The pathetic whimper pulled Dexter out of her thoughts.
Her gaze shifted from the rain streaked glass to the man strung up in the center of the room. His face was swollen and bruised. The soft dripping splatter of his blood hitting the hardwood floor grated on her nerves. It was just like the incessant leaky shower faucet in her apartment. Dexter had called the maintenance office three times in the last week to get it fixed and they hadn't gotten back to her. Annoyance wrinkled her brow. Truthfully, she was probably better off watching a video and fixing it herself then relying on anyone else.
Dexter crossed the room and the man strained against the ropes as she reached up and pulled the cellphone from the pocket of his pants. A soft, blubbering sob retched from his throat. She rolled her eyes. These heroes were the same. They seemed larger than life and lived like they were untouchable. But weaken and remind them of their mortality and it was straight to the dramatics.
"P-please..." he rasped between puffy lips. "I don't know anything else."
Dexter rubbed her cheek against her shoulder. This cheap ski mask wasn't going to cut it, too itchy. "Passcode?"
"Oh god, please!" The hard sob shook his body like a fly caught in a spider's web.
She blinked up at him, wishing she felt something more than revulsion. But she didn't. The heroes of Twilight City had taken the one thing that had made Dexter human. They had to pay the price for touching... No, for destroying what had belonged to her. Forgiveness was not something she was capable of.
"Quiet!"
She snapped her fingers and his lips pressed together against his will. He struggled harder but there was no sound beyond the creaking of the ropes. That was better. With a sigh, she pushed up onto her tip toes and pressed his thumb to the screen, unlocking it.
A few quick taps and Dexter had his camera open and ready to record. It was the same with the others. These weak heroes were only a means to an end. They were the flowers that she intended to use to catch a particular bee.
Queen Bee, to be exact. An A-list hero with the ability to control bees, wasps, and their like. And one of the names on Dexter's blacklist.
She was adored by the world for her environmental efforts. But in secret she was one of the biggest distributors of human organs on the black market. She used those funds to pad her lifestyle and keep her revolving harem of men well fed and happy.
What would the citizens of Twilight City think of their great hero when they knew the truth? Dexter smirked to herself at the thought of the chaos. Soon, she would know the feeling of crushing a real hero under her foot. She tapped the record button, panning the camera slowly up the man's body, admiring her work.
"Looks like we've both been busy little bees. Wouldn't you agree, Queenie?"
Dexter flipped the camera to herself, standing with the bloodied and beaten hero as a backdrop. She reached up and playfully slapped his cheek. He trembled and reared back, straining against the ropes.
"So, let's all take a break and play a game." Dexter grabbed hold of the heroes hand. "Two truths and a lie. I'll be nice and let you go first. Ready?"
She slipped her grasp to his pinky. "He loves you."
With a quick twist, she snapped it. The man tossed his head back, screaming against his sealed lips, ropes creaking as he tensed and jerked in pain. She moved to the next finger, gripping it.
"He enjoys that thing you do with your finger in his ass. Kinky."
Dexter stared into the camera, her prey was bucking wildly in her grasp. He was frantic, shaking his head, trying to plead his innocence. She smiled and released his finger.
"He told me how you've bought yourself several seats on the medical boards in the hospitals around Twilight City..."
Then with a snap of her fingers, he jerked his head quickly to the right, too far. The sound of his neck breaking echoed through the room.
"Guess, we'll have to finish our game later, Queenie. Don't worry, I'll get us another flower to play with. See you soon." Dexter winked then ended the recording.
Her mood dipped immediately; left to the hollow loneliness and silence of her reality once more. Dexter took one last look out the window before she walked out of the apartment, skipping the elevator for the stairs. Thankfully, the stairs led to a side exit that emptied out into an alleyway.
The rain quickly soaked the shoulders of her hoodie and mask. Dexter ripped the offending piece of fabric up off her face, tossing it into a nearby dumpster with a huff. Her heavy curls spilled out around her head, sticking to the slickness of her face. She pushed it back, tucking it behind her ear as she reached for her hood.
She caught movement in the streetlamps reflection on the storm drain; a flash of red hair and a pale face. Keeping her pace, Dexter pulled her hood up and dropped her arms to her sides, the sleeves of her hoodie falling over her hands. Out of view she twisted the ring on her index finger, forcing the tiny blade from its hiding place.
Dexter took the corner into the connecting alleyway quickly, twisting around. She used the blade to cut her palm and caught her pursuer with her other hand. A sharp yelp echoed off the brick walls as she slammed her catch into it, hand gripping the collar of a shirt.
Wide green eyes stared back at her, terror stealing any remaining color from the stranger's face. "Please, don't hurt me."
Hot blood ran down Dexter's palm, and dripped from her fingertip. She narrowed her eyes. "You were following. Why?"
"I wasn't trying to attack you or anything. I swear. I didn't know why you were coming here..."
"So, you admit you were following me?"
She stepped in closer to her stalker to intimidate them, only to realize it was a young woman. Probably not much younger than herself. Her red hair was short and shaggy, the wet strands hanging down in her eyes. The paleness of her skin stood out against the rich brown of Dexter's. Though she noted her stalker was covered with copper-colored freckles. Almost like someone took a paint brush to her and kept flicking it until they got bored.
"No. I mean yes I do, but I wasn't going to turn you in or something." Dexter tightened her grip on the woman's shirt and she shivered. "Oh god. W-wait, I can explain everything."
"Do it. Fast."
The woman hiccuped at the command. "My name is Penelope Walker. I work for Twilight Corp. We build most of the support tech for The Mighty Seven. That's how I met Gemini or as you knew her—"
"Sara..."
Dexter felt the air leave her lungs in a quick rush. The hollow spot in her chest yawned at the mention of that name. Her mind recoiled as the last memory of her girlfriend reached out from the darkness. The face that haunted her for the past year and a half.
"Yes, Sara. She asked me to look into some strange activity at the docks a few days before...she died."
Anger surged through Dexter's veins and she crowded Penelope. "She didn't die. She was murdered."
"...R-right. And that's why I was following you. I want to help."
"You want to help?"
Suspicion swirled between the two of them. Dexter was ready to use her power if this woman made any kind of move against her.
"Well, more like I think we can help each other."
A harsh laugh fell from Dexter's lips. The thought that anyone would look to her for help, now, after everything she had done—with everything she planned to do. It was ironic and tragic. She leaned in closer to Penelope, the skittering warmth of her little fearful pants washing over her rain soaked face. It pulled at something in the pit of her stomach. Was it guilt or pleasure? She wasn't sure, and she didn't have the desire to explore that distraction.
"You're barking up the wrong tree."
Penelope shook her head. Her attempt at defiance was a little cute, Dexter admitted to herself. Even though she knew she was terrified. She felt Penelope's slight frame trembling beneath her grasp.
"You have a minute. Prove you can be useful and we'll talk more."
"And if I fail?" Dexter arched her brow at the question and Penelope swallowed. "Forget I asked that. Can I have the phone you're carrying?"
"...How long were you watching me?"
Silence stretched between them, and a light flush washed over Penelope's cheeks. She glanced away before meeting Dexter's gaze. "Again, I didn't know exactly why you came here tonight—"
"But you had an idea what I was up—"
"Only cause I'm a technopath. I wasn't trying to spy on you or anyone, really. This started because of the favor Gemini asked from me...if I had known what she was looking into..."
Dexter tongued her cheek, glaring down at the rambling redhead. Part of her wanted to shut her up but the larger part of her was curious about what Sara was doing in her last moments; what led to them. She released her grip on Penelope and pulled the cellphone from the pocket of her hoodie.
"If you try to call for help. I promise you won't live long enough to regret it."
She nodded her head, eyes wide. Another hiccup. Dexter rolled her eyes and handed the phone over. Penelope only held her gaze for a moment long before she glanced down. With increased curiosity, Dexter watched as the screen lit up, the lock screen completely bypassed without lifting a finger. Apps, messages, and pictures, flashed across the screen in blurring fury. Penelope was blinking her eyes rapidly.
Then the video she had taken in the apartment upstairs popped up on the screen. The audio crackled through the air, replaying what had happened only minutes before. Dexter wasn't watching the video. She didn't need to. The memory of it was fresh and clear; still written on her own tender flesh. No, her gaze was focused on the shivering, rain soaked woman in front of her.
Penelope Walker.
Someone Sara had trusted. Someone who had appeared in front of her at the perfect time; almost like destiny. Not that Dexter believed in such things. But it was definitely a welcomed coincidence. The only problem was Dexter was no longer the woman she used to be. Something colder, crueler wore her skin now.
But if she was useful...
"...You were going to send this to Queen Bee, like the others, right?"
Dexter blinked, pulling herself from her thoughts. "Huh?"
"You were going to use this the same as your other videos, weren't you?"
"Is that a problem?"
Penelope scoffed then seemed to think twice about the action, apologetically glancing up at Dexter between the plastered hair on her forehead. "No, but it's a waste and won't provoke her like you want."
Dexter shifted back a step. "What do you suggest?"
"I could explain or I could show you what I had in mind." There was a spark of mischief in Penelope's green eyes that spoke to something in her.
"Show me."
The screen of the phone began to flicker, strange codes and symbols appearing before it started to smoke, then sparks flew out of the speaker holes and charging port. The glass of the screen cracked before a small flame erupted between the cracks. Dexter slapped the phone out of Penelope's hand and jerked her away from it. She stared down at the broken, sizzling mass.
"What the hell..." the words fell off as Dexter caught Penelope's wide-eyed gaze, realizing she was gripping the woman's shirt tight in her fists.
"Thanks—"
Dexter released her with a bit of a shove. "Whatever. You better hope that you didn't lose that video cause—"
"You'll make me regret it?" Penelope gave her a bit of a smirk as she finished her thought.
She stared back at her without a response. Penelope huffed as if she were annoyed, then snatched Dexter's hand, the bloody one, in hers. A fearless move that left her too surprised to react as the slight woman began dragging her down the alleyway and into a bar on the main street.
"Look, there's your proof," Penelope said, pointing to a TV mounted on the wall behind the bar.
On the screen her video was broadcasting for everyone to see. She took a few steps forward, mind whirling. Dexter glanced down over her shoulder. "You did this?"
"Yes."
"Just here?"
Penelope shook her head, cheeks flushed. "It's broadcasting on every screen across the city."
A thrill of excitement rushed through Dexter. This was it. This was exactly what she had wanted; needed. She tightened her grip on Penelope's hand, a sinister grin spreading across her lips.
"I think we can help each other, after all."