"I'm escaping this world

one step at a time

but all I need first

is a partner in crime" - J.H.

 

Laughter and posh lectures one with another. Gentlemen in suits and ladies in dresses. The environment felt elegant and suffocating in this venue, at least for the seven year old Giotto. He looked adorable in his little suit, at least that’s what everyone said as his father showed him off. His father was the chief of security of the city, wealthy, handsome, widower, everything and anything Giotto could care less of. His most popular trait was his hatred and fear against mutants, beings with supernatural abilities that could surpass animal and machine. The city both feared them and revered them, it was a dividing side. But being a small minority they would only stand out every so often in the news. What his father would never know was that his own son was a mutant with developing powers. Another rub to the head, causing his hair to get messed up caused Giotto to groan and sneak away, away from the strong smelling perfumes and out a door that led to the outside for fresh air, the back parking lot barely lit up by a street lamp and decorated with a few garbage cans. “Stupid party, stupid stuff, stupid dad.” Giotto muttered under his breath as he got his hands in his pockets and kicked around a rock. He hated social events like this. Not only was he ignored, he was used as an item to show off. “Stupid!” He kicked the rock again.

Giotto's heart practically stopped as he watched the scene. The windows were shattered, there were police, ambulance, everything. "...holy ****..." Giotto gasped as he ran across the street, reaching to the crime scene. "Jesse?!" Giotto screamed as he ran to the scene. He didn't see Jesse, but he did see Johnny. He ran to him as a police woman quickly stopped him. "This is a crime scene you can't pass." She said. "I'm here to see what happened to my friend!" And with that he ran underneath the police tape and to Johnny, the police woman seeing no harm on it as long as evidence wasn't contaminated. "Johnny what the hell happened here?!" Giotto asked as he knelt down next to him. He had never seen him this distressed. "Are you alright, where's Jesse, is he hurt?!" Giotto asked, holding Johnny by his shoulders. So many scenarios ran through his mind.

Edited April 20, 201510 yr by Stardustblade358

Giotto's heart practically stopped as he watched the scene. The windows were shattered, there were police, ambulance, everything. "...holy ****..." Giotto gasped as he ran across the street, reaching to the crime scene. "Jesse?! Jesse are you alright?!" Giotto asked, running to him. A police woman quickly stopped him. "This is a crime scene you can't pass." She said. "I'm here to see what happened to my friend!" And with that he ran underneath the police tape and to Jesse, the police woman seeing no harm on it as long as evidence wasn't contaminated. "Jesse?!" Giotto asked as he knelt down next to him. He had never seen him this distressed. "Jesse what happened?!" Giotto asked, holding Jesse by his shoulders. So many scenarios ran through his mind.

(Johnny was sitting down on the sidewalk not Jesse LOL)

(Oh **** I'll fix it(

Fixed it

Johnny shook once Giotto shook him. "I-I don't know-" his voice broke. "I-I was at the store and I-I just heard yelling and s-screaming..." Suddenly paramedics exited the house, carrying Jesse on a stretcher. He was completely soaked with water, and the blanket on his chest was wet with blood. Johnny yelled out, and ran right to Jesse.

"Jesse!!!" Johnny yelled, following the paramedics. Jesse was unconscious. The police tried to hold him back and calm him down.

"Sir please stay back."

Johnny cried out and argued with the guard. "Let me f****** go with him!"

Giotto's heart dropped to his stomach when he saw the blood on the blanket. He ran with Johnny, trying to get to Jesse before the police intercepted. "Come on man, let us go with him!!!" Giotto demanded as he screamed for Jesse. "We can't let you go please stand back." The police man said, understandably. Doing his job and what he was told. "We're basically the only family he has left!" Giotto screamed. "Stand back." The cop repeated. It was starting to get on Giotto's nerves. He thought of something, and he was so desperate to get to Jesse, he didn't care if it meant answering questions later. He took out something from his pocket. A pocket watch that gleamed gold with jewels encrusted on them. A specific symbol engraved on it. He quickly raised it up to the cop's face. "As member of the Rubocrasia family and Department of Security, I demand you to let me through!" Giotto hissed. The cop's eyes widened at the symbol of his boss and employer. "R-Rubo-" He didn't got to finish the sentence as Giotto grabbed Johnny and pulled him with him to the ambulance. "Unless you want Misconduct and Unlawful Use of Weaponry added to your file, I suggest you keep it quiet too." Giotto said in his most threatening voice. The police man didn't say anything else about the situation as Johnny and Giotto got on the ambulance with Jesse.

Edited April 21, 201510 yr by Stardustblade358

Johnny looked at Giotto for a second in shock. This kid was the son of the Lubocrasia family? He didn't really care momentarily because he had Jesse to worry about. He watched as the paramedics began to do their work. They put down the blanket and tore open Jesse's shirt to reveal two stab wounds. One in the left side of his chest and one on the right side of his stomach. Johnny began to freak out, rocking back and forth. "His mother f****** father!" Johnny roared. "This is all my fault! Dammit, I'm going to f***** kill that bastard!" One of the paramedic tried to calm Johnny down.

"Please sir, we can't concentrate with you like this please calm down..."

Giotto watched in horror. He had his hood up, a shadow covering his face, but tears dripped down his cheek, falling onto the floor beneath. He always knew that his father was a violent man. Whenever he visited Jesse they both did their best to avoid the man. Now...he had...stabbed Jesse? Giotto had grown confident and happy over these last year because of Jesse. He was the one who opened his gilded cage and let him out to stretch his wings and fly. If he were to be gone...there wouldn't be much reason to fly out of the gilded cage, because there wouldn't be anyone to tell his adventures about. Giotto rested his hand on Johnny's shoulder. "Freaking out won't help him. You have to be strong for him. Otherwise no one else will." Giotto said as he looked around. There notable anger and sadness in his eyes covered by the shadows of the hood. "Do you know where he is...his father?" Giotto asked, his voice almost cracking as he tried hard not to cry.

Johnny gritted his teeth. Giotto was right. He had to be strong. "Don't worry..." He muttered. "He got arrested. That's too good for him though." He trid to breathe. "I-I'll explain to you what happened when we get to the hospital..."

 

------

 

Once they got to the hospital, and Jesse was being tended to by the doctor, Johnny sat outside the room with his hands in his hair. He was practically ripping it out from all the stress. He took a deep breath, and began.

"Jesse didn't know this..." He muttered. "But his mother was pregnant. Only she and I knew. Luckily she didn't look to be pregnant all these months. That's why she was so sick. She didn't want to have another baby while she was still with Jesse's father, so she was going to take Jesse and leave before she was going to have the baby. She wanted me to help her escape. I was going to have her stay at my friend's house when she was ready to leave with Jesse. Jesse's bastard father must have found out she was leaving him..."

Pregnancy. So Jesse was going to be a brother. On a good call on the mother's side, she realized having another child around that man was anything but healthy and good. "(They were going to escape.)" Giotto thought. He wondered, had things gone differently, Jesse would be knowing of his soon to be sibling. He could see him being happy, wondering if it's a boy or a girl, glad to be away from that man...now there was a chance that he wouldn't even make it. "Jesse's mother. Where is she? Was she....?" Giotto asked, he didn't even had the courage to mention the word. "Is she ok? Does she know what happened?"

Johnny shook his head. "I don't know... They took her away in the first ambulance that left when you came. She was stabbed too. I think it was worse than Jesse. I just hope she wasn't stabbed in... The stomach." Just the thought of his made him livid. His eyes flashed a quick fire before he forced himself to calm down once again.

"Something weird happened though... When I heard the yelling outside in the neighborhood, there was this high pitched sound. I could have made my ears bleed if I was any closer. It lasted for a few seconds before it just suddenly stopped. It shattered all the glass in Jesse's house, and even some of the windows in the neighboring houses including in the basement where I lived next door."

"A soundwave?" Giotto asked. How odd. It's physically impossible for a man made screech to do such damage. Even the ones that do only tend to break small glass such as bottles or wine glasses. Humans don't have such powerful vocals..."(...but mutants do.)" Giotto thought. There was a mutant in the scene, maybe? Possibly. Unless the screech was made by something else. But all of that would come later. He had one thing in mind and one thing only: to get back at Jesse's father. He had enough patience, he was his father and supported the family...but this incident broke the camels back. "Johnny...stay here. I'm going to take care of Jesse's dad for us." Giotto said in a rather mild tone. Truthfully he had never felt so angry before.

Johnny shook his head. He suddenly grabbed Giotto by his shoulders. "Don't." He muttered. "You're a Lubocrasia. You don't realize how dangerous it is for you, and everyone around you to even leave the Gold Layer. If you try to 'take care' of that bastard you might make enemies. You don't want to make enemies. Be very careful with your identity, Giotto. Especially in a place like this. You shouldn't even use your name. Jesse's father was arrested. Right now the important thing is to stay here with him and be the first thing he sees when he wakes up okay?" He ruffled Giotto's hair from underneath his hood. "Besides you're a friend of Jesse's and therefore a friend of mine. I'm like twelve years older than you anyway so it's my job to make sure you don't get hurt." He was going to say something else, until the doctor exited the room.

"He's stable." The doctor said. "He's still unconscious, but you can go into the room if you want. We stitched up his stab wounds so he should be completely fine. When he wakes up he's going to be very startled and disoriented so... Be careful and try to comfort him. The police will be here soon and I am currently trying to find out the status of the boy's mother." He said with a reassuring smile. Johnny nodded. "Thanks, doc."

Giotto had to analyze it. He was right. Just bearing the name alone was a danger. The most influential family of the city. His father's line of job made a lot of allies...and enemies. To throw the name around in the wrong place at the wrong time could be deadly. However he did not have to worry about that one police man. Who would his father truly believe? His beloved and only son or some lower employee working on the Bronze District? The answer was obvious. Once again he was a bit too outgoing with what he wanted to do, and gratefully someone was there to stop him. He hoped that would fade through the years. "Thanks...and sorry." Giotto watched as the doctor explained the situation. Giotto sighed in relief. He didn't waste any time as he walked into the room, trying to keep his calm as he watched Jesse rest on the bed. He would live. He would be alright. Thank goodness. "Jesse..." Giotto muttered. He wondered, if he was there, could he had done something? Maybe. "You'll be fine, Jesse...you're going to be alright..."

Johnny walked right into the room after. He sat down on a chair next to Jesse. And watched him rest. There were terrible bags underneath Johnny's eyes. He looked downright exhausted. Suddenly his phone began to ring, and Johnny picked it up right away.

"Hello? Yeah..." He suddenly paused, and wiped his face with his hand. "Is Patricia... R-Really? Are you sure?" He was silent for a few minutes. "...Thanks for telling me. Bye." He hung up the phone, and looked down at the floor for ten minutes. Finally he spoke up.

"Patricia- Jesse's mother... She's..." He took a deep breath. "She's dead but... She was almost eight months pregnant already so... They were able to save the baby." He clutched his phone so hard it could have break. How the hell was he going to explain this to Jesse?

"This can't be f******* happening..." Johnny muttered.

Giotto could feel his heart ache at the news. His mind analyzing everything his father had taught him about the justice system. "(Attempted murder, Assault, Murder of the third degree, attempted murder of an infant...)" Giotto thought, listing things down one by one. Jesse would be devastated. Furious. Sad. A variety of emotions for sure. Giotto had to make sure that the man didn't escape justice's fingers. Even if it meant to only entice his files to keep him locked away forever. "(I won't let him walk free. I won't let him see the sunlight again.)" Giotto assured himself. "Jesse didn't deserve any of this. His mother either. None of them did." Giotto said as he played with his fingers uneasily. He turned to Johnny. "I wish I could do more for his sake. I can assure you that I'll make sure his dad never sees the sunlight again though."

Johnny chuckled. Even though Giotto was a little kid he had a strong and pure heart. "I look forward to that, little tyke. I don't know if you're going to want to stay in a little while... When the police shows up I wouldn't want any of them to recognize you." He started to stroke Jesse's hair. "Poor kid." After a few hours Johnny stepped outside the room to take to the police and provide some statements. As he was talking outside the room, Jesse began to rouse up from sleep with a small groan.

"Agh... Mom..."

Giotto quickly jumped to his feet. He walked over to Jesse's bedside and looked over his stirring figure. "Jesse," He said, smiling. "Thank goodness, you're ok. Can you hear me, Jesse?" Giotto asked as he gently got his hand over the bedside and held Jesse's hand, being careful not to cause any hurt or move any of the medical equipment out of place. "You're ok Jesse. He's not around. You're safe, and in the hospital. He won't be able to hurt you." Giotto continued, hoping his words would reach to him. He had about an hour left before he had to truly leave. His father was taking him to a talk at one of the universities considering about upcoming technology. Something out of love since noting his son's attraction to computers. How he wish he could cancel on it and stay here instead.

Jesse disregarded the fact that he was safe. That wasn't important to him. "Where's my ma..." He tried to sit up, but only felt nothing but sharp pain.

"Where is she? What happened to her??" Normally Jesse would be very loud and angry in a situation like this, but he had no energy to hardly do anything, even speak. "Tell me she's okay Giotto... Where is she? I want to see her..." He tried to move again, but only groaned in pain. "Everything hurts... Where's my ma... I want to see my ma...

Giotto analyzed how to explain this. He breathed. "Jesse, I need you to calm down, and relax. If you do any sudden movements you might strain something that's already broken as it is." Giotto started. He sighed, "Now...first of all, before anything else, the doctors confirmed the reason why your mother was sick all this time was because she was pregnant. All of those symptoms were side effects of the pregnancy. You're a big brother. She had plans to leave with you and tell you just before it was time for her delivery. Second..." Giotto paused. "Second...your mother did not make it. Her injuries were too much. She has...passed on." Giotto tried his best to not sound to harsh on it. "But! The baby...being 8 months into pregnancy or so...is alive. It's in the ICU most likely, being treated as a premature birth. But he or she is alive." Giotto said, emotionally preparing himself for the upcoming storm.

As expected, there was a storm. Jesse didn't react for a moment, as he sank all of it in. Finally after minutes of deciphering what Giotto just said, Jesse began to freak out.

"Don't lie to me... Please don't lie to me!" His heart rate began to go up. Johnny excused himself from the cops, hearing Jesse had woken up and had found out the news. He ran in, and tried to calm Jesse down.

"Jesse RELAX!" Johnny said sharply. "If you freak out the doctors will knock you out."

Jesse yelled back. "Relax?! RELAX?! My mom is dead!" He yelled.

Giotto felt himself shrink from Jesse screaming. It was to be expected for Jesse to be angry. His mother just died...and now he had a younger sibling to take care of. The exchange of words didn't produce much result other than express obvious feelings. Giotto looked up at Jesse's heart rate go faster and faster the angrier he got. He gently rested a han on Jesse's arm. "Jesse. I know this is a lot to take in but please do calm down. If you force yourself too far you can end up causing any damage...blood pressure and all that stuff." Giotto said, actually kind of oblivious of most of the advanced medical crap. "Your father is locked up and won't be stepping out. You have...a new sibling too...please don't stress too much." Giotto said calmly, as he looked over at Jesse. The last thing he wanted was for Jesse to end up bleeding out from a wrong move.

Jesse shook his head and yelled out more. As he yelled and shouted, thick angry tears began to fall down cheeks. That was the first time anyone heard him cry. Finally, he let sadness overcome him and he just started to cry.

"Please.... My ma..." His body finally started to relax. "My ma..."

Johnny sighed softly and stroked Jesse's hair. "I know I know... I'm really sorry small fry... I wish things could have gone differently. But now it's just like Giotto said. You have a sibling to take care of. You're a big brother now so you have to be strong. You have to be strong for all of us."

Jesse closed his eyes. "Just shut up..." He cried softly. "I want my mom..."

Giotto didn't know what to say in comfort. He knew the pain of losing a mother so suddenly. There isn't much if anything that can be said that would ease the pain in any way. Only time. Right after the grief has cried itself out of your system. The most he could do was to somewhat replicate what his father had done in those weeks after the funeral. Giotto slowly and gently wrapper his arms around Jesse, being careful not to hurt him as he brought him into a cry. "I'm sorry...it's ok to cry..."

Jesse continued to cry, but felt comfort at Giotto's gesture. Johnny gave a sad smile. "I'm going to go talk to the police again... This one cop wanted to talk to you Jesse but I'm just going to tell him to come back later okay? I'll leave you two alone for a little while." With that he left the room and began to talk to a few cops outside once more.

Jesse cried and cried for almost a half an hour. Finally after what felt like forever, Jesse's crying slowly started to get quieter and quieter until it stopped completely with a hiccup. Jesse suddenly began to whisper something in Giotto's ear.

"I... I'm a mutant..."