Chapter 2 part 2
Samuel
Shutting the door as quietly as he could he stumbled over to the couch that both Ellie and Amanda had fallen asleep on.
He lightly shook Amanda, informing her that she could go home or she was welcome to stay the night since it was late.
He made his way back to his room as fast as he could, which wasn't very fast, and sat down on his bed. He stared at the wall as how tired he was hit him all at once.
He put his head in his hands and took an abnormally deep breath. He knew he had to take care of his wound before going to bed, but he wanted to stall as long as possible.
He started dozing off before snapping back into reality at a knock on his bedroom door.
"Yes?" He tried to push the tiredness and pain of out his voice and succeeded just enough for it to not be questioned.
"Sorry to bother you Mr. Reed. I just want to let you know I put Ellie to bed and I'm about to go back to my house."
"Alright, be safe. Thank you"
He would usually remind her to just call him Samuel and go check on his daughter, but he was sure just a few extra words or actions would put him out.
He finally got up and went to be bathroom. He sat on the floor and pulled a first aid kit out of the cabinet below the sink, not bothering being neat about it.
It was far from abnormal for him to come home with injuries so he already had everything he needed right there and knew what he was doing.. mostly.
The tiredness was taking a hard toll on him as he found himself opening small band aids and trying to wrap up his injury before washing it even a little.
After he was done patching himself up, which took longer than he was willing to admit, he finally stood up off the bathroom floor and made his way to bed.
Samuel knew there was lots he needed to think about and take care of, but nothing could keep him from sleep anymore. He didn't even get under any covers or adjust his pillows before he was fast asleep.
The next morning
"Fuck me" Samuel mumbled as he pressed 'stop' on his alarm clock. He sat up and stared at the the wall without a single thought in his head.
After staring at the wall, thoughtless and motionless. A fly landing on his forehead finally snapped him back into reality. He went to slap the fly but inevitably ended up just smacking himself in the forehead.
"Damnit"
Samuel wasn't typically one to curse, but he was on 4 hours of sleep and it was far too early to think of anything else to say.
He glanced over to his alarm clock to see the time displayed was 6:32AM. His heart skipped at least three beats and he jumped up only to fall to the floor remembering the events of the night before.
"Shit!" He looked at the old bandages on his leg that he knew he didn't have time to change.
He worked on a pretty tight schedule. He had to have Ellie at daycare by 7 so he had just enough time to get his morning coffee and head home to shower and get dressed as 'the hero' so he could appear at the police station before 8:30. It took a surprisingly long time to get ready as 'the hero' which made his head hurt just thinking about it.
Of course from there he just helped out with any more difficult cases the police needed to take care of such as shootings, robberies, reported gang violence, and of course any sightings of the villain. Usually he ended up traveling far to take care of these things on the outsides of the city and often even in other cities. However, he would consistently get called for nearby gang violence. And he would also consistently show up just after everyone retreats.
The gangs mostly keep to themselves and don't go out just to cause havoc, but they are awful loud when doing their own thing. This causes many people to call the cops per day, which causes the cops to send the hero on a wild goose chase to catch the people involved.
By the time he shows up there will be one or two witnesses saying the villain was behind it. But nobody else would be around.
The hero doesn't take the gang calls too seriously, but he makes sure he always makes an appearance when a call comes in just in case. The only reason he became 'the hero' in the first place is because the villain shot some people due to some kind of gang drama.
Samuel couldn't sit around while someone with powers like him was out hurting and killing innocent people. One thing led to another, and now for most of the day he isn't even 'Samuel', he's just 'the hero'
Samuel got up off the floor, making a point to not put too much pressure on his already aching leg. He now had 25 minutes to get Ellie to school, and it was a 10 minute walk.
He finally got to Ellie's room and shook her awake.
"Hey baby, we're running a bit behind so get up and brush your hair quickly, okay?" He tried to talk softly as to not stress her out, but also needed her to know she had to hurry.
"Okay.." Ellie mumbled and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
Samuel made his way over to her clothing drawers as Ellie got up and headed to the bathroom to brush her hair and teeth.
"Remember, two full minutes!" He reminded his daughter from the other room.
"I will!" Ellie yelled back, already wide awake.
Samuel put an outfit on Ellie's bed before retreating to his room to get himself ready.
Ellie barged into her fathers room after only 5 minutes.
"Dad! Dad! I can't get this knot out of my hair!" She held up the knot for her dad to see.
"Oh boy.. okay just go get dressed, I'll take care of it later" Samuel said as he anxiously checked the clock which now read 6:46 A.M.
After he was fully ready he walked out of his room and met his daughter who was holding a brush in the living room. Her face was red and she obviously was overly frustrated at the nest in her hair.
"Okay uhm.." Samuel mumbled holding his watch up to his face. 6:53.
He picked a hair tie up off a lamp stand and started pulling at Ellies hair.
"I'm sorry baby we don't have time to get that out. I'll brush it we're both home, I promise"
Ellie made a face and clearly had something to say, but she held her tongue.
Samuel finished her hair, picked her up, and put her in the car in record time.
"We're not going to walk?" Ellie asked from the back seat.
"We don't have time." Samuel said bluntly and pulled out, leaving for the daycare.
When they arrived it was already 7:07. Too late for Samuel to the comfortable with. He pulled Ellie out of the car and carried her into the daycare.
"Hello Mr. Reed, hello Ellie" the lady at the front desk greeted them as they walked in. They knew Samuel and Ellie well as they had been going to this daycare for a long time. However, Samuel was on the last straw. If he were to pick Ellie up late one more time he would be forced to find another daycare. It's not easy to manage being a hero, the hero, and picking you child up before 5.
"Hello, I'm so sorry but I'm running late and I've got to go" He said fast and handed his child off to one of the workers before rushing back to his car.
It wasn't even a full minute before he was back on the road and on the way to the coffee shop. It wasn't until he was back on the road that it occurred to him that he could've just skipped out on coffee and dropped Ellie off a bit later, which would leave enough time to still make it to the station on time.
"Idiot" he said at his own stupidity.
Though it was too late now, and after all that you can bet your ass he was going to get his coffee. Besides, he wasn't a fan of changes in his every day schedule.
The bell on the door rang and Samuel walked in and his eyes went straight to the guy who was always working when he came by. He came to this coffee shop at the same time every day, and so was this worker. Even on Saturdays and Sundays, this guy was always working in the morning. Samuel had grown to like him, but it always felt like he was being given a dirty look by the worker.
When Samuel looked up towards the worker the last thing he expected was a pair of wide eyes staring back at him in shock.
He tried to brush it off and look away but he could feel the man's eyes on him as he approached the counter.
"Good morning" Samuel said awkwardly
He looked up for just a second just to meet eyes with the worker again and look back down at his hands.
"Just the usual please.. under the name Samual." Samual spat out and hobbled as fast as he could to a table.
Usually he didn't even have to say what he wanted because his drink was always being made as soon as the workers saw him walk in. Samual didn't dare glance up again until his name was called and he was forced to approach the worker again.
He planned on just grabbing his drink and leaving as fast as he could, but his body worked against him as after he grabbed his drink he met the workers eyes and opened his mouth.
"Hey uh.. Matias" He read the man's name tag and realized he had never bothered to catch his name in all the mornings he was here.
The man, Matias, took a few deep breaths and his face calmed down a bit. Though there were still traces of shock in his eyes.
"Are you alright? Not to be rude but you look.. I don't know.. on edge?" Samuel spoke as soft as he could and gave Matias a sympathetic look.
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Sorry if the first bit of this chapter is boring or seems irrelevant but I promise this is where everything gets interesting!
Decided to post this chapter early, enjoy!!