Powerless

6. Hidden Away

"Don't hog the fun, Wilford." I cringed as Chase popped up from behind Will laughing. 

"Don't worry, Ace. I wouldn't start without you." Patton grabbed my wrist careful not to touch my hand and dragged me into the 'safe room'. He pulled me far away from the door and sat me down on the floor. He started to take the rest of my glove off and I pulled away. He jumped up and threw his hands out in frustration. 

"Look I'm sorry ok? I never..." He stopped and turned around with tears in his eyes. "I never wanted to be mean to you. I just... I want to help." I narrowed my eyes and He knelt down in front of me looking guilty. "Roman,  he... He convinced me that the only way I could truly help you was if we somehow managed to scare you off. He has it in his head that if you stay here you're going to end up hurt or worse and I couldn't... I couldn't change his mind."

"So you joined him?" Patton just looked away and I frowned. "You do know Roman hates me right? Why would he..."

"He doesn't hate you he..."

"Yes, he does." I growled and Patton froze. He shook his head and reached out again for my hands. "Stop."

"I need to heal you. So either you stand still and let me do my part or I call Roman in to tie you up. Either way, I'm still going to heal you, and those gloves are coming off." My eyes went wide and I could feel myself start to shake. He reached out again and I freaked out. I nearly punched the dude. "Fine... RO..." 

"Shut up!" I covered his mouth with my left hand and he narrowed his eyes at me.  I took a deep breath trying to stabilize my breathing and looked over at the door. "I'll let go if you promise not to say a word... AT ALL!" He nodded furiously and I narrowed my eyes. "I mean it,, Pat. Not one single word." He nodded again and I sighed removing my hand from his mouth. He quickly grabbed my hand, taking off my glove before I could react. "PATTON!" He froze just staring at my left hand as if what he was seeing was fake. I started to pull away and he held my wrist tighter. 

 "Hold still please." I watched as he moved his hands to hover above mine and I tensed up. He closed his eyes and whispered something under his breath as his hands slowly started to glow. I watched as my skin started to heal and I smiled. Patton took a deep breath as he let his hands drop and I quickly moved mine before he could accidentally touch them. He looked up at me with a bright smile and I frowned. "So... you... You have scales?"

"I said I would remove my hand. I never said..." He shook his head and I looked away.

"Why are you hiding them? Are they just on your hands or... Is that why you wear a mask?" I narrowed my eyes at him and he frowned. "I don't care. Really I don't. I'm just... I'm confused. Roman said..."

"ROMAN DOESN'T KNOW EVERYTHING OK?!" I snapped causing Patton to jump back. I saw the pain in his eyes and I groaned. Go back to hating me... Then I wouldn't feel so guilty. I grabbed my gloves off the floor and started to put them back on, ignoring Pattons confused look.

"You do know this means you have some sort of power right? I mean even if you don't know what it is yet..."

"This isn't Boku No Hero Academia, Patton. This isn't some freaky thing where I was born with a snake quirk. I just... I just look like one." He crossed his arms and shot me this look making me cringe slightly.

"Cassidy Winters. It's not nice to lie." His face dropped and he looked away. "I just... You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. Just... If you're in trouble... please fight. I know 2 other people besides myself who would just hate it if you got hurt."

"You're kidding me, right? You find out I have snake scales and you just automatically..." There was this loud explosion and we both jumped up in fear. Next thing I knew Roman was flung in the room, landing right in front of me, broken and beaten. "Well shit. There goes our offense."