Hi everyone... Nice to see you all again.

Now in Japanese 201... really enjoying myself... working my butt off, and doing tons of homework...Please don't hex me... burn me.. or shoot me with any kind of ray/normal gun. I'd appreciate it. My only excuses are a lack of time, and the assurance that regular updates will still be few and far between. Time is a commodity, that I lack. For those of you who know some Japanese, I have a bit of a bonus for you!

こんにちは みなさん。ひさしぶりですね。ごめんなさい、はなしをかきませんでした。じかんがありませんでした。

(Forgive me any mistakes... I avoided Kanji, even though I'm not half bad at them, in order to focus on grammar... which I'm not always particularly confident about. EVER.)

Warning: We've got a bit of violence in this chapter, and if you don't like mild-ish cursing, blood and pain, you might want to skip this one.

Enjoy the chapter. :)

Chapter 16

Duncan P.O.V.

Duncan was certainly uncomfortable to tell the truth. No idea what was going on, surrounded on all sides, and his most vulnerable family member was in danger. It certainly made him want to growl and posture, show them that he wasn't scared of the threat. That he could more than handle any threat to his family. But he was scared, he was only a teenager for god's sake. There wasn't much he could do against a whole freakin' organization out to get him and anyone half-like him. Especially a group supported by the public, and an open fear, if not vendetta against an entire species hunted like animals. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, and the few were a small number indeed. What's a guy to do when you're in the minority of less than a couple thousand (Less than that, if you meant just like him) versus a veritable army of upwards of seven billion?

Nothing. That's what.

A growl was still torn from his throat anyway- which embarrassingly came out as more of a whine, 'cause Barnes freaked him out. Startled him out of the red haze that was starting to fill his vision and had him hearing more than the rapid shudders of his heart, and the tensing of his muscles.

But he knew that instinct wouldn't help- if anything it was wrong -at least alone, and it'd cause more problems in the long run. As it was, Barnes and his crew were already more than ready to have the key to his cell on their key chain. (He had a terrible feeling he'd be pretty popular.)

So while he sat, ass on the ground, the bastard had the audacity to smirk at him, before turning back to his Mom, while some stupid mook was whispering in his ear. Who still had her back to the scaled kid obviously trying to shield him from the eyes of MEGTAF.

Hell, he had no problems with that, considering that he wished he was under the radar, but that had never been an option, considering that MEGTAF had been monitoring him as early as preschool and even before that.

So he found himself in a quite a vulnerable position, did he make himself the center of attention? Keep Barnes from noticing the unconscious kid? Or use him as a scapegoat to try to get out of here intact…

Obvious choice.

"So, Margaret… any reason why you've neglected to mention the brat doing a corpse impersonation behind you? This thing", he gestured lazily, confidently towards a scanner held in the hands of a man to his right, "however, rather than alerting us to it's presence- which we were aware of in the first place by the way." He sent her a knowing look,"you've let the geeks wander around like fools." The corners of his lips turned upwards,

"Any particular reason for that?"

Too knew from the mom seemed to realize it too, and stood to her full height, back straight and voice confident, "There's no one here Barnes."

Duncan could hear the delicate quaver under the hard steel of her voice, resonant in a way he was sure only he could hear. Barnes walked right up to her, way closer than he was comfortable with, until their chests were almost touching. "Is that your story Margaret? No second chances. You're going to have to make your choice now."

Her voice was final, "There is no choice. There was never one to make. There is no one here but me."

His sigh was disappointed, "If you say so Margaret. But I'm going to do my job, and this here is an unknown. If you want us to stand back and let another monster free reign of the city, it's not going to happen. Especially if this creature is anything like the other one."

Here a glare in his direction, which he met unflinchingly. There was no way he was going to get another rise out of him. Not this time. "Now move out of the way Margaret. You're just going to make things harder for yourself, and for the kid. When he is in our custody, and he will be in our custody, don't you doubt that Margaret. He'll get better treatment than if you try to play this off. Not to mention," his voice turned sly, "it'd be all too easy to get your son's school rights revoked. MEGTAF is all too ready to have him opened up on a table."

Oh, he did not just say that, did he? No way, No freaking way, he wanted to get the hell out of here.

"You and I both know that we're not allowed to play around with the humans, but them," he gestured to Duncan and the other kid, "they have no rights. No rules. And their innards would have some pretty interesting tales to tell, I'd bet. Kaiju anatomy, mixed with your lineage… no doubt the one over there shares a bit of your talents."

"So, tell me one more time that there's no one there, and you lose both of them. No one else to blame than yourself, for your past mistakes, and your current ones. Now, one more chance. Choose."

His Mom was biting her lip so hard the skin was becoming discolored, bruised. One good chomp away from bleeding, eyes serious, and faint wrinkles appearing around her eyes. His Mom usually looked so young… but in this moment she looked far older than her 37 years.

Without speaking, she spit in Barnes face, and when the goons made move to attack,she stood silently aside as they were quietly surrounded and held at gun point.

His only reaction was to speak quietly into his comm,"Command central, we've got hostiles. I repeat, we have two hostiles. Over."

He could hear the static on the other end, "Roger that, Agent. Reinforcements necessary?"

"Negative. Situation is under control."

He couldn't hide his disgust for the actions of the group, "You cowards! Hiding behind your guns, held captive by your fear and bias. In your firm belief that anything different, anything not normal, is something to be lorded over, to be captured, experimented upon, and if deemed un-useful, ultimately culled."

He didn't know exactly where all of this was coming from, up to that point in time he had very little thoughts related to MEGTAF. He thought of it in passing, but he had yet to have any kind of grudge against them. He knew they had very little regard towards anyone considered unusual, but his mother had always kept him safe. So he never thought of them. But now, more than before, he felt a kind of rage that he had never felt. Rotten, as if it had festered hidden, disdain as if he were gazing upon something beneath him, and a slight tingle of nervousness down the back of his spine that only enhanced his rage. Anger that went back ages, over a decade, a stream to a river, wearing down at his self-control.

Screaming kill, kill, kill, kill, but also protect, protect, protect. Protect the mother, protect the…. The only way he could interpret this feeling was clutch? Or a better translation might be pack-mate? It could only mean… and it only added to the agony that was aching in his breast.

So, there he was, drunk on emotions he couldn't explain or understand, and a pounding headache behind his slit eyes and gritted teeth practically ready to stagger around, wobbling with each step. And then he saw- no he felt, Barnes motion with his arm for someone to grab the kid-family-pack-mate, his, and the next second he was across the distance to the agent, arm caught in a crushing grip at the joint. He could feel the bones creaking, cracking, splintering, and the next thing he knew, his claws were bursting through skin, and the man, no, the boy was crying out, good hand attempting to staunch the sluggish leaking of blood.

At this point he had come to, when he had held the officer by the throat. That close, jaws inches from an armored throat, and he had seen the kids eyes, eyes that were pain pain pain fear. They were young, if not innocent, then naive, and they were brown. A deep chocolate that reminded him of his mother and he couldn't stop the cracked, "I'm sorry. I… I am so sorry."

He backed away, leaving the kid practically sobbing his agony into the ground, and he couldn't stop his shaking hands. He couldn't stop how he tried to wipe the blood off his fingers on sleeves and pants. How he could still see the blood underneath his nails, even in the dark. Or in the glare of the flood lights.

Really. The injury wasn't actually that bad. He could just convince himself. The cuts were glancing, barely piercing the flesh. The real injury wasn't that, but really how the lower arm reached towards the ground at an angle that clearly wasn't natural. He had grabbed the joint hard enough to shatter it, and it showed. The guilt had his own fingers digging into his steel hard skin, hoping to make at least an imprint. But he only felt the pressure.

He'd never actually hurt a person before. Sure, he'd scared a few bullies, or threw a few balls at a few heads, but he'd never actually injured anyone to this extent. Before he'd only fought other kaiju, never an actual human being. It made him sick. And really, weapons and armor aside, humans were so fragile.

"I never wanted this to happen. I only wanted you to leave my family alone." He whispered, loud against the deceptive quiet. It was like a tightly wound trap, any movement would lead to an undesirable outcome. And if no one moved, it would happen anyway.

Barnes strut forward, all signs of cockiness erased, leaving only military grade protocol, knowledge, and tactics. If Barnes was an android, he'd have felt that he had a target locked onto his face, accompanied by the words 'target acquired'. His next words froze him where he stood, finally stopping the shaking.

"Sorry, Margaret. Forget the deal. At this point, we have no choice but to take action. That agreement was made under the assumption that no human being would ever be harmed by him, and that he stayed under Titan Class in power. Before tonight, one of those rules had already been violated. But because of his good behavior and pro-human actions and attitude, we had pardoned it. With this act however, we have no choice to bring both of your sons into custody."

So he was right about the feeling of family. His Mom wasn't denying it. It only made their situation worse, and he was in no condition to think about it now.

As if taking a cue, the remaining men- minus the one clutching his arm on the floor, set their aim at one individual. Not him, but his mother. "Barnes!" he cried, eyes wide,"What the hell are you doing?! She has nothing to do with this!"

"That's where you're wrong, kid. You're mother had been with the enemy. The only reason she was allowed free was because she had the possibility of raising the greatest weapons for," a glance in his direction, "or weapons against humanity that we could have."

As an afterthought he added, "Plus, she allowed herself to be examined for her abilities. Normally Aether manipulators stay in hiding or away from humanity at large, though being humans themselves. As we'd rather avoid war on two sides, we were largely uninformed of their abilities. Margaret proved to be an exception, joining MEGTAF, because of Margaret our knowledge has grown in leaps and bounds."

He came to stand in front of Duncan, before backing up so his back was to the group, "After she outlived her usefulness in research, her people had effectively banished her, and her freedom was largely based on your usefulness and good behavior. Now, she is back to the cells. Thanks for that. Now Margaret, you'll be seeing a lot of me."

The last sentence was almost growled. He could hear the weapons starting to charge up, ready to shoot their damaging rays at his most important person. Just as the weapon was about to fire, he managed to push his way to his feet, and move faster than the weapons shot. Right in front of his mother.

As he got hit, he immediately crumpled to the floor, clutching his lower leg. Not a shot to kill, but one to incapacitate, and rather than the multitude, only one gun had fired. Barnes's.

The electricity running through his body made him twitch, small cries of pain filling his head. He tried to speak, as his teeth chattered and his hand twitched, biting his tongue. "What the h-hell do you-you think you are d-doing?" Small amounts of blood collected in his mouth, running against his tongue, and created a disgusting slick feeling in the back of his throat.

Barnes walked forward, followed by the eyes and silence of his entourage, as he placed the barrel of his gun against Duncan's left shoulder and without speaking pulled the trigger. The second shot made his frustrations vocal, with cries of pain erupting violently from his throat, as he writhed.

He hunched up leaning back to luck up at Barnes, as his arm angled further down, and the smirk on his face was disturbing to see. He fired again, at this point he was practically crying as he hunched forward clutching his wounded gut. "You basta…ds"

He could hear a soft voice behind him, pleading, a warm voice, "No, no baby. Don't get up, stay down. Stay down, baby." Soft hands touched his arm, aborting the short and stuttered movement in the voices direction, forcing it back to the ground. It lay there twitching. He let out another whine, was he displeasing that voice? The one that made him feel small and safe? That hand was quickly jerked away, forcing his head up, only for his eyes to be met with a visor and a lined mouth, hands holding his limbs down. A weight settled on his back legs on either side of his chest, and his face was forced into the dusty ground, mouth filling with silty earth. He was vulnerable. He was in pain, and he wanted his mother. "M..om" he called out, hand lifting slightly despite the pressure, only for him to be cuffed up the side of his head for the motion. The crying continued.

"Outnumbered, even with a small army. When there is no chance of victory, humans gather information, gather strength, confidence, and we band together. When there is no chance of victory, when the enemy can annihilate you ultimately. We find weaknesses, and we aren't so strong as to not use the advantages we have in order to keep ourselves safe. Any non-human, is an outsider. Your little speech wasn't wrong. MEGTAF was created for that very reason. We find the threats, analyze them, and then we. Take. Them. Out."

Just then his face was ground further into the earth and a needle was forced through his dense skin and into the back of his neck. The darkness around him dulled, blurring with the light, and in the back of his mind he could hear thousands of growls-somehow comforting. And then he was gone.

He didn't see as he was gathered loosely by the arms and dragged through the dirt to the back of one of the ships, as he was chained to the ground, by the feet, the wrists, and the neck. Or how his brother was met by the same fate.

Barnes walked past her, and she was enraged, "What the hell?! All of that shit and you go and leave me behind?! Arrest me! Take me with you! That whole spiel about how you were going to drop me back in prison? What the hell happened to that?!"

Barnes only looked once back at her as he got in a jet, "At this point, we don't need anything more from you. It'd just be a waste of resources. I'd just have to kill you. So, Just. Deal. With. It. Margaret."

Then the vehicles took off, leaving Margaret there standing behind in the dust. Alone.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, its a bit longer than what I would normally write, thing is, I had a lot of inspiration, and was having way too much fun.

Till next time, ~ A Muffin with a Mission