The Conductor {Black Lightning}{Wattys2018}

Ch. 27: Slipping

"Great," said Anissa, flopping onto Gambi's sofa with her arms crossed, "now Dad's not gonna let me go anywhere."

"As he should!" said Gambi. "The One Hundred is getting bolder and bolder and until they stop, no one is safe unless we look out for each other. They attacked a church for money when they know churches are poorer than anywhere else. They have no respect!"

"Well, Dad made sure they didn't get their money," said Anissa, "so that should teach them a lesson."

Gambi eyes widened. "Anissa, be careful of what you say around--"

Eugene waved her hand dismissively. "It's fine. I already know it's him. She's a terrible liar."

"Yeah, evidently." Gambi sighed as he turned back to Anissa. "You know, you aren't exactly making things easier for your father. You want to be a superhero and go out and about? Keep your mouth shut."

Anissa huffed as he left the room.

***

"Eugene, I don't think you should go out."

"Anissa, I'll be fine." Eugene had to check in with Tobias and Anissa didn't want her to leave. But unknown to Anissa, the only way she wouldn't be fine was being late for Tobias.

"Can I at least go with you?" Anissa asked.

"Um...no, I don't think that's a good idea." Eugene suppressed a grimace. "Mr. Pierce would be so worried he'd lay an egg."

Anissa snickered. "Oh, come on. At least I can defend myself. You can't."

"But I won't need to, 'cause no one's gonna come after me," Eugene argued. "I'm not the one who got shot."

"You sure seem to get injured a lot, though."

"That's just my clumsiness, You got a member of the One Hundred on your back." Guilt gnawed at Eugene's stomach. That member was her. "I'll be fine. It's just a quick errand that I have to run."

***

Eugene was not, in fact, fine.

"Why didn't you kill him?!" Tobias roared when she arrived at his mansion. "He was right there in the church! You had him right under your nose and you didn't kill him!"

"I couldn't reveal myself!" she tried.

"Well, neither could he! And this time, he didn't have that clown suit on, so what's your excuse now?!"

"I couldn't see who it was in the chaos! I tried! I really did!"

"That's BULLSHIT!" He smacked her so hard she was lifted off her feet and flew backward into a vase. Eugene glanced at the shards of glass around her, tears burning at the back of her eyes.

"You're paying for that vase," Tobias hissed through a clenched jaw. "And you better get your act together because that protection money the church won't give was gonna go to your hospital bills and I won't pay them with money I don't have."

"Okay."

"And look me in the eye when I'm talking to you!"

Eugene grimaced as she struggled to move her neck. He had given her fucking whiplash. As if she didn't have enough problems already.

"O-okay." The tears from earlier spilled over as she tried to contain her groans of pain.

"You slippin', Eugene," said Tobias, shaking his finger at her. "And one day you're gonna trip over the corpses of your loved ones if you're not careful."

She swallowed the lump in her throat and gingerly wiped her tears away. She was fucking sick of this. "O-okay."

***

The ambrosia took the pain away, but nothing took away the everlasting brick of dread in her stomach. Her excuses were becoming thinner and thinner and Tobias' patience was disappearing quicker and quicker. He had already snapped, but one day he was going to snap and it would cost somebody their life.

When she entered Gambi's apartment, Anissa immediately noticed her labored breathing and got up to help her.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, it was just a long walk," said Eugene. "I'm not used to these stairs."

"Yeah, I love Uncle Gambi, but this place is not disabled-friendly at all," said Anissa. "They need to catch that person who shot me and throw them in jail or something, so we can go back home and Dad can get off my back."

"Yeah, they really do." Eugene glanced down at her feet as her eyes suddenly became wet again. Luckily, Anissa didn't mind not having eye contact while she was talking, unlike Tobias. That Eugene could just pass off as needing to see where she was going so she didn't trip over anything.

"I just wish everything would go back to normal." Anissa heaved a sigh as they sat on the couch together.

"Well, you have superpowers," said Eugene. "Nothing's going to be normal now."

"That's true."