Chapter 63 - Past Tense

*New York*

It took Devin a couple days to settle down into a normal routine. The feeling of being alert and warry constantly was tiring and eventually Devin began to realize he needed to relax after being jump scared by Yana coming out of the pantry with a box of Fruit Loops one morning.

"Are you okay?" Yana asked with concern as she stopped and looked at Devin with a questioning look before slowly moving over to a cupboard and grabbing a bowl.

"Yeah, sorry. Things were a little tense on my trip so I'm still trying to re-adjust to being back home." Devin said in apology as he grabbed an shiny, green apple from the fruit basket on the table before biting into it.

"Will me and Henric join you on one of those missions or jobs with you one day?" Yana asked tentatively as she poured cold milk on to the cereal before taking a spoonful and taking a bite.

"To be honest I would like for neither of you to get involved in these kinds of matters and just have peaceful and normal lives. Unfortunately I know that eventually you'll both have to deal with these kinds of situations. That is one of the reasons why I am training the both of you." Devin said as he stared at the bite missing from the apple while all the memories of just what could and will happen in the future.

"What's the other reason?" Yana asked as she looked up from her bowl. Devin shook himself from his thoughts missing most of what Yana had asked.

"I'm sorry can you repeat that?" Devin asked as he chomped into the apple once again.

"What are the other reasons for training us?" Yana asked as she let her spoon clatter into her empty bowl.

"Ah okay. The other reasons were that if you can control your powers then it would keep yourselves as well as the people around you safe from them activating accidentally or going out of control. Plus you asked to learn and I knew that the both of you wouldn't miss use them." Devin said as he finished the fruit and tossed the core into the trash can. This seemed to give Yana enough to contemplate as she began to stare at the last dregs of milk at the bottom of the bowl in front of her. Devin decided to let her think about what he had said and left.

Stepping out the back door, Devin found Izabela doing her forms as well as various punches and kicks in her usual cotton shorts and tank top. Once he had gotten the knowledge of the Rouge School, he had started teaching the siblings about the martial art rather than just basic self-defense. They were still new to the instruction as it has only been a short time so far, but they were progressing smoothly. Moving from one punch to the next before spinning on her heel for a round house kick, Izabela was moving flawlessly.

Her long auburn hair that was usually cascading down her back in soft waves was done up in a braid that swung like a long, glossy rope behind her with each movement. A slight sheen of sweat could be seen on her porcelain skin from her exertion. Her chest rose and dropped with each breath she took as she stopped to grab a drink of water. It was at this point that Devin realized that he was staring and decided to stop being a creep.

"Hey, how are you doing?" Devin asked as he stepped forward. This caused a smile to appear on Izabela's face.

"I am doing good. I think I am really starting to get the hang of this!" Izabela stated before taking another swig from the bottle of water in her hand.

"Good, good. I just wanted to let you know that I am looking into that request you made of me not too long ago." Devin said as he looked over his property. This caused Izabela to smile happily.

"Truly? And what have you found out?" Izabela asked as her excitement seemed to radiate from her. Devin hated to dampen that spirit but he knew that it would still take time for him to safely give her the ability to help protect everyone.

"Well I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is that I have a lead on something that might be what you want. The bad news is that it might be some time before I can get the blueprints and other necessary stuff to make it. For now I'll keep looking for something else while we wait." Devin said as the smile on Izabela's face slowly disappeared.

"Devin if this is becoming too big of a problem then you don't have to continue." Izabela began only to be cut off with a wave of Devin's hand.

"It's not a problem. I just want to make sure that we are doing so safely. I don't want to rush things and then deal with possible side=effects or repercussions later just because we didn't have the patience to do it right the first time. I've seen what can happen for wishing for power without first thinking of the consequences of said actions. It isn't pretty to say the least." Devin said as Izabela swallowed thickly at the thought of what could possibly happen from rushing things too fast.

"Okay Devin, just let me know if this become too much of a problem." Izabela said as she rested her hand on his upper arm in concern. This only caused Devin to smile in return.

"I'll keep that in mind. Now shall I join you for some exercise?" Devin said with a grin causing Izabela to giggle.

"Sure." Izabela drawled as the two moved out into the grass to continue practice.

***

Once Izabela had grown tired from practice the two had moved back to the house. Devin hadn't even worked up a sweat while Izabela was soaked. Her cheeks were flushed from the exertion and her tank top clung to her skin. She excused herself to go take a shower and change while Devin headed for the stairs. He still had all the weapons and items he stole from Klaue's base. Reaching the Armory, Devin took station at an empty table so that he could have enough space for everything.

Opening his inventory found a mound of items being piled up on the glowing surface of the table. Numerous guns of various makes and models, different kinds of explosives and dozens of containers with ammunition. Then there was Klaue's left arm that was set on it's own table. The same went for the vibranium that he had stashed from Klaue as well as the vibranium he had gotten from the Wakandan Royal family. It got it's own table as well just on the off chance that they had a negative reaction in this universe. Soon Devin got to work on cleaning, repairing, and sorting everything as well as placing it into the various empty spots in his weapon racks. The Explosives as well as the ammo went into specially designed cabinets that would help them from getting damaged or exposed to heat for any reason at all. In total Devin counted numerous assault rifles ranging from AK-47s to a single M16. Ars weren't their only primaries as there were probably another twenty SMGs as well as two LMGs in the mix and for every rifle, SMG, or LMG there was a handgun to match. Half a dozen claymores, a dozen or two of hand grenades, as well as a single bouncing betty from who knows where and eight pounds of C4 went into one cabinet as the thousands of rounds of ammo went into another.

Looking at all of the weapons and explosives he was now in possession of he realizes that he could arm a small army if he wanted to. Devin picked up Klaue's arm and began to disassemble it. The reverbium was separated from the normal materials such as copper and steel that he would place in storage later. Once he had what he wanted by itself he picked up the pieces and moved to The Vault. The reverbium as well as the vibranium were too precious to be left in the armory and he would definitely need them for later.

Leaving the underground as Devin had taken to calling the bas.e.m.e.nt levels, Devin found himself just opening the door when Henric came running in with an excited look on his face.

"Mr. Price! I can breath underwater!"