Authore: moi
disclaimer: this is my first fanfic, so please tell me what y'all think.
*Gaia’s point of view (pov)*I was thinking about Ed today. I was wondering what I’m gonna do without him in my life. I mean, he was really one of the only good things in it, and then one wrong move, like trusting that b**** Tatiana with anything, and my whole world collapses. Dimitri says that the agency doesn’t think the organization has any connection to Natasha, which just means I have a new enemy on my hands. Again. Everything is different now. I don’t know who to trust. I can’t really trust anybody… I guess that means I’m alone, but so what else is new, right?
Betrayed for a box of doughnuts
As Gaia walked around Washington Square Park, she waited impatiently to get jumped. Crap! She thought, where are all the goddamn punks tonight?Gaia knew she needed to let off some steam, and she knew who she wanted to find. Tatiana. But, of course, the b**** was nowhere to be found; she was too smart for that. Gaia looked up at the setting sun, and prayed that she could kick some ass soon. She wandered aimlessly through the park, until she bumped into the person she wanted to see the least.
“Hey! Watch it!” she snarled
“Watch it yourself,” came the jovial response.
“Jake?” Gaia asked
“Last time I checked” he replied, his blue eyes twinkling
“What the hell are you doing out here? Don’t you know how dangerous this park is at night?”
“Um…well, I live right over there,” Jake said, pointing to a brownstone, just a couple hundred yards away, “I was getting some doughnuts from over there,” he continued, pointing to a Krispy Kreme two blocks in the other direction, “so now I’m going home.” Jake smirked, obviously thinking he was clever.Only then did Gaia notice the green and white box of doughnuts Jake carried in his hands.“I don’t suppose you want one?” Jake asked, shaking the box suggestively.
Not for the first time, Gaia berated her stomach for betraying her.“Ok” she said warily, reaching for his box.
“It’s not gonna be that easy,” he said, “you’re gonna have to come over to my…well, I guess you could call it a house. I just call it a place to crash.”
Gaia followed Jake over to the brownstone, glancing nervously over her shoulder, just in case anyone from school saw her following Jake. Inside the brownstone
“Ok, I’m here, so make with the doughnuts” Gaia demanded impatiently.
“So impatient!” Jake laughed, following up on her thoughts, “you just got here, why don’t you sit back and relax for awhile? I can make some popcorn, we can eat some of the best, most concentrated sugar products in the known universe, we can play chess, or kick box, it’ll be fun”
“No they’re not.” Gaia whispered
“Not what? What aren’t what?”
“Krispy Kremes. They’re not the most sugar-based product. Chocolate crepes are.” Against her will, Gaia’s lower lip began to tremble, and a tear rolled down her cheek. Where are you Dad? Her mind cried out into space.
“Hey, Gaia, are you ok?” Jake asked, putting an arm around her shoulder.
A little shiver ran down Gaia’s spine at his touch, but she shrugged him off anyway, “I’m fine,” she snapped, “I’m just realizing that coming in might not have been the best idea in the world.” Without another word, Gaia ran out of Jake’s house, and out into the night. Behind her, she could hear Jake’s voice calling out “Guy-uhhhhhhhhh!!!” but she kept running anyway.
What went wrong?
Jake stood yelling at the door of his house for all of five seconds before racing after Gaia. What the hell was that? He wondered. Don’t I deserve more than that, whatever it was? Why does she have to look so damn hot in those cargo pants? Wait, where did that thought come from?His feet kept pounding the pavement, chasing after the golden blonde vision running so far ahead of him."Gaia!" Jake shouted, "Please..." his voice trailed off, he was out of breath. Gaia looked over her shoulder, and called out his name warningly, "JAKE!"The last thought that registered in his head was that, while her eyes seemed full or urgency, there was no fear in them. Then, the world went black.
What the Hell?
Gaia heard the assailant before she saw him. Always listen just as much as you see, more even. Her father's words rang in her head. Gaia had heard the steps of an assassin; they were almost silent, almost but not quite. She had turned, prepared to fight, but was instead surprised when the masked person, she couldn't tell if it was a male or female by the build, went for Jake instead, hitting him with some blunt object in the back of the head, knocking him unconscious.She had tried to call out to him, to warn him, but she had been too late. Stupid, stupid Gaia! She yelled silently at herself. You couldn't just eat his goddamn doughnuts, could you?Gaia charged the masked person, and was startled when she was stuck down with enough force to knock the wind out of her.
"Go home little girl," a male voice hissed, "this doesn't concern you."
"Oh, that's where you're wrong," Gaia retorted, "see, first, I know that guy, I may not like him, but I know him. And besides, all random acts of violence are somehow connected to me and my own screwed up past, interesting story by the way. So, here's what's gonna happen, you're gonna let my friend there go, and I’m not gonna kick your ass. Today."
"I have my orders, and they don't involve beating down a punk ass little girl, but I’ll be more than happy to improvise a little."
As soon as the man uttered those words, four other masked people, all wearing black, surrounded her and Jake, who was still unconscious. Two had guns, Gaia mentally played the odds, these guys (girls?) were pretty big, and she wasn't sure she could take them. Not before she passed out anyway. She slowly backed away, hating herself every second of the time, and then asked one question,
"who do you work for anyway?"
"All you need to know is that we work for HOME." the 5 men and women in masks said in unison.
The truth
Ed woke up to the sound of someone climbing through his window, which was really odd because he lived on the 6th floor of his building.I'm just dreaming, he thought, and he started drifting back off to sleep.
"Ed" a voice whispered, "Ed, are you awake?"
"No." he grumbled, recognizing the voice immediately. "No Gaia, I'm not."
"Come on Ed, get up. We need to talk"
"no Gaia.""Ed, I want to tell you the truth."
Ed sat straight up in bed, and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "what do you mean, 'the truth'?"
"I mean, the truth. About everything."
Ed looked at the haggard expression on Gaia’s face, and realized that something was seriously wrong. "Gaia, what happened?"
Suddenly, Gaia burst out into tears. This blatant display of emotion caught ed totally off guard; he could count the number of times he'd seen Gaia cry on one hand. Ed felt a layer of anger melting from his heart, and held Gaia close.
"G, tell me what's wrong." he said tenderly
Gaia looked up at ed and said, "ok, I’ll tell you."The aftermathed looked at Gaia, who was asleep in his bed. He continued pacing around his room with a freshly brewed cup of coffee, glad that his parents were away with Victoria and Blane for the weekend. Again. Fearless. Wow. That certainly explained a lot, although it did throw his life completely into an alternate, sci-fi reality. After all she'd been through, ed felt so little anger toward Gaia, it wasn't even funny. He knew she'd taken a big step in trusting him. It wasn't something she was used to. Granted, he'd freaked about a little of it, like coming from a goddamn psycho ward. He couldn't believe those arrogant bastards, brainwashing innocent teenage girls, taking away their pasts, making them into a perfect little arms of lobotomy patients. Ed was gonna have to thank Jake next time he saw him.Jake. That was something else. As if the goddamn CIA and Organization weren't enough, now they had this HOME to deal with too? And for chrissake, what the hell did they want with Jake?Ed sat down and took a deep breath, trying to calm the thoughts in his head. But they just wouldn't shut up.
HOME
as the blackness began to subside, Jake felt his head pounding. Where the hell am I? He wondered in his head.
"Where the hell am I?" he asked out loud.
"You already know where you are Jake. You’re home."
Oh, hell no! Jake’s mind pleaded. Let me be anywhere but there. Just don't let me be with...Jake opened his eyes, and saw her. Crap! He thought angrily. I thought she was dead! Of course he knew she'd never die. She hadn't yet, despite all his efforts.
"Jake, you've been a naughty boy. Mom and dad are very angry with you."
"Screw you Cecilia."
"Now Jake," a male voice said calmly, "don't talk to your sister like that. We’ve all been very worried about you."
"She’s not my sister, and you're not my goddamn father Ben. And this is NOT a freaking home."
"But it is," Cecilia said, "it's our HOME."
Jake tried to hit her, but then realized that metal bands secured his arms, he was bound to his chair. He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. He was pissed to be back here, but he would escape. He always did. Then, they would find him again, because they always did. He was angry, but he wasn't scared. He never was. He didn't know how to be.
Somewhere in hiding
Tatiana combed her coarse black hair, and blinked her big green eyes. Perfect. She looked nothing like herself. Tatiana blinked her eyes a few times, trying to adjust to her new color contacts. She added a little dark foundation for good measure, and glanced at her old outfit.Her sweater set and a-line skirt seemed to be calling out her name. She glanced down at the outfit she was wearing instead, black pants w/ a black leather jacket. Matrix, eat your heart out, she thought morosely.Tatiana slid her James bond-esque silver pistol down the back of her black boot. That b**** is gonna pay, she thought grimly, thinking of Natasha, she's gonna pay with her friends, one by one.
*Jake’s pov*I guess you probably have some questions by now. I don't really know where to start, or even if I should. If I do, then I don't know if I’ll ever finish.I wasn't ling when I told Gaia that I got into martial arts through my brother. Josh, my older brother, got me interested in karate when I was really young, by showing me a Bruce lee movie, just like I said. But he's not around anymore. We were both at HOME (hormone oddities medical environment) together. But he, uh, left when I was really small...6 or 7. See, he wasn't "special" like me. I'm different from most people. I don't feel the same things that they do. I'll tell you what, I'll say what it is that I don't feel, and you won't have me committed, ok? Alright. I can't feel fear. Nobody knows why, but I can't. Betcha never heard that one before, huh?
*Loki’s pov*my eyes continue to blink. I continue to gulp. I keep thinking about Tommy and Katia, but mostly I obsess over Gaia. Why does that name mean something to me? Does she have something to do with why I’m stuck inside this prison of flesh? I know that Gaia was a goddess, and earth goddess at that. The name Loki also keeps seeping in and out. Norse god of the underworld. But why are these mythological creatures in my head? Gaia...Loki...GaiaLoki...LokiGaia...I'm so confused...
Back at Ed’s
Gaia opened her eyes and stretched, happy as hell to be in Ed's comfortable bed. She smiled vaguely as she saw him gazing back down at her. Christ, it felt good to be near him.
"Hi" she murmured
"hi yourself. We have to talk."
Gaia’s heart squeezed with tension. He wanted to talk. Ed wanted to talk. She was a freak, he knew that now. Was that what he wanted to talk about? Great. Perfect. Freaking excellent.Ed walked over to the bed, and sat on the edge. He didn't look at her, and Gaia knew that if she could feel fear, then right now she's be pretty damn nervous.
"We have to do something about Jake."
Jake? What? THAT was what he wanted to talk about? Gaia let out a sigh of relief.
"Ok. What do we need to talk about?""Well, what are we gonna do about him?"
"Oh, I figure we'll leave him for the HOME to run experiments on. Whatever the hell HOME is. Maybe they'll give him a nice lobotomy, keep him outta my hair" Gaia said flippantly
"Gaia..." ed said warningly
"just kidding ed. jeez. No, I’ll find this HOME place, and do some kung fu Barbie shit. How’s that?"
"Works for me." said ed.
"me too."
A visitor
Cecilia shook her head sadly. Why couldn't Jake realize that HOME was the best place for him? Why couldn't he be happy here? She was.
Cecilia walked into Jake's room, where he was, sadly, still bound down. Now, it was to a bed however, rather than a chair. She sat down at the chair next to his bed, and gave him a small smile. Her innards churned when she was rewarded with an angry glare.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked him, pleading.
"Why am I doing this? Why the hell do you keep insisting on bring me back here?"
"Because Jake, you belong here. With your family"
"You are NOT my goddamn family!" Jake's body convulsed and wrenched as he shouted at her.
"Maybe this time you'll come around," said Cecilia sadly, "maybe this time you won't leave me behind."
Cecilia turned and walked out of the room. She remembered last time, when Jake had escaped, he had gone totally crazy. She remembered the gun, damn, that had hurt, she thought, rubbing her temple. Just the thought of that cold metal bullet against her brain matter made her shiver. She sure hoped he wouldn't try THAT again.
A chess game
Sam walked around through WSP (Washington square park), looking at his feet. He was creating quite a rapport with them; he knew every inch of brown suede, every stitch, every scuff.
This is pathetic, he thought sadly. I mean, really, this sucks.
How could Gaia really think he was after her? Really, how much freaking sense did that make?
Sam strolled over to the chess tables, glancing at them. He saw that while the object of his depression wasn't over there, Zolov was. He was beating MR. Haq, as per usual. But, the game was almost done, and Sam needed a distraction, so he walked over, and decided to take next game.
Zolov won, of course, and Sam slid in where Mr. Haq had been. They began playing, and Zolov took Sam's knight almost immediately.
"I have no seen you much lately Boy." Zolov said
"yeah, well, thing have been kinda off. Sorry"
"no be sorry, Zolov just likes to play." said the old man with a shrug.
"Everything’s just so different now Zolov," Sam confided, "I mean, with Gaia and all."
"Gaia?"
"Cindy."
"OHHHHHHH!!! Ceendy. Why you not say her boy? Cindy loves Sam boy. Cindy and Sam boy will be together soon."
"I'm not so sure about that Zolov. Gai- I mean Cindy- and I kinda had a fight. I don't know if we'll get over it any time soon."
"Nonsense." said Zolov authoritatively, "Sam boy love Cindy. If Cindy comes to boy now, he say yes to her."
Sam shrank inwardly, knowing that Gaia had, in fact, come to him, and he had tuned her away.
Zolov took Sam's queen and proclaimed "Mated Check! Haha! I win again!"
Sam reached into his pocket and handed Zolov a twenty.
"Thanks Zolov."
Zolov smiled, and said, "ees notink Sam boy. Go find ceendy, make friends again."
Sam turned and walked away with a parting smile. He just didn't know if that was possible.
The plan
"ok, here's what we're gonna do," Gaia said
"ok..." ed nodded his head, listening
"I sneak into the home place, kick as much as I have to, then grab Jake and bring him home."
"Uh...Gaia? Great plan and all, but what about guns?"
"Ed, I don't like guns. I’m not gonna use one."
"No, I mean, what if they have guns? I’m all for kicking ass, especially when you do the kicking, but what if these people have guns? And we're not even talking location here. How are we even gonna find this place?"
"Ed, do you want to save Jake or not?" Gaia asked, but inside, she knew Ed was right. What if there were guns? And even if there weren't, that one masked guy who'd taken Jake in the first place had been pretty damn strong. And they didn't know where his home place was either. It could be in Beijing for all they knew.
"G, of course I want to save Jake. I’m just trying to be practical about this."
"I know Ed, you're right too. L I'm just, I don't know. I feel responsible for all this."
"Gaia, it's not your fault that Jake’s gone."
"Yeah, it is. I didn't fight back. Those people had guns, but I could have at least TRIED. Or, I could have just eaten his goddamn doughnuts! Dammit!" Gaia yelled. She picked up one of Ed’s pillows, threw it in the air, and kicked it with all her force, it flew across the room. And out the window.
"Hey, it's ok. I didn't like that one anyway," Ed, joked, "far too comfy."
"Sorry ed." Gaia mumbled, looking at the ground. "Just pissed."
Ed walked over and put his arms around her, "it's ok," he breathed into her ear, "I understand."
"So, what are we going to do?" Gaia asked, turning around and putting her arms around his neck.
"I can think of one thing I’d like to do...,” ed murmured, nibbling her ear.
"Not now ed, this is serious."
"Fine." he said, flopping on his bed, pulling her back with them, " then get off me."
Gaia laughed a bit, and then pulled away. "Not now ed." she said, more seriously this time.
"Ok." he said with a smile, "but you owe me one later."
You have no idea how m much I owe you, she thought, but I intend to pay you back every last bit of it as soon as this is all over.
Getting nowhere, fast.
I’m never getting outta here, Jake thought desperately. What am I going to do? Maybe I should try to contact Gaia, but how would I -
Jake’s thoughts were interrupted when Ben came into his room.
"Hey Jake," Ben said pleasantly.
"Get the hell outta here." Jake growled, his teeth clenched so tightly that his jaw was hurting.
"Jake, you know how much I hate prescribing medication, but as your parent, I’m starting to consider administering an intravenous sedative, just to keep you calm."
Ben pulled out a small tube with a needle attached to the end, Jake recognized it immediately as a catheter, and slid it slowly into Jake’s hand. Jake twitched, shook, and fought as hard as someone bound to their bed could.
"Now, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Ben asked
Jake responded with a scream of pure rage.
"Well, now we're gonna have to put the sedative in here." Ben said, sticking a syringe into the connector at the top of the tube. Jake continued to struggle, but the thorzine was already taking effect, his body was quickly relaxing, and his vision dimming.
"No..." he gasped desperately
"now Jake, son, you know we're only doing this for you're own good. Maybe when you wake up, we can get some of that aggression out in a sparring match."
But Jake never heard the end of that sentence, he was already out.
Tatiana stood on the corner of Ed’s brownstone. She wasn't sure just yet if she should kill him first, or just enlist his help. Tatiana liked Ed, but she wanted to hurt Gaia before she killed her. Should I ring up? Tatiana wondered, or should I just climb up the building?
Tatiana decided on the latter, and began climbing the building, better to be safe, just incase...well, Tatiana didn't want to think of Gaia going there. She scaled the building in no time at all. When she got up there, Tatiana was so angry at what she saw. That b**** was in Ed’s godamm bed! This b**** was gonna pay.
Tatiana rappelled down the side of the brownstone, and started walking toward Carverton School for the blind.
"Heather, there's a guest for you" said the lady in charge of Heather's floor of the school, "she says her name is Gaia."
Oh, cool, thought heather. It had been awhile since she'd heard from anybody. She still didn't even know how Ed and Gaia’s date went, and that had been weeks ago. Heather hated being out of the loop.
As she walked into the visiting room, she allowed herself to relax.
"Hello heather" Tatiana said in her thick Russian accent.
It’s no wonder why all the girls love her, thought heather. With that accent and that hair, she likes a goddamn fairy princess.
"Hey girl! Long time no see, huh?" heather chuckled weakly at her own joke, "so, what's been going on? Where’s Gaia?"
"I’ll tell you everything, but heather, I was wondering if I could possibly talk to you alone?"
"Oh, is someone here? I’m sorry, could you please go?"
"Ok heather, but call if you need anything" she heard the door close behind her, and heather knew that she and Tatiana were alone.
"Heather, something has happened."
Instantly, heather felt her heart clutch. After what had happened with her and...What was his name again? Oliver? No...Loki. after what had happened with Loki, heather had almost constant nightmares about similar things happening to her friends.
"what?" she asked in the frightened voice that Gaia would never have.
"it's Gaia. she has gone crazy. she’s actually come in here, and shot you"
heather's mind only just registered this thought before she heard a loud shot, like the one she heard when josh died, and felt her world get even darker than it was before.
Walking around WSP all alone was nothing new for Gaia, but walking with such a purpose was. usually, Gaia’s walks were only to kick the Asses of various scumbags, today she was looking for Jake.
As Gaia walked around the fountain at the center of the park, she looked at every person walking by her suspiciously.
was that woman an agent? or that child, a charge? what about that businessman? hadn't she seen him before?'
Gaia barely noticed a homeless man sitting under a tree, until she took a close look at the sign he was holding:
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
ha. she thought. more like there's no way this is a coincidence.
Gaia walked right up to the man, who had short hair and a beanie on, as well as a shirt that at one time may have been white. his jeans were ragged.
"there's no place like home girly. follow the rainbow," the bum said in a hoarse, scratchy voice.
"who are you?" Gaia demanded
"just a fella down on his luck. spare some change?"
"I’m going to ask you this one more time, then I’m gonna get pissed and kick your sorry ass. got it?"
"yeah"
"who are you?" Gaia questioned coldly
"I’m Dorothy. 'there's no place like home!!!'" he chattered shrilly
"fine, you wanna do this the hard way, no problem."
Gaia pulled the man to his feet, and immediately punched him in the face.
"I don't know anything!!!" the man exclaimed in a panicky voice
right, thought Gaia, and I’m the goddamn scarecrow of oz.
she hoisted the man back up again and gave him a full roundhouse kick that landed him squarely in his stomach.
"please..." blubbered the man, tears rolling down his face, "I don't know what you're talking about!"
Gaia stopped hitting the man for a moment and stopped to ponder. surely if he was really from HOME then he would have started fighting back by now, right? Gaia turned and started walking away
"haha haha...stupid girly..." hissed the bum quietly. too quietly, in fact, for normal ears to pick up. but Gaia’s ears, much like the rest of her, were not normal.
immediately, Gaia pushed the bum up against the tree, holding him there by his neck. Gaia hoped that no one was looking, because if they were then they would think that she was mugging some poor homeless guy.
"I. heard. that." Gaia growled, "No, where is Jake?"
"he's HOME, where he belongs."'
"where is HOME?"
"at the center of the city."
"what does HOME stand for?"
"hormone od-"
Gaia never heard him finish, because she heard instead the quiet sound of a silencer, and saw a stream of red running down from the bum's temple.
she looked around again, and raced back to Ed's house to find a map of New York City.
Awake
tom awoke with a jolt. he immediately tried to sit up, but found that he was tethered down to his bed by leather straps.
"where am I?" that was what he planned to yell, but he was even more discouraged to find that there was a long tube down his throat.
tom used the opportunity to look around the room he was in.
it was completely bare. save for the sparse medical equipment, and white walls, there was nothing in the room, nobody in the room, but him.
room 4510
Jake was finally aloud to walk around the facilities. not that there was anything much to do, there was the training room, the medical wing, the restroom, the dining hall, and the bedrooms. Jake tried to keep out of the dining hall as much as possible, ever since he had discovered that the staff put sedatives into the food. not that he was surprised or anything, he just didn't want to be a zombie or anything.
"jake0345, please report to room 4510 in the medical wing." a monotonous voice declared over the speaker.
great, he thought now it's time for a shrink session. the only reason he was complying with these people was so they wouldn't keep sedating him, Jake was the kind of guy who liked to be alert. so, he trudged over the endless stairs, and began walking up them. when he finally reached room 4510, he didn't bother to knock, he just walked in.
Ben, of course, was sitting in a chair with a lab coat on.
"Jake, please sit."
Jake sat down, hating his prisoner like status.
"so, Jake, how are you feeling?"
"how the hell do you think I’m feeling Ben?"
"Jake," Ben said in a calm voice, "I’m not Ben to you, I’m dad."
"bullshit. why am I here?"
"Jake, you know why you're here. you're here so we can continue to monitor you, so we can make sure you're safe. so we can make sure other people are safe from you."
"you think I’m gonna hurt someone?"
"need I remind you that you tried to shoot Cecilia last time you were here?"
"not tried, I did shoot her. point blank. in the head. it's not my fault she's still alive."
"Jake, please, try to understand. we want you to stay here. we want to know why you are...the way you are."
"what? fearless? nobody knows why Ben! nobody will ever know! can't I just be free?"
"free to do what Jake? to go to high school? to date girls? come one. who would want to date a hormonal oddity like you?"
I know someone I’d like to date, thought Jake, but he said nothing aloud. he didn't want to let Ben know anything about his personal life. Jake sat there, and continued listening to Ben’s lecture, but all he was really thinking about was Gaia.
the station
"all right men, we have an all points bulletin here. her name is Gaia Moore. she was last seen at Carverton School for the blind, where she visited and murdered Heather Ghannis. We don't have a picture of her, and her home has been vacated. However, the RA at Carverton who spoke with Ms. Moore before the shooting has given us the following description:
"Blonde hair, long and light. Large blue eyes and high cheekbones. Tall. Pretty. but it seemed that she didn't try to take care of herself. no makeup, hair all ratty. crummy clothes. we also have this composite drawing of her.
"Ok men, let's go out and find us a killer."
Center of the City
Ed sat, uselessly in his opinion, on his bed waiting for Gaia to come back. he hated how she walked around WSP all alone. Especially now, with Tatiana still out looking for her.
Gaia burst through the doors then, panting from an obvious run.
"G, what happened?"
"Ed...I...need..a.map.of the city."
"ok...but why?"
"I need to find the exact center of New York. that's where they're hiding Jake."
"um...G? sorry to burst your bubble, but you don't need a map for that."
"what? why?"
"Gaia, how long have you lived in New York? and you still don't know that Grand Central Station is right in the middle of New York?"
ed smiled at the blank stare that was on Gaia’s face. he loved the rare occasion when he knew something she didn't.
"ok, so what the hell are we sitting around here for?" Gaia demanded, turning toward the door again, "let's go and save Jake!"
ed started toward the door to go with her, when his knees went a little weak, and he slumped to the floor.
"ed, what are you doing? are you ok?"
"I’ll be fine. go help Jake."
without another word, Gaia fled his apartment, and Ed sat, his butt firmly planted on the floor, and although he tried several times, he couldn't get up. he wasn't surprised though, not really. He’d been expecting for this to happen for sometime now, ever since his operation had been a "success".
