Nighthawk: A Superhero Story (closed for Siobhancan99)

[siobhancan99]

threading her fingers through Gabi's she smiled and leaned in. Her lips brushed over her girl's ear "you look amazing. Mission accomplished." She pulled back "you'll have your own internship next summer, babe." She shrugged "I was lucky to get this one. I don't even know how it happened." Turning to her friends she introduced them in turn. "Gabi was like my best friend growing up. Hell for a while she was my only friend." Her thumb brushed the back of Gabi's hand as she held it "So I got super lucky that she felt the same way I did."

 

[Halcyon638]

“Oh, man. I had some rough summer jobs,” Wendell replied. “Last summer I was delivering ice and I had the shittiest truck. That fucker would always break down any time it got above 100, which was like, every other day in Texas.”

“Yeah, it definitely could be worse,” Gabi said with a grin.

“You can use the summer to prepare for applying for an internship next year,” Ishani suggested. “That’s what I did.”

Gabi nodded. “Yeah, I have started looking at some of the textbooks for my fall classes. And I’ve been listening to science podcasts while I bike to work. Did you all know that modern whales have like little leftover limbs in their blubber from back when they were land animals? They’re, like—what’s that word?”

“Vestigial,” Evan said.

“Yep!” the bio major said, snagging one of Monica’s fries.

Gabi blushed and beamed as Monica talked about their friendship.

“That is sweet,” Wendell mused. “My best friend once got a hold of my Instagram account for two days and started posting about me having a long battle with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and encouraging all my followers to donate money to this fake IBS research charity.”

“I do not get guys,” Nelly mused, taking a sip of her soda and grinning. “Speaking of, if y’all have any dating advice, let a girl know.”

 

[siobhancan99]

"you don't want advice from me. My experience is 'don't understand your best friend is bisexual for 12 years, confess to her you want to fuck your therapist, let her gently tell you you're an idiot who should be dating her because she's bisexual too." Monica laughed "You can pick Gabi's brain though. She's the one who actually made this thing happen. I just you know, did as I was told." She kept her fingers laced with Gabi's "To be fair she's amazing so doing what she wants is always the easiest path."

Looking over at Nelly she shrugged "you're here like, what 6 weeks? Instead of looking for Ms. Right, maybe look for Ms. Right Now, who is also just looking for a hookup. Or you know. Be single. Work on yourself. Figure out what you want. Engage in relentless self improvement so when you do meet the right woman, you can be ready to accept love and all that. But you know." She grinned "you do you." She thought Nelly might be Aro, but she could also just be immature. "What is it you want in a woman, Nelly?" She looked over at Evan "you with anyone, Evan? you never talk about yourself."

 

[Halcyon638]

Monica’s fellow interns laughed. “Not gonna lie: I would totally watch that rom-com,” Nelly said, grinning. “I was actually kind of hoping for a really good pick-up line I could swipe. All that other stuff sounds too hard.” Gabi laughed.

“My, like, dating history before Mon was mostly sketchy, so, I don’t have any advice, either,” she said, giving Monica’s hand a squeeze.

Nelly considered the question. “Someone with very low expectations,” she quipped.

Evan finished taking a bite of his panini. “Yeah. For a little over a year now.”

“Evan’s got a taste for the older ladies,” Wendell said.

“Evan,” Nelly said, “how come I’m first hearing about this?”

Reddening, he said, “She’s 23.”

“Oooh,” Nelly teased. “What does she do?”

“She works in animation. She’s actually working on a pilot for a Fox animated series right now.”

“That’s so cool,” Gabi said.

Before long, the interns had to head back to work. Gabi sent Monica a few teasing texts and accompanying photos over the course of the day, and that night, they continued to make up for lost time.

Gabi left a little before Monica did the next day, promising to come down the following weekend when she’d have some time off. The heatwave that had temporarily been broken by the violent storm Monica had been caught in the middle of was making a comeback, and it was already approaching the mid 80s by early morning.

Catching up on her Nighthawk social media feed, Monica saw a couple of messages:

MINA: Sorry if I weirded you out the other night when I sent you the picture. I am kind of a flirt and it gets me into trouble sometimes but I can also take no for answer. Hope we are okay

SHAY: Is 10:30 tonight ok?

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica fired off a message to Thalmer's daughter "Should be, unless something comes up with work for me or my partner." She had decided she'd imply to people that she was married and maybe had a kid, to throw off the scent of people looking into her actual identity. Always though through "careless" admissions, things she "let slip" as if she was guarding that truth. It sucked to do that to Thalmer's kid, but it was a carefully orchestrated campaign to keep shit like the Imperial kidnapping Knapp from ever happening again.

She was pleased that setting boundaries with Mina had worked without putting her off. She liked the girl, and honestly she might help with her social media presence. More of getting ehr message out and frankly, the cash hadn't exactly hurt. If she could make the Nighthawk gig pay for itself maybe she could satisfy her science itch making her own gadgets or something. Building a Nighthawk Jet. A laser gun. A jet with laser guns. "Mina, I don't think anyone who has ever kissed a girl would be upset to have gotten that picture. So no worries. Just being respectful of my partner. We are great Can't thank you enough for all the positive stuff you've been doing"

Monica showered and rolled into work just on time. She was focused and didn't even register eating lunch at her desk while she worked, surprised when she looked up to see it was already 2.

 

[Halcyon638]

Monica calculated it would take just a little over two hours to make it to Baltimore in the Sliver. It was still 87 degrees when she exited her air-conditioned apartment and climbed into the poorly ventilated craft.

She received a brief response from Mina along the way:

MINA:

The park at which Monica arrived appeared to be deserted except for one car in a parking lot adjacent to a soccer field. Another message came in:

SHAY: I’ll be in my car. Blue Nissan.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica brought the sliver down. She wished she'd been smart enough to bring a cell phone jammer. She was just going to have to make sure she saw the girl's phone and made her turn it off. She stalked towards the car, regretting the armor. It was hot as hell, and the armor made it a thousand times worse. Still, she couldn't just show in in a balaclava and it wouldn't be much cooler if she did, to be honest. So she sent a message "obviously it's me coming." as she moved towards the Nissan.

 

[Halcyon638]

The light-brown-haired girl waited until Monica was about 10 feet away from her vehicle before reluctantly. She stepped out, dressed in jean shorts and a black ringer tee with 2 white bands around each short sleeve, showing off her tattooed arms. She folded them tightly across her chest. “Hey,” she said flatly, glancing around the area a bit nervously.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica nodded "Hey." She looked around "I hate to be this way, but uh. Can I make sure your phone is off? Makes it a little easier to be candid." She kept back from the car, just trying to make sure that she'd be out of range of any listening devices. "I have a lot of weird shit to say."

 

[Halcyon638]

Shay looked down at her left hip pocket. “Sure. Okay.” She eased the phone out. Her forearm tattoo was of a small child in a dress, back facing the viewer, standing before an imposing, dark, gnarled forest, the design of the trees ringing her limb. She held it out to Monica, palm up, then went through the motion of shutting it down. “So, you…said you knew my dad?”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica nodded "yes. We had a brief and very complicated friendship" She gestures for the girl to follow and made her way along over to some picnic tables. "So yeah. Your dad taught me to fight a little, because I was looking for someone stronger than I was. Someone I couldn't just toss around like a rag doll. That's ... part of what our relationship was. Before you go strange places, it was strictly business."

 

[Halcyon638]

Shay hesitated before reluctantly following Monica. She stood near the tables. Finally, she took a seat on the very end of a bench, posture still rigid.

The girl was quiet as Monica started to speak, but her brown eyes hinted at an amalgam of various emotions. “My mom said he…worked for the government. That true?”

 

[siobhancan99]

"Ah. Well." Monica shifted uncomfortably "I know he worked for A government. I don't know if he ever worked for the United States government. If he did it would have been uh. On a contract basis." She twisted her hands a little bit 'your dad was a space nazi who, despite being a space nazi was somehow on the moral side of a civil war and oh by the way he was an assassin and sent here as a terrorist' was a lot. "So, you know who I am. You know what I can do. I just said your dad was stronger than me and it didn't phase you. I think it will be helpful to gage your level of weirdness you're prepared for if you ... If I know how much of Thalmer there is in you. So." She turned to face the girl more full on "Maybe not to that extent but. Can you do things that maybe other people can't? Physically. I'm not talking about you know. Flying or some shit. That's for cartoons."

 

[Halcyon638]

The girl’s eyes widened as Monica asked about her abilities. “N-no,” she responded, shaking her head. It was pretty obvious to Monica that Shay was lying.

“So…he was your friend? Did he ever…?” The young woman looked off to the side, looking into a stand of trees. “Talk about me?”

 

[siobhancan99]

'No he mostly hit on me because he was a creepy eugenicist like all people of our culture and like all middle aged men loved the thought of hot young tail.' was not how to remember Thalmer in this moment, even if it was true "Well, He did tell me about you which is how I found you in the first place. He more talked about your mother. About how much he loved her and how weak he felt that he didn't stay." She sighed "Look. Thalmer." She rolled her shoulders "I mean do you know any guys named 'Thalmer' of course you don't. Because Thalmer is not a normal earth guy name." She sat for a moment, wondering if that would sink in. "Your dad uh. I knew your dad in a professional sort of sense. He uh." She shifted a little "well he wasn't from here. And in not being from here was not sure he could hack you know. being a husband and a father. But he spoke unfailingly about his love for your mother and his wish he'd done things differently."

 

[Halcyon638]

Shay nodded. She rubbed her forehead for a moment, then pushed aside a lock of hair with a forearm that was inked with spiderweb designs. “Like…what the fuck are even are we? Why the fuck was he here?” She sighed deeply and stood up, arms still tightly clenched against her sides. “Do other people…like, humans know? Are they going to come after us?”

The brunette looked like she was either on the cusp of crying or screaming.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica put her hand on Shay's "Hey. Hey. It's ok." She sat there a minute "Thalmer came here uh. Well Thalmer came here to invade earth and uh. there's not a great way to sugarcoat that. It's like, not a thing any more though. So, he helped me and this crazy scientist guy put a thing together that will keep the aliens out of here forever. As for you, I wouldn't worry about anyone coming for you. You aren't you know, like, fighting crime in your super suit. The only indicate anyone would have you're from uh, the space people, is that you're super hot."

She wanted to drink something. It was hot, and talking was thirsty work "Any way. So like." she shifted "maybe 20 years ago, the aliens had this crazy civil war and they killed themselves off mostly. A lot of the ones that were here left. Thalmer didn't, for whatever reason. I think because he always wanted to get back with your mom. After your mom died he kinda spiraled and turned into a super hot alien hobo." She shifted a little "and he used his uh, powers, to sort of make a living. He was a complicated guy."

 

[Halcyon638]

Shay flinched at Monica’s hand, pulling her hand away and moving back on the bench a bit. Her cheeks bloomed red. The intensity of the expression on her face had faded, though, and now she just looked slightly embarrassed. A dog barked somewhere in the distance. “Well…thanks. I guess it’s good to know he wasn’t, like…a total piece of shit. I guess.”

A note of confusion crossed her striking features. “So…if the war was over…how did he die?”

 

[siobhancan99]

She sat, quiet for a moment "he eventually decided he couldn't take it any more and he ended his own life. He wasn't from earth. You know? Like, I'm different but I have friends and a family and I'm part of society. The society he knew and made sense in was gone and it was never coming back, and. Look there's no two ways about it. He uh. Well let's just say people from his planet are sort of you know. Into the whole. Eugenics. Thing. So I don't think he ever felt like earth people were his equals, except your mom. I don't think he could really forgive himself for giving up the only thing that he loved here. So eventually, he tried suicide by combat and when that didn't work he jumped off a dam.Before he died he asked me to check on you, to make sure you were ok."

 

[Halcyon638]

Shay simply nodded silently as Monica recounted the story. “I’m okay,” she said in a neutral tone. “Thanks.” She hunched over and looked down at the picnic table, fair hair concealing her face.

In a sudden, swift motion, Shay slammed her right fist down against the wooden surface. There was a sharp crack as the boards collapsed inward and her hand made a hole in the piece of furniture.

 

[siobhancan99]

Sighing, Monica covered her masked face with her hands. "Im sorry. I'm fucking this up. I'm 20 years old. I've never had to do this before. I don't kbow what i am doing and i am clearly making your life hard. I am really sorry. I just thought you might want to know why you were different. If id realized you were like us I would have talked more about my own experience first but you said you weren't. Fuck. I get it. This is horrible. You arent alone though. Theres a bunch os us born on Earth. I can introduce you to another kid. I. Fuck. God i suck at this. I am so sorry that you got stuck with me."

 

[Halcyon638]

Shay mostly kept her eyes on the shattered wooden in front of her. Eventually, she shifted her gaze to Monica. “You’re…20?” She seemed as surprised if not more surprised than at any of the revelations that had been dropped on her. “Um…hey. It’s okay. I’m really okay.” She forced a smile for a second. “You weren’t the one who g-ghosted me and my mom for 20 years. So…I think you’re doing okay. Th-thank you for coming out here. And, um….s-sorry for telling you to fuck off.” She reddened. “I can’t believe the frigging Nighthawk is my age.”

 

[siobhancan99]

MOnica took her helmet off. "Alright. You're the fourth person in the whole world to see my face." She shook her hair out. "Now we can trust each other. Everything out in the open." She offered a tentative smile. "So." She fished out her phone, showing a few pictures of Thalmer "This is your dad." She gestured at the night sky. "If the stars were out, right by canis minor there's a star you'd see." She looked back to Shay "and your dad and my parents were born there. They're part of a people called the Centauri. They had an empire, maybe a few hundred million people. Their history doesn't go back very far and they have apparently very little interest in their pre-mythological history. My pet theory is that they might have come from Earth in the distant past. Anyway, there's like this stratified society and at the top of it are the battle-caste. And they're supposed to war against "the enemies" but also keep themselves sharp by fighting each other. Constantly."

She really wanted a beer "so anyway they've been scouting for these enemies forever, without every finding any. Like, there's just them in the galaxy. They find a lot of habitable but uninhabited planets, and some uninhabited but minerally rich planets, and they set up like, colonies and an empire and everything flows back to the homeworld. So in the i guess 70s or something, they find Earth. And there's billions of us. Like, a hundred times as many earth people as there are Centauri. So they send infiltrators, since they look just like us. Commandos, like my mother, and scientists and techs like my father. Mostly to Nuclear capable or Nuclear adjacent countries. So think, China, India, Pakistan, Russia/Soviet Union, France, Britain, Europe just because they have reactors. America. Canada." She gestured around "and the thought was, when the emperor gave the signal they'd destroy infrastructure and maybe disable the earth nuclear programs and all that. So serious 5th column shit. Government infiltration and everything." She steamrolled on before there could be any panic.

"That's in like, the 90s. So obviously at some point you and I and a couple other kids come along. Some between Centauri couples on earth, some between Centauri and humans. and the, we'd have been about 5 I think, they get the news. There's been an attack. The homeworld is destroyed. Suddenly hundreds of millions of centauri is hundreds of thousands to maybe a few million, scattered across colony worlds. A lot of tech and infrastructure permanently lost. War isn't happening. Turns out it was civil war. A ton of them go back home to fight the fight, preserve the empire. My mother stayed here for a while. My father. I remember it really vividly. I was five or six. It was just before I started school at 7. Anyway, they were screaming at each other and my father had gone totally native and he was talking about how they could have a real life here without all the caste bullshit and how America was the greatest place he'd ever lived. So they stayed. Till my mom left." She cleared her throat. "But a lot of them stayed here. Like a lot. A lot of them just fucked off into their secret identities. But, if I had to guess, I'd say at least the big three governments have to know about us. Like, you're an alien who has access to advanced tech. You're not NOT going to offer it in exchange for asylum. Or you're an alien who can kill like 40 humans. You're going to offer those services. So. If I had to guess I'd say yes humans know about us. No they don't know where to look. Also, the fact they're making super people on their own is just going to let us blend better. but that's like, I digress. Anyway, your dad stayed loyal to the mission. Sort of. He kept monitoring the station that let him talk to the old empire. Kept it running. But he also had to live here on earth. So he did stuff that you do when you are basically a super strong guy."

 

[Halcyon638]

Shay’s eyes widened as Monica unmasked. The Baltimore resident’s mouth hung slightly ajar for a moment. She listened, occasionally glancing Monica’s way but mostly looking up at the stars.

“Wow.” She pressed her fingertips to a spot on her left shoulder as if trying to release some tension. “I need a fucking drink.” She let out a quiet chuckle. “So…what’s your deal? Why are you being like, a superhero? Why was he teaching you how to fight and all that if there’s no war coming?”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica sat, quietly for a moment. "I just wanted to be normal you know? I grew up in rural Pennsylvania. I had a boyfriend. So, my parents held me back a year to explain why I was taller and more... physically able than the other kids. Also they were on the fence about whether I had the maturity to not be discovered. You know how hard it is to not like... just pick something up you never should be able to. That sort of thing. Anyway, Tom was my age but a year ahead of me. He went off to school and uh. Well one night he went to pick his fucking brother up, because you know... we don't really uber in the hinterlands." She inhaled and let out a breath "and some kids wanted his car. At least that's what it looks like. He was shot twice and the car was found wrecked a couple miles away a few days later. So I became a superhero to find people like that and stop them. At the time I thought I wanted to kill them. I'm a Centauri. We kill our problems. An enemy you leave alive is just free to destroy you tomorrow." She shrugged "But at the end of the day I'm not... really. I'm an earth girl. So. I try not to kill anyone. I try to just stop them and think. I still save someone. I still put them where they can't hurt people at least for a while. I hurt them. I hurt them badly enough that they'll wonder, for the rest of their lives if they ever get free if I'm around the corner, waiting, watching. Ready for them to fuck up. At least you know. In my head. Maybe its dumb." She leaned back "I could use a drink too." Tapping her fingers on the ruined wood she sighed "So you know, I had some training from my parents, and I took some earth based martial arts. Then I fought a mother fucker made of metal that was every bit as strong as I was. And it wasn't just me beating up pathetic earth punks with knives and guns. It was for real. I had to know how to fight like someone who can lift a car over their head. A small car. you know like. A Honda Fit or something. But still."

She shifted "So Thalmer kidnapped my father and made him fix the communications array with home, when it went down. That's how I met him. He was still you know, in his own way, fighting the war. Holding on to the only thing he knew. I think he couldn't leave earth while you were here, and he couldn't leave space at all. He was... complicated. I want to say he was my friend but he also was my enemy. Frenemy is too pat a word for it. In a way he was the only one who really understood some of the things happening to me. Loving an earth girl. Being so much different. Having this secret you can't tell anyone. Being able to do these amazing things and having to pretend you're a normal person. Also, there might still have been a war coming but... whether he knew it or not he helped me put together a machine to lock the gate here. Though. The guy who made it, sutter, is dead so. It will last till it breaks then who knows? Still. I don't think they can come any more you know? We can't fight tanks. So they'd need their own. That's a whole developed economy I don't think exists for them any more.Some day maybe I'll go call my mom and ask. She's uh. Kind of a big deal. And hey, your dad made sure we could so. Bonus."