"My brother was always good with his hands." Flint commented grimly, in response to her praise of the stonework.
Chantry stepped through the open door into the one room space beyond. Beautifully cast-iron windchimes tinkled in the breeze blowing through the tall narrow windows artfully crafted into the stone walls.
The beautiful artistry on display all around him helped Chantry quell the fears that he felt inwardly that he was about to make one of the worst mistakes of his life by coming here to recruit Flint's brother. He honestly hadn't expected to be back to this island, since five years previously, when he had dumped John out of a chopper into the waters offshore. It just went to show that you never knew what pathway life would take a person.
Temple asked, "What do we do now?"
"We wait." Chantry said, moving a hand whittled chess piece several squares forward on a homemade chessboard.
Maria asked gazing around wonderingly, "You left him all this metal to work with?"
Chantry shook his head no, "He must have mined it out and made his own steel with the use of charcoal and some other ingredients he found on the island. Which means……"
"He has knives, perhaps even a sword." Flint finished for him darkly.
Maria glanced from Chantry to Flint. She'd never seen Chantry so keyed up before and Flint had descended into naked hostility the closer they had gotten to this island.
"Just what did he do?" Maria asked looking between the two of them.
Chantry spoke up never looking up from the chessboard, as he played the opposite side against himself, "Among other things he killed a fellow agent."
"After he raped her." Flint added pointedly.
Maria was truly shocked now.
"Why didn't you just kill him for that?"
"He wasn't entirely himself at the time and to be truly honest I'm still not sure that he is now." Chantry said softly giving the pristine interior of the house another glance.
"Why have I never heard of this?" Maria exclaimed.
"It happened a good many years ago and at the time we didn't want to publicize it too much."
"Who was she?" Maria asked, shocked by all these Agency revelations that she knew nothing about. Maria continued on before her question could be answered, "You said you dropped him off here five years ago, but that his agency status was before my time?"
Chantry nodded, "He went rogue for several years and piled up a lot of destruction. Mostly against villains, which I didn't mind, but when it became clear that he was a menace to society itself I brought him here so he couldn't hurt anyone. Now the world is different and you could say that savage people like him is what the new normal will be unless we break the Code's grip on the world."