*Dan's point of view*
He didn't say anything, he just sat there, pinned up and stared. Suddenly, realization hit me and I smiled. "You know me, don't you?" I wanted to laugh. "Who am I to you?" I thought for a minute. "Are you that guy I gave my seat up to on the tube? Or.. or that one mailman that gives me the papers every morning? Or how about-"
"No!" His voice sounded weak, maybe offended, but he was loud and clear. "I'm your husband," He whispered. I frowned and took a step back to gain balance, I suddenly felt extremely dizzy. I repeated his words in my head on focused on one, husband.
"I don't..." I tried to pass off a casual laugh, but it came out a lot more nervous than I intended. I cleared my throat. "I don't have a husband."
"Yes you do. Your name is Daniel James Howell-Lester, you're married to Philip Michael-" I ran forward and pushed my arm to his throat.
"What did you do to him?" I shouted, he let out a staggered breath. "I swear to God, if you touched a hair on his head." I gritted my teeth and pressed harder.
"Dan... it's me," His strained voice was ringing in my ears, and I didn't like it.
"No." I shook my head. "It's not. Who are you and what did you do to Phil?!" I shouted.
"Take.. off.. my mask," He choked out.
"Not until you tell me what you did to Phil!" I punched him in the jaw. I didn't know who this guy was, but he was going to tell me where my husband was.
"I am Phil!" He exclaimed.. or at least tried to with my hand over his neck.
"Phil Lester is a writer.." I narrowed my eyes, tears threatened to fall. I gritted my teeth and ignored them. "My husband... is a writer... plain and simple. He goes to work and comes home... he's definitely not you. So who are you?!" I squeezed my hand around his throat tighter.
"Just-" He heaved for breaths. "Take off my mask.. please," He gasped.
"Why should I-"
"Take off my mask you stubborn ass!" I was actually taken aback for a minute. I almost wanted to laugh, but I remembered why I was so mad in the first place. I figured better now than never though, so I let go of his throat. He gasped for air. "Please."
I sighed and took off his mask. He said it was him, he said that he was Phil Lester, he told me that he was my husband, but I didn't believe him. When I took off that mask and saw his bright blue eyes and his messy black hair, I just about fell down. "No... you can't be..." I felt like my tongue was too big for my mouth. How could this have possibly happened?!
I looked up at the top of his head. His usually perfect quiff was uncharacteristically messy. His eyes had a tired look to them. Their blue wasn't as bright as they were supposed to be. His right cheekbone had a large bruise on it from where I punched him and his throat had red marks around them in the shape of fingers. I held his cheek in my hand and couldn't help the tears that escaped my eyes.
"I'm sorry," I whispered as I ran my thumb over the bruise. "I'm so sorry, I never wanted to hurt you. Ever," I hung my head in shame.
"It's ok," He reassured. "I've been beat up hundreds of times," He joked, but I could tell by his raspy voice he was in pain. "Wanna let me out?" He asked clenching and unclenching his fingers into fists.
"Oh yeah," I almost laughed as I started to unlock his binds, but then I stopped. I looked up into his blue eyes and then walked away. "I can't," I cleared my throat.
"What?" Phil asked from behind.
"Phil.. I... I can't," I sighed.
"Why not?" I could almost hear the confused look on his face. "Dan?" He whispered.
"Because if I don't then I won't finish my mission." I picked up the bomb in my hands and turned to face Phil.
"Dan.. you don't have to do this," Phil said looking from the bomb in my hand to me. "We can walk away from this. We can stop everything. It can just be-"
"Stop!" I snapped at him, his eyes widened. I couldn't let him distract me. "No we can't. You will, but the day that I'll be able to walk alway from this will be the day I'm dead. Whether my death is by bullets or old age... it's the only way out for me." I went back perfecting the bomb.
"Then come to our side. We can be hero's together Dan! We can stop villains together! Or we can stop everything. Please just think about this," Phil begged. "You don't have to blow up the city, and whoever gave you this mission can screw off."
"I'm not blowing up the city, Phil, and I'm not under anyone's commands. I'm doing this for me," I looked back at him, he frowned.
"What are you doing then? And why?!" Phil shook his head, I knew he just wanted answers, but I couldn't give them to him. "You don't have to be the villain," He whispered.
"You heroes don't understand, do you?" I threw down the bomb. "You think I want this? Having to kill innocent people?! I didn't ask to be the villain, alright? I'd give anything to be a hero... but I'm not." Tears we're threatening to fall out of my eyes again.
"Then why do you choose to be?" He asked. I laughed at the words.
"You think I have a choice?!" I walked over to him. "How old were you when you started the program?" I asked him.
"When I was 18, that's the only time they allowed us to sign up," Phil said it like it was obvious. I laughed at that too.
"Yeah, well, I was put in an orphanage since birth. They took me out of it and forced me into the program at age six. You hear me? When I was six. At seven years old I could put a bullet in a man's head." I swallowed hard. "And the worse part was that I didn't know I was supposed to feel bad about it." Phil's look softened. "Do you want to know the real difference between heroes and villains?" I asked. "Heroes get to choose. They get to kill and steal, but they're good because they have the "right reasons" to do it. They get to choose which side they want to be on. We, the people leftover.. the innocent kids with terrible pasts that look up to the heroes.. we are forced to be villains. We're hated upon because nobody cared about us back then, so who cares who's behind the mask now?" I narrowed my eyes at Phil, he looked shocked by my words.
"I just always thought..." He trailed off.
"Yeah.. so does everyone else." I turned around and kept working in the bomb.
"What's that?" He asked quietly. "If you're not a villain.. then why are you making a bomb?" I glanced at the clock and kept working. I only had ten more minutes before I had to set it off.
"Us "villains" get a shot every month, every single person, including the leaders. The shot cleans the system, and can give the power to do.. pretty much everything. The leaders can wipe our memories with a push of a button. If I stepped out of line, they could track and find me in seconds. This bomb," I held it up for him to see,"this bomb could wipe out every single person with the shot."
"So every single villain.." Phil looked awestruck. "Gone?"
"Gone. For good. No more kid has to be recruited again," I sighed.
"What about you?" He asked suddenly. I looked into his blue eyes, they were full of fear. I looked away. "They're giving the shots out right now. I have a group hidden away that it won't be given to, the innocents. The leaders know it was me, so they'll be coming to get me soon.. the only way to distract them long enough..." I sighed.
"Is for you to get the shot," Phil whispered.
"Is for me to get the shot," I agreed.
"So you were just willingly gonna die tonight?!" Phil's voiced raised in concern.
"I've done a lot of bad in this world." I set down the bomb, it was ready. I set the timer, it would go off by the time the leaders took me back. That way they wouldn't have time to go after the hidden ones. If I did it now then the kids' last shot wouldn't have wore off yet.
"So what were you going to do about me?" Phil asked. "You were just going to let me think you died?" He asked.
"No. That's the whole reason I had a hero here. I hoped... I hoped that he would tell you. I hoped he would tell you that I was a good man. Just like you always thought I was," I wiped away a tear falling from my eye. "The bonds are set to come off after the bomb."
"Dan, you can't go through with this. Let me go, we'll distract them together. Then you never have to get the shot and you can go through with the whole plan.. and we can both make it out of here," Phil begged.
"No, Phil. They're coming, at least twenty of the highest trained are coming to get me and the group I hid. If you try to fight them off.. they'll kill you, and I can't have that," I said sternly.
"Let me come with you. At least you won't die alone. I'll get the shot too," Phil had tears in his eyes. I could hear shouting, they were here. I walked up to Phil and gave him one last passionate kiss. "I'm doing this for you, for every person on Earth to live without fear of horrible people like them." I kissed him again. And again. "I love you." I kissed him again. "You're the reason I was able to get up in the morning." I kissed him one last time and ran out the door.
I sat down willingly in the chair they brought. They were in a giant circle waiting. The man with the syringe came closer, ready to give me the shot. I was ready for my death. I didn't want Phil to see me like this. I didn't want him to know anything. I wanted him to be back at home safe, but now he knew everything. He would spend the rest of his life-
"What was that?" One of them suddenly asked. The man with syringe stopped. I heard it too, something was shooting bullets in the room. They weren't hitting anyone, just hitting spots loud enough to cause commotion. Suddenly, one hit the man with the syringe causing it to break in his hands.
"I promised you one thing in our marriage vows, Dan," I could hear his voice from the outside the room. It was loud and booming. "That I would look after you, sickness and in health, this is your sickness."
"Oh my fucking god," I groaned. Was was trying to get himself killed?
The whole group ran out of the room, but they were too late. Phil was there, he was standing loud and proud, but before they could even lift their guns, they blew up. Every last one of them blew up and they were gone, and I wasn't. Phil walked in the room and untied me instantly.
"You're an idiotic bastard." He said pulled me to his chest. I could barely react.
"How did you.." How did he get out of the bonds? They weren't supposed to unlock yet.
"Because you bothered me so damn much that I broke free," He smiled. "That and you loosened the bonds when-" I interrupted him with a kiss. I could feel tears of happiness streaming down my face.
I was finally out and so was he. The group of kids I hid were safe, and so was the rest of the world. Less than a month later, as I laid there, hand in hand with my husband on a beach, I was the happiest person alive. I smiled at the man next to me.
"Dan?" He suddenly asked.
"Mm?" I wondered.
"I don't think you're villain at all," He whispered. I smiled, a bright, happy and amazing smile. I was Phil's villain for years. I've beat him up hundreds of times, and here he was, saying that I wasn't bad. I couldn't even explain how much I loved him in that moment. "Thanks, Phil."