What Are We Gonna Do Now?

“There’s been no activity since you left,” Miche began.

“Things have been quiet to the point of people making jokes about it,” Campbell shrugged.

“Are we really getting that much attention?” Aaron cocked an eyebrow.

“Enough to make me be able to find you,” Arie added.

“Well, that’s one issue to take care of. We need to be more discreet about this. Arie, can you help with that?” Aaron asked.

“Absolutely. You’ve done more than enough for me,” she nodded.

“What exactly did you do, Aaron?” Campbell leaned forward.

“Helped a resistance movement. Took down a despot. Found another guy who wanted to kill me. That’s about it,” Aaron said.

“I remember seeing something about that on the news,” Miche realized the story was familiar. “International news outlets are saying it was a surprising turn of events.”

“It was,” Aaron said, resolute. “Partly because of me.”

“Without Aaron, my country would still be in trouble,” Arie looked to both Miche and Campbell.

“My boyfriend, the international hero,” Campbell smiled. “Wait a second. Who was trying to kill you?”

“I’m glad you caught that,” Aaron laughed. “Someone connected to the others.”

“Are you serious? Did he disappear in Blink’s light, too?” Miche was surprised.

“Blink was helping that man?!” Arie tried to control her anger.

“It’s complicated. He’s not the Blink you know,” Aaron started. “Whenever we defeat someone, they transport away in a blue light. We think that’s Blink using time-travel to take them to their original time.”
“More than likely in the future,” Miche added.

“Did he say anything?” Campbell asked.

“No, nothing besides the usual. I think something weird is going on in their minds, though. I think they literally cannot tell us who is after me.” Aaron’s abilities had been no help in getting the answers he needed, and he was beginning to understand why.

“Could someone have actively tried to prevent you from getting anything from the attackers’ minds?” Miche asked.

“That is a very distinct possibility,” Aaron replied. “Especially considering that when I tried it on Golem, I picked up an energy in him similar to what I got in James.”

“Is that why you don’t trust them?” Campbell asked. “So far, they’re powerhouses in our group.”

“Who?” Arie asked.

“Twins. James and Jane,” Aaron informed her. “They’re not in the group,” Aaron frowned at Campbell.

“But have you considered: they might be able to help us?” Miche offered.

“Yes, I have. They’d be valuable. But we’ve gone over this already. There’s something off about them.” Aaron looked around the room.

“Aaron, I trust your judgment,” Arie began, which elicited surprised looks from her company, “But this may be worth investigating. Keep them close. We never expected Juhl to betray us. You never know what you will get from people, so keep them as much under your watch as you can.”

“I think that’s the safest idea,” Campbell said in agreement with Arie. “If they do betray us, it will be trouble, but as long as they’re willing to help us, we should take it. They can do so much more than we can.”

“I hear what you’re saying—“ Aaron constructed his argument.

“But you aren’t listening. We should treat them as an asset until we have no reason to.” Miche interrupted.

“I—“ Aaron wanted to argue, but as he looked at all of his friends, he knew he had no more say. “Okay. Fine.”

“We only want to protect you,” Campbell reached over to touch him.

“But what if this is the exact opposite?” Aaron took his hand, but expressed his sense of worry.

“We do what we can,” Arie touched his shoulder.

“Okay,” Aaron sat back. “So, what did we cover?”

“We need to be more discreet,” said Miche.

“We need to find Blink.” Campbell added.

“Trust the twins until we can’t,” Arie said gently.

“Looks like we’re in business then,” Aaron stood up. “Have you seen Blink at all?”

“No, but we’ve been looking.”  Miche shrugged.

“He takes priority, then,” Aaron said. “In the meantime, I really need to sleep.”

“Then let’s take a break. Unless someone attacks, we can stop with the planning,” Miche said. “Arie, do you need somewhere to stay?”

“No, I have been a student here for a while. I live on campus,” Arie replied.

“Good to know,” Miche added. “Goodnight Aaron. Glad you’re safe,” she said as she left his apartment.

“Thank you for everything Aaron. Please, keep me informed,” Arie said before teleporting home.

“Bed time?” Campbell asked.

“Bed time,” Aaron replied as he kissed his boyfriend.

A few days later, the group decided to meet for lunch. As Aaron made his way to the student center, Campbell found him.

“Aaron,” Campbell said with urgency, “I need to talk to you.”

“Okay… You do know you have my number right?” Aaron asked.

“Right.” Campbell looked away. “This is important. I know something about the twins.”

“You do?” Aaron asked. “What do you know now that you didn’t know a few days ago?”

“Everything.” Campbell responded.

“What do you mean?” Aaron stopped walking.

“Everything you should have known about them from the beginning.”

“How exactly did you get this information?” Aaron looked at him, unsure of what was going on.

“I—“ Campbell looked around and his eyes grew wide. “I can’t tell you now. Later, okay?”

“Okay…?” Aaron said as Campbell ran off. He made his way to the student center and found Campbell, Arie, and Miche sitting together.

“Late,” Campbell said.

“We’re used to it,” Miche said to Arie, chuckling.

“Campbell, what exactly was that about?” Aaron tilted his head.

“What? You are always late,” Campbell was confused.

“Not that. The conversation we just had. What do you know about the twins?” Aaron asked.

“Nothing that we didn’t know a few days ago,” Campbell shrugged.

“But, you just told me you knew everything.” Aaron slowly sat down.

“I’ve been here with Miche and Arie for the past few minutes,” Campbell leaned forward.

“Aaron, who were you talking to?” Miche asked.

“I thought it was Campbell…” Aaron’s mind raced with the possibilities. “But…”

“You may need to find this man again,” Arie interjected. “He apparently has information you need.”

“Think we can still trust the twins?” Aaron asked.

“I guess we’ll find out,” Campbell sat back, still trying to wrap his mind around another him.