Kenya
A smash and grab in a slum meant there was no chase by the law enforcement or the defrosting gangsters.
"How is he?" Miles asked, focused on the road as he slowed down to not draw attention.
"Not good." Claire shook her head. She may not be a medical expert, but all that wheezing couldn't be good.
"First aid is not going to cut it. He needs a hospital." Miles knew enough to stitch a bullet hole; he had learned that much, but he couldn't treat internal bleeding.
"Isn't that going to draw attention to us?" Claire asked, as keeping their heads down was crucial to avoid problems.
"I am a businessman who was doing on-site research for investment when we came across gangsters beating the boy for trying to protect his sister. The gang members locked them up in a freezer, so we intervened." Miles came up with the excuse just now, and if it did not work, they could always bribe the hospital.
"Got it."
Five minutes later they found a private clinic, and Miles parked the car right at the entrance. Taking the boy in his arms, he rushed in, calling for help. The nurses brought a gurney, and Miles placed the boy on it, while Claire followed in behind with the girl still wrapped in the thermal blanket.
Explaining the situation as they took the boy away, Miles sat down on the chair, with Claire bringing Zalika to sit down as well.
"W-who are you?" Zalika asked, leaning into Claire for heat.
"Someone with a job offer for you, though it will have to wait until you and your brother are well enough to make a rational choice. How are you feeling?" Miles knew how some villains became so because too many people took advantage of them, and he wasn't interested in being the kind to exploit a teenager.
"Cold. Where is Baraka?" No matter how sleepy she felt, Zalika forced herself to stay awake for her brother.
"The doctors are looking after him." Miles assured the young girl, who nodded after a couple of seconds.
A nurse approached Zalika, asking some questions, before taking her away for a check-up.
"You know, this could easily blow on us." Two white people claiming to have saved two vulnerable teenagers from gangsters?
No matter how true it was, the whole situation looked like an amateur attempt at human trafficking.
"Let me worry about that."
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Turns out Baraka did have internal bleeding, but since he had no insurance, the clinic was going to transfer him to a public hospital before Miles intervened, offering to cover the treatment costs for both teenagers.
Seeing the money, the hospital administration was all too willing to treat them.
Waiting in the hospital with nothing to do was boring, so Claire decided to question Miles.
"I noticed something. You seem really experienced when it comes to subterfuge." Claire was forced to take lessons in the subject, not that any of it stuck, but seeing Miles be ruthless enough to threaten a man one second and play the good Samaritan the other was something else.
"When you have to fend for yourself from a very young age, it becomes vital to deceive people." Miles may have learned these lessons the hard
"Like who?"
"Like my parents, grandparents, teachers, the IRS, and law enforcement." Blackmailing a banking executive wasn't his first illegal act, and naturally, he had to deceive a lot of individuals.
"Excuse me, about the teenagers you brought?" A female nurse with a chart in her hand approached, looking mighty suspicious.
"Yes, how can I help?" Miles rose slowly, establishing eye contact with the nurse, using his smile and body language to disarm the nurse.
"We need to ask you some questions for official forms." She said, smiling back weakly at Miles, her thoughts clashing over the charming smile and the suspicious situation.
"Of course."
"Are you their guardian?" The nurse asked, and Miles shook his head.
"No, me and my bodyguard were checking the site of my latest investment when we saw them assaulted by gangsters, who locked them in a freezer after they were done beating the boy. We couldn't just stand by and do nothing, and here we are." Miles said, his face laced with worry.
"Please tell me they will be alright." He asked with such innocence, even Batman would be taken aback.
The nurse smiled, lowering her guard now, and nodded.
"He had some minor internal bleeding, and we are treating him now. The girl, Zalika, can be discharged as her vitals are normal now that she warmed up, but Baraka will need some time to recuperate. He could be discharged within a week." The nurse explained, relaxed now that she believed Miles didn't have any ulterior motives.
"That is wonderful. Please, let me know if there is anything I can do to help."
The nurse shook her head, saying the staff were just doing their duty, and left after informing Miles and Claire they could see Zalika.
"For a second, even I believed your act." The bodyguard quipped, following her employer to the patient's room.
"What act?" Miles asked, smiling with his eyes closed.
Claire huffed, amused, but kept silent on the matter.
Zalika was on the bed with the thermal blanket still around her and an IV drip giving her the nutrients and liquids she needed.
"How is my brother?" She was barely coming to her senses, yet the first thing on Zalika's mind was her brother.
"The nurse said he will be fine; he just needs to rest for a week." The words comforted her, and Miles could see the young girl visibly relax on the bed.
"You said you had a job offer? What do you think I can do for you?" Zalika's only talent, and the sole reason the gang even kept them alive, was with technology, specifically, hacking to steal.
"Hacking." He replied, as if reading her mind.
"I am good with tech, but not that good." Zalika wanted to ask how this man knew her enough to come all this way to offer a job when she wasn't even an expert.
"Your true potential will surprise you, but as I said, let's wait until you are on your feet." Miles said, plunging the room into silence again.
Zalika blushed as her stomach grumbled, which was natural since Miles didn't think the gang cared enough to feed the siblings enough.
"Claire, could you go and get some food? No need to expose her to the sludge the hospital calls food." Miles didn't really know what Kenyan hospitals offered as food, and he didn't want to find out.
Snatching the offered stack of dollars, Claire headed to the pizza place she had seen across the road.
"Who is she?" The teen obviously didn't want to talk more about business, so she changed the subject.
"My bodyguard." Miles didn't elaborate, instead choosing to go for a demonstration when Claire returned.
"You look stronger than her; how is she supposed to protect you?" Zalika did believe him, since the woman deferred to Miles, but it didn't make sense to her.
"Appearances can be deceiving." Hearing the cryptic answer, she just decided to wait for the food rather than waste her energy trying to solve it.
Miles and Zalika continued their small talk until Claire returned with three boxes of large pepperoni pizza and some beverages.
Handing one of the boxes and a drink to the teen, Miles noticed that his pizza wasn't exactly hot.
"Claire, if you would be so kind." He held out the pizza box. Rolling her eyes, Claire held out her palm, and flames bloomed into existence, heating pizza in a matter of seconds. Blowing on the sizzling cheese and pepperoni, Miles took a bite, nodding in appreciation, while Zalika watched with an open mouth, amazed.
"How?" She asked, reaching out to hold Claire's hand to see what the trick was.
"Claire is a pyrokinetic; she can will fire into existence as easily as she breathes." Claire looked happy at the attention, since most of the time people looked at her with fear rather than amazement, as the younger girl was doing.
"Do you have powers too?" Zalika was still inspecting the hand but saw nothing besides the leather gloves.
"No, but I might get some down the line." Miles shrugged. Even if he didn't go out to fight crime every day, it would be necessary to have the means for self-defense. Perhaps he could find Professor Ivo and have the robotics genius build an Iron Man armor for him?
"You can do that?" Zalika might have said it, but Claire was thinking it as well, from the way she looked at Miles.
"Knowledge is power, and I do know quite a bit. Now, eat up and rest; we can talk further after you and your brother are up and ready."
"Okay."
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Baraka was ready to receive visitors after three days. Miles and Claire stood behind to not interrupt the teary reunion of the siblings, watching from outside as tears flowed like a waterfall.
After letting the siblings have their moment, Miles stepped inside with a basket full of food and drinks.
"Didn't know what you would prefer, so I brought a little bit of everything." Miles approached the bedridden teenager, offering the basket to his sister.
Baraka and Zalika were similar in appearance, as the only thing keeping them apart was the gender difference. Both had black, curly hair, brown eyes, and diamond faces.
"So you saved us, why?" Baraka was mighty suspicious, as Miles expected, but at his sister's urging, he took one of the wraps and began to eat.
"I have a job offer for your sister." Miles sat down on the empty chair, while Claire was leaning on the door side, keeping an eye out.
"What kind?"
"Hacking."
"And what is she going to hack?" She was already forced to steal for the gang without seeing a single cent; no way was he going to allow it to happen again.
"Why don't we speak of the specifics away from any possible prying ears?" Claire might be keeping an eye out, but this was still too public for his tastes.
"If she refuses?"
"Then that's that. I'll just drop you off somewhere safe and be on my way. Do you have a place in mind?" The question from Miles had the siblings looking at each other. A silent conversation took place between them, agreeing that there wasn't a safe place they could go.
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The next three days were routine. Miles and Claire brought food to the teens, talked about mundane matters, and generally spent their time building a rapport.
Claire's powers were fascinating for the teens, and the young woman was happy to show off her skills.
It was the last day that proved to be interesting.
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Baraka was going to be discharged today, so Miles and Claire made sure to pick up something extra nice for the occasion.
Entering through the clinic's door, the duo came across a pandemonium. Phones were ringing constantly, the computers were acting up, the screens were going on and off, and tabs were opening at random.
Heart monitors and every single digital medical equipment were operating on their own, and the staff panicked, unable to deal with the chaos.
"Come on." Miles hurried to Baraka's room, already having an idea of the cause.
Inside the room, Zalika was on the ground, heaving as she grasped her skull with both hands, and Baraka was shaking her, trying to bring his sister out of it.
"Zalika, look at me." Claire held the teen by both arms, looking deep into her eyes.
"Take deep, slow breaths, and focus on here and now." Project Firestorm had taught her control, and in this moment, Claire Selton remembered those lessons all too clearly.
The authoritative voice got to her, and Zalika began to take deep breaths, focusing on Claire's voice.
Slowly, the out-of-control machines began to stop one at a time. Phones stopped ringing first, then the computers and the medical equipment, leaving the staff even more confused.
"What the hell was that?" Baraka asked, turning to Miles for answers.
"Your sister's technopathic powers just came into play, and since it was the first time, things went out of control." Miles kneeled down to make sure Zalika was okay, and aside from the elevated heartbeat, she was fine.
"You knew this would happen?" There was an edge to Baraka's voice, and Miles knew the wrong answer would set him off.
"That she would have metahuman powers? Yes. The little, unintentional outburst? No."
"If that offer is still available, I'll take it." Zalika slowly got off the ground with Claire's help, ready to go.
In the next chapter:
They were one of the larger gangs in the slums, but still, this was getting tedious.
"It's a matter of pride. They won't let us go until one side is dead. Damn it, there is a police checkpoint ahead." Baraka didn't know what to do and considered ramming through at full speed rather than being caught by the gang.
Several vehicles with heavy weapons mounted at the top were waiting ahead, and the dozens of heavily armed police were directing the vehicles to the side road.
"Slow down, Baraka; they know we are coming." Miles put the rifle back into the bag before reaching down and taking another bag, waiting.
"They are?" Claire didn't know anything about cops that were supposed to wait for them.
Miles smirked. "Of course.