Iron Crisis
"Don't you miss it?" I asked, "Being free?"
"Being a villain isn't he same as being free," she answered back, looking me straight in the eye.
"It is for me," I said more to myself than her. My eyes swiveled back up to see her studying me. I smirked, "See something you like?"
She scowled and looked away, trying once again to tug out of her bindings. I smirked. Duct tape works wonders.
"Seriously. Can you untie me?" She huffed out as she dropped her hands back into her lap, "I think I'm losing circulation in my fingers."
I smirked again, "Going soft already? You've only been out of it for a couple months."
"No," she denied quickly, "The only thing that's changed is my perspective."
"Hm," I hummed in response as I studied her in return. Reaching out, I ran a finger along her cheek. It came back white, and I rubbed the makeup between my fingers until it disappeared, "You know," I spoke as I studied my fingers, "You've always made fun of me for wearing a mask. How my identity depended on nothing more than a string," I placed my finger under her chin and lifted it up slightly, "But yours could be revealed with nothing but a bit of water."
She pulled her face away from my fingers and glared at me, "Yeah. Whatever."
I grinned. She knew I was right. Suddenly her eyebrows furrowed, "What time is it?"
I reached up on the counter and checked my phone, "Around 3:00 in the afternoon."
"Shit," she muttered.
I cocked my head to the side, "What? Have I interrupted some plans?"
She just shook her head a little, "No, my roommate will probably be worried about me."
"You have a roommate?" I asked curiously. Every drop of information I could get about her secret identity was a step closer to finding out who she was. I probably wouldn't know her anyway, being as I only know like three people outside of my family, but it didn't hurt to have the facts.
"That's none of your business," she replied as she held her tied hands up and waved them around, "Please?"
I raised an eyebrow, "I see you're getting desperate, resorting to pleasantries and all."
She rolled her eyes but didn't move her hands. Truth be told, I was about to untie her, but I heard something outside in my apartment.
There was a faint knocking, "Hellooo," came an all too familiar voice, "Al? You home?"
"Shit," I muttered under my breath.
H raised a brow, "What's the matter? Have I interrupted some plans?"
I glared at her before standing to my feet. Reaching down I hooked my hands beneath her arms and lifted her to her feet. Then I hugged her to my chest as I lifted her out of the tub and set her on the counter of the sink. Then I reached back and turned the shower on.
I lifted a finger to my lips to tell her to keep quiet as I heard footsteps getting nearer.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door, "Is that my little brother in there?"
I glanced at H, silently praying Daphne didn't reveal anything else about my identity.
"I'm taking a shower. Do you mind giving me a bit of privacy?" I yelled out there.
"No need to be rude," she sassed back, "I just came to tell you something."
I closed my eyes in frustration, "Fine. Just tell me and get the hell out of my apartment. I moved out for a reason, you know."
I heard her sigh a bit, "I just thought it'd convenience you to know that Dad's going on trial. They found more evidence against him."
I rolled my eyes, "Gee thanks, that's so convenient for me to know. You can leave now."
I crossed my fingers behind my back. Please don't say my name. Please don't say my name.
"Well goodbye to you too," she huffed before stalking out of the apartment.
I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. That was too close.
I glanced back at H to see her smirking. I narrowed my eyes at her amused expression.
"You have a sister," she stated happily.
I groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose through my mask, "Don't remind me."
She cocked her head to the side questioningly, "She seemed nice, though."
"She really isn't," I assured her as I reached in to turn off the shower, "She's the same as the others."
Her eyebrows crunched together at this, "But she came to visit you, that must mean something."
"Yeah, well, she probably lost a bet, or something. Not many people come around here willingly."
"I can see that," she mumbled and once again tried to undo her bindings.
I rolled my eyes, "Quit whining."
She did as I said with a dramatic sigh. She fidgeted a bit with a thread poking out of her skinny jeans before looking back up at me with a smirk, "So, your name starts with A-L?"
I'm pretty sure my heart skipped a beat. Shit. She caught that.
I blinked and reached for my crow bar, "Too many questions," I said as I whacked her in the head. She slumped forward and I caught her before she could slide off the sink.
I gently lowered her to the floor and propped her up against the base of the sink.
I stared at her for a moment, thinking how easy it'd be to take her makeup off right here and now. How easy it'd be to know her identity.
But instead of doing that, I reached into my pocket and pulled out her sigil, along with a small tracking device.
It was battery operated, so it would only show me when she was on the move to save charge, but it was better than nothing. I didn't want a repeat of what happened over these past few weeks.
I slid the sigil back on her finger and tore a tiny hole in the lining of her jacket. I slipped in the tracking device and sighed to myself.
She looked so peaceful when she was unconscious.
Sliding my arms under her knees and around her back, I lifted her and carried her bridal style out of the bathroom and out of my apartment.
I brought her to a place where she wouldn't be disturbed until she woke up. It was far enough out of the War Zone to be out of harms way but close enough so that people were wary to hang around.
It was a cute little storefront that had been abandoned a few weeks ago. Most of the stuff had been looted already and the windows were smashed in. I stepped through one of the windows and carried H straight to the back room.
She wouldn't be found here. It was a quaint little office in an abandoned store.
I set her down and propped her up between a wall and a filing cabinet. Then I peeled away the duct tape binding her arms and legs.
I was about to leave her there, but before I did, I knelt down and drew an 'I' in the makeup on her left cheek and a backwards 'C' on the right.
I smirked to myself as I turned and made my way back home.
Today was a good day.
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A/N
Hello everyone. Another chapter up. How are you guys feeling about this story so far? Let us know with a vote and a comment. Up next is Stevie's chapter! Enjoy!
-Megan