Yin and Yang [A Superhero AU] - Book Three

Chapter Four - Third Time's the Charm

Once Mark has been settled into a hospital bed and given painkillers, Phil checks his vitals one last time and heads out. The late afternoon sun beats down on the streets and causes heatwaves to wobble in the air, and the hero finds himself missing the rainy days back in England. He never thought he would miss the gloom back home, but after months of just sun and heat, he finds himself wanting a good storm.

He lets his feet lead him to anywhere but home, and ten minutes later he finds himself wandering into a book store. The sound of papers flipping and the overall atmosphere is calming compared to the tumultuous events of the morning, leading him to take a deep breath. This is better than being at Curatrix or being at home. At least there are people around.

Phil finds the adventure and fantasy aisles and scans the shelves, searching for one thing in particular. He smiles faintly when he comes across the Harry Potter series and picks up the first book, flipping open to the first page as he sits on the ground. Sometimes, he just needs a little Britain in his life to curb the homesickness. The shelves against his back aren't terribly comfortable, but he doesn't care. There are a lot of things in life more uncomfortable than shelves against his spine.

As he reads through The Philosopher's Stone (or the Sorcerer's Stone... silly Americans) for what feels like the hundredth time in his young life, soft piano music fills the air and his ears. Slowly, he sets his book down on his lap and just listens, letting it wash over him. There's a piano near the attached coffee shop, and anyone who wants to play it can. It isn't often that he actually hears someone playing, but when he does he loves it. He can't name the song that's being played, but it's slow and calming and lovely.

Phil tucks The Philosopher's Stone back into the shelf and stands, moving as quietly as possible to the end of his aisle and peering around the corner. What he sees nearly makes him choke.

There, sitting at the piano and playing the song that's so sweet to Phil's ears is the villain from earlier. He's unmistakable as his slender fingers dance over the keys, his brown eyes focused as the melody travels from his brain to his hands. He seems so lost in his little world, and Phil can't help but watch. What is it about this man in particular that so fascinates him? He doesn't even know his name...

The villain finishes the song and earns some applause from nearby shoppers, and he smiles at them as he pushes the bench back and stands. He steps away from the piano and turns, freezing the instant he lays eyes on Phil. They lock eyes, and the hero suddenly finds it very difficult to move.

The villain moves first, walking towards Phil as casually as possible. The moment he gets close enough, he grabs his wrist and drags him to a far corner of the store where nobody else is. His hand is really warm, Phil's brain supplies, and the hero mentally slaps himself.

"What are you doing here?" the villain demands.

"I needed to get my mind off of earlier," Phil replies. "What are you doing here?"

"I... um... my friend got into a fight and I cleaned him up but then I really needed a break. Distraction. Whatever. That's not important. How do we keep running into each other?"

"I don't know. You tell me!"

The villain exhales and pinches the bridge of his nose for a moment before letting his hand fall. "I'm Daniel, but you can call me Dan. You're Phil, because that's what your teammate called you earlier.  You might as well know that if we're going to keep running into each other."

Phil nods and the two shake hands. "Good to finally meet you formally.  Um, technically I'm supposed to fight you because we work for opposite organizations, but I really don't want to and don't have the energy to do so."

Dan chuckles. "Yeah, I know that feeling."

A smile finds its way onto Phil's face as well. "Your piano playing was beautiful, by the way."

"Oh. Thank you."

"Where'd you learn?"

Dan shrugs and rubs the back of his neck. "I taught myself. I was never allowed a piano, so I played at school during my spares. I usually come around here nowadays to play."

Phil watches him, completely and utterly enthralled for reasons that even he can't explain. Dan glances around the store and nods towards the coffee shop.

"I know this is weird, but wanna get a coffee with me? I haven't talked to another British person in fifteen years and I don't actually care that you're a hero."

Phil smiles. "Sounds good to me."

The hero never expected any of this, but he finds that he doesn't mind at all. The fact that he's so comfortable with Dan is surprising him more than the fact that over the span of a couple of days, they've run into each other three times. The fact that he's buying drinks and sitting at a table with his enemy is mind-boggling. Dan watches him from across the table and sips his drink, his eyes the colour of coffee beans, and Phil can't help but watch back.

"So, when you use your water, it heals people too?" Dan asks.

"Yeah. It makes me pretty useless in fights, which is why I stay back a lot of the time," Phil replies.

"That would also explain why you're not used to fighting."

"Yeah. Your power is a lot more useful than mine."

Dan smiles and shrugs. "I dunno about that. I can burn things, sure, but a healer is arguably the most useful member of a team."

"I guess." Phil takes a sip of his drink. "You said you haven't talked to another British person in fifteen years.  That's crazy."

"Yeah.  It's pretty easy to ignore most of the time, but I think talking to you reminds me of how much I miss home."

Phil has to stop himself from throwing his hands in the air and rejoicing because finally, someone gets it. It's like Dan reached into his mind and spoke his exact thoughts, and he can't help his grin.

"That's exactly how I feel!"

Dan looks down at his drink with a smile and Phil's stomach flips. Why does this stupid villain have to be so pretty? The hero takes a sip of his drink to distract himself and Dan seems to do the same, his eyes focused on the table in front of them.

"How's Mark doing? He was the one that got beaten up, right?" Dan asks after a couple seconds of silence.

"He'll be fine. He'll have some scars, but that's all," Phil replies. "Um, you said your friend got into a fight. What was that about?  How's he doing?"

Dan bites his lip, and after a second he sighs. "Jack felt really bad about hurting Mark, so he dragged me to a bar and fought some American guys. I had to clean up the blood after he got punched in the face.  He'll be fine though."

"That's rough. I can see why you needed a break."

"Yeah."

A buzzing sounds from Dan's pocket and he jumps, pulling out his earpiece. He excuses himself and puts it in his ear, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Okay. Yeah, I'm coming. Sorry, I just... yeah. Sorry," he says, pinching the bridge of his nose. He exhales as he takes the earpiece out and shoves it back in his pocket, looking back to Phil with a sudden exhaustion in his eyes that makes the hero frown. "Um, the villains are going out on a mission, so that probably means you need to go as well."

"Unfortunately."

Dan's lip quirks up into the faintest of smiles and he stands, Phil copying his action. Dan gestures to the door and they head out into the street, the heat still simmering above the pavement. The villain ruffles his hair and looks to Phil before touching his shoulder gently.  The hero looks at him and Dan lets his hand fall. 

"I hope to see you around," the villain says. "If I'm not at the institute, I'm usually here."

"I'll come find you. Home is too lonely a lot of the time."

With that, Dan waves and heads back towards the institute. Phil watches him go, feeling a lot better than he did before.