The Sunshine Boy and the Weaver King

Chapter Seventeen

Both Ryan and Maddox were already there, standing on nearly opposite ends of the group that had assembled in the parking lot as a guy was shoved into the back of the police car. He had the special cuffs on. The ones that injected a serum into the wearer that blocked their powers, if they had them. In most cases, they were a safety net and were put on anyone, but judging by the tense, anxious lines in the police men's faces, this was not "most cases."

Anthony elbowed his way up to Ryan. He'd already gleaned the basic situation from a distance-- they were arresting someone behind his dorm and afraid to be doing so. That could only mean they thought they were dealing with someone extremely powerful, which could only mean they thought they'd found the guy who blasted a hole in the wall.

Swallowing hard, he asked, "Hey, what's going on?"

"They found him," Ryan said, an amazed grin tugging up at the corners of his mouth. "The dude who melted the bathroom. Can you believe someone with powers actually lived in the same dorm as us?"

One of the policemen shot a disparaging look at the crowd before turning and whispering something to the cop next to him. They shared a look and then moved to their respective cars, their hands just inches away from their weapons. 

Ryan was still watching with an awed look in his eyes, so Anthony laughed, said, "Yeah, that's insane," and backed away to find Maddox. Arms crossed and scowling. 

"Hey," Anthony said. 

Maddox slipped a glance at him. "Hi."

Honestly, he had no idea why he'd chosen to move toward Maddox, only that here we was, now, and he might as well say something. "It's a relief that they caught him, huh?"

Maddox's mouth twisted downward. His arms fell to his sides. "They didn't catch him."

Anthony's smile faltered. "What?"

"Give me one good reason why a person who could accidentally burn through a brick wall would walk right into the government's hands." Maddox shook his head. "He might be powered but they've got the wrong guy. Watch them announce it in a few days. Or not. Maybe they're using him as a cover-up."

"Maybe he got scared and decided it'd be easier to give it up," Anthony said.

Burke had to be using the arrest as a scare. Maddox was probably right and they had the wrong guy-- no harm, no foul. Until the police looked a little deeper or a file dropped mysteriously into their laps.

The group around them began to disperse, and Anthony glanced over his shoulder to see Ryan give him a confused look. He shrugged back. Ryan shrugged bigger and mouthed 'aren't you coming?' Anthony paused. 

"The guy they're looking for is the same one who tried to do all that hero work a few months back," Maddox said flatly. 

"What does that have to do with whether or not it's him?" Anthony asked. He could feel himself starting to sweat. "And besides that, how can you be so sure?"

Maddox sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Nothing and no reason. I'm going back to our room."

"Oh." Anthony swallowed. This was going to eat at him later. "Okay."

"That's not an invitation," Maddox said, pausing as he turned to walk away. "I have homework. I like to study in the quiet."

An arm slung over Anthony's shoulder. "Hey, dickwad," Ryan drawled, leaning forward, "you know there's somewhere to go for that, right? It's called a library."

Maddox's eyes narrowed, barely perceptibly. "I'm surprised you know that, Ryan. Maybe you should go there sometime."

"I'd say go fuck yourself," Ryan said, still smiling, "but you're so vain you'd probably enjoy the experience."

Maddox spread his arms. "Wouldn't anyone?"

"Okay," Anthony said, "I'm going to hang out with Ryan for a bit. I'll text you when I'm on my way back."

"What the hell," Ryan smacked his arm. 

Maddox shot him a look. "You don't..." His gaze slipped back to Ryan, who was giving him a Death Glare, and his lips thinned. "Whatever. Fine. See you later."

"See you," Anthony lifted his hand in a half-hearted wave. 

As soon as Maddox disappeared around the corner of the building, Ryan smacked his arm again. 

"Dude," he said. "Bro. Best bud of mine."

Anthony snorted. "What is it?"

"Why do you let him walk all over you like that?" Ryan curled his lip. "He's not exactly an authority on anything. He's a peer. Just tell him to fuck off."

"I was going to hang out with you anyway. It's fine," he shrugged. 

"No," Ryan said patiently, "it is not fine."

"It is."

"It is not."

Anthony sighed. "Okay. It's not. But to be honest, I don't really care when he tells me what to do. I wasn't going to my room anyway. So." He shrugged again. 

"You don't have to text him when you'll be back, it's your room too." Ryan sighed heavily. "You shouldn't let people boss you around."

Anthony gave him an incredulous look.

"What?" Ryan asked.

"Nothing," he waved his hand. "It's nothing. You're right."

Ryan gave a self-assured nod. "I know I am."

He couldn't stop staring at the puddle the lights had been reflecting off of. He couldn't fight off the thoughts that rose up because of it, not even with Ryan still standing next to him, beginning to look worried.

Maddox pays attention, he reminded himself. Maddox pays enough attention to recognize someone's powers from the aftermath of them.

"I have a test tomorrow." Ryan said slowly, still watching him carefully. "I won't be much fun to hang around, but you can still come. I know you've got some homework, right?"

"Yeah," Anthony nodded, not completely listening.

He had options. Again, running was the most appealing one, but he couldn't just leave now, not with Maya under Burke's thumb still, and Jesse and his parents apparently trying to get him killed. He was going to get exposed eventually-- the only way to get anything done at all was to get it all done before that happened.

Get Maya out of whatever deal she had with Burke, find out what had been going on with his parents and the Weaver, and get the hell out of the country. And not go to China. His father's influence was still too strong there.

I'm going to have to do something insane, he realized. And it's probably going to get me killed.