The Paladin Book 1 Epilogue

Epilogue

Saturday

January 15th

“So Booker, your father tells me you’ve gone through a couple of rough experiences back to back. Do you think that seems like a fair assessment?” Dr. Blackthorne inquired. I barely heard her question, to be honest, I wasn’t really paying attention. Dr. Elizabeth Blackthorne had been the third therapist I’d seen in two weeks, each one coming to the consensus that what I had going on was a little out of their pay-grade, and I hadn’t even told them everything. Frankly, I was more intrigued with analyzing her than analyzing my problems. The picture with her in an army platoon intrigued me. None of the therapists I had met had photos, which made me feel like I was in a hospital. Behind the pictures were various psychology textbooks lining bookshelves, specifically ones on PTSD and military psychology. However, my favorite item of note was the Glock 23 compact tucked in her handbag next to the desk. I was intrigued, something was different with her than the others. Though I figured I’d have to give a little to get a little.

“Things could be better I suppose,” I admitted, rubbing my faded purple-brown knuckles. “You were in the military?” I noted, gesturing to the picture.

“For a bit, psychological operations. I understand your brother and father were both in the military. Let’s talk about one of them, shall we?” she transitioned. I rolled my eyes a little to myself which she unsurprisingly seemed to pick up on. “Or not. We could talk about your former boss Alex. We could talk about your ex-girlfriend Alicia. Or maybe about what happened to your friend Johnny? Or perhaps your friend Samantha? Maybe we should just talk about you,” she posed.

“Surprisingly doc, I don’t wanna talk about any of that stuff. Because you could never understand, and I don’t blame you for that, it’s just the reality,” I made clear.

“Try me, and if I’m out of my depth I’ll refer you. Sound fair? Its all I can do right?” she offered.

“Not long after my brother died, I became the vigilante known as the Paladin. So roughly a year and a half. Couple of months ago, Alicia and Alex Romero came into town. You might have heard of them, multi-million dollar tech mogul and his daughter. I worked for Alex and dated Alicia, for a little while at least. So you could say I got pretty close to the family. Then I find out that Alex killed his wife and covered it up. And that Alicia was hell-bent on destroying her father's company while eliminating criminals with stroke inducing technology. So my girlfriend was my first real supervillain and her father, my boss, no, my idol, was the cause. I tried to stop her, but couldn’t get to her before someone killed her. Some blogger asshole, Moriah Morin, blamed the Paladin and everyone just believed her. I blamed one of my only friends, Samantha, who I really like and may even be in love with, for her death. Then my other friend Johnny… Well, you already know what happened to him. ‘Attempted suicide’, my ass, he was targeted and I know it. My dad, the police Sergeant, found out about the whole me being a superhero thing too. Doesn’t know how to treat me, that’s why he’s shuttling me to a different doctor every few days, cause I don’t think he even knows how to feel. If you think that’s rough, wait till you hear the whole story because those are just the cliff notes. And now, the cherry on top, you wanna know if I qualify my past few months as rough? So tell me, what do you think doc?! Where do we start?!” I ranted, getting riled up towards the end. She clicked her pen, touching the corner of her lip in thought as she analyzed what I had just said carefully and calmly.

“Well… let’s start at the beginning then. Seems like the best place to start if you ask me,” she figured nonchalantly, putting her pen to her paper. I was taken aback yet also comforted by her blase attitude towards me being the Paladin.

“Alright,” I agreed, getting comfortable in my chair.

(Five hours later)

Dr. Blackthorne had been clacking away at her keyboard for hours, barely leaving her seat other than to grab a coffee. Our session was two hours long and I crammed nearly every minute of it getting all of my thoughts and feelings off my chest. She probably had enough for a book or two just from the first session. In the midst of her typing she sensed something behind her, no noise, she didn’t see anything, didn’t even feel anything, but something she sensed it. She grabbed her pistol and turned around seeing a young man in his late twenties playing with a stress toy he’d found in the corner. He was tall, classically handsome, with brown hair and a well-maintained stubble. None of this was of particular note, however, compared to the man’s nearly all black super suit with a neon green detailing and a neon green biohazard symbol in the center.

“Jesus Christ! Hannibal, do you always have to do that? You know that’s how you get shot,” she pointed out.

“You know I could heal that in like what? Ten seconds? Five? Besides, you’re so cute when you jump like that, you’re like a little bunny. Totally worth the risk,” he commented, getting up from his seat.

“So are you here off duty or on?” she asked.

“Unfortunately on. You almost done with that report on the Paladin?” he queried, tossing the doctor one of her stress toys playfully. She caught it and threw it back.

“Don’t rush me on this one. Captain Courageous was right about this kid, he’s going to be a big deal. I mean sure, he’s the first consistent superhero since the ban. But more impressively and perhaps, more importantly, he took out a building of fifty armed guards with nothing more than some armor, a mace, and a sniper guarding his back. Not a single power between the two of them. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a kid do that before,” she praised. He walked up behind her, looking over her shoulder as he gave her a back rub. “I thought you were on duty?” she pointed out, letting him work out the knots in her neck.

“What? Co-workers can’t give each other back rubs?” he bantered.

“You know how strict Cap is about office dating,” she reminded.

“Yes but that’s what makes it so fun,” he countered, turning her around, leaning in close for a kiss. “So who was the sniper?” he posed, pulling back teasingly.

“Johnny Gutierrez, also known as Desperado, one of Booker’s best friends. Would’ve made a good candidate too, but he’s now comatose, the medical examiner ruled it attempted suicide. I suggested we do our own investigation in the report,” she answered, turning back to her forms.

“Gutierrez, huh? Interesting.”

“You know the kid?” she questioned.

“Name rings a bell, I think. Anything else I should know about?”

“His only remaining partner is Samantha Anderson, also known as Morpho. Or if you’ve got access to classified Heroes' Federation’s databases, then guess who she is?” she quizzed as if Hannibal could have possibly known. He shrugged. “Samantha Valentine." That got his attention.

“You’re shitting me, you mean-”

“Daughter of the late Henry Price and Mallory Valentine, AKA Revenant and Arbalist, AKA, Caps old partners. Also, Hunter Valentine’s granddaughter if we’re keeping track. Making her the closest thing to superhero or supervillain royalty. Depending on how you view it I suppose. Regardless, Samantha and Booker were close for a while, romantic even, but right now their relationship is pretty strained, to say the least.”

“Young love, so fickle. How are the kid’s emotions? You set up a link I assume?”

“Keep this off the record will you?” she asked. He nodded. “His emotional state right now… I don’t trust it,” she stated. Hannibal gave her a curious look. “He’s been through so much in such a short amount of time. Betrayal, deaths, injuries, heartbreak. There’s only so much one kid can take without getting overwhelmed. I can feel his uncertainty. He’s trying his best to hold things together but he can’t do it alone.”

“Do you think we should be putting him on our other list?” he asked, gauging her reaction carefully.

“No, no, not yet. Booker hasn’t shown any of those tendencies, hasn’t taken a life yet, seems to be in it for all the right reasons. Though of his own admission, he has had his moments of temptation. He’s a good kid going through some hard times, Hannibal. I don’t want to see him go down a dark path because no one is there for him,” she emphasized.

“If it makes you happy, I’ll keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn’t get in over his head,” he promised.

“It would,” she said, giving him a peck on the cheek. “When will I be seeing you next, Cap has got you running around so much I can barely pin you down for a minute.”

“You’ll be seeing me around. Cap put me on another long-term assignment here. Booker is just the beginning. Stranger things than a kid running the rooftops like a modern day knight in shining armor are happening in Tar City,” Hannibal assured.