Show Me a Hero

Chapter V

I can't stop staring at her. Which would be fine if she weren't staring right back. But she is. With that soft little smile of hers, the one I like to think she reserves specially for me and only me. The one that makes me feel like I'm the only thing in the world that matters to her.

"What?" I say, averting my eyes when it gets too overwhelming to hold her gaze.

"Gorgeous," she whispers, running a finger down my jawline, and I feel my face flush, feel my heart rate spike.

When she leans in to kiss me, I truly feel like I could die happy.

~*~*~*~*~

Plane rides make Max miserable.

And thus, plane rides make Eduard miserable.

"Ed, I'm fucking bored."

Eduard sighs and directs his eyes upwards, wondering why the gods have forsaken him so after cursing him with this wretched ability. He would love more than absolutely anything to entertain Max so he'd stop his incessant whining, but alas.

"Wow, this lady's reading one of those porn novels," Max says, peeking over a middle-aged woman's shoulder. "Ooh, the man has disrobed and is about to impale the heroine with his raging hard love rod."

Eduard does his best to shut Max up through sheer will alone but fails.

After tiring of invading various passengers' personal space and being an obnoxious, nosy wanker, Max retires to sitting cross legged in the aisle beside Eduard.

"Ed, I'm fucking bored."

This is going to be a long flight.

~*~*~*~*~

"What in the hell were you two thinking?"

Jim rubs the back of his neck, chuckling nervously, while Nylekae just beams innocently at Ryker.

"We simply did whatchu asked, boss."

"You, be quiet," Ryker says, directed at Ny. "You," she points at Jim, "explain."

"We just made him think he was haunted, is all."

"Haunted."

"Exactly! It was so easy, you shoulda seen the look on—"

"Didn't I tell you to be quiet?"

Gasp. "I'm affronted."

"Look, boss, Nylekae and I just...had a li'l fun with the kid. No real damage was done."

"The boy had himself admitted into a psych ward because of you two."

"Bah, he'll be fine."

"What part of 'be quiet' are you having difficulty comprehending?"

"All of it, really."

Jim punches Ny in the shoulder. "Would you stop?"

Ryker inhales deeply, eyes closed. When she opens them, Nylekae and Jim are taking turns hitting each other while muttering curses and insults. "Where did you two even get so many mannequins?"

"Don't ask," Jim and Ny answer.

"Nylekae, you're on bar duty for a month."

"What?! That's ridiculous, I—"

"You wanna make it two?"

Nylekae quiets herself, but not without a pout.

"Now get out of my office." Ryker waits until they're almost out the door to add, "Melissa thanks you two. She had a good laugh about it."

"Anytime, boss," Nylekae says, complete with finger guns.

~*~*~*~*~

"I still can't believe you turned down the opportunity to be part of a secret vigilante organization."

"I've got my hands full with the ghosts I run across already, I don't think it's wise to take on being a secret agent who breaks the law on top of it."

"But—"

"No buts. Now shoo, I've a sickly mother to tend to."

When Max has left—to do what, Eduard doesn't know, and Max always dismisses him when he asks—Eduard takes a moment to just...breathe. What a crazy day it was yesterday. But...did he make a mistake by turning down Director Ryker's offer?

He's always felt so out of place due to his ability. Always had to keep it hidden for fear that he'd end up like...

Well.

But here was an organization that not only found his ability to be useful but also offered him the opportunity to be surrounded by and work with others like him. Others who have probably shared the same struggle as he had as a child and now have a place where they belong, where they can make a difference.

Belonging...

"Samuel? Sind sie das?"

Eduard sighs, brow furrowing slightly, as he settles himself on the edge of his mother's bed. "No, mam, it's Eduard."

"Oh, Sam...I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry..."

Eduard can feel the black card burning a hole through his pocket.

You know where to find us.

~*~*~*~*~

"JJ, come spar with me! Jim doesn't fight fair!"

"I do too fight fair, and I won't stand for this slandering of my character."

JJ blows a strand of curly hair out of his face, taking only a second to decide that he'd rather not get bruised and sweaty right now. "No," he says simply, then makes a show of settling deeper into his beanbag positioned on the side of the sparring ring.

"Boo! No fun allowed!"

"I'm having plenty of fun drawing in my sketchbook, thank you very much."

JJ flips to a fresh page, deciding to abandon his drawing of a train for the time being and instead drawing Nylekae being picked up and thrown to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

"How is this fair?" she wheezes, splayed out like a starfish.

"How is it fair to throw me into your pocket then release me from the ceiling?"

Nylekae points a weak finger at Jim. "Touche."

~*~*~*~*~

Nikita yawns, watching the LIGHT agents spar while she picks at her lunch. Father never lets her join in. Always says it's too dangerous.

And not for the first time that day, she finds her mind meandering its way back to that woman she saw the night of her birthday. It seems no matter what she does, that woman is always there, waiting in the shadowy corners of her thoughts to pop up when she has nothing to distract herself.

Nikita feels this ache deep in her chest, this inexplicable sense of intense longing. She tries to shake off the feeling. She's just lonely. That's all it is. So her brain decides to make this beautiful woman the object of her infatuation.

Nikita blushes, tries not to let her mind go to other, more inappropriate places regarding that woman as she is wont to do at night, alone in her bed.

"Nikita!"

She jumps, instinctively pulling her jacket tighter around herself as if to shield her thoughts from prying mind readers.

"Y-Yes, Father?"

The man frowns as he looks her over. "It's cold. You should be inside."

"Yes, Father." Nikita rises from the bench she'd been sitting on, deciding to just toss her lunch as she's lost her appetite anyway.

"You've barely touched your food."

"Not hungry, I guess."

He watches as she walks off, a plan brewing in his head. He never imagined they'd run into that wretched woman at the restaurant. Last he heard, she was supposed to be in Germany. Clearly his intel is not as reliable as he originally thought.

The only solution here, difficult though it may be, is to kill her.