Overtime

twenty-four ✧ || glory

The clicking of photographs and the humming of the crowd had yet to die down with the setting of the sun. Shockingly, when something as horrifying as what had taken place that day occurs, a city magically gets pumped with a new sense of life — a sense of horror of what could be, and of what was.

For Oakland, a city built on crime, a shooting was far from unique. What made the story so groundbreaking, so extraordinary to a city drowned it in, was the fact that half-humans were the ones who stopped it. Even more shocking, days earlier they had been locked away — arrested, of sorts — for exposing their abilities.

Now, there they sat on the front steps of the school: hunched over in horror, swimming in the knowledge of their accomplishments.

Given that the clicking of cameras were all at the end of the roped off walkway, and that the only positive press coverage was coming from Glendhall, they didn't feel victorious. An unfortunate addition was that they probably needed clearance from The Professor before doing anything, let alone speaking to reporters.

"So," Jay began, his head settled between his palms propped on his knees. "Are we just gonna be sitting ducks?"

Noah sighed, scratching the back of his head, stretching his normal leg out against the concrete step he sat on. "Not ducks. Ducks are too innocent and cute." Jay scoffed in response.

"So we're like sitting dragons." Raymond offered, adjusting his glasses.

Jay chuckled. "Sure, that works."

Once again, the group was thrust into silence.

For years, silence had been their normal. Now, oddly enough, it left them feeling uncomfortable. How strange how quickly things could change. It took a little under a week for their lives to be flipped on their heads. Now, they sat still, their worlds changed, pleading for the silence to shatter.

"Do you think Aubrey's going to be okay?" Jay's voice, once again, dared to answer the group's silent prayers. There was comfort they all found in addressing her as her cover name, not her code name. If they could help it, when they were in the comfort of one another, they wanted to keep it that way.

Colten remained silent, a cigarette between his lips his gaze stuck on his bloodied, burned hands. From the moment they first sat on the cold steps he had been mesmerized by them — studying the potential last memory of Aubrey.

To think, she had been so worried about burning him that she wanted to deny his help to begin with. Maybe now, hopefully now, she would realize that didn't matter.

"I hope so." He mumbled, his fingers lifted to remove the device from between his lips. He allowed his free fingers to roll over the burns lingering under the dried blood. He refused to wash it off. Luckily for him, none of his teammates had asked him to. They all knew the boat he was in. Hell, they were all on the same ship.

"Why are they allowed to be here?" The snarky voice of a nearby woman caught the attention of the group. While only Jay, Dustin, and Raymond dared to see who spoke, Noah and Colten remained only attentive listeners.

A few paces away was a woman, clutching a teenage boy to her chest. Given her protective grip on his shoulders, the group assumed she was his mother. He looked fairly shaken, although not nearly as much as his parent.

The woman was blonde, and had her frazzled hair pulled into a loose ponytail. She wore heels and a black pencil skirt, a floral green blouse beginning to pop out from where it had been tucked into it. To say she was panicked was an understatement, and given the side eyes she was casting the 'theys,' they could assume she was bitter too.

The officer she was speaking with cast a glance in the same direction, spotting the five against the front steps. "They're involved in the situation, m'am. We're keeping them around."