Seek {Superhero AU} - Ending 1

13: Hush!

A/N: Hello! Welcome to another chapter that is filled with just regular everyday normal things and definitely nothing evil! I would never be mean to my characters (:  Have a fun time reading this absolutely, completely peaceful, not-at-all-suspicious chapter!

NPOV

Track: Hush Hush, The Band CAMINO

I told Will to meet me outside the security gate surrounding the headquarters of Underworld Ores. It's late—the sky above us is inky and foreboding. The gates themselves are copper, but they've corroded into a blueish green. Strange. You'd think a company as rich as Underworld Ores would be able to maintain their security gate. I shrug it off as a company oversight.

"Hey," comes Will's hushed voice from behind me. "You ready for this?"

I turn. Will is standing in front of me, but he's wearing a ski mask like what stereotypical bank robbers wear. He left most of his suit home too, except for two fingerless gloves. Instead, he opted for an all-black ensemble reminiscent of a ninja. I give him a questioning look.

"Oh, this," he says. "I'm trying to keep my Sunburst persona separate from this in case the police show up. This is the first time that it'll be really clear that I'm helping you break in somewhere, and I would rather people not realize quite yet that Sunburst is the one helping you. With how close the paparazzi comes some days to discovering my identity, it would put us both in danger if I help you wearing the Sunburst suit." He raises one of his gloved hands and flexes his fingers. "I don't normally wear the fingerless gloves with my Sunburst suit. They're not really my style. Hecate told me any piece of the suit will give me my powers though—so if I wear just the gloves, I'm hoping I can keep my powers for emergencies without making people realize that one of the criminals is Sunburst."

I roll my eyes. Is it really that bad to have the city realize he's working with me? My instinct is to shoot back a sarcastic remark about his loyalty, but I close my mouth. First, I really don't want to hurt his feelings—and second, he's actually kind of right. If this mission goes south, I would rather add another layer of unknowns to the equation in an attempt to throw off investigators. For example, if they catch me but can't quite sort through the layers of secrecy that make up Wil's ninja costume, then Will might still be able to get through this without getting caught. He could continue searching for Hazel in my absence.

"You look like a bank robber," I deadpan instead.

"Thank you!" he says, and he genuinely does sound flattered. "I was trying to get the bank robber look down! I thought it was fitting for the mission."

"We're not robbing anything," I remind him. "We're searching for my sister, and if she's not here, we're searching for clues about where she might be."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But I look pretty cool in this, don't I? I feel cool wearing this." He slings his arm around my shoulders, and I shoot him a glare. "Plus, we match now! Your suit and my bank robber costume! Thieves in the night, partners in crime, a deadly duo!"

"You are the worst," I tell him, fighting a smile. "Now, I need you to listen to me. Once we're in that building, we need to be stealthy—which means no interrogating me about high school bullies, calling me kitten, or whatever the fuck else it is that you like to do to get on my nerves. Complete silence, do you understand me?"

He nods enthusiastically.

"Great. And one more thing: I'm trusting you to lead the way, but if I get the feeling that you're leading me into a trap—"

"I'm on your team!" Will protests.

"—I will not hesitate to knock you out and search the building by myself. Nothing is going to get in the way of me finding my sister, so at even the slightest hint that you're planning to stab me in the back, I will not hesitate to eliminate the threat you pose. Do you understand me?"