this is nobell in case you didn't see on tumblr, and there will be a part two eventually
Nova stumbled into Renegade HQ the morning after the attack. It was a mess, shattered glass and broken concrete littering the floor.
Nova hadn't expected to come back to Headquarters after stealing the helmet. She thought she would run. She thought it would be over. Her secret would be out. Yet, in a way, it already was. She was sure Danna knew, and Max surely did too.
Danna.
She had never meant to get attached to any Renegade, especially not Danna. She carried herself with a certain air that drew your gaze to her no matter what else was happening.
As far as Nova knew, Danna hadn't escaped yet, but she knew it was only a matter of time. Danna was smart, resourceful, and ambitious, and Nova knew she hated being trapped.
There was a group of Renegades gathered around the council, who were explaining the goings on of the night before. Frostbite and the rest of her team was there too, but instead of their usual Renegade uniforms, they were wearing healer-issued pants and tank-tops. Raymond Stern watched her as she approached the group, eyes narrowed. Nova walked with a slight limp after all she had been through the night before, from getting stung by Stingray's tail to being frozen in place to sprinting as fast as she could away from HQ, and the Sentinel. Stingray's gaze wandered from Nova's leg to her face, and his eyes widened in recognition. Turning to Genissa, he whispered in her ear and her eyes snapped to Nova. They whispered frantically back and forth between the whole team before approaching the council. Nova watched as in turn, each member of the group eyed her suspiciously, and as she turned to go, Genissa Clark began to shout.
"Renegades! I have some news for you." Nova froze, unable to move. Her legs were rooted to the floor in horror. She had known this moment would come, but she'd always assumed it would be in battle when she was with the Anarchists and not completely alone. Now, she was all by herself surrounded by all of her worst enemies, most of whom were more powerful than Nova. But Nova had something they didn't. She was desperate and resourceful. She would do anything that she could to bring the Renegades down for what they did to her.
"We've discovered Nightmare's identity. We never expected her to be hiding among us, but here we are." The entire lobby quieted, except for the hushed whispers and accusations being hurled among the Renegades.
"Quiet! As I was saying, Nightmare has been hiding among us, attempting to bring us down from the inside. What do you have to say for yourself, Insomnia?" Genissa pointed an accusatory finger at Nova, and she shrank back at the yells that immediately followed the accusation.
"I thought we were friends!"
"How could you?"
"Why?" The last word hurt Nova the most. It had come from Captain Chromium. He was staring at her with so much pain in his eyes that Nova felt her heart sting, just a little bit. Nova was backed into a corner by the advancing prodigies, but the captain held them back to give her a little space. To let her explain herself.
"My father was a prodigy. He could make the most wonderful things. He made Ace Anarchy's helmet, he made my bracelet. The Age of Anarchy was hard on everybody, even Ace's relatives. We struggled to survive. When the Roaches came to my father for weapons, he had no choice but to do what they asked. They would have killed us all. My father never wanted to make weapons, he just wanted to live and be happy, so he went to the Renegades. He went to Captain Chromium, and he was promised protection, if only he would stop making weapons. And so he did. He refused to fulfill the Roaches' demands in return for protection. And when they came for us, when they shot my parents right in front of me, I ran and hid in my closet, whispering that the Renegades would come. Too late I remembered my baby sister. She woke up and started to cry, and he shot her too. When he came for me, I put him to sleep before he could kill me too. I stayed in that closet for hours, whispering that the Renegades would come, like they promised. But they never did. Not even 2, 3 hours later when my uncle came bringing supplies for us. They never came, but Ace Anarchy did. He saved me, killed the man before he could wake up. He was there for me when no one else was, when the Renegades lied. They've been lying from the beginning. They don't save everybody. The liars and thieves, the people who may not have been perfect saints, but are still people? Who saves them?" Nova, breathing heavily, glared at the Captain as he stared at her incredulously. He glanced quickly at the rest of the council, each of whom gave him a quick nod.
"No matter. It's in the past. We can't bring back ghosts, no matter how much they haunt us." He turned to the guards that had come to investigate the noise. "Arrest her and put her in one of the holding cells until her trial." The guards moved towards Nova, and she shrank back into the corner, trapped.
"Why don't we just neutralize her now?" Frostbite's shrill voice rose above the rest. "I want to give her a taste of her own medicine." She smirked as Trevor Dunn and Mac Baxter walked up behind her. "You did say that all members of the Anarchists were to be neutralized on sight."
The Captain contemplated Frostbite's words, before turning to Thunderbird, who handed him one of the dart guns containing Agent N. He raised the gun and pointed it at her. "Wait!" Everyone turned to Ruby, who pointed at the giant swarm of monarch butterflies swirling towards Nova.
Danna materialized right in front of her, arms stretched out. "Wait! Hear her out. You haven't heard the whole story, and I have more to say." She turned to Nova, hesitating, before continuing, "The Anarchists have been manipulating Nova her whole life. I've seen it firsthand. They use her hatred of the Renegades for their own plans. Nova may not be completely innocent, but she's a victim too. Just think of all the good she's done as a Renegade. It may have been a ruse, but she still saved lives. Remember the library? She went back into the burning building for one kid. She ran into the quarantine, not knowing what she faced to help Max.
"She. Is. A. Villain," Frostbite countered, glaring at Danna.
Danna glanced back at Nova, who was still frozen against the wall. It was all too much. Danna reached out and grabbed her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Don't worry," she whispered. "I'll get you out. Get ready to run." Nova nodded and stepped away from the wall. Danna burst into butterflies and whirled around the Renegades trapping them. They cried out in surprise and stepped back, attempting to get to Nova without hurting the butterflies as she sprinted out of Headquarters.
