The Syndicate - 37. Chapter 37 - Ronnie

Ronnie waited under the tall maple tree at the center of the Garden of Remembrance. A quiet, shady spot that quickly became one of his favorites and where he liked to spend his afternoons. The evening's weather was still hot and sticky, which seemed to be keeping everyone else indoors, but Ronnie was thankful for the privacy. He closed his eyes and focused on the soft splashing of the fountain. Typically, it was a soothing way to end a stressful day of training. Tonight, however, it only made him anxious.

Taran appeared after a while, looking as if the weight of the world was about to crush him. Ronnie waved him over and tried to find the right words to say. He didn't know where to start; so much had happened in the last twenty-four hours. Taran dropped down in the grass beside Ronnie, eyes to the ground. He took a gulp of air and relayed everything that had happened in the mission room. When he got to the end of the story, silence hung in the air, and Ronnie's mind reeled as he tried to process everything. They were going on a secret mission on behalf of the Syndicate to solve a worldwide phenomenon of heroes gone missing! Oh, and they only had a month to prepare.

"That's… a lot to take in." Ronnie finally said.

"Tell me about it."

"Your dad must really trust you."

Taran snorted. "Yeah, what a great time for him to finally notice I have value." He dropped his head into his hands with a groan. "What if I fail this? The four of you are depending on me!"

"Hey, we're a team. And we've got this." Ronnie reached for Taran's hand. "You've been teaching us everything we need to know. We're gonna be ready."

Taran squeezed Ronnie's hand and silently stood up, heading towards the fountain at the heart of the garden. Ronnie lingered for a moment and decided to follow. He stayed a few feet behind as Taran circled to the far end of the raised pool, crouching down to examine something. Looking over his shoulder, Ronnie watched as Taran traced his fingers over one of the inscriptions carved into the smooth marble: "Collin Weber - Sonic Blast."

"My brother was leading his team on a mission deep in the Amazon. A mining company had accidentally unearthed a bunch of alien artifacts. Something that crash-landed years ago, but the technology was still usable. A spot had opened up on his team, and I begged him to take me. I had never seen the rainforest or a spaceship before, and this was a perfect opportunity. It would be a standard excavation; we were only there to make sure everything stayed safe. A little boring, maybe, but I was dying to go on a mission without my mother. It took a bit of convincing, but Collin finally relented. I was always good at getting my way with him, eventually."

Ronnie stayed silent. He had heard of Sonic Blast when he was younger but would have never guessed Taran was related. Even as a random civilian, Ronnie had been able to tell that the hero had an attitude.

Taran continued. "Things started to go wrong almost immediately. After we landed, we discovered that a group of mercenaries led by the Terror Twins had reached the site before us, likely hoping to recover the technology and sell it to the highest bidder. On the ground, Collin and I had a huge argument. The regulations were clear; we needed to stand by for new orders. Collin told me I was being a baby and that his team could handle it, but I had to stay with the jet. I was too new and didn't know any of the team's fight maneuvers, anyway."

Taran's voice started to waver. "The thing you should know about Collin is that he never took his training seriously. He didn't have to. There was never a problem he couldn't punch his way out of. Rules were for people weaker than him, like me. I… I watched from atop a cliff as an explosion took out Collin and his team, the Terror Twins, and everything else within a three-mile radius. That area of the rainforest is still giving off weird radiation, all these years later. And I'm still having nightmares about it."

"My parents were devastated. I don't think my mom left her room for weeks. But something in my father died with Collin. He had been so caught up with my brother's rise to glory that he willfully overlooked all of his shortcomings. Dad wasn't able to accept that Collin's death had been avoidable because that would have meant admitting a weakness in the family. He put all of the unreasonable expectations onto me after that. I was the one that had to be better, to carry on the family name."

Ronnie knelt down near the fountain and put his hand over Taran's. "You aren't your brother, Taran. You're a great leader and won't make the same mistakes he did. We're ready to go, wherever you send us."

"There's just so much on my shoulders right now," Taran said, staring into the fountain's water. "If we fail this mission, I may never see my mother again. My father could lose the only family he has left."

"Then we won't fail. I'll follow you to the ends of the earth." Ronnie pulled Taran up from the ground and held him around the waist. Taran's eyes were so dark and heavy, and Ronnie wanted desperately to take the burden away. "Just tell me what you need."

"You'll have to push yourself harder than ever these next few weeks. You've come a long way, but there's still a lot to learn before you're ready."

"Of course. And I'll stay at headquarters until the mission is over."

"I also need you here for me. I can't do this alone."

"You already know I'm here for you." He pulled Taran close and kissed him. Taran tensed up for a moment, worried about the garden's openness, but he quickly melted into the kiss and wrapped his arms around Ronnie's neck. There was a pulse of energy as their lips met again and again, the air around them fizzling with electricity. Ronnie pulled away in surprise as one of the nearby park lights popped, a shower of sparks raining from where the lamp had burst.

"Well, I guess we confirmed that theory," He reached out to gingerly touch one of the sparks still weaving through Taran's hair. It sparked against his finger with a zap, bouncing away.

"I think you're right…" Taran broke away from Ronnie and motioned for him to stay back. With his face hard in determination, he thrust his arm up to the sky. A bolt of lightning fell down from the dark clouds that now hovered above them. Taran caught the hot white energy in his fist and gave a shout of surprise. Thunder boomed overhead, and a few fat drops of rain fell to the ground.

"Alright!" Taran cried before releasing the arc of lighting. It arced back into the clouds with another clap of thunder. The rain clouds finally broke, releasing a shower over the garden. The water was cold against Ronnie's arms, drawing goosebumps.

"Ack, you jerk!" He laughed. "You're making everything all wet!"

"Oh gosh, let me fix that," Taran swung an arm towards Ronnie, and a narrow blast of wind and rain followed, drenching him.

"Now you've done it!" Ronnie chased after Taran, throwing his arms around him. Taran yelled with delight and tried to keep them both from falling.

"I should probably try to turn this off," Taran said, eyes darting upward.

"I've got this," Ronnie closed his eyes to focus, and a broad, glittering construct formed above their heads. The rain fell against it and glimmered with emerald light as it streamed over the brim. Ronnie caught Taran's gaze in the light and sighed. He was so happy and about to lean in for another kiss when something caught his eye. A huge man was standing at the plaza's far side, frozen on the sidewalk and staring at them.

"Oh, shit," he said in a harsh whisper, pulling away from the embrace. The forcefield above them dissolved as Ronnie's focus was broken. Taran whirled around in confusion. The color immediately drained from his cheeks.

"Dad…" The man turned around, stomping away with his head down. "Dad, just stop. Come back, and I can explain!" Taran continued to call out, to no avail.

Something in Ronnie snapped. The entire summer, he had been piecing together Taran's struggles with his parents. How he had been continuously compared to his brother, and how the family baggage and pressure left him living a lie. Collin's own stubbornness had gotten him killed, and that his death only made things worse for Taran was completely unfair. Ronnie had heard enough, and there was no damn way he was going to let anyone treat his boyfriend like garbage.

"Hey!" He screamed and ran after Crimson Cosmonaut, who was still headed back to the door. Ronnie could feel the energy building in his fists. "He said STOP!" He reached with his arm and threw out a curved that blocked the pathway. Taran's father paused and turned to face them.

"Drop the shield, Mr. Nolan. We both know you can't actually stop me." His voice was calm. Crimson Cosmonaut had no need for threats.

"No!" Ronnie yelled and thrust out his other hand. The curved wall swooped over the top of Warren's head and connected with the ground all around him. He was stuck, if only for the moment, under one of Ronnie's dome shields.

"Just what do you think you're doing?"

"I'm keeping you here until you decide to stop being the world's mightiest douchebag and talk to your son!" The walls of the dome flared as Ronnie's anger was stoked. Warren raised his eyebrows and pressed a hand against the side of the construct, testing it. A searing pain bloomed across Ronnie's forehead as Warren quickly pulled his hand away, flexing his fingers.

Taran appeared at Ronnie's side and called out over the storm, which crackled and boomed erratically overhead. "Dad, let's just talk about this."

"What's there to talk about, Taran?" Warren demanded. "How you've been lying to me this entire time? Lying to your mother?"

"Dad… I didn't mean to lie about anything, I've wanted to tell--."

"This isn't you. Think about your future, about how hard you're making things for yourself!"

"I didn't have a future before Ronnie." He held his arms up and gestured to the storm, pulling it back under his control. "You always resented how weak I was. Look what I can do now! I never would have reached my full potential alone." Thunder boomed for added effect.

Warren turned his gaze to Ronnie. "Are you truly responsible for this?"

Ronnie was sure that Cosmonaut was going to break from the shield at any moment and throttle him. He raised his arms higher and sent more energy into the barrier, yelling over the wind and rain that was now ripping through the park.

"I care about Taran, not his powers. He's always been strong, despite what you think. Having to keep this secret from you only made things worse."

Warren softened slightly, his shoulders drooping. Another thunderclap rolled across the sky high above them. "All I wanted was for the family legacy to continue… your mother and I started the Syndicate. You and your brother were supposed to carry the torch before passing it on to your own families."

"Dad, if our family legacy is to be the world's greatest heroes, does who I fall in love with change any of that?"

Taran's father slowly shook his head and turned away from them. No one spoke for a moment, and Ronnie slowly lowered his hands. The top of the dome split open and fell away as he did so. Taran looked up to the sky and closed his eyes, forcing the churning clouds to dissipate into the breeze. The garden was once again still and silent. Taran took a small step forward and broke into a run toward his father. He stopped just behind him.

"Dad. I've wanted to tell you for so long. I just didn't want you to be more disappointed in me than you already were."

Warren sighed. "I'm not disappointed. It's just... It's been so hard since your brother died, and I've never been very good at dealing with things like this."

"It's ok, Dad. But can we promise to be better?"

"Of course. You're growing up to be so much like your mother. She was always the smart one." his voice cracked, and he cleared his throat. "We have to get her back."

"We will. I promise."

Warren winced and opened his hand. His fingers were cracked and red where they had touched Ronnie's force field. Taran saw it and gasped. "Holy crap, Dad, are you ok?"

"It's already healing, but unexpected for sure. You pack a Hell of a wallop, Mr. Nolan." He called out.

Ronnie found himself awkwardly studying the ground by his feet. Did he manage to injure Crimson Cosmonaut?!

"I, um, sorry about that, sir." He replied, doing his best to keep the internal screams from reaching his face. "It's, ah… nice to finally meet you?"

"I suppose the feeling's mutual." He approached Ronnie, who was now all too aware of how impossibly huge Warren Weber was. "I'm guessing you haven't heard many good things about me, and for that, I'm sorry. Thank you for taking care of my son when I was too short-sighted to see that he needed someone."
He held out an uninjured hand. Ronnie hesitated for just a moment before taking it, relieved that the handshake didn't end with the bones in his hand being obliterated.

Warren turned to Taran, who was doing everything he could to hold it together. He put a hand on his shoulder. "Try to get some rest, son. I should be going."

"Bye, Dad," he responded softly.

As Taran watched as his father walk away, Ronnie stepped closer and reached for his hand. Taran broke down into loud, wracking sobs at the touch. He leaned into Ronnie's and muffled his cries.

"Shh, shh, it's ok!" Ronnie whispered, rubbing Taran's back. "Everything's going to be fine."

"That was so fucking scary," Taran mumbled into Ronnie's shoulder.

"You did it, though. That was really brave, and I'm so proud of you."

Taran pulled away and tried to wipe the tears from his face. "No, you were brave, the way you stood up to him. You didn't have to do that!"

Ronnie shrugged and held Taran's face close. There was a strength in his dark eyes that hadn't been there a few days ago, but it made Ronnie's heart sing.

"That's what you do for the people you love."