Aero *Completed Story*

Chapter 6

Here we stand
Worlds apart
Hearts broken in two.
Sleepless nights
Losing ground
I'm reaching for you.

Preston shifted her head back and forth a little then slowly opened her eyes. As she blinked, she could tell her contacts were no longer in. Whoever had captured her must know she has powers. She put her elbow on the hard surface below her and pushed herself up. As she did that she felt a sharp stabbing sensation in her lower back. The pain she felt made her cringe.

"Unfortunately, they don't handle their prisoners too nicely here. How are you feeling?"

Preston looked to her left to see a costumed figure reaching his hand out to help her. She grabbed his hand and he gently placed his other hand on her back and pushed her back up until she was in a sitting position.

"I think it's just a bruise that's on top of an older injury. I should be ok." After she sat up and got a closer look at the man, she smiled when she recognized who it was. "Don!" She stopped herself, realizing he was in costume. "I mean Dove, how did you get here?"

He looked closely at her eyes. "Aero right? I would recognize your eyes anywhere."

She looked down at her clothes and gathered a bit of her shirt in her right hand, she almost forgot she wasn't in costume. When she looked up she noticed Dove nod in understanding.

"I would imagine my story is similar to yours. Hawk and I received a distress call from a small country in Africa. They needed help settling a dispute with another country. Hawk had another mission, so I came alone. Seems as soon as I landed I was captured."

Preston wasn't sure if she should tell him about her mission or not. "Yeah sounds about right." She lied refusing the compromise the mission in anyway.

Dove could sense her holding something back. He decided not to push it. She was in a strange place, didn't know what was going on, and she had only met him on a few occasions. That was not enough to establish true trust between them. Regardless of that he decided to be nothing but honest with her.

"I don't understand, why are you still Dove? I thought you reverted automatically after some time."

"Normally I do. But I stay in the form of Dove as long as I sense danger. I honestly don't remember being in this form for this long before." He cocked his head trying to think.

"How long have you been here?" His comment brought Preston her first twinge of worry.

"About a month. They have been doing experiments on us here. I mean superheroes, those of us with abilities. They started doing tests on me about two weeks ago. Seems they are testing my healing powers."

Preston reached out and rubbed his arm. "Are you ok? What have they done?"

He put his hand on top of hers and gave her a meaningful expression. "I'm fine. Just a few scars here and there. Thankfully my healing power still works down here." Preston gave him a look of confusion. He continued, "It seems like they have some sort of dampening device set up around the compound. As far as I can tell we are about ten feet or so underground. The device seems to keep us from using our powers. I assume so they don't have to worry about us attacking them or getting free. Odd though, several of my powers are not affected. I figure that is because of the way I received my powers. I wasn't born with them like most of the Justice League. Instead they were bestowed on me by supernatural beings. That's the only thing that I can think of that accounts for me still being in this form."

"Which powers do you still have?" Preston was finally getting information. She had waited a whole year in this place, searching and digging for any information she could get. A little wave of relief swept over her and she felt a small sense of accomplishment. She decided she would wait a little while longer before activating the viridium patch, she wanted to make sure she had all the details she could get.

"Seems I still have my healing power and I can sense emotions around me. And it has allowed me to sense how many others are being held here, and what they are feeling, and when they..." A twinge of sadness could be heard in his voice. "Pass on. I have figured out there are only about six other superheroes here, but that number has gone down rapidly. When I came here there were ten. One of the things the people who run this compound do is test where in the body or what in the body produces the super powers and then they remove them and give them to another person with powers. Little did we know that when someone's power is taken away, the person dies. It seems none of us realized how important our powers were. They are intricate to our very lives, our very being."

Preston sat back in shock. She felt somewhat ashamed. All those years she hated her wings and refused to use them, yet they were as crucial to her life as were her lungs or heart.

Dove scooted over to her. "Don't feel bad. All of us at one time or another despised our powers. I think that is a part of growing up." He gave her a reassuring smile.

"How did you..." as soon as she asked a glint of recognition showed in her eyes.

"One good thing about being able to sense emotion." He winked at her.

"Thanks." She pushed the shame away and focused again. "So, there are six others here, any idea how many people running the compound, or who is running it?"

Dove closed his eyes. He breathed in the stiff air that surrounded him and let himself sense the feelings that were all around the compound. "It's easier to get a read on friendlies but I sense about a dozen other people."

"Any idea who it's run by?"

"That still remains a mystery to me. I can tell every time they have experimented on me that he is in the room, but they have always blind folded me or I have passed out from the pain and I haven't been able to get a look at him. I can tell you he is cruel and inhumane." Dove's temper started to rise, a thick note of contempt could be heard in the last few words he said. He tried to shake it off. "Being here has really shaken me up. I am normally quite at peace, but this place, has a way of disrupting it."

Preston's forehead furrowed, and she gave him a look of sympathy. "I am so sorry. Don't worry I am sure we will be out of here soon."

"You aren't going anywhere" a gruff voice came from outside the cell they were in. Both Dove and Preston's heads quickly jerked up to see a tall, bulky man opening the door. "Girl, you are coming with me." As he said that, he grabbed Preston's arm. Dove grabbed her other hand and squeezed it. She didn't know why but when he did that she felt a sense of strength and peace.