Nighthawk: A Superhero Story (closed for Siobhancan99)

[Halcyon638]

“A prison, huh? I’m still healing up from your last break-in,” Thalmer said, playful grin on his chiseled face. “Getting to her might be hard, but her lawyer’s all over the news. Maybe she shared something with him?” She could feel his eyes on her as she stretched for a few moments until he had the presence of mind to at least feign looking at his phone once more.

“Sutter. Sutter.” His brow crinkled slightly as if thinking. “It sounds familiar, but that’s about it. Why?” There was no indication that he was lying, though whether that was due to him telling the truth or having been trained exceptionally well to live undetected among humans wasn’t clear.

 

[siobhancan99]

"He was murdered, and I need to figure out if he had human allies or Centauri ones. He told the imperium to fuck off after the fall, so... could have been assassinated. The problem is, of course, that we need tech guys like him and my father if we're going to keep this planet habitable and a viable backup plan if everything goes to hell at home. That means, sometimes, leaving our honor at the door and working with renegades. So I need to make sure someone isn't killing useful people out of a sense of loyalty."

 

[Halcyon638]

Thalmer nodded. “I can put some feelers out. Look into it for you,” he suggested. “You’ll have to tell me everything you know about the guy. And the case.”

He got into a combat-ready position, balancing on the balls of his feet, arms out in front of him defensively. “You ready? Show me something.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica was relieved that at least Thalmer didn't seem to have killed Alex. She was able to come at him with a clear head, focusing on her training and not the 10,000 thoughts running through her. She put him through his paces, then took some time to work on the chain, which she still sucked at. She had to master it if she was going to keep fighting opponents like killstreak or killshot or ... whatever Luke Hemsworth had called himself.

After she rubbed a few spots that were sure to bruise "so. the lady that went on our little caper. you two uh... friendly?" she waggled her eyebrows at him "or do you slum it with earth chicks like me?"

 

[Halcyon638]

Thalmer smirked at the mention of the other Centauri woman, but then his expression shifted at the reference to Earth girls, a hint of tension crossing his features. “Ha. Trina, is, uh…I think she plays for your team. Besides, she’s in solo covert ops, like me. No fucking each other. No relationships. Nothing that would potentially lead to…divided loyalties.”

He begins slipping a light jacket over his usual workout gear. “Slumming it, definitely. A few years after I first came here, there was…you know I’m on the road a lot. So that makes the no relationships thing easier than it could be. But…there was this town…and this girl…”

A look of bittersweet remembrance crossed the Centauri warrior’s face. “Clarissa. She was a schoolteacher. Little kids. I don’t know how she didn’t strangle at least one of them a day. And she was…god, she was beautiful. I was kinda convinced she was some long-lost Centauri princess in deep cover. Her smile could…when you looked at her and she smiled, all you could think about was, ‘how do I make this moment last as long as possible?’ And she had that…that spark, like you, you know? She’d spend her days around 8-year-olds but then she’d swear up a storm when we were out, giving me shit, but, all in good fun. You knew if she liked you if she called you 'shithead' with a certain tone to her voice.”

He stuffed his hands into the pocket of his jacket. “So, her town happens to be on the way to where a lot of my business is being conducted but…I start coming up with reasons to stop there. Driving 200 miles out of my way to ‘pass through.’ She had…her mom was sick. Disabled. So she wasn’t going anywhere. I thought about…I tried to get her to come with me. I…I almost told her everything. I…”

He sighed. “Anyways…it all went to shit. So I made myself a little promise that I’d never let that happen to me again. Especially not with an Earth girl.” Thalmer looked at Monica meaningfully, pain etched across his features.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica nodded "yeah I suppose it would be hard, keeping up the pretense." she shfited "you uh. you know ever think of just going native?" She moved over and grabbed some water, sipping at it. "I'm not saying its for everyone mind you. I mean clearly I haven't even and I grew up here." she sat on a nearby crate and sipped her water "but I'll say this. It was worth it being honest with Gabi. Its hard and its scary but at the same time anything worth doing is worth facing that difficulty you know?"

 

[Halcyon638]

“If I was going to do it, it would have been back then. For her,” Thalmer said, words tinged with regret. He shook his head. “I haven’t felt that way in…a long time.”

The Centauri man put the palm of his hand out in front of him as if signaling someone to stop. “Look. I already know what you’re going to say. I know about Gabi. But I think about you all the time. And I know you probably think I’m just some horny Battle Caste asshole that thinks with his dick but…it’s not that. I would do anything for you. I’d take a dozen more bullets, easy. I would follow you anywhere. This right here—training you, seeing you—this is the fucking highlight of my month. Sad, huh? I was in Belgrade last week and this beautiful woman was practically throwing herself at me, but I couldn’t fucking…I couldn’t even think about her.” He shook his head again, letting out what sounded like a bitter laugh.

“I want to be with you. You’re the only one who matters to me.” There was an almost desperate look in his eyes at the moment.

 

[siobhancan99]

"that's a lot to unpack, man." She sat on a nearby crate. She was assuming that most of this was ingrained status conscious caste bullshit. Part of it was probably the fact that he could be honest about who he was, too. "I mean i'm very much not single and I'm weirdly traditional. Dude you're. I mean you're super fucking hot I think you know that." She laughed "But Gabi's been my ride or die chica for like 12 years." She drew her leg up under her chin, at once not wanting to crush the poor guy but also not wanting to give him any false hope "I love her, you know? which has nothing to do with you. I know it sucks like. Not being able to talk to anyone about who you really are. I'm it. that has to blow. I have my dad at least."

 

[Halcyon638]

The color seemed to slowly drain from Thalmer’s face. He listened, though his eyes looked distant. “I get it,” he said flatly.

As Monica expressed empathy, an approximation of his usual confident smile crossed his lips. “I’m fine,” he said. “No one needs to hear my shit, and I don’t want to hear theirs, so win-win, right?” he said with false bravado. “I should get out of here.”

The Centauri left without making eye contact with Monica.

 

[siobhancan99]

"well fuck." she shook her head, watching him go and expecting he wouldn't be returning "that was fucked up though" she muttered. It was shitty of him to put her in that spot, particularly being older than her. She rankled a bit, but then tamped it down and headed home to shower. She figured this one didnt have to be played out for Gabi. Sitting on the couch she started watching a movie and dozing, then decided to at least look for news stories about Sutter.

 

[Halcyon638]

Monica received a text from Gabi. “After the LSA meeting, really need to hit the Calc pretty hard. Study buddies?”

The investigation into the murder of Alex Sutter and his girlfriend, Melody Hughes murders was progressing, apparently, with no major breakthroughs. Police had been questioning attendees at an outdoor street fair Sutter and Hughes had been attending. Although their cell phones went missing, photos of the two at the event surrounded by revelers had been released from the cloud by authorities and were now being included in articles. The couple were smiling in the two selfies they’d taken, the expressions seemingly carefree with no idea of what was about to be visited upon them just a few hours later. Behind them, people gawked at snowmen, wore festive hats of some kind, and hoisted children on their shoulders. Police had also been questioning an ex-lover of Hughes’s who had an arrest record and a drinking problem.

Monica’s phone chimed. Hadley had texted her, “Hey. What are you and Gabs doing for spring break?” The vacation was a couple of weeks away in mid-April.

 

[siobhancan99]

"Nothin. I'm sure though that once you tell us what you have in mind we will have incredible plans" Monica texted back, then stopped by a nearby food truck. She got some wings and onion rings and a Dr. Pepper, then settled in to look around the quad and also wait on Hadley's text. She watched people, thinking to herself how weirdly easy it would be for someone to just wander in and shoot someone, like Sutter. She wondered if, after all the drama and whatnot, he'd been killed over some domestic bullshit. The Universe was a strange place, not everything had to have a grand purpose. She thought about how she connected all manner of events to herself, everyone and everything seemed to have to have something to do with her...
But they didn't. Not really. Alex Sutter could have just been shot by some nutcase over nothing. it was at once liberating and disquieting.

 

[Halcyon638]

Hadley texted back, “Incredible might be too strong a word. Was going to ask if you two wanted to spend a few days in NYC this break. Thought it might be fun and also give me an excuse to get away from my mom on the reg. Figured I’d just text you so you and Gabi could talk it over.”

A few moments later, another text came through. Monica was about to close out the tab on a story about Sutter when something caught her eye.

She looked again at the photos from the street fair Sutter and Hughes had been attending, looking at all the smiling faces, young and old.

One face stood out. Initially, she thought it was due to the lack of a smile, but as she zoomed on the image to get a closer look, the woman’s face began to look familiar.

A text from Hadley came in: “Also, if you could not mention it to the group right away. They’re great but kinda want to hang with some girls and I think Layla’s going to Florida. Also, only one guest bed.”

When the text notification faded, Monica looked at the photo again. It was a woman with closely cropped dark hair, steely eyes, and striking features. Trina, the stoic Centauri who had driven Thalmer and her to the HelixCorp facility.

 

[siobhancan99]

"well. fuck." Monica sighed. Still, it might not be all that bad. The order to kill Sutter might have been old. at least she could talk to someone now. Though someone she only knew from Thalmer, who was pouting because he decided to hit on her despite knowing she was in a relationship as if that wasn't just monstrously fucked up. Maybe she'd wait a bit on contacting him. Or maybe she'd let this one go. Probably not, but she wasn't getting in touch with Thalmer today that was for damn sure. "Yeah under our hats. I'll ask Gabi if she has plans"

She texted Gabi "Hey, do we have plans for break? do you have to work? if you do can you get out of it?"

 

[Halcyon638]

Gabi responded to Monica’s text about an hour later. “No, I don’t think we discussed it? I did ask for some extra hours here but they haven’t finalized that week’s schedule yet. What were you thinking about?”

In response to the proposed NYC trip, the bio major texted back, “That sounds good. Will check in with Angela to see if I can get a few days in a row off. Love you”

When Gabi returned to their apartment, she plunked down her things and made her way to the kitchen counter, then somewhat absentmindedly circled around to the living room to hug Monica, instead of making a direct beeline for her girlfriend as usual. “Hey, honey,” she said quietly, draping her arms over the older girl’s shoulders. “How was your day?”

 

[siobhancan99]

"it was ok..." Monica ran her hand along Gabi's back, looking down at her. She curled an arm around her, snuggling her in "what's up with you baby?" kissing her temple afterwards.

 

[Halcyon638]

Gabi all but went limp, letting out a loud sigh as Monica pulled her in. “So…I was checking some of the LSA socials at work and…some racist troll asshole went in and posted all this horrible shit on our feeds. Our feeds, the APISA feed…,” she said, referencing the Asian & Pacific Islander Student Association, “a couple of other groups. I was texting with Ruben. He was going in and deleting the comments but we’re kinda thinking this was targeting us for criticizing inviting that white nationalist asshole to speak here soon, so we had to document it. I took screenshots of the most horrible shit and sent it to him.”

She wrapped Monica’s arms around her. “Are you okay?”

 

[siobhancan99]

"eh" Monica tugged Gabi in "Home... politics stuff." She inhaled "someone I know killed someone else I know and I don't know if it was a recent order or the order came a long fucking time ago and nobody here has the presence of mind to understand that home is fucked and all the old rules are off" she ran her fingers through Gabi's hair, then kissed her forehead, wrapping her in a huge against her. She brushed her nose along Gabi's "so you know. there's also Thalmer and I probably aren't training any more because he can't you know. Not hit on me."

 

[Halcyon638]

“Ugh.” Gabi hugged Monica tightly. “The world can just, like, fuck off.” She kissed the older girl’s cheek and than slipped a hand into her blonde locks. “Let’s just cuddle up and watch something.”

The two girls relaxed on the couch, Gabi queuing up an episode of Fullmetal Alchemist and just letting it roll over to the next one when the first episode finished. “New York could be fun,” the brunette said sleepily. “We have to go the Museum of Natural History. I remember when my grandparents took me there and it, like, completely blew my mind. I’m pretty sure the stuffed triceratops from gift shop is still buried in the back of my closet somewhere. Did you ever go? Is there anything you want to do there?”

Gabi lightly massaged Monica’s bare left foot as she talked. Her dark hair had a vaguely vanilla scent to it.

 

[siobhancan99]

"we didn't go a lot of places. My mother was paranoid I think about us being exposed, in places there'd be a lot of earth people. People that might recognize her accent wasn't Swedish. We never really went anywhere" she trailed her fingers through her girlfriend's hair. "Tom and I always used to talk about travelling. His folks didn't have any money either so... you know." She tugs softly on the roots of her hair and then massages lightly "I want to see anything and everything, really. I want to go with you to wherever."

 

[Halcyon638]

Gabi’s fingers continued to knead Monica’s foot. “Oh, that explains a lot. I remember every time we were going on a trip, I’d ask if you could go, and your mom or your dad would say no. I thought they were freaked out by cities.”

The younger girl took Monica’s hand and kissed the top of it lightly. “I want to see the world with you. I don’t need a ton of money, but I want to travel with you. It’d be amazing to be, like, good enough in our fields that we get to travel to conferences and stuff. You know. Present on our incredible scientific breakthroughs in the morning, then wander the city at night.”

 

[siobhancan99]

"that would be nice. we could just leave this place behind. See the world. be real adults" she let her fingers brush through Gabi's hair. It was weird to think of a life outside of being some sort of spirit of vengeance. A lot had happened in a year. Maybe she'd work her way out of things. She looked down at Gabi "we can see where the best coffee is in the world"

 

[Halcyon638]

“Mmm. Get some Korean food in Korea.” Gabi tilted her chin up toward Monica and kissed her, dark brown eyes fixed on the older girl. “Love you, baby.” She sucked lightly on Monica’s lower lip, pressing the warmth of her body against her girlfriend.

***

“I let my mom know you guys were coming, so there’s no turning back now,” Hadley said to Monica, taking in a forkful of maple-glazed carrots as she sat at lunch with Monica and Porter. “She’s already asked me for a full list of your food and beverage preferences along with any dietary restrictions.”

It was 12:00 on a Thursday, and Monica had about an hour before her meeting with Melanie. Nick made his way over to their table, plate piled high with chicken tenders. He was dressed in a light blue, mostly wrinkle-free button-down shirt, and a pair of khakis, a far cry from his usual attire. “Wow,” Hadley remarked. “Somebody’s making an effort today.”

Nick rolled his eyes and sat down. “Ugh, it’s that STEM Career thing today.”

“Oh, god,” Hadley said. “Now I feel even better about ditching engineering and picking a major with no career prospects. Mon, you going to that thing?”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica nodded "yeah I had to go to the career center to have them help me with my resume though. As you might imagine I've never had to apply for a real job." She shrugged and ate a fry "I dunno. I'm hoping to get in at First Line but we shall see. Maybe Helix but they do mostly bio stuff? anyway we're first year interns so its not like we will be you know. involved in mad science or anything."

 

[Halcyon638]

“Just in case, you should probably work on your manic cackle,” Nick remarked as he leaned over Hadley’s shoulder and picked up a few potato chips. “You guys taking the shuttle?”

Monica’s phone chimed. Looking down, she saw a message sent to both her and Gabi.

Zoe: Uggh, this week has been a million days long. Wishing I was cuddled up with both of you

As the afternoon progressed, Monica went to the spot where she, Gabi, and Nick were going to catch the bus to the hotel and conference center. About ten minutes before the vehicle was due to arrive, Monica heard a screech and a series of honks as two vehicles nearly collided before going about their business once more. Another text arrived:

Gabi: Hey, honey. I started feeling not so great in class and I don’t think I’m going to be able to make it. Should be fine and will catch you back home later. Love you