Barden, VA

Jena looked to the side as she heard Malfyre and BludWynd discussing, mostly relieved she was okay, which she could tell because she was still her spunky self, if she wasn’t being sarcastic and a little bit of a mess then she wasn’t being Malfyre. She was also relieved as some of the other heroes started speaking up and giving their thoughts on what all was going on, glad she wouldn’t need to try to reel everyone in like Adrian had done, he was much better at the leader type role.

Good talks from everyone, glad I don’t have to follow that up. Adrian spoke to Jena. Though their optimism slowly changed as the villains then spoke. Icarus mostly just suggested they give time before making a decision, which made sense, everyone in the room had just got done trying to beat the living hell out of each other. But when Aboleth and Red Witch spoke things didn’t seem so gleem, but Jena wasn’t exactly surprised.

Aboleth mostly backed up what Icarus said, along with adding the point about things escalating, which was a good point. Though the last comment she made Jena knew would get under the skin of her heroes. Then Red Witch added onto her comment throwing another insult at Artemis. She really doesn’t like Artemis does she? Yeah, you should have seen them at the town hall fight, the two of them kind of hold a grudge…

Gemini wasn’t sure what they were expecting out of Red Witch, but they definitely didn’t get the agreement they were hoping for, with them talking about not wanting to work together, rolling her eyes as the villain threw up air quotes. “Fine, whatever. But we ne-” Jena had started to talk but was quickly interrupted as by the villain, speaking about her presence not being needed. Jena let out a sigh as Red Witch shoved her way through the heroes and walked out of the warehouse. She ran her hand over her mask before speaking again. “Well, great. Anyways. Looks like the remaining of us can at least agree on one thing, even if we don’t trust each other, we do think we need to work together.”

Jena left the air open to let anyone else get some words out, Adrian suggested some other things in their head, but Jena mostly just ignored him.

As much as they tried to object, the villains eventually seemed to agree that they needed to work together. Albeit rather begrudgingly, and with more than a few insults slung at various members of the group. But she was just glad that they'd stopped fighting and bickering. She didn't grace Red Witch's comment with a reaction, but her jaw clenched just a little. Red Witch stormed out in a suitably dramatic style, and Cerys just rolled her eyes. If she didn't come back, Cerys wouldn't be sorry. Gemini suggested they begin to wrap things up, and Cerys nodded.

"We need to meet somewhere on neutral ground. I don't want to be accused of favouring one way or another, but I'm sure as hell not walking in somewhere the villains can ambush us. And perhaps somewhere a little less..." She gestured around vaguely. "Grungey?" She said vaguely. "Somewhere a little bit nicer than this anyway. Can we at least agree on that much?" She asked, desperate to just try and get things over and done with.

They eventually agreed on a time and a place, somewhere it could work for both of them and that would put them on a level footing. The meeting time was arranged to be a similar time to allow for them all to do their day jobs as normal then come to the meeting. Cerys sighed, running a hand down her face as she made her way over to Aaron. "Jesus Christ, that was a lot. Can we go grab some drinks or something? I desperately need to relax," she said, running a hand through her hair.

Atticus smiled a little with satisfaction as Aboleth backed him up, agreeing that they needed to move on. People were tired and apparently just tired of the fighting, although Att got the impression that Lucy would have gone for another round, especially with Artemis if she'd been given the chance, before making a suitably dramatic exit. Atticus didn't miss her almost shoving Dhani out of her way, and he rolled his eyes. He was tempted to follow suit, but one of them probably needed to know what was going on, and besides, he wasn't leaving Aboleth alone with a bunch of heroes. He didn't know her all that well, but it was a matter of principle more than anything.

Eventually, the meeting wrapped up, and he sighed with relief. Now that Lucy was gone, he was feeling painfully exposed. He was ready to leave and just walk away from it all. And then he caught Dhani's eye again and... goddammit, Atticus. He knew that he should walk away, knew the thing that made him want to stay was the whole reason he should have left. And he almost managed it, managing to turn and walk out of the building and leave him behind.

But instead he found himself waiting outside, pulling his mask off and sticking to the shadows. And when Dhani came out, Att quickly grabbed his arm, pulling him to one side. "Hey. Sorry, I just..." he trailed off, suddenly regretting his decision. What was he going to say? Sorry I'm a villain? Sorry I didn't mention it?. "That was weird. And I guess... I'm sorry, I don't know what I wanted to say. Just. Didn't want to walk away from this without... I don't know, acknowledging it?"

Piper smirked at Red Witch’s comment about the heroes, though her mask hid it well enough that no one could see. She had to fight the urge to roll her eyes as Lucy went on about not wanting to work with the heroes, and how much she detested them all. Piper wasn’t the biggest fan of the heroes, herself, but she apparently held her own self-preservation in higher regard. Whoever was hunting down the heroes and villains in this town was good at it, and already knew more about her than she was comfortable with.

She paid Red Witch no mind as she left the building, not even acknowledging when she asked for Piper and Icarus to keep her filled in with the details of whatever they had left to discuss. She knew that The Red Witch could take care of herself, and was sure she would get all the information she needed soon enough. Piper shot a look to Icarus; she wouldn’t call him a friend, but he was also her only real ally here now. She stayed where she was, there was no need to show weakness by moving in closer, but she knew he was better in a fight than she was. Though she would ditch him in a heartbeat if it came to it, for now they needed to be a united front… Or, at least, as united as they could be.

Their little meeting wrapped up soon enough, and Piper was out of there as soon as they decided they were done. She spared a passing glance to Icarus, if only to make sure he couldn’t accuse her of abandoning him, and started on her way home. After double and triple checking that she wasn’t being followed, she removed her mask. It was easier to get around the town that way, and the only thing she wanted was to go home.

Dhani rolled his eyes at Kieran, and while he was glad Aaron was able to get her to shut up, Dhani also knew that Aaron had caused this whole thing to escalate for the second time. He was sure Aaron would be fine, but he wasn’t entirely sure he trusted Kieran to work with the villains without doing something stupid and impulsive and ruining it for everyone. He wasn’t about to voice that concern, but it was very real. It wasn’t very long before one of the villains was calling them childish, and Red Witch was continuing mocking them all. He tuned it out, mostly, not really interested in being insulted. He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of a response. He didn’t know what he’d ever done to her, but her hatred of him seemed so personal, at this point.

After their little meeting, Dhani put his mask back on. It would be easier to get back through the city in full superhero garb than only in most of it. He glanced over to the others, and after making sure they were going to be fine, he headed for the door, but not before giving Gemini a gentle pat on the shoulder, “Great job.” Gemini had really helped gain some trust from the villains, even if it was minimal, and their efforts really helped everyone become more civil.

Soon after Dhani left the warehouse, he was pulled off to the side, and quickly felt a bit of panic set in. What now? He thought, but quickly enough he realized it was just Atticus. He felt like they were standing too close to one another, even though he was sure they were a total normal distance from one another. Atticus was apologising for… Something. Dhani wasn’t sure. He wasn’t sure Atticus knew what he was apologising for, either. He shook his head, “It’s,” It wasn’t fine, though. Not really. “I mean… Don’t apologize, it wasn’t,” He sighed, this was awkward and terrible, and how the hell did Atticus have good hair even after the fight? “Thank you. And I’m sorry that one of my friends held you hostage.” He didn’t know what else to say, he didn’t want to make things weird, or worse. A part of him wanted to ask Atticus to pretend like nothing had ever happened between them, and yet another part of him didn’t think that was fair to either of them. It wasn’t as if they had some long history together, anyway. “You’re not hurt or anything, are you?” He started to take off a glove, “Because if you are, I mean, I have healing powers,” He quickly looked Atticus over, and grabbed for his hand without waiting for a reply. He let a warm energy flow from his own hand and into Atticus’, and healed up his hand at least a little. “There,” He- almost reluctantly- let go of Atticus’ hand. God, why had this gotten under his skin so badly. It was just the shock of knowing someone he’d slept with was a villain. That’s what he told himself, anyway.

Cerys had almost forgotten about Malfyre until she loudly reminded her and Aaron of her presence. They were still clearly feeling the after-effects of Red Witch’s attack, but Cerys took the fact they were complaining so much about it as a good sign. They tried to take a step or two under their own power and nearly hit the floor, and Cerys felt bad for almost laughing. Aaron wanted to bring her along, but Malfyre also seemed to not want to intrude. Cerys shrugged and pulled Malfyre’s other arm around her shoulder to help relieve some of the weight on Aaron. “Nah, we don’t mind. Beside, a chance to get to know about and drink with the infamous Malfyre? Who would want to pass up that opportunity?” She joked as they made their way out of the warehouse and towards the nearest bar.

The next meeting went considerably better than the first. Fewer injuries, less bickering, and they actually managed to hatch something close to a plan. And the meeting after that was almost amicable, with next to no arguments and them actually forming a concrete plan. They needed to do some recon on a number of sites throughout the city, and it seemed to make sense to divide and conquer. Only eight of them showed up to any subsequent missions, so they divided themselves into pairs. Well, not as much divided as made logical decisions. A hero and a villain as far as possible so they could make sure that neither side was up to anything suspicious. Those who were less suited to fighting had to be put with somebody that could protect them, which Cerys had taken as “unless you have obvious superpowers, you need to be babysat.”

Cerys hadn’t been terribly happy about that decision, but she got the impression she’d been put with Aaron just to stop her complaining. And she was okay with that. It was better than being stuck with any of the villains. She could actually work with Aaron.

They were assigned the task of tailing a potential target to see if there was anything suspicious about them, or if they could potentially give them any more clues about what they were doing. It was about 5 in the evening, giving them plenty of time to follow him for the rest of the evening. It did, however, mean that it was significantly harder to find a good hiding spot.

Cerys was hiding just outside one of the office buildings, hiding in the shadows of a fire escape to give her a slightly elevated angle of view if she needed it. She knew Aaron was somewhere nearby, watching from ground level. “Our guy’s on the move,” she said quietly, before dropping down from the fire escape and shouldering her bow.

Atticus didn’t know whether to feel better or worse when Dhani seemed to feel just as awkward and uncomfortable about the whole thing. But goddammit, he was still gracious, apologising for one of his friends attacking him. They were on opposite sites, that was what they were supposed to do, why the hell was he even apologising? They were supposed to hate each other based on who they were and yet… Atticus couldn’t do that. Was it because Dhani didn’t seem to just see him as another villain? Everyone else had seen him walk in with Lucy and had made up their minds about him, but Dhani was still here, still being civil.

And then Dhani started asking about whether or not he was hurt. Atticus began to say no, he wasn’t hurt, not really. But Dhani took his hand and Atticus had to resist the temptation to pull away. But it wasn’t for the reason he should have pulled away, it wasn’t just because here was a hero, making sure he was okay, even though he knew. It was because he was afraid he’d see something that, for some ungodly reason, he didn’t want to see. And it was stupid, if he hadn’t seen it before, why would he see it now?

But a rush of warmth ran up Atticus’ hand, stitching the skin back together on his knuckles and mending the damage he’d done by punching Malfyre. And then Dhani let go of his hand, and Atticus almost felt sorry about that. “Thank you,” he said. There was a moment when he thought about doing something crazy, but instead, he just smiled awkwardly. “We… I should go. Before someone comes out and… yells at me for fraternising with a hero. Or at you for fixing up a villain,” he said. “Thanks again for… well everything.” He had no idea why turning around and walking away was so damn hard. Dhani was supposed to be just another guy he’d slept with who’d turned out to be a hero.

And then, of course, someone had decided to pair the two of them up for the mission. He had no idea who decided on that, other than apparently he needed to be paired up with a hero who could “protect him” given that he apparently couldn’t protect himself. As if he didn’t have more experience with knives and guns than any of them. But he’d bitten his tongue to stop anyone questioning why he was so upset over Dhani specifically. They had been told to try and get into the basement of a particular building, because they’d gotten intel that there could be information on them in there. If they found anything, they were to destroy it. Because they needed to look low key, Atticus was dressed a little more “normally” according to Lucy, and he felt deeply out of his comfort zone. The weight of the gun concealed at his hip wasn’t doing much to ease that. He was waiting for Dhani at their prearranged meeting spot and was wondering what exactly would happen if he just left and didn’t come back. But something made him stay.

With every new meeting, Piper was reminded why working with the heroes would likely be a catastrophe. Too many people in both groups were argumentative, childish, and seemed to value their sense of pride above self-preservation. It was stupid, the way they couldn’t see the bigger picture. Still, she supposed that the heroes who seemed to be calling the shots (or were at least respected enough to sway opinions) were willing to work with them, and it didn’t take much convincing to get Icarus and herself on board, which meant that Red Witch was following, if only because the two of them could convince her of the merits of working with the heroes to address a more-present threat. Still, it went steadily better. Didn’t give her much faith in everyone’s ability to work together, though.

Initially, Piper didn’t know what to think about being paired up with Gemini. Clearly, the heroes didn’t trust her (not that she blamed them), and they wanted everyone without strong offensive powers to be paired with someone who was more of a fighter (again, a good idea), but she honestly would have rather been paired with someone less… showy. Piper liked to keep her work deep undercover, and she was a little worried that the fire and water would make it hard to stick to the shadows. After all, Gemini wasn’t known to be particularly stealthy. Really, most of the tougher heroes weren’t, and Piper supposed she understood it. Heroics weren’t about getting in and out quickly, they were about saving the day and inspiring hope or whatever. It was probably a rush, and the praise was probably even more of a rush. In another life, with different circumstances, she may have enjoyed that kind of life, too. Too bad the city was turning on them, too. How fickle the affections of the public were.

Piper was at the meeting place early; she liked to have any advantage possible, even against an ally, so she stood just out of sight, mask pulled up over her mouth and nose. She understood why she was chosen for this particular mission: they needed to infiltrate a building, find their target, get some information out of him. This was likely going to go much smoother with her there, assuming everything went as planned. She was a little worried that a vital command may not stick, but that was what Gemini was there for. Backup. She wasn’t nearly as experienced as… Well, anyone else in this new alliance. Some of them had been hitting the streets and doling out their own version of justice longer than Piper had even been able to control her powers, and it was- rightfully- intimidating. You have more than enough ability to hold your own here, she reminded herself, they need you today as much as you need them. The thought was only vaguely comforting. Piper wasn’t accustomed to putting herself in potential danger, so she was more than a little nervous. She tried not to let it show, and she hoped the fact that only her eyes were visible in the mask. She hoped her nerves weren’t too obvious; she tried to play at being unwavering and consistently tough (as a woman, you have to either have nerves of steel or be insane to make it as a villain), but times like this reminded her how much experience she truly lacked. Three years working mostly behind-the-scenes hadn’t prepared her for this sort of thing, but she supposed there wasn’t a better time to learn than the present.

She tried not to get lost in her thoughts; she didn’t want to be caught by surprise. Still, she found herself drifting back to the loose plan that had been formulated. You just have to remember the plan, she reminded herself, you’ll be fine. You’re not in this alone.

The evening after the first run in with the villains couldn't have ended any better than when they went to the bar. Aaron had originally suggested that Kieran go home and at least get changed first, but after a rather loud denial and reasoning that he couldn't argue, mainly her not wanting to reveal who she was. As Malfyre's identity couldn't be exposed just yet. It was an interesting experience at the local bar indeed.

The next few days that passed by, went by as usual. Slow and repetitive as ever. Mix of going back and forth between the shop, and hanging out with Kieran at her apartment, when she answered her door anyway. The days of which they had their small meetings with the villains, which could have gone better, but they also could have gone a lot worse. It was when the day finally arrived that they were to go about their next course of action. He hadn't expected to be paired of with Artemis, but he wasn't upset nor could he have wanted anyone else to be put with, except maybe Kieran. But that was just so he could have watched over her and made sure she didn't do anything too reckless. It was only when he saw that she got paired up with Red Witch, is when a small bit grew in his stomach. He didn't know why, but a small voice in the back of his head kept telling him that something wasn't right. But it was out of his hands.

Aaron simply shrug it off and went with Artemis, the two patrolling the streets, from above and below. Cerys took to the roof's, while he took to the streets. They agreed that going under cover, and dressing in civilian clothing was the best option. Stay out of sight and suspicion of most, would be the best they would go. He kept his head low, only occasionally looking up to make sure he was keeping pace with Cerys. He gave her a nod when she said that the man they were tracking with on the move, noticing that indeed the man he was after began moving once more. He gingerly kept pace with the small crowd that he was in, keeping his eyes on the target ahead, "He's heading north."

Honestly, Dhani had expected the subsequent meetings to go worse than they had. Not that he didn’t have any faith in people, but he thought he understood the kinds of people he was dealing with. Apparently, he was wrong, and they had been right to give the villains the benefit of a doubt. For the time being, anyway.

There was some arguing when it came down to pairing up for the missions, and Dhani had tried to suggest some other options, but in the end he wound up being paired with Atticus. It wasn’t as if Dhani didn’t like Atticus, but he wasn’t too thrilled by the idea of having to spend extended amounts of time with him. He needed to create a distance between them, and that was hard to do if they were working together. He was an adult, though, and being a hero was all he had. He wasn’t going to let this get in his way. Not when there was so much on the line. But he couldn’t stop thinking about Atticus pulling him aside to apologize for how weird things were, or the injuries on his hand (that he’s sustained by punching a friend in the face), or how he’d thanked him, twice. Dhani couldn’t forget the look in his eyes, or the way neither of them seemed to be able to look at each other. Maybe it was because they were afraid they’d give it all away. Dhani wasn’t exactly accustomed to seeing the guys he hooked up with at work, and it felt very strange.

Beyond that, he didn’t like the idea of Kieran being paired with Red Witch. He tried not to be too vocal about it, but it didn’t seem like a good idea to him. He knew that she could hold her own, but when he considered what had happened in the warehouse, it made him a little uncomfortable. He couldn’t dwell on it, though, because he had his own job to do.

Breaking into a basement meant he had to stay low key, and not get caught. Dhani hated this sort of thing; he was much more suited for running into fires and punching people, so this was going to be a little out of his element, and he was sure everyone knew that. If he could keep his wits about him, though, he would be fine.

Atticus was already at their meeting place when he’d arrived. Suddenly, Dhani worried that he had been running late, but he quickly shook it off. It was fine. “Hey,” The greeting was really more of an announcement that he had arrived than a friendly hello. Dhani smiled, more amused than anything, and leaned in so only Atticus would hear him, “Why did you dress exactly like you’re planning on breaking into a basement?” He stood back up and took a step back, jerking his head to the side, “You ready?”

The other meetings between the heroes and villains went as much as Adrian and Jena expected. Red Witch made more smart remarks about the heroes, mostly Artemis, but besides that there wasn’t much conflict going on and they were able to work out simple missions for them to complete. A few of them breaking into a place to scout it out, following and scouting out persons of interest, and a couple other missions.

Jena, who was the one physically present for Gemini during the meeting, was the one who came up with the idea of teams as they would be safer that way then going on solo missions after their targets. There was a little arguments about who should work with who, but in the end it was decided. Gemini and Aboleth, Paladin and Icarus, Artemis and BludWynd, and Red Witch and Malfyre. Adrian tried to voice his concern about Malfyre with what happened before, but Jena didn’t share what he said, telling him she would be fine.

Out of all the villains, Adrian didn’t mind working with Aboleth, she seemed like one of the more sane ones of the villains living in Barden, and he wasn’t too worry about her mind control powers as, in theory, it would be harder to control him or Jena since there were technically two minds in one body. He let Jena take point on their mission with the villain as he wanted to take some time and relax and wanted Jena to be more leading.

Jena didn’t mind the mission, and having someone who could easily sway someone’s mind would make it much easier and hopefully less conflict. Adrian wanted to take a step back and let her have more control, which she wasn’t exactly against, but joked around with him about how she has to do everything.

It wasn’t long before Gemini approached the meet up spot, arriving right on time as they had discussed, not a minute early or a minute late. They quickly found Aboleth and walked up next to her. “Hey Aboleth, been scouting out the building a little bit?” Jena asked as they peaked around. “And my other half won’t exactly be here for most of this, he’s taking a little bit of a mental health day, so looks like it’ll just be us two girls having a good time.” She said with a smirk.

The building the two would be entering and finding their target didn't seem like it would be too hard to gain entrance to, the front door guarded, but with their masks and outfits Gemini and Aboleth couldn't exactly stroll through the front door. The side entrance had one guy outside, probably armed. The two decided it would be best to just go that way and hopefully get through without too much confrontation. "Well, you're up." Gemini said as she and her current partner snuck to the side.

Att was grateful for the soft warning of the hero’s approach as it pulled him out of his thoughts. He gave Dhani an awkward smile, then mentally chastised himself for doing so. Lucy had warned him about Dhani, told him to just cut the hero off. Atticus hadn’t been able to do that. He told himself it was just because they were working together at the minute, they needed to be able to do that much. But there was a tiny part of him that just didn’t want to.

When Dhani leaned in, there was a moment when Att swore his heart skipped a beat, but then Dhani’s comment made him roll his eyes. Anyone else might have received a scowl. Dhani just received a raised eyebrow. “Red Witch told me I needed to ‘dress normally.’ She figured a guy in a suit would be more memorable and draw more attention. And apparently, ‘teenage hoodlum’ was a better and more inconspicuous look,” he said quietly in reply. God, he really hated it. “And ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”

Picking the lock was easy, almost too easy, and it put Atticus on edge as he stepped inside, expecting a security alarm to start blaring the minute he stepped through the door. But it was silent, and it did nothing to comfort him. He wasn’t sure if the feeling in his gut was just anxiety or his precognition kicking in in the background, warning him of some vague danger. “Looks clear.”

Dhani did his best to hide the laughter threatening to bubble from his mouth. Really, Atticus looked just fine. A little out of his element, but fine. Dhani wasn’t about to say that, though. Instead, he just shook his head. He needed to remind himself that this was a mission, and he needed to stay on his guard. Atticus didn’t seem too confident, though, and that was a little worrying. He had to remind himself that everything was going to be fine. He could handle this. They would be fine.

Atticus got the door open quickly enough, and he’d stepped inside before Dhani could offer to go in first. Dhani was inside as soon as Atticus confirmed it was clear. He glanced around quickly, there was a little bit of ground to cover. Something in his gut wanted Atticus to stay close, and he wasn’t sure if that was because something about this felt off, or because… No, this seemed too easy. Dhani glanced at Atticus out of the corner of his eye, as if trying to determine how he was feeling.

Dhani didn’t want Atticus to feel like he was being babysat, but he also didn’t want to assume that Atticus was comfortable with the situation. But there were multiple rooms to search through, and Dhani didn’t want to spend more time on this than they had to. He sighed, “Let’s get started.”

Att was a little glad when they got inside and Dhani didn’t immediately suggest splitting up. He’d never done anything like this. His family had always had people lower down the food chain to do the dirty work. Whenever he had to… deal with somebody, he was always in a position where he had the upper hand, where he was entirely in control of the situation. Here, he had no control, and there wasn’t a goddamn thing he could do to change that.

He found himself glancing towards Dhani to try and read him, to see his read of the situation. Dhani seemed… prepared. On edge but not in the same way Att was. He seemed confident. And that reassured Atticus a little.

“We should stick together,” he said as Dhani said they should get started. “I mean. We have no idea what we’re walking in to, and we’re more vulnerable alone.” He tried the first door and found it locked, and threw a grin back at Dhani. “And I have the lockpicks.” He said with a smirk as he unlocked the door again. Inside were stacks and stacks of nondescript cardboard boxes. Nothing that immediately flagged up anything suspicious. Att drew his knife and cut the tape sealing one.

“Nothing here. Boxes of office supplies, by the looks of it. Should we try door number two?” Att asked.

When Atticus suggested they stick together, Dhani nodded. He would be lying if he said that didn’t somehow feel relieving. Atticus tried a door and, well, of course it was locked. But the smile Attcus shot at Dhani pulled all the air out of Dhani’s lungs. For a moment all Dhani could think about was how his sister couldn’t be convinced that the reason Dhani couldn’t go to dinner with her was that he had a date. Wait. No. What the hell is the matter with me? Well, he had a few ideas, but nothing he could linger on. This was neither the time or place for that.

The room before them just held stacks of boxes. It would be impossible to look through them all, and most of them looked factory sealed, anyway. Still, he looked into the box Atticus had opened. Nothing interesting, “Yeah, searching in here any more would probably be a waste of time.”

The next few rooms were equally useless. Chemical closet, a bathroom, more holiday decorations than belonged in one room, outdated office furniture. It seemed like a lot of this basement was used as storage, which made sense, but the longer they spent looking, the more on edge Dhani felt. The longer they were here, the more likely it felt that something was going to go terribly wrong.

When they came upon a room with some old filing cabinets, Dhani couldn’t help but feel they were either going to be empty, or filled with nearly ancient documents that would be of no use to anyone, but he knew they needed to check anyway. “Okay,” He practically whispered, before raising the volume of his voice just a bit as he continued to speak, “How about we each pick a side,” He vaguely pointed to the row of cabinets, not really caring where either of them started, “And we can work towards the middle?”

Room after room just seemed to be completely unremarkable, and Att wasn’t sure if he was relieved by that or not. If there was nothing here, if the information they’d gotten was wrong, then it would explain the lack of security. It was entirely possible this was a wild goose chase. But a room filled with filing cabinets presented slightly more of an opportunity. Att nodded at Dhani’s plan. “Sounds good. I’ll take this side,” he said, keeping his voice little more than a whisper. The first filing cabinet was, as expected, worthless. Nothing of use. Nothing that even gave them important information on who they were dealing with. The second and third cabinets were the same. Old resumes, notes from meetings, company circulars. Nothing useful. Or at least, that was what he thought until the last drawer of the bottom cabinet was locked. The lock was new, recently used, and slightly harder for Att to crack. But he managed, and got it open. At first, it was just financial statements.

Then as he sorted through them, one folder caught his attention. Nondescript, easy to miss or just flick past. But a name on it caught his attention. Vulcan. One of the heroes that had recently been found dead. Sure enough, inside the folder was information on the hero. His civilian identity, his powers, his weaknesses… his secrets. “Dhani, I’ve got some-” He stopped as he looked over at the hero. Or, rather, at the huge, humanoid shadow lurking behind him, a glint of something metallic and dangerous in it’s hand. Everything seemed to go into slow motion. The glint became a knife.

Att didn’t think. He didn’t have to think, and that was the terrifying thing. He had the trigger pulled almost before it had even processed that he’d drawn the gun. A neat headshot, a wound somebody would have no chance of surviving, just the way he’d been taught. The man fell, the knife clattering against the ground, the sound a contrast to the soft thump of a body hitting the floor.

He knew he needed to say something, wanted to say something. But what the hell did he say? He wasn’t sure he could vocalise anything. His head was spinning a little as he just shoved the gun back into its holster, flicking through the drawer at speed to try and find files. “We need to get out of here, I’m guessing his friends will be along at any minute,” he managed to force out. The shaking in his hands only seemed to worsen as he found familiar names. Red Witch. Aboleth. Paladin. Icarus. “Just check for locked drawers, and just… fucking break them open or something,” he said, his voice cracking a little.

These filing cabinets seemed to be another bust; full of old notes, records of long-terminated employees, and other details that threatened to bore Dhani half to death. He thought about calling it, moving on, but then Atticus said his name. He turned to look in that direction, and confusion filled his face as Atticus drew a gun. Dhani was looking over his shoulder as Atticus shot, and the would-be assailant hit the floor. All before Dhani even fully realized what was happening. He turned to look back at Atticus. What was the appropriate thing to say in this situation? Thank you?

“Are you-” Atticus started speaking, and Dhani knew he was right. They would very likely be swarmed in a matter of minutes. “Okay.” Atticus said to check for locked drawers, and that’s exactly what Dhani did. He suddenly wasn’t very worried about making noise, and when he found a locked drawer, he just pulled the one above it out and tossed it aside so he could get to the files inside. He recognized every name he came across. Side effect of being at this for so long. He couldn’t dwell on it. He could let the sadness, fear and anger fester in his stomach later, he didn’t have time for that now.

Dhani heard footsteps down the corridor, they weren’t worried about being quiet anymore, either. They still had a few drawers to check, and Dhani wanted to be sure they found all the files. “Finish searching the drawers,” He didn’t look at Atticus while he spoke, instead he focused on stacking what he’d found in the space between them, “I can maybe buy you a few minutes, but you need to move fast.” He had no idea how many people there were, or what sort of weaponry they might have, but it wouldn’t be the first fight he’d run into blind. With any luck, it wouldn’t be the last.

He shut the door behind him when he left the room; every second mattered in these situations, and he would do every little thing he could do to help Atticus.

Normally, he would have wanted to try to get a head count so he could get a grasp on what was going on, but the first guy he saw was reaching for something. A weapon. Gun? Knife? It didn’t matter, Dhani’s best shot was getting to him before he had the chance to use it. He broke out into a sprint, dropping his shoulder and colliding with the man. He heard a gunshot go off behind him as they both hit the floor, and was faintly aware of the gun clattering out of the man’s hand. There was a quick struggle, but ultimately Dhani knew he couldn’t waste too much time on one guy. That was a surefire way to get your ass kicked.

When Dhani had become a hero, he never thought he’d be the kind of guy that actually liked the fighting. But he did. It made him feel alive. Like he was real. A well-placed punch and Dhani’s would-be assailant was out cold. As he started to stand, what would have been a blow right to the back of his head hit his upper back instead. He spun around, connecting his elbow to the man’s jaw and watched him hit the ground.

They both became much more careless, throwing the useless files to the floor and throwing the files they were after into the space between them. There were just too many of them and that was making Atticus feel almost nauseous about how many people were subject to this. But they didn’t have time to focus on that. He didn’t stop as Dhani told him to finish searching, but he did shoot a look at the hero. “Dhani, don’t-” he started, but he was gone, the door shut between them. Att swallowed and stayed searching. He was torn between wanting to help and that haunting image of the body on the ground only feet away from him, the pool of blood surrounding him. He knew that he couldn’t afford to hesitate if it came down to it, and he didn’t want to do that to Dhani if he froze up. So he gathered as many files as he could, double checking drawers he’d already checked to make sure there was nothing there. A battered but intact bag was abandoned on the floor, and Atticus shoved as many of them as he could into it, slinging the bag onto his shoulder. And then he took a deep breath and pulled open the door, just in time to see Dhani drive an elbow into a man’s face.

“Let’s go,” he yelled, grabbing Dhani’s arm and pulling him down the corridor. But at the sight of more men coming towards them, Atticus knew he wasn’t getting out of there without firing a few more rounds. He shoved down the sickening feeling in his stomach and drew the gun again. The men facing them down already had their guns drawn. They clearly weren’t normal security guards. These were the most dangerous kind of people, the shoot first, ask later type, and Att knew there was no way in hell they were going to be talked down. There was only one way they were going down.

Att aimed and fired. Two shots, a shot to the thigh each. One of them dropped his gun in pain and shock, the other shot at them but apparently decided at the last moment that Att was the bigger target now he had the files. The delayed decision didn’t give Att time to react and the bullet hit him square in the shoulder. Not his shooting arm. It was fine. Keep shooting, don’t think too much, don’t think about it. Shot to the stomach, enough to take him down. The pattern seemed to keep recurring until they finally made it out. Att only stopped to wipe down the gun and throw it in the first trash can they passed. It was disposal of evidence and the fact that he couldn’t bear the feeling of it in his hand any more.

One moment, Dhani and Atticus were running through the halls, the next moment Atticus was shooting. Was shot. Dhani didn’t have the luxury of reacting in the moment, he’d have to save it for later. Staying calm was sometimes the only thing that stopped a whole operation from falling apart. They didn’t slow down much, even once they’d gotten out of the building. They needed to get as far from there as they could. When they briefly paused so Atticus could get rid of his gun, Dhani couldn’t keep a bit of concern off his face. It was a little while before he could believe they weren’t being followed, and a short while longer before he spoke up, “I don’t think we’re being followed.” Not like it mattered, they knew everything about them anyway.

He pulled Atticus away, out of view from prying eyes, “Let me see your shoulder.” That was maybe a little too forceful, so he added, “Please,” though he didn’t intend on letting Atticus say no. Atticus had gotten hurt, and as a hero who’d built his entire career on protecting people, Dhani felt like he’d failed. At least he could heal him up, it was the least he could do, really.

It wasn’t long before Dhani was staring straight at Att’s shoulder, brows knit together in concentration. He placed a gentle hand on the wound, softly saying “Sorry,” before Atticus even had a chance to complain. He could feel the gentle warmth of his powers extending past his hand to Atticus, and he knew that this would take a touch longer than healing some scraped up knuckles. “I’m not much of a careful planner,” He said, almost as if to cut the silence, like he could bear to heal Atticus without some sort of noise to comfort him, “If not for you, I’m sure that would have ended much worse than it did.” He cleared his throat, “So, thank you.”

Att wasn’t even sure where they were going, only that they needed to stay moving. He barely even heard Dhani say they weren’t being followed, the words only registering as Dhani pulled him out of sight. It was only then that everything seemed to come crashing back down as the adrenaline started to fade. He dropped the bag almost unconsciously, the pain in his shoulder starting to kick back in. The force behind Dhani’s request surprised Att, but even before the hero said please, Att knew it was out of care. Goddammit, of course he’d ended up with one of the good ones. So many heroes were cocky and overconfident and easy to dislike. But no matter what Lucy told him, Att couldn’t hate Dhani. He trusted him. And there was a tiny part of his brain that told him that was dangerous. But as Att managed to pull back his jacket to give Dhani better access to the wound, he realised he didn’t care.

Warmth flowed into the wound from Dhani’s hand, already taking an edge of the pain. Att sighed a little, almost unconsciously. The warmth was soothing, the physical contact oddly grounding. Dhani’s words surprised him a little. Att smiled a little and shook his head. “I’m sure you would have managed just fine,” he said. “All I did was fire a few shots.” The echoes of every shot fired, of the too still bodies, of the blood, they seemed to be haunting him more than the fading pain in his shoulder. He knew he probably wouldn’t have done anything else to stop them. If he hadn’t taken them down, they could have done much worse damage to Att or Dhani. But he’d wanted to leave all this behind. He’d wanted to walk away from it, and instead he’d walked into all of this.

“Thank you,” he said quietly to Dhani. “You didn’t have to do this, I don’t think anyone would have blamed you. But you did so… thank you. And I’m sorry I hesitated. I probably could have taken them down quicker but… yeah. Thank you.”

Atticus thanking him for the healing was almost too much for Dhani, he wasn’t doing it out of some sort of altruism (at least, not in his mind), he just genuinely wouldn’t be able to live with himself if Atticus walked away from this with a gunshot wound. Of course he had to do this; it would haunt him if he didn’t. Every death, hero or villain, felt so intensely personal. It didn’t matter how you felt about a person when they were being hunted down on the merits of having powers and daring to use them. This was different, and Dhani knew that, but it was all blurring together in his mind. He’d never once questioned his choice to be a hero, even if it had never been much more than a teenage impulse.

But here he was, healing a wound in Atticus’ shoulder, wondering for the first time if this was really worth it. If someone asked Dhani who Atticus was to him, he wouldn’t know what to tell them. But he knew that he didn’t like hearing Att apologize for hesitating to shoot someone. He couldn’t help but wonder what kind of life Atticus had lived that he felt the need to apologize for that. “I try not to nitpick the people who save my life.” Dhani looked Att in the eyes as if he were searching for some deep secret, “You did fine. Don’t ever apologize for being human. Whatever mistakes you think you made, we’re both alive.” He knew the words were just words, and they probably wouldn’t help. They never helped him, anyway.

Really, he was just glad neither of them were more seriously hurt.

The healing was finished, but Dhani couldn’t bring himself to move his hand; the physical contact was soothing. He may have been healing Atticus’ body, but he felt like he was healing his own soul in the process, too. It was perhaps a touch dramatic, but it was always easier to forgive his mistakes when he could so tangibly make amends for them. “Are you gonna be okay?”

Dhani’s words were words that Att wasn’t sure he’d ever heard from anyone before. Everyone seemed to expect perfection from him, expected him to be the perfect villain, the perfect assassin. So to hear someone saying he didn’t have to apologise for being human… he had to look away from Dhani for a moment to gather himself. Att could feel the heat fading in his shoulder, the pain all but gone, but Dhani’s hand stayed there as the hero asked if Att was going to be okay. There was a moment, a thought that persisted a little too long, where Att was tempted to do something that was probably reckless and stupid. But instead, he just forced a smile and nodded.

“Yeah. I’ll be fine. I, uh… Text me when you get home?” He asked, almost without thinking. “I’ll bring the files, have a look through them later, see what I can get from them,” he said in recovery, picking the bag back up. He didn’t want to walk away. His feet seemed rooted to the spot. “I’ll see you soon, I guess,” he said. “And… seriously, thank you.” His body finally seemed to comply as he turned away from Dhani and walked away.

Dhani smiled softly when Atticus tried to assure him that he would be fine. He wasn’t so sure he bought it, but he wasn’t about to pry. Att asked him to text him when he got home, and Dhani nodded in response to that. He would, for sure. He would be texting his sister, anyway. Maybe he’d tell her his date well. When Atticus said he’d take the files, Dhani nodded, “Okay, let me know what you find.” Neither of them seemed to want to leave, and Dhani thought about asking Atticus to come with him, but instead he said, “Yeah,” The next meeting would be coming up, and who knows where they would go from there. Dhani wasn’t sure he cared so much about the content of any meeting as much as the people that were there.

When Atticus thanked him again, Dhani shook his head, “It’s no problem.” He wanted to tell Atticus that he would never leave him in pain, and that seeing him hurt was the worst part of his evening, but instead he watched Atticus walk away. He checked his phone, Kieran’s mission had gone well, and she was okay. At least someone’s night had gone as planned. He realized then that he was tired. With a sigh, Dhani turned around and started towards home.

Moving via rooftop was far from the easiest way to get around. Sometimes, she’d have to drop to ground level or jump between fire escapes to try and move without being noticed. So when Aaron said their target was moving north, Cerys did a quick scout of her surroundings. There was a building ahead, easy roof access via fire escape, should give her a good vantage point, and it would also be easy to move around from it. “Copy that. Any suspicious behaviour yet? Or is he still the world’s most boring man?” She asked as she began to scale the fire escape.

“Okay. I’m in position on the roof of the large brownstone, your eleven o’clock. Got a read on our target. Still… looks entirely normal. Ten bucks says this guy’s a bust,” she said, not drawing her bow just yet. “So… what’s the story with Malfyre? How the hell do you two know each other well enough for the other night not to be weird as hell?” She asked. Usually, she would have stayed professional, but she was bored as all hell. So far, this guy had left the office, stopped for groceries, and appeared to be on his way home. These weren’t the actions of someone who was planning on doing anything suspicious.

Her curiosity about Malfyre has lingered ever since they’d brought them out for drinks. Cerys and Malfyre had crossed paths on a number of occasions, when Malfyre had been up to something suspicious. But none of it had been worth Cerys’ attention, not really, and it seemed there was some silent agreement never to mention it. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t still curious about the whole thing and who they were.

Aaron continued to follow the man on the ground at a casual pace, occasionally looking up to make sure that Cerys was keeping pace, and sure enough, she was. Not that he really had to question it. She was able to run laps around him with ease, without even breaking a sweat. He just wanted to make sure that no matter what, she was safe. Not that she even really needed any protection, he was just being overprotective, as always. He chuckled slightly at the comment of their target being boring, "Just as boring as you'd expect. I may just have to owe you another round of drinks tonight to make up for it." Aaron chuckled under his breath as he kept at a steady pace, stopping when he needed to when the man would go into another store for a few minutes.

He looked up to his eleven o'clock position, and sure enough he saw the faint figure that was Artemis. Hidden away from basic sight if someone didn't know where to look. Aaron chuckled at her comment of betting some cash that their lead would be a bust, "Alright, I definitely owe you a round of drinks and make it twenty if we're getting fancy with it." he said cooly with an added in shrug. He continued on walking every now and then behind the man, finally seeing him go into one more store, where Aaron leaned with his back against the stone cut building as Cerys asked him a question he wasn't exactly expecting. How did he know Malfyre, and why was it that they seemed close enough for their antics that night that they went out for the bar wasn't as awkward as it should have been, at least on Aaron's end. He bit and licked his lips for a moment as he thought. He didn't want to over speak and give away too much, or say anything that could give any inclination as to who they were exactly.

It wasn't his place, and he wasn't about to expose it now, less Kieran come after his ass for ruining everything. "Well, it's a bit of a long story really." he started as he looked up and then casually just looked around. "Let's just say that we've known each other long enough that, she feels comfortable enough to know that she can trust me to not do anything...Anything that would possibly risk exposing who she is. If it was up to me, I would tell you everything but...It's not up to me, ya know? Let's just say, I think you two could easily be friends if she wasn't so fucking paranoid about everything. You have more in common than you'd think." he said with a genuine smile. Kieran was his best friend, almost like a sister to him, something he never had, and he just wanted to see her reach out of her shell and just be herself with more people. But he understood, that if she even knew that Cerys and Aaron were having this conversation, she'd kill him. "But why do you ask? What do you think about them?" he asked genuinely. He liked to know what others thought of Malfyre. He knew that Cerys and Kieran really would hit it off and be good friends in all reality, as well as be able to keep her identity a secret, just if she wasn't so god damn stubborn.

Kieran was tired and felt physically exhausted. All she wanted to do was go home, change into something comfortable and more than likely drink herself into a coma off of the case of beers that she kept in her apartment. All she wanted to do was relax and unwind, and forget about the bullshit of the day until she had to start working on finishing the encryption on the files. Something she wans't exactly looking forward to do, seeing how it would roughly take at least a few hours. After a few short minutes she made her way back to the old and rather shabby apartments, and ducked down the hallway and easily into her apartment number, 3-A. Her apartment was on the third floor, and the first apartment on the floor. It wasn't exactly large by any means, but it wasn't entirely small either. A total of four rooms, which were bedroom, living room, kitchen, and extra room, excluding the bathroom which was considered just an extra room according to the landlord.

She unlocked the door and quickly bolt locked it behind her, ripping off her mask and tossing it to the side and onto the couch as she exhaled sharply. "Mo, Lily? Where are ya lazy fucks?" she called out. Not long after, the sound of soft skittering across the hardwood floors were heard as two small furballs ran to her, immediately clawing at her legs. She smiled and crouched down as she quickly pet both of the ferrets and made her way to her room, the rodents quickly following suit behind her. She tossed her uniform into the corner after getting changed into something much more comfortable. Exiting her room she sent Dhani one more message and tossed her phone onto the couch before she made her way into her kitchen, looking for anything to eat before she got ready for the night. Kieran grabbed one of the bottles in the fridge and popped it open with her powers, shooting the bottle cap into the trash as she made her way back to the living room. Kieran yawned softly as she sat down on the couch, Lily quickly clambered onto the couch and made herself comfortable on Kieran's lap, as Mo, the much younger ferret was having trouble getting up onto the couch. She chuckled and scooped up the small furball in her hand and placed him next to her, seeing how he easily nuzzled up next to her. Normally, anyone would else would find the life she had rather lonely and boring, living alone with her two ferrets. But Kieran was rather content with the life she had, even if at times it did get a little, lonesome.

Kieran mindlessly found herself looking through what on the tv, but nothing of real interest showed up. It was only when she was about to finally find something of interest that she heard a faint sound come from down the hallway. Which was where Dhani's apartment was. She shook her head after a moment of looking at the direction of where the main door was, he probably just walked into the door again or something. Shrugging it off she went to pay attention back to Netflix, when she heard something crash onto the floor. Coming from the same place as before. Normally it wouldn't have been much of a bother, but something wasn't sitting right with her about this. Kieran moved Lily off of her lap as she stood up, and began to make her way to the front door of her apartment, slipping in one of her knives into her sweatpants pockets, just in case. What the fuck is this idiot up to?, Kieran thought to herself as she scooped up both of the ferrets, placing Lucy along her neck where she rested happily, and easily stuffing Mo in her pant's pocket, his head just sticking out as he liked to watch as they went on walks in the past.

Kieran slowly exited her apartment, being as quiet as she could. If there was something going wrong in his apartment, she would want to maintain the element of surprise at least. As Kieran closed in on Dhani's apartment, voices could be heard coming from inside. She couldn't tell what was being said, or who was talking, but all she knew was that it was Dhani, and someone else. After a minute, she quickly pushed the door open, and what awaited her was something she wasn't expecting. Red Witch was holding Dhani at fucking knifepoint, of course she was. Kieran shot him a look, one he knew all too well. One which practically said, they'd be talking about this later. "Okay, look. Whatever this idiot did, I can probably guarantee you he deserves it, but c'mon...Be calm, and be reasonable about this. Alright?" Kieran said with a shaky voice, trying her best to act as if she didn't entirely know who this individual was. But apparently she wasn't doing such a good job with it, as the next thing Red Witch said, was confirming that Kieran did, in fact, know who she was. Kieran was going to speak up, but before she could, Red Witch continued, saying how if either one of them made the wrong move, they'd both be killed on the spot. While it was a rather good threat, Kieran knew that Red Witch wouldn't want to purposefully kill someone, nevermind hurt them. If she did in fact not care, why did she save Kieran earlier while they were trying to get the information files? Some things weren't exactly adding up. Shaking her head, Kieran remained silent as she thought about what to do, or say.

Kieran slowly nodded as Red Witch said that if Paladin simply just acted like they didn't see anything, that they'd be let go and without any bloodshed. Playing the part of an unarmed and innocent bystander was something Kieran knew how to do all too well. "I think she has a rather valid point...I don't really wanna die right now, would be a rather disappointing way to end the night, ya know? Especially cuz of your bitch ass." she said with a small smirk, glancing at Dhani. But what she didn't expect, was what happened next. The sound of glass shattering, and the room going dark. "Oh fucking great, did she just-" she exclaimed, not caring if anyone saw, she quickly used her abilities to help stop the glass from making any contact with her or Dhani, as Red Witch escaped through the window and was clearly gone.

With ease, Kieran stopped using her powers which kept the glass suspended in the air, it clattered to the floor the moment she stopped using her powers. Kieran shot him a glare, placing both Lily and Mo on the ground, away from the glass as she told them to return to their apartment, as the door was still open. Slowly, Kieran looked back at Dhani, with a glare he knew all too well. "Are you fucking kidding me, Dhani? What the fuck did you do in those few hours to piss her off, huh? We were just on a mission and-" reality finally hit Kieran. Back on her mission with Red Witch, she handed her the phone, which still had the messages she had been spying on. Fuck, she thought to herself. Quickly regaining composure, if Dhani didn't know, that was fine. All that mattered was that she had a little talk with him. "Dhani, I am going to say this once, and once only. Okay?" She said with a small smirk as she slowly enclosed the space between them, using a flick of her wrist, Dhani was on his feet and held in place. "Do not, and I repeat, do not piss off the woman that could bleed you like a damn animal, okay? Especially if I have to come save your ass? It may be hot sometimes what she can do, but that is beside the point. Next time you decide to piss off a woman, make sure it isn't anywhere even close to my proximity." She said with a smirk, and released Dhani with another flick of her wrist that sent him up to the ceiling and back down on the floor with a thud as she left his apartment and back to her's. "I got what we were looking for, and more. Just let me get to my work and I'll let you know what I find soon enough. Until then, don't bother me again." with that, Kieran shut the door behind her, leaving Dhani alone.

It was a slow walk back to his apartment; Dhani wasn’t in much of a hurry to get home, he didn’t have anything to do for the rest of the evening besides eat some dinner and sort through his mail. Real exciting stuff, especially after the mission he’d just run. He decided to text his sister on the way home: his date had been fine. Yes, he was cute. No, you can’t have more details. Just because she’d married a boring guy didn’t mean she got to know every detail about his life… Especially when it was a lie. He knew she was just excited, because Dhani couldn’t remember if he’d ever gone on an actual date. He’d used it as an excuse to go fight crime sometimes in high school.

Dhani felt at home before he even made it to the stairwell, and he was glad. He wanted to take a shower, rest, get some sleep. There was going to be a lot of work in the coming weeks, and he wanted to try to be ready for whatever that meant for him.

He considered stopping by Kieran’s to make sure she had something to eat, but he figured she would have already raided his fridge if she didn’t, so it was probably best to just leave her alone. She could get weird about people in her space, so he opted to head to his own apartment and leave her alone. She complained about Dhani being too protective and told him to stay out of her business, and then she complained when he gave her space because she could handle things herself, and he generally didn’t know what she wanted from him. Sometimes it was just better to avoid her.

He didn’t get the vibe that something was wrong until he turned on the lamp by the door. Red Witch was sitting on his kitchen counter, staring right at him.

She scared the shit out of him.

Dhani jumped backwards, knocking over the lamp, which came unplugged and rolled- almost comically- across the floor. Dhani may have been able to find some humor in the situation if he hadn’t been confused and scared. The lightswitch was across the room, which was why Dhani had the lamp by the door, but it still only took a few full strides to reach. Red Witch started talking right away, immediately being condescending. He ignored her question about what to call him, instead he asked, “What are you doing here?” She made a quip about stopping by for coffee, and Dhani rolled his eyes. “I prefer for my guests to use the door.” Then she broke his coffee pot. He sighed, deeply. This was ridiculous, he’d done nothing to deserve this treatment. “Just tell-”

Red Witch interrupted him, and told him why she’d come. It was because of Atticus. Dhani wanted to say there was nothing there, nothing to even be upset about. Then he remembered the promise to text Att that he’d made it home safely, and he knew that wasn’t something you asked a professional acquaintance to do. She threatened him, then, and that didn’t sit well with Dhani. He’d never enjoyed being threatened, and threats really never did much to deter him from something if he was determined to do it. Dhani wanted to ask her exactly what she meant, try to get her to tell him what she knew, and how, because he really wasn’t about to take this lying down.

Then Kieran walked in. She had the worst timing imaginable. Dhani frowned at her when she said he probably deserved whatever was coming. A part of him knew that Kieran was just trying to placate Red Witch, but that didn’t make it any less upsetting to have your friend say you deserved to have your home broken into and your life threatened after you just spent your time being shot at. Real great way to end his evening. When Red Witch threatened Kieran, he internally cursed her. Honestly, he could handle getting a little roughed up, he’d probably be fine. But Kieran? Even if she would be fine, Dhani wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he felt it was his fault she’d gotten hurt. Thanks to Kieran’s intrusion, he felt compelled to comply with Red Witch’s deal, and she’d known he would. Didn’t stop her from breaking his light and practically throwing a chair at him, though, which was both rude and unnecessary.

Kieran kept the glass from shattering on the two of them, which Dhani appreciated, even if it wasn’t fully necessary; he would have been fine. Then Kieran turned and started to berate him. Excuse me? He felt defensive right off the bat, “I didn’t do anything! She broke in here unprovoked and-” He stopped when Kieran said his name, being held in place with her powers wasn’t needed to get his attention, but she did it anyway. He listened to her words, and he felt heat rising across his face. Really? She was so focused on how this was his fault? Red Witch had broken into his apartment, threatened him, and Kieran was upset that she’d had to come “save” him? He would have been fine on his own.

When Kieran used her powers to fling him up to the ceiling, and then back to the floor, it just seemed to rub some salt into the wound. Dhani got the point: he was in this on his own. He stood up slowly as Kieran talked about her mission, all the amazing information she’d uncovered. My mission went terribly, he thought to himself, we found your file, though.Thanks for asking, you’re such a great friend. When Kieran left, he set his lamp back up, and plugged it in, mumbling, “I didn’t ask for your help.” When the light turned on, he looked around the apartment. He had some cleaning to do.

He just wanted to go to sleep.

Cerys and Aaron’s mission, unsurprisingly, turned out to be a total bust. The guy stopped only to buy flowers, before heading home to his very normal house. But Cerys did, at least, get twenty bucks, a round of drinks, and a few stories about Malfyre out of Aaron for her troubles. She told Aaron the truth, that she was curious about this mysterious figure who was neither hero nor villain, but still seemed to side with the heroes from time to time. She respected that he couldn’t say that much. He needed to protect their identity, and honestly, she would have hoped that he’d do the same if Malfyre started asking about her.

News eventually filtered through that a number of suspects were going to be attending a masquerade ball in the city in a few week’s time. It was a private affair, but Malfyre had managed to get them all on the list. Under pseudonyms, of course. Cerys honestly thought that Persephone Rothschild was far from the worst, especially because it was believable. Some of the others, Malfyre had clearly had fun with their names and had toed the line of believability. But the ball presented one major issue for her. She couldn’t use her bow. She couldn’t conceivably smuggle in any weapons, which meant she’d have to improvise if she came down to it. But her siblings had trained her plenty in hand-to-hand, and she’d been paired up with Gemini. She knew it was probably only a matter of time before she ended up getting stuck with Red Witch, but she just prayed that day never came.

She’d agreed to meet Gemini in there, but couldn’t see them when she arrived. Apparently, they were coming as their male form, but she couldn’t see either of them. So she stuck to the crowds, searching for a semi-familiar face as she took a glass of the free champagne. It was more for appearance than anything else, she didn’t want to cloud her senses. She fished her phone out of her clutch and texted Aaron.

To: Aaron
you here yet? come quick before all the free champagne is gone :P

She felt someone barrel into her, almost knocking off her feet. Her balance was off in the heels, so it took her a millisecond longer than usual to recover. But there was strong hands grasping her as she recovered. She didn’t recognize this man. He was too short and the wrong build to be anyone she was working with, and so she flashed them a charming smile.

“Are you alright there, miss?” He asked as he released her.
“Yes, thank you. Just was distracted there for a moment,” she said with a light laugh.
“Easy to do. These receptions are always so busy, these things happen. Are you enjoying yourself?” He asked.
“Oh, yes, it’s been lovely so far.”
“Did you come all by yourself?” The question seemed out of the blue, and Cerys examined the man for a moment, trying to figure out his intentions.
“Oh no, my friends are coming too. I just live the nearest so I got here first, they’re going to be here any minute now,” she said, her light tone not giving away the suspicion bubbling in her stomach.
“Maybe I should keep an eye on you until they arrive. Just to make sure you don’t have any more mishaps,” he said, taking a step closer.
“I’m a grown woman, I can handle myself just fine.” Her polite facade was starting to drop. She wasn’t sure if this guy suspected something or if he was just being a creep, but she was starting to think he wouldn’t back down. This wasn’t what she wanted, and she knew it could potentially complicate things later. But punching him would definitely garner unwanted attention, and that would be worse.

When Dhani didn’t text him the night after their mission, Atticus wasn’t quite sure how to process it. He was more worried than he was willing to admit, but didn’t want to dwell on it. But then he got a text the following morning, and it was off his mind. Even though he knew there was nothing normal about their relationship, texting Dhani felt like an oasis of normal in everything else. When his day to day life was too boring, it was something to keep him occupied. When things felt a tad overwhelming, it was something normal, just texting a guy he liked. But with Lucy determined to have everything ironed out for this ball, it was next to impossible to figure out a way to see him in person. Him and Lucy had been entrusted with trying to distract and occupy a number of people while some of the others went snooping around, and it required a significant amount of planning and… well, rehearsal.

Getting ready for the masquerade ball or whatever it was took more effort than Att really wanted to put into it. It needed a new suit and a mask that wasn’t just the same one he wore as Icarus. He wasn’t going as Atticus Hawkins, though. He was going as William Alexander Goldberg-Jameson III, and that required a slightly different look. He didn’t think for a second anyone would recognize him anyway, but he wasn’t taking a chance. So his suit was perhaps a little more out there than usual, and his mask was elaborate. But as he got dressed that evening, making sure to look as polished as possible, he felt like he wasn’t totally looking at himself when he looked in the mirror. He looked like a different version of himself, and that was what he wanted. Into his inside pocket went his knives. He hadn’t gotten another gun yet. He kept putting it off, coming up with different reasons why knives were a better solution all round.

He’d tried to force visions about the ball on a number of different occasions, but every single time, he saw something entirely unrelated. Eventually he gave up, the emotional and physical toll just too much. He didn’t know if knowing or not knowing was better. If he had seen something, would he have even been able to change it?

Atticus and Lucy made their way to the hotel by limo, Lucy insisting that there was no way in hell they were just getting a taxi. They had an image to portray and they were going to stick to it. Att was on edge the whole time, but did enjoy the luxury of the limo and the attention they got as they stepped out was oddly wonderful. Delighted gasps and eyes that scanned them from head to toe and liked what they saw. Whispers about her dress, his suit, their masks. With their masks on, nobody could or would ever recognize them, and there was something thrilling about that. Att had slipped in his earpiece in the taxi, the mic already concealed in his mask.

“Icarus and Red Witch are on site,” he said, moments before they entered the main room together. He could feel eyes turn towards them as they entered, and he smiled. There was a power and a thrill in pretending to be someone else

As soon as everyone agreed they were good to go, Atticus took a deep breath. The band began to play a song, and Atticus nodded at Lucy, taking her hand and leading her to the dance floor. People’s eyes were drawn to them as they stepped out, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see someone slipping away down a corridor. But he couldn’t afford to be watching for the others now. He needed to concentrate on this because if he messed it up for them, Lucy would almost definitely kill him.

Luciana was taking a sip of champagne when she felt Atticus pull on her hand, quickly setting her drink down and walking behind him, heels clicking loudly on the floor as they headed towards the center of the room. As they parted through the crowd, Att held his hand out and Lucy came close to him. “Don’t think about it, just let it flow.” She said in a whisper to him. She didn;t doubt Atticus’ ability to lead this, probably one of the few people she actually trusted in the city, and she knew if he did mess this up, he wouldn’t exactly be sleeping easy.

He took a deep breath as they got into hold, nodding ever so slightly at Lucy’s instruction. They’d practiced enough, he had to trust himself and Lucy. And besides, he told himself, she had to do most of the work.

He’d never been much of a dancer, but this dance was one hell of a way to start. He had no idea how or where Lucy had found it, but it was striking enough to work. As he lifted Lucy into a spin, he could see that almost all eyes were on them, exactly what they’d wanted. Malfyre and Dhani would have big shoes to fill. It also made them stand out enough that Att and Lucy’s targets would surely want to talk to them at some point.

The final move was perhaps the most worrying, as he’d dropped her more than once in the apartment. But he held her strong, and applause burst out through the room. He pulled her back upright with a relieved smile.

Luciana smiled as Atticus took the first step and they began. This is what she was looking forward to for the whole night, could care less about their mission. But the attention of everyone and their eyes on her, giving her the rush of adrenaline she had been craving lately. There could be some worry about her or her partner messing up or skipping a step, but she knew that they wouldn’t, just had a feeling, regardless the number of times Atticus dropped her on her back

As they went through the steps, Luciana was scanning the crowd, keeping an eye out for their targets as well as seeing if any of the heroes were around, and her eyes quickly finding and setting on Paladin, he had a unique look so it wasn’t hard to find him. And the woman next to him in a long and revealing black dress had to be his partner, Malfyre.

When the final step came up, Luciana looked into Att’s eyes and smiled, knowing he wouldn’t drop her this time. And when he leaned her down she just continued smiling as he didn’t drop her on the ground. As Atticus pulled her back up, she locked eyes with Dhani, smirking with the round of applause that came from the crowd.

Lucy heard a question come from a woman in the crowd. As she walked back to her partner. “Oh, he's my fiancé.” She said loudly, running her hand across Atticus’ face and pulling him in for a kiss, knowing the hero was watching.

The comment about him being Lucy’s fiancé was nothing new. They’d agreed that was their cover story from the moment they’d started plotting for this event. But when she pulled him in for a kiss, he had to stop his immediate impulse to pull away. That could give them away. So instead he broke away after the shortest acceptable amount of time, giving her a look. They both knew what it meant, but it wouldn’t be overly harsh to any onlookers. “We’re going to talk about that later,” he said quietly. But now, they needed to target their respective individuals. It was as he turned to scan the crowd in search of his mark that he spotted Dhani. Dhani had to have seen that. But… he had to know it was a distraction tactic, right? He made a mental note to try and talk to Dhani about it later. But they had a job to do first.

xx
After their mission (which, while it was deemed a success, Piper wished it had gone better), there was just the matter of waiting for the next meeting. The information led them all to a masquerade ball; honestly, attending a ball of any kind felt a bit like a childhood dream come true, but this would be a job, and there would be no prince charming to sweep Piper off her feet. Instead, she would be there with BludWynd, and she didn’t know much about him.

They were really just meant to be backup; hold back, look out for trouble, neutralize it (peacefully, if possible) if you see any. It made sense to put Piper in this group, and she didn’t mind taking a more passive role at all. Running for her life and fighting enemies were not her ideas of a nice evening. But Piper had decided that if she was going to a ball, she was going to look stunning. She spent plenty of time “shopping” around for her dress and mask, until she was happy with her choice.

Getting ready for the ball was massively simplified by the fact that she didn’t need to wear much makeup, just a little around her eyes. She’d hidden a communicator in her mask, made sure her ear piece wasn’t too obvious, and she was ready to go.

She gave them her fake name at the door: Clementine Antoinnette Abernathy. It was a bit of a mouthful, but at least she didn’t have to contend with anything particularly ridiculous or obnoxious. She could thank Malfyre for that, at least.

The venue was beautiful, elegantly decorated, the music was lovely. Piper felt a bit of envy bubble up within her. The fact that people lived like this, threw these parties and plotted to kill people like her, all while she’d grown up with barely enough to survive, it made her a little angry. They couldn’t see that they were likely contributing to the conditions that made people with powers turn to crime, or at the very least, they weren’t doing anything to lessen the spread. Perhaps she was just trying to legitimize the things that she’d done, but she really felt like the people in that room (at least, the ones whose names weren’t added to the list by a particularly skilled hacker) were really blind to the real issues of their city. Piper may not have grown up in Barden, but she had grown up close enough.

Piper met up with BludWynd by the edge of the room. It had taken a little work to find a spot where they could keep an eye on most of the area, but when they did, they locked it down. Piper didn’t have a whole lot to say, and most of his attempts at conversation were met with one or two word responses. She wasn’t here to make friends, least of all with a hero, no matter how well he cleaned up. She managed to spot Red Witch through the crowd, there with Icarus. If she didn’t know better, even she could have been fooled by them. They made quite the couple. Piper returned Red Witch’s wave with one of her own, lifting her hand and wiggling her fingers. She would have smiled, but no one could see it, anyway, so she didn’t see the point. Then she crossed her arms and looked around, trying to remember the gist of who and where everyone was. Piper was fairly sure the different groups would be fine on their own, but she couldn’t reasonably relax until she knew everyone had accomplished their goals. Then Red Witch and Icarus started dancing, and Piper couldn’t help but wonder how long they’d practiced that.

She joined in with the applause when they’d finished. That was some distraction. She knew there was another one due any time, and she leaned over to BludWynd, “Malfyre and Paladin are your friends, right?” She kept her voice low, only he would hear her over the music and the chatter. She rested a hand on his arm, fairly sure it would look like flirting to a casual observer, “Do you know what they’re planning? I’d like to keep an eye out for it in case something goes wrong.” It was, perhaps, not the vote of confidence they would want; but between how easy he had been to command, and his track record, Piper wasn’t sure Paladin could reasonably pull any sort of mission without there being horrible consequences.