Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Dodge. Hit. Dodge. Hit. Stupid thief, why won’t he take the hint? And, oh- just his luck. Hawk.
The sighting snapped the vigilante out of his haze, realising he was perched on the edge of a rooftop, pink and orange and white outfit on, wings flared out behind him, in full view of the #2 Hero.
What a way to get caught. And he hadn’t even been going after a proper villain, just a minor thief.
Grian saw the hero take aim with an arrow. What did the grey-tipped ones mean again? Urgh- he couldn’t remember. Why? He’d been going over this just last night-
The arrow caught him in the tip of one sunset-coloured wing.
Ooh. Ouch. Ow.
Did Hawk even know how painful things in his wings were? It was so bad.
Ouch.
—He fell from the roof—

—Damn—
Xisuma was going to have a field day with this. Oh well, he hadn’t been aiming for the wing. The arrow was a weakness one, and he’d been aiming for the thigh, but Jackdaw  just had to put his wing in front of it at just the wrong moment. He knew how much wings hurt, too; Scar knew a civilian with them. Vex wings, sure, but the principle was the same.
The vigilante- Jackdaw- appeared to be knocked out. Scar walked over to him, (God he loved the fancy copper braces, massive props to Mumbo-) and placed a hand on his heart. Phew. Not dead. Quite warm, too. Or maybe that was just his imagination.
He needed to get him back to the Mayor’s Building, in the centre of Aquartown. That was the informal term used for the Hero building, given that it was in an old town hall that had fallen into disrepair.
X had been after Jackdaw for some time; not to arrest, but to ask if he wanted to become an official Hero. The other main vigilante was Manniquette, but she was terrifying.
And then there was Stag, bu no-one knew if the blue-haired man was a hero or a villain. X classified him as a ‘renegade.’
How to get Jackdaw to the Mayor’s Building…?
Could Scar pick him up?
He was an avian right? Hollow bones, right? Yeah.
Only one way to find out.
—He bent down and picked him up—

Chapter Text

—Grian came to in a hospital bed—
Wait. Damn. Not just any hospital bed. A hospital bed in the Mayor’s Building. The Hero building.
It was all rushing back- knocking out the thief, being caught by the grey-tipped arrow in the wing, falling, falling-
What had happened after that? He had a vague remembrance of warm arms and safety and something, but nothing more.
“Oh, you’re awake! That’s perfect, luvvie. I’m Stress.”
“What- ho-huh?”
“Yes, you had quite a nasty fall. I don’t think Sc- Hawk was aiming for the wing, but he got it anyway.”
“How… how did I get back here?”
“Hawk carried you.”
Oh. So that was what the warm arms and safety was. The thought made his insides burn.
“Speaking of, I should get him. He’ll be pleased to know you’re awake.”
“Uh-” The thought of actually talking the the #2 Hero- without trying to kill each other- was confusing. “Am I gonna be- like-”
“Like what?”
“Arrested? Becaause I’m a vigilante?”
“Oh, no, no, no, no. I- Void’s been trying to get you on the team for years. It’s fine, you’re fine.”
Speaking of fine, Hawk walked into the hospital room. Now they were closer, Grian could see the brunnette had copper leg braces, shimmering with magic.
Probably just for extra strength he thought, and put it out of his mind.
“Oh! Now hello, my dear Jackdaw. And how are you this fine morning?” Despite his attempts at bravado, Grian could see the nervousness in his piercing green eyes. He’d never seen those eyes before, they were always hidden by his dual-coloured sunglasses.
“I’m fine…?”
“Excellent! Now, Void will be in here soon with the paperwork, and we can get it all finn- finea- fin-”
“Finalized? What paperwork?”
“Why, the paperwork for you to join the Heroes, of course!”
“...?”
“Come on, surely you don’t want to stay a vigilante. On the run from heroes and villains…?”
“No- well- I mean-”
“Good.”
The iron door clicked open, and a very tall man entered. The only difference between this and the photos was that this one didn’t have a helmet on.
Void.
Grian instinctively tensed, but tried to appear relaxed. He’d been blinded by the top hero’s summonable element many times. Never suffocated, but still.
“Ah- Jackdaw. Right, so if you’d look at this for a second…”
“Calm down, Exavoid, he’s only just woken up!”
“Hawk, I know. But, we need to know if he’s going to sign this.”
“And it wil make me a hero?” The bedridden avian asked.
“Essentially, yes. Here, please.” The #1 Hero indicated a spot for him to sign.
“...Vigilante name or civilian name?”
“Both.”
He signed ‘JACKDAW (Grian :)’
Hawk leaned over, attempting to see the name, but Void (Exavoid? Hawk called him?) whisked it away before.
—I’m a Hero now—

Chapter Text

—He’s a Hero now—
“Hawk, would you be willing to take Jackdaw- great signature by the way- on a mini tour?”
“Of course, Exavoid, can I start with names quick?” Scar tried to give him the puppydog eyes.
“If you must.”
“Okay! Jackdaw, this is Xisuma”
“Eyesooma.”
“Xisuma.”
“Ex-eye-suhma.”
“Forget it, no-one pronounces it correctly.” The taller said as he turned to leave.
“And I’m Scar.”
“I’m… Grian.” He said as he stuck out his hands.
“Grian. Nice name.”
“Well, Gribird, do you think you can get up?” Vex said.
The new hero’s cheeks flushed slightly at the nickname, but he said nothing and nodded. He looks kinda cute. Scar thought. Grian got up, and shed some of the outer layers of costume- the jacket, for one thing, leaving him in a white shirt, and the mask. It was Scar’s turn to blush as he took in Grian’a face for the first time. Freckled, boyish, but still intense and with a kind of intelligence to it. Shut UP, brain.
He flexed his wings, and stood next to Scar. As they were walking towards the door, he glanced down at Scar’s legs and asked the perrenially troubling question-
“Why are you wearing leg braces?”
“Strength.” Scar quickly replied,and shrugged it off in what he hoped was a cool and suave manner.
The pair strode (well, Scar strode; Grian nervously tiptoed) into a narrow corridor.
“Let’s go to the rest areas first, I think, and then to training hall. Maybe even to Mumbo, too…” he said in an attempt to change subject.
“Rest areas? And what’s a Mumbo?”
“Not a what, my dear Jackdaw. A who.”
—He’s gonna love this—

—I’m not sure about this—
They were at a plain wood door with ‘Rest & Cafeteria’ marked on it. There were voices inside, too. A louder, brasher, voice; and an accented, more calming voice.
Hawk- Scar- listened.
“I- Lightning’s out on patrol, but the other two are here.”
“Other two… Phantom and Monarch?”
“Exactly.”
Grian thought about what he knew regarding them.
Phantom wore combat trousers, with a sash-cloak-thing made of plants. They’d never spoken, and only seen each other a few times, but he knew Phantom was fairly short. His powers- he seemed to have multiple smaller powers. Floramancy, of course, with the plants. Minor chronomancy and hypnomancy, too. So just a mash.
Monarch wore a long red cloak over a white shirt, not dissimilar to Grian’s own, and red trousers. He was scary, but not as scary as Manniquete. (the other major vigilante, in case you forgot. She was a menace.) He has a weapons-based power, too, similar to H-Scar- Axe proficiency.  The hero also had minor mind-bending. He had always been the one that, to Grian, stuck out as the most unfriendsly towards vigilantes.
Scar (he was starting to get the hang of calling him by his real name, now-) knocked on the door politely, and then opened it. The two inside stopped talking, and looked at him, then Grian as they entered.
“Right! Guys, would you mind giving- uh- Jackdaw your names? As in, civilian?”
“Suma finally got you on the team, did he?” Phantom remarked.
“Uh, yeah.” Grian replied, feeling a tad self-concious.
“And about time, too. Nice to meet you, I’m Bdubs.” He stuck out a tanned hand, and they shook.
“Grian.” He said to a nod in reply. “And, er, you?”
“Ren.” They didn’t shake hands.
“What were you guys talking about?” Scar asked as he sat down, pulling a chair out for Grian, who sat in it gratefully.
“What else? Villains.” Mon- Ren replied.
“Ah, of course.”
“ What- I- I mean, I know most of them, what are all the names? Let’s say the top four.”
“Top is Foxhunt, then it’s Blood Moon, then Warden in third and Angel in fourth.”
Okay. Foxhunt, Grian had never encountered personally, but had seen glimpses of. Combat clothes, of course, with a khaki vest, and multiple powers.
Speed & Jump boost, Agility, Stealth boost, and very minor ice powers. He was the major criminal force of the city, like a ghost.
Blood Moon- she was scary, and had Ax proficiency, similar to Reagan. She could also put her own mind into what people called Bloodlust- officially, Necropsychphilia. Literally Death-mind-love. Long hair and a hooded cloak. She was a lone wolf.
Warden worked with Foxhunt, and occasionally on his own. He wore long, deep red trousers with a grey top and a deep red cloak. Unlike Blood Moon’s, it was elabrotely embroidered in gold, and lined with fur. He also had old-fashioned aviator goggles, with tinted lenses. His power was Summoning, a strange, unique thing with horns and a tail, that pawed the ground like a bull and had grey leather skin like a rhino.
Angel- who was Angel? He’s heard the name, but never put a face to it. Straight to the point, Grian asked; “Who is Angel?”
“Why are you talking about that b*st*rd?” a new voice said. Ah. Lightning.
“Oh- I mean, I’m sorry, I just don’t know who he is.”
“A right m****f****, through and through.” The hero said, took something off a bench, and left.
“They’re brothers.” Bdubs exaggeratedly whispered to him across the table.
“What- Lightning and Angel? Hero and Villain?”
“Yeah. Impulse- That’s Lightning- has electricity powers. Angel inherited his father’s wings, and he got empathy. He’s got a weird weapon, too- like a sycthe.
“Yeah.” Ren replied. “Back on topic; Foxhunt.”
P-Bdubs glared at him. Grian made a “?” motion to Scar, which Ren saw and responded to with a smile. “Ohhhh. Phantom has a crush on him.”
“No I don’t!”
“Yes, you do.” Scar added in, the faintest trace of a smirk on his face. “So obvious.”
“Wait- really?” Grian felt like he had to butt in. “A hero with a crush on a villain?”
“Yes, really.” Scar said.
“No, I don’t!”
“Okay then, describe him to me.”
“What- okay. So, white hair, just above shoulder length. One eye scarred red. Tall, but not really muscly, more agile. And sort of a black fabric thing around his mouth.” He listed off a few more details, and afterwords Grian had to agree with the others.
— This is awesome, but weird—

Chapter Text

—Today has not been a good day—
Etho was having a bed day. First, Hawk had nearly shot him with poison. He was still plenty fast, but not as fast as he used to be. Now, Skizz had messaged him, saying he had something he needed to see.
The avian villain had been a bit unpredictable as of late, so he hoped it would be okay.
Maybe he should check in on Doc later, just for old times’ sake. The man was a great asset- not a villain himself, but an inventor and a fantastic help.
As he got to the shed backing on to that massive tree (owned by someone called Stress?) he heard scuffling noises and a muffled yell. A yell he didn’t recognise.
Was it a civilian?
Etho had a few key rules, including no excess murder, no torture (obviously) or other excess harm to heroes (he did respect them, even if he didn’t like them.)
It was probably a civilian.
Sh*t.
What had- how, oh, God.
Tango was running out of the shed towards him, the summoner’s eyes wide. “Etho, you’ve got to help, dude! Jerkface Angel kidnapped a civ! Trying to hold him for ransom, I think-”
—Sh*t—

—What. The. Hell—
Jimmy was terrified. Scared witless.
I mean- it was just his luck to be kidnapped by the mentally-unstable #4 villain, and the #2 villain. Just his luck. Terrible luck.
Someone opened the door and for a split second his heart stopped dead in his chest.
Foxhunt.
The #1 villain. Of course. Obviously.
But this wasn’t the emotionless, calculating villain of the newspapers. This was an exhausted, unamused villain that looked for all the world like a tired CEO called in to deal with an issue at work.
Angel, however, was looking at Warden “You said you would help me, buddy!”
“And I did! I just didn’t expect whatever- whatever this is, you-”
“I- urgh.”
Jimmy was still terrified, but confused, too. From what he could gather, the two villains were arguing, with Warden having agreed to this abduction, but chickening out.
“Skizz.” Foxhunt suddenly said, looking Angel straight in the eye. “What is this?”
“I- I mean, I thought-” he stuttered. Foxhunt’s stare could do that to a person. “E, dude, I was just- I saw him, and I thought we might be able to-”
“You. Thought. Wrong.” Fox- E- said.
Interesting. Jimmmy thought. Very.
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t notify the Heroes and then get the hell out of here.”
“Because- because- oh, I don’t know, E. Becuase if you run they’ll assume you did it, or if you notrify them they’ll think it’s a trap. I can think of a million reasons.”
“Oh… fine, fine. I guess you’re right. I reckon I could think of some way to make it work, though.”
Warden looked at Angel, too. “Frankly, he probably could, and you’re being a jerk to your hostage. What’s your name, by the way?”
Jimmy gulped. “J- Jim.” he managed to say “Jimmy.”
“Jimmy. Nice name.”
“...Thanks?”
— This is both weird and terrifying—

Chapter Text

— What the hell is wrong with X—
Scar watched the #1 Hero stumble about the Mayor’s Building, before resting unsteadily on his chair, which was for some reason made of blue glass. Not that Scar was any stranger to not being able to walk. Without his braces or wheelchair, he was immobile.
Grian walked into the meeting room/office, resting his head on Scar’s shoulder.
Why did this make his chest so warm-
“Right-” The Hero’s breathing was laboured and Scar could make out the echoes of a cough in his voice. “We’ve received an anonymous tip-off of a hostage situation near the big tree.
“The massive oak, right. Hang on, ab- ad- ac- kidnapping isn’t exactly Foxhunt’s style.”
“So-” cough cough cough “- we don’t think it was Foxhunt. Our current guess is Angel, probably. We need to go.”
Grian opened his mouth to speak, but Scar interrupted him. “We?” he said. “Xisa, you are not going anywhere with this illness.”
“Scar! I have to! I’m- fine.”
“Very ill.” Grian said. “I know I became a Hero about five hours ago, and I know that, bu still yuou’re visibly ill. Very ill, seriously Xisuma.”
Wow. This must be serious, Vex thought. He pronounced X’s name correctly.
“So… Hawk, Phantom, Monarch, Lightning.”
“Not- cough- Lightning. You know- cough- that Angel is his brother.”
“If you’re sure he’ll appreciate being left out.”
“He- cough- personally spoke- cough- to me about not wanting to be involved in issues with- cough- Angel. So, Jackdaw.”
—Grian’s going on a Hero mission—
—I’m going on a Hero mission—
It still felt like a daze as Grian watched everyone get kitted up- Scar checking his leg braces (what did he need those for?), Bdubs patching over the holes in his cloak with new life, Ren sharpening his ax.
He had chosen to stay in his previous costume as it complimented the sunset colours in his wings prettily.
When the four (X was staying) set off, they traveled in a group, Grian flying ahead and Ren checking behind for threats.
They did encounter a threat, in the form of a specific female villain.
Blood moon had (helpfully) showed up.
Great. His first official villain encounter, and it was with the #2 villain. Woo.
She came out from the back, her ax clashing into Ren’s.
What is it about axes and wearing red cloaks…?
The villain smiled. Anyone else would have realised they were seriously outnumbered, but not her. The sharpened ax scraped along the ground with a truly awful screech noise that was only slightly softened by the attempt to stop it by Ren. Scar unnotched his bow from his back and and selected ten arrows- four red, four green, and two a dark grey, almost black. Harming, poison, and what?
Noticing what was going on, Grian unsheathed his sword- freshly sharpened, and with the glint of magic Mumbo had infused into it just a few hours ago, one Grian hadn’t seen before, and tried to slice her arm. He missed, but snagged the sleeve- and it burst into flame. Right on her.
As she turned around and noticed it, her red eyes lit up with an honour and humility Grian- nor Scar, nor Bdubs, nor Ren- had ever seen before. It was unsettling. Really unsettling.
She twisted and stepped back, and again, running off into the night.
Is she scared of fire? She must be. And there aren’t any fire-based non-civillains, so- so, yeah.
Wow.
They saw the tree loom over them, at the end of the street.
—We’re here—

Chapter Text

 —Right, we need to be moving—
Scar took the few steps towards the tree. The place they were heading for was the small shed near it. An old plastic sign showed it used to be owned by ‘PB Properties and personalized orders Ltd’
The #2 Hero turned his head and saw Grian, in full Jackdaw regalia, with his eyes scrunched in this adorable concentrated way that made his eyes skip a beat. Not wanting to waste the moment, he whispered. “We’ll all be alright.”
He didn’t get a response, but Grian reached out and squeezed his hand.
He’s holding my hand he’s holding my hand he’s holding my hand he’s-
The encounter with Blood Moon had been dangerous, but mercifully brief. The fire magic was so helpful, again, thanks to Mumbo.
The shack’s door was shut (and probably bolted, but there was some noise coming from the inside. He could just about hear some;
“So… oh my goodness, Skizz-”
“Get aWAY FROM ME-”
“Skizz, you’re not- I mean, just-” Scar’s eyes flared. That was Foxhunt. And Skizz was Angel? Maybe? He didn’t sound… mentally stable, to say the least. And Foxhunt sounded- tired, and weary, and everything he wasn’t.
Was Angel ties up? Or what?
“Heeeey, Jim, you okay?”
“Yeah, pretty good actually. Better than I thought I’d be. My hands do hurt just a little bit though.”
“Sorry.”
“You, you SHOULD be, Top, you should resent him for not joining our side against the elitist-”
“Do you know anyone with a silencing power, Jim? We really need it.
“I- funnily enough, I do. His name’s Martyn, and he’s got a weird listening-y power.”
“Cooooooooooool.”
“Shutup-” That was Foxhunt, and the other three in the room listened. “Heroes are here.”
Damn stupid stealth powers. Did they detect when someone else was being sneaky?
Scar decided to go for it, and looking at Grian for support (he looks cute when he smiles-) , opened the door.
—Here we go—

—Ri-i-i-ight—
Bdubs was no stranger to battles. Well, fights. They couldn’t really be called battles. And generally, when they fought, each hero fought a different villain.
He would normally be pressured to fight Foxhunt. Which, of course, gave Scar and Ren and now evan Jac- Grian ammunition to tease him. Although, judging on how the former vilgilante was looking at the archer…
Bdubs didn’t have a crush on him, though! It wasn’t his fault he was so- so- agile and fast and he was kinda-
Not a crush.
When Scar opened the door, all hell broke loose.
The Heroes singled people out- Scar going for Warden, who summoned the beast that was his and stared in his eyes. Ren got to work freeing the captive- Jimmy, he maybe thought. Jackdaw was working on Angel.
And Bdubs locked eyes with Foxhunt across the room.
The villain helpfully darted into the second room in the shack. The Hero muttered something not-very-PG under his breath, and ran after him, quietly slowing down his personal time to combat his speed, causing a muffled yell in response.
They got into the room, and the door swung shut. The pair circled around each other, with the Hero trying to tackle Foxhunt to the floor. And missing, so the villain trying to get a blade but failing, so making an ice dagger instead, and holding it to the hero’s throat. And Bdubs getting the sporelike impurities in the ice to spread, causing it to shatter in his hand. And him trying to pull a lethargy magic on Foxhunt, who somehow- he didn’t even know how-  managed to reflect it back, so Bdubs got it-
And somehow causing the old ivy around the door to grow.
And somehow causing a minor cave-in.
And somehow being trapped with his nemesis-not-crush.
With no way out.
—Thank you, universe—

–This is not the weirdest thing I’ve seen today—

Chapter Text

  –This is not the weirdest thing I’ve seen today—
Jimmy was currently being released from his bindings (which were already mostly off, and Warden had show him how to remove them himself, thank you very much) by a very annoyed-looking hero
Jimmy was also not scared, watching the villain’s summon. It was caused a ‘ravager’, apparently. That’s what he had told him, and there was no reason for it not to be true.
It was charging at Hawk, who was dodging it and shooting it with arrows.
There was suddenly a huge kerboof! One of the doors collapsed. The frame had a vine growing out of it- ivy, Jimmy thought. Ivy was a plant, which meant Phantom.
Who was not there. Not that he cared.
In the other room?
And- oh, s***, s***, Foxhunt was gone, too. In the twenty minutes they’d been in fairly close proximity, Jim had come to appreciate him. The multi-powered villain was… now… probably trapped with Phantom.
Foxhunt had said that he was the hero he respected most, and would mind talking to formally the least. Warden had laughed and accused him of having a soft spot.
Which he hadn’t denied, funnily enough.
In addition to two key players missing from the battle, Warden’s summon had retreated and vanished, Hawk was out of arrows (forgot his infinity bow-) and there was a gag on Angel.
Jackdaw walked over to Hawk and gave him a quick hug, breaking away a little too quickl looking a little too flustered.
Huh.
—Even though they’re not fighting, I still need to get out of here—

—Why do I have to be in a very small area, with the one Hero he could stand (and probably more than stand) with no way of getting out—
It felt like the universe was playing tricks on him.
The pair had given up trying to fight each other and were at opposite ends of the room, far apart as they could be.
“So…” Phantom opened his mouth to say, but another wrecking crash sent him scrambling towards him.
Still a meter away, but still.
“At least it’s you and not somebody else.” Etho thought, but then realised he had said it out loud. Damn.
“Oh- yeah- I was- I was thinking that, too.” The hero said, and he felt his insides tightening.
“We’re gonna be in here for a bit, aren’t we?”
“Yeah”
“...What’s your name?” Etho swallowed. Was he being too rude?
“Bdubs.” Phantom said. “You?”
“Etho.”
“And- er, Etho, why aren’t you currently trying to kill me?”
“Becuase…” he swallowed and started again. “Becuase we’ve got no way out, and I feel like if we’re gonna be trapped, I don’t wanna fight. And-”
“And?” Pha- Bdubs was staring at him now.
“And- like I said, I respect you.”
“Me too.” he replied. “Me too.”
Bdubs was apparently comfortable enough with him that he could stand to be a bit closer, and he took a few steps towards him so they were leaning against the wall side by side.
The proximity definitely didn’t do something to both of them.
Yet another crack somewhere else led him into doing something stupidly impulsive; pulling Phantom off the wall, into him. Purely by instinct, of course, even if he did find it kind of nice that his body was sandwiched next to his and he had his arms around his torso and he definitely more than respected this man;
But this was not the right time to think about this when they were so close- so close- so-
And he could see those green-brown eyes staring into his.
And even when they weren’t in danger, when they were safe and there was no reason for him to be clinginh to Etho like he was his lifeline; he was.
He was.
“Bdubs.” he said.
“Etho.” the hero replied.
“Would-”
“Could-”
“No, you go first.” the villain replied, flushing slightly.
“Would you kiss me if I asked you to?”
It felt like all the colour rushed out of the atmosphere and into his cheeks.
“Yeah.”
And Etho bent down, and Bdubs leaned up, and the moment their mouths met it felt like a confirmation of something, some commandment, some eternal truth, some pledge both of them had signed years aggo but hadn’t realised until now.
And both felt like he could touch the stars if he leaned in a little more, gripped a little tighter, reached a little further.
In a perfect, unblemished world, they did.
But in this world they were enemies, albeit reluctantly. And almost as soon as Bdubs drew back, eyes wide, locked on the villain’s-
-a portion of the wall fell open.
—Thanks, Hawk—

Chapter Text

—What have I just walked in to—
Scar was either hallucinating, or something had finally happened. It was much more likely he was hallucinating.
The hero & villain were kinda hugging, but in a very guilty way if you catch his drift.
Should I be happy for them, or…?
Given that the fight was pretty much over, it was mostly okay, but… still. #1 villain. And Scar was supposed to a) just let him walk away- bad enough on a good day- but b) let him kiss Scar’s smitten colleague as well?
Not fair.
Foxhunt took a few steps towards Warden, and backed away silently, his footsteps not making a sound.
Grian squeezed Scar’s hand. They had fought well together, back to back, sword and bow. Fire hadn’t worked on Warden- he didn’t know why, as the villain wasn’t fire-based; but still, diamond sword. You could do much worse.
Scar was, admittedly, so going to use this as teasing material against Bdubs later.
The main door to the shack creaked open, and a sillhouette stepped through that Scar had not encountered many times- although he was sure Grian had.
The city’s other vigilante, Mannequin, in all her glory. Bright ginger curls, blue dress. Scars- stitches?- across her skin.
—Ohhh dear—

—Cleo! —
Grian was aware he was probably the only person that didn’t see her arrival as a threat. He didn’t! Cleo was great, her powers were terrifying. (bodybending, anyone?) and he had a friend. Not that Scar wasn’t one. Or maybe he was more than a friend, it didn’t matter.
Cleo stomped into the shack, hands on hips. The room fell silent. You could hear a pin drop.
And it was probably the most awkward moment. Scar and Grian were holding hands, Warden was crouched down next to the hostage, bickering with Reagan. Bdubs was walking towards Foxhunt.
And now there was a sarcastic, brilliant, purely badass vigilante here.
“Jackdaw.” Gri heard her say, and his sunset-coloured ombre wings tucked in a little tighter around him. He gripped Scar’s hand tighter. “I heard on the street you’d been snatched up by them.” She gestured towards Ren with a head jerk.
“They’re not so bad when you get to know them. And, and I can’t get arrested.” He was feeling oddly protective.
Cleo raised an eyebrow. “Speaking of arrested, there are… two, three villains in here.”
“Three, but one’s bound and gagged.” Scar snapped back immediately. “And Warden’s summon is out.”
“For now.” She took a few more steps closer. “And I see you carefully avoided mentioning the number one villain.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Vex saw a flicker of movement- Foxhunt signalling something to B. Saying to pretend he was taken down, or captured?
Huh. So the villain was willing to sacrifice his reputation in Cleo’s eyes to save nearly everyone in the room (including Bdubs, which was probably why he did it.) from Cleo going full, aggressive queen.
The white-haired villain was crouched on the floor, a puddle of water by his feet- melted ice, presumably. He was panting (fake, but it looked very real.) and plants were creeping up his feet. Bdubs was holding a dagger to his fabric-clad neck.
“Neutralized.” Grian heard Scar say like it was the most natural thing in the world.