Arsonist's Lullaby ⇸ Legends of Tomorrow

2| Skin Changer

There was a cold dread washing over me as the reality struck deep in my mind. My mouth was gaping open, my heart racing in my chest as my skin tingled. The man continued to stare down at me, amusement and wonder flooding through his eyes. I watched as his mouth opened and words formed but I heard nothing, my mind growing quiet as I heard my father's warnings over and over in my head. 

Never show someone what you can do. Never allow people to know. Never reveal yourself or bad things will follow. Human's natural instinct when something unknown crosses their path is fear and fear is a powerful weapon. 

He'd told me for years that fear from other people could get me killed and that had rooted into my brain, even as a child. Something like this had never happened, I had been so careful for so long. I'd put up barriers to keep people away, to avoid getting close to people who couldn't know the truth. 

"Are you even listening to me?" His question jolted me from my mind as I gawked around, the bar fight still in full swing. I couldn't see Amberly anywhere and the roar of the screams rushed over my head. Without thinking I stepped backwards, the man in front of me watching. 

"I need to go." I hastily said. I saw something flash in his eyes, it wasn't fear. I had seen fear all my life, it was the look my father gave me when he didn't think I was looking. He loved me in his own way but he also feared what I could do, what I could become. 

The man's hand reached out, snagging at my wrist which I shrugged out of out quickly, focusing all my might on not changing when his warm skin touched mine. "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you." 

I saw it in his eyes, he was telling me the truth but that didn't mean I could trust him.

"Hey, Snart! A little help here!" My gaze was torn away from the man in front of me, his attention breaking for only a moment. I wasn't sure what he was going to do, what thoughts were rushing through his brain. 

I watched as the blonde women flipped a drunken man over her back swiftly, his heavy body falling to the ground in a heap. Her eyes lifted up, focusing on him. "Well, are you gonna' help or not?" She questioned, not even looking over at me.

Snart turned back to me, "Don't go anyway."

He moved away, heading back to the center of the fight and I hesitated for only a moment. I was torn in half. I knew every fiber in my body was telling me to run, to leave the bar and never look back. If my father were here, we would be half across the state already, putting distance between this town but there was a voice in my head, tiny and quiet telling me to stay. 

I didn't. 

I twisted on my heel, forgetting all about Amberly and the man named Snart who hadn't looked at me like I was some science experiment. I moved towards the door hastily, trying to shift through the crowd and forget about the blonde women who could take care of herself or the other man who looked just as mean as Snart. 

I was getting the hell of out here. 

I pushed past a man with a bald head and a tattoo snaking up his arm, trying to get to the nearest exit when a body connected with my own. I was pushed forward, my head hitting the corner of a table with a loud thump. My body hit the floor next, hot blood coming from the wound on my head. 

My eyes blinked a few times, my fingertips touching the warmth seeping along my hairline. When I tried to push myself up my body shook with pain, my head growing cloudy.

"I told you not to move," When I glanced up I saw Snart staring down at me. His friends were beside him, their confusion clear on their faces. "I knew I should have gotten Mick to watch you."

The blonde women bent down without hesitation, her fingertips grazing my forehead as she checked out the cut. "It looks pretty deep."

I was already shaking my head, shifting away from her. "It's fine, I'm fine." The words were a lie but I couldn't go to the hospital, not when I didn't have total control on my powers. Hospitals were full of people scared and afraid. I couldn't accidentally brush by a weeping women without getting noticed as I took her appearance. 

"Look, the cut's deep. Without some sort of medical attention it's only going to get worse. You've most likely got a concussion too." She said seriously. 

I shook my head firmly. "I can't go to the hospital."

Snart bent down, "She's right, Sara. There's no way she's in any condition."

The blonde woman named Sara stared across at him. "Wait, why?"

Snart's eyes flickered back to me. "She's a skin changer or something like that."

The three of them were oddly quiet and my heart thumped away in my chest again, waiting for them to freak out or something but they didn't.

It was Mick that reached down, hauling me upwards effortlessly until I was resting in his arms, rather comfortably. He carried me out of the bar without much of a word, his arms covered in material so I couldn't shift into him. 

When the air hit my face my brain started up again. "Where are you taking me?" 

Sara, the blonde was walking in front of us when she turned back to face me. "It's a long story, but I can assume you'll grow to the idea."

I frowned. "What idea?"

"We're heading to a time ship or whatever," Snart replied, coming up from behind us. We had stood in a quiet alleyway. "It's probably the best place for you to get fixed up without peering eyes seeing your powers come out and play."

I didn't understand what they were saying, a time ship? 

I didn't really know what to say, I guess there weren't many words to say after someone tells you that. So, I tilted my head up, catching the eye of Mick while Snart and Sara unpicked a car's lock. "Uh, thanks."

Mick's eyes flashed down to glance at me. "Don't get any ideas, Damsel. I'm not doing this for you."

I felt a redness creep into my cheeks at his chosen nickname but I kept my mouth shut as he helped me into the backseat of the stolen car, oblivious to the fact that my life was suddenly going to change very quickly.