The Division, page 16
“Do you think killing this site is going to end it? Hutton seems the type to find another site to publish her article. Maybe even a real print newspaper. Are you going to hunt down every issue?” He knew Socket hadn’t really thought about this.
“If I have to.” Socket took another gulp of his coffee and frowned into his empty cup.
Valor took the mug with the intent of getting Socket a refill. “The people have a right to know who’s behind The Division.”
“Isn’t that a little hypocritical of you?”
He hesitated a few feet from the coffee maker and turned back. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Socket dropped his shoulders. “Forget it. Forget I said anything.”
“No, you obviously have something to say.” Valor slammed the empty mug on the table. It cracked beneath his fingertips.
Socket spun around in his chair. “You’ve got a lot of nerve telling me that I’m suppressing information the public has a right to hear.” He made little quote motions with his fingers. Valor always hated that. “Mr. The-public-loves-me-so-they-can-never-know-I-like-to-fuck-guys.”
“That’s different. It’s private.” It was nobody’s business but his and Socket’s.
“Right.” Socket made a face and turned back to his board. “Like ‘sneaking out of my room before dawn’ private. I’ve got another word for that—shame.”
“Socket, you’re being ridiculous. This has nothing to do with what goes on in the bedroom. This is about The Division and the right of the free press.”
“You seriously can’t hear the words coming out of your mouth.” Socket pushed himself away from his desk and stood up. “Maybe I don’t want to be your dirty little secret anymore.”
Valor could feel the blood rushing to his brain. What the hell was Socket saying? “You can’t tell anyone!”
Socket just looked at him. Valor felt oddly like he was back in high school and hadn’t done his homework. He could see the disappointment on Socket’s face.
“Of course not.” Socket waved to the monitors. “I let the site go back up. You’re right about one thing—I can’t keep the Hutton News down indefinitely.” He turned his back on Valor. “Just don’t bother coming to my room tonight,” Socket said over his shoulder before disappearing through the door.
Valor stood there, not sure what exactly had just happened. How the hell did they end up arguing over the damn Hutton News? He took a step, intending to go after Socket. What would he say to him? Everything he’d said had been the truth. Socket damn well knew what could happen if their relationship was made public.
Hell, look at what happened to Captain Specter and his sidekick. The people they’d been protecting had pulled down a statue of the heroes in protest. That was just a shade away from marching in with torches and pitchforks. Valor could just imagine the outcry if he came out.
He made a circle of the control room, unsure what to do with himself now that Socket had left. Valor’s feet skidded over something and he reached down to find he’d dropped his mask. It had been crushed, but it was still salvageable. He put it back on, wrinkling his nose at the scent of stale coffee and some kind of industrial cleaner.
Without Socket, this room was nothing, just an empty hull with some computer screens. He’d talk to Socket. Valor had to make him understand. Maybe he’d let him cool off a bit first. They would be okay.
Peter ducked to avoid Tiana’s punch, but that left him off-balance enough so she could easily swipe his legs out from under him. He hit the practice mat hard. She was good, more than a challenge for him, and that’s when she pulled her blows. Her alien strength surpassed even Valor’s. Maybe with his blades he would stand a chance against her.
“You’re sneaky.” He wiped the sweat out of his eyes.
She laughed and held out a hand to help him up. “I have to be. You are too smart to succumb to a direct attack.”
“You’re just being nice.” Peter got to his feet. His fingers tingled where they had met her hand. She ran hotter than humans, but there was more to it than that.
“I’m never nice. Again?” Tiana picked up one of the wooden practice staffs and gestured with it.
Peter winced. She wielded the staff like she’d been born with it, and for all he knew, she had been.
He wondered if she was considered beautiful on her planet. She wore very little to spar—shorts cut high on the thigh and a sports bra that barely contained her generous assets—which showed off the solid muscles that rippled beneath her lavender skin. Peter wanted to mouth along her navel and follow the line of her abdomen with his lips. It had been so long since he’d been with a woman.
That was something else that separated him from Socket. Whatever weird difference in the universes that gave Socket his powers had also made him gay. Peter had always preferred women, until that choice had been taken from him.
Of all the people he’d met over here, Peter liked Tiana the best. Training with her felt like something he’d do with a friend—if he had one. He got the sense that she was lonely on Earth. Unlike the others, she didn’t have a secret identity and another place to live outside of the base.
Maybe he could spare her life, once the Overseers came. She’d be excellent in the arena. They would never have seen anyone like her before, and Peter would love to fight by her side.
“Let me get some water and we’ll see.” Peter uncapped his bottle and took a long draught. It felt so good going down, cooling his overheated body. He decided he’d better quit while he was ahead before he injured himself.
Before he could say so, the door opened and Socket strode into the gym, dressed in sweats and a baggy T-shirt. He nodded in their direction before sauntering over to the weight bench. Peter gaped as Socket grabbed a barbell and stared doing curls.
“Margar’s tits,” Tiana muttered under her breath. Her curses were more interesting than anything Peter had ever heard before. One day he was going to ask what they all meant.
“I know. Curls? On a bench?” Peter winked at her. “I’ll talk to him.”
“Good luck with that.”
He knew exactly what she meant. Everyone else on the team had been willing to spill the secrets of their powers—and he still couldn’t quite believe Doc had gotten hers from being struck by lightning—but Socket seemed to take pride in clamming up. Peter had played earnest hero as best as he could and still the bastard wouldn’t open up to him.
This might be his chance. Socket never worked out, so his very presence here must mean something was wrong. Without Valor in sight, Peter could play the friend and see if that would get Socket talking. He needed to figure out Socket’s abilities, and while he was at it, get Socket to spill about neutralizing Liberty. Her sudden introduction to the team had changed the game again, and his masters wanted her out of the picture.
“Need a hand? I could spot you?” Peter tried his best to look helpful, though he winced at the intensity with which Socket was pumping his arms. Not only was it bad form, Socket wasn’t getting anything out of the workout.
“No, I’m good.” Socket’s face had turned a dangerous shade of red. The idiot clearly hadn’t done much exercising in his life. Maybe he did live on caffeine and air.
Unable to take it anymore, Peter reached out and grabbed the barbell, stopping it in mid-motion. “You’ve never actually lifted weights before, have you?”
Socket let his head fall back on the bench. “Fuck no.”
Of course not. Whatever possessed the asshole to come and attempt it now? Peter put the weights back on the rack where they belonged. “You might want to start with something a bit easier. Maybe the treadmill?”
“I can’t.” Socket made a face like he had sucked something sour. “The treadmills have a computer in them.”
Peter knew that—it kept time, measured heart rate, and pulse. “And?”
“Whenever I get tired, it slows down in an attempt to make me happy.”
“That’s how your powers work? Computers want to make you happy?” It was so stupidly simple, but there it was—exactly how Socket’s powers worked. Peter hadn’t been able to wrap his mind around the concept of computer-telepathy, but that simple phrase made so much more sense. That was definitely the kind of thing the Overseers would want to know more about—their entire world was made up of computers.
Socket pushed himself up and shrugged. “Yeah. It’s always been like that, from when they first manifested. You know, I can’t figure out why you don’t have them, too. If we’re genetically identical…”
Peter had a hard time believing that. They had to differ in some way. He couldn’t be anything like this weakling in front of him. “Nobody has these abilities where I come from.”
“You don’t think you’d suddenly acquire them here?”
Wouldn’t that be the worst kind of torture, to be given that gift and then have it taken away when he returned home? “Hasn’t happened yet. You’ll have to ask Doc.” He tried to keep his voice light, to hide how much the concept downright bugged him.
“I guess.” Socket curled in on himself. It made him look small and younger, somehow. The lack of a pithy comment was another clue.
Something had happened. There was only one person who could have this effect on Socket—Valor. Peter had to play this right. How would a friend approach this? Their last conversation about Valor and Michaels hadn’t gone well at all, but maybe he could use that. “What did that bastard do?”
“Nothing. That’s the problem.” Socket jumped to his feet and made a show of straightening his T-shirt. “I thought I could get away from it in here, but…” He cut himself off, glancing at Tiana before clamping his mouth shut. So he wouldn’t talk in front of the alien?
Peter felt offended on her behalf. But he needed to press this opportunity while he had it. Socket was vulnerable and might let something slip. “Want to go out and grab a beer?”
Socket grimaced, but his response sounded more like him. “If that’s manly talk for wanna go talk about our feelings, then no thanks. I don’t do beer. However, I would consider going out for a cup of coffee.”
“You’ve got coffee makers in every room.”
“Yes, but sometimes even I have a craving for a latte. You in?”
Peter smiled back. He was finally getting somewhere. “Meet you in the lobby in ten.”
After a night of tossing and turning in his empty bed, Socket had ended up wandering the base. Every room had reminded him of Valor, so no matter where he went, he was hit with some memory of something simple, like Valor making a sandwich in the kitchen. He couldn’t even escape it in the control room, too hypersensitive of what they’d done in what used to be his sanctuary. Finally, he’d gone to the gym, desperate to find some place unmarked by Valor’s presence. That turned out to be a bust, but at least Peter’s invitation would get him out of the building.
“Here. Double shot latte with whipped cream.” Peter plopped the drink in front of Socket before sliding in the seat opposite him with his own cup.
He should have asked for a triple shot. Socket took a sip, savoring the sweetness of the cream on his tongue. There probably wasn’t enough caffeine in the world to deal with his problems today. He didn’t even know if he and Valor were broken up now. They weren’t ever actually together, not officially.
“What are you having?”
Peter pulled his own cup closer, as if aware of the very real possibility of Socket snatching it. “Regular black coffee.”
“I like mine a little sweet.” Although this was a whole lot sweet. Socket licked a blob of whipped cream off of his finger.
He had his alternate universe duplicate sitting across from him in one of his favorite coffee shops. To the strangers sitting at the other tables, Socket bet they looked like warped twins, with the way Peter’s shoulders filled out that shirt so the seams were almost bursting. Peter had earned those muscles the hard way, and Socket supposed it was time to stop hating on his double.
“Are you going to talk about it, or are you just going to sit here and pretend everything is fine?”
Then again, sometimes they were very much alike. Socket laughed, wincing at how wrecked it sounded. He was getting too old to stay up all night long without consequences. “You’ll find out if you watch the news. The reports just started to trickle in this morning. About my company funding The Division.” He clarified at Peter’s very confused look.
“So this doesn’t have anything to do with Michaels?” Peter looked almost put out.
“Didn’t say that.” Socket tugged at the cardboard circling his cup. “I could have stopped the report from going out. Could have taken out the whole damn web to do it. But I’d be ‘impeding the freedom of the press.’” Just saying it aloud now made him want to go and shake Valor.
Peter narrowed his eyes, looking much like Tiana did before a fight—downright dangerous. Socket wondered if his own face could do that. “That’s what the argument was about?”
Of course Peter didn’t understand the implications. Nobody knew that Valor had been hiding his sexuality for years, mostly because he feared the reaction of the press. “It’s complicated.” And far too personal to share with this man who might share his face, but not his life.
“I thought you were going to say he was fooling around with Liberty. After that kiss at the press conference?”
Socket couldn’t help the chuckle that burst out. Had that been only a few days ago? He’d been so sure he knew where he stood with Valor and now he didn’t know anything at all. “Val wasn’t sleeping with Liberty. I wouldn’t have asked her to join the team if I thought…” He trailed off, realizing how much he’d divulged with that statement. Socket had been insecure enough to keep her off The Division for this long.
“She’s very impressive. And powerful.”
“Don’t tell me you’ve got a crush on her. Wasn’t sure you swayed that way.” Wouldn’t that just take the cake—the alternate version of himself being straight? Then again, Peter did spend a lot of time with Tiana. It still boggled Socket’s mind how he and Peter could look so alike and yet be so different. The lack of powers was apparently just the start.
“Hardly.” Peter took a long sip of his coffee and made a face at it. “God, this tastes like turpentine.”
“I’m rather disturbed that you know what turpentine tastes like.”
Peter ignored Socket’s poor attempt at a joke. “Liberty seems unstoppable. I don’t think even the Overseers will be able to compensate for her abilities.”
“As long as nobody throws her into a pool of water.” Socket sat back and stared out the window, frowning at the crowd gathering outside the BarTec building. He barely heard Peter, too focused on the frenzy descending outside.
“She’s vulnerable to water?”
“Oh, not like that. You can’t squirt it at her and shut off her powers. She’s just afraid of it. Can’t swim or anything and gets too freaked out to teleport.” Valor had saved her life once and told Socket about it afterward. He wondered if they were ever going to talk so candidly again, never mind share secrets. Damn it, he came down here to stop thinking about Valor.
Socket realized what that crowd of people milling outside his building meant. He stood and pressed against the glass to get a closer look. “Those are news crews. Fuck.”
Peter came up next to him, still holding his coffee. “From that article about The Division.”
“We’re going to have to go around back. Can’t let them see me.” Socket touched his earpiece and sent a text to Nina. They were going to need to get the PR firms on this ASAP. Then he patched into The Division’s signal. “Everyone get your asses back on base. Team meeting for those of you who haven’t watched the news this morning.”
It looked like he was going to face Valor a little sooner than he had planned. Socket swallowed, not looking forward to seeing his best friend. Possibly former best friend. Fuck, he knew he never should have slept with Valor. It had ruined everything.
Valor had two mugs of coffee, one in each hand. He had meant to hand one to Socket when he arrived, as a peace offering of sorts. But Socket walked into the conference room with a cardboard cup from the coffee shop across the street and a smear of whipped cream on his chin.
“You went for lattes without me?” he blurted without thinking.
Socket looked at him, but there was something wrong with his eyes, like they were out of focus. “Peter came with me.” He moved to take his seat, with Peter following behind.
As far as Valor knew, Socket still didn’t quite trust Peter. Now they were hanging out? When had that happened? If Peter had told Socket about the incident in the gym would Socket tell Peter about sleeping with Valor? His belly started to churn at the thought of Socket spilling about their relationship.
A flash of light signaled Liberty arriving, startling Valor out of his thoughts. He still wasn’t used to her teleporting. That power had been a carefully guarded secret.
She grinned at Valor and took one of the mugs of coffee. “Thanks!”
Well, at least she saved him from looking like an idiot. Valor hesitated before taking his seat. He normally sat next to Socket, but he wasn’t sure how that would be taken at the moment. It felt wrong not to be joking around with Socket, to be teasing him about his sudden celebrity status.
Maybe giving Socket the night to think about things had been a bad idea. Valor just hadn’t known what to do. Socket had made it clear Valor hadn’t been welcome, and short of hovering outside of his window hoping Socket opened up, there wasn’t anything Valor could have done.
He hadn’t expected to screw things up so spectacularly. Sleeping with his best friend had been a stupid idea. It might cost them their friendship. Ten years down the drain because he couldn’t keep it in his pants. The coffee turned bitter in his mouth, and Valor spit it back into the cup.
“Son, you’ve gone and stepped in it now.” Doc walked into the room, closing the door behind her. She was the last to arrive—Mace and Dash were already in their seats.
