A Kink in the Tail

Chapter 25 - It Never Happened...you imagined it.

Originally the plan that morning was for Lewis and Constantine to collect Adam's car. They needed it and what they left behind.  On the night Adam handed himself over to Thanos they had parked it a couple of blocks away. The Guardian and his team hoped that it was still there, undisturbed. 

After the drama in the apartment, the plan changed, The Guardian would go with Cyrus and use the time to tell him the whole story behind Adam and Constantine, and try to explain what he had seen. There was no telling how Cyrus would take it. Lewis wondered how a mere human would take Paul's revelation that the world he thought was so clear cut, with humans at the top and every other creature below them, wasn't how it actually worked. No matter what the human's reaction, the Guardian would retrieve the car and its contents.

In their luggage was Adam's new ID and other important paperwork he needed for his new life once he healed and they could leave town. More importantly, Constantine's Berretta and silver bowie knife were hidden in their bags. One gun was better than nothing, they still had no weapons apart from the stun guns. If Thanos and his men managed to find where they were hiding and come after Adam they would have to defend themselves somehow.

The panic Cyrus felt subsided, and by the time they left he was calm and curious.  He and Paul got into an Uber and left without any fuss.  It looked so normal.  Cyrus dressed like a nerdy office boy and Paul in his black suit looking like the CEO of a big company.  Lewis stood on the sidewalk and watched as they drove off. When the car was out of sight Lewis remained staring at the spot where he saw the car turn the corner. From the beginning, this mission seemed to be destined to fail. What had at first been uneasiness, was now a very real sense of dread and he couldn't shift it.   He turned and went back to his apartment.  There was little for him to do except stay out of sight and read through the folder Theodore had given Cyrus.

......

Shaun was showing signs of rapidly improving after he'd treated his wounds earlier in the morning.  Constantine was glad to see that he was stronger on his legs.  He was managing to get around the room by holding on to the furniture. From the look on his face, he was in pain but it was manageable.  He didn't offer to help because he was sure Shaun would refuse.  He wouldn't even look at him.  Constantine didn't blame him, he made a stupid mistake.  He gave him another quick look and could see the pink blush on Shaun's cheeks. 

"Are you ready?  I've cleaned him up and most of the wounds are OK.  His feet are the worst and there's one bad one on his thigh."  Barnes stood at the bedroom door wiping his hands dry.   He was talking to Constantine but couldn't help noticing Shaun shifting awkwardly behind him, acting as if he was trying to be invisible.  They were both acting strangely.  Everyone was acting out of character, it was like there was something weird in the air.  He was looking forward to getting back home.

"That's fine."  Constantine waved him off.  "Let's get started."    He wanted to occupy himself and not have to think.

Adam lay on the bed.  Constantine prayed to the Goddess for him to wake but he never responded to the gentle nudging Barnes gave him regularly.   The Lycan had taken on the role of nursing both Shaun and Adam as part of his job, it came naturally to him.  Constantine watched on as he unwrapped Adam's feet and was horrified to see they were in pretty bad shape compared to the others.   Barnes put the feet up on pillows and stood back.   He scrunched up his nose and looked the other way when Constantine started to work on one foot, licking the rough edges.   By the time he moved on to the second, Barnes was feeling nauseous and left the room.  The werewolf went about methodically licking until the foot was covered in his saliva.  He wrapped the feet back up and moved to the larger wound on his thigh.