Page 44 of Static/Cling

“He’s military,” Kassian said. “And ex-hero.”

“Ex-hero?”

“He and Randolph, his twin, used to have powers that let them move things with their minds.” Kassian turned his back, apparently done with the explanation.

“Telekinesis?” Leif asked.

“I suppose,” Roger said, taking up the story. “They did it together, and the mass they could move was huge. The military figured there was no limit to how much they could move, or how far they could move it.”

“Or how fast,” Sal added.

“Oh.” There was the military, then.

“There were limits,” Kassian said darkly.

And there was the story.

“Are they like Firefox?” Leif asked.

Kassian grunted, a sound that seemed to be affirmative.

“Why is Rufus still military if they did that to them?”

“Because he’s not going to stop trying to get them to fix it. He’ll hound them until they figure out why it happened, or until Randolph stops obsessing over being broken,” Sal said. “And he figured he can do that better from the inside.” They looked at Kassian’s hunched shoulders. “He might be able to help us. He’d be willing.”

Kassian turned. “And if he gets caught, it’ll end everything. Right now, his hope that he can get them to fix this is the only thing keeping him from going off the deep end too.”

Sal looked sad but firm. “I’m putting him on the list.”

“No.”

“If you get caught, he might be the only way to get you out.”

“Don’t get me out.”

“Not an option,” Leif said at the same time Bjorn said, “No fucking way.”

Which was a surprise, because why did he care?

Because he wasn’t an asshole, that’s why.

“Fine. Put him on the list, but I swear to god, if he gets hurt, I will?—”

“Don’t say something you’ll want to take back later,” Leif advised with a smile softer than Bjorn had seen him use in a long time.

Kassian just grunted and returned his attention to his computer.

Sal, unsurprisingly, didn’t plan to go with them. They would stay behind to monitor everything and talk at them through the tiny earpieces they all wore.

Bjorn didn’t figure the device would even work for him, but Kassian insisted he’d adequately insulated it against his power. Sal got Leif to put the device in for Bjorn, and much to his surprise, it didn’t short out the instant it came in contact with his skin.

“Maybe you’re getting better at controlling it?” Leif asked.

Bjorn couldn’t help a grin, because his control had been spectacular last night.

“For fuck sakes,” Kassian muttered.

“Well, yeah. Pretty much,” Bjorn replied, winking at him. He wiggled his fingers at Kassian, letting a few sparks zip from the tips. They shot out, but didn’t quite reach the surface of Kassian’s skin.

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