𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘦𝘴-𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘦 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 ¹

one

the little girl walked along the sidewalk, her hands wrapped tightly around a stuffed plushie of homelander. Her shoes squeaked harshly, her mother gifted her the brand new a-trainers, of course she hated them. She hated homelander, and yet she just smiled as her mother bought him these things.

The woman herself was sweet, but she knew deep down inside her little heart, she wasn't her mother. She just held her hand as they kept walking, her feet aching as they moved quickly.

If anyone was her hero, it was reaper. The man wasn't known well, and everyone was either terrified of him or just hated him. He didn't own social media, at least not ones he used, teams worked on it mostly.

He was never on the news or in interviews, he was almost nonexistent and whenever someone saw him. They would bat there eyes and smile weakly until he left, he didn't have many fans. The ones he did have kept it hidden so they wouldn't be judged.

"Ouch" the little girl felt the sting as her arm was pulled forward harshly. She could see security cars driving down the road, this woman was paranoid.

"Come on, keep up" her eyes widen as she spotted reaper down the road. She knew that face anywhere, even with a hat and his hands hidden in his pockets.

"It's him" her hand let go of the homelander plush, it flopped into a pile of mud. Her mother let out an angry howl as she grabbed her shirt.

"You little shit! Do you have any idea how much that cost". The little girl would've protested but she just stayed silent, and couldn't help but smile.

Reaper moved closer towards them his gaze looking at the side of the woman's face. "It's just a needle you little shit, stop moving before I make it hurt more!".

The woman gasped loudly as her wrist was grabbed "I wouldn't do that if I were you, let the girl go". The thick material of the gloves were freezing, he came prepared of course, he always did.

The woman let go of the little girl, her eyes looking at Nate "I should've killed you when I had the chance". The little girl moved back, Nate looked at her.

"Close your eyes... it'll be over soon" the little girl pinched her eyes shut so tightly. She could hear the sound of a sickening crack and then everything went silent. When she opened her eyes, a cloud of black dust and smoke hovered in the atmosphere.

The woman wasn't there anymore, Nate held tightly onto the glove in his hand as he looked at the little girl. "Please don't tell anyone... I'm trying to get out too" Nate sounded desperate as he begged the girl. He kneeled down in front of her "the bad people, they hurt me, I'm getting you out of this place".

The little girls flesh hardened into a diamond and she felt brave as she grabbed Nate's hand. He flinched at the contact of it "it's okay sir, it doesn't hurt me... nothing can hurt me". He looked at his hand as shards of diamonds lined his flesh, they cracked slowly before fading away. He saw the cracks on her tiny hands but they didn't move, they were still.

"Nothing can hurt me either, I'm Nate and I'm getting you out of this place so you can have a normal life". The girl smiled "I'm Grace. They let me keep my name, the other kids didn't get too".

They walked down the road as the sun began to fade away "my mother named me, I was brought here when I was seven. Of course when I became of age vought came and took me away, that's why I'm getting you out before it's too late".

She grasped his hand more tightly "sir, someone's coming" he turned around quickly pushing her behind him. The security guards looked terrified as they pointed there guns forward.

"Let the girl go! Or we will contain you!" Nate couldn't help but chuckle as he moved toward the group of men. "You really think you can contain me? There may be ten of you, but I doubt you'll stop me".

He heard the guns cock and he sighed as he pulled his other glove off, he let them dangle out his back pocket as he raised his hands upwards slowly.

"Alright man, you got me... I'll let you take me in..." Grace moved toward Nate "what! You can't give up". The guard moved toward Nate with caution "put the gloves back on! Ain't no way in hell we're touching you without the gloves on!".

Nate shrugged his shoulders as he pushed Grave back slightly with his foot, she understood right away when he pointed his fingers downwards.

"You guys are screwed now! The reaper is gonna kill your sorry asses!" Grace giggled after she shouted. Nate slammed his hands down into the road the bullets flying forward fast.

The guards screamed as the road began to crack apart "I'll give you a five second head start" Nate sounded annoyed after he spoke, the guards started running.

"One..." the first guard screamed as his foot cracked, his body falling onto the ground as the rest of his flesh slowly cracked itself into tiny little pieces.

"Two..." two of the guards started shooting at Nate but the bullets cracked when they hit his hands. They looked terrified as the ground beneath them cracked open and they fell through it.

"Three..." Grace threw a diamond shard at one of the guards ankles making him scream as cracks started forming on his throat.

"Four..." Nate pushed his hands more into the ground listening to the world around him go silent as the last few guards all began to fade away into nothing.

"Five..."  he let his hands move away from the ground as he grabbed a hold of Graces hand. "Let's get the hell out of here before more show up".

Grace smiled "thank you for saving me uncle Nate" he smiled at her "you're a smart kid" she shrugged her shoulders. "I just assumed... I remember the lady mentioning I had family, ones like me".

Nate put his hand on the gate and it cracked slowly "we're the same, experiments for these people. That's why I'm getting you out before they make you like me, be better... Grace promise me".

She nodded as they walked out of the facility "I promise". Nate grabbed his gloves out of his back pocket "here, you can keep them".

Grace smiled as she grabbed a hold of the gloves and put them over her hands "I can't control it either". She whispered almost as if she was ashamed.

"Don't worry, I'll help you learn control" he pulled open the passenger door of his car. "Where are we gonna go?" he looked at Grace as she climbed into the car with a slight jump.

"Somewhere safe" he pushed the door shut and she smiled as she hugged herself slightly. She looked at the gloves on her hands with a slight sadness as Nate climbed into the car. "It gets easier, I promise".

He opened his glove compartment grabbing another pair of gloves and slipping them over his hands. Grace didn't say anything else as she looked outside the window. Light patches of rain began to coat it, as Nate started the car and drove away.

—
authors notes:
Gosh I just love writing for Nate already, a little basic first chapter while I continue pre writing the other chapters slowly. Don't worry, Nate and Annie will meet next chapter, and I can't wait!