vigilantes and heroes and Villains oh my

Unexpected Hangout

I sighed as I looked at my phone. It was my day off and I was bored. Skylar and Willow were home and they were sitting on the couch. I was sitting on the floor between Sky's legs as she played with my hair, she hadn't done this in a while. It felt nice.

"So Ace, I've noticed you're getting home later," Willow said.

"Oh, I made a friend at work and we've been going to this burger van," I said.

When did she notice? She's gone most of the time.

My answer was the partial truth anyway, she didn't need to know.

"And I've noticed that you leave for long periods," I said.

"I can't tell you about that," Willow said.

"Then pay your portion of the rent," I shot back.

"But we ar-"

I cut her off.

"No the fuck you haven't," I said, getting up and startling Sky.

"Yes, we have," Willow fought back.

"Then explain to me why I can barely afford rent every time you're gone but when you're here I can afford rent and food."

"I don't know but that sounds like a you problem."

This caught me by surprise. This wasn't like her, if I had told her this before she would have sat down and tried to find a solution. Not whatever the hell this was.

Was she...gaslighting me?

"Have you seen that there are two new heroes?" Skylar asked, trying to defuse the situation.

I felt my phone buzz. I looked at it. It was from an unknown number. I didn't see the glare that Willow gave Sky.

???
Hey is this Ace? It's Wilbur.
2:30

Oh, thank the fucking gods for this tall, lanky fucker.

Ace
Yeah, what's up, man?
2:31

Wilbur
I was wondering if you wanted to hang out. Tommy is out and Techno is being a bitch.
2:33

Ace
Sure. I got nothing planned today anyway
2:35

"Who was that?" Willow asked.

"None of your damn business," I shot back before grabbing my bag and leaving.

I sighed softly as I walked down the stairs. When I got downstairs I pulled out my phone again

Ace
Where do you want to meet?
2:45

Wilbur
There's a park near the diner
2:47

Ace
Alright, I'll see you there
2:48

I put my phone back in my pocket as I walked to the park. I knew what park he was talking about, I used to go there after school when I didn't want to go back to the foster home for whatever reason. I haven't gone in a while due to me having to do double shifts. A cool breeze went by, ruffling my hair a bit. I needed a haircut, and a binder, but both were expensive, and I didn't have the money for either of them.

I could take the job.

I shook my head quickly. No, I don't need it. My stomach growled in protest.

Ok...Maybe I did need it.

I sighed softly as I continued to walk, kicking a rock. The issue was trying to hide it from Willow, she's catching on to my disappearances. This isn't good, I need to keep them out of my shit.

No matter the cost.

-.-.-.-

I glared at Skylar as Ace left.

"Are you trying to blow our cover?" I hissed at the redhead.

"You know I don't like keeping this from them," Sky shot back.

I sighed softly, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"We've talked about this before, we can't tell them until the Syndicate is stopped."

"I know but–"

I cut her off.

"No, Ace wouldn't want to be dragged into this. Right?"

Skylar was quiet.

"Right?" I repeated, my voice more firm.

She let out a sigh.

"Right."

"Good, now come on, we have a job to do. The city needs your research." I said, grabbing Skylar's laptop and handing it to her. She sighed softly and took it, opening it and typing away.

-.-.-.-

I sat down at the duck pond that was at the park, keeping an eye out for the familiar yellow sweater that Wilbur always wore. There was a small family of ducks swimming around the pond, I smiled softly. I heard footsteps, and looking up I saw Wilbur walking towards me.

"Ayup."

"Hey," I replied.

He sat down next to me and we sat in silence, just watching the ducks. He pulled out a ziplock bag of birdseed and set it down between us. He opened it and started feeding the ducks.

"Do you wanna feed them?" Wilbur asked, holding out a handful of birdseed to me.

I took it wordlessly and tossed some of it out onto the pond. Some of the ducklings eagerly swam over to it. It was quiet again, the only sounds were the children on the playset nearby and the ducks. It was about 2 in the afternoon so most people were at work or school.

"You ok? You're quiet today."

"I'm fine, just got into a bit of an argument with my ro- Parents. With my parents," I said, correcting myself quickly.

He nods.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked gently, leaving me room to say no, or to just walk away.

I pulled my knees up to my chest.

"No."

"Alright." He said.

I continued to watch the ducks as they quietly swam around, quacking occasionally. I threw more birdseed into the pond, the ducks quickly swarmed it.

"They're putting all the rent on me," I mumbled softly.

"Your parents?"

I hesitated before nodding. He didn't need to know overly much.

"Do you know why?"

I shook my head. I felt tears well up in my eyes, blinking them away I looked up at Wilbur, my green eyes met his brown ones. I quickly looked away. I wasn't a huge fan of eye contact.

'Tell him.' A small voice in the back of my head whispered

No, I didn't even know him that well.

I looked at the time, it was almost 3:30. Damn, I should probably be getting home. I got to my feet, and Wilbur looked at me.

"Leaving already?"

"Yeah, my folks might get worried if I'm gone for too long."

'Willow doesn't care anymore, you know that," The voice whispered.

I ignored it.

"It was nice hanging with you Wilbur," I said, and I meant it. It was nice just sitting and feeding the ducks.

He smiled at me and nodded.

"I can say the same for you, see you around?" He said.

I smiled softly and nodded. With a quick, two-finger salute I was off, walking back home, my hands in my pockets. My mind drifted to Willow and I's conversation from earlier. Why was she acting like this? I shook my head. She was probably just having a hard time at work. Yeah, that's probably why. She was just struggling a bit.

Yeah, that's it...

Right?