Wonder • Five Hargreeves

45

I Heard a Rumor
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Winnies eyes stung with tears for 2 reasons.

The first was that it was very, very cold.

It was the middle of February in New York- and the temperature was a crisp and chilly 22 degrees (farenheit of course), but it felt a little more like 10 degrees and lower with the whip of wind. The sky was the most perfect shade of blue- the type of blue one could only see in the dead of winter- and really was the only beautiful thing about the day.

All else to see was just the grey and brown buildings, and the grey and brown snow. The trees along the roads were haunting twists of clammy wood that looked distinctly like outstretched claws. The people, the few that there was who were brave enough to walk in the cold, were all miserable bundles of scarves and coats with teary eyes and red cheeks.

The second reason Winnie's eyes stung was that she had just been punched in the face.

This was a natural human reaction to getting a left hook to the cheekbone, so Winnie felt no shame. She also had a broken rib and a dozen more fresh bruises and cuts that might also make one teary eyed- but she was fairly certain it was the punch.

"You know," Winnie spat out blood, looking upward with admiring eyes. "The sky really is pretty today."

"Shut the fuck up!" Came the charming reply. Winnie rolled her eyes.

She was shoved against the side of a building in a dank little alleyway. The textured cement had already scraped raw the side of her face, and two men locked her arms out to either side to leave her torso open. Three other large men were present, but Winnie only looked at the one in front of her; He was taking lead with the beating and was also the one with the witty banter.

"Just answer the question-" The man hissed into her face and Winnie watched the white clouds of his breath fill the air. "Where is the painting? The one that lead the rest of you freaky fucks to our hide-out?"

"Maybe you should ask Number 2 over there... oh wait. You knocked him out." Winnie cocked her head to the right, a bored look on her face, before receiving a knee to stomach for her snarky response. Boy that hurt.

On the floor across the alley, Diego had been knocked out ruthlessly by a bat to the head. He and Winnie were meant to be patrolling around the building- setting up to take down a large criminal organization. Only that criminal organization got the drop on them first. Now Winnie was getting beaten to the inch of her life by a group of men- tortured for information.

She hoped Diego was okay, but that thought fell to that background as she received another punch to the face. This time she felt a tooth come loose and she coughed out the blood that dripped down her throat.

"Fuck man." Winnie coughed again, almost doubling over in aching pain, before the men pushed her back against the wall, knocking her head back so her vision filled with swirly black stars.

The lead man reared back to punch her again, but Winnie groaned a soft 'stop'. He did slowly and came forward to grab her by the throat to look him in the eye. Winnies eyes, however, were not filled with fear or pain.

No- they sparkled at him.

"You don't even know my safe word yet." She choked out with a grin.

The man flushed red and started squeezing, but Winnie was laughing. And it was a horrifying sight. Her teeth were stained red with blood but she bared them to the crowd. Her usual pale skin was broken and bruised with dark welts of blue and purple- and it stung horribly in the cold. Her once beautiful white blonde hair was messy and matted with blood that she felt drip down the back of her head- but Winnie didnt even look to notice.