8 Baiting
8: ch.
8 Baiting
Lying helpless in his hospital bed, Nick looked up at the familiar middle aged white woman who stood before him in a professional all black pansuit.
“Aunt-urgh, Deputy Director Holly, I am all right.
Inspector Willie was the one who was injured.” In this new world his aunt, Holly Williams, wasn’t a defense lawyer but instead the Deputy Director of the N.I.A., making her Nick’s boss.
“I know that the doctor is taking care of him, I’m not here for that.” N.I.A.
Deputy Director Mrs.
Hollys had a pair of steely blue eyes, staring directly at Nick with a mixtured or restrained emotions.
“Agent Nick, do you know how much trouble you have caused?” Holly said with an angry tone.
Holly was always much harsher on Nick than any of the other agents, she refused to let people believe Nick got to where he was because of Nepotism and made it clear that wasn’t the case any chance she got.
Nick grimaced at her sentence “Trouble?
I just saved the lives of fifty seven people, alongside the key witness that will testify against Edward Kim!
If anything I deserve a fricken medal.”
“A medal?!
Now’s not the time to joke.” Holly sneered slightly, “I am here to ask you if you threatened to kill a multi-millionaire rapper with a snake?…
You always were a violent brat even as a child.”
“Of course not.” Nick said nonchalantly, his poker reinforced by the calm demeanor of the snake he absorbed.
“Just ask any of the witnesses on the plane about it and they’ll tell you the truth.” Despite lying, Nick’s heart rate was completely normal and his eyes didn’t dilate at all.
Through testing, Nick found that he can toggle the mental affects of the creatures he absorbed on and off, some animals bring positive mental affects like the snake and others bring negative affects like the human.
When he toggled the human that he had absorbed, he suddenly found himself becoming more violent and yelled at a nurse for stepping in front of his TV.
Learning from this, Nick decided to leave these mental effects toggle off and to only use them as last resorts, he absolutely hated the idea of outside forces manipulating his mind and emotions.
“You better be right about that because as soon as he got off the plane, that man accused you of assault and immediately called his lawyer.” Holly said angrily.
“The news sites are going wild with this story, talking about how a white N.I.A agent abused an African American rapper during a time of crisis!”
‘Hah!
This world might have differences in history but at its core people act the same.’ Despite the captivating story of saving an entire plane infested with snakes, the News still latches onto the possible racism instead.
Instead of fearing, Nick found the situation somewhat comforting, knowing that these worlds are still somewhat the same.
“He’s just using this situation to try to revive his dead career, he’s not going to actually sue.
Even If he does accuse me of anything, there is quite literally no evidence against me.” The confidence in his voice did relax the Deputy Director somewhat.
Nick was confident, he knew that nobody could’ve heard his threats and he quite literally saved all the witnesses lives.
Even if someone did hear who’s gonna snitch on their savior?
Nick quickly changed the subject, “How is the witness now?
Is Willie all right?
Edward King, have we arrested him yet?”
Holly’s eyes twitched slightly, and said calmly, “Now these things have nothing to do with you.
Your main task now is to heal your injuries here and reflect on your mistakes you made while on duty.
Also, you are not allowed to leave the ward without my approval.”
Nick frowned, glancing at the police standing at the door of the ward, and suddenly asked, “Am I being accused of something, or do I need protection from someone?”
“No we’re just being cautious” Deputy Director Holly was obviously hiding something from Nick, so he decided to fish for some answers.
Nick frowned, “Let me take guess, Edward Kim escaped arrest?
Probably because of the same Mole that leaked the fact that we switched planes.
You’re afraid he’ll retaliate against me?” Saying this, Nick intently looked at his aunt’s face.
Behind her stoney exterior, Nick was able to pick up a very slight change in expression before it went back to being stoic.
Holly sighed and said in a low voice: “As you’ve assumed, there is a mole within the force that Told Edward about the switched planes.
That very same Mole mustve told Edward Kim that the plane landed safely and that his plan failed.”
With a cheeky smile “And you suspect that I’m the mole?
Is that why I’m under lockdown” Nick said jokingly.
He knew that he wasn’t a suspect, he just liked to tease his Aunt.
“If we doubted you, you’d be in cuffs by now boy.” Holly said in a huff.
“Based on your performance on the plane and after some internal investigations, you and inspector Willie are the only agents that we can conclude for a fact are not the moles.”
Nick rubbed his temples and said, “So you are worried that I will be attacked, and you want me to stay in the hospital under protection?”
“Regardless of this matter, it’s safer here than your home.” Holly patted Nick on the shoulder and forced a smile.
“To make sure that if they do re-appear, we’ll catch them.”
“Why do I get the feeling that you are using me as bait?” Nick said incredulously.
Hearing this, Holly bit her lips, turned around and walked away, waving her hands dismissively “You’re too paranoid.
Just sit tight and recuperate.”
Nick sighed and laid down weakly, looking up at the white ceiling above him with a vacant expression.
‘Whether it’s the mole, or Edward Kim, I’m being used as bait to draw them out.
I doubt this is Holly’s idea, unless this world Holly wants to kill me.
Nah she’s always been a tsundere towards me, acting like I’m a nuisance but always taking care of me in secret.’
This ending was different from the movie.
The big bad villain Edward King ran away, Willie was seriously injured and hospitalized, and now Nick was under 24/7 protection.
It’s no wonder that Holly is nervous, the Kim family is one of the main underground gangs in Los Angeles.
If Kim really wants to retaliate, it will indeed cause him a lot of trouble.
Faced with such a situation, Nick could only sigh as he looked down at his tattoo and remembered something.
‘Aunt Holly is always a stickler about appearances, years ago when i jokingly told her i was getting a tattoo she said she’d filet it off my skin.
Despite that she didn’t say anything about this thing, meaning that she probably can’t see it!’
This realized greatly helped ease Nick’s mind, he worried how he’d explain his constantly shifting tattoos in the future.
‘With this snake fiasco finished, i should be able to relax for a while, right?…’