Super Sales on Super Heroes

Chapter 27 - Favors -

The conference phone in the center of the table started to ring.

Felix quirked a brow, forgetting Lily and Andrea altogether.

Tapping the accept button, he leaned over the speaker.

“This is Felix.”

“Mr. Campbell, I have Agent Smith on the line. I believe we were expecting him in person, but… he’s trying to call in,” came back the Andrea secretary’s voice.

“Alright. Patch him through, then.”

Felix didn’t care for this; it felt weird and didn’t make that much sense to him. Smith had set this meeting up and had asked for it to be in person.

Tapping the mute button, he looked around the room.

“This isn’t right. Lily, any chance you can get a report from Wraith as soon as possible?”

Lily nodded her head to that, already working in her tablet. “On it.”

“Mr. Campbell, so generous of you to pick up. I wasn’t sure if you would,” Mr. Smith’s words came floating in through the speaker of the phone.

Felix sighed and flicked the mute button. “Yep, I’m here. Though I thought we were supposed to meet in person. You requested it. Even went so far as to request the attendees, who are here.”

“Ah, that’s a shame I can’t see it. I’ll be sure to make an appointment to swing by later. Sorry.”

Felix didn’t respond. Silence would be his weapon in this battle. The less he offered Smith, the better.

“Felix?” came the eventual question.

“Yes?”

“Ah, sorry. Anyways. We were going to talk about your taxes and what that number is for you.”

He’s being rather vague, isn’t he?

“Yup.”

Felix swore he could hear a chair creak and papers being shuffled.

“Ah… well, uh.” Felix smirked at the verbal pause to fill the gap. People really didn’t handle silence very well in general. “That number is going to end up being rather hefty. We’re not done assessing it, but I can safely tell you it’s already going to be higher than a hundred thousand.”

Looking to Lily, Felix’s hand was halfway to the mute button.

She already had a hand up in a placating gesture, nodding her head at him.

Okay, so that falls within her own projections. Or at least close enough.

“Got it,” Felix said. He idly began tapping his thumb on the table, his index finger hovering over the mute button.

“As we discussed previously, I’d be happy to work with you to get this handled.”

“I see. And when is the money due in whole?” Felix decided to cut to the chase and see if he could catch the man lying. He’d feel better about it if he could.

“Not yet. Again, we’re still assessing things. I’m sure you noticed your assets are frozen. I’m afraid that was our doing, as we needed to get an idea of your finances.”

Rolling his eyes, Felix waited. The man wasn’t very good at the “government agent” thing he was trying. Then again, it probably helped that Felix had a group of people who were watching out for him.

Once again, he treated Smith with silence. A big, happy heaping helping of it.

“Felix?”

“Yes?”

“Err, never mind. So, yes, your account is frozen for a bit.”

“I noticed. When will you be releasing it?”

“I’m not sure. I could swing by tomorrow and talk to you in person about it.”

In other words, come by and sleep with one of my people.

“Afraid I’m all booked up, Agent. With our account being frozen, everyone is certainly a lot more busy right now.”

Felix didn’t want to leave anything to chance, or give Smith a chance to not state something. “Any idea on when you think that’ll unfreeze?”

“Not at this time,” Smith said in a clipped voice.

“Alright. I’d appreciate it if you could send over the agency directive name and passed regulation that allows you to freeze my account. Along with all the pertinent details about what’s allowed. For documentation purposes, of course.

“Oh, and please also send me all the tax law information as well. Trying to get everything put together.”

Smith was silent. Maybe Felix had pushed it a bit too far, but he wasn’t in the mood for games. Smith was actually hurting his business and his people at this point.

“Sure. I’ll get that over to you today. Have a good day, Felix.”

Shaking his head, Felix hit the disconnect button.

“Fuck him and the horse he rode in on.” Felix leaned back in his chair.

“Kit said he wanted you to prostitute one of us for favors,” Andrea said.

“That he did. Which is why after he rides back out on his horse, the horse can fuck him.”

Felix pressed his hands to his face, closing his eyes.

“Whatever. Lily, let me know when we get in touch with Wraith.”

“Of course, though there’s another problem. I just got another emergency meeting request with Reznik, Blacketer, and Troy.”

“Great, now what?”

“They wouldn’t say. They’re sending their people over now to see us. This was after I told them we were unable to leave the office today.

“They’ll be here in—”

The conference phone in front of them buzzed.

Felix dropped his hand on the phone, hitting the connect button blindly.

“Yep?”

“Mr. Campbell, I have a group of people here representing Reznik, Blacketer, and Troy to see you.”

“Tell Miss Aston we’ll see her shortly, we’re finishing up a meeting.”

“Of course.”

There was a pause. “Mr. Campbell, Miss Aston is no longer with the company, but they’re waiting.”

“Huh. That’s interesting.” Felix opened his eyes and rested his chin in his palm. “Now why would they get rid of her? She didn’t seem unintelligent.”

“She’s actually pretty good, as far as lawyers go. Graduated near top of her class, multiple offers for employment, spotless contract record,” Lily agreed, a frown crossing her pretty face. “I didn’t specify that Miss Aston was a problem in our complaint, nor did we ask to have anyone removed in it. If they got rid of her, it’s for their own reasons.”

Which means she refused to play ball, probably.

“Victoria,” Felix said, looking to his bodyguard.

The swordswoman came to attention, her head snapping around to him.

“Get me a Telemedic, the petty cash briefcase, and a brick of lead.”

Victoria hesitated, looking to Andrea.

The Beastkin apparently understood something he didn’t, as she suddenly split three times. The three Others left the room immediately, Victoria remaining in position at the door.

“Uh…” Felix started.

“She can’t leave her post. Don’t worry, my Others can handle it.”

“What are you planning?” Lily asked, leaning towards him. Her moist lips were parted in a predatory grin. “You’ve got something in mind.”

Felix shrugged, eyeing her. “How would you feel about hiring Miss Aston to work in your department? I’m betting she’s unemployed right now and looking.

“Knowing you, you’ve researched her top to bottom and even know her address. Your praise is never given freely, either. For you to compliment her, that means you actually think she’s worthwhile in some way.

“Telemedic taxis you to her, brings you and her back, we have a lovely meeting with her old team as she debriefs you on the way.

“Cash for whatever you need up front, gold bar to replenish the money you spend.”

Lily’s eyes scrunched up in delight and she leaned forward towards him. She reached out with her right hand to pat him on the chest. “I love it. And yes, I’d hire her in a heartbeat. I’ll draw up a standard Indentured contract for her.”

Thirty minutes later and Felix welcomed the team from Reznik, Blacketer, and Troy to have a seat at the conference table.

Victoria, Lily, Andrea, and now Lauren Aston were present, the latter three sitting with him on his side of the table.

Every person from the opposing team noticed Lauren sitting on Lily’s right hand side.

Apparently, Lauren had been blackballed by the community. So, when Lily had shown up with a cash in hand offer, a contract, and a new home to work out of, she had only had a few questions.

Her belongings would be arriving later.

As an Indentured, she would be offered a place to live on site, with the understanding that she could move out whenever she liked.

So far, no one had turned down the offer to live on site.

And when we buy up this street, we’ll see about expanding our subterranean kingdom. We’ll just use the buildings for defenses and other things.

From what Lily had told him after hiring her, Lauren had been dismissed for what they’d surmised. She’d sent a complaint to the ethics board about what her bosses had forced her to do.

What she’d attempted to do to Felix, that is. It wasn’t personal, it was business, and her job.

She hadn’t agreed with it, had sent a formal complaint, but had been nonetheless forced to go along with it if she wanted to keep her position.

Since she’d gotten fired shortly after the whole thing had gone down, it sounded like someone in ethics had sold her out.

All in all, she was a great acquisition even if she couldn’t offer any insight into what this meeting was about.

“Good afternoon, everyone,” Lily said. “What can we do for you today? Please keep in mind, you’ve once again filed for an emergency meeting outside of protocol. Our bill will be in the mail.”

“This’ll be quick,” said a man Felix had seen several times but never bothered to learn the name of. Dropping a paper in front of Lily, they turned and left without another word.

Felix was confused. All that fuss, and for what?

Lily had already picked up the paper and was reading through it.

“If we ever wanted proof they’re in league with our enemies, this would be it. They didn’t bother to cash our check. When they finally did try, it was when our assets we’re frozen, which means the check bounced. We’re now in breach.

“I’m sorry, Felix. I didn’t even think to check to see if they’d cashed the check.”

Felix waved it off. “Doesn’t matter. We don’t need the money from the landlord job anyways.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong, this sucks. And it puts a lot more weight on the points bank, but it isn’t anything we can’t get through.”

Lily sighed and set the paper down in front of Lauren. “Please get to work on this immediately; we’ll reconvene tomorrow for a department meeting. I’ll introduce you formally to the rest of the team. Until then, get settled, get a tour, get some food.”

Lauren picked up the paper, her messenger bag, and nodded. A few seconds later and she was out the door and on her way to start her first day.

“She’s eager. I think she’ll be a great long-term employee. I didn’t tell her much, as she wasn’t under contract, but the little I did tell her seemed to make her happy.”

Felix shrugged and then sighed, slumping into his chair. “I think we were supposed to talk about something next, weren’t we?”

“Yes, my first favor,” Lily said, folding her hands in front of her on the desk. Apprehensive would have been a good description of her.

“Okay, sure. That’ll at least be fun. Probably even solvable. Whatcha got for me?” Felix scratched at his head.

“I want you to fix my little brother. He’s… not well. I’ve got him in a full care facility right now. Technically, I’m his guardian. I’ve been working on getting everything together to have him transferred here.”

Rather surprised at the request, Felix didn’t know what to say.

“As of course, being your property, my property is yours. As his guardian, I’ve written him up an Indentured contract.”

Lily slowly set a paper down in front of him. It was indeed a contract and had been completely filled out.

“My favor is… please, sign the contract and then help him?” Lily finally turned her head towards him, her hands gripped together in front of her.

Her eyes were wet, and it looked like she was fighting to keep herself from crying.

“He’s one of the reasons I got into magic. I wanted to find a way to help him.”

“What exactly is wrong with him?” Felix picked up the paper and looked over it.

There was a momentary flicker of annoyance, a whisper of indifference to the situation.

Both vanished and were replaced by the simple fact that he wanted to take care of Lily. That he didn’t want her to suffer if he didn’t have to.

Pulling the pen from Eva out of his front pocket, he ran his thumb along the words.

Guardian indeed.

“We’re not sure. He just… fell asleep one day and never woke up. His brain is active, he’s not… he’s not braindead. He just won’t wake up.” Lily sniffed, her voice breaking. Her fingers were locked into one another, intertwined.

Felix nodded his head and signed the contract. “Let’s go get him, then. If we can get him put to rights today, we’ll do it.”

Lily let out a sudden sobbing breath, a smile breaking free. Then she launched forward and wrapped him up in a tight hug, her arms firm around his shoulders. “Thank you, thank you, Felix. Thank you.”

Awkwardly, he patted her on the back. Lily shuddered and Felix realized she was crying.

Catching Victoria’s and Andrea’s eyes, he motioned them towards the door, hoping they’d get the hint. Both women left without a word.

Felix held on to Lily, not saying a word.

The sobbing sorceress of death, the incredibly strong lawyer, the ravishing temptress, broke down.

All that was left was a woman who was carrying the burdens of an older sister who only wanted her brother to be well.

“It’s okay, Lily. We’ll get this taken care of. How old is he right now?”

“Sixteen. If he wakes up—” Lily took in a shuddering breath. “He’ll be so far behind. What kind of—” Another shoulder-shaking sob. “—life will he even be able to have?”

“Well, I’m sure I can cheat and use points to get him up to speed. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. I mean, come on. I can practically bring people back from the dead. There’s not too mu—”

Felix blinked at a thought that tore through his head.

I own their corpses, don’t I? Why can’t I just… bring them back?

Lily didn’t realize he’d stopped mid-sentence, but had buried her face in his neck instead, holding tightly to him as she cried.

Felix followed his thoughts as he comforted Lily.

Standing at the foot of the bed, Felix was surprised. The young man looked wasted away. Years of immobility, of not moving his muscles on his own, had caused them to atrophy.

He looked as well cared for as one could be in a coma, though. The facility was very high end, and Lily had paid for its treatment of her brother for another hundred years in advance.

She’d been concerned what would happen to him if she was killed or captured.

Smart sister.

The boy had a faint resemblance to Lily, but Felix had a hard time seeing more than only a hint of it. The sunken cheeks, waxen and pale skin, took too much of the life out of the kid.

“No time like the present,” Felix said. Calling up screen for the teenager, Felix looked to the character sheet.

Name:

Lucian Lux

Power: Astral Projection

Alias: Luke

Secondary Power: Eidetic Memory

Physical Status:

None

Mental Status:

Lost, terrified

Positive Statuses:

None

Negative Statuses:

Lost, atrophy, intellectual disability

Strength:

17

Upgrade?(170)

Dexterity:

23

Upgrade?(230)

Agility:

15

Upgrade?(150)

Stamina:

11

Upgrade?(110)

Wisdom:

31

Upgrade?(310)

Intelligence:

91

Upgrade?(910)

Luck:

47

Upgrade?(470)

Primary Power:

91

Upgrade?(9,100)

Secondary Power:

95

Upgrade?(9,500)

“Huh. He fell asleep because his power woke up. He’s an astral projector.

“He’s just lost,” Felix said. Turning his head to Lily, he gave her a smile. Only she, Victoria, and Andrea had accompanied him here. They’d arrived by Telemedic and would be leaving the same way.

“Really?” Lily asked hopefully, her voice threatening to break again.

“Yup. Here, go stand next to him. Don’t touch him immediately, he might be groggy and a little out of it. Let him wake up.

“I’ll do a little bit of power tweaking and we’ll see about him waking up.”

Felix didn’t mention the intellectual disability. It wouldn’t help, and he could just remove it. The atrophy he’d leave alone, though, because it’d help get Lucian to have a goal.

First, the disability.

Focusing on removing that, he waited.

Status Correction: Mental disability -> Healed

Correct Status? (5,000 points)

A tap of the accept button and Felix moved on.

Next, the upgrade.

He wanted Lucian to have the ability to return to his body no matter what, at any time, regardless of how far he traveled. That it would cost him nothing to do so, and be as simple as opening his eyes.

Power Upgrade: Astral Projection-(Instant Recall)

Required Primary Power: 80 (Met)

Upgrade?(20,000 points)

Felix grunted and hit the accept button again.

Closing the windows, he looked up to the sleeping boy.

“Wake up, Lucian. Your sister is waiting for you, and we have a lot to do today. First of which is hiring you some tutors, getting you some clothes, and getting you into a physical therapy program,” Felix said, intoning it all as a command. The Indentured contracts were more or less a timed enslavement. He owned Lucian, and Lucian would have to obey. “Open your eyes and recall already.”

Just like that, Lucian’s eyes flipped open. Lily let out a soft crying noise, her hands clenching into her clothes.

He blinked several times. His eyes slowly focused on the ceiling.

It really is like watching someone wake up.

Languidly, those eyes began to move, looking at each person in the room, as if cataloging them.

After each person was examined, the boy’s head turned towards Lily, his eyes fastening on her.

“Lily?” he asked in a croaking whisper.

“Hey, bud,” Lily said, tears rolling down her cheeks. Picking up a pitcher of water at the bedside table, she poured a small amount into a glass and then leaned over him. “Here, take a sip for big sis.”

Lucian nodded his head, and took a drink from the glass. Then several more.

“Thanks,” he said. His voice didn’t sound as raspy now. “I was lost. I couldn’t find home, or you, or… me.

“I was wandering around in a forest just now. I was following some hunters and… and then it felt like someone knocked a hole through my brain. Like… shutters and curtains that had blocked out the light were ripped free and thrown aside.

“It felt like I’d been carrying weights around in my head. Then they vanished.

“And then I suddenly knew where my body was. I was told to open my eyes and… I’m here.”

Lily let out a chuckle that sounded like a sob. “Yeah. That’d be Felix here. His power is… unique. He made it so you could come back, and it seems like he fixed you, too.”

Whoops. Apparently the mental problem was something that existed before he went to sleep.

“And I’ll be talking to him about that later. For now, though, he’s right. We need to get you home. I already have a room set up for you.”

“Home?” Lucian asked, his head having slowly turned towards Felix.

“Felix’s home. I live with him now. He said you could live with us, so… we’re going home.”

“That sounds nice. When we get home, then can we eat? I’m hungry.”

“Sure we can,” Felix said with a grin. “I know someone who is always itching to feed people pancakes.”

Andrea nodded her head happily from beside him, her hands immediately coming together in front of her.

“Thank you, brother,” Lucian said, a smile on his face.

“Brother?” Lily asked. She had moved over to the intercom to call the nurse to prepare discharge papers.

“You’re married to him, aren’t you? The way you said everything, it sounds like you’re married. Mom and Dad must be so happy.

“You were always so intimidating. Dad always said that you scared off all the boys. Mom and Dad worried you’d never get married. I’d heard them sometimes talk about it. So I’m glad you married Felix.”

Lily made a squawking noise, her cheeks turning a deep red as she hurried back to Lucian’s side and began whispering to him.

Felix chuckled at that, turning his head to Andrea.

“Call the Telemedic back, we’ll be leaving shortly. Then you can make everyone pancakes.”

“Pancakes!” Andrea shouted.

“Pancakes!” Victoria agreed.