A Villain's Hero

Chapter 25 - Matteo

"Why the hell did you let him go?" Matteo bottled this question for almost two hours before he finally found himself alone with Max in a place where no one could eavesdrop.

"It's complicated," Max said without looking at him. If Matteo didn't know better, he'd think he was nervous.

"Max," he addressed him. He needed him to look him in the eye if he was going to trust him. Not that he didn't already trust him, but after what had happened today, he had his doubts.

"Max!" That managed to get his attention.

The older superhero put his hands on the table and let out a deep breath. "I think there's more going on than we know."

"Obviously," Matteo replied in a tone that implied it was blindingly apparent. "We're talking about Revenger. He's full of shit and secrets."

"He's smart," Max corrected him.

"Evil," Matteo stood his ground.

Other times Max would look at least a little amused when Matteo badmouthed the masked villain, but this time he just sighed.

"What's going on, Max?" The blond man's voice grew more serious.

"I think I know what Revenger was talking about. One with a pierced heart, one with a slit throat and a boy," he elaborated as Matteo looked at him expectantly. "I'm not sure, but I think if we earn his trust, he'll tell us more."

"What do you think he meant?" Although Revenger gave him a partial answer, he still didn't know exactly what to make of it.

Matteo expected an answer, but instead he was met with silence.

"Max," he addressed him again. The older man looked up at him, but he still remained silent.

"I want to tell you, Matteo, I really do, but it's not that easy. I have to confirm something first, but that's not possible at the moment. The headquarters has me under surveillance since I vouched for Revenger," Max explained with another sigh.

"So we'll either get answers from Revenger or from those two," Matteo concluded. As much as he wanted answers, he knew that if Max didn't want to talk about something, there was no way to convince him.

"Yes," he confirmed.

"Do you want to be a good cop or a bad cop?" Matteo asked, amusement in his voice. Although he was still confused and angry, he tried to lighten the mood. After everything that had happened today, he had no choice but to hope that everything would turn out all right.

As it turned out, however, things were about to get worse.

It had been foolish to think that the Legion's corruption had been restricted to the two of them, and now Matteo knew it as he stared at the empty interrogation room.

"Shit!" Citadel kicked an empty chair, which landed against the wall with a clatter.

"What about the CCTV footage?" He turned to the nearest guard.

"There's a loop on it. Someone tampered with the footage," the man in the suit explained.

"What about the guards outside the room?" He continued his questioning.

"Stunned. They're lucky to be alive." Another unsatisfactory answer.

"All of them?" If someone was missing, at least they'd know who to suspect. But they weren't so lucky, because the guard gave him another useless answer.

"All of them."

Matteo laughed, but it was not a laugh of amusement, but a bitter laugh of despair. He ran his hands through his hair and spun around before his eyes rested on the guard again.