On Thursday evening, Joey snuck out with a scarf wrapped around his head again. This time he made sure to leave as quietly as possible and hope Ned didn't hear him.
He made his way to the meeting place, staying out of the lights as much as he could. His hands were tucked in his pockets, still wrapped in gauze. And they still hurt like heck.
He found a few officers on the way, but Joey managed to avoid them by either ducking into a side street or hopping up or down a level. He deliberately hid two levels above the meeting place, waiting for Achilles and this mystery friend.
At midnight on the dot, someone ducked into a side street below him, looking like they were waiting for something. Joey glanced around for Achilles, but he wasn't here yet. That person down below had better be who they were meeting with, or they'd be in deep trouble.
About ten minutes later, Achilles bounded down the street in all his costumed glory. He glanced around before calling out to the person in the side street.
"Jumper's not here yet?"
"Haven't seen anyone else." The reply sounded like it had come from a man, and Joey took a deep breath before hopping down to their level, being careful not to use his hands.
They both jerked in surprise when Joey landed, but Achilles quickly regained his composure and laughed heartily.
"So you were here! Do you not trust me or something? Why'd you hide all the way up there?"
"I'm still not sure about this," Joey grumbled. The guy they were meeting with looked at the upper end of middle-aged, and wasn't bothering to hide his face. He wouldn't be military, would he?
"What could you possibly be unsure about?" Achilles asked. "This gentleman here can help you, and I set up a meeting so he could do just that. I even used a public library computer so the military couldn't track me."
"That was my idea," Middle-Aged said. "He was just going to use his home computer until I pointed out that the military could probably track it."
Joey sighed. Did Achilles live in a different world or something?
"Anyway, name's Bruce. I'm like the two of you, except my Miracle's a little different." He held out his hand for a handshake, but Joey just nodded.
"Sorry, my hands are pretty messed up. I think they might be getting worse actually." Bruce nodded seriously.
"That's what I was afraid of. If you were too stubborn to get medical attention, you might have more problems down the line. Can I see?" Joey looked at him warily for a while before sighing and pulling his left hand out of his pocket.
"I've been doing my best to hide it from the people I live with, and they seriously hurt," he muttered. Bruce nodded gently as he removed the gauze. The skin underneath was still an angry red, with blisters swelling across it.
"Looks pretty bad. I brought some ointment that should help a little bit," Bruce said, reaching into his pocket for the ointment in question. It felt cold on his hands, and strangely enough the cold felt good.
Bruce carefully rubbed the cream in, making sure not to bother the skin too much and Joey offered him his other hand as well, which got the same treatment.
"This has some antibacterial properties, and is made to help with burns. I managed to get it at a drugstore. This is just in case, though. If this was all I was gonna do for you, I'd just tell you to buy it and apply it yourself." Bruce then carefully extended Joey's fingers, which kind of hurt.
He placed a finger in the middle of Joey's palm and seemed to concentrate. Joey wasn't sure what to do, so he just sat there.
Bruce's hand was warm and a bit rough. A wedding ring glinted in the dim light as the pain slowly started to fade from Joey's hand.
Wait - what?
The skin slowly faded back to its original colour, and the blisters softened before popping, the liquid inside running over his skin. Below the blisters was sensitive new skin, which quickly firmed and changed colour to match the rest of his hand.
In a few minutes, the burn was totally gone, as if it had never been there. Joey blinked in confusion as he examined his hand. Achilles was staring over his shoulder at it.
"Whoa. Just whoa. I know you said your Miracle lets you heal wounds, but I never thought it'd be this strong." For once, Joey agreed with Achilles' sentiment.
"I'm still learning it," Bruce chuckled. "I talked to my wife about going to med school now that our kids are mostly grown. I think it'd be a good way to better utilize it." As he spoke, he took Joey's other hand, performing the same treatment.
Joey tested his good hand, moving the fingers as much and as complexly as he could think to do. There was no pain. Not even a twinge. And he didn't seem to have any scars either, though he'd have to look again when he had good light.
"So what was the ointment for...?" Joey asked quietly.
"My power only speeds up the body's natural processes," Bruce explained. "The cream assists in burn recovery, and keeps any bacteria from causing problems. If there was bacteria causing infection and I didn't remove it, I might have just sped up the infection. I've never tried it, but I have a gut instinct that it would do more harm than good if that was the case. Hence using all the normal stuff I can before applying my Miracle."
"How'd you learn all that?" Joey asked.
"Experimentation mostly. My wife knows about the Miracle, and so do my kids. The rest is gut instinct. I don't know about you two, but I felt like my Miracle came with an instinctual version of an instruction manual. I kind of know what I can do and what I can't."
"I know what you mean! I just knew everything about my Miracle when I got it," Achilles said, almost bouncing on his toes.
Joey stayed quiet. He'd gotten no such help. Or had he? Once he started suspecting something was strange with him, he'd had a vague idea of what he could do. Was that what they were talking about?
"Anyway, I've done what I came to do," Bruce said, patting Joey's second hand, which was now in perfect working condition again. The older man pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Joey.
When he checked the paper, he saw a phone number scrawled across it in surprisingly neat writing.
"If you ever need my help again, that's my cell. I won't report you to the military. I'm just concerned about a couple of kids avoiding treatment for their injuries." With a gentle smile, Bruce walked off into the night. Achilles was standing with his arms folded, as if in thought.
"Wait!" Joey called. "Um...thanks." Bruce gave him a thumbs up as Achilles butted in.
"You joining the Legion too Bruce? Things'll be easier with three of us."
"Nah, I wouldn't be much help with what you do. I'm not cut out for all that crime stopping and chasing and whatnot. I thought I told you before."
"But those of us with Miracles have a duty to the people," Achilles shot back.
Bruce heaved a sigh as Joey once again felt like Achilles was trying to guilt them into something.
"Is that how it is? Or is that your own interpretation? That Phantasma woman doesn't seem to think she has a duty to help. And I heard no such thing when I received mine. I've decided to use it as best I can. It's a great gift, and I believe I have a responsibility to help people with it, which is part of why I'm going to med school. But helping you with your crime fighting isn't for me."
"Just consider it. I'll get you a suit and everything. You won't have to worry about a thing."
"Nah. I'm too old to be running around beating up bad guys. And I don't want you kids getting hurt over it either. How old are you, Jumper?" Joey started.
"Uh...nineteen." Why had he answered truthfully? The question had caught him off guard, but he didn't want to talk about himself! That might lead to people learning who he was and then Achilles would probably harass him even more.
"He's a kid, Achilles. Please don't make him do anything too crazy. My phone line's open if you need it, but I'd rather you not get hurt in the first place. Now I'm gonna head out before we get found. I'd like to see you both again under better circumstances."
With those words, Bruce walked off into the night as Achilles frowned and grumbled about something or other.
"Then I'll head out too," Joey said quietly, preparing to leap away. Before he could, Achilles piped up again.
"Join the Legion? Even if it's just two of us now, there might be others later. And if there really is only two of us, all the more reason we need you."
Joey didn't reply, holding all his twisted emotions inside. Instead, he leaped up several levels to get back home.
And yet, despite his best attempts to ignore them, Achilles' words had wormed their way into him.
