Page 45 of Draco's Fire

They could have tried to sneak out. Shayla had even offered it. He wouldn't have been breaking his promise to her. If he hadn't shifted, they might have made it to the door before Dain heard them. But Tyson wasn't so sure if they would have reached it. It was a long distance from the exam tables.

And he'd made Shayla a promise, even if she was less interested in seeing it fulfilled in the end. Tyson said he would kill this man, no matter what it took. He just didn't know yet what it would take from him.

As short as it was, the shooter's scream still echoed in Tyson's head. It had plenty of company. Some of the others were trying to rise from the depths of his mind. But he felt Shayla against him, and it helped anchor him in the present.

At the very least, he knew he was in store for some nightmares tonight. But the threat to him, to Shayla, and to all metahumans had been eliminated. At least one of them. If he hadn't acted when he did, he might have regretted it so much more.

They turned away from the wreckage, both human and mechanical, and walked towards the exit. The pair had barely taken a step away from the table when the door burst open as PEACE agents and police officers flooded into the room, weapons raised.

Shayla and Tyson both raised their hands in the air.

"We're unarmed," Shayla and Tyson yelled almost in unison.

Phillip Mercer stepped out of the throng and said, "They're clear."

Agents and officers spread out through the room, securing it and checking if there were any other entrances. They wanted to be sure there were no additional surprises waiting for anyone.

"What happened here?" Mercer asked.

Shayla began explaining everything that had gone on since they left the hospital. Meanwhile, Tyson stood in stunned silence. He watched as the horde of officers and agents went to work. There were so many that had come to rescue them.

There were undoubtedly more than Dain had had bullets in his gun. Tyson started to wonder if he would have surrendered to superior numbers or tried to go down in a blaze of glory and take as many people with him as he could. It didn't quite seem like his style.

Either way, had PEACE and the police showed up moments before, they could have stopped this. It felt like a blow to his chest, crushing his heart. Tyson chose to kill when there were other options.But I didn't know, he thought to himself. And it was true. He had no way of knowing how close help was.

But the idea that it could have been handled without killing Dain was hard to wrestle with. He thought how easily he'd cast aside his oath to non-violence. He didn't know if the ends justify the means this time.

Tyson's most significant source of guilt was that he hadn't even considered rescue as an option.

He shook his head. Crawling deeper and deeper into himself could only result in more nightmares for him. The what-ifs weren't worth it. If he'd delayed, if they waited for rescue, they both could be dead, and Dain could have escaped.

While he wished there had been another way, the risks were too great. Tyson finally understood why Shayla had been so pissed he hadn't taken out Dain when he had the chance.

Mercer said, "I'm glad to see you both made it out of this relatively unscathed. Give me a moment, and I'll find someone to escort you out. I'm sure you don't want to be here any longer than you have to."

The PEACE agents seemed to be doing most of the heavy lifting when it came to evidence gathering, with the police primarily maintaining a perimeter.

It was an officer who stopped Gil from entering until Mercer waved him through.

He wrapped arms around both Tyson and Shayla saying, "I'm so glad you two are alive. How did you manage to escape?"

"It wasn't easy," Tyson said. His voice was getting thick like each word was glue. "And, Gil, the shooter..." Tyson looked over at the corpse that was now swarmed with agents taking pictures and gathering evidence.

Gil must have interpreted Tyson's emotional response to just the mere act of having to kill because he said, "Oh, Tyson. I'm sorry you had to resort to that. I can't imagine what this means to—"

"It was Dain," he interrupted.

At first, Gil looked confused, as though Tyson was speaking another language. Tyson watched as Gil processed the revelation that his adoptive father had been behind it all. And that Tyson had killed him.

"No. No. No. That can't be. Why would he do this? Tell me this is some sick fucking joke Tyson," Gil was shaking.

"No. I'm sorry. I... he told me his name, and when I saw his face, it clicked."

Gil took several deep breaths and met Tyson's gaze.

"If you did it, Tyson, then I believe there was no other option. You wouldn't don't kill indiscriminately."

Gil looked back at the charred body while Tyson wrestled with how little Gil's comfort was actually comforting.

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