Blindside was sitting on a chair now away from Hero and Superhero, surrounded by the rest of the league.
Kronos had taken care of the nosebleed, and was now next to her with his arms crossed. He didn't look it, but blindside knew he was worried.
Pulse raised an eyebrow. “You don't know. Explain.”
“Pulse… give her a minute.” Gravitrix said with a furrowed brow.
Blindside's eyes trailed to Hero. They still had their head down looking at their lap but superhero was leaning down to their level speaking to them. She couldn't hear what they were saying but superhero looked… concerned. Or was it scared?
“Blindside. We need answers.” Pulse said again ignoring Gravitrix.
Blindside took a breath that felt shaky going in to their lungs.
“Their memories are corrupted.” Blindside managed not taking their eyes off Hero.
“So they are mind controlled.” Pulse raised an eyebrow.
“No. No their memories are corrupted. They are actively becoming corrupted. They exist and… then they twist. It's not mind control… at least not the kind I'm familiar with.”
“So what are you saying Blindside?” Pulse took a step forward.
“I'm saying I don't know. But it isn't mind control.”
“That doesn't narrow things down.”
“Human minds aren't cut and dry Pulse.”
“She's right. Can you tell us what happened though? Maybe we can interpret it if you tell us what you saw.” Gravitrix tried gently.
“No. No. I'm not telling you it's against-”
“Your beliefs and moral codes are secondary to the safety of the league.” Pulse interjected.
“The woman says it's not mind control. If it's not mind control and she doesn't know what it is then maybe we fucking look in to a different method.” Kronos stepped in front of blindside. “It's not like this happens every fucking Tuesday that she's stumped on something.”
“It doesn't matter if it never happens. What matters… are outcomes.”
“Pulse I think Kronos is right.” Gravitrix crossed her arms.
“Blindside. What do you suggest?” Pulse looked over again, more open this time.
She was still looking at Hero. Hero hadn't moved. At all. She wasn't even sure they heard anything. She looked at superhero again. She really couldn't fit this puzzle together and she didn't like it.
She looked at Pulse. She had decided.
“We're moving in tonight.” Other Hero's voice left no room for argument.
“What? Do we even have information?” Villain's brows furrowed. Tonight was just supposed to be a regular meeting night.
“We don't need information. We just need to move in and find the hidden room. Vigilante has an idea of where that is.”
Villain quirked an eyebrow and turned their attention towards the personification of an addiction PSA. “And how can we trust this… ‘idea’?”
“I think we should trust this idea considering 1.) tick tock. Time is running out and Hero ain't getting younger in there. And 2.) I'm actually the idiot who's *been* back there. I think my idea is more worth than any ‘legit information’ that's been heavily redacted by the league.”
Villain pursed their lips.
“We don't have time to argue. There's a league meeting tonight. That means Superhero won't be with Hero.”
“I have a bad feeling about this.” Villain chewed their lip.
Other Hero's jaw dropped.
“I'm just saying I have a bad feeling about this.” Villain shrugged.
“Hero has been in the retraining room for more than 16 weeks.” Other Hero stepped towards Villain.
Villain stood up straighter. “I know how long they've been there. I'm just saying we can't burst in there without a damn plan other than ‘I have an idea’. We could get hurt and then who's going to save Hero?”
Other Hero's face was inches from Villain's. Their eyes were hard and breathing heavy. Their voice was low and deep.
“Now are you in. Or are you going to make excuses?”
“I'm not making excuses. I'm just saying if we get hurt the whole rescue goes down the drain.” Villain whispered.
Other Hero's jaw clenched as they leaned back.
“Vigilante. We're leaving.”
“You don't know what goes on in the retraining room. And I didn't either. But now I have an idea and I'm not wasting a second on second thoughts.” Other Hero turned from them increasing the distance.
Villain stayed rooted where they were. They stayed there long after Other Hero and Vigilante left. They didn't even notice when the rain started or soaked in to their socks.
“Was leaving villain behind the best idea?” Vigilante yawned.
“We don't have room for doubt Vigilante. You know.” Other Hero grumbled.
“Guilt ain't gonna make their mind unfucked you know.” Vigilante looked at the map Other Hero had given them before.
“At least they won't be in there for longer just because I was second guessing.” Other Hero's voice was solemn.
Vigilante sighed. “Aight… so I'm assuming I sneak in through here and meet you here?” They pointed at a vent opening on the map.
“Yes. Once you get in I don't think it'll look suspicious especially if you're next to me. Do not even put a finger out of the marked vent area it will trigger an alarm and tear gas in the vent. Ever since the breach Superhero has been cautious and I managed to disable the alarms two hours ago and so far no one has noticed. So… hurry up.”
Other Hero cleared their throat. “Actually maybe… fix your hair?... Wear this. Lose your jacket.” They handed Vigilante a gray janitorial jumpsuit.
Vigilante looked down at their jacket and looked back up. “This jacket is older than your entire hero career.”
Vigilante grumbled as they started removing their jacket roughly. “Fine. I can't believe I offered you gin.”
“Yeah well I earned it.” They handed the jacket to other Hero. “Here. You better not fucking tear it.”
Other Hero looked down at the article which already looked like it had seen better days, and looked at Vigilante. “I'll keep it safe.”
“And don't go through the pockets.”
Other Hero looked at the jacket as if that was the last thing they wanted to do. It probably anyway had parafanalia such as a flask and cigarettes. “No pockets will be investigated.”
“Okay meet me near this vent in half an hour.” Vigilante grumbled as they pulled on the jumper and jumped off the side of the building.
Other Hero was more surprised that they hadn't complained about the outfit they made Vigilante wear.
Other Hero waited near the vent. They had left Vigilante's jacket right next to where they keep their protein bars.
They leaned on the wall right next to the vent. No one had pulled the trigger on the vent alarms yet and that's the only thing keeping them sane so far. Vigilante should be here in ten minutes.
They still couldn't get over it.
Hero has been right under their nose going through God knows what while they had spent half of that time trying to write them up as a traitor. It doesn't matter that they didn't know. They should've known better. Hero was their closest friend. The moment they disappeared they shouldn't have believed Superhero's cover story.
They shouldn't have taken it at face value. In the end it's Hero paying for Other Hero’s lack of effort to finding out the truth. They clenched their jaw so hard that their teeth started grinding.
Their neck snapped up at the voice.
This is the worst time for them to show up.
“I've been wanting to speak to you for some time. Is this a good time?” Superhero asked.
“No. No it's not a good time. Sorry. How about in an hour.”
“You're literally just standing there.”
Other Hero stared at them. They were right.
Other Hero cleared their throat. “You know what, yeah. Yeah sure. Let's… let's talk. What did you want to talk about?”
Superhero stared at them and took a breath. “There's no easy way to go about this. But listen. I know Hero running away has been really hard on you. I know you two were close.” Superhero nods their eyebrows softening.
Other Hero didn't like that look on superhero's face at all. It looked like it didn't belong. They had to respond.
“I-I mean… yeah. Like…” Other Hero cleared their throat. “I mean they were my closest friend. I… I didn't…. They didn't even tell me about villain or anything. I just… when I saw that file…” Other Hero looked away. It was a half truth. They knew Hero and Villain were dating because Hero told them on the day they disappeared. But when they saw Hero's file at Supervillain's base their brain decided to trust a stack of papers instead of the person they've known for years.
“I just… if I knew I would've talked some sense in to them or something. I guess maybe that's why they didn't tell me in the first place..” other hero looked up to see superhero nodding along with the same look on their face.
Other Hero heard the faint sound of shuffling in the vent and they screamed internally. Curse Vigilante's speed. They were five minutes early.
“It really must be hard for you. And you've been doing such a good job. I mean you stepped up. You picked up after their work, you trained the new addition to the team and all the while you've just been so professional about it.”
Other Hero nodded as they shifted a few inches to their left so they covered the vent.
“Thank you Superhero… I mean yeah I guess I had to. I mean who else would?” Other Hero prayed that Vigilante would see their boots in front of the vent and decide not to be stupid.
Superhero sighed, their face turning solumn. “I never told Hero or the rest of the team this, the league knew but that's all. I'm telling you this because I trust you'll be responsible with this information.”
Other Hero quirked their eyebrow. Were they about to tell them the truth? Were they going to tell them that hero didn't run away? “What is it Superhero?”
Superhero's eyes sharpened. “I always saw Hero as my apprentice. I saw them as the person who would take the reigns after me. That can't happen now. And after his betrayal I saw you stepping out of their shadow. I now know that they should've never been my pick. You should have been.”
Other hero's jaw dropped. Of all the things they were expecting Superhero to say that was not even on the list.
“You don't have to say or do anything special. You don't get special treatment. But I'm just letting you know,” they patted other Hero's shoulder. “I trust you. And I hope you will continue to live up from the shadows.”
Other Hero stared at them.
@i-am-a-radioactive-paperclip
@wordswordswordstheyreallwehave
