Saving lives is what Hannah Harris does. Whether it's through her official job as a nurse at Merifield Memorial Hospital or as the super strength wielding hero Silver Shield. She's got it all balanced, hospital, friends, supervillains and her handso...
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The city lights glittered in the night, spread out before her like a reflection of the star studded sky. Silver Shield let her black booted feet dangle over the ledge as she scrolled through her phone. The light splashed across her face and made the silver of her hair seem to shimmer. A short blip of static pulled her from her idle thoughts. A mellow voice called from the earpiece settled in her left ear, "Silver Shield, report."
She tapped the earbud quickly and then held down the tiny button on the second tap. "All quiet," Silver reported. Her voice came out rough and gravely thanks to the voice modulator hooked into the lining of her suit collar. The line went dead when she let go of the button so she could resume her lazy scrolling.
"You're not even paying attention," Black Star called out from a few paces behind her. Even at a distance, his sudden appearance still made her jump.
"Jesus, Star, I've told you not to sneak up on me. It's creepy," Silver snapped, willing her pulse to settle.
"It was barely sneaking, you just weren't paying attention," he paused before adding, "again." Star sauntered forward to lean against the low ledge beside her. Unlike Silver's mask which included a thin film to obscure her eyes, Star's mask was little more than delicate silver wires that swirled and looped across his face like metallic galaxies. The eyes themselves were twin pools of a solar system far out of the reach of Earth, or so Star told them. "A fish would make a better watch dog than you."
Silver swung her left leg back over the ledge so she could face him without contouring and twisting herself around. "That seems a bit extreme," she muttered. A loose piece of gravel tumbled off from her movement and bounced off her boot. She freed another from its uncomfortable position under her thigh. "Besides, I've never been the lookout. That's you. I'm the muscle." She flexed her slim arms.
"Just a pretty face then?" Star dodged a punch aimed at his shoulder. "I'm only joking, Silver, take it easy."
"I'm surprised you're not out trying to play house with Solar," Silver joked. A twinge of guilt rippled up her chest when she saw his flinch at the jab.
Silver didn't often bring up the golden girl, Black Star's counterpart. It was an unspoken rule amongst most of the caped heroes that the relation between the two of them was a subject best left to those involved. Between the two human vessels and their otherworldly co-inhabitants, that was plenty of people already.
"You know she avoids night fights, not her timezone," Star mumbled. "Unless Rift makes an appearance. He's been mercifully absent recently." As if on instinct, they both looked up and down the city below them. Merifield's night life was picking up as the winter holidays approached. Shoppers scuttled by the bright store windows making plans and concocting schemes. A horde of delivery trucks stopped along their routes between stores and moving trucks headed for buildings that had been vacant until now. Temporary shops always seemed to pop up around now.
Somewhere out there, the less than desirable people of the city were scheming too. They were taking their time and looking for the moment to strike. Most of them were harmless, petty thieves who maybe had some extra help up their sleeves. They couldn't have made their robberies and attacks easy by keeping it to the normal guns and getaway cars. It seemed that for every powered super there was a super charged miscreant.
