Bullet Time (TAG)

[Timothy Smith]

Why did it always have to be a big, busy area of town? And rush hour no less.

"I'VE GOT NO SHORTAGE OF HOT LEAD FOR YOU, AEGIS ASSHOLE!"

Tim sighed, dodging out of the way of bullets that he could tell would harmlessly impact, using his powers to stop or melt the ones that would have more problems behind him. It wasn't too difficult, he was moving fast enough that his reaction time and perception was sped up fast enough to do it, and these were perfectly ordinary bullets, even if the guy shooting wasn't quite perfectly ordinary.

The guy called himself Gunmetal, and was decked out in gunmetal gray armor from head to foot. Apparently, this guy could make a gun out of anything he touched that was shaped vaguely like a gun, and give it infinite ammo. The bigger the thing he grabbed, the bigger the gun.

He'd currently grabbed some rebar, so this wasn't too bad. He was apparently not very imaginative. His driver, though, was doing a good job of managing to make it difficult for Surge to just swoop up and grab them.

"Listen, buddy, it's obvious you're compensating. Put the gun up, come quietly before you embarrass yourself further."

"I'M NOT GOING BACK, DICKWAD!"

Tim sighed again. They never made it easy, did they?

Honos Black

[Honos Black]

Honos wasn't paying attention while walking down the street as he was playing Pokemon Go and was nursing on a cup of mint tea from the nearby coffee shop. It didn't help that he was listening to a podcast and gave no thought to the gunshots nearby. He just assumed it was fireworks and continued on his merry way to the college, where he planned to do homework, bug his professor uncle, maybe see Tim and ask for help with his baby AI and head home with said professor uncle.

All in all, a good busy and normal Tuesday for him. He already gained two bruises from the school bully before the bully was caught and promptly suspended. And he created mini bombs that he plans to test out tonight with maybe an uncle or family friend watching at night on some people. He honestly was having a good day. He doubts anything is going to go wrong. Maybe he can get ice-cream tonight too! With sprinkles!

Unfortunately, he didn't see nor hear what was heading towards him when he stopped and picked up a $20 bill that he found on the side of the sidewalk.

[Timothy Smith]

Gunmetal and his driver continued to careen through the streets, firing wildly. Tim was dealing with the bullets, but couldn’t really get up to speed to take them out in a populated area like this without causing a lot of collateral damage, which he preferred to let the villains start making first. He was just grateful that everyone seemed to have their wits about them and were staying indoors.

Except…
Oh no.

Tim and Gunmetal clocked the boy completely oblivious to the world at about the same time. Gunmetal turned to Surge, grinned, then leveled his rebar rifle at Honos. Tim recognized Honos. That’s what made this entire situation more harrowing.

“Shit!”

Time seemed to slow down as Tim desperately tried to protect Honos. He started by throwing an energy shield toward the teen, but he knew it wouldn’t be enough to completely stop the burst of bullets. He had to push faster.

All this took place in the blink of an eye. The gunfire ripped through the air, a five shot burst. Tim had put himself and an energy shield between Honos and the gunfire.

Clink, clink, clink, clink, four bullets fell to the ground, stopped by a combination of heat and electromagnetism. Tim looked for the fifth, examining Honos in a panic, but letting out a relieved breath when he seemed okay.

That’s when the sharp pain kicked in his leg. “…found that last bullet. Honos, you okay? I’m going to take you to the hospital, just in case. Call your dad, or give me his number so I can call him so he can pick you up. Alice, keep tabs on that asshole, he’s not getting away with this.”

Honos Black

[Honos Black]

Honos flinched, landing on his bum and skinning his palms with the sudden appearance of Tim before him, eyes wide as he watched the four bullets hit the ground. Four bullets that were heading to him. Four bullets that nearly killed him. He swallowed thickly, not hearing anything. Not the podcast that's going through one ear, not Tim telling him to call his papa, not the cackling from the villain or the screams.

He was deaf and numb as he watched blood ooze from Tim's leg from the 5th bullet. In shock as he watched the man who he sees as his uncle favor his wounded leg while he talked to Alice like nothing was wrong. A whimper broke through his lips, tears pooling before tumbling down freckled covered bronze cheeks before he started to truly cry. Not for himself or because he's scared, but because his uncle is hurt because of him. Because a man tried to kill him and Tim had to save him. All because he he wasn't paying attention and wanted to pick up a twenty.

He felt his chest go tight at the thought of Tim dead before him, breath sharp and him sparking a bit as he started to panic with the realization that he nearly lost Tim. That it would've been his fault, just like with his parents. Why did he step in front of the bullet? Why did he try to protect him. He can't lose him like he did with his parents. He just can't.

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to tell Tim that in the midst of his spiraling panic attack. Yet he was able to pressed the 'SOS' button on his phone before pressing the 'Hospital' option, which allowed his papa to know that he needed him and where. That he's scared and needed help. Because he knew that Tim would take him there to make sure he's okay, even if he physically was when Tim wasn't.

"I-I-I don'-I don' wanna lose y-you. Pl-please do-please don' leave m-me" He choked out, terrified.

[Timothy Smith]

Tim nodded as he watched Honos switch off of Pokemon Go and ping an emergency contact. It must be his dad, that was good. Despite the pain in his leg, he knelt down to get to Honos' height.

"Hey. Good job, buddy. Good job. You're not losing me. It's not the first time I've been shot, I can handle worse. I'm not going anywhere until you're with your dad, and then I'm only leaving to go get the bad guy that tried to shoot you. Everything's going to be okay, bud. Come on."

Tim reached out and picked up Honos, holding him close to his chest, giving him a solid hug. "We're going to go for a badass ride. It's gonna be really fast, so I need you to hold on tight, okay? You did great. We're just going to go to the hospital and make sure you're okay. Everything's going to be fine."

He spotted the twenty on the ground and scooped it up. "Here bud. You deserve this. Plus, when this is all done, I caught a shiny Rayquaza the other day, and I'll trade him to you for a Pidgey. It's okay bud. I'm not going to leave you. You're not going to lose me. Hold tight, okay?"

Continuing the comforting words, Tim lifted back up into the air, extending his energy shell around Honos as well. Once they were high enough, he rocketed off to the hospital, breaking the sound barrier on the way.

He was all business once they touched down moments later. The hospital was no stranger to dealing with Aegis coming in with civilians that needed help.

"This is Honos Black. I need him treated for shock and examined for any other injuries, he was targeted by a criminal fleeing an armed robbery. Bill me for all the expenses. His dad is coming, but I'll stay here until he gets here."

Tim put his finger to the earpiece in his ear. "Alice, have the team corral Gunmetal to the Abandoned Warehouse District. He's probably going there to try to hide anyway, and once Mr. Black gets here I can let loose in there and bring him in."

Tim turned back to Honos. "Hey buddy. We're here. We're going to let the nurses look you over. I'm not going anywhere until your dad gets here. Once he does I'll leave for a bit to get the bad guy, but I'll come back and visit you as soon as I can, okay?"

Suddenly remembering something, Tim grabbed one of the nurses. "He's got pyrokinetic powers, so you might want some heat protection. I'll help as long as I can."

Honos Black

[Honos Black]

Honos hiccuped and clung to Tim, burrowing his face against Tim's shoulder, legs wrapping around his waist, trusting the man and slowly calming down at Tim's calm demeanor and words.

By the time they landed at the hospital, Honos calmed down enough to not cling as much to Tim. He tucked the travel experience away and focused on Tim setting him down and them both guiding him to a bed and him sitting down, soon being checked over by the nurse and given a cup a water to focus on.

He looked up at Tim and smiled, even if it's small. "Thank you..."

[Orion Black]

Orion received the SOS alert from his son and panicked. Holly, marigold, monkshood, oleander, petunia, primrose, begonia and barberry bloomed and grew in response to his mixed feelings, even if most centered around rage and worry.

He grabbed his keys and booked it to the hospital in his truck, taking deep breaths to focus and to not murder the first person he saw.

Once there, he walked into the hospital and politely asked where his son, Honos Black, was at. Once directed, he quickly walked to where his son was and scooped his baby boy up and hugged him tight. He listened to the nurse and relaxed a bit when told that his son was fine, just in shock.

"Thank you for helping him, miss. You've eased my concerns a lot. Is he okay to take home?" He asked gently, glancing at the man next to her with distrustful eyes.

"And who are you?" He asked Tim, wanting to make sure he gained the name before the man left. He looked familiar, but finding out that he brought his boy here led to him thinking that it was the man's fault. He'll deal with that matter later.

[Timothy Smith]

Tim stood up and limped over to the man that entered and talked to the nurse, having refused any treatment for the wound in his leg until Honos was taken care of and Gunmetal was behind bars. He extended a hand for a shake.

"When I'm dressed like this, I usually go by Surge, but my civilian name is Timothy Smith. Call me Tim or Surge or whatever you like. You must be Mr. Black. I've been wanting to meet you for a while, but not like this. Honos was targeted by a criminal fleeing an armed robbery in a bid to get me to stop chasing him. It only partly worked, Honos is unhurt except for symptoms of shock, and I've got other members of my team keeping an eye on him, and now that you're here and he's in the Abandoned Warehouse District, I'm going to get back to work and bring that asshole in and try really hard to resist the urges I have that would get me an excessive force citation. Feel free to call me later if you or Honos need anything. All the hospital expenses today are taken care of."

Surge activated his powers, surrounding himself in energy, lifting off the ground a good couple inches. Floating made the wound hurt less.

Orion Black

[Orion Black]

Orion shook his hand, slightly green, yet calmer than before. "Thank you for being there for my baby. But can you leave enough of the bastard so I can hit him." He said, question more of a statement than anything.

Orion smiled sharply, fangs peaking out while poisonous plants bloomed. "You are coming to my house either with the bitch who tried to hurt my son or with the confirmation that he is dead. Understoood?" He snarled

[Timothy Smith]

"No."

Tim wasn't intimidated. Sure, there was a lot of plants that were not healthy (was that poison ivy curling near his elbow?) but Surge had some experience dealing with situations like this.

"Mr. Black, I empathize with you. I'm pissed off at this asshole too. But I'm going to do this by the book. I'm going to bring him in and then throw the book at him, and I promise I'm going to get attempted murder to stick. You're free to come to Aegis headquarters to press charges as well. I have body cam footage of him taking a shot at Honos and a bullet from him in my leg after I got in the way. He will pay for this, but I'm not going to kill him, nor will I let you do it. I'll make sure he gets justice, though. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

He floated further to the door.

"I've got to smash the front of this asshole's car. I said I wasn't going to kill him, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to scare the shit out of him."

Orion Black