It had all happened so fast. Scott had taken the initiative to set up some kind of negotiation, but the girl with the ruby lips had other plans. Andrew watched as she spoke, watched her demeanor and the way her lips moved. She seemed to be from his neck of the woods, judging by her accent. Correct him if he was being too finicky but there just wasn't something right about the way she spoke—as if it were forced. There're a lot of things you can do with a British accent, but putting up a good front wasn't one of them. The others, however, didn't seem to catch the drift. He could feel the hate radiating off of every one of his teammates. It was misguided, in his opinion, though he couldn't blame them. The way that woman looked at the man whom had his hand on her shoulder.... In that one millisecond, he saw right through her. She'd panicked. And when the word 'attack' finally sunk in, Andrew could see an overprotective shroud drown those pretty little eyes.
Andrew winced as Athena snapped back at the woman's resolve, analyzing her features as she paid no heed to her. He wouldn't readily admit it to his fellow supers but he was impressed. Not many women could just take insults hurled at them like that and not react in the slightest. It didn't throw her off her course at all. She went on, articulating with a voice laden in vicious promise that no harm would come to her team on her watch. Andrew could relate to such sentimental compassion, and he hated that his teammates were downright despising her. They would see all of the signs if they would just look at what was around them. The girl with the ethereal cat, the naive boy distracting her with tea bags—all of that was a ploy to keep the real threat at bay. He'd seen the way that blue-haired girl looked at them, and it was nothing compared to the look this ruby-lipped woman was giving them. The boy with the fireball, the tousled haired gentleman—both were there to prevent a fight from ensuing, keeping the shadow maker at bay. But it was the female trainer that spoke up, simply because she was asked. Andrew wasn't an idiot, nor was he deaf. The male trainer had called out "Lena" and there she came.
So this Lena girl stood in front of her villains, preventing any casualties, all of them surrounding the one villain that would actually cause harm without any prodding. If you asked him, Andrew would tell you that this 'tough villainess' act this Lena was pulling was only just. It was an act. He could tell by Scott's surprise that this woman wasn't one to act like this, and he could tell by her demeanor. Call it a perk from having a power dealing with the inner workings of the mind. Or call it the aftermath of watching too many crime show dramas on day time television. Either way, she was bluffing—lying through her teeth to protect her villains before that one flew off the handle. Because, honestly, who wouldn't take one look at her and tell beyond a fathom of a doubt that the girl despised Heroes? Nobody, that's who.
So Andrew got in Lena's face. It was his plan, albeit not a great one, but he had to figure this one out. "Well in case you haven't noticed by our numbers, we've had a pretty shite day as well. So if you want to tell us what you're doing out here we'll consider letting you and your little cronies go free." Andrew got a good look into her eyes before she shoved her hand inside of his chest, and it was an emotion he couldn't quite place.
Andrew was not cocky, by any means. He was about as threatening as a pink butterfly. He also didn't have a very high pain tolerance. So when Lena's hand slipped into his chest, yes, there was a first initial ripple of pain. Andrew felt Alisia's threshold on his mind oppressing his, trying to stifle some of it away. But, for some reason, he pushed her out. One look in Lena's eyes and he'd put up a wall between him and Ali. He'd never done that before, and honestly he doubted if Ali even caught on. Everyone tense around them, and Lena shouted for them to get back as Andrew made an embarrassing, gurgling sound.
"You feel that? That's my hand grabbing hold of your heart."
Only he couldn't feel it. In fact, other than the first initial shock of pain, he hadn't felt anything at all. Andrew looked down at her arm, her hand buried wrist deep into his chest cavity, her words only muffles as he tried to rationalize it. Why couldn't he feel it? Lena had everyone else convinced he was in so much pain and yet there he stood trying to put the pieces together. It wasn't like she'd numbed the pain, he couldn't feel her hand at all. Like it wasn't even there. Their eyes met one last time before Lena closed the distance between them, her lips brushing up against his ear.
"Do you understand, Andrew? I'm telling you to run. Run, you clever boy...and remember me."
There was no emptiness as she pulled away, no pain, no hollow feeling. He felt just as he'd ever felt before only now he was awestruck. How had she known his name and what had she meant? Why couldn't he feel her hand when she had everyone else convinced that she was causing him harm? As he watched Lena walk away, his gaze steady followed. The barrier in his mind came crumbling down and Ali's redundant wall of protection went up. His mind was flooded with Ali's concern, asking if he was alright. But it was Athena that snapped him out of his reverie, with just a gentle touch on his shoulder.
"You alright, Andrew?"
At first, he didn't respond. He only watched as the girl dematerialized into the adjacent building, literally fazing through the brick like some ghost. Once she was out of sight, he saw the male trainer take charge of the villains before glancing down at the super in his charge. He exhaled confidently, reassuring her with a simple, "Yeah, I'm alright."
No doubt he'd be pestered more about what had happened later.