wasn’t intentional on Sergei’s part. Brent was the one who delayed them from leaving. He’d cried so hard that his eyes were puffy and he was the one who said they needed to calm them before they could leave. It was vanity speaking at its finest, but Brent was feeling shy and vulnerable.

Not how he expected to feel after getting revenge on Colby after he tore off his arm, but hey, life had some fun changes, right? Not everyone got to be cool and chill after committing violent crimes against others.

If anything, it just meant that Brent was human. That was fine. He’d rather be human than an outright monster like his brother. He’d take this as a small moral win over him.

Aunt Dina, when she saw Brent after his shower, grabbed him and held him in place as she loomed him over. She looked as if she would have stripped him to make sure he was in perfect condition, but she didn’t. Instead, she grunted a few times, spinning Brent gently so that she could examine every inch that she could see, before she turned him to face her again.

She nodded, pleased with something, before she turned to Brent. She met his gaze, staring into his damn soul before she spoke.

"Not all revenge feels good." She said softly. Brent jerked, not expecting her, of all people, to say that. "Sometimes, we get so focused on the pain and anger we have in our souls that it corrupts us." She continued.

Her eyes, fierce as a forest fire, seemed to see into the very core of Brent. The shattered, terrified boy that Brent had always hidden away. Had always protected, felt very exposed to the heat of her.

"I’m proud of what you were able to accomplish today, Brent." Those were not the words he expected her to follow that warning up with. "You did well. We didn’t have to step in, and you knew your limit. You’re a strong man." She told him, reaching out and gently pulling him from Sergei’s grip.

Carefully, she enfolded him in a hug. Tender, and Brent had to swallow several times to keep his tears down.

"I’m proud and grateful for you, Brent. Without your strength here I wouldn’t have been able to hold myself back. I am glad that in some way I was able to facilitate the beginning of your revenge, and that I got to witness it for even a moment. Take your time. Take your rest. Ellie will take care of the rest, so will Parker." Aunt Dina gave a soft chuckle. "They’ve always been the self-made heroes of everyone’s story. We can leave the heavy stuff to them." Aunt Dina explained.

Brent was confused, but when Aunt Dina pulled back, she smiled. She then turned, reaching for a bag she’d placed against the hallway wall. Brent hadn’t even noticed it was there.

"Here. Take this. It has a few things that’ll help you sleep well tonight. With your Esper nearby, I know you’ll be fine, but these will help. They’re microwavable." She said, turning her gaze to Sergei.

"Thank you." He said, before even looking in the bag. Aunt Dina smiled.

"I’ll escort you back to your rooms." She said, sniffing, and they left together once more.