Money is not the problem. You have saved enough to move anywhere in the city, hell, anywhere in the state.
What you need is not a cheaper rent or nicer walls.
You need distance.
A reset.
A new vantage point for your... other work.
The kind you keep hidden behind encrypted drives and disguised apps. The leads no agency ever cared to follow, the pieces of a puzzle everyone insists has no picture.
Your thumb hesitates above a listing, but Brickhouse's distant bellow jolts you, "-MOVE, MOVE! He's charging again!"
The roar of the villain tears through your earpiece like an animal in agony, vibrating so hard the headset buzzes against your skull. Someone screams. The crunch of metal follows. Something enormous collides with a wall.
Your stomach twists.
As the heroes fight to restrain this rampaging monster, your mind spirals.
Why are there so many villain attacks lately?
Blonde Blazer and Evan mentioned the same thing earlier this week, villain attacks have increased. Random attacks. No motives. No demands. Just... destruction for the sake of destruction. Random, unconnected villains appearing out of thin air, but all of them are violently aggressive, rampaging for no coherent reason.
Something was wrong.
Something was causing this.
A cold idea crawls up your spine.
What if this surge isn't random?
What if something, or someone, is pushing them out of the shadows?
What if it connects to the night your parents died?
Your pulse spikes.
You make a mental note to check it on your next 'trip', the kind no one at SDN knows you take. The kind where you slip into places you should not be, chasing down dead-end clues the official investigation refused to acknowledge.
The case that vanished from archives with no explanation.
If no one else will uncover the truth, you will.
Even if it kills you.
Your hand tightens into a fist until crescent-shaped marks burn into your palm.
Then-
Your headset screeches so violently, you flinch.
"[Y/N]! Come in! Immediate backup-NOW!" Pom Pom shouts, voice cracking with panic. Behind her, flames roar, hostages scream, something explodes. "We can't contain him, he's tearing through everything! Too many people -bzzzt- send someone!"
You snap back to the present, as if being plunged into cold water.
"Hold on," you say, breath sharp. "I'm on it."
Your fingers fly over the console, switching channels with white-knuckled urgency.
"This is [Y/N] from the Torrance branch of SDN," you announce, forcing your voice steady. "Requesting immediate reinforcement. Any available heroes-please respond."
Silence.
A suffocating one.
The kind that squeezes your lungs and prickles the back of your neck. Every second feels like a countdown. You imagine Brickhouse and the others barely holding the line, civilians huddled behind broken pillars, fire creeping closer-
YOU ARE READING
Send the Dispatch (Dispatch x fem!reader)
Romance"Dude, I think I miss working as the Dispatcher..." It wasn't supposed to be like this. One minute, I was behind a desk, pushing papers. Next, I was thrown into chaos. I used to only read about it in incident reports. Somewhere along the way, I stop...
Chapter 6: Collateral
Start from the beginning
