Watch and Learn

I’m glad he doesn’t have a gun, was the only thing Watcher managed to think before his head cracked to the side. He’d completely walked into this one, and he’d be lucky to make it through the night. This man was practically a mountain, but surprisingly fast. There had been no indication that the people who ran their money through this club knew he’d been keeping an eye on their operation, but this guy had been waiting for him specifically. Waiting in the alley, itching to do his job.

open starter

Bela hadn’t been to Newhaven since the government had picked up the slack on rebuilding after the invasion. When her help wasn’t needed to stitch the physical world back together, she noticed very quickly that certain people in charge were unusually cold. So she’d kept her distance. The things and people who had tied her to the city were beyond her reach now, and it hurt less to stay away.

Walking down the busy streets again was enlightening. Some people knew her, recognized her from news programs, but not all. It was nice to get lost in the anonymity of the crowd again. Of course, the reason she was here couldn’t be found with the sun still in the sky. 

So as the lights of the city flicked on and set their own glow into the sky, Weaver took to the streets. There were people here she was looking for, people she needed to check on, and as always, people to meet. Pulling herself from the ground to the roof and bounding from building to building was easy enough with pouches full of materials that could stretch away from her on a whim.

It was mostly luck she’d seen the figure in the darkness. Her habits of checking corners had remained after the invasion, but this wasn’t her turf anymore, and not knowing who ran the scene made things tricky. But a glance at the right angle as she’d been about to scan the next block over made her pause. A few more lengths of rock and metal rose from where she’d stored them as she touched down gently. Better safe than sorry.

“Well, it’s always nice to meet the locals. Do you mind letting a visitor tag along for a bit?”

It was only a mask but she felt exposed and vulnerable without it on. She could feel his gaze studying her face with the intense look only someone like Watcher could give - someone so skilled with details and memorising that she knew without a doubt he wouldn’t forget her face even if he tried. Her reveal seemed to have stunned the anger from him and for that she was grateful.

Nightingale looked away at the mention of the night he’d saved her from gunpoint. It was pleasing to know, at least in some small way, that she was convincing enough at playing the part of a civilian that he’d never had suspicions. “Yeah, thank you for that. I know it’s what you do, it’s what you did tonight, but it was different to see you from the other side of it all instead of behind a mask with you.” She braved a look back towards him, testing the waters with a shy but short smile before looking back down towards the mask in her hands.

She hadn’t realised just how tightly she’d been clinging to it until she saw how white her knuckles her turning. The ribbon dangled lazily between her fingers and did nothing to distract her from the awkward situation to hand. She dithered over whether or not she should return her mask to its place on her face for too long.

“Why?… You asked me to.” She frowned at him, the mask no longer hiding her expression as it had done so many times before. “I can’t ask for your trust and not show you how much I trust you in return, it would be a hollow request otherwise. Us working together, your trust in me, means too much for me to not take the bigger risks if it means keeping you.”

“What we do,” he murmured in echo of her. She had a point, it was different interacting with other vigilantes when he wasn’t masked himself. His conversation with Pitch echoed in his memory, how differently it could have gone. 

The mental click when he realized she’d misunderstood his question silenced the ringing. It was strange to be able to see her emotions so easily when she spoke, but it made her words sink in more easily than usual. The lengths she would go for their work, for their partnership, how dedicated she was to their cause, were staggering. “Thank you for this, uh, Thalia. I’m sorry I put us- you, in this situation, I really am. Your identity is safe with me, I swear it on my mask and the work we do.”

There was a part of him that wanted to be as brave as she had shown herself to be. A prickle along the back of his neck as he contemplated pulling away his own mask to show vulnerability in return. But the faces of his parents and echoes of Blue Bolt scoffing at his age stayed his hands. “Put that back on,” he gestured to the mask. “The night’s not over yet, and Newhaven needs her Nightingale to get home safely.”

It would take time to reconcile what had happened tonight in his mind. He was certain of that much. The uncertainty lay in how he would interact with Thalia from this point on. Could he keep his secrets from her when she’d ended up being so open with hers? Would there come a time when she was bitter he hadn’t reciprocated? He took a shaky breath and cleared his mind. He had to get through tonight. Whatever would come in the future would come, but now he could trust Nightingale to have the best interests of Newhaven and the vigilantes at heart.

It wasn’t often that they visited her. There was no way to tell when they were coming, these reminders of her past. Laughter usually rang freely, but sometimes there were tears instead. But why do you have to go, Bela? There were times she wished she wouldn’t see them anymore, but she knew deep down that she would feel that final loss even more strongly than any of the ones before. And so she held on to them with desperation so deep it made her hands shake.

She always felt a bit empty when she woke up after, cold by herself even though she finally had real shelter. But the cold faded and the tears dried, and then she would neck deep in work. It was easy to put aside the web of decisions that had put her where she was when she was helping others. 

Even rarer than the dreams were the notifications. That tiny ping she dreaded more than anything. They slipped again, it said. This wouldn’t have happened if you were there, it whispered. This is still your responsibility, echoed in her soul. But she had new tasks. A duty to the people she protected, to the Guild, and all they stood for against the harshness of the world. 

So she picked up the pieces of her heart in the mornings after she dreamed of them. She kept her head up and extended her hand once more to those who needed her support. And she tried to ignore the memories and their ties. She tried.

He nodded at Bo’s response, and while he wasn’t completely sure that the younger boy was completely ‘alright’, at the very least he was talking to someone else about the whole thing. “It’s all good. I just worry about you too,” Aiden replied, waving away the promise until he realized he’d been waving his sandwich as well. He frowned, dropping the food onto the table and brushing his hands off, considering the offer that he’d been made.

It took him a moment to really think about it. He’d never been very good at accepting help of any sort. The fact that it was about being Red River was even more of a wall. There was no reason to drag Bo into that sort of danger. No one needed that, and Aiden very much preferred things to stay the way they were.

But even then, the encounter with Watcher had left him… worried, if nothing else. He’d admired the young vigilante’s drive to do what was right, seeing far too much of a younger version of himself in the kid, no matter how much it freaked Red out to see Watcher beat up and bruised. To think that his powers would be the source of distance kind of hurt.

Half lies then, as Aiden was starting to find, were the answer. No need to burden Bo with the idea that Aiden was a vigilante, and still satisfying the concern and need to help that the younger boy was showing. “Talking might help,” he conceded. “But it wasn’t really an argument honestly. It was more like…” Aiden trailed off, trying to figure out how to best phrase it. It was a longer pause than he’d meant to be, weighing his words and realizing there was no way to say it without prompting a couple more questions. “They found out something about me that I wasn’t quite ready to share, and I don’t think either of us took it very well.” He shrugged, feigning nonchalance. “We kind of left on awkward terms, but hopefully when we meet up again it’ll be a bit easier to talk to them about it.”  Vaguely, he wondered what story he’d told Bo about how he’d come to Newhaven. Another part asked if he’d even made up one for Bo to hear yet. “I’m not too worried about it.” Lie. Aiden grinned and grabbed another bite. “Though I might take you up on that offer if it doesn’t go so well.” 

Bo has been worried he’d pushed too hard on a sore spot before Aiden started talking. It’d happened in the past, when he hadn’t quite realized just how much someone wanted to avoid a topic. He was bracing to apologize and move on when Aiden broke the silence. He could tell his friend wasn’t entirely comfortable talking about it, but who was with this sort of thing?

He tried to be patient while he looked for words- or maybe Aiden was just lost in thought, but mere seconds in his knee was bouncing under the table. When Aiden continued, he winced at the similarities of their situations. This was just another level of confirmation that secrets never did anyone any good. Some of the way the words were put together gave him the strong impression that something was off, but Aiden seemed casual enough about that Bo figured he was just trying to avoid spilling details. It made sense if he didn’t want his other friend to know yet that he wouldn’t share it easily with Bo.

“I’m sure it’ll be easier! You’ll both have had time to think about it on your own, and then you can talk about it with them and figure out what it changes. Who knows, you two might realize nothing has to change after all,” he said with a reassuring smile. He hummed when Aiden said he wasn’t worried- maybe not a full truth, but if he was trying to convince himself, Bo wasn’t going to stop him.

“My ears are always open, man. If the first go doesn’t work, I’ll try to help you with the next one. And you better tell me if it goes well, I want to hear the good stuff too!” His grin spread wide with laughter as he settled back. He had a bit more time before class, and now that he’d admitted something was wrong, he was feeling lighter already. He hoped Aiden was feeling a bit of the same as they fell back into jokes and light conversation.

ne0nl1t: I hope not. I always worry about that shit y'know

ne0nl1t: Like, with all the heroes in movies and stuff, there’s someone who fucks it up for everyone else

ne0nl1t: Somehow

ne0nl1t: But maybe I’m a weird pessimist lol

PM to user: ne0nl1t

wonderbo: Well sure, but that’s media for you, have to get dramatic beats from somewhere right?

wonderbo: Doesn’t make you a pessimist to draw the parallels though! Just human and aware of possibilites :)

wonderbo: Oh crap, I’ve gtg finish this essay sorry neon

Thalia’s smile was bright enough to compete with the neon decorations of the festival at the sight of Bo. A light dusting of pink coloured her cheeks at his greeting, hoping the music playing and the general buzz of people talking would prevent others from hearing the affectionate term. “That would make you my favourite walking calamity then,” She retorted back, smile still in place and as bright as before, shuffling sideways so he could join her in line.

She waved off his declaration he wasn’t going to play with her free hand. “You can help me, I’m already waiting in line so it’s technically not cutting.” The blonde bounced on the balls of her feet, swinging the bag of goodies she’d already acquired to capture his attention. “I’ve already bought all the goodies I wanted, there are so many handmade candles in here my arm might drop off.” Thalia followed his gaze back towards the stall, immediately becoming focused on the giant bear again without much effort.

“Oh I know, but I really want that ridiculously sized bear. Then I won’t look so lonely going on the rides by myself.” She said with a jovial tone, but there was truth in the joke since she’d come alone. “There has to be a way to win though, it can’t be 100% fixed. Maybe you could be my hero and help me out since I’m weighed down by candles.”

He giggled at her quip- she didn’t even realize how accurate the statement was. He shrugged slightly with a wink. “I have faith that you can do it yourself, but a little help never hurts.” The bag she lifted had more momentum than he’d expected when she swung it, but the accompanying statement made more sense. The candles here were fairly large and if she’d bought a bunch the bag would be hefty. “You’re the one who made the choice to shop before playing, but I won’t make you suffer for it,” he grinned cheekily.

He eyed the bear hanging over the head level of the line. It certainly seemed big enough to take up the space of a person. He’d have to knock down the entire stack to do it, and he hummed as he tried to think of how to pull it off. He started watching the throws of the people at the front of the line. Some missed entirely, but there were others that hit and did nothing. He grinned when he caught the attendant taking interest when it looked like a throw would hit a particular can- and the boredom that returned when the ball went wide.

“Alright, I’ll give it a go. I’ve got a good feeling about this one,” he smiled as they stepped up. He quickly stepped between Thalia and the attendant before she could pay, handing his own bill over. He tossed the first ball a couple times to get the heft, trying to calculate the angle for the distance. The first ball went wide and he frowned. The ball was weighted to spin when it was actually thrown horizontally, he’d have to counter it.

“Huh,” he muttered. Sidestepping just a tad, he lined up to the point where the curve of his last throw would hit that particular can. A half breath later, and the clatter of cans faded into the cheers and clapping of the people watching. He spun happily back to Thalia. “Your prize awaits,” he crowed, pointing her towards the counter.