Discovering the real world

PART 4: "Memories"

That night Bullseye surprised even himself. He usually got bored quite easily of something and could hardly control his impulsive temper but Lara somehow managed to captivate his attention and interest. Maybe because she was the only one he respected and trusted. The only thing certain was that Bullseye understood that Lara was indeed telling the truth. Her explanation was too complex and precise and beside, what reasons would she have to lie to him. Perhaps for the first time in his life he managed to control his temper and listen to her carefully and with interest for almost an hour.

During this time she told him almost everything about her life after she had been forced to leave him and return to the Lin Kuei. She told him how the Lin Kuei laced her whole skeleton with molecules of adamantium rendering her bones virtually indestructible, during a complex and painful operation that placed her in a coma for almost a week. How this caused her powers to "erupt" all of a sudden, just like the Lin Kuei had presumed, healing every injury sustained by her body-even her old scars that in case of a normal human would have never healed. She also told him how in time she discovered she possessed other incredible powers: like the ability to teleport herself as well as a limited amount of mass she is in contact with to a place she could visualize; and how she had both human and animal DNA, making her uncannily fast, inhumanly agile and sensually feline and developing all her senses to a supernatural level. Fiery, feral and stunning, a sensual beauty in touch with her primal self, walking the line between human and feral, Lara had a wild and completely unpredictable nature. However, in time she learned to control the untamed beast within her (her wild side showed mostly when she was angry, her eyes turning -sometimes unwillingly- in the yellow glowing eyes of a feline) and learned to be a true lady. After all, she was the daughter of a British nobleman and an Egyptian princess.

She told him about her working for the Lin Kuei as an assassin as well, but after quite a while of talking she realized it was time to stop.

"I believe I bored you enough with my stories for one day," she said smiling.

Bullseye had no time to react when she suddenly vanished, her body turning into some sort of black smoke, just like back on the roof, as soon as she spoke the last word. Again Bullseye had no time to react as after less than a second he heard behind him the same sound she made when disappearing (the sound of air rushing to fill a vacuum place) and turned in an instant to find her sitting on the other end of the sofa.

He was now more surprised than he had been on the roof when she first vanished from his sight, because this time it happened in a powerful illuminated room and he was able to see clearly the whole process.

"A little demonstration was necessary because I know you are a man who must see to believe." She spoke as soon as he turned to see where she was, again not letting him react. Perhaps she was simply tired of explaining the same thing over and over again without being taken seriously; and she wanted to make him believe once and for all that the mutant phenomenon was for real. "So, what do you say now? Do you still not believe that mutants exist?"

"No babe, I believe you; it's just that this whole thing took me by surprise."

"That's what they all say," she said more to herself.

"I always thought I had perfect control but now I don't know what to think any more," he continued.

This was probably the first time Bullseye talked with a serious expression on his face. During the whole conversation with Lara he tried to force himself to return to his normal state but he couldn't. The situation was overwhelming even for him and as much as he wanted to, he couldn't treat it in the mocking way he usually treated things.

Still, Lara sensed that he was coming back to his normal self as she felt annoyance and anger in his last words. And she was right; deep inside he felt that he had been defeated once and for all. How could he now go and kill someone just as before? What if he runs into some mutants with amazing powers who could kill him without even getting close to him?

For a fraction of second he even felt fear of going out on the street. But that was when he was still in a state of panic and confusion from all that he saw and heard. Now, the old Bullseye was coming back. A malicious grin appeared on his face as he thought again at all that Lara had told him. He was now happy to know that mutants existed. They represented a new challenge he was eager to try and then to overcome. Now he had the chance to prove to the world what he was truly capable of and create himself a more glorious reputation than he already had.

"What are you smiling about?" she asked noticing he remained pensive for a while.

"Nothing in particular, just that I realized this mutant situation can be in my favor," he responded moving closer to her on the sofa.

"Really? How come?"

"It doesn't matter right now." He moved even closer to her and leaned his head towards hers. "How can you be so beautiful? You drive me crazy love." He gently cupped her right cheek into his left hand and tried to pull her towards him as he was slowly leaning forward, trying to touch her lips with his.

Although she had a serious expression on her face, for a moment he thought she was going to give in but suddenly she grabbed his hand and pushed it away from her face.

"I must go make that phone call."

She stood up and tried to leave but Bullseye stopped her, grabbing her by the wrist.

"Come on baby, don't do this to me. We've done this before .. and much more."

He said the last few words on a softer tone while he leaned his head over her left hand, which he still held in his own, intending to kiss it. But Lara snatched her hand from his before he could touch it with his lips and placed her hands on his shoulders, pushing him backwards and leaning slightly over him, looking him straight in the eyes.

"Understand this: Forget about how things were between us in the past. Now I do whatever I want, whenever I want."

"You know what I like about you baby?" he asked a bit amused while grabbing her waist with his hands. "You're a wild kitty, but I'll make sure to tame you." While he spoke he pulled her roughly towards him that she almost fell in his lap and looked her closely in the eyes to make her understand he was not kidding about his apparent threat. But she kept her calm as always and didn't let herself be intimidated by the situation.

"You shouldn't be so full of yourself. Too much confidence can make you .. fail. But I guess you know better. After all, you are the expert in that domain."

She pronounced every word loudly and clearly, knowing that he would understand and it would hurt his pride deeply. This was one of her greatest pleasures: to find the weak point of every person, exploit it and then use it against that person whenever possible in order to achieve her goals.

As she suspected, he understood perfectly what she meant and his joyful expression instantly turned into a serious and angry one. He loosened the grip on her waist and she pushed herself up with a grin on her face, apparently satisfied of how she made him feel.

It made him very angry when someone reminded him about his failures, especially when he didn't had to many and he got used to the idea of being unstoppable. But he couldn't dare to even say something to Lara. After all, she was the one to save him out of her own free will.

"Wait!" he called her back.

She turned to him with an annoyed expression on her face but didn't say anything; she just waited to see what he wanted.

"You still didn't explain to me what was all that about the Kingpin working for you. What do you do now? I mean, You can't be a simple assassin."

"I work for a secret but very powerful military organization. I am known as Colonel Alex West."

"You? I've heard the big bosses I worked for talking about Colonel West. He seemed a pretty tough guy."

"Yes I am."

"But what exactly do you do and what's Fisk got to do with it?"

"I think I have told you more than enough for one day. You hardly accepted the existence of mutants and there are things I deal with every day that you could hardly begin to imagine. Now if you will excuse me, I really must make that phone call. Oh, and if you want, you can have a drink from the bar," she said while heading towards the stairs, indicating towards the far left corner of the living room.