VIII-Lost In Translation [Derek]

[Brie Collins]

Brie Collins
Peruvian Amazon

One call. That’s all it took for Brie to have to suddenly pack up and get out of the country and half way across the world. The past few months have been, well, a bit strange. Not just for Brie but for all specials. There was a period of time where all specials didn’t have their powers, including Brie. She went back to feeling things like a normal person, meaning she wasn’t feeling everyone else’s emotions. It was very relaxing and very peaceful. But then all that stopped when everyone got their powers back and brie spent the past few months trying to still carry out a semi-normal life. Working for Lucius as his still personal assistant, still looking for questions about her cousin’s death and still trying to find a guy that will take care of her without all the evil tendencies.

Brie got on the first available flight to Peru. She got a ticket and hopped on a plane as fast as she could. She was traveling alone, as usual. There weren’t many people she could trust with the location she was heading. She got off the plane and she rented out a jeep, making her way down the rickety terrain into the Peruvian rainforest.

She had to drive for about a half hour into the rainforest until she finally reached a dead end. The paths only went so far. Brie got out of the jeep, taking the keys with here before looking around and kept going into the direction, right into the tall grass and past the high trees. She looked around as she trekked through the rainforest, spotting the exotic animals that lived there. She potted a pair toucan, just settling in a high tree, smacking their beaks together. She couldn’t help but smirk

Her attention was suddenly redirected by the feelings of somebody nearby, somebody behind her. Brie was being followed.

Brue turned her head suddenly to look around. She didn’t spot anyone, but she knew they were coming. She narrowed her eyes before she ran off to hide behind the nearest tree. Whoever this was, they knew her. They were following her and she was prepared of it. She listened carefully and waited until she could hear whoever this was coming.

[Derek Whiteman]

Derek Whiteman
Bad Boy

Derek was feeling at home. Not that he wasn't always laid back and doing whatever the hell he felt like it. It's just been a while. After the whole Gheist debacle and his less than friendly scuffle with his brother, Derek had found out he had inherited Dante's company. It had been a shock to say the lease. He couldn't believe that a guy like him, who grew up in the slums of god's waiting room, to becoming a CEO of a company and owning/running a new casino in Vegas. The Casino had been his idea actually. He had seen enough movies to know that no one would ever expect a bad guy to be hiding in plane sight.

But because of his new role in life, Derek had to dress the part. Which meant lots of suits. He hated suits. They were stuffy and restricting and the god damn tie was practically chocking the life out of him. But his new execs, i.e. Dante's old exects and Derek's former "sitters", wanted him to look the part. It took all his powers not to kill them all during meetings.

But there were perks, such as an underground network of people who wanted to do anything to be in the big leagues. In his opinion it was just more reason to find people to be stupid and useless, but hey, at least he had a spy network. A spy network that informed him that Brie Collins going to Peru.

Not, he wasn't being a stalker or anything. No, far from it. He was just curious. What one earth could Brie be doing in Peru of all places? Seriously? He had to find out. Maybe there were specials down there. It was a logical reason to go and it had nothing to do with their relationship. So now, dressed in his usual baggy pants and camouflage hoodie, Derek was in Peru and was he enjoying the freedom of not having stuffy execs watching his every move.

It took him a bit of asking around, talking to natives, looking around for specials, gambling, but he finally found a clue on Brie. It was a big one too. He saw her driving a Jeep. And there was no way he was following her. He just happened to be walking down the same path as her Jeep. And he was so not using his shadow powers to hide from plane sight because he was so not afraid of being caught.

Maybe just a little. But hey, he was a guy, he couldn't give himself away like that. He had to be cool and have the shadows warp away from him so it looked like he came out of nowhere as he stood behind Brie, a cocky smirk on his face.

"Hey, Brie. What's up?"

[Brie Collins]

Brie Collins
Peruvian Amazon

Brie knew she was being followed and couldn’t help but wonder who it was and why they were following her. She had to be careful, after all she was on her way to a pretty top secret location only a handful of people were even supposed to know about. The last thing she wanted was to lead somebody dangerous there. That wouldn’t tell out well for anyone. But who could it be? It could be anyone. Another special or even a government agent or even a native, who knows! She sure didn’t. And she hated not knowing.

Whoever it was, she couldn’t hear anything coming. She felt the faint, devious and sneaky emotions of whoever it was, but still no movement. She turned slightly, sticking her head from behind the tree to look around.

"Hey, Brie. What's up?" She suddenly gasped and turned around, purely being taken by surprised as she tripped over the root and fell ass-first onto the ground and let out a subtle grunt, hissing slightly as she looked up to see if it was in fact who it sounded like. And it was. “Derek!?” She asked rhetorically, shaking her head. She pushed up from the ground, making her way back up to her feet as she looked around quickly before looking back at him. She shrugged her shoulders, giving him a confused look. “What the fuck are you doing here, Derek?” She couldn’t help but wonder why on Earth her ex, who dumped her, would be following her from America all the way out into the Peruvian Amazon. It just didn’t make any sense to her.

“Are you stalking me now or something? Or are you really just that worried about little ol’ me?” She asked, giving him a smirk as she crossed her arms and glared over at him. “And don’t even think about lying, I’ll know if you do. So start talking.” She said, putting some very mild fear into him, without really even meaning too.

[Derek Whiteman]

Derek Whiteman
Bad Boy

Derek couldn't help but chuckle. He was used to surprising people. Most people, who weren't all the familiar with his powers or their surroundings, were always surprised by what he could do or where he would pop up from. Granted, it wasn't much like teleporting, just being sneaky. Derek kept his hands on his pockets, knowing that if he'd help Brie up, she'd take it the wrong way.

"Aw come one now, Brie, thought we were past this. You should know I can sneak up from anywhere," Derek chuckled. It was just like him to still be childish despite his age. Really, he couldn't help himself. Humor was how he dealt with things. Hide any feelings behind a plastered smile and pranks. Besides, he hadn't had a chance to be friendly in a while because of his new job.

but sadly, Derek knew that he couldn't keep the act forever. He knew that he couldn't hide anything from Brie. She was an empath. She could take apart his very act, his every masks, and be able to read him like an open book. Even as she demanded to know what he wanted, if he was stalker her, he knew he couldn't lie. Damn empaths.

"Actually, lets just say I now know a LOT of people who like to inform me on things and someone spotted you getting on a plan for Peru. And I...I wanted to talk. About what happened." he told her honestly. He couldn't really lie. Not like before. His powers got stronger since they last spoke. It only made sense hers did too. And if he wanted to make things work, he had to be honest with her.

[Brie Collins]

Brie Collins
Peruvian Amazon

Brie knew Derek being there wasn’t going to end up good for anyone. He wasn’t exactly the best guy to have around, especially when you needed to a keep a secret from everyone else. As much as she did still love the villain deep, deep down. She didn’t trust him. Not with much of anything since she knew what a villain and total dick he can be. After all, she still hadn’t forgiven him for him up and dumping her before taking off and not hearing anything from him in the past several months.

Not like she was keeping track or anything.

"Aw come one now, Brie, thought we were past this. You should know I can sneak up from anywhere," She growled at him, narrowing her eyes before shaking her head at him. Brie took a step closer and punched him in the shoulder. “Dick!” She shouted, but in a more hushed tone so they wouldn’t attract any unwanted company. Who knows what was actually wandering around this amazon. “You should feel damn lucky that you have those little shadow powers of yours. Otherwise you would never have been able to sneak up on me so quickly or been able to defend yourself when I kick your ass.” She said in a rather menacing tone, basically threatening the guy. She was really tempted to use her powers on him. Just inject him with fear or sadness, something to make him look really foolish. But she needed all the strength she could get right now.

Brie couldn’t help but smirk. Derek was feeling caught. He knew she could read him like an open book and that he was better off just being honest because otherwise, she was going to know. And she loved that feeling of being caught just wreaking from him like the stench of whiskey on an alcoholic’s breath.

She shouldn’t help but roll her eyes as he started talking again. "Actually, lets just say I now know a LOT of people who like to inform me on things and someone spotted you getting on a plan for Peru. And I...I wanted to talk. About what happened." Shaking her head again, she smirked. “And what is it you do for a job now, Derek? Whatever business you had with Lucius is apparently gone… haven’t exactly seen you around anymore. So what have you been up to these last few months that you even have those kinds of people?” She asked in a curious tone, tilting her head slightly as she waited for him to explain himself.

“You wanted to talk about… what happened, you say?” She chuckled. “Like, how I came home one day, like every other day, and found you packing your bags and told me how it was all over? Even though it was still blatantly obvious you never stopped loving me?” She asked him, it was more of a rhetorical question. She just felt the need to put it out there, maybe make him feel shitty enough and actually get him to explain himself. Though it was obvious to Brie, at least. He was running scared. He was falling deep for her and it scared the shit out of him. So he ran away and broke things off. Who knows how long he was actually having her followed. Especially if he was suddenly appearing the moment she does something weird, like coming to Peru. “Go on Derek, why don’t you tell me how you really feel?” She asked with a smirk, as if it wasn’t already so obvious to her, with her empathy, how he felt. But she wanted to hear him say it.

[Derek Whiteman]

Derek Whiteman
Bad Boy

Derek nodded his head in agreement with Brie. He had been lucky to be blessed with his powers. He didn't exactly know where powers came from. Neither did he know what determine the kind of power a person would get. If he was going to be perfectly honest, he thought that powers were just random and unique to each and every person. Which would explain why he hadn't run into another person with the same power as him, but right now his mind was digressing.

Blinking back into reality, Derek had just caught the tale end of Brie's question. He thought about it. What should he tell her? The whole truth? That he was now the owner of a company that funded schools, scholarships, casinos, and had an underground network of specials that were part of the mafia? He was sure that'll turn out just so nicely. He kept up appearances.

"Well, I inherited a company from Dante. You're now looking at the new CEO of Ouroborus Corp." he told her. It was the honest truth. He did inherit the company from Dante. He was a CEO and it was a honest living. Sort of. If you ignored that he was rebuilding an underground mafia, he was doing a good job. "And before you start going off on me, thinking I'm going to turn Vegas into Racoon City, we're a publishing company. Dante wrote a lot of books and became a self-publishers and now we fund scholarships and publish books and run a casino."

He paused at that last part, realizing that it was weird a publishing company would run a casino, so he decided to clear it up. "The casino was his idea, not mine. Dante liked to keep dabs on the world."

Derek couldn't help but sigh at the Lucius comment. "You know about that. Guess I wasn't sneaky enough," he sighed. He didn't want anyone to know he was apart of Giest. But it would seem that all the people he didn't want to know, knew about it. Mike knowing had been a surprise. He had actually ran into Mike during the whole fiasco the two of them had a nice long chat about it. Of course by chat I mean they both used everything in their power to incapacitate the other. But I digress, for that was a story for another time.

Derek knew it was coming. He knew for a long time now that Brie was going to dig into him. He stood there, taking the berating he knew he was due. He took it like a man. A man who smirked on the outside, but just sighed on the inside. There was nothing he could say to make it all better. She was right. He did screw up. In a way, he knew that no matter what he said, it couldn't change that he ran away because he was scared.

"Brie, there's nothing I can say that'll make it right. Look...the reason I broke up with you...It was because of Lucius...well, not Lucius exactly, but the whole group."

[Brie Collins]

Brie Collins
Peruvian Amazon

Brie honestly couldn’t even wait to hear the bullshit that was expected out of Derek’s mouth right now. Especially since she was going to be able to recognize every time he told a lie or tried to wander around the truth, like most guys like him would. But Derek was smart. Or he is smart, she should say. He knew Brie was going to know he was lying, so hopefully he’d make things easier on himself and just be honest. For the first time in his life.

"Well, I inherited a company from Dante. You're now looking at the new CEO of Ouroborus Corp." Brie narrowed her eyes at him and titled her head to the other side this time. “You can’t even manage a relationship for more than six months, how are you helping run a corporation?” She asked, hoping that would sting a little. But at least she wasn’t lying about that, just like she could tell he wasn’t. Brie knew Derek all too well. He would take interest in something, dedicate himself to it for a while, then once he got bored, or scared, he’d totally ditch it and not even care. At least that’s why he did with his relationship for Brie.

When the going gets tough, Derek Whiteman gets going.

"And before you start going off on me, thinking I'm going to turn Vegas into Racoon City, we're a publishing company. Dante wrote a lot of books and became a self-publishers and now we fund scholarships and publish books and run a casino." She rolled her eyes at him again, for at least the second time today, at least. “Is that your cover you guys are using? I’m surprised you didn’t go with something even more boring, like a paper factory.” She smirked, shaking her head at him. That might be true, that the work their doing might be publishing, but they must have something secret going on in the background. “So, what’s going on behind closed doors? You must be at least using your corporation to traffic something illegal.” She said, giving him a stern look, digging in deep into his emotions. Let’s so how well he can lie about that, because she was going to be able to tell.

Then he decided to add more. As if he wasn’t covering his tracks enough already. "The casino was his idea, not mine. Dante liked to keep dabs on the world." She nodded her head slowly. “Tell me, Derek. What is it with you power-hungry, rich, evil types and your love for casinos? Because I just don’t get it.” She said, shrugging her shoulders. First Adrian, now him? God, those two had a little too much in common.

Brie got a warm, pleasant feeling inside when she felt Derek, feeling like he was caught, after Brie mentioned the stuff about his business with Lucius. "You know about that. Guess I wasn't sneaky enough," She just simply shook her head at him, moving her hair that had fallen in front of her face and tucked it behind her ear. “How could you have been sneaky at all when you guys had meetings at his building? Remember, I’m his personal assistant? I saw you there and knew when he was meeting with you. I manage his calendar for him and keep track of everything he needs to do, how did you think you were going to get past me that you were there? I’m always there, I see things. Might not know what was going on, but I had a feeling you weren’t threatening him to treat me nice, like you did with that other boss I had.” She explained, mentally rolling her eyes as she remembered some of the good times.

"Brie, there's nothing I can say that'll make it right. Look...the reason I broke up with you...It was because of Lucius...well, not Lucius exactly, but the whole group." Brie shook his head, waving her hand at him for stop. She started feeling those emotions from him, about her. They were just as strong as they ever were before and she couldn’t handle it. “Just… don’t worry about it, Derek. What’s done is done… but a call these past few months wouldn’t have hurt.” She added.

She turned and started walking away. They were in the middle of the Amazon after all, they couldn’t stand around all day and dig up old feeling for each other. Brie stopped, turning around and gave him a look. “You coming or not?”

[Derek Whiteman]

Derek Whiteman
Bad Boy

Derek frowned at Brie's comment. Ok, he knew he was a shit boyfriend to her. No one deserved to be broken up like that, but obviously he was sorry. She didn't have to constantly remind him. IT wasn't like he cheated on her or anything. And he didn't need to be told he was a bad CEO. Honestly he thought he was doing great. He had been working with the OCorp since he was 19. Not that anyone really knew about that.

"Ok, first off, I've been working for this company for the past 5 years. I was vice present just last year. Well, before the whole Giest thing, but that's beside the point." Derek said, waving his hand around nonchalantly.

"And there's no evil, underground organization that whats to take over, destroy, or kidnap the world and or specials of any kind. I'm just running a smooth operation," Derek answered honestly. And it was the honest truth. Sure, he omitted the part where he was restoring a special's mafia. The mafia itself was just something he wanted to do because Dante wanted it.

"Seriously? I'm not a power-hungry villain. I just like to goof off and gamble. Hell, you know I spent most of my life in Vegas."

Derek followed Brie, trying to catch up to her. He listen to her rant about his lack of ninja skills. He kindly begged to differ considering she didn't even know he was following her. "Look, i'm sorry, ok. Giest was the reason why I had to break up with you. You've no idea what I had to do. Who I had to take care of. I almost ended up killing Mike because he got in the way. I didn't want to risk that with you too," he told her.

[Brie Collins]

Brie Collins
Peruvian Amazon

Brie could feel the sadness pouring off him after she made that comment about not even being able to handle a relationship. He knew he was a shitty boyfriend when they together. But hey, she probably wasn’t the best girlfriend either. When they first started, she was still seeing other people. Other strange, random, hot people. But still, other people nonetheless. But that stopped after they had gotten serious and when she started to fall for him.

God, they were just such a fucked up pair.

"Ok, first off, I've been working for this company for the past 5 years. I was vice present just last year. Well, before the whole Giest thing, but that's beside the point." She narrowed her eyes at him. She didn’t know what company he was talking about or what the hell Giest even was, but she could tell he was telling the truth, at least. “Company, what company would this be? Not like, The Company.” She said, pretty sure he wouldn’t have been talking about that since he was so not a Company man. Especially with the whole him being a bad guy thing.

"And there's no evil, underground organization that whats to take over, destroy, or kidnap the world and or specials of any kind. I'm just running a smooth operation," Brie couldn’t help but roll her head at that one. “Yeah, because you’re so smooth, Derek.” She said in a rather sarcastic tone.

"Seriously? I'm not a power-hungry villain. I just like to goof off and gamble. Hell, you know I spent most of my life in Vegas." Crossing her arms and giving Derek a rather stern expression, all she could really do is shake her head. The sad part about what he just said to her was that he actually believed it himself. That he wasn’t some power-hungry villain. “Coming from the CEO of some company in Vegas.” She said, shaking her head. So, this is how it was going to be? Derek thought all he liked to do was goof off and gamble. But he was a killer. A cold-hearted killer that would just run away from the only woman that probably ever cared about him and not tell her a thing. “You are a villain, Derek. You lie, you cheat and you kill people. Just look what you were doing behind your little brother’s back! He had no idea who the real you was, did he? Does he even know who you even are?” She asked, wondering if Mike might have found out by now. He might have been a tad naïve, but he wasn’t stupid.

Even after Brie started walking on, continuing on her path to get to her original location, he still wasn’t going to stop that conversation there. "Look, i'm sorry, ok. Giest was the reason why I had to break up with you. You've no idea what I had to do. Who I had to take care of. I almost ended up killing Mike because he got in the way. I didn't want to risk that with you too," She stopped dead in her tracks again and turned around, giving him an almost sick look. “What did you do, Derek…?” She asked. If he almost ended up killing his own brother, it must have been pretty bad.

Not like he was ever good.

[Derek Whiteman]

Derek Whiteman
Bad Boy

“Company, what company would this be? Not like, The Company.”

"Do you honestly think I'd be working for The Company? Like, seriously?" Derek asked her, deadpan. He hated that place. He knew that they were the ones that had taken the only family he had growing up. Being even remotely associated with such a group made him want to gouge out his own eyes. HE had originally joined Geist to help Dante, but when that didn't work, he wanted to use them to get his revenge on the Company. He wanted them to suffer for destroying his family.

“You are a villain, Derek. You lie, you cheat and you kill people. Just look what you were doing behind your little brother’s back! He had no idea who the real you was, did he? Does he even know who you even are?”

Derek didn't say anything to that. It stung. IT really did. How could she think he was a villain? He did what he had to. He grew up where the rules were kill or be killed. He was raised in a damn mafia because his foster parents sucked. Dante had showed him what he could do with his life. What Derek could do now instead of just wasting his life on revenge.

"Don't say that. I do what I have to do. I don't do it for shits and giggles like other people. I do it to protect people like you and Mike. I do it so innocent people don't have to get in the crossfire and have their lives messed up by people like the Company or the RSF." he shouted angrily. While he shouted, his shadow lashed out, striking a nearby tree and slicing it clean in half. As the tree crashed to the ground, it snapped Derek out of his rage.

He started breathing, calming himself down. his erratic shadow fell back to his side, turning back to a docile shadow that looked utterly normal and not the life threatening weapon it could become.

“What did you do, Derek…?”

"My powers aren't as controlled as I make it to be." he said honestly. "Whenever I loose concentration, my shadow reacts and...uh...lets say Mike was in the wrong place, at the wrong time. I had a long day and if he hadn't reacted in time..." he left the sentence hanging, not wanting to recall the event.

"You don't understand the things I do, because I have to. I get it, if you can't understand, but Brie, if there was any other way, believe me, I'd do it." he told her honestly.

[Brie Collins]

Brie Collins
Peruvian Amazon

"Do you honestly think I'd be working for The Company? Like, seriously?" Narrowing her eyes, she gave him a look. Derek was unpredictable at best, there was no telling what he’d do or who he’d work with as long as there was something for him. “Who knows, Derek. They’re powerful, you like to be powerful, it could happen. Strangers fucking things have happened, let me tell you.” She said with a smirk. This coming from the girl that’s seen the dead come back to life..ish.

She could feel that stinging feeling radiating off him. Brie really got to him with that last statement. But it wasn’t like she was lying. She really only spoke the truth.

"Don't say that. I do what I have to do. I don't do it for shits and giggles like other people. I do it to protect people like you and Mike. I do it so innocent people don't have to get in the crossfire and have their lives messed up by people like the Company or the RSF." She let out a laugh, shaking her head at him. “Are you really trying compare yourself to The Company and Strike Force? Dude, you’re one person. Those are organizations, they’re made up of all kinds of people.” She started. Although she didn’t know anyone from either one of those companies personally, she did know people who did, and her father told her enough back in the day. “Oh and news flash, The Strike Force is dead.” Brie thought he might need a little reminder.

Just in case he behind on his current events.

After asking what he did, her eyes focused on her moving shadow for a moment before darting back over to him. "My powers aren't as controlled as I make it to be. Whenever I loose concentration, my shadow reacts and...uh...lets say Mike was in the wrong place, at the wrong time. I had a long day and if he hadn't reacted in time..." Brie’s head slightly tilted at his words. Her eyes narrowed. “What did you… did you kill him or something?” She asked, wondering if it was really possible for him to go that far.

"You don't understand the things I do, because I have to. I get it, if you can't understand, but Brie, if there was any other way, believe me, I'd do it." Taking a deep breath, she looked over to him. Right in the eyes. She wasn’t even sure if she was looking at the same man she loved anymore. Her brain was telling her no, but her heart was telling her something completely different. “Maybe you should try helping people for once without killing up a storm. You’re not exactly Robin Hood, you know.” She said, turning away and continuing on her walk again. If they didn’t get moving it was going to be nightfall by the time they got to where she was going. And she was pretty sure Derek might not be able to do very much in the dark. But hey, maybe that’s a good thing.

[Derek Whiteman]

Derek Whiteman
Bad Boy

He was tired of the accusations. He didn't like power. He wasn't some power hungry maniac who wanted to take over the world. He was just some guy who wanted to look out for number one. Could anyone really blame him if he just wanted to make sure he didn't get killed by the next lunatic who wanted to rule the world? No, of course not. But he wasn't the only stubborn one around her. He didn't need empathy to know that Brie wasn't going to just stand by and let him sway her.

“What did you… did you kill him or something?”

"What? No! God, no. I would never do that," He told her. He hadn't. Sure, when he had first heard about Mike, he had been consumed with so much rage and anger. He didn't understand how Mike managed to get such an amazing life while he ended up in foster care and on the streets. He had wanted to ruin Mike's life. But dammit the kid had grown on him. It was both frustrating and annoying how he managed it.

"He managed to phase through the attack. No harm done. I-I just decided to move back to Vegas after that," he told her as he followed behind her.

"I don't kill up a storm. That's too flashy" Derek told her. Flashy wasn't his style. Like his shadows, he prefered subtlety over flashy. "Where are we going anyways?"