Unlawful Good- A Last Life Superhero AU

~7~

Grian carefully opened the door to headquarters, looking inside to see Cleo talking calmly to Pearl and BDubs sat to the side with BigB, who was explaining something in the tone of voice that teachers used to remind their students that 2+2 was always 4.

"Can I not hang out with my friends without something happening?" He asked wryly, nodding in Cleo's direction.

Cleo did a hand gesture in BDubs' direction, both of their eyes flickering red briefly as she muttered something before raising her voice, a slight red glow still illuminating her eyes. "Your friend seems to have a problem with his vision because he thinks he saw me meeting with a villain." She explained, shooting a pitying smile at BDubs, which only enraged the vigilante further.

"I don't 'think' I saw you, I know I did!" BDubs spat, staring at her angrily.

"Explain what you think you saw, Speculum." Grian said, careful not to use the man's real name.

"I-" His friend glanced at Cleo hesitantly, his gaze flicking back to Grian. "You won't believe me anyway."

"Just explain what happened and I'll see if it's believable." Grian reassured him, walking over to the corner that BDubs was stood in.

"Okay, fine. I saw her meeting up with the Red King." BDubs whispered, frowning and staring at the floor.

"Are you sure?" Grian asked quietly, his gaze flicking to Cleo, who was watching with a dark expression, and then to BDubs again.

"I'm sure! You trust me, don't you?" BDubs asked with an uncharacteristic uncertain glance at his friend.

"I do trust you, it's just... understandable why the others might not believe you. I mean, the Red King hardly ever shows his face." Grian explained awkwardly. "He's not really the type to do his own dirty work, is all."

"So you don't believe me. Fine. Whatever. But don't come crying to me when she turns out to be a villain." BDubs added darkly. Was I meant to hear that?

"That's not what I meant, Speculum." Grian said with a sigh. I think I might have upset him there. That's not very good.

"Whatever, bird boy." BDubs muttered, adjusting his mask before raising his voice. "I'm going on patrol. Velox? Wanna come with me?"

BigB- Velox- nodded, fixing his mask, which had fallen slightly, and following the other vigilante as he left the room, grabbing his crossbow hastily.

Grian glanced at Cleo and Pearl. "Any other information to add, or...?"

"Nope. I think he just hates me." Cleo said with a shrug.

"Well, I'm up for going on patrol near the bank if anyone wants to join me. They-" Grian nodded towards the door Velox and Speculum had just walked out of. "-normally patrol downtown when they go on patrol together, so we shouldn't be disturbing their route." He reasoned.

"I'll join you." Cleo paused with a frown, her gaze flickering back and forth between red and green before she settled on red, staring back at him. "You trust me, right, Avis?"

There was a small silence as he battled with his thoughts. There were plenty of reasons to trust and not trust Cleo. And then suddenly, out of nowhere- "Yes." Wow, I didn't even have to think about that one, I just- said it. Um. Okay.

She smiled. "I'm glad. I knew I could count on you, Avis." Her gaze flicked to Luna. "I'll talk to you later, alright, Luna?"

Luna nodded with a small smile. "Yep. Talk to you later, Cleo."

——

Grian paused, interrupting the small silence. "So- what was it like working with the villains?" He asked, secretly hoping to gather extra information.

"I didn't really work with them, persay." Cleo said, humming to herself thoughtfully. "It was more like a... partnership. Mutual respect and all that. I helped them with stuff, they helped me." She shrugged. "It's not that unheard of."

"Oh, I know, I was just-" he broke off at a shout.

"Fiendish villain! Stop right there!" Someone declared... heroically? The elegant image was shattered when Grian heard a small giggle come from the person afterwards.

"Warlock." He muttered, attempting to be somewhat friendly as he turned around to see the hero watching them. His gaze flicked to Engineer, who was stood next to Warlock with a slightly embarrassed expression.

"Warlock, we've talked about this, Elenchos isn't a villain anymore." Grian heard Engineer mutter with a fond smile.

"She's not?" Engineer shook his head. "Oh. Well this is awkward." Warlock shot a sheepish smile at the both of them, surprising Grian more than anything else. "How's, um, how's your patrol going, Avis?"

He blinked. "You're talking to me now?" Grian asked, unable to stop himself from adding, "My, my, what an honour. To what do I owe the pleasure, Warlock?"

Warlock pulled a face. "Hey, I am trying to be nice here." The brunette huffed, letting out a small yelp when Engineer nudged him sharply with his elbow and shot him a significant look.

Grian smiled slightly even though he knew nobody could see it. "You're right, I apologise, Warlock. Patrol is going fine, so far. No disturbance from villains as of yet, which makes a nice change." He glanced from Warlock to Engineer, shifting slightly uncomfortably. When did normal conversations become so difficult? He breathed a silent sigh of relief when Cleo interjected.

"Well, we'll be sure to let you know if there's any disturbance, but we really have to finish this patrol- this area normally has quite a few villains if my information is correct- and I'm sure you two have better things to be doing." Cleo glanced at Grian with an awkward smile. "No offence."

"None taken." He lied, returning her smile. Why do I keep smiling? Nobody can see it under my mask, so... Grian glanced at Warlock and Engineer. "She is right, though- we really should be finishing up this patrol. I'll see you around though. It's been nice talking to you two again." He added quietly, before turning and walking in the other direction as Cleo started to leave.

HAHAHAHA I FINISHED ONE MORE CHAPTER BEFORE GOING ON HOLIDAY LETS GO

This chapter is probably the last one for at least a few hours tho. No idea what the WIFI will be like where I'm going

Enjoyyy :)