章節 84: Gramps
As Liam ran to the car, his thoughts went into chaos, his mind preparing him for the worst possible outcome. The distance between him and the vehicle closed rapidly, the surrounding noises faded out slowly.
Reaching the car, time seemed to slow down. The noises all around him disappeared entirely as Liam looked through the shattered window.
Inside was an elderly man, slumped over the steering wheel, with a thin trail of blood flowing from his nose. Small, sharp glass shards were embedded in the right side of his body.
This elderly man was his grandfather—the only person who had been in Liam's life since the beginning.
"No," Liam thought in despair as he slowly reached inside the car. His trembling hand moved towards his grandfather's neck, searching for a pulse.
As his fingers pressed against the skin, Liam's face turned pale, and a cold dread washed over him. Nothing. No pulse.
A deep sense of emptiness overcame him, as though he had become entirely disconnected from the world. Yet, he kept his hand there for a few more seconds, hoping against that something would change.
Just as he prepared to drag his grandfather out of the car to perform CPR, he felt it—a faint beat. A pause, then another weak beat.
Relief went through him, removing the despair for a moment. Wasting no time, Liam ripped the car door off its hinges and carefully reached in. Gently lifting his grandfather, he carried him in his arms and conjured a portal in front of him.
On the other side of the portal was a hospital room—a place Liam recognized from the Doctor Strange movie in his previous life. As soon as the portal fully opened, he rushed through it, unsummoning Incursio and closing the portal behind him.
Liam ran into the nursing room ahead, shouting, "Doctor Palmer!"
Inside, a brown-haired woman stood up abruptly, startled by the sight of a man holding an elderly figure in his arms.
"I need help with my grandfather! His car was hit by some kind of explosives!" Liam's voice was urgent as he approached her.
Despite her initial surprise and confusion, Christine Palmer didn't hesitate. She moved into action immediately upon seeing the elderly man's condition.
"Get him on this crash cart," she instructed, motioning to a nearby cart as other nurses, drawn by the commotion, came over.
Liam carefully laid his grandfather down while Christine began her examination.
"Push the cart and take him to the room five doors up ahead on the right," she directed.
Liam complied, pushing the cart down the hallway as Christine conducted her initial observations.
"Airway clear," she noted to a nurse beside her as she cut open the elderly man's shirt. Another nurse who had just joined them began assisting. "No entry wounds near the lungs."
The nurse next to her wrote everything down as Christine continued. "Spine condition unknown. Minor external bleeding and nasal hemorrhaging. Possible internal injuries."
"Grab the F.A.S.T. scanner," Christine instructed one of the other nurses, while she herself began gathering multiple medical supplies and tools. Liam, unfamiliar with most of the things she used, stepped back to stay out of the way.
One of the nurses approached him and asked him to wait outside.
He nodded, exiting the room as the doors shut firmly behind him. Once alone, a mix of countless emotions overwhelmed him.
To remain aware of whatever happened inside, Liam created a small portal, no larger than his hand, in the top corner of the emergency room. Through it, he kept watch, ready to intervene if necessary.
Time passed as the nurses worked tirelessly. Eventually, one of them went out of the room to give Liam an update.
"Your grandfather is stable now, but there were small amounts of internal bleeding. We're taking him to another room for an MRI scan to ensure there's nothing more serious," she explained.
Relief swept over Liam, and for a moment, the weight on his chest was lifted. Even though there might still be bad news, his grandfather was stable for now.
As the adrenaline went away, anger took its place. Though he felt frustration toward himself, Fury, and others, the ones he hated the most at that moment were Hydra. It wasn't just anger; it was a refusal to understand their motives. "Why would they do this to other people?" he thought repeatedly.
But he already had an answer no matter what anyone said: Their motives didn't matter.
'They will pay for what they did to Gramps,' Liam thought, watching as his grandfather was wheeled away infront of him for further tests.
An hour passed, and Liam now sat by his unconscious grandfather's bedside.
"He was lucky," Christine said, standing beside him. "There was only minor trauma, a concussion, and some external injuries. He'll wake up soon. That said, we'll need some form of identification."
Liam nodded, knowing full well he couldn't provide it. 'If I reveal myself, Hydra's remnants might come for her, I'll also be destroying all records later.' He thought. 'When Gramps is well enough, I'll bring him to the Sanctum. No more lies and I'm completely done with this spy bullshit.'
'After that, Hydra will experience hell. Especially Pierce—he won't get off as easily this time.'
Christine interrupted his thoughts. "Have you ever had your eye condition checked? And… how did you know my name?"
Liam instinctively touched his face, realizing his sunglasses were gone, then he remembered that he had lost them when he summoned Incursio. "It's nothing special," he said, brushing off her first question. "And your name? I read about it in a magazine about another neurosurgeon here."
Christine raised an eyebrow, clearly skeptical, but chose not to press any further. "A nurse will bring you paperwork soon," she said. "I need to check on my other patients now."
"Thank you so much," Liam said as she left. "I won't forget this."
Minutes after Christine departed, his grandfather began coughing, his eyes openened slowly.
"Where am I?" he asked, his gaze falling on Liam as he looked around.
"The hospital, Gramps," Liam replied. He quickly gave a brief explanation of what had happened.
"What happened to your eyes?" his grandfather asked, with concern in his voice.
"I'll explain later, Gramps," Liam said gently. "You don't need an extended stay, so you'll be discharged in about four hours. After that, I'm taking you somewhere new."
"Why not my house?" his grandfather asked, his brow furrowing.
"I'll explain more about that later." Liam answered.
章節 85: Dealing With Hydra
His grandfather looked at him strangely, wondering why his house wasn't good enough to go to after this.
As time passed, a nurse came by with some paperwork. Not wanting to cause a fuss in case his grandfather needed help again in the next few hours, Liam signed the forms consenting to the treatment his grandfather had gotten. He also filled in a form with basic identification information.
After the four hours had passed, his grandfather was cleared to leave the hospital. As they walked out, Liam turned to him.
"Follow me," Liam said.
"Where are we going?" his grandfather asked as they turned into an alley.
"You'll see," Liam replied, smiling slightly again.
Making sure there was no one around, Liam stopped and turned to his grandfather.
"You should prepare yourself for something you've never seen before. Don't want you dying of a heart attack, after all," he teased.
"I prepared myself the moment I had to walk into these filthy alleys. Hurry up with whatever you're planning. I don't want to stay in this disgusting mess any longer," his grandfather said, clearly unused to the smells of the streets after his time on the countryside.
"Alright, then." Liam turned and began to open a portal in front of him with his sling ring.
At first, Harold couldn't see it clearly. But as the portal grew larger, sizzling orange energy forming a circle big enough for a person to pass through, Harold's face froze in shock.
"What work of the devil is this?" Harold murmured.
"Come on, follow me, Gramps," Liam said, shaking Harold from his stunned state.
"What is this?" Harold asked.
"This is a portal," Liam answered as he stepped through. "It's magic, and it will take us to your new home."
Harold, still in disbelief, took a cautious step forward. Trusting his grandson, he followed through the portal.
His surroundings instantly changed to a room completely different in style from anything Harold had ever lived in before.
After stepping through, Harold looked around in amazement, his thoughts a complete mess.
"Where are we now?" he asked.
"This is my room," Liam answered. "This is where I've spent most of my time the past few years."
Liam glanced around the room, surprised not to find Illyana there. 'Probably in Limbo, or atleast I hope she is,' he thought. 'Maybe that's for the best. Gramps needs to adjust to the idea of magic before seeing something like a dragon.'
"Let me sit down for a second," Harold said, feeling overwhelmed. "You've got a lot of explaining to do."
Liam nodded. After Harold sat, Liam began explaining the basics about the Sanctum and magic. He decided to hold off on the more complex and time-consuming details—he still had scores to settle, after all.
Harold struggled to digest the information. Liam could see it in his eyes, so he decided to show him instead of tell him.
"Come on," Liam said. As Harold stood, it was clear his thoughts were still a mess.
'It's going to take time. I'll get him a room here now and help him adjust after dealing with Hydra.'
As they walked, Liam introduced his grandfather to their surroundings.
When they passed the training grounds, Liam stopped to talk with the master training a group of students.
Liam turned, about to step onto the courtyard, when Harold spoke.
"Has the history I've spent my whole life learning been nothing but a lie?" Harold asked.
"No, I don't think it is," Liam replied after a moment of thought. "Magic may have influenced things behind the scenes, but for the most part, it's stayed out of human affairs."
'There's no need to tell him about Dormammu or other threats right now,' Liam thought. 'He'll learn those things gradually through books at his own pace.'
"We also have books on history here," Liam continued. "Only, this history covers far more than you can imagine."
Hearing this, Harold's face lit up slightly again.
Liam led him stay and watch the training while he went to a nearby master in the training courtyard to arrange a room for his grandfather. The master agreed and directed them to an empty room close to his.
As they walked back, Liam continued talking with his grandfather. He noticed that his grandfather seemed to be gradually recovering from the shock, with his excitement and interest becoming increasing noticeably in the way he spoke with Liam.
Once his grandfather was settled, Liam spoke at the door. "You should get some sleep, Gramps. With everything that's happened, you need rest. The time difference here might leave you feeling terrible tomorrow if you don't."
''Tomorrow I'll also tell you how I ended up here.'' Liam said.
"Alright, I'll hold you to that," Harold said. "And this time, I want to hear everything."
Liam smiled and closed the door. When he turned, the smile faded.
The more time he'd spent with his grandfather, the angrier he'd become inside.
'These Hydra people are nothing more than pests, and Fury is the rat that brought them to my grandfather. Despite all my warnings, he didn't listen. Even if it was unintentional, he deserves what's coming.'
During the meeting earlier today, Fury had given them a location they could meet up at in case they got seperated on their way over to Triskelion. Expecting them to be there, Liam opened a portal to that site, stepping out in front of a small gray building. Only it was empty.
'They're not here?'
Then another thought occurred. 'Could they have gone in ahead of time? It's been hours, after all. But they can't have left here long ago since they still had to drive over here.'
'They likely wouldn't have gotten ambushed on their way over here either. Hydra would condense their forces at the Triskelion after losing a lot of their super soldiers.' He thought. 'Then I'll deal with Hydra first.'
Liam opened another portal, stepping into a meeting room he recognized. As he entered, he summoned Incursio around him.
On the other side, agents stood ready, guns aimed at him.
The portal closed behind him. Liam counted 9 men. From these men, he got the exact same strange feeling he had gotten from the super soldiers earlier today. Only from these agents the feeling he got was a lot weaker.
The agents opened fire, and Liam no longer cared about the details. He summoned Neontote and infused it with energy, slashing outwards.
An arc of energy tore through the agents, large chunks of their bodies vanishing. The attack ripped through the rest of the floor, tearing through additional agents before dissipating outside the building.
Seconds later, an alarm went off, but Liam didn't care.
'It doesn't matter,' he thought. 'No one will leave. Not when I block the entrance with my domain.'
創作者的想法
Donnuuu
Donnuuu
Rather difficult chapter to make, hope the way I made it was fine since we will now be getting to the fun stuff.
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