Seek {Superhero AU} - Ending 1

8: Icarus, Lead the Way

But he glances down at his hand in mine, watching me trace patterns. He's silent for so long that I think at first that he's not going to answer me. Just as I'm about to ask again, I watch him take a deep breath and then exhale it slowly. Then, he says, "She's my sister."

Oh, that's awful. I let go of Nico's hands so that I can wrap my arms around him in a hug instead. At first, his whole body is rigid—I wouldn't be surprised if he assumed this was some sort of attack. He usually does assume the worst intentions.

But then he melts into it, his head resting on my shoulder. He doesn't hug me back, but even the fact that he's accepting my arms around him is a big step. I doubt he would have let me do this yesterday—I wonder what caused that change. Was it me saving him yesterday? Is he feeling more emotional now that we're so close to his sister?

I don't ask questions. He's smaller than he always seems when he fight. When he's throwing shadows at your face, he seems like an insurmountable threat. But here in the sky, in my arms, he's not a big person. He's definitely shorter than me by at least a couple of inches, and his frame is lean.

I start to slowly descend, and my heart thumps. Puppy commercial, puppy commercial, puppy commercial. I manage to stay afloat.

Some instinct within me tells me I should be protecting him, even though I know that's illogical. With only a few recent exceptions, Nico has always been good at protecting himself. He has evaded police hundreds of times, he's never lost a fight against me, and he's survived Luke for this long.

But maybe he shouldn't have to protect himself. Maybe I want to be there for him.

"I'm going to help you," I murmur. He pushes on my chest, removing himself from my arms. I want to pull him close again and make sure he's alright. I don't want to push his limits though, so I don't do it.

He's raising his eyebrows at me. "Will, you can't. I'm a criminal."

"You're a hero," I correct.

Surprise flashes over his features, but it's gone as quickly as it appeared. Then, something dark and unforgiving drowns it out, and he says, "No. I'm not. And you're going to get arrested if you help me. My story doesn't have a happy ending, Will. The last page is going to be prison. You don't need to end up there with me."

He's starting to slip from our spot in the air again. He takes a deep breath, and I try to help hoist him back up to me by holding onto his arms and pulling. He looks at my hand on his bicep, and he regains the ability to float here with me.

"Why shouldn't you get a happy ending?" I ask. My hand is still on his bicep—I think it's helping him stay afloat somehow, so I don't dare to move it.

"I'm a villain," he says. "The city wants me dead."

"You're a hero." I use his arm as leverage, pulling him closer to me. "I want you alive."

His eyes dart away from my face for a brief moment. Almost bashfully? We are very close to each other right now. Our hearts beat in sync, and I'm not really sure what's happening, but it is getting really fucking difficult to keep that puppy commercial playing on repeat in my head.

Nico glances at the house below again—there's a few cars pulling away from the road in front of its driveway. All the backup that Luke had brought? They must be going out to search for us. They might have left a few people in the house, but we'll be able to fight them now that there's not so many of them.

"Looks like we can go back now," I say, even though I really want to stay up here with him. He's being so much more honest and forthcoming with me up here than he ever has been before. To get him to talk to me, do I just have to carry him into the clouds? Is this the only way we can have easy conversations?