Chapter Text
Betelgeuse was doing something to her.
Lydia scowled before putting on her face mask. She could barely call what they’d done over their last couple of meetings fighting. Sure, he’d antagonize her, but she’d never seen him even attempt to go on the offensive physically or magically. Not since he’d kissed her hand. He mostly…dodged, occasionally sent out a tendril or an extra arm or something to grab at her ankle, make her jump.
He was lulling her into a false sense of security. She needed to stay sharp. Her muscles burned from the increased time she’d spent at the gym, and the dark energy that curled around her fingers barely resisted her call. She’d started putting together a spell based on the signature weapon of one of the high-profile heroines that worked in New York, but she hadn’t had the opportunity to test it on anyone but herself. Still, hopefully it wouldn’t backfire on her.
Meanwhile, she had another exorcism tonight. Lydia glanced at her calendar. Two weeks since she’d gotten the contract from the Guild. Two more weeks of harassment. Two more weeks of enduring Betelgeuse.
Well, if what she was planning worked, maybe less than that.
This time he left her alone during the exorcism work itself, which was kind of a blessing, honestly. She’d gotten a note in the mail with a $200 fine for property damage from one of her clients the other week, so any way she could be more careful during the actual work itself helped. But when she was turning to leave, she felt a tap on her shoulder. When she turned around, she saw a hand, attached to a striped arm, wiggle its black fingernails at her. It retracted like a hose, slowly enough that she could follow, until it snaked out the fire escape. And two of the fingers made a “come here” motion at her. Beckoning upward.
Lydia hesitated. She should leave. Call it an easy night and disappear. Go home and tuck herself into bed and maybe keep clinging to the one comfort she had in this nightmare of a situation.
But…he’d probably do something to prevent her from leaving if she didn’t follow, Lydia reasoned. Her shoulders sank. She huffed and swung her leg out the fire exit before climbing up the metal stairs.
Still, she began concentrating on her newest spell when she reached the top. Only to be greeted with the hand…pulling out a white flag?
“Ceasefire,” Betelgeuse called from where he was perched on an AC unit. He looked extra pale silhouetted against the night sky, as otherworldly as he said he was. “Not here to fight.”
Lydia blinked and peered up at him with narrowed eyes.
He held up his hands and cleared his throat. “Section 347-B-54. If one party requests a temporary cessation of hostilities and declares the length of the period, the other party must honor the request under penalty.” Returning to his normal voice, he said, “Let’s say…three hours. Honor code, baby.”
“Don’t call me that,” Lydia said. She didn’t want to know what an organization of supervillains thought a “penalty” was, and if she could get out of one of their dumb magic battles, so much the better. Even if she was still stuck being around this awful man. “Fine. What gives?”
Betelgeuse stood up and dusted himself off. “I wanna level the playing field.” He jumped off the AC unit and zoomed over to her, hovering in midair and extending his hand. “Way I see it, you’re operating at a major disadvantage.” Lydia crossed her arms and snorted, but Betelgeuse seemed to intuit her meaning. “No, not rank-wise. You know you’re at six now?”
She hadn’t. No notification from the OSI about that change in her standing. Lydia blinked, processing that information.
“And you’re pushing E.M.A. seven.” Betelgeuse smiled down at her. “Good hustle. But there’s somethin’ holding you back.”
Lydia scowled. “It’s probably you, with your constant bullshit.”
Betelgeuse gasped and clutched his chest. “Ow, a direct hit on the guy who’s trying to help you out!” He laughed. “No, babes, I want you to succeed. Know you’ve got it in ya.”
For some reason, those words made Lydia’s stomach tighten. Well, that confirmed that this whole thing was a setup. No way he was going to help her out of the goodness of his heart. Not when he’d put her through this whole fiasco to begin with. Still, if she could distract him…”What do you mean,” Lydia asked, “by ‘succeed’?”
Betelgeuse just winked at her and pointed at her feet. Lydia glanced down to see that somehow, while they were talking, she’d levitated off the surface of the roof. She stared down, shocked - how had that happened when she wasn’t even thinking about it?
Betelgeuse said in that softer tone that he’d used when he’d kissed her hand, “I think ya know, babes.”
Lydia felt her palms sweating. “C’mon,” Betelgeuse said. “Let’s go. Just you and me.”
“Go where?” Lydia asked. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled and her stomach twisted itself into knots. What was his game? What did he want with this psychological warfare? God, at least the magic fights made sense.
“You think too much. Just…I dunno, just trust me,” Betelgeuse said. His hair had lightened to pink at the tips, glowing in the moonlight. His yellow eyes had gone the color of warm, molten gold. “Please.”
The cold air around Lydia stilled, seemingly waiting for what she was about to do.
He was lowering his guard, she told herself. She could get the jump on him. If she just waited until the ceasefire was up, bided her time, stalled...
Lydia swallowed hard and placed her trembling hand in his.