Dragons Among Heroes

Devin, having pulled himself from the waters around the pier, rolled onto his back and stared at the sky as the clouds glowed orange with the reflected light pollution from the city. Taking a moment to catch his breath and consider what just happened.

The dragoon armor had saved Devin from the fire and concussive wave, but that didn't mean it had stopped it from sending him rocketing through the roof and out over open water. Devin had tried to flare his wings but couldn't seem to get them to coordinate enough to stop his fall though the flapping might have slowed his descent before hitting the water.

Standing up Devin started walking away from the blazing structure as first responders began to pull up and try to put out the fire. As Devin disappeared into the shadows of the night another shape emerged from them to see the structure beginning to turn into a pile of molten slag and rubble. The light from the fire revealed the shape of a man in a red ninja outfit with black trim, his mask currently around his neck, exposing his face. The man continued to stare at the fire before a man in a smoldering black ninja outfit with the slumped form of a body on his shoulder appeared.

"Is he alive?" the man in the red asked without taking his eyes from the ruined warehouse.

"No, we were unable to get to him before the woman killed him." the smoldering man reported as two more men in black appeared and took the body of the man from the injured member.

"Take him back for now. The leaders will make a decision on what to do with the body." the man in red said to the two before they disappeared with the body. The man in red then turned to the injured man and with a flick of his wrist slit his throat.

"Failure will not be tolerated." the man murmured before disappearing into the night as well.

***

After finishing his shower Devin proceeded to have an ordinary morning after the chaos he just experienced. A moment of peace before calling Jessica and diving back into the madness.

'They probably think that I died in that explosion. Better be ready to duck.' Devin thought as he made two eggs and some toast. Devin began making more food after finishing his so that the others could have breakfast. The smiles he received after laying out the eggs and toast was well worth the time, though he ended up having to make another four eggs for Henric. The boy's apatite was beginning to get pretty large. Devin and Izabela would need to be careful so as not having to pack an entire feast for his school lunches. He then wished them a good day and saw them off to school while Izabela headed outback for her daily practice. She was diligent in her will to protect her siblings, Devin conceded as he made note to check on Stark and other current events after.

Finally it came time for Devin to call Jessica and let them know he was alive so that they could proceed with the investigation of the principle and school. It only took a couple rings before the angry voice of Jessica ripped through the speaker on his phone.

"You ȧsshole! We thought you were dead! Why didn't you contact us sooner!" Jessica said before a frustrated yell was heard in the background of the call signaling that she had set the phone down and stepped away. Soon Luke got on the line and said pretty much the same except the PG version since Luke never seemed to cuss, ever. Once Devin had talked the two down from their anger they explained what had happened.

They had left the three villians for the authorities and returned to Luke's bar to bandage their wounds. Everyone had felt his death as a failure though now that he was alive they could move past it. This was told by Luke as Jessica yelled in the background that she wouldn't move past anything till she kicked Devin's ȧss. This brought a smirk to Devin's face as he found Jessica's attitude amusing for the most part and he couldn't blame them for being pissed at his supposed death only for him to come back perfectly fine.

"Alright, I'm sorry for worrying all of you, but could you put me on speaker now so that I can speak to Jessica without her crushing the phone." Devin said to Luke who switched the phone immediately.

"Okay, go ahead." Luke signaled.

"Jessica look you can sock me when I see you next, but for now I need you to finish the case on the school principle before something happens. I'm not saying right now, but once you recover then if you would continue please." Devin said the last part when he could hear Luke inhale to say something, most likely some concern for Jessica's well being.

"Jessica, I know that this is most likely gonna fall on deaf ears, but you should really talk about what happened, even if it's just Luke. You're a good woman and what you did in that warehouse will eventually catch up to you and I hope you don't rely on your usual means to cope." Devin said though he should have done the same a long time ago. The fact that he was able to function like nothing happened was a concerning development though becoming numb was a possible reason.

"Don't worry, I'm here for her." Luke said as Devin nodded even though he knew they couldn't see him.

"Okay I'll contact the both of you later for progress. Stay safe." Devin said before hanging up. Looking around found Devin in the living room by himself. Taking a seat on the couch Devin decided to check his inventory real quick while he checked for any news pertaining to the warehouse explosion. Soon the voices of news anchors replaced the quiet that had pervaded the room moments before which was a nice background noise while he checked his stuff.

Looking over the items left he saw that a good portion of his ammo and the clips for it were spent so he would need to replenish that from the armory. He also saw that the AR and one of his handguns was missing so those would need to be replaced as well. Soon a voice managed to break him from his perusal.

A woman in a red business suit and perfectly styled blonde hair reported on how a condemned warehouse on the pier had exploded last night due to a gas leak and how the only casualties were a small group of homeless people who had been squatting illegally in the dilapidated structure.

'So I was right. The Hand covered up that whole thing with some BS cover story, but what was their angle? The chance to eliminate both Ironfist and Daredevil were of course good, but the amount of subordinates as well as the fact that they got even more frenzied when Jessica killed Kilgrave speaks to much more. Were they after Kilgrave?' Devin speculated before the back door opening and closing caught his attention and he turned the TV off in response.

"Devin? Is that you?" Izabela's voice came from the door.

"Yeah, was just watching some news on the TV. What's up?" Devin replied before standing and locating the woman. She was wearing a white tank top over a sports bra and leggings for her daily practice. Her hair was still up in a pony tail at the back of her head.

"I'm heading out to go shopping again. We're running out of certain things due to Henric's new apatite. I've been meaning to speak with you about it though. Is that normal for mutants?" Izabela said before asking a question as she wiped sweat from her neck with a small cotton towel. Her voice sounded unsure on the use of the word mutant, like she wasn't sure she was using it right.

"Mutants are just as varied as normal humans. So it is possible that his apatite might be normal for his type of mutation. We just need to roll with it and make sure that he gets what he needs." Devin said as he gave her a reassuring smile and a nod that she was fine. This seemed to relax some tension in her shoulders as she smiled back.

"Alright, anything we need that you can think of?" Izabela asked as she passed by Devin on her way to change leaving a notable scent behind her. Devin having gone through a change in his bloodline as well as no longer being human and having some enhanced senses was momentarily caught off guard before shaking his head and replying.

"No, but thank you for your consideration. Go ahead and buy extra of what ever we seem to be running through and I'll see about maybe adding more storage to the pantry." Devin said with a smile that Izabela nodded to before excusing herself. After she left Devin frowned slightly, before shaking his head.

'Get ahold of yourself Devin.' Devin admonished himself before turning towards the stairs down to the armory.

'Maybe a call to Mr. McCoy to brainstorm some ideas on what Henric's mutation could be. I believe I can trust the man to be secretive about our cooperation..' Devin thought as he started downwards.