Together As One

Prologue - The Fire

A five-year-old Hayden Haddock sat in the dark holding cell, his small hands scrunching up his moss green long sleeve shirt so he could wipe his running nose. The boy shivered against the cinder block wall, as the cold winter air found its way under the metal door and into his small prison. He had finished school for the day, his mother had picked him up and they had been planning on making cookies that afternoon. He had been excited to make the treats and give them out to his friends the following day, however, his mother had gotten a call to come in for work, she apologised far more than his ten fingers could count.

He had been left home alone, in the care of their household staff, one of the cooks had offered to make cookies with him, but Hayden refused. He preferred to do his cooking with his mother, they always ended up having far more fun without following the recipe. His playtime didn't last long and the last thing Hayden remembered was smelling something funny and then falling asleep on his bedroom floor. He had just woken up more than five minutes ago and moved to the corner of the scary room. He didn't even have a book to read and was bored. There were no windows, it was dark and the only light he had was from the small glowing crystal necklace his mother had gotten him for his birthday a few months ago.

~ Line Break ~

Cloudjumper landed with a soft thud on the gravel road, her deep winter brown scale armour and frilled helmet were an obvious indication to anyone who may have been passing by that she was a hero. Her inner thoughts were distraught, she was thinking of horrible things that only a mother could understand. When she had finished dealing with a small heist downtown she had been notified by an unknown number that her son was now in their possession and where she to meet so that they could negotiate the terms of her surrender. The former International Fisher's warehouse down by the abandoned Berkian docks was the first place she would choose and was a very cliche environment for any hostage situation. Cloudjumper took a deep breath and stepped forward, before she could knock a well-dressed butler, opened the door and bowed to her.

"Good evening madame, follow me to my employer's office," his tone was emotionless and steely as he held the door open for her, Cloudjumper suspiciously entered watching the butler with a discerning gaze as he stepped in front of her to lead the way. She followed him down the rather lavishly decorated hallway, the walls decorated with patterned wood panelling and very era-specific wallpaper, she had been expecting to see thugs surrounding her precious son who would be tied up in a chair or lying unconscious on the ground. The butler opened another door and gestured for her to go inside, she kept her guard up as she stepped into the large office, the place screamed and oozed with 1800s step-father vibes. A wideset desk chair turned to face the mahogany desk and sitting in it was someone Cloudjumper had been trying to get her hands on since day one, Dimitri Bludvist.

"Evening Cloudjumper, such an honour to meet you," he smiled, his charcoal black dreadlocks were neatly tied back into a ponytail, and his well-kept navy blue suit shaped his husky form perfectly, Cloudjumper glared at him. She couldn't have expected anyone else to have taken her son hostage, Dimitri was a sick and twisted man bent on control, the polar opposite of what she morally stood for.

"Cut the act Bludvist, where is the hostage?!" she snapped, the gauntlets on her hands began to course with orange veins, flames flickering from her fists. Dimitri sighed, setting his mug of tea down on a coaster as he clasped his hands together, Cloudjumper kept her gauntlets aimed at him.

"Now, I don't want to fight and I'm sure you wouldn't want your son to be hurt, now would you Mrs Valerie Haddock?" He smirked up at the hero, Cloudjumper's eyes widened in shock as the fire in her gauntlets diminished. Dimitri smirked as a set of screens to his right blinked, showing a live security video feed of her son sitting alone in an empty cell.