Show Me a Hero

Chapter III

Sometimes I wait all night for her to show up and she doesn't. Nights like these, I worry. I fret. I fiddle with my hair and skip rocks across Lake T'lia, praying to whatever gods or goddesses that are out there that she'll come.

When she doesn't, I know it means a sleepless night for her. I know it probably means she's out doing something stupidly dangerous.

Nights like these, I wish I didn't love her.

~*~*~*~*~

"Er..." Eduard looks to Maxwell, then behind him to Mr. Pudge delightedly scarfing down the chocolate donuts. "What do I do?" he asks eventually. Max shrugs; Mr. Pudge just waves him off and slams the door shut. "I'm going to die in here. Oh, dear."

"Stop being such a drama queen."

Before them is a short, narrow hallway. Down the hall is a lift, with only a button to go down.

"Well, go on then," Max urges.

"You first, you're the ghost! If it's a death machine, it can't kill you again, now can it?"

Just then, the lift dings.

The doors slide open to reveal a beautiful, well-dressed woman, black hair done up in a pristine bun. She carries herself elegantly, almost regally, yet there is a softness to her brown eyes that exudes a comforting, welcoming aura. "Gentlemen," she greets. "I've been expecting you."

~*~*~*~*~

"How do I look?"

"Like a clown."

"I concur," says Jim, back from his pre-op run. He shakes his head and sprays sweat every which way.

Nylekae gasps. "Rude."

JJ's shoulder lifts up in a half shrug as he doodles idly in his sketchbook. "Just accept that you're awful at makeup, Ny."

She huffs out a breath. "Yeah, I guess," she concedes, heading back to her bathroom to wash off her sorry attempt at smokey eyes.

Jim flops onto the mattress beside JJ who proceeds to berate him for dirtying up his bedsheets with his sweaty ass. Jim ignores this because he's a complete tool.

JJ emits a sound of disgust, shielding his sketchbook with his body in case Jim decides to do his best impression of a wet golden retriever again. "Uh, shower much?"

"Yeah," Nylekae says upon reentering the room, "hurry up or I'll be late to my date with Mike."

"Mark," Jim corrects.

"Whatever."

"This is a six bedroom mansion, is there a reason you two always feel the need to be in this bedroom all the time?"

"You love us," Nylekae says, slipping on a pair of strappy stiletto heels.

JJ tries to push Jim out of his bed but his lanky build is no match for the other's muscular one. "You're both awful," he grouses, but it's not without affection. "Get outta here so I can get ready for work in peace."

"Okay, okay," Nylekae says, grabbing Jim by the ear. "We're going, we're going."

JJ bites back a smile as Jim's "ow, ow, ow"s fade down the hallway.

~*~*~*~*~

"You...You can see him?"

"Oh, rest assured, Mr. Fleischer, we see everything."

"Well, that doesn't really answer the question," Max mutters, and almost as if she heard him, the lady smiles.

"But to answer your question, no, I cannot see Mr. Harrison."

Eduard and Max share looks of equal parts suspicion and surprise. "How do you—"

"There'll be plenty of time for that later." The woman steps aside and sweeps her arm out, an invitation. "Oh, but where are my manners? Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Crystal Ryker, the chief director of DUSK."

~*~*~*~*~

Nylekae stifles a yawn, trying her damndest to stare dreamily at Mitch while he blathers on about something or other. Really, this is the last time she agrees to do these fucking missions. There are plenty of DUSK agents that are not only just as capable at handling bozos like this but are also actually able to do makeup.

"—think, Nancy?"

Oh, shit, he just asked her something. "Oh," Nylekae giggles, "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I—"

"Actually, never mind," she interrupts quickly, taking a sip of wine. "I was wondering..." She slips off one of her heels and runs her toes up the length of Mason's calf. "How 'bout we get outta here and go back to your place for a nightcap?"

There really is no better suited word to describe his ensuing smile than lecherous. Nylekae is really reconsidering having sex with the guy. JJ's always lecturing her about her lack of self-worth and unhealthy need to sleep with anybody that'll give her the time of day in a futile attempt to fill the vast void deep within herself anyway.

Nylekae scowls inwardly. What does he know.

"I'll call for the check then," Miguel says.

In her ear, Ny hears Jim say through a mouthful of potato chips, "Finally, jeez. I don't know how much longer I can take listening to this guy stroke his own ego."

Just as they're rising to leave, a young woman dining with her oddly youthful looking father happens to take notice of him staring intently at someone behind her. Intrigued, she turns her head, holding back a gasp of awe at the sight that greets her.

The woman is stunning. Petite in stature but there's a graceful strength to her every move. Her sparkling backless dress reveals an expanse of rippling muscle as she takes up the arm proffered to her by her male companion. But what's really striking is her hair. White, pure as snow. And when she turns her head, laughing melodically at something her companion said, her gray eyes almost seem to glow under the dim lighting of the restaurant.

Nikita stays staring at the empty space the woman had previously occupied long after she's gone, her heart beating a staccato rhythm in her chest.

"Nikita," Father says for what sounds like not the first time.

Nikita tries to shake the image of the woman out of her head, but it proves unsuccessful. "Yes, Father?"

He looks her over intently and she's afraid he can see right through her, can read her thoughts even though she herself can't decipher her own thoughts on the woman.

"Do you know that woman?"

"N-No, Father. I was just wondering what you were staring at and happened to catch sight of her. She...She's very beautiful," Nikita admits bashfully, ducking her head.

"Indeed," he replies at length. "Come. We must return home now."

Home. Nikita nods and smiles, thanking her father for allowing her to eat out on her birthday. But she doesn't tell him that no matter how many years she's resided within LIGHT Headquarters, she doesn't think she'll ever be able to call it home.