Night Reaper

"Oh, Mr. Nycteros, Sir, please don't forget I cleared your schedule for this weekend since you are traveling to that Comic-Con in California."

The CEO of Nycteros Corp, Gabriel Nycteros, looked up sharply to stare at his secretary for a moment, the shock and agitation clear in his gaze. "Excuse me? Did you just say...I'm traveling to a Comic-Con this weekend?"

Madison blushed, and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her head. "Yes, Sir; perhaps Mr. Adrian forgot to clear the trip with you?"

Gabriel sighed, rubbing his head with his palm. His younger brother was absolutely incorrigible. It was a good thing he was *usually* very good at his job as Nycteros Corp's Social Media and PR manager. Two days' notice for an unexpected trip was completely unacceptable.

"Get Adrian on the phone immediately," he instructed Madison.

"Right away, Sir," she nodded, heading back to her desk.

A moment later, Gabriel's intercom blinked red, indicating a call waiting. He put it on speaker mode.

"Gabriel? Madison said you need to talk to me? I'm right in the middle of studying for my computer science final, so you'd better make it quick."

"Understood. I just have two questions. Why exactly am I flying to California to go to a Comic Con this weekend, and why wasn't I informed about this at least a month ago?"

"Oooh...ha ha...I guess I forgot to tell you about that."

"About what?"

"Well, I sort of scheduled you to give a speech at the Comic Con. You know, about your inventions and stuff."

Gabriel was silent for a moment, his teeth gritted in frustration. Finally, he unclenched his jaw enough to say, "Allow me to clarify. You had my secretary completely clear my schedule so I can fly across the country to give a speech about my military-grade weapon inventions to a bunch of weirdos, nerds, geeks, and college dropouts who like to collect movie and TV memorabilia and play dress-up in their spare time?"

"Geez, you don't have to put it like that, Gabe. I'll have you know that I actually have several friends currently enrolled here at University who are interested in going to the Comic-Con. Including myself. Which is why I scheduled you to speak, so I have an excuse to escape my homework and clubs schedule for the weekend..."

Gabriel pinched the bridge of his nose. Not only would he have to unexpectedly suffer the horrors of Comic-Con, but he would apparently have to do it in proximity to Adrian's geekiest college friends.

"Why couldn't you have just accepted the invitation to Yale and made friends on the polo team instead?" he grumbled.

"Just because I can sit on a horse without falling off doesn't mean I want to be forced to do it in the form of a sport. Besides, who would want to have to live up to your and Nicolas' shining reputations as captains of the polo team? And before you say anything, no, I wouldn't have preferred fencing. I've got two left feet, and a fear of French. Anyway, I have to go. After all, the Theory of Computation isn't going to study itself!"

Gabriel said goodbye to his brother and hung up, shaking his head. Their parents' careful preparation of private tutors in a classical education was wasted on that boy.

He sat for a moment, drumming his fingers on the reflective polished surface of his mahogany desk, looking at the picture of himself, Nicolas, and Adrian that sat in the right-hand corner. Only two years ago since that summer, but it felt like an eternity. The three of them had gone to a ski resort, in the Alpines. All three of them shared the curly black hair, but the brothers' similarity ended there. Nick was stocky and broad, with green eyes that never lost their twinkle. Adrian was slim with bright blue eyes that always seemed wide with excitement. And Gabriel himself, the tallest of the three, with serious grey eyes, but a happy smile on his lips. It was strange, looking at that time-encapsulated moment. The night they'd arrived at the ski resort he'd been in a creative frenzy, starting drawings of prototypes for three new kinds of missiles and the sketch of his unique take on a hollow point bullet. Things had been so much simpler then. Back before Nick asked him to step up as CEO of the company. When was the last time he'd even had time to draw up a plan for a new invention? These days, there only seemed to be time for meetings with the board, meetings with clients and investors, review after review of the business operations, trying to decide the best direction for the company and then pushing it in that direction.

He could use a breather. Maybe, somehow, this weekend at Comic Con would turn out to be exactly the break he needed. Maybe he could find a way to make the time productive. Despite being surrounded by weirdos.

***********************************************************

Gabriel sat in the first class lounge, gripping the plush armrests of his seat, teeth gritted and suffering in silence. Adrian and his friends were embarking on some kind of imaginary game about some fantasy quest, rolling strange, multi-sided dice, talking about non-existent inventories, weapons, and pretending to be different sorts of mythical beings.

When he'd attempted to advise them there were far better uses of their time as young adults than playing imagination games, they'd laughed at him, and Adrian's friend from England actually called him a 'wet blanket.'

This was going to be an absolutely miserable trip.

He tried to tune out the noise, turning the pages of his copy of The Aeneid in its original Latin, but found it very hard to read while the younger people around him made complete fools of themselves, putting on fake voices and accents to 'immerse' themselves in the game. Even the noise cancelling headphones couldn't completely remove him from the supposed 'battle-cries' of the would-be warriors around him.

After his third glass of bourbon, he decided to abandon the lounge altogether and go back to his seat. Darrell, the imposingly built security guard, followed him silently.

Gabriel didn't really enjoy having security follow him around, but Nicolas insisted that each of his brothers have at least one security detail with them at all times when traveling. Darrell wasn't too bad. Neither of them was particularly talkative, so there was bound to be a comfortable silence awaiting him in first class.

Unfortunately, he'd forgotten about Madison.

"Back so soon, Mr. Nycteros?" she said, with a smile that definitely did not look very professional. The neckline of her blouse certainly wasn't very professional-looking, either.

He groaned, inwardly scolding himself. Why did you invite her? She was supposed to have this weekend off and like a fool, you invited her along to California on a whim. Why should she think you just wanted her along for the stability and normalcy of her presence? Only certain types of men invite their secretaries along on their business trips. If he wasn't careful, the rumors alone could cause quite a challenge for Adrian to have to smooth over in the public eye.

"So, do you often attend Comic Cons with your brother in your spare time?" Madison asked, trying again to start a conversation.

"No. This is the first time," he said brusquely.

Madison's brilliant smile wavered slightly. Maybe she would take the hint?

"Well, I'm honored to be invited along on your *virgin* trip.

He sat down, stoically silent. This is what Adrian would call a 'facepalm' moment, he thought in vexation.

Perhaps the blunt truth would be the appropriate way to resolve the situation.

Turning toward her, he said, "Madison, do you know why there haven't been any reports in the gossip magazines or news of my seeing anyone for the past several years?"

Her smile wavered a little. The flirtation, and the invitation, were still there, but she toned it down a little as she said, "Why, no. Maybe you just haven't met a woman you really enjoy spending quality time with?"

"I've met plenty of women who are enjoyable to be around. But my problem is that I never know if they are truly attracted to me, myself, or if it's my money and position of power."

Her smile widened. "Well, surely there's nothing wrong with a woman appreciating *all* aspects of a man?"

He shook his head. He'd known she wouldn't understand. But still, something drove him on, to try to get her to see what he meant. He liked Madison--not as a romantic partner, but he was closer to her than he had been to any other woman in a long time.

"But those *aren't* aspects that are inherent to me, that's just the problem. Suppose, instead of being born to a wealthy socialite family, I'd been born into a family below the poverty line."

Madison gave an involuntary shudder at the words.

"Just think about it. Imagine my mother was a waitress, and my father was a delivery driver. With only a public school education, not being able to afford to go to college, would an investor ever have given any of my designs a chance? Would I ever have been able to rise to the position of CEO in a company like I currently hold? And would any of the women who pursue me so doggedly ever have given me a second glance in that other life?"

"Does that really matter?" she asked in a sultry tone. "I mean, here you are, living the life that fate dealt you. And I'm sure there's a woman out there would love you, in spite of your idiosyncrasies and your tendency to philosophize."

Gabriel turned to look at the clouds sailing by out the window, feeling frustrated and disappointed. Those things that Madison made so light of were truly part of his personality. They were inborn, unlike the money or the fame and power. Was it too much to ask for someone to love him, at least in part *because* of those things and not in spite of them? Surely, there must be a woman somewhere who--oh, no.

He was suddenly jerked back from his thoughts to horrifying reality--a reality where Madison was climbing into his lap.