Banana Bus Squad 'X' Reader

Vanoss -- Kestrel

"Quite nice up here, isn't it?" A voice from behind me snaps me out of my trance. I turn around as Night Owl sits next to me. I pull my mask down quickly, not wanting him to see the real me. The one with tear stained cheeks, bloodshot eyes, and a constantly depressed look. I'd rather him see the mask, my fake happiness.

"Yeah," I quietly answer. I clear my throat so I don't sound like I was crying. "Gives you time to think..." I trail off. That's what I had been doing, thinking. Thinking about my family, my friends, my past mistakes, my ex-boyfriends, my desire to jump.

"Is something wrong?" He scoots closer to me. I, in turn, scoot away from him. "Kestrel?" He reaches for me and I turn away, covering anything that might reveal the real me.

"I'm fine." I force out. Lies. I hate lying to him but if it gets him off my back, why not do it?

"I can tell you're not fine." He presses, making me squeeze my eyes shut in defeat. His hand rests on my shoulder. "Tell me what's wrong." I open my eyes at his sharp tone and look at him, his owl mask looks like it's glaring at me.

"I-I don't want you to worry about me," I start, he cuts me off before I can tell him anymore.

"We're partners, it's my job to worry about you. To help you." Partners, I never thought of us like that. I mean, we do work together and stuff but he has Batcoon. I'd think they'd be more of partners than me and him.

"I-I..." The words sit on the tip of my tongue, they don't want to leave my mouth. I sigh in frustration. "Things are not always what they seem." I stand quickly, Night Owl's hand falls from my shoulder, he looks up at me. I look towards the street below and jump, opening my metal hawk's wings and gliding away from him, running from my problems.

Evan's P.O.V.

"Things are not always what they seem." And with that, she stands and jumps off the building. My breath hitches in my throat and I hold it until I see her open her wings, letting out a breath of relief. I get up from my seat on the edge of the building and use my grappling hook to get to the street below. I need to find her again.

She thinks I don't know. She thinks I haven't seen the scars on her wrists when her sleeves slip up. She thinks I don't know about her bloodshot eyes from crying. She thinks I don't notice. I see it all, I was behind her when she was sobbing. I was there when she blamed herself for her parents dying. I was there when she blamed herself for her friends' deaths. I was there when she looked down at the street below.

"I'm even too much of a coward to jump."

Her words dug deep into my heart. She hates herself, she wants to die. I want to help her, I want to save her from the hole she'd dug for herself. I want to be the one to get her to love herself as much as I love her. But I can't do that when she runs from me and when she tries her hardest to cover it all up.

I race through the streets while people cheer for me. I don't pay any attention to them, I just keep my mind on one thing and one thing only, Kestrel. I'll need help finding her, I need Batcoon.

Your P.O.V.

The cool evening air glides past my mask and calms me. My wings hover in the air and I search for a place to hide. I dip and soar through the sky, searching.

Finally, I settle with an old, abandoned warehouse near the ocean. I dive through the air and land at the front door. I try the knob and it's locked, typical of a place like this. I kick the door knob and it breaks off the rusty metal door. I open it up and a single light flickers to life from motion sensors.