Chapter 338: Everyone gets emotional when things get hard

Kellen had no idea how Brent did it.

Kellen was already at his limit, much like his Uncles, as he dealt with another Guide threatening to spit in his face while making moon eyes at his man.

Brent kept laughing off how the Guides would go after Sergei, like it meant nothing, while Kellen could feel his own patience and understanding boiling over.

Brent was the one who had suggested this set up to help both Kellen and Brent speak to the Guides, while also finally getting Uncle Vance close enough to check the Guides without them trying to guide him.

If it was just light guiding, he would have been fine with it. They kept going for his lips and his crotch though, and that was not something that Uncle Vance condoned. Especially from the younger Guides. There were two that appeared to be under 20, with the youngest being 12 and the second youngest being 19. The rest were in between 21 and 30. They all claimed that they were S Classes, which Kellen wanted to confirm, but also didn’t want to know.

For obvious reasons, this upset everyone in the room who had ears. It wasn’t that being an S Class was wrong. That was never the case. It was more that it was fucking clear that either they had been made in the younger Guides cases, or they had been sold or stolen as was the case for the older Guides. Given that Brent was in his late 20’s, it was clear what he thought was the case.

He was grim when he thought no one was looking, and while Kellen wanted to comfort him, he had his own stuff to deal with.

Kellen had never realised that he would be this jealous. Ever. He knew that he was possessive, knew that he didn’t like others touching Rhys, but Rhys had always made it clear that he belonged to the Kellen so openly that very few pushed the boundary after it was set.

These Guides didn’t seem to care. In fact, they seemed to revel in the fact that Rhys was taken and that they were going to be able to guide him without Kellen’s permission. The fact that they thought that was insane, and Kellen, new still to being an S Class and an Esper, was ready to hurt children.

It was only his training that kept him sane, and the constant reminder that they were victims, that they didn’t know better. They were just trying to survive, and to do that, they needed to guide Espers.

Kellen could understand that, and Rhys was still making everything very clear. He hadn’t wavered for even a second and that was helping Kellen keep his head on straight.

By the end of the very long two hours that Kellen and co stayed with the Guides and got them cleaned up, taken care of, named, sorted, and told them what was going on, Kellen’s nerves were shot.

It was just as well that his Mom showed up to meet her boys. Both Kellen and his father were exhausted from the verbal abuse they had faced at the hands of their fellow Guides and Kellen let his Dad hug his Mom first before he demanded a hug in turn.

It wasn’t often that Kellen wanted one personally, so she didn’t refuse it. She deserved the hug, after having to go through hell, and Kellen did too. Not for the same kind of hell, but one that was going to take a toll on him later.

Kellen let his Dad debrief his Mom on the situation, while Kellen wandered over to where Brent, Sergei and Uncle Parker were.

They had gotten hold of Taylor, thank everything holy, and that was how they had been able to manage what was going on. It had turned out that a few of the Guides hadn’t been as obvious as these ones were, but they had tried to approach the other Espers on their guard rotation for the same kind of favors. They thought that was how they had kept their good treatment, and they were willing to sacrifice themselves to keep the younger ones safe.

It would take time, and consistent treatment before they understood that they were safe and they didn’t have to treat themselves and others the way that they were. That was why they had only treated everyone today before leaving, and Brent was going to make it his mission to rile them up and pester them because he knew that there was no way this would have happened without the technology that had created him.

He was dark, the humour gone now that he was out of the room as he spoke to Taylor over the phone, and listened to what she had to say. She wasn’t exactly an expert, but the person that they could talk to was asleep.

Charlie had been crashing at her place or Gunther’s ever since the broadcast. He didn’t like being alone in the apartment on his own and Taylor didn’t mind having a visitor. The company made the nights not as cold, and she liked ordering in and eating with him.

Hearing that made Kellen’s heart ache, but then again, yeah, Charlie would be their leading expert in this area. He spent a lot of time with the other Guides, and was probably a victim himself. He fell into the age range, his upbringing was odd, and he was an S Class Guide.

It only begged the question that no one wanted to utter out loud, what happened to the Guides, the civilians that were created that didn’t live up to their standards? It took a lot to raise a child, and the earliest one could normally awaken was 12.

Of course, they knew that wasn’t the case for some of the Guides. A few of them had awoken earlier and if they followed Rhys’ belief...something extremely traumatic had to happen to someone for them to awaken as an S Class from the get go. Kellen’s case wasn’t quite the same, so he couldn’t be draped with the same cloth.

But these children? These...young adults?

Kellen bad a feeling he understood how the poor babies awoke and he did not, could not voice it aloud.

"I’m going to be fucking sick." Brent said through clenched teeth. "They dare call anyone else a monster? Whoever is involved in this I need to feel their damn lifeblood on my hands personally." Brent spoke the words that Kellen felt in his soul.

"Watching them rot won’t make it feel like enough." Kellen said.

"What if I speed it up?" Rhys asked, and everyone turned to him. He had been silent for most of the interaction. Watchful, kind, but firm in turning down the Guides.

"What?" Kellen asked and Rhys cleared his throat.

"Theo asked me to never experiment on good people when it came to my powers. I doubt he would say anything about pedophiles." Rhys said. "I know, well, we know that I can alter my own personal body and I can do the same for objects. Experiments on humans are taboo, but I feel no one would protest this." Kellen frowned.

He reached for Rhys, slipping his hand into his.

"I will. What will it cost you?" Kellen asked and Rhys chuckled. It was a dark sound, his eyes glowing far too brightly for anything positive to be in his head.

"Kellen, I’m only sane right now because you are at my side. I doubt any of us will be resting tonight, too focused on the next city, the next target. I too, want to be helpful right now." Kellen’s frown deepened hearing Rhys’ words.

He knew that Rhys was feeling inadequate right now, but the man had been so helpful over the last bit. So what if he couldn’t see the future? He was able to do so much more than that.

"Rhys, you have been helpful." Kellen told him gently, unable to take his gaze off of the sweet, but silly man. "You just came back from leading a team to attack a facility where nothing went wrong. You just gave the E.A.G. a clear message. You did that." Kellen told him, a little alarmed that Rhys’ insecurities were out in the open now.

"Come on, Rhys, listen to Kellen. He’s not the type to lie about this kind of shit, and honestly, we all rely on you and your calm head to get through this kind of bullshit." Brent added. Sergei nodded, his eyes watching Rhys calmly.

"You’ve always been able to be objective, even in times of trouble. Don’t say that it has no value, or that your experience isn’t important. While I do agree that torturing others with your powers would probably feel great in the short term, I agree with Lieutenant Gunther that it shouldn’t be done. For your sake." Sergei added. "It’s one thing to kill monsters or torture them in gates with your powers, it’s another to harm a fellow human." Sergei seemed to be speaking from a place of pure understanding.

Even Uncle Parker was nodding. He was older than them, and grew up either in the time of his parents or just after that. Salem, despite their name and expertise, was actually older than Kellen and just had a young-looking face. Uncle Parker wasn’t the same as the freaks that were going after these children, which honestly, had been a fear when Kellen had met Salem, but was quickly squashed by Salem themselves.

"Agreed. Take it from someone who society tends to consider their powers evil, Rhys, torture doesn’t do anyone any good. Not when it involves your powers." There was a weight to his words that could not be ignored and Rhys flexed his hands.

"You speak as if I haven’t had to do so." Rhys muttered. Kellen squeezed his hands.

"None of us doubt it, I just don’t want you to do more, Rhys. Sure, it’d be great to watch the life get sucked out of them but for what? Another cost on your shoulders? Another day I don’t get to spend at your side in the future? What is the cost for us? I don’t want it. We can just do it the old-fashioned way, with tools and ropes." Kellen said.

Uncle Parker laughed.

"So torture is still on the table?" He asked, bemused, and Kellen scowled.

"For monsters, yes. You are not included in that list, nor is Sergei, Uncle Parker, or anyone on the right side. Using your powers to protect people and keep people safe is different from going out of your way to intentionally hurt others." Kellen knew he was preaching to the choir, but Rhys was oddly insecure today.

Kellen felt maybe it had to do with the Guides, and if that was the case, Kellen would gladly soothe the man.

"You are not a monster, you are not lesser than any of the other Guides, and you are important. You do a great job here, Rhys, and you are more than just your ability to see the future. There are so many things that you do with your powers that are valuable, and you are valuable even without them." Kellen told him.

"God, I can’t believe Captain Rhys Thatcher has these thoughts." Brent muttered and Kellen gave him the middle finger without looking at him.

"How many times have I coddled you when you sobbed about the same damn thing?" Kellen asked, revealing his dark past. There had been several times during missions and after then that Brent had felt worthless. Less than. Kellen had supported him then, much like he was doing to Rhys right now.

"Sheesh. I was just making a comment. No need to bring up my dark past." Brent grumbled, but the mood was lifted. Thankfully, that was when his parents joined them as well. They could now talk about what his Mom had been going through.