Blitzkrieg: Origins of the Prime: A Superhero Spy Thriller (16 page)

Dawn was fighting furiously with the punching bag, slamming her fists, legs, and feet into it. With no one holding it for her the bag rocked back and forth on the chain that secured it to the ceiling. Axel appeared and wrapped his arms around the bag holding it steady for her and leaning much of his weight against it. Dawn paused momentarily when she saw him.

“Go on,” he smiled. She nodded and began punching the bag once again. “You’re working it hard,” he commented. “Your boyfriend forget your birthday?”

Dawn laughed. “I use it for stress relief,” she said and then slammed her fist into the bag.

“What stress?” Axel asked.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Dawn panted as she continued to punch. “I was almost killed in Siberia.”

“That’s just part of the job,” Axel smiled.

Dawn punched the bag one more time and then stopped and stared at him. “I know, but work is a real pain. There is this prick at the office whose life I saved, but he still hasn’t thanked me.”

Axel smiled. “Tom can be pushy, but prick is a little rough don’t you think?”

Dawn threw back her head and laughed. “You and I both know I’m not talking about Tom,” she said with a good-natured smile. “Or Rolf.”

Axel leaned toward her, pushing the bag forward. “Thank you for saving my life,” he said gently, but sincerely.

“You’re welcome,” she smiled.

“Why don’t you let buy you dinner?”

Dawn stared at him for a moment before she finally answered. “Alright, but I need a shower first,” she said.

“Really?” Axel asked as he straightened. “I was just going to go like this,” he said as he looked down at his sweat-soaked gray cotton shirt. A souvenir from Guantanamo Bay, it had the letters
USMC
imprinted in black across the chest.

Dawn crinkled her nose. “In that case, I’ll pass.”

“I’m joking,” Axel said with a laugh. “Hit the showers, Agent Williams!”

***

The waiter refilled the two glasses with the reasonably priced Malbec wine. Axel thanked him with a nod and took a sip. The restaurant was nice, coats required, but not snooty enough that Axel could not afford it on his government salary. In fact, he patronized it quite often for that very reason. The food was good, the atmosphere classy, and his dates always impressed with his selection of wine. The truth was that Axel did not know the first thing about wine, but he did know how to tip well and that meant the wait staff always remembered him and did their utmost to assist him in impressing his companions.

Tonight was different, though. He and Dawn were work colleagues and he was not taking her to dinner in an attempt to seduce her. Not that she wasn’t attractive. To the contrary, she was extremely so, but there was something about her that made Axel want to impress her apart from that. Perhaps it was the fact that she had saved his life. Perhaps he still felt bad for how rude he had been to her when they initially met. Whatever the reason, Axel wanted to make a good impression.

Dawn took a sip of wine and smiled at Axel as she gently placed her glass back on the table. “So, you come here often?” she asked in an attempt to make small talk. They had laughed about Tom’s new codename before dinner. They had shared war stories about Siberia during dinner. Unfortunately now that dinner was over, an uncomfortable lull had fallen in the conversation.

“What gave you that idea?” Axel asked.

Dawn chuckled. “The host and waiter knowing your name was one tip off,” she said. Dawn leaned forward, across the table as if to convey a dark secret and Axel did likewise. “Oh, and here’s a tip from a CIA agent, don’t frequent the same places over and over where everyone will learn who you are.” She straightened and sipped her wine again.

“Thanks for the advice,” Axel smiled as he sipped his own wine. “But you’re a
former
CIA agent, remember? You’re with us now.”

“Oh no,” she smiled, “I’m just on loan to the CSOS.”

Axel tilted his head as he stared at her. “You aren’t going to be a permanent member of the team?” he asked.

Dawn shook her head. “I don’t think CIA is going to just give me up after they spent so much time and money on me.”

“But I gave you a codename,” Axel said like a child pleading for a toy. “You got a codename before Canary did and he has been with us from the beginning.” This made Dawn laugh.

“Nevertheless,” she said, “they’re going to want me back.”

“Maybe you aren’t as indispensable to them as you think,” Axel said before taking another sip of wine.

“Excuse me?” she asked as if offended. “You’re the one who seems to think me indispensable.”

Axel nodded. “Yes, but I’ve seen you in action. It’s clear that the CIA has not.”

“Well,” she sat back in her chair, “They have. I mean not with live rounds firing at me, but…” She paused to sip her wine. “I mean I’ve never done what I did to that Russian girl.”

“That’s what I mean,” Axel said with wide eyes.

“That was crazy right?” Dawn said, her eyes bright and excited. “They told me that emotional stress would help release my abilities, but I never realized what I could do.” Axel’s smile disappeared. “What’s the matter?”

Axel looked down into his glass. “The first time Kristel…the, um, Russian girl, as you called her, cut me was on the orders of Colonel Arnulf. We were just shy of five years old at the time and he thought that it would help unlock my abilities as well.”

Dawn stared at him for a moment before speaking. “So you and Sickle have pretty much been enemies your entire lives?”

Axel shook his head. “No,” he said. “She was my best friend. Arnulf pulled out a pistol and told her to cut me with the knife or he would start shooting us, one-by-one. She obeyed, but she was sobbing as she did it.”

Dawn reached forward and patted his hand and then left hers on top of his. “Well, she wasn’t sobbing when she did it this time.” Axel met her eyes and then pulled his hand away. Dawn straightened in her seat. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean…” she began, but Axel interrupted her.

“You want to get out of here?” he asked. “Maybe take a walk?”

“Yeah,” she nodded with a friendly smile. “A walk sounds nice.” Axel paid the check and soon after he and Dawn were strolling alongside the reflecting pool in the National Mall.

“You know I lived in DC my whole life and never came down here until a class trip my junior year of high school?” she smiled.

“That’s the way it always goes, isn’t it? You never take the time to check out the beautiful things right in front of you.”

Dawn smiled and reached over and took his arm, pulling herself close to him. “So what about you?” she asked. “Where did you grow up? I mean after Germany obviously.”

Axel chuckled. “Here,” he said, waving his hand over the city. “Just like you.”

“Well I doubt it was
just
like me,” Dawn smiled.

“No, that’s probably true. I grew up mainly in a government facility known as the Home. Rolf still lives there.”

Dawn looked up at him. “Wow, that must have been hard.”

Axel shook his head. “Nah. It was better than the lab I lived at in Germany. Especially the food,” he smiled.

“What—you don’t like strudel?” she joked.

Axel threw back his head, laughing boisterously. “Actually, I love strudel,” he said. “Strudel is a sweet pastry—a treat—and we did not get it very often.”

“Sorry, it’s the only German food I could think of,” she said with an embarrassed giggle as she hid her face in his shoulder.

“I figured,” he smiled. “No, we normally ate whatever was prepared for Dr. Holger and his staff, normally a bland something or other. It was provided for sustenance, not enjoyment.”

“I understand. I grew up in a colored neighborhood in the forties. We ate simply to survive most of the time, too.” There was a long pause as they kept walking. “So, who was Dr. Holger?”

“He was in charge of the lab where we lived. Hell, he was more or less our father. We never knew our actual father and I don’t think we were conceived the old fashioned way in any event, so whoever our real father is probably has no idea we even exist. It was Dr. Holger and his staff and me and Rolf, Kristel, and Gerd. Er, Hammer and Sickle,” he said and tried to force a smile. “But Dr. Holger treated us well. Not like Arnulf.”

“What happened to him?” Dawn asked.

Axel shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said. “As I told you before, I shocked Arnulf with a lightning bolt. I had assumed I’d killed him.” Dawn nodded. “Dr. Holger rushed Rolf and I back to the lab. We had been separated from Kristel and Gerd. The Doctor said he was going back to get them. We never saw him again. Maybe he was killed. Maybe he was captured. I don’t know.”

Axel turned his head away from Dawn and reached up and wiped a tear away from his eyes. Memories of that day were still hard all of these years later. He was hoping Dawn didn’t see it, but she did. She stopped him and turned him toward her. She took his face in her hands and pushed herself up on her tiptoes pressing her lips to his. She lowered herself back down and stared at him.

Axel smiled at her. “So you
are
a mind reader,” he said. She laughed as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, kissing her deeply.

***

Axel pressed Dawn against the wall of the elevator as they rode up to his floor of the apartment building. The doors opened with a “bing” and Axel took her hand, pulling her out of the elevator and down the hallway. He soon reached the door to his apartment and removed the key from his pocket, but before he could slip it into the lock Dawn pressed him up against the door and kissed him.

“I’ve never been with a white boy before,” she smiled as she pulled away.

Axel couldn’t help but chuckle. “Well, I promise all the important parts are in the usual place. They just may be a little more difficult to find,” he said with a coy smile, causing Dawn to laugh. Axel slid the key into the lock and Dawn pushed him into the apartment as the door opened. He was hot for her and it was clear that she was hot for him, causing him to get even more excited. She unbuttoned his pants as he loosened his tie, pulling it from his neck and tossing it on the floor. He was just about to unzip the back of her dress when they were interrupted.

“Good evening,” a voice said causing Axel and Dawn to jump and the lights to flicker.

“Jesus, Tom! What the hell!” Axel said as he buttoned his pants and flung his hands into the air. “This has got to stop! I’m taking my key back.”

Tom sat in a chair facing them, laughing to himself while a ring of smoke drifted to the ceiling. He stamped out his cigarette as he stood, smiling mischievously at them. “I had a feeling about you two,” he said as he wagged a finger at them causing Dawn to blush as she bit her lip. “All that tension in the room the first day…” he began, but Axel interrupted.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, clearly annoyed. “Trying to get your codename changed to Cock-Block?”

All humor evaporated from Tom’s face. “Someone tried to kill Arnulf tonight,” he said to wide-eyed stares.

“Do we know who?” Dawn asked.

Tom shrugged. “Ian assumes it was the Russians.”

“But you don’t believe that,” Axel said. It was not a question.

“He’s probably right, but Arnulf doesn’t think so. He’s convinced it was some assassin from back during the war that they called the Valkyrie. Said she hunted Nazis. You ever heard of the Valkyrie?”

“No,” Axel said as he shook his head.

“Well, like I said, Ian is probably right. This woman was not old enough to have done too much killing during the war.”

“But the old bastard survived?”

“Yes, he is a hard man to kill, apparently,” Tom said.

“Tell me about it,” Axel replied.

“Anyway, Ian thought it best if I rounded everyone up and brought you in. He’s worried this assassin might come after each of us.” Dawn looked at Axel, but he simply nodded. “So pack up,” Tom said as he slapped Axel on the shoulder. “I’ll take Dawn to her apartment to pack a bag and then we’ll swing back by and get you.”

Chapter 16

Ian was moving quickly through the halls at CSOS headquarters. Tom, Axel, and Dawn struggled to keep up. For the past couple of weeks since the attempt on Arnulf’s life, they had been residing at the Home with Rolf, though each had a separate room. Ian had forbidden them to go out except when they were driven to the office or various ranges or training facilities by armed agents. They were going a bit stir crazy and had leapt up with excitement when Ian approached them saying they had a new mission. They were eager to hear about it, but first Ian insisted he had something equally exciting to show them.

“Where are we going?” Axel asked as they stopped in front of the elevators.

Ian glanced at Tom and both of them smiled. It was clear that Tom knew exactly what was going on and that annoyed Axel. “Well Axel, following your extremely successful demonstration at the combat town, we received a large uptick in our funding.” The doors to the elevator slid open and Ian stepped inside. The others piled in behind him. Ian pushed the button marked ‘B’ for basement. The doors slid closed and everyone turned expectantly toward Ian. “The first thing we did with the additional money was buy an espresso machine,” he said.

“You have me to thank for that, old boy,” Tom said as he nudged Axel.

“The second thing we did was greatly upgrade out sci/tech development division,” Ian said.

“We have a sci/tech development division?” Axel asked.

“Of course, but before we simply called him Steven,” Tom reminded him.

“Oh, yeah,” Axel smiled. “Pleasant fellow. Has the small lab in the basement.”

“It’s a little larger than that now,” Ian smiled as the elevator stopped and the doors slid open revealing a large, bustling area—part lab, part storage, part testing center.

“Wow,” Axel said as they stepped off the elevator. They were quickly met by a very excited Steven, hair as disheveled as ever and sporting his customary white lab coat. However, for the first time since Axel had met him he seemed truly enthusiastic.