Vigilante sat on the edge of the roof top, their feet swinging free in the open air. It was quiet up here. So far above the streets that what little midnight traffic there was couldn’t breach the oppressive weight of the sky. They missed this peace, the freedom from noise and bustle, just them and the cold night air. Numbing them.
The quiet crunch of feet on gravel announced the arrival of Villain. They didn’t turn to face the approaching enemy. There wasn’t much point. The burning pain in their abdomen spoke to Vilain’s prowess with a knife. And their own weapons were long gone.
“Come to finish the job?” Vigilante asked, still staring out over the city. They had wanted to sound smooth, calm, brave to the end. But all they had managed was a painful rasp of a question.
They looked down then, past the growing red stain on their uniform, down at the street below. It wouldn’t be difficult, they supposed, to escape Villain. If they really wanted to.
The image of the knife came back, thick and long. Serrated near the hilt, stained from not being kept completely clean. Vigilante scooted forward, just half an inch closer to freedom. Then a hand landed on their shoulder, pulling them back away from the edge, back onto the roof.
Sighing, Vigilante let themselves relax into their fate. They stared into the midnight sky, at the full moon, at the figure who was decidedly not Villain kneeling over them.
They blinked. “Who are you?”
“Who am I? Who are you, and what are you doing on my roof?” The stranger said, their voice frantic as they caught sight of the seeping red liquid starting to pool. The stranger didn’t give Vigilante time to answer, instead, they picked them up in a surprisingly gentle embrace and raced for the roof access.
Vigilante stared at the panicked face with some amusement as the stranger set them on a couch, ran off, and returned with a small medical kit. With surprisingly little hesitation the stranger cut away Vigilante’s suit to begin treating the wound.
Then they froze, staring at the vibrant green lines tracing Vigilante's skin. The color was almost iridescent against the already red skin.
"What the hell is that?" the stranger asked, hands hovering over Vigilante's abdomen, less certain how to proceed. "I thought you had just been stabbed."
Vigilante looked at the wound, "more like slashed." They paused, surprised at the visible green streaks, they weren't exactly surprised the blade had been poisoned as well but they hadn't expected it to be so visible. Whatever they had thought they would say next died on their lips, after all, they also had no idea what the green was. Just death, and pain. "You should call the police, wouldn't want people thinking your murdered me." They cut off, throat burning from the pain of forcing out a complete sentence. Definitely not because they had just reminded themselves of their impending death.
The stranger didn't react at first, staring at Vigilante's face in the room's bright light. Then they started cleaning the wound. Ignoring Vigilante's weak struggles. "I think, if I called the police they'd probably arrest you. . . just, don't die on me okay?"
“Lian, if you’re not ready in 5 minutes I’m taking away your weekend patrol privileges.”
Roy’s call down the hallway is followed by an outraged “You can’t do that, that is so unfair!” but also the sound of his daughter finally getting ready for school, so he simply grins into his coffee.
“You’re such a hardass,” Jason says from behind him, sounding amused, and when Roy turns around in his chair his husband is smiling at him from across the kitchen where he is putting the finishing touches on their breakfast.
Honestly, the younger man treats every meal like it has to be an experience in dining and Roy has tried to tell him countless times that less than gourmet is also fine, but his husband is stubborn and set in his ways, so Roy had simply decided to shut up and enjoy the perks of being married to such a talented cook some years ago.
“I’m not a hardass,” Roy huffs, “it’s just that someone has to enforce some rules around here. She’s got you wrapped around her little finger. You’d let her get away with anything.”
Roy makes sure that his tone is teasing because even though Jason has practically been Lian’s father since they got together when she was three and legally since they got married and he adopted her four years ago, Roy knows his husband still sometimes questions whether he and Roy have the same importance in Lian’s life - which is ridiculous of course, but Roy would never do anything to further Jason’s occasional self-doubt.
He doesn’t need to worry it seems because Jason simply rolls his eyes at him, still amused.
“Remind me, who let her stay up so late last night that she barely got out of bed today?”
“Hey, she was just finishing her newest project. Engineering is educational.”
“Yeah, sure,” Jason smirks, coming over to place the food on the table before he bends slightly over Roy, his lips hovering just inches away from his. “Maybe you’re really not that much of a hardass.”
“I’ll show you hardass,” Roy says, gripping Jason’s neck with one hand and pulling him down to meet his lips.
“Ew, you guys are so gross!”
Lian stomps her way into the kitchen, getting into her seat and pointedly putting up one hand next to her face to shield her from them.
“How am I supposed to eat with you two sucking face right next to me? That’s fucking disgusting.”
Roy and Jason share an exasperated look as Jason stands up fully and moves to his seat across the table. God, their little girl is turning into a teenager so fast, even though Roy could swear it has only been a few days since she was a toddler.
“Language,” Roy admonishes lightly, earning himself a scoff and an annoyed look from her.
So my fiancé thought he would just take advantage of the poison weakness. Little did he know, his actions would set forth a chain reaction, creating our game nemesis.
Hero strolled into the diner, ignoring the stares their uniform drew. He was their hero after all, why shouldn’t they stare?
“Just two today?” The hostess asked, smiling brightly at them, she wasn’t reacting to the super-hero standing before her. But that wasn’t surprising, hero had been coming here for weeks.
“Yes.” He smiled at her, ignoring his quiet companion.
“Right this way!” She led them to a quiet booth in the back, far away from the smattering of customers that had slowly returned to their chatter.
“Your server will be right with you!” Hero nodded his thanks and slid into the booth, his companion sitting opposite him.
“This place has the best fries.” He said nonchalantly, examining the quiet sidekick. “Come on, smile. It’s not that bad.”
A hesitant grin followed his words, but hero knew that it wasn’t sincere in the least. He sighed, “listen, sidekick, I know that it was a shock to find out. But, it doesn’t change anything. We are still the good-guys.”
The smile faded and hero rolled his eyes.
“Think of it this way,” he continued, only to break off as their server appeared.
“Hello, would you two like anything to drink?” their voice was calm, smooth, neutral with no false excitement. Hero glanced up, he had been served by this one a few times before. They were always efficient without effusive manner the others had. Hero disliked them.
“Coffee, black.” he said.
“Could I get a water?” asked the sidekick.
“Of course, I’ll be right back.”
Hero rolled his eyes, “anyway - think of it like this. We have always been told that villains aren’t necessarily bad people right? They just are in bad circumstances.”
At that sidekick nodded, they had always appreciated the idea that villains were a victim of circumstance. They always hoped for the best in people.
“Okay, good. Let’s extend that logic. I am not a perfect person. But that doesn’t prevent me from helping others, right? Who cares why I do it, as long as I do it?” Hero glanced around as he spoke, checking to make sure no-one was in hearing range. He just needed sidekick’s trust for a little longer. Then he could protect his image.
Sidekick’s lower lip quivered slightly, hero watched them try to convince themselves that it was true. The pair sat in silence for a few moments before the server returned with their drinks.
She didn’t say anything this time, just put the ice water in front of sidekick with a lemon wedge over the side then a small cup of coffee in front of hero.
Hero immediately knocked it back, he didn’t need to worry about being burned. Unfortunately it was horribly bitter, far worse than a normal cup of black coffee.
“What is this!” He said, glaring at the server. He wanted to yell but customer’s didn’t need to see their precious hero scream at a server. “Don’t you know how to make a proper cup of coffee?”
His head was pounding as he glared at the server, who irritatingly seemed completely unperturbed. Just a college student in a diner being yelled at by the city’s hero.
Hero’s thoughts seemed to slow, that didn’t make sense. Why weren’t they reacting? He glared up into the cool grey eyes staring back at him.
“Sidekick,” he said, voice rasping through his constricting throat, “arrest her, and call for medical.”
“Hero was going to kill you. Later tonight.” The server said, never shifting her gaze from hero’s
“What?!” Hero and sidekick said simultaneously.
“You see,” the server said, “My name is Vigilante, and well, without a fancy hero stipend I had to pay the bills somehow. By the way, I don’t suppose you’ll let me work my two weeks notice out before ratting out my cover? The diner is a little under-staffed.”
Sidekick’s eyes widened, Vigilante was somewhere between the world of heroes and villains and they had heard of this one. They killed domestic abusers, walking the streets and listening in on minds to find them.
They looked back at hero, who was now very pale and leaning heavily on the tabletop.
“You found something out about him, something that would tarnish his perfect reputation. And he couldn’t risk that getting out.” Vigilante continued. Ignoring the hero as he started to slump, tiny convulsions periodically appeared. Froth on his lips.
“Sidekick,” Hero choked out as his airways constricted, “help.” But sidekick didn’t move, sitting in shock while their hero slowly suffocated.
when i was younger theres a big fucking purple thing in tge way when i was younger i had a blong on tumblr and posted something like (in 2017 2@# when i posted this) sorry the fucking purple things back i posyed something like “im a girl but in a boy way…. but im also a boy in a girl way!” and got so mad that no one interacted with tge bost that i boiled snoopy (the dong from penuts)
"Hold still," Civilian said through clenched teeth and squinted eyes, "don't die on me, and hold still." They shifted slightly, bracing one hand against Vigilante's chest as they worked to clean Vigilante's gashed torso.
Vigilante squeezed their eyes shut, jaw tightening as they tried to force themselves to not move while Civilian wiped the sweat and blood clean. They wanted to push them away, to stop the gentle pulling of torn skin and the building pain. But they couldn't, the blood loss and poison had weakened them enough this civilian could hold them down one-handed. And they shouldn't, they knew they shouldn't. The wound needed to be cleaned if they were to have even a hope of surviving.
Civilian reached for a small bottle of something and flicked it open, releasing the pungent smell of alcohol into the air. Vigilante's eyes flew open as Civilian upended the bottle over their wound. It turned out they had another option, better than pushing Civilian away, and better than remaining still. They sank into darkness as the rubbing alcohol splashed across their raw skin, a fiery wave of pain overwhelming them.
