FLASH AND DIANA LIKED TO GO TO SCHMACKARY'S EVERY SATURDAY TO GET COOKIES AND TALK. THEY HAD STARTED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL YEAR AND NEITHER LIKED TO MISS IT, AT LEAST WHEN THEY HAD A SAY. They would go out after lunch and walk to the bakery, sharing a pair of earbuds, taking turns choosing the music. Flash liked rock while Diana liked alternative pop. They both, however, could agree on the upbeat, dancing music that Flash liked to listen to when he thought no one was paying attention.
"Is this about sex?" she asked, pointing to the earbud chord.
He snorted. "When are they not?"
She laughed and linked their arms, matching her steps with his. Their relationship had gotten better, though it wasn't perfect. He was trying, but he still slipped, still bothered Peter and Ned and others. Ever since Peter started showing up at her window, the bullying was harder to stomach day after day.
As if reading her mind, he spoke up. "I noticed you and Peter have been getting closer. You wanna tell me something?"
She shook her head. "Nothing to tell. Don't use me as an excuse to bother him, please. I'd rather you didn't bother him at all, though."
He sighed, but didn't address that. Instead, he said, "You like him? Not asking romantically, just in general." He opened the door and they stepped into line, moving forward as someone fell in line behind them.
She nodded vehemently. "We all do. Me, Harry, Gwen. We like Peter."
He pursed his lips and nodded. "Okay."
That was the end of that. They waited in line, just listening to the music. It was until they had just finished ordering when they both felt a hand on their shoulder.
Turning around, they found Danny smiling at them. He had been behind them in line. He stepped out smoothly, not breaking eye contact.
"Fancy seeing you here."
"Do you enjoy being an asshole?" Flash snapped, pulling Diana behind him, despite her being taller.
Danny merely raised an eyebrow, held up his hands, and walked out of the shop.
"What was that all about?" Diana asked, watching the boy through the glass window.
Flash shook his head. "I don't know. But I'm worried."
º º º º º
It didn't happen often, but Flash was right. Danny fought back that Monday.
Flash was off somewhere else and Diana had met with Gwen and Harry who had waited for her outside of her classroom. The three were drawn to the loud commotion and the sound of people screaming.
"Help!"
Diana's blood ran cold. "Peter?"
She raced down the hall, trying to push through the people who were pressing themselves to the side, clearly afraid. She saw Peter being attacked by two larger boys—they weren't from the school—being thrown into lockers, his face bloody.
She ran towards them, trying to stop them, but someone beat her to the punch. Literally.
"Fuck off!" Flash screamed, punching on square in the jaw.
Everyone but the two large boys were surprised. Peter stared up at Flash, his jaw dropped, too shocked to scramble away.
The large boys glanced at each other and shrugged. Flash was then thrown into a locker, one of the boys hovering over him, holding him down and punching.
Flash's scream shocked Diana into action.
Taking off her bag, she pulled her arms back, then swung as hard as she could into one of the boy's faces. He fell back, away from Peter, clutching at his face. She rushed over to the other boy, hitting the back of his head, trying to get him to let go of Flash.
"Diana!"
She turned at the sound of Peter's voice just in time to get thrown back, the side of her head throbbing. She heard Flash shout and the sound of a heavy body being thrown against a locker.
She rose to her feet, still shaken, looking around for more help. She couldn't see Gwen and Harry and assumed they were getting a teacher. She could, however, see the him.
She stared at Danny who was calmly watching with his phone held up, videotaping the whole thing. When he saw her staring, he winked.
Peter shouted and she turned to look at him. He was on the ground, his arm twisted behind his back. She rushed over and threw her entire body at the larger boy, hoping it would be enough to get him off Peter.
She knocked the boy enough for Peter to do the rest and get away. She tried to get away before he grabbed her, looking over at Flash who was getting his face smashed into a locker.
"Please," she heard him beg, "Please, no more, please, I promise I won't–please..."
She hadn't heard him talk like that since Harrison was taken away.
She didn't know what happened. One minute she was standing and thinking, the next the boy was off Flash and flung against the locker and she was breathing heavily and people were shouting. Then she was kicking and her legs were hurting.
"Diana!" a voice called. It wasn't Flash or Peter. It was an adult. "Diana, stop!"
She didn't know when she started crying. But she had an idea of when Flash did and that was all that mattered. The adult and Flash tried to get her to stop, but she just kept kicking. She didn't know what she was doing.
It wasn't until a familiar pair of hands grabbed her arms and practically threw her off that she came to. She stared up at a familiar pair of doe eyes that were searching her face, a familiar voice saying words she couldn't understand.
She just stared up at the eyes and let the hands hold her arms, breathing heavily. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Danny hand the two boys a stack of cash.
He was smiling.
º º º º º
She wasn't so sure when they ended up in the principal's office, but it was enough to jolt her back into her usual state of anxious fear.
"What was that about?" he demanded, glaring at all of them.
All three teens began talking over each other, trying to explain that it wasn't their faults, how they were trying to defend themselves.
"One at a time," the man said, clearly struggling.
"Principal Morita, it wasn't us," Peter argued. Everyone looked at him, surprised that he spoke first. "They jumped in because two guys out of nowhere started to attack me!"
"People keep mentioning these 'two boys' who are they? No one can seem to identify them and they ran off as soon as I arrived." The man crossed his arms, addressing all three of them.
"Ask Danny Glick. He was filming the whole thing and I saw him pay them afterwards." Diana barely registered her mouth moving, her eyes trained on her hands.
"The exchange student?" Principal Morita asked, clearly confused.
"It's a long story and it's a personal family matter, but that guy..." Flash trailed off, his voice shaking. He was still unsteady after the fight. He seemed smaller, more in pain.
Principal Morita didn't look convinced and Diana couldn't blame him. All he had to go off of was the testimony of three teenagers, one he had to pry off a bleeding boy.
"Well, someone has to be punished," he said finally.
Diana and Peter looked at each other instinctively, stomachs dropping.
"It was all me," Flash said quickly, "I was the one that started attacking, they were hurting Peter and he couldn't fight back, he's the victim. Diana jumped in to help the both of us, but the fighting started with me."
Principal Morita didn't look convinced. He kept looking between all three of them, waiting for the other two to speak up. Peter tried to, briefly, but Flash all but flung himself across Diana's lap, clamping his hand over Peter's mouth.
"You don't need to explain yourself," Flash hissed, "They attacked you, it wouldn't be fair for you to be the one to get in trouble, Diana too. It was all. My. Fault."
Peter stared at him for a few seconds before nodding reluctantly.
Flash slowly took his hand away and walked back to his seat, brushing his hand over Diana's, telling her to stay quiet.
"Alright, Mr. Thompson," Principal Morita sighed, "Since you were trying to defend your classmate, I'll let you off easy. Three days detention. Ms. Smith, I want you to see the counselor starting tomorrow. Mr. Parker...stay out of trouble. You can go."
º º º º º
Diana sat at the table with Rosie and Jesse, all three of them clutching their phones nervously. Flash still wasn't home and it was already dark.
"Where is he?" Jesse asked again, tapping her foot.
Diana shook her head, scratching at her neck. She tried to ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach.
Just then, the door unlocked.
They all jumped to their feet, watching as it slowly opened to reveal, Flash.
He looked awful. He was limping and his clothes were covered with blood. He had bruises all over his arms and face and his eyes were red, like he had been crying. He had a cut lip and his knuckles didn't look any better.
He smiled weakly. "Guess who got mugged?"
"By who, are you alright?" Diana demanded, not caring that the questions were stupid.
Flash let her hug him, dropping his head onto her shoulder. "I couldn't get a good look," he said loudly. Then he lowered his voice. "The devil's demons."
Diana bit her lip, trying not to cry. "Flash, I am so sorry."
He shook his head. "You should see them." He sighed and whispered into her shoulder. "I'm not letting them take you away."
She swallowed thickly. "Good."
Then he started to cry.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
( 06.16.17 )
I know this is short, but I had planned this scene from the beginning. This has repercussions and those will be addressed next chapter.
For those who don't know, the title is based off the phrase "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." In this case, the enemy of the enemy is Peter. Flash, Peter, and Diana have an understanding, at least in the terms of them being against Danny and his goons.
Let it be known, Danny's parents don't know what he's doing. He's doing this by himself.
Also, do you guys like the gif I made up in the top? I combined Tony's scene in Shameless and I liked the locker parallels and stuff, so...imagine one of the boys as Mickey from Shameless if you want. Or not, I didn't initially.
That's all I have to say since things will be explained next chapter so...thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!