★★★★★
"HI." I say to my... Mission? Case? Person I have been trailing for the past 48 hours?
He looks up confused. I don't blame him. He probably thought he was safe in this rundown crap of a diner.
"What?" He asks.
I lean forward slightly.
"Pretend we're talking." I say and give a light fake chuckle.
"We are. What do you want, kid?"
"Well good... Cuz you never know who's listening." I reply ignoring the last part.
I pray silently he ignores the fact that I AM ACTUALLY a kid.
"I don't even know who is talking." He informs me.
I give him a small smile and glance around making sure know one is listening.
"Skye. That's who. And you're the 'Hooded Hero'. PLLEAASE tell me you're not staying with that?"
He feigns surprise.
"Look KID, I'm not- I'm a FACTORY worker." My Hero lies. WELL half lies. I did the research. He did work at a factory.
"YAH by day. I've seen you. You're a like for real superhero! Which is- OK I am not like a groupie or stalker or anything... But oh my God! That is so freaking cool!"
I push my superhero fangirl side away, and ATTEMPT to keep calm.
"OK." I say to myself. "Don't draw any attention to yourself."
Mr. Superhero or whatever is just staring at me.
"How old are you?" He asks dumbly.
I wave the question off with a flick of my hand.
"You are in danger." I tell him quietly.
"Look... Kid, you've got the wrong guy!" He says exasperated.
"No. You've got the wrong approach! The cute girl in the hospital is dying to thank you." I smirk at him and wiggle my eyebrows. "The clip of you saving her has got more hits since that puppy with vertigo. And you're HIDING from this , and can't even find a job you like !" I gesture to the job ads on the table.
He sighs.
"What kind of danger?"
"Shield."
"Shield?Like I should carry a shield around?" He asks confused.
"Shield Government.Big scary men in black suits. Go after people like you. They knew about the battle of New York BEFORE it even freaking happened. They cleaned it up before anyone knew what happened, OVERNIGHT, before anyone asked the right questions. How long do you think it will take for them to clean you up?"
I can see my 'hero' silently starting to freak out. I don't blame him.
"And-and you want to know why I'm hiding?"
"But what if you didn't hide? What if you got in front of this? Let people see YOU, and what you can do! You're a hero!"
He shakes his head. "I'm just a guy."
"Guys like this have jobs. Get perks..." I shift slightly on my seat and look him in the eye. "I can help. I'm good with computers. Like weirdly awesome. I can help you create a new identity. Or... I dunno, a mask. A new identity. I can protect you."
"Uhmm.. OK." He stutters.
I sigh as he starts to gather his stuff.
I stand up as he does.
"Well you could.. Um, or... You could just stick with the hood."
I yelp as I stumble into him. He lightly pushes me away, not realizing... I just stole his wallet.
He starts to walk away.
"You can't just walk away. With great power comes... A lot of freaky crap you are NOT ready for." I tell him.
I catch up to him. I slip his ID out of his wallet and stick it in my pocket.
"Now look my office..."
"You have a office?" He asks astonished.
I bump him playfully, slipping his wallet back.
"Well yah. It's mobile, OK it's a van. So it's my home base." I ramble. "But it's in the alley around the corner. Free wifi 24/7... Stop by anytime."
A familiar look of pity crosses his face.
"Thank you." He walks away.
"Bye! Remember they're coming for you..." I look at the ID "Mike."
★★★★★
I go back to my van and searched Mike's name and scanned what came up. With all of his information on his ID, it will be easier to find information on him. Especially things I can blackmail him with, if needed. Hopefully not needed though. Nothing to interesting. Then I saw something.
"Ace." I mutter. "His son."
Of COURSE. He WILL come to me now. Only a matter of time. To protect his son.
I could send the information I know so far in, or I could wait for my new friend Mike to come and then hit the pot of gold.
★★★★
Rising Tide has requested for me to do a mini anonymous podcast. And of course I'm doing it.
I hook my mic and test it.
I clear my throat and start to talk.
It's mostly prewritten. I think it's pretty dull. But hey I'm getting paid. And a lot of it is information that I think should be put out into the world.
★★★★★
I glance at the rest of the script.
"How will you come at us? From the air? From the ground? How will you silence us this time?"
Blah blah blah blah. Ok I'm hungry now.
"You cannot find us! You will never stop Rising Tide. You will NEVER see our faces!"
Ironically a huge bang followed by my van door being violently opened occurs. There stood a stiff younger man... And a smiling middle age dude.
"What up?" I say casually though I could feel the colour drain from my face. Was this Rising Tide? The goverment? Third party I pissed off?
I scream as the younger dude yanks me roughly out. His grip is to tight on my shoulder. A rough black bag is forced over my head.
★★★★★
When the bag is taken off my head I discover I was in a interrogation room of sorts... Also that my hands are cuffed to the table in front of me.
"You guys are making a big mistake." I tell them looking up to the two men growling angrily. This was not good. This was not a good situation for me.
"Funny." Stiff says. "You don't look that big. Or that old...
How old are you?"
"18." I tell them without hesitating.
They do not react.
"Ward be nice." The smiley older one says. He looks at me. "Ward here has had some-ahh background with your group... Rising Tide."
"What? Huh??? Umm well..." Feigning confusion.
"There are two ways we can do this." Ward informs me.
"Oh is one of them the easy way?" I ask smirking.
"No."
"Oh."
"Ward. She's just a kid." Smiley says. "What's your name?" He asks.
I chew my lip.
Should I tell them? I mean I don't have a last name, and I already cleared myself from existence.
"Skye."
Immediately I get "How about your real name?" From Mister stiff.
I sent him a hurt look.
"That can wait. We need a certain hero's name more then we need yours."
"Yahhh how about no?"
★★★★
Edited 4/12/2020