『Chapter Twenty-Seven』
『the meeting』

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Jace found himself staring at the man in confusion, he had never met the man in his life—he'd remember the face even if Jace didn't remember the name. And Jace didn't recognise or remember the face at all. Jace tried to think, yet there was nothing of which Jace could think of. There was no recognition for this man. Jace's eyes narrowed at the man, he found himself almost dragging Kain behind him as a way to shield Kain from everything. There was a small part of Jace that wondered whether it was an assassin after Kain or something, either way he felt a wave of protection grow inside him. And Jace wasn't going to have that.

The man in front of him was wearing this outfit that looked a mix between baggy and fitted his body, there was a hood which wasn't up. Though the entire outfit was black. There was a part of Jace that could almost see Gamora wearing a similar outfit when she was with Thanos, though he tried to push that thought away. There was something about the man that made Jace feel uneasy, it was enough to send Jace into this need to protect both himself and Kain.

The man let out a small tut. "Ah, Jace, there's no need to get your gun, there is no need for violence."

Jace hadn't realised that he reached for his gun. He looked briefly at Kain who looked on edge, showing everything that Jace felt internally. "Who are you exactly?"

The man smirked slightly. "I would say a friend, but we both know that would be a lie." He then extended his hand towards Jace. "Adrian Sanguis."

Jace felt the way that Kain tensed beside him as if Kain recognised the name, yet Jace narrowed his eyes slightly. There was something familiar about the name, yet Jace couldn't place where he heard of it. Jace felt the way that Kain went to step forward as a way to put a block between Jace and Adrian, yet Jace found himself pulling Kain back, though Kain managed to wiggle his way out of Jace's grasp, giving Adrian a glare which Adrian happily returned.

When Jace looked down, he noticed that Adrian's hand was still out, he found himself looking back up at Adrian who seemed to smirk. Though the one thing that Jace noticed was this flicker of confusion which quickly passed Adrian's face before it disappeared as quickly as it appeared. Jace found himself reaching out and shook Adrian's hand no matter how much his brain told him not to.

There was this small part of Jace's brain that yelled at Jace to just run—or fight against Adrian, but he didn't know why. A knot built into Jace's stomach, he knew that he wanted to protect Kain if this person was after Kain, he wanted to get Kain to safety and yet at the same time there was a part of him that wanted nothing more than to fight against Adrian in order to protect the pair of them. He tried to keep the knot in his stomach from his thoughts, knowing that the more he worried about it, the urge to fight would grow with it.

"And you are?" Adrian asked, raising a brow as he looked at Kain.

Jace felt the way that Kain tensed beside him at being talked at. Jace looked at Kain, noticing how he held himself, his shoulders were held high and back like the way they did back on his home planet whenever he spoke to his father. Kain seemed calm to an outsider though Jace could easily sense the distrust within Kain, it made Jace feel more cautious. "Kain Barblen. Not that you need to know, Sanguis." He looked towards Jace, something almost unreadable in his eyes. "Come on, let's go."

There was something about the way that Adrian didn't know who Kain was which made Jace relax ever so slightly, though there was a part of him that was still tensed. If Adrian was here for Kain, then who was Adrian here for? Him? But if that was true, who would be sending assassins after him? Why would anyone want to send assassins after him? The only person he'd pissed off was Emperor Aegon, but even still, Aegon wouldn't be brave enough to send assassins after him of all people.

Jace found himself looking at Kain, there was this sense of urgency that was in Kain's eyes when Kain looked at him that it made him worried more than he thought he should be. It sent a spiral of questions through Jace's mind, there were so many questions that he wanted to ask but he knew that none of this made even the slightest bit of sense to him. The same question seemed to flow through his mind; why would anyone want to send assassins after him? What had he done to warrant an assassin after him?

What cut Jace out of his thoughts was hearing the way that Adrian let out a small chuckle. "Come on, there is no need to leave. I thought we were all getting acquainted."

"It's hardly an acquaintance if you seem to know a lot about me." Jace stated before he had time to process anything. "You seemed to know exactly where to find me, you know my name and yet I don't even know who you are. What do you want?"

Jace noticed Adrian's sudden moment of silence, there was this surprised look written on Adrian's face that he didn't try and hide at first though quickly hid it. Jace felt the way that Kain's hand tightened around Jace's hand, tugging on it slightly as if to get his attention though, Jace found himself glaring at Adrian. There was something about how Adrian knew his name which made Jace almost too protective.

As much as he wanted to think that there was a chance that this assassin would be after Kain, it wouldn't make sense for the assassin to know him of all people. And yet, when he looked at Kain there was no fear in Kain's eyes only worry, like Kain knew who Adrian was. For a moment, Jace wondered whether Kain ran into Adrian before though he shook off that thought. Even now when he found himself looking around, there was a small part of him that noticed the way that people would look at Adrain and almost pull their families and loved ones away.

Jace found himself straightening up ever so slightly as he turned his attention back to Adrain. He could feel the way that Kain was lightly tugging on his hand as if to tell him that they needed to go, and yet there was a part of Jace that was hesitant. He found himself squeezing Kain's hand lightly, his mind filled with his need to make sure that Kain was okay, that Kain was safe. He knew that if this assassin was after him, then he needed to protect himself, but it was something that he couldn't wrap his mind around all that much.

"Jace," Kain said firmly. "We have to go."

Jace found himself clenching his jaw, his eyes never left from Adrian's gaze. There was this instinct which told him to stay and find out, however there was this other part which told him to go. He had to make sure that Kain was safe, that nothing happened to him. Kain was in Jace's protection and Jace didn't want anything to happen to him. And yet, there was this small feeling inside Jace that wanted to fight, he wanted to fight.

He found himself nodded slightly at Kain's request, he found himself about to walk away with Kain in hand. The one thing that made Jace pause in his steps was when Adrian grabbed hold of Jace's arm, preventing him from at least getting Kain to safety. He found himself glaring at Adrian, he took notice of the subtle stubble that began to show along Adrian's jawline and chin, his brown hair was slick back though fell to the side of his face, his brown eyes stared up at Jace. Adrian's features didn't look annoyed in anyway, in fact it seemed as if no emotion was laced on his face.

Jace wondered whether there was something that he needed to be worried about other than the possibility that Adrian was an assassin. There was a small part of Jace that wondered whether he could beat Adrian in a fight, wondered on how good of a fighter Adrian was, wondered whether Adrian was stronger than him. There was a small part of Jace that wondered whether he could burn through skin with his abilities in order to get Adrian away from both him and Kain.

"What?" Jace hissed. He felt the need to fight come over him, as much as he wanted to get Kain to safety, there was this lust for a fight between him and Adrian, though Adrian hadn't done anything directly to him.

Adrian tilted his head slightly. "Have you ever wondered where your mother came from, Jace?"

Jace tensed up. His eyes stayed on Adrian. Adrian knew what Jace was—a half-breed, a demi-god, whatever you'd wanna call him—more importantly he knew what planet his mother came from. Jace knew he wanted the answer, he wanted to find out so badly where his mother came from, and yet he wasn't sure how quickly he wanted it. Jace wanted to learn about it at his own pace, to find out himself, yet there was someone who knew, and they were right in front of him. Jace let out an almost too shaky breath.

There was a small part of Jace that wanted to know more about his mother more than anything. Not only would it bring him some form of peace, but it also meant that he could see if there was a chance that the place his mother came from had a monarchy. If he could know if wherever his mother came from had a monarchy, then there was a chance he could at least know why the King killed his mother. But did he want to know where his mother came from the mouth of Adrian?

He could feel the way that Kain looked at him, could feel the way that Kain touched him, but he felt as if he couldn't fully react to it. Jace couldn't register anything other than the fact that he knew that his search for where his mother came from could be over in an instant. The answer of his mother could lead to the reason as to why his mother was killed, then maybe he could rest? Would he be able to rest after finding everything out?

There was a part of him that knew that he could just be losing his mind over all of it but at the same time he felt like he needed to know. He wanted to know, he just didn't know whether he wanted to find out by Adrian. He wanted nothing more than to complete his already exhausting quest for answers, though he didn't feel comfortable with the idea that Adrian would be the one to tell him.

"What?" Jace asked. It came out like a whisper, yet his kept his eyes on Adrian. He could feel the way that Kain touched his wrist lightly as if to comfort him.

"I know where your mother came from, half-breed," Adrian spoke slowly.

Jace stared at Adrian for a moment, there was something inside of him that wondered whether or not he should trust Adrian. How could he believe anything that came out of Adrian's mouth? He knew that there was a chance that he should just believe what Adrian says but at the same time he knew that he couldn't. How could he believe anything that came out of a man who might want to kill him?

There was a lot of questions that Jace wanted answers for, some related to his mother and where she came from, others relating to how Adrian knows who he is. As much as he knew that there were a handful of people who knew who he was whether he liked it or not, there was something different when it came to Adrian. Like something rather unsettling for him to know that someone like Adrian knew who he was, but he couldn't figure it out.

It was like something in his mind was trying to think and work everything out for him but at the same time nothing made sense. How could any of this make sense? How could someone know where his mother came from? It was something that even he couldn't fully figure out, but could someone else figure it out? He didn't know. He wanted to know about his mother, he wanted to know about why his mother was killed, there was so much that he wanted to find out.

A sense of anger somehow made its way up and throughout his body, he didn't know why he was angry, but the thought that someone knew who he was, felt too great for Jace. Why? Just why would someone find him when he was on a date with Kain just to talk to him about his mother? No one else knew, no one knew about his mother aside from the Nova Corps, Yondu, Peter, and Kain.

Before he could stop himself or realise anything that was going on, Jace found himself pinning Adrain against the wall. He could feel the shock run through Adrian's body as he did, not that he cared. He didn't care about the attention that he'd gain because of such a thing. There was a small part of Jace that wanted to beat the answers out of Adrian though knew it would be taking things too far even if he did use his abilities as well.

"How?!" Jace demanded.

Jace wasn't too sure on how he felt at the moment. There were too many thoughts which ran through his mind which was enough for him to almost lose his mind. He wanted to know everything, he wanted to know why he was different from the Ravangers, why he had advantages no one else had, why there was something hidden about him that even his father wanted to tell him before he died. He wanted to know why his mother died at the hands of the King, why his mother wanted to keep what he was a secret.

There was so much that he wanted to know, so much about his mother that he wanted to know but no one gave him any direct answers. He wanted to know everything about his mother and what she did to anger the king enough that he killed her. For a brief moment, Jace wondered whether Adrian knew all of the answers to his ongoing list of questions whenever he thought about his mother, surely if Adrian knows who his mother is then there's a chance that he'd have the answers, right? Right?

Jace tried to push his thoughts aside, though for a brief moment, he realised that he doesn't know what he was doing, he knew that he was mainly acting on impulse when he shoved Adrian to the wall. It was enough for him to realise that in that moment he forgot where he was, knowing that he couldn't think properly.

When he snapped back into reality, he realised that his arm was pressed against Adrian's neck as his other hand was placed on his gun. He could feel the inner need to let his abilities run wild, though he fought with himself to keep his abilities down as much as he could. He didn't know what he was going to do, but all he wanted at that moment was the information. He knew that what he wanted was the answers to his questions relating to his mother. Is it because of his mother that the rest of his family didn't want him?

What fully cut Jace from his thoughts was when Adrian let out a bitter laugh. "There's no need to get like this, Jacey."

"Don't call me that." Jace found himself hissing. The need to let everything out was something growing harder for him to control.

He thought that he could hear Kain talking behind him, though he wasn't sure whether or not it was directed to him or not. Though he could've sworn that he heard Peter's name being mentioned. Jace elected to stay focused on Adrian who seemed to know him more than anyone else could.

"What? Jacey? Tough, I'll call you whatever I want to call you." Adrian grinned.

There was something about the grin that made something inside of Jace twist, he hated the sight of that grin. There was something about it that he hated the most. Gods, if he wasn't trying his best to hold back and if he didn't have to worry about the safety of Kain then he'd go for Adrian. He wanted to stay focused, if Adrian knew anything about his mother, then he wanted to know. If Adrian knew anything about where his mother came from, it was something that he wanted to know more than anything.

"How do you know me?!" Jace said again, this time his voice grew louder.

Jace could almost feel the way that Kain took a step towards them, and yet nothing came out of Kain's mouth as if he didn't know what to say. Jace didn't even what to know what Kain thought of him like this, demanding answers about all of this. Jace snapped his attention back to Adrian who was smirking towards him. It was enough to almost make Jace want to punch him as hard as he could, though he tried to hold back as much as he could.

"Because the king sent me," Adrian basically sneered. "The same king who sent that pathetic Ravanger to pick you up nineteen years ago on Earth."

Jace felt everything within him shift, he felt sick. If this was the same King that killed his mother, then he knew that there was a chance that he could die. But it wasn't the same king, right? Yondu mentioned something about a king when he last saw him after Ronan, and he mentioned a king, didn't he? "Don't say anything against him or I'll end you."

"Jace." Kain called out.

"And what do you mean 'sent' you?" Jace continued. He pressed his arm more into Adrian's neck. "Why would a king send you after someone like me?"

"Why would a king send a Ravanger after someone like you?" Adrian shot back.

Jace found that his mind almost swirled with too many thoughts relating to all of this. If this was the same king that killed his mother, he knew that it could mean the worst for him, right? Or was it something that he was thinking too much into? No, no, surely he's not thinking too much into all of this, if he got the name of the king that sent Adrian then there was a chance that he could see if it's the same king.

The thought that the king would send someone after him of all people was something that confused Jace the most. Why would the king want to send someone after him? What had he done in order to get someone like Adrian after him because of the king? He guessed that it could be something to do with the entire thing with Xandar and Ronan but there was a part of him that didn't want to believe that it was something like that. Why now of all times? That was the one thing that was going round and round his mind.

Jace felt the way that Kain touched his shoulder, snapping Jace out of his thoughts. That and Kain's voice. "Jace he's an assassin! If someone sent him it's because they want you dead! Adrian Sanguis is an assassin and I think he means to kill you."

Jace let out a small breath as he then looked back at Kain. He saw the fear within Kain's eyes, though Kain was looking at Adrian. There was a part of Jace that wanted to ask Kain if he was sure that Adrian was an assassin here to kill him but before he had the chance, Adrian decided to knee Jace in the stomach which made him doble over in pain, Adrian then kicked Jace away from him.

Jace found himself stumbling back a few feet as he coughed. It was one of the things that he hadn't fully expected as a whole. He held his stomach though before he had the chance to reach for his gun, he felt an arm go round his throat forcing him to lean back. Jace's head just about rested on Adrian's shoulder, though he tried his best to break free. He knew that he could, but he found himself confused for a moment.

Adrian let out a sigh which tickled the skin on Jace's neck. "I honestly thought that I would be able to get away from that till I got you where I wanted you. Looks like I'm going to take a different route. Say goodbye to your boyfriend Jace, I'm sure that his father would love to see him if he is the son of Aegon."

Jace felt something inside of him just click at that, he found himself throwing his elbow back, hitting Adrian in his chest, giving him enough time to wiggle out of Adrian's hold. Jace then turned and punched Adrian, causing him to tumble back slightly. Adrian quickly recovered and went for Jace again, he went for the face in hopes to knock Jace out, yet Jace quickly blocked and grabbed his arm.

Jace kneed Adrian in the stomach again and again before flipping Adrian over. Jace kicked Adrian again in the stomach just to make sure, there was this small part of Jace that wanted to flee but he found himself getting a ball of light ready. Though, before he had the chance to do anything, Adrian swiped his legs from under him, which caused him to fall. He felt the way that something clawed into his leg which made Jace yell out in pain.

"Jace!" Kain yelled. Jace found himself looking up at Kain, noticing the way that Kain was about to get involved in the fight.

The one thing that Jace hadn't expected was hearing a shot echoed passed Jace's ear, followed by Kain's yell. Jace tried his best to wiggle his way to Kain though was pulled back by whatever was clamping down on his leg. He watched as Kain's body fell to the floor, the way that Kain clung to his side with this expression on his face which was enough to make Jace regret everything. For a moment, Jace wondered whether Kain was dead or dying, Kain's eyes were half-shut and Jace couldn't tell whether Kain was breathing.

"Kain," Jace whispered. "KAIN!"

Jace twisted himself round to see how Adrian was the one that dug a knife into Jace's thigh, one hand on the handle while in the other hand was a gun. It took Jace a moment to realise that the gun in Adrian's hand was Jace's gun. Something inside of Jace flickered, within an instant Jace kicked Adrian in his chest, shooting a beam of light at Adrian.

Jace yanked the knife out of his leg, finding himself shooting up, straddling Adrian's waist as rage filled him. He found himself punching Adrian over and over again, all that went through his head was Kain, and the thoughts of Kain was enough to give Jace the strength to punch Adrian. Jace struck the face over and over again, his arm slowly felt weak, though it was something that he pushed aside.

He could feel the blood that covered his hand, the sounds of his fist connecting to Adrian's face. He could feel the way that Adrian tried to defend himself though before Adrian could even raise his arm, something inside of Jace found the strength to almost snap Adrian's arm. He heard Adrian yell out in pain, in Jace's sick and twisted mind he felt satisfied over such a thing.

Jace punched Adrian once more, before he instantly moved off of Adrian and ran to Kain's side. He found himself bringing Kain into his arms, trying to find any sign of life. He found himself cupping Kain's cheek, trying to bring himself back down in reality. He could faintly hear the sounds of the people within the Gallery scream and fleeing the building, though it was something that he didn't care fully enough to notice nor care.

All that Jace could do was look at Kain, he shook Kain lightly. "Kain, baby, wake up, please wake up," Jace muttered lightly. When he didn't get a response, he took in a trembled breath as his fingers went to the side of Kain's neck. He had to find a pulse, yet his hands shook and couldn't focus, it was enough for Jace to miss the faded pulse that beats lightly in Kain's neck.

Jace found himself pulling Kain into his own body more, clutching at Kain's body as tight as he could. He could feel the way that the panic set inside him at the thought that he couldn't feel Kain's pulse. Did he just loose Kain before he could talk to Kain properly about everything? He didn't want to believe the thought that he could lose Kain once more, how could he be so careless? How could he be so stupid?

He had all these abilities, all of these advancements, and the one thing that he was so unable to do was to save the one person he just got back. As much as he knew that he was afraid of loosing Kain, to not talk to Kain about everything. How could he be so stupid? Why didn't he listen to Kain? He had all these gifts, and he still couldn't save Kain from getting shot. He should've. . .he knew that he should've, but he didn't.

Jace found himself stroking Kain's cheek, he felt the way that everything inside wanted to burst. How could he be so stupid? He wanted to kill Adrian, how could he let this happen? If it wasn't for Adrian then Kain wouldn't be like this...if it wasn't for him then Kain wouldn't be like this in the first place. He...he didn't know what he needed to do but he wanted nothing more than to talk to Kain about everything.

There was a part of him that wanted to explode, he wanted to see if Adrian could suffer, he wanted to see how much damage his abilities could do to someone's body. Adrian shot Kain, the one person he hoped to get back with, who knew him as well as Peter knew him. Kain was hurt, Kain was gone because of Adrian. Jace found himself hugging Kain's body tighter, this shouldn't have happened.

"Jace!" Peter's familiar voice yelled through the crowd. The sound of Peter's voice slightly broke through Jace's twisted brain and his twisted thoughts. A moment later, Jace felt a hand go on his shoulder and then heard a small gasp. "Jace, get him back to the ship, okay, there's too many people here."

For a moment, Jace didn't want to respond, he couldn't bring himself to say anything. There were far too many thoughts which went through his mind, all which were about the things that he wanted to do to Adrian for what he did to Kain. Jace wondered whether the light would burn Adrian or kill him, there was a part of him that wanted that wanted to find out. He didn't care that his record was cleared, he was sure that one murder wouldn't lad him in the Klyn again, especially if it was Adrian's death.

He felt the way that Peter squeezed Jace's shoulder. "Jace, get out of here." In Jace's haze, he could've sworn that Peter spoke as if he was worried. "You need to get out of here and cool off before you kill everyone in here."

Jace found himself clenching his jaw ever so slightly as he looked towards where Adrian laid. He'd taken notice that the room was predominantly lighter than what it once was and lighter than what it is outside. "Kill him before I do." He spoke through gritted teeth.

Jace picked Kain up bridal-style, it was like he didn't want to let Kain go as he brought Kain to his chest. Jace tried to not think too much about how much it hurt to have Kain in his arms like this. He tried to take in a few short breaths to clear his mind, he knew that he needed to relax as much as he could in order to make sure that his abilities didn't get too out of control.

He found himself straightening as he rose to his feet. He briefly looked over to Peter who gave him a short nod. There was something else in Peter's eyes that Jace didn't have the energy to read into much, though it was something that he didn't care. He took notice as the others were staring down and putting themselves in between Jace and Adrian. Adrian, who looked surprised and almost shocked—despite how bloody his face looked—at the intense light in the room that was fading back to a more natural light like before.

Jace turned sharply with Kain in his arms as he found himself leaving the Gallery, heading back to the Benatar. With every step that he took, he tried to breath to calm himself down as much as he could. He tried his best to remember the way back to the ship, he used the idea of figuring out and remembering where the ship was as a way to calm his abilities down. The last thing that he wanted was for anyone to get hurt, as needy as he was for hurting Adrian, the last thing that he wanted was for the Nova Corps to take him away for the amount of deaths he caused here.

He didn't want to think about the amount of people that he probably already hurt because of his inability to notice that he was already using his abilities to brighten up the room as if the sun managed to find its way into the room. He hadn't realised that it was something that he could do, subconsciously or consciously. He shook his head, now wasn't the time for him to think about his abilities. He needed to get back to the Benatar.