P I P E R YOUNG
do not show weakness. as far as anyone knows,
Piper knew that there was no way the heroes understood her stance on this. They outnumbered herself and Atticus, and several of them had bonds strengthened by years of working together. All Piper had was a flimsy relationship with her friendâs roommate. They only even trusted each other out of necessity, if she were being honest. Theyâd never worked together, and wouldnât even know one another if not for Lucy. Piper would have his back here out of principal, but she wasnât sure she could trust him to do the same. She simply didnât know him well enough to trust that he would. That was the nature of the beast, wasnât it? The heroes formed close bonds, friendships, and had fierce allies. What did villains get? A life in the shadows, professional contacts, and usually nothing more. Piper figured it was because of the higher burnout rate of âvillainy.â
She appreciated Atticus taking her side, though she knew it was likely as much about his own privacy as anything else. When Gemini spritzed water at the group, Piper shot a glare in his direction. She understood that he wanted to keep things civil, but was that really necessary? She rolled her eyes when Malfyre complained about the mask getting wet. It seemed impractical to have a mask that couldnât withstand the elements, but it wasnât any of her business. It surprised her when the other heroes spoke up, seeming to understand their point of view. It made sense, really; if they were supposed to be some kind of team, they all needed to cooperate and quell each otherâs fears. It was time to treat this like a business meeting instead of a high school cat fight, apparently. âI can let the files go for now, so long as it is addressed after we have Red Witch back.â Piper didnât care if they were already destroyed by then. Apparently they all needed to have a talk about each otherâs comfort levels and how soon they should disclose any sensitive findings.
Gemini suggested that they call it a day, and honestly Piper thought that might be for the best. Maybe she could take Att to lunch, see if she couldnât get him to settle down a little. This whole situation was proving difficult for both of their nerves, and while she didnât know him exceptionally well, she figured they could both use a friend.
Then Malfyre started talking. Piper figured that theyâd never learned when to keep their mouth shut. Malfyre started to apologize for their whole attitude, and Piper was willing to relent and accept the apology: this didnât affect them all the same way, so Piper was willing to let it go and forget about it. Then they decided to emphasize the fact that they didnât owe any of them anything, and Piper resolved to remember that if Malfyre ever needed her help. Piper may not seem like much, but if there was one thing she was good at, it was being petty and spiteful.
âI appreciate the help. But you have to understand that Red Witch isnât just some villain to me, sheâs my friend. This is personal, and not just because weâre all in danger too.â
The line about going back to being the âthe heroes and villains you all so desire to be,â really rubbed Piper the wrong way. As if sheâd wanted to grow up so poor sheâd had to use her powers just to have enough to eat. That was it, wasnât it? The rest of them had enough of a choice that they didnât see that some of them didnât have much of one. Piper knew that most of the people in the room wouldnât ever view her as anything but someone who used her powers to lie and steal. It shouldn't have bothered her, especially since she was pretty sure Malfyre was just lashing out because they were making the job more difficult than it âneededâ to be. Piper didnât know Malfyre well, but people werenât very hard to read.
Piper wanted to tell Malfyre that if they didnât want to help, then they shouldnât bother. Instead she settled on a terse, but genuine, âThank you.â Regardless of how they all felt about each other, at least Malfyre was helping. Piper decided to remember that, too.
She figured that Atticus would want to get to work on scouting out locations right away. âI donât expect it, but if anyoneâs willing to put in the work to help scout out locations, Icarus and I would both appreciate it.â Normally, Piper wouldnât speak for Atticus, but she wanted to be a united front on this issue. He said he was never wrong about his visions, and she believed him.
D H A N I BATRA
you know as well as i do that it has to be done,
Dhani had really wanted to get this situation under control, but like always, he didnât have the nerve to actually stand up to the confrontation. He handled hero work just fine, but personal confrontation? That was scary. He was happy enough when Adrian stepped in (though he wasnât sure what he did to deserve being sprayed with water), he was just all-around a better leader than Dhani could hope to be.
Dhaniâs perspective on Kieran having the files wasnât going to help anyone. He trusted that she wouldnât do anything with them, but he figured heâd already expressed as much. Aboleth seemed willing to let it go, at least for the time, so Dhani was hopeful that things would calm down. At least on an interpersonal level.
He couldnât tell if Kieran was trying to make things better or not with her words, but he hoped that Att and Aboleth wouldnât take it too personally. He didnât like the idea of the lot of them being in danger, and he wondered to himself if they would stop at putting them in danger. Whoever these people were, they didnât seem too concerned with morality or ethics. Dhani didnât personally have much to hide, but he did have people heâd like to be kept safe.
Kieran seemed intent on being done with the whole group after they found Red Witch, and Dhani made a note to talk to her about it later, once sheâd had a chance to calm down. He still needed to apologize for yelling at her the night before; that hadnât been fair. As it was, Kieran had something set up to send them real-time updates of her progress, which he hoped would do something to ease Atticus and Abolethâs minds.
Dhani had to admit, he was tired. He was tired of how often all of this erupted into infighting, he was tired of not feeling safe anywhere, even in his own home. He was ready for this thing to be over and done with, one way or another.
As Kieran left, he shot a look at Aaron. One of them probably needed to check on Kieran. She could be a pain in the ass, but she was his friend.
Aboleth said that sheâd appreciate help, and Dhani immediately nodded his head, âIâll do whatever I can to help. Weâre gonna find her.â He shot Atticus the most reassuring look he could manage with his mask. He wasnât the type to give up easily, and he wasnât afraid of a little danger. He probably should have been more afraid than he was, but heâd been through too much for this sort of thing to shake him too much.
It probably helped that he wasnât overly attached to Red Witch.