(a/n: today's chapter is dedicated to alanarosemarie for the lovely votes and comments! and without further ado, here's the chapter! enjoy ;p )
twenty nine
MANIPULATING MY POWERS with one part of my mind, the other focused solely on Xandra's plan, I narrowly dodged the edge of a towering high-rise, catching my surprised look in the window-filled exterior as I dodged to the right.
Keep your focus intact, Charlie.
And I tried, the plan reverberating through my head as I shot through the night, keeping my distance from the skyscrapers dotting the central parts of Dynamo City. There was a low shelf of clouds brushing up against the taller of the buildings, dark and eerie, covering the few glimpses of the moon I had as I pushed myself to speed up.
I could see my destination ahead - spearing straight for it, I shot through a cover of clouds. A cold, wet feeling slithered along my cheek as I surfaced on the other side, water droplets clinging to my face as my eyes set on one place in particular - The Valerian Gardens.
The plan was not for me to stay there the entire night. Instead, I merely headed for it, landing quietly as I dropped to my haunches, cautiously glancing around me. What I really needed the Valerian Gardens for was so that I could navigate myself to a certain spot. Knowing the rough area of where I needed to go, I stepped up to the glass railing - the one which Vector had kicked me through a few weeks ago - and glanced out over the skyline.
As usual, the river slithered calm and dark through the town, while the bridges crossing it were alive with cars and buses giving off blue-tinted lights. The other parts of the city, low-rise buildings edging into the suburbs, were still glowing softly, a golden glow covering some of the starlight dusting the night sky.
If I had a minute, I would take it just to stare. Just stare and preserve the moment for what it was. After this night, I wasn't sure how many more moments Charlie would be able to have - at least for herself.
I fisted my hands, nails digging into my palms. There was a knot of fear, of anxiety and worry lodged in my throat. I seemed to breathe through a small slit.
You're Synapse. You can do this.
And then I forced my hands to relax. If I couldn't go through with this after the hours I'd practiced with my powers, after my fights and scuffles and victories in Dynamo ... I deserved to be hit with a plastic blue hairbrush. Hard. In the eye.
With that, I shoved the uncertainty aside, forcing it deep, deep down in the dark corners of my mind where I kept obscure childhood memories and pictures from Google-searches gone wrong. My eyes rested on the skyline, while my heart thumped madly in my chest. And there, right as my eyes swept across the haze of blocks upon blocks of buildings -
The rooftop I'd been looking for. I straightened, brushed dust off of my clothes. I was still wearing the clothes I'd gone to bed in - luckily, a pair of leggings and a sweater - but I felt naked without my suit. I hoped Xandra would get on with her part of the plan soon enough, or I'd have to fight the great showdown with my nemesis wearing a sweater, most likely stained with coffee.
Lifting off the roof again, the flow of power came easily. A red light enveloped me, and like a comet I shot off again, for that specific rooftop. I landed what felt like moments later, hands still glowing with that red. Narrowing my eyes, I peered at the rooftop, whose gravel made it hard to discern any particular shapes.
"Thank the stars." I muttered, after a few minutes of stomping around. I'd found it. I headed for the small camera, almost imperceptible to anyone who wasn't looking for it. Smiling, I tilted it straight up, then leveled a straight finger into its lens.
"That ought to do it." And so I sat there, and waited. I was delighted to find I did not have to wait very long. I had counted the seconds, and figured the response time had been around 15 minutes. Plausible, absolutely, for him to have been lounging at Python's headquarters before his sensors went off.
With only the wind and a rooftop's worth of gravel to keep us company, I glared straight at Vector. He was suited up, but I saw his lips were pressed together tightly. There was a rigidity to his stance, evidence of an internal struggle. I could see the storm brewing in the dark of his eyes, but I would have none of it.
Instead, I crossed my arms above my chest.
"It was a mistake telling you about the cameras." Vector remarked quietly, glancing at the camera behind me, still tilted toward the sky instead of in our direction.
Good. I want this to be a private memory. A private, violent memory.
"I can think of a few other mistakes you've done recently." I hummed in response, raising a brow. Even if I was the one in a ratty sweater and sneakers, I felt like the upper-hand belonged to me.
Vector - the national hero, renowned hero - shuffled in place, and I caught him glancing to the side, almost ashamed. Then that shame dropped, and his brows furrowed, face creasing as his mouth moved from line into a frown, tilting downward. He shook his head.
"Carly, I've dealt with Tetra before. We -"
I lashed out, anger burning. The fury drove me a few paces forward, drilling a finger into his chest: "No more pronoun games. We as in you and Python, or we as in you and another secret agency you want to sic on me?"
His eyes were stuck to the finger on his chest, and so I carefully removed it. I made sure that each and every emotion running through me showed clearly on my face - the face he knew as Carly. I had no idea how much Python had told me about him. When he didn't respond, I continued, struggling to resist the urge to punch his nose through his skull.
"I don't think I have more siblings employed in private, military enterprises, so I'm guessing only you and Python." I ended the statement with a sneer, falling back a step. The echo of ambulances reached us from below, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
Expecting a good response, I was disappointed:
"Siblings?" And yet his voice didn't waver, staying in that low, smooth tone as if he wasn't shocked. I could see he was, and it irked me that his actions had annoyed me to the point of giving my family life up.
Doesn't matter, Charlie. You have a plan - stick to it. Let the ends justify the means.
"Not all that caught up then? I thought throwing me under the bus would satisfy your curiosity - do a little background check on me, snatching the spotlight for saving the city on your own." I rolled my eyes, "You're a typical hero."
Never before had the word been said with such distaste, an apparent malice hanging in the air after I'd shoved them in his face. I could see the frown deepening as I teased his own anger out. Good, I thought. Let it come.
"That's not the reason." He said instead, maintaining that low, smooth voice. Well, we'd see about him having those even responses after a few minutes of this conversation.
"No? I can only think it's wounded superhero pride. Caught Tetra, then she escaped? Tell me, Vector- " My hands fired up, red power trailing up my arms, "- what do you suppose the city thinks of its failed superhero?"
I was prepared for the quick, sudden burst of air heading my way - another one of his compressed air cannonballs. I cackled, the red glow dancing across my face, giving my eyes a vicious tint.
"I'm telling you, that's not the reason. I'm not looking for a fight."
My brows shot up, "Your shot at me begs to differ."
He ignored me. Instead, those dark eyes drilled into me, and I felt an uncomfortable urge to look away, anywhere but that intense gaze. Instead, I reminded myself of what he'd done. Et tu, Brute?
Vector stepped towards me, a firm stare lodged on me. I raised my arms, fully aware he was expecting a fight. Instead, he kept his hands along his sides, stepping closer and closer. This time I was the one backing, falling back once, twice. I decided he wasn't about to win any more ground, so I channeled my powers into projecting a thin, translucent wall with a red tint.
He threw his hands up, and my wall resisted, then crumbled when he swept his hand aside, sending a forceful current to blow it away. Oh my.
Certain he wouldn't advance further, I rooted my feet to the ground. The wind was unusually quiet, only drifting by to rustle my hair - wild and untamed after a lovely night in Python's custody. Otherwise, I could only heart my heart, galloping in a wild rhythm against my ribcage. When he spoke, his deep voice sent shivers along the spine I'd forced to stay rigid.
"If that were the reason, wouldn't I have asked for your identity from them?" I couldn't help it - I blanched. For a second, the shock of his statement rang true, connecting straight with my brain, who scrambled to untangle the hidden meanings, the possible motivations behind such an action. Then my eyes narrowed, and my arms crossed above my chest again.
"Lying now? Reverting away from superhero-qualities faster and faster." I remarked, barely able to hear my own voice over the rush of blood in my ears. There were only three steps separating us now. The rooftop seemed incredibly small.
"Trust me, or don't." He shrugged, " - I can't make you."
"You haven't really made a compelling case in your favor."
"You're smart." He said, dark eyes staring into my soul, "- it's not the case I'm trying to make."
The confusion I'd felt earlier, the betrayal over him selling me out ... it circulated a million times through the carefully constructed calm I'd orchestrated.
Stop thinking so much! Since when were you this hung up over a puny boy?
Unwillingly, my eyes traced over the lines of his suit, hiding firm muscle, wide shoulders. And the my eyes climbed to his, wanted to shrink under that stare. There was something in the air, right? A gas, of sorts, trickling out from the vents. I felt dizzy.
He stepped forward, and all of my air disappeared. I kept my arms crossed. Two steps.
"You said we were partners."
"I did." He replied, cocking his head, "We are."
"Not if you're benching me." My eyes turned to slits.
"A bench is better than a grave." His reply was somber, breaking whatever trance I was under. Bristling with that familiar fury again, my next words were sharp, tinged with wild, violent anger.
"You don't think I can do it." I breathed it out, the anger forming a ball of fire in my throat, "Is that it?"
"I know you can do it. I'm afraid you'll do it too well."
"Steal your spotlight, you mean." I scoffed, scorn tailing my words.
"Get yourself killed, I mean." He saw my flash of anger, pinned me with that stare again, "- go after her by yourself intent on making your name as a hero. Fuck the help, you'd say, because only by acting independently would you be satisfied."
"Oh, I'm the fame-seeker now?" I sneered, watched him tense up, "I'm the dramatic hero with a love for the spotlight." He waited a beat, then spoke.
"You don't like help."
"I do when it doesn't stab me in the back."
"I told you that wasn't the reason."
"Having a hard time seeing any other valid reason." My arms remained crossed.
"You're my partner."
"A partnership is a collaboration. Not sending one half into custody."
"I didn't want you to get hurt." There was an annoyance tinging his voice now, a frown on his lips.
"So you revealed my identity to an entire corporation?"
"No one else will know."
"And for what price, Vector? Why -"
"It's Declan." He interrupted me mid-sentence, and I heaved a breath, "My name is Declan."
My eyes fired back at his, dark and unnerved clashing with furious and intense.
"Then why, Declan?"
He didn't speak, at least not at first. Instead he reached up, tugging at his mask. Pulled it clean off. As if fate wanted to intervene, a gaggle of clouds moved out of the moon's way, casting light across the rooftop. Across those dark, dark eyes - I saw a glimpse of green in them now, not quite as pitch-black. A straight nose, lips I refused to describe, a sweep of high cheekbones. Dark brown hair, slightly curly, springing out across his forehead.
Eyebrows were furrowed, mouth pressed in a flat line. If he was nervous, he didn't show it - those eyes remained calm, unnerved. Like a lighthouse in a storm. A flurry of moments hit me, when we'd fought each other, when we'd fought together. I couldn't breathe.
He moved, just one step now. One step remaining. The world closed in. He smiled, a quiet smile, and something shifted inside me. The roaring anger I'd felt was shell-shocked, reigned in by the sheer magnitude of what he'd done.
"Would you believe me -" The voice remained deep, but was careful now. Treading uncharted territory "- if I said I cared about my partner?"
Not even the wind moved now, no. The tension was thick, layered - I didn't dare unwrap it. Instead I stared, eyes shifting from his nose, to his lips, to his eyes - to the rest of his exposed face.
"No." I swallowed, hard. Lifted my eyes to his, met that gaze for a nice while, "- I wouldn't."
My arms were still crossed above my chest, and they didn't ease up, not as he moved. His eyes were still locked onto mine, erasing that last step between us. I had to crane my neck to meet his eyes, saw how he moved his hands - careful, slow - keeping that watchful gaze on me.
Hands gently closed around my crossed arms, a thumb sweeping across the fabric of my sweater as he eased my arms from their rigid position, returning them to my sides. We were close now, breathing the same air. One part of my mind sat entirely still, computing what was happening. Another part was running in circles, screaming violently. A third part had logged off of the controls completely.
"Would you believe me if I showed it?"
Whatever functioning brain parts I had left were dedicated solely to focus on the moment before me. I couldn't speak - my tongue felt as if it was stapled to the top of my mouth. Were my hands sweat? My hair sure did look a mess, I was sure -
Why are you thinking of this?
He arched a brow - it irked me they were better than mine - awaiting a response. For me it took an age, a million signals zapping across my mind, to the muscles in my neck. A slight, barely noticeable movement, but the nod would have jarring effects.
Gloved hands guided my hands to rest around his neck. He was still waiting, I realized, after my hands rested at the base of his neck. I felt the ends of his hair, annoyingly smooth, and then met that damn stare again.
My smile flashed, quick and spontaneous, and then I straightened my back, interlocked my hands. And leaned up.
≄
a/n: wheeew! wasn't this a fun one? ;)))))))))
__qotc__
__where we going from here boys? i can guarantee none of you will be able to guess it ;)__
__how are we feeling?__
__excited for the next chapter?__
__has charlie fOrGoTtEn about the plan?__
excited to see your reactions to this. either way, see you in the next one :)
xo, cleo
::GOAL::
70 votes, 40 comments
::THEN PART 2 ;)::