Getting Up Again

Aaron was awakened a few minutes later by Gog's incessant blubbering in his ears and informed that most of the damage had been repaired.

Breathing heavily, Aaron gathered his thoughts as the frigid suspension of Nano-Machines continued to course through his veins, swarming to the areas of his body most in need of treatment. As they carried on with their work, Aaron managed to roll onto his stomach and a bit shakily, He pushed himself up to his hands and knees, coughing up a mouthful of blood in the process.

"G̷̩̟͍̭̦̘͕͚̐ő̷̺̳-̶̨̛̟̦̯̗̬͚͗̅͐͠͝Ş̵̖̟̬͈̬̤̚ḩ̷͚͔͊̀̐̽̓̈́̈́̎͠ͅa̵̫̱̅̽̀̒͊ ̸̤͖͉̩̞͈͗S̴̯̬̤͍̞̪͆̌̅͌͐̓̆̿͊̕ḧ̴̜̱̼̙̾̑͐͂ȋ̷̢̛̪̞̟̦̳̱̥̱̔̒̃̉̇͜͠ ̵̯̖̞̑̇̍̉͛̓̽̕V̷̨̱̬̦͍̹̭͇̽́́̔͒̈̀̽̂ȃ̵̭̠͎ ̸͚̙͛̈́͗̕͝J̶̘̤͓̫̦̀̇̈̌̑͂͠i̸̭̝̩̳̍͑̀̎.," Aaron groaned and clutched his ribs with his right arm and the shadow on the rooftop watching him from above seemed even more interested in him now., "I Feel Like I've Been Hit By A Truck... And A Large One At That.," Aaron chuckled internally.

"Not Surprising Father Given The Extent of Your Injuries.," Gog chimed in.

"Give Me A Report On The Damage.," Aaron asked hesitantly after several moments.

With a deep sigh Gog spoke., "It Would Be Easier To Report On What Isn't Fractured, Broken, Punctured, Ruptured, or Twisted..."

Aaron winced with every word.

"... Then What Is.," Gog finished and Aaron could almost imagine the pixieish Gog standing with one hand on her hip, looking at him disapprovingly.

"Lovely.," Aaron thought dryly as he made his way to his feet before stumbling backward and falling., "Maybe I'll Just Sit Here For A While and Let The Nano-Machines Do Their Work."

"Good Idea.," Gog sarcastically added a second later.

The Damaged Light Shield sparked and fizzled, Aaron raised his hand up and looked at the charred remains of the device now fused to his hand before remembering what The Assassin had said while he was laying on the ground half-conscious and thought aloud., "An Ace up the sleeve huh?," Aaron opened his shirt and examined his chest which was bruised and battered but over his heart he found a trio of circular bruises where the bullets had impacted and he remembered what happened.

In the hand that had held a knife just a few moments ago there was now a Gun instead of a bladeless knife handle and before Aaron could overcome his surprise three rounds were already heading his way. He'd snapped out of his shock a fraction of a second too late.

"Shit, Can't Avoid The Hit... Only One Chance!.," That was Aaron's last thought just before the three slugs slammed into his chest and he was hurled backward across the street, A stream of blood trailing from his mouth. This part of Aaron's recollection was particularly vivid as he could recall each and every drop with unnerving detail... Their smooth vaguely round shapes, the way the light from the street lights and stars made them shine like rubies, and the way they almost seemed suspended in mid-air while Aaron was rapidly moving away from them.

Aaron knew he had crashed into a wall with tremendous **** but aside from the air being violently **** from his lungs and everything going white for a few fractions of a second, Aaron didn't really feel any pain. Of course, That changed once he woke up but that was after gravity pulled him free of the wall and he fell to the sidewalk rather unceremoniously. Even that seemed to take place in slow motion, as if The World around Aaron and Aaron himself were moving somehow differently if only for a moment.

Aaron felt as though he had been falling for days before he actually hit the concrete below and when he and the ground finally met he almost lost consciousness immediately but he managed to stay conscious long enough to hear his attacker speak over his body in that same amplified screech that felt like a rusty knife scrapping his auditory nerves down to the bone., "The First Worthy Foe I've Had In Ages... It Was Almost A Shame To Kill Him But... Orders Are Orders."

"To Think He Had An Ace Like This Up His Sleeve.," The Assassin said, crouching down and examining what remained of The Light Shield Aaron had modified., "It's Too Bad. It's Just Useless Trash Now.," The Assassin lamented, throwing Aaron's arm aside and standing back up.

"One Ace is indeed good but two... Are Better!," Aaron groaned with a lighthearted laugh.

"If I Hadn't Quickly Stepped To My Left I Would Be Dead Now.," Aaron thought, removing the playing cards he put in his shirt pocket earlier., "Glad I Treated The Rest of Them or I Wouldn't Be Able To Joke About Having The Winning Hand At The End of The Night.," Aaron chuckled to himself before wincing and feeling the inside of his jaw with his fingers, removing them to find blood., "The Damage Is Extensive... It'll Take Time To Fix Everything."

"Serves You Right! You Could Have Died! Stupid Father!.," Gog's pouting voice rang through their shared link.

"I'm Sorry... I Didn't Mean To Be Reckless But... You Know How I Get Sometimes.," Aaron apologized sheepishly.

"Just Be More Careful or I'll Never Forgive You!," Gog chastised Aaron.

"I Promise."

The exhaustion and tiredness not to mention the pain were gradually beginning to fade and while he was starved thanks to the Nano-Machines he was slowly beginning to feel like himself again. Aaron had regained enough strength to stand though he used the wall of the building for support just in case. He made his way a bit shakily I might add over to check on Sydney who was fine according to his readings but still sleeping soundly due to her earlier sedation so once he was sure that he was strong enough he lifted Sydney up into a Princess Carry and was astonished by how light she was. I mean she was a petite Girl and all but Aaron had the sense while he was walking toward The Limo that she might float out of his arms and up into the sky at any moment like a runaway balloon.

Aaron put Sydney in the back and made sure she was comfortable, He gave her another quick once over then hopped in the front seat, remembering the car's specs from earlier and opened one of the compartments containing an assortment of emergency rations. In the span of ten minutes Aaron ate enough Concentrated E-Rations, Food Cubes, Hyper-Nutrients, Beta-Carotene Chips, Carbo-Discs, and Vita-Bars to feed twelve people for a week to say nothing of the 30 cans of Glyco-Fizz he drank.

Aaron sat with the driver's side door open and his feet on the ground as he finished off his third loaf of Nutri-Bread and two more cans of Glyco-Fizz one after another.

Aaron breathed a sigh of relief and looked down at his hands, They almost didn't seem real... Like they belonged to someone else., "So Many People Dead by My Hands and yet I feel nothing... I must truly be a Monster."

[Ting]

The metallic sound of a silvery tear hitting the ground resounded through the otherwise silent night.