Cape Crossed

Chapter Twenty-Four

Hannah was by the window again, staring out at the fading afternoon sunlight. She'd been doing that on and off all week. More than once Jake had seen her perk up when she heard sirens or when the warning bar flashed at the bottom of their television screen. Looking back, he realized she'd always done it, but he'd always thought it was some nurse instinct to run and help. It was either that or she was just nosier than he'd assumed.

The sirens were zipping by in high numbers that night, something to do with a bank robbery downtown. Jake watched her fidget out of the corner of his eye and bit his lip to conceal a nervous chuckle. "You ok, babe?"

The ponytail she'd coaxed her red curls into bounced as she jerked her head to face him. "Yeah, just...sirens and stuff," she mumbled quickly. "I worry more when they don't start calling us in."

"Oh?" Jake turned to lean against the back of the couch, his knee brushing against hers.

"Less survivors to work on." She grimaced and checked her phone again. It hadn't lit up at all the last two days aside from when Claudia had texted her.

"Do you want to go in and check anyway?" Jake folded up his newspaper to drape it over the coffee table.

"No, that would be weird. Wouldn't it?" she asked.

"Hannah, if it would make you feel better there's no harm in checking," he assured her, taking her hand to rub his thumb over the back. "Go get your coat."

The smile that spread across her face made his gut twist. It had to be done, whatever guilt he had would fade eventually. At least, he hoped they would. Ensuring her safety would help with that as long as he didn't lose her in the process.

While she grabbed her jacket, Jake pulled a thumbnail sized chip from his pocket. To anyone else it would look like a chipped bit of plastic from anything out in the world. He tucked it between two fingers and shuffled to the door slowly. "Hey, Hannah?"

"Yeah?" Her head poked through the top of her sweater, baby hairs clinging to her cheeks from the static.

That time he couldn't hide his amusement and snorted as he laughed. "You're a mess," he teased. While she rolled her eyes, he worked on fixing her hair back into place. "Do... do you ever treat supers at the hospital?"

Hannah froze, one arm still only halfway through its sleeve. "No, they have their own medical team down at their headquarters," she replied evenly.

"How do you know one hasn't come in though?"

"I think I would have noticed a super in my hospital. Those primary colors really stand out, Jake," she joked.

"Silver Shield doesn't have any flashy colors, I bet she could sneak her way in, to someone she trusted and sneak back out with some help," he mused.

Hannah grabbed her jacket and stepped back from him. "What are you asking me?"

"If you knew who one of them was, would you tell me?"

"I don't know, but it doesn't matter because I don't know," she jammed her arms into the sleeves and grabbed her keys.

"You don't know if you'd tell me? So, you'd be ok keeping this huge secret from me?" Sweat trickled down the back of his neck and he had to jam his hands into his pockets to hide their shaking.

"You say that like you think I'm hiding something," Hannah snapped. "What's going on?"

The words hung on the tip of his tongue, gnashing against his teeth and begging to be free. He let out a long slow breath between his teeth and shook his head. "Nothing, sorry."