Chương 87: 087

I'm concerned, Gabriel," Alexandro said, "That kid has been through a lot, and I have no idea how to help him, or even if I should." Alexandro was a True Healer, and one of the best.

His Power was literally Age Manipulation, which put him right up there with the Biomorphers and even the few truly powerful Bio Manipulators that worked at Crystal Tower itself, making sure the big heroes survived everything that the world threw at them, and they also did cosmetic work to make the heroes truly beautiful for the cameras. Alexandro's niche was more for making old people young again.

Even if he didn't have the full suite of moral dilemmas that the better True Healers had, his power had still affected his entire life in deep ways that he could only ever come to terms with. Who to heal? Who to let die? Every healing took 20 minutes of concentration. Based on the pure needs of the job, of which Alexandro was only shouldering a small fraction, he could still run himself ragged with 24-hour work days and never run out of work. So long ago, he had hardened his heart, for his own sanity.

He had Gabriel, who made him laugh and feel loved, and he had a life outside of work, and he worked for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, and that was enough. Mark had no idea what Alexandro's actual job or life was like until today. Until Curtain Protocol came down. Until after Markus and Donna had been murdered by a Falling archmage. Alexandro had seen his fair share of terrible stories due to work, but this past year, it felt like all the bad stories were striking home. It had been a lot.

And now Mark was in one of the guest rooms of the estate, and the shower had been running for about an hour now. He was still alive, according to Gabriel. He was just… sitting in the shower. He was in pain, and Alexandro could not help him more than he was already planning to help. Alexandro didn't blame Mark for crashing so hard, or even for sitting in the shower for an hour. When Alexandro had gotten the news of Addashield striking that hidden bunker with Markus and Donna…

Alexandro had been an absolute wreck for a month. He was still a wreck! He had always imagined that he would have forever with his brother, and his brother's wife. It still pissed Alexandro off all these years later that Dad had never taken advantage of his offer to heal him… Shit. Alexandro hadn't thought about Dad in a long time. He was still holding on to that anger, wasn't he. He was never going to get over that. Shit.

Alexandro sat at the kitchen bar, drinking one of Gabriel's mojitos, as Gabriel made dinner in the kitchen. Alexandro finished off the mojito and the sparkling mint flavor tasted fantastic. It was a good distraction. Gabriel flipped a chicken breast on the grill, as he said, "I could do a real reading on him, but I can already tell you that he needs rest. Direction. Time to heal." Gabriel pointed at him with the spatula.

"Like you." Alexandro frowned… And then he sighed, and said, "We lied to him about so much, Gabriel. His parents made the decision to raise him as a Curtain Protocol fundamentalist, which was… what it was. Shit. I'm still mad about that, too. Shit, Gabriel!" And then Alexandro gestured at the house, saying, "Mark thought we lived in that little cottage we bought to use specifically for his visits! Sussed that out real fucking fast once he saw this grandeur. I think that hurt him, too."

The cottage that Alexandro and Gabriel had pretended to live in for the family visits was just a guest house on the property. That place was a 1 story, 4 room house, which was currently empty. It was a nice enough house, and it had served well to keep Mark unaware of the nature of 'What Uncle Alexandro did for a living', and what a True Healer actually was.

It always seemed like Too Much of a lie to do that, but Curtain Protocol had a bunch of protocols, and hiding money that was gained from Power usage was one of those protocols. This house, the real house, was a black, white, and marble edifice to strength, and Alexandro absolutely loved his real house. Three stories tall, set on 15 acres, this house had guards on the property and a great big pool out back and huge entertaining areas.

This was a house that Alexandro and Gabriel would never grow old in, because when the two of them started hitting 50, then Alexandro would take them back to their 30s. Maybe 35; they hadn't made that decision yet. They hadn't really talked about that decision in years, either. … Should Alexandro bring up that conversation again? Shit. There was another spike of worry— And then there was yet another spike of worry. Alexandro was rich as fuck.

Mark had grown up poor as shit, because Markus and Donna wanted him to know the value of money, and Curtain Protocol. Alexandro had written off his inheritance from Dad when Dad died, even though Markus and Donna had wanted him to take his split of the fish tank profits, and they wanted to pay him off for his share of the house. But Alexandro had told them 'Absolutely not! I'm rich. Take the property as your own'. It was one of the ways in which Alexandro could support Mark without really supporting him.

Alexandro had bought Mark a few expensive items over the years, too. Like his phones and computers, but he had bought them through Markus and Donna… Which was another 'lie' that they had told his nephew. Alexandro was pretty sure Mark knew about that lie, so it wasn't one he needed to really address. Stolen novel; please report. Gabriel shrugged.

"Kids know that parents lie to them. And if he did not know, then he is now aware. This is a lesson every kid learns growing up under Curtain Protocol… and in most other sorts of lives, too." Gabriel shrugged. He put burger buns on the grill, saying, "I think Mark is a lot stronger than you are giving him credit for, Alex. He has to be, and so he is. Don't baby him. Respect him." Alexandro rolled his eyes.

"So we'll ignore that he's been in the shower for an hour?" Gabriel nodded.

"Exactly. He's decompressing. Let him. And when he's ready to have these conversations, we can have these conversations." And then he Looked at Alexandro, adding, "You've done nothing wrong, Alex."" I've done everything wrong." Gabriel hummed, and then he took Alexandro's empty drink, dumped the muddled mint and the ice into the sink grinder, and started making a new mojito.

"Have you, really?" Alexandro sighed.

"… No." Gabriel grinned, and he looked so beautiful when he grinned like that.

"Good! I Knew you were gonna be okay." Alexandro grinned in return.

'I Knew you were gonna be okay' was pretty much Gabriel's catchphrase. Gabriel didn't have a Power, but he did have a Knowing about the people around him, and Alexandro was around Gabriel almost all the time. Gabriel would have been a great therapist if he had any desire at all to go to school and get the actual accreditation. Alexandro had done that for his Doctorate in Healing Magics, to get better with his own Power, but Gabriel never wanted to go into professional learning.

He liked being a bartender, and a cook. Alexandro said, "Shoulda been a therapist, Gabe." Gabriel smiled brightly, wonderfully.

"I like my hours as a househusband, bartender, and cook, thank you very much." Alexandro laughed. He smiled a bit. Gabriel joked; he was also a big time accountant. He loved numbers, which was pretty odd, since he had a Knowing for People. Alexandro always thought his choice of profession was kind of odd, but it was what it was, and Gabriel was happy. Gabriel changed the subject, asking, "So what's the plan if Addavein shows up here?" All the wind dropped out of Alexandro's sails. It was such a big question.

Neither of them had truly understood the severity of that question, because how could you deal with something like a 'new world order' possibly starting, and attaching itself to your family as a 'nephew'? Alexandro said, "All I know is that Addavein is not welcome here."" In line with normal operating procedure, then," Gabriel said, as he handed Alexandro his next mojito. And then he asked, "What about Mark moving in with us? That had been the plan." Alexandro had a lot of mixed feelings about that topic.

Before today, before hearing about Addavein summoning Mark, Alexandro wanted Mark to live here. They had a room all ready to go for him on the third floor, facing the south, the city. It was a nice room. Practically an apartment unto itself. But now... They had enough security concerns without housing Mark— Alexandro felt terrible even as he had that thought. Was he really not willing to house Mark in his own home? Short answer: He wanted Mark here. But the longer answer…

Alexandro was already his own personal security concern. Over the course of his life, there had been no fewer than 28 attempts to kidnap him, and every single day at the office some client always brought up how they wanted this person or that person to get a treatment, too. Alexandro's client base was full, though, and he always wondered when his next denial-of-healing would result in another attempt on his life, or a kidnapping. So Alexandro wanted Mark to be here, but… Hmm.

They could put him up in that guesthouse that Mark had visited, that he had thought was Alexandro and Gabriel's house? That place was pretty nice, and Mark was… probably used to that place, more than this big house. Alexandro also had some properties in the center of Memphi, near downtown, that he gifted to guests for a month or two when they visited. Those places were bachelor pads, which would be great for someone Mark's age. But Mark wanted a team to explore the world with, and that necessitated a bigger house.

… No. All of that was terrible. Alexandro backed away from that train of thought. Alexandro said, "We're offering him the room here. I want him here. It'll be a security concern, I'm sure, but I want him here." Gabriel grinned.

"Good. Me, too." And then Gabriel teased, "So look at you, pulling the big strings with the city to go out and meet him at the gate! You thinking about not being a hermit anymore?"" Oh gods no," Alexandro said, laughing.

"That was all Willow. The call came in and she was right on it. She's trying to make good impressions, and she is wildly succeeding. And I think she's just plain more active than Carlotta ever was." When Alexandro switched from Hearthswell oversight to Freyala oversight, for The True Healer List, there was a change of guard.

Inquisitor Carlotta Sanchez of Hearthswell had been with Alexandro for 23 years, but she had been itching to see her grandkids grow up for a while and she simply wasn't equipped for the vast increase in Alexandro's kidnapping risk, now that Mark was talking to dragons. Carlotta took the retirement she had been thinking about for years now, got de-aged from 60 to 24, and Willow entered the house as Alexandro's primary guardian.

Gabriel put cheese onto the chicken breasts and let it melt, saying, "I heard from Carlotta this morning. Did I tell you?" Alexandro shook his head and Gabriel continued, "She's doing great. The grandkids are in middle school now, and…" Gabriel spoke, and Alexandro loved to hear him speak. Mark would probably be out of the shower in a short while, Alexandro thought.

Gabriel was making dinner for the three of them, and he usually timed these things perfectly, as long as the people he was cooking for were anywhere nearby. Gabriel was good about Knowing what people were up to, and what they needed.