5 DAYS LATER
Mercer Blaine - Nashville, Tennessee
It was nearly midnight as Mercer found himself walking into his kitchen. He dragged his feet forward into the kitchen as he pulled open the refrigerator, groaning as the interior light blasted his eyeballs. He squinted, reaching in to grab a gatorade from the back of the fridge. He cracked the cap of and chugged half of it in one pull, accidentally dripping some on his bare chest. He capped the bottle and set it down, leaning back against the kitchen sink. He pulled his phone from the pocket of his sweatpants, opening it with his thumbprint and scrolling through twitter.
Mercer sighed to himself as he read all of the featured tweets of people who had supposedly seen super-powered individuals. It was bullshit, the lot of it. People saw that the government was cracking down on certain policies and suddenly the conspiracy theorists were having a damn field day. He shook his head and slid his phone back into his pocket, grabbing his gatorade and walking back towards his bedroom
As Mercer entered his rooms, he walked as carefully and quietly as possible, so as not to disturb the sleeping girl in his bed. He smiled to himself as he stood over the bed, then crawled back in beside her. He and Lexi had a good night, and it was a good relief. He'd needed a good night like this. Stress as of late had been threatening to make him burst. He felt both physically and emotionally comfortable as he wrapped his arm around her stomach. He felt her shift and lay back against him as he rested his head against the pillow beside her. As he nestled in, he felt the warm skin of her back against his chest, just as he began to return to his deep slumber.
Almost as if he hadn't fallen asleep, he was shaken awake by a hand on his shoulder, followed by the sound of harsh knocking form what sounded like his front door. He opened his eyes to see Lexi, a deep frown on her face, shaking him awake.
"Babe, someone's at the door..." She said, sitting up and using the sheet to cover herself. He nodded and sat up, swinging his legs off of the bed.
"I don't know who the hell is here past midnight..." He groaned as he stood his full height, trudging towards the front door as the knocking persisted.
"Holy shit, I'm coming!" He yelled as he crossed the living room. He reached the door as a fourth round of knocking began, yanking the door open to interrupt the banging.
"Who the-" He stopped mid-sentence as he saw the men that stood outside of his apartment.
Five men, one in front and four behind him, stood with black, fitting suits. The first one stepped a foot closer, looking up at the slightly taller Mercer.
"Mercer Blaine, we have orders for your detainment and would appreciate your cooperation.""
Mercer frowned, deep lines crossing his forehead.
"Detainment? What the hell- who are you people and why are you at my home at one in the morning?" Mercer said, pointing a strong finger towards the front man.
"Sir, we have orders. Your compliance will be rewarded." He stated, much more sternly this time than the last.
Mercer released a slight laugh as he shook his head.
"Okay, James Bond, you and the MI6 can come back when you have a warrant, but until then, get the hell out." He said and slammed the door in the man's face.
"Sir, we won't ask again!""
"Go to hell!" He shook his head as he turned around. He saw Lexi walk out of his bedroom, having slid into underwear and one of his shirts that sagged heavily on her much smaller frame. He smiled as he walked over to her, putting his hands around her waist, and leaning down to kiss her. She kissed him, then pulled back with a curious, half-smile on her face.
"What was that about?" She asked, as they stepped towards the bedroom.
"I have no idea, but uh..." He nodded his head towards the bed.
"...Since we're awake, why don't we go for round two?" He laughed quietly as he picked up her up. He walked forward as she wrapped her legs around his waist.
"No, babe, we both have work in the morning. Sleep is important t-" She was cut off as the doorknob turned and the door swung open.
"Hey, what the hell?!" Mercer shouted as the men stepped into his apartment. He put a shrieking Lexi down on the couch and reached down to grab the baseball bat that was hidden beside coffee table. He gripped the bat with two hands and prepared as one of the men in black pushed forward. He swung hard, but the man stepped back. The other three big men blocked his path to Lexi, who released startled cry as one of the men clamped a hand down over her mouth, silencing her as his right hand jabbed a needle and syringe into her thigh. Mercer cried out as Lexi's body went limp. He rushed forward swinging again at the bat towards the group of men as hard as he possibly could. The largest of all three took the hit on the shoulder, but reached forward, grabbing the end of the bat. He ripped the weapon from Mercer's, hands, turned it around a swung it faster than he could react.
The bat connected with Mercer's ribs, causing him to wrench forward in pain. He stumbled to the ground, his hand on his side. He saw the man that head attacked Lexi cuff her hands and feet behind her back.
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HER!" He roared as he tried to stand back up, but a new attacker, this one being just as tall as Mercer, stepped forward, and with one swing of his fist, knocked mercer back to the ground. He looked over just in time to see one of the men tie a blindfold over Lexi's eyes and pick her up, carrying her limp body over his shoulder.
Mercer made one last attempt to move, but the man in front of him drew a gun from his belt, pointing it at him and pulling the trigger faster than Mercer could realize. Mercer winced as he waited for the bullet to fly and put him down forever, but all he felt was a sharp pain in his right pectoral muscle. He looked down to see a single dart sticking out of his chest. All of a sudden, his muscles gave in and he fell on his back. He saw the man that he spoken to him step forward, crouching down and staring at him.
"Like, I said... your compliance would have been rewarded." He stood and walked away as Mercer's vision began to fade in and out, and then his world fell black.
