Arch Frenemies

Part 58: A Matter Of Trust

The pod was filled with the most awkward silence during the return trip. 

Toxic and Galaxy Girl sat as far away from each other as possible. 
Her mind raced, she was too concerned with other things to be worrying about her claustrophobia. 
In fact; the small space was the furthest thought on her mind. 
You could practically taste the awkwardness in the air. 

The Hero and her Villain too were embarrassed to make eye contact with each other, filling the small space with a tension that could be cut with a knife, or a diamond-cutting laser to be more precise. 

The Shapeshifter sat on the dash, his miniaturized arms crossed and though he was tiny, his smirk was humongous. He just watched them, apparently enjoying every second of the weirdness. 

Every so often, Informal would just randomly burst out laughing, making the situation even more awkward, and creating a vicious cycle. 
Galaxy Girl felt as though it was the longest 5 minutes of her life. Finally, she landed the pod just on the outskirts of Paris.
Let him walk. 
Galaxy Girl thought bitterly.

Informal shifted back to normal height as he hopped out of the pod; hitting the ground in his normal, annoying, and complete full size. 
Propping his elbow onto the hatch, he leaned back in. Galaxy braced herself for some petrifying and inappropriate remark. 

"All jokes aside, thank you both for this stupéfiant experience. You have made me a very happy man." He said softly. 
"Don't worry Cherri, Mon ami..." He nods to each of them. 
"Not a being on this earth, save us will know of what conspired today." 
"What about off the planet?" Toxic raised an eyebrow at the Frenchman's wording choice.
"Oh, he is good."
Informal shoots her a smile. 

"Anywhere in the universe Mon ami." 
He turns as if to leave but then slowly rotates back as if forgetting something. 
"As for what's going on between vous deux..." He motions between them. 
"Do not punish yourselves for it. For what you are feeling. Matters of the heart are out of the brain's control."
He looked directly at Toxic after that last line. 
"Jeune amour..." His brows knit, searching for the English translation. 
"Young love...” 
He translates for them. 
"It is crazy and often unfair. You are both still teenagers, at ages where you are almost légalement requis to be crazy!" 

"Legally required...” 
Toxic translates to Galaxy Girl in a whisper, it was the first thing he'd said to her since the... incident. 
"But remember... Don't do anything I wouldn't do." 
He wags his finger before a knowing smile crept up onto his tanned face. 
"Who am I kidding?" He laughs. "There's not a lot I wouldn't do. Go crazy!" 
He winked, steps back and grabs the hatch.
"Au revoir." 

Galaxy Girl quickly took off, desperate to put as much distance between them and that French chatterbox. With him gone, even more tension filled the enclosed small space. She bit her lip, setting course for London; praying he wouldn't say anything. The hero felt she would just die of embarrassment if he did. Thankfully, it was silent the entire trip. Finally she worked up the nerve to glance over at him, and sees the reason he had remained so quiet. Toxic was too concerned with not looking down at the earth below. His head was pressed back against the backboard, eyes closed and he was squeezing the armrest so tightly his already pale knuckles had turned even whiter. 

"Just breathe..."  
She consoled softly. 
"We're almost there." 

The hero spotted 'Toxic Airways' in the distance; the private jet that was once marked 'StockmanCorp Inc.' but now had the royal crest of Vanuatu emblazoned onto its shiny white hull. 
The landing gear was just starting to lower, and she could see the faint lights of the airport on the ground below. 
Using the satellite imaging on her screen, she pulled up a visual of their assigned landing area. 
Her fears were confirmed. Since the break-in at the hotel they had tripled the already tight security. Down below, parked by the hanger was their limousine, as well as two unmarked security escort vehicles. Beside the vehicles stood the chauffeur, and what looked like two sets of the British Secret Service. The four agents were dressed to a T in suits that would make the Men-In-Black look like mall security. 

She looked over at Toxic but he was too much in the zone to comprehend what was happening. 
Lots of help he's going to be. 
Galaxy Girl pondered her options, she only had moments to spare before some course of action had to be taken. 
A risky plan came to mind and with it, followed a smirk of heroic proportions. 
She headed in the direction of the plane, lowering her speed until they were right beside it, matching its speed with the pods. The hero reached into her handy utility belt and pulled out her electronic door overrider.
A gift she’d gotten from Technovore on her 9th birthday. 
The treasurer of the Peace League was tired of paying for all the museum and bank vaults the kid hero was destroying; trying to get to a perp. 
Surprisingly, those things often cost more than whatever valuable they might hold inside. 

"Toxic, we have a problem. I'm going to fix it, but you are not going to like how." 
She gave her partner a spit second warning before sliding the hatch back and opening up the pod. The cool wind rushes in, causing her hair to whip her violently in the face, but as somebody who flew everywhere, this didn't even faze her. 

"What on earth?!?" 
Cursed Toxic, jumping a foot up in his seat. 
"Not exactly." 
She called back apologetically, pointing the small remote to the plane’s side hatch. 

"Galaxy Girl, what’s going on?!? What are you doing?" He panicked. She ignored him as she lined the now two open doors up as close as possible, leaving only a 6 inch gap between the plane and the pod. 
"Just trust me!" 
She said as she grabbed the front of the shirt and jumped, yanking him behind her.
They landed safely inside the plane. 
"Go home!" 
She yelled to her pod. At that voice command, it shut the door and peels away, heading directly towards Stark City. 

Galaxy Girl tried to close the plane door as gently as she could, luckily with all the reinforced metal it was made of, her actions  left no dents. 
She turned back to find Toxic leaned against the nearest wall, panting with his head in his hands. 
"Don't. Ever. Do. That. Again" 

______________________

A/N: Yay! Two stories updated in one day. (Go check out Crimson Ice next)
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