***
While Jared thought frantically, J stood around, looking at the carnage being wreaked.
“If you want something done, I guess you have to do it yourself,” he said, removing his suit jacket in a mocking display of his own arrogance.
Jared rolled his eyes. “You’re just an overgrown asshole with some extra-special bear DNA in you. That doesn’t make you all that special anymore,” he replied.
J stared at him for a moment, his eyes reflecting disbelief. “Bear? Bear?” he repeated. “No, I was blessed when the Order first created me. I, my son,” he said in a chastising tone that made Jared want to knock his teeth into the back of his throat, “am more than just a bear. I am born of the creators themselves.”
“Come again?” Madison asked with impatience. “Speak English, and stop trying to preach.”
J narrowed his eyes as he glared at her. “When the Order—the dragons who created me, who gave birth to the Agency—fought their oppressors, I fought with them. Alongside them. I was gravely wounded, but they knew I was the half-breed son of one of them, and so when one of their kind fell, they pumped me full of his blood, you see.”
Jared felt a block of ice form in his stomach. J had dragon blood within him.
“That is how we first learned that the powers could be awakened within. We’ve made it easier since of course, but I was the first. The original.”
“Can we kill him now?” Madison asked, sounding bored.
“Yes, please,” Jared replied, and the pair moved forward, spreading out to either side as they squared off with the head of the Agency.
If they could kill him, they could put an end to the insanity. As they got close, the fire alarms finally kicked in and began to spray water everywhere, coating all the combatants in yet another element to deal with as they fought.
Madison attacked first, bouncing forward and throwing a kick at his knees. Jared moved immediately in response. When J jumped over the kick, the Sentinel hit him hard in the side, driving him to the floor. J bounced and rebounded to his feet, seeming no worse for wear other than his suit being streaked in blood from the floor as well as water.
J looked at the dark smears in disgust, but he didn’t have time for more than that. The pair of them closed in on him, and the fight grew intense. J was just a little faster, just a little stronger than both of them. He blocked or evaded their blows, taking little damage, but unable to deal out a ton of his own.
Jared knew if he ever got a solid shot, his blow would take down either of them, so their only choice was to try and overwhelm him, to force him to make a mistake. But J didn’t seem to be faltering. No matter what tactic they tried, he was always there to block them.
He’s toying with us.
The realization hit home almost as soon as J decided to abandon his pretenses. He stood up, turned one of Jared’s blows, and delivered a lightning-fast jab that the big shifter barely saw. The fist hit him square in the side, and Jared flew through the air, sliding across the ultra-slick tile until he came to a halt. With a snarl he rose and dove back at J, trying to reach him in time.
He wasn’t going to be anywhere near fast enough. J turned to face Madison, and caught her next blow with contemptuous ease and grabbed her wrist. He lifted, holding the powerful head of the Underground in the air.
“One down,” he smirked, pulling his fist back and preparing to deliver a killing blow.
“Madison!” Jared shouted, trying to coax more speed from his feet.
J turned to look at him, winking.
Then he began to dance.
Jared frowned as the head of the Agency jerked several times in a weird rhythm.
What the fuck?
It wasn’t until J turned that Jared saw the three darts sticking out from his back. His eyes flicked up the stairs to where Nadia stood, a tranquilizer gun retrieved from one of the Agents in hand.
“These, are, my friends!” she shouted and squeezed the trigger. Six more bolts appeared in J’s chest in rapid succession.
Jared’s heart soared with pride at the courage of his girl.
He reached J and broke his grip on Madison’s throat. She dropped to the ground, but rose swiftly. Together the two of them shifted, and turned their animals loose on the stunned half-breed dragon. Jared wasn’t sure if it was the tranquilizer or the massive blood loss as the two bears ripped him limb from limb that sent him into unconsciousness, but either way, he was done.
Dead.
It was over.
He and Madison looked at each other, then charged back out to help eliminate the last of the Agents, the toughest ones still on their feet. Less than a minute later, the Underground all gathered near the remains of J.
“You were amazing,” Jared said, sweeping Nadia into his arms and planting a kiss on her lips to the cheering delight of his team. His family.
“So, does this really mean it’s all over?” Connor asked, moving up next to Madison and gingerly embracing her.
All of them were carrying wounds to one degree or another, and would be in rough condition until their healing could fix them.
“I think so,” Jared said, looking around. “I actually think so.”
“What do we do now?” Josh asked, supporting Hannah as she held a hand to her side. The blow J had struck her had broken several bones when she went through the window.
Behind them smoke began to billow out from the elevator and the door to the stairs at almost the same moment.
“Get out of here, I think would be the prudent thing,” Madison said.
The others nodded and set about putting action to words as they fled the building. They got into their vehicles, and departed the scene. Jared was in the back of Josh’s truck, and he looked over his shoulder as the building began to burn in earnest.
His hand was linked with Nadia’s, and he vowed never to let go again.
As the Agency Headquarters disappeared from view, he took a deep breath and looked over at her.
She was staring back, her green eyes fixated on his face.
“Hi,” she said softly, reaching out with her free hand to run fingers along his jaw.
“Hello,” he said, and leaned in to kiss her once more. He wasn’t rushed this time, and made sure it was a much more thorough effort than before.
Nadia didn’t object.