#a plot approaches!

"Can you stop, or do I have to stop you?" Kestrel demanded, hovering in the vault's doorway. "This is childish."

"No, this is childish." Buck let the heart drop, burning a pattern into the ground. The bank was going to have to redo the whole room anyway — at this point, a few more damages was just going to make it easier for them to claim with insurance. "You're not going to stop me."

"And why am I not going to stop you? You are a villain. I'm a hero. Seems like the sort of think I am supposed to do."

"Because my entire body is covered in flames, whirlybird," Buck drifted closer, watching Kestrel track him through the room. "You know how you kill fire?"

"You cut off the oxygen."

"But a person needs oxygen to breathe," Buck continued, stopping just outside Kestrel's reach. He let the fire get hotter, listening to the air as it crackled. "You freeze me, you have to freeze my whole body. No air. Boom, dead guy. That's not very heroic of you."

"I could just knock the ice off once you're unconscious."

"The second air hits my body again," Buck watched a drop of sweat drip down Kestrel's cheek. "Boom!" He cackled. "It's like a bomb going off."

"Give me the bag, Firestarter," Kestrel drew himself up, rolling his shoulders back like he was bracing himself.

"Make me." Buck made a finger gun and aimed it at the ground, dragging a line of fire across the vault.

Kestrel swore, jumping back when it singed his boots. It was even funnier when he was floating a few inches off the ground.

Buck blasted his way into the last safe deposit box, reaching in without taking his eyes off Kestrel. "Oooh, you know the bank records say that this one just had paperwork?" He asked, juggling the diamonds. He nudged the bag open with a foot, tossing them in. "I bet whoever owns this box isn't going to admit where they got them," he mused.

Kestrel blew out a breath and Buck watched as the fire started freezing, the ice moving faster and faster down the line. Shit.

"Hey, you're getting better at that!" Buck said, instead of letting him know that Buck was worried. He took a few steps back, hoisting the bag higher on his shoulder and clenching a fist behind his back.

"I've had practice," Kestrel said dryly, kicking the ice apart and stepping forward.

"See? I'm helpful." Buck swallowed, thrusting his fist back against the wall. It exploded outwards, and Buck pushed himself backwards, redirecting the flames to the bottom of his boots and taking off like a rocket.

"Get back here!" Kestrel had to duck to avoid the initial explosion, but he was in the air a heartbeat after Buck.

"That truly defeats the purpose of a chase," Buck called behind him, bracing himself and pushing faster.

"I'm gonna bounce you into a crater," Kestrel threatened.

"I'd rather bounce on something else!" Buck laughed, taking a risk and doing a loop so he could look back at Kestrel.

"Ooh, nice work," Null purred, popping into existence beside Buck.

"Shit!" Buck startled, the flames flickering out for the length of a heartbeat. He started to drop, and Nullity grabbed the bag away from him.

Buck rubbed his hands together, a flame restarting between them, and he stopped falling after a few dozen feet. Kestrel pulled a stop, and Buck thought that he could read the dilemma on his face. Firestarter was a villain, but as a hero Kestrel couldn't let him fall, but maybe it was a trap to get him to come closer, but maybe he was really in trouble —

"I'll keep this safe while you play with your food," Nullity offered, smirking. "Don't dawdle too long, or…"

"Yeah, I know." Gerrard had said to drop it off right after he left the bank, and at some point he'd have to give up the fight to get it done or the compulsion would make him. Buck grinned. "You're a pal."

Nullity vanished, and Buck grinned across at Kestrel. "Race you to the bank," he teased, arcing away to the north. There were a few other branches that way, and hey — if he could get away and into another building, why not, right?

Kestrel hit his right side like a freight train and Buck gasped, shoving at his shoulders as Kestrel wrapped his arms around him. Buck pulled the fire in tight against his skin, unwilling to risk burning him. "You're insane!"

"You're a menace," Kestrel growled, and then they were diving into the ocean.

He'd obviously angled them so the impact wouldn't knock Buck out, but the rush of salt water doused the rest of the fire instantly. Buck hissed, thumping at his shoulder. Buck could, if he really focused, create something hot enough that it would act like lava under the water, but that would risk injury to both of them — well, okay, mostly to Kestrel, and Buck knew that he had some sort of healing powers, but it was a lava equivalent.

Kestrel surfaced them just before Buck ran out of air, his hair flopping over his mask as he smirked. "You were saying about the way to kill fire?"

Buck glanced around, spotting the Ferris Wheel. Damn, how fast could Kestrel fly? They'd been at least two minutes away from Santa Monica at Buck's top speed when he'd been grabbed.

"More than one way to skin a cat," Buck agreed easily. He pressed in closer, knowing that Kestrel wouldn't let him drop. "If you wanted to get your hands on me, all you had to do was ask."

"Firestarter, you're under arr—"

"Seriously?" Buck groaned, tipping his head back and staring at the sky. "You've got a guy in your arms, totally soaked, offering themselves up, and you want to arrest them? Not a single other activity comes to mind?"

"—you're under arrest," Kestrel continued, his voice implacably firm. "You have the right—"

"Geez," Buck huffed, shaking his head. He wiggled his right foot in the water, starting a little eddy around them. "Heroes really don't know how to have any fun."

"—to remain silent…" Kestrel trailed off as the water around them bubbled.

"I really think the ocean is too cold for a swim this time of year," Buck said brightly, and the water surrounding him exploded, steam escaping as it started boiling.

Kestrel swore as the water around his palms heated up, forcing him to let go of Buck.

Buck did feel bad about that, but he'd carefully calibrated the temperature to be only as hot as water on a stove. That was perfectly within the range of injuries he'd seen Kestrel heal from before.

"Air," Buck mock-apologized, and the eddy he'd started turned into a geyser, throwing him into the air. "Better luck next time, Tin Donkey!" He saluted Kestrel, throwing another burst of heat into the ocean and creating a wave that crashed over him.

He took off for the loft, using the momentary advantage to get the hell out of Kestrel's sightline before he dropped to the street, slipping under the nearest manhole cover.

Sewers were gross, but they were always mostly empty and they went everywhere in the city. Buck had spent four months memorizing the power and water maps, and he used his powers with extreme prejudice to make sure that he didn't have to touch the liquid running through them.

The heat did make the smell worse, though. By the time he surfaced next to the loft he knew that he'd had to wash the suit at least twice. Damn it. Buck risked flying up the side of the building and in through the window he'd left open.

"That took longer than I thought it would," Null said, leaning back against the counter. They had a plate of Buck's cookies in their hand, and based on the number of cookies left Buck could tell that they'd eaten their way through about half of them already.

"Shut up," Buck muttered, digging through the fridge and pulling out a bottle of water.

"Did you have fun?" Nullity teased.

"Not as much as I could have," Buck sighed, rolling the bottle between his hands. "Apparently the man has morals."

"He is a hero," Nullity hummed, vaporizing the lower half of their body and floating up towards the ceiling. "What did you expect?"

Buck scratched the back of his neck, looking up the stairs. "Where did you leave the bag?"

"Front closet," Nullity nodded. "Do you know how to make red velvet cookies?"

"I'll make some for you this week," Buck promised, digging through the closet. He put a jacket on, covering the top of his uniform and zipped it up before he slung the bag over his shoulder. "Are the cookies why you're not sure you want to kill me?"

Nullity laughed, the sound grating in his ears. "They don't hurt," they offered, waving as Buck opened the front door. "Don't worry about giving me any credit. I'd prefer he didn't know that I saw you outside of jobs he asks us to pull together."

"Don't worry, I don't want him to know that either. If he thinks we're friendly, he might send someone else after me."

"Hey, Tommy, we're trying to settle a debate here, do you think that — holy shit, dude, what happened to you?"

Tommy scowled, pulling his boot off and shaking water out of it. "I don't want to talk about it."

"It's not even seven in the morning, who… oh," Lucy trailed off, laughing.

"Don't say it," Tommy warned.

"Where'd you find him this time?" Sal asked, handing his coffee to Tommy. He looked too amused by half, and Tommy made a face at him, draining the rest of the coffee.

"Pacific Federal. He was looting their vault."

"How'd you get wet?"

"He said that there was no way to get rid of the fire without killing him."

"And you took that personally?" Gina asked, hiding a smile as she dug the first aid kit out from under the sink. "Your hands don't look great."

"They'll be fine by the time I go on shift," Tommy waved the help off, sinking into one of the kitchen chairs.

"You could have called for help," Lucy said slowly.

"I don't get him," Tommy shook his head. "He's got all this power, and basically all he does is robberies and fight with us. There's no…" he waved his hand. "Supervillainy."

"He's got powers and he does crime. Isn't that the definition of supervillain?"

"You know what I mean." Tommy rolled his eyes at Gina. She was trying to rules lawyer him out of being pissed off, but it wasn't going to work this time. "He thinks this is a joke! He spends more time goading us than he does committing crimes."

"No, he spends more time hitting on you than he does committing crime," Sal snarked, pouring himself another cup of coffee. "And he's gotten way less subtle about it. Not that he was at all subtle to start."

"I hate you," Tommy groaned, dropping his head into his hands.

"What'd he say today?" Lucy prodded, ever observant.

"That if I wanted to get my hands on him, I just needed to ask," Tommy muttered into his hands.

The three of them laughed at him.

"At least he kept it PG?"

Tommy flipped Sal the finger. "I give up. I retire. You three can protect the city without me."

"Yeah yeah, you're retiring. You retire more often than Elton John has farewell tours."

"That comparison feels like a hate crime," Tommy griped.

"And you stick to that decision as often as he does," Sal continued, nudging Tommy's side with his elbow.

"He practically put himself out this morning the second that I grabbed him."

"Yeah, because burning the crap out of the guy you're lusting after significantly lowers the chances of you getting lucky," Gina nodded. "Makes sense to me."

"Your real problem is that you have two men willing to suck your dick and you haven't taken either one of them up on it. You're pent up, my friend," Lucy patted his shoulder sympathetically. "You need to get laid."

"What is that smell?" Tracy demanded, leaning in and sniffing Buck.

"Personal space!" Buck protested, swatting at her with his towel. "I spilled…"

"Dumpster juice?" Tracy asked, her nose wrinkled. She took a step back. "You should stay on the drive thru for a bit until that dissipates."

"But—"

"Do you really want hot firefighter being able to smell you today," Tracy asked, putting her hands on Buck's shoulders and steering him towards the window. "Bianca! Good news! You get to work the counter."

"Joy," Bianca drawled, frowning at Buck. "How'd you get on her bad side— whew. Never mind."

"Hey! I took two showers!"

"Should have taken three!"

"I have a problem."

"Yeah, you showed up at a police sergeant's house when you're a wanted felon."

Buck glared at Athena, hunching his shoulders. "Is Bobby home?"

"You know he's in the middle of a shift or you wouldn't have showed up."

"I thought you two tried to line your shifts up."

"Mm, we do, but I got some overtime on account of being—"

"Kidnapped, yeah," Buck grinned at her. "Sorry about that. Or is it congrats on getting an extra night off?"

"You know you can come by in your regular clothes."

"Oh yeah, and then someone hears what we're talking about and I'm screwed. No, better to show up like this and then I have a reason to escape if I need to."

"Hopefully without burning my house down," Athena said mildly.

"Depends. I get pretty good insurance payouts," Buck mused. "Any chance you were hoping for a remodel?"

"Buck," Athena dropped a plate in front of him. Mm, sprinkle doughnut. "What's your problem?"

"Haven't gotten laid in a while," Buck offered, grinning around a mouthful of delicious, delicious carbs.

"Keep looking elsewhere."

"Not you, geez, why does everyone — I guess that's a point in sea king's favour, he never asks if I'm into you."

"Probably because you spend your limited time together throwing the worst pickup lines possible at him."

Buck rolled his eyes. "Okay, let's — hmm. I have a boss."

"Daggertooth. Stupid name."

"Right. Yeah. The real ones paralyze their prey with venom."

"I assume that's why you say you can't tell me things, sometimes."

"Uh-huh. Oh, please don't use his name, I don't — know if he can hear it."

"Fantastic."

"I don't think so, but better safe."

"This problem. Can you talk about it?"

"We're gonna find out." Buck told her, settling back in his chair. "Okay. I have a deal."

"Right. We've talked abut that."

"It… expires. In a few months."

Athena hummed, rubbing a hand over her jaw. "What happens then?"

"Theoretically, I'm allowed to leave the employ of the Ghoul."

"And in actuality?"

"I… might have pissed him off," Buck said slowly, tapping his fingers against the end of the plate.

"Might have? You're losing your touch."

Athena grinned when he shot a glare at her.

"Okay, that's not the point— I mean, yeah, maybe it is the point. It's fine when I'm talking back to other people, but I might have talked back to him, and it might have — annoyed him. That I pointed out most of us were only there because we had to be."

Athena shook her head, sucking in a breath. "Buck. That was—"

"Yeah, I know it was dumb!" Buck protested. "But he was only giving me ten percent when my deal says that I get twenty, and… what would you do if your boss halved your pay?"

"So because you pissed him off…" Athena trailed off, giving Buck a chance to finish.

"He's asked one of the others to ah. Make sure that I don't get to walk away from the contract."

"He put a hit out on you."

"Technically not for a few months, because I'm too useful to give up earlier than he has to…"

"And he just told you about this?"

Buck snorted. "No. The guy he asked to do the hit told me."

"…are you sure it's a legitimate tip? That sounds…"

"Hinky? Yeah. I know. They told me last week, and I've been keeping an eye on Ol' Stinky since then. He's really angry. He's good at making it look like he's not — mostly because he's always angry, so it's hard to tell the difference, but," Buck worried at his bottom lip. "I think it's legit."

"Okay, so what's the exact date that your contract is up?"

"November sixth."

"Okay." Athena brushed a hand through her hair, considering him. "It's April."

"Barely," Buck conceded.

"And you think he's going to keep sending you on jobs for as long as possible."

"I have the highest success rate of any of us against the AFO. He'd be an idiot to get rid of me before he had to."

"And you wonder why he gets mad when you talk to him. …You can't tell me where his base is."

"Nope. I can tell you every crime I committed and who I committed it with — and for — but nothing else," Buck crossed his arms over his chest, watching her. "You never thought it was odd that the people who started to flip on him always died? It's a failsafe. We can tell, but we're not obligated. If someone gets snapped up and starts spilling their guts, he knows they're not going to keep their mouth shut once the contract is up, so he takes care of them."

"He must have offered you something really good if you signed a deal that bad."

"I didn't know about the murdering before I signed the contract," Buck protested. "But it was something I couldn't have pulled off on my own. I think. I'm not really the kind of person who like. Does that."

Athena pursed her lips. "Does he know who you are out of the costume?"

"No, what, do I look that stupid? I approached him in — well, not this costume, and I signed it with the… work name? Code name?"

"What do you think about dying?"

"I'm morally opposed to it? Hence why I'm here? Talking to you?"

Athena laughed once. "Not you, Firestarter. Can you stop? Using your powers, committing crimes?"

"I mean I was planning to go straight — in the legal sense, at least — once my contract was up. So yeah, I can stop the criming."

"And the powers?"

"I mean…" Buck shrugged. "I can be less flashy about it. Just for my own personal use."

Athena twisted her wedding ring around her finger. "And the contract is void once you're dead."

"Well, yeah, but I don't think faking my death will override the contract."

"But if your heart stopped and then we restarted it, that would probably do it."

"Maybe?" 

"I have an idea."

"I don't think I'm going to like it."

"I don't think anyone is going to like it." Athena leaned forward, resting her chin on her palm and staring at Buck. "You promise to tell me everything the moment that you can? So that I can take him down for good?"

"You get me out of this, and I'll tell you whatever you want."

"I can see how you ended up signing a stupid ass contract." Athena glanced over at the clock on the mantle, checking the time. "Bobby's going to be home in an hour or so. I've got some planning to do."

"How should I get in touch with you?"

"Phone seems like a bad idea," Athena mused. "All things considered."

"Give me a date and time, I'll come by and pick you up," Buck offered, grinning at her.

"Geez. Okay. It's Wednesday, so — same time next week? I'll need a few days to talk to everyone."

"Gotta say, I don't love that this plan is already involving more people than you and me."

"You want me to fake the death of a supervillain — I can't exactly do that on my own."

"Supervillains want to take over the world, I'm not sure this is an accurate title for me."