Nighthawk: A Superhero Story (closed for Siobhancan99)

[siobhancan99]

"normally, I would" she circled a little "but I don't have that luxury. So, tell me your contingent plan, open up your phone, take care of that and I will give you a warrior's death, quick and honorable. Don't... and I will have to pursue a longer, less heroic end for you." she said it softly, regretfully "so don't make me, Thalmer. Please. you were my friend."

 

[Halcyon638]

Thalmer gave a barely perceptible nod of his head. Sighing, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his phone. “That whole backup plan….I didn’t actually go through with it. I mean, first I’d have to make an account, then it’d ask me to download the app—who needs that hassle?” The hint of a bittersweet smile appeared on his face, but only for a few fleeting seconds.

 

[siobhancan99]

She chose to believe him, figuring she could always check. She launched another kick for him, trying to put him down. How she'd kill him she had no idea. It seemed less like justification and more like assisted suicide with each passing moment, but if she didn't do it he'd likely actually do something more fucked up to get what he wanted.

 

[Halcyon638]

The kick went high, snapping his head back and sending him back six or seven feet or so. Blood dripped off her boot as the blond-haired man lay on his back. He tried to get up, tried to raise an arm off the ground, but only managed to slightly curl his fingers. “You did it,” Thalmer said, pride in his voice. He spat out some blood. “Fuck. I think you…I think you broke my neck.”

He managed a smile. “There’s a…there’s a perfectly good dam over there. Might as well…put it to use.”

Letting out a cry of pain, he pulled himself to his feet, then almost immediately collapsed. “What do you know…legs still work. Gonna…need a little help here.” The injury and the tone of his voice didn’t seem like a ploy from what Monica could tell.

“I say…it counts as an...honorable…death if you broke my neck and then guide me over there,” he said, vaguely gesturing with his right foot toward the edge of the damn, his arms hanging limply at his sides. “I mean…you’re…you’re welcome to boot me in the ass but otherwise…I can…probably figure it out to myself once I get to the edge.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica let herself break down "you bastard." She picked him up, cradling him so as to not injure him worse even as she went to throw him off the cliff "I could have asked my mother to bring you home. There were... Fuck you for making me do this. You were my friend." She walked over to the dam "Drop your phone." then swallowed, her voice thick, her chest tight. "I'll need it for something." She inhaled, then looked up at the sky. She tried to think of something smart to say in Centauri, but all she could muster was the raw horrible feeling of having to kill her friend, her betrayer. A man who manipulated her into killing him because he couldn't do it for himself. She hated him, in that moment, for his weakness, his abject cowardice. At the same time she mourned the loss of her friend. He was one of the few people who knew what it was to be different. Every other person like her so far had turned out to be a villain.

"I would take you somewhere and get you patched up, but as they say you can't buy silence, Thalmer, you can only rent it." She held him like that for a long moment "I'm glad you weren't alone, here at the end. I have a lot to unpack with my therapist. The hot redhead. Still." She inhaled and exhaled "My mother always used to say 'We do what we must' and I think it might have been some sort of house motto or something, the way she stressed it. The extra gravitas and all that. So here we are." She looked down at his broken body "anything you want to say before I send you off?" She knew she was stalling. Not only was she not a murderer, this wasn't anywhere near as clear cut now that she knew this was suicide-by-Nighthawk and not him just being a crazy bastard.

 

[Halcyon638]

Thalmer peered out over the raging waters below. “You didn’t deserve this, Princess,” he said, imbuing the final word with some affection and not his typical snark. “I…fucked up. Hugely. It turns out…when all you know is lying…and hurting and killing, that’s how you react to…any situation. Especially if it’s a situation that’s…only happened two times in your whole worthless life.”

The warrior eased his way out of her arms, sitting cross-legged, on the edge. “Tell Gabi…well, you can tell her whatever you want. Maybe… it’ll be better if…you tell her I was raving like a psycho and you jump kicked me off here. Me saying ‘I’m sorry’ probably will mean shit to her. But I know she didn’t deserve this, either.”

He looked up at Monica. “Sutter’s girlfriend…that wasn’t me. She wasn’t…part of the fucking plan. I feel bad about that. And you….don’t feel bad about this. This was a long…time coming. I could have died—should have died—a hundred times before this. At least I’ll die near someone who knows my actual name.”

Looking down again, he said, “If you ever…meet my daughter. Tell her I’m sorry. I should have chosen her and her mom over my orders but…I was too big of a chicken shit.” Pausing for a moment, he said, “Her name and DOB are in the Notes app on my phone. I just…I thought she might come looking for someone like her. Someday.”

He sighed and looked up at the sky. “Cloudy. Fuck, you think I could have…seen the stars one last time just for atmosphere, you know?”

Thalmer turned his gaze to Monica again. He inched toward the precipice in front of him. “I can…take it from here, Princess. Just turn your back and walk away and go hug that girl of yours, okay? Your…part in this is done.”

 

[siobhancan99]

"You were my friend Thalmer. This sucks. A lot. A fucking lot." She sighed and sat next to him "But you shouldn't have to go out alone. So I'll sit here and watch you go." Part of that was sentiment, part of it was needing to know he legitimately did it. Plus she was going to use his phone to text the FBI and say he killed Sutter, which would be awkward if he was still alive. "as for the stars well, I guess we can't have everything. You were right about that. I wish, for your sake, you'd stayed with that little girl. Helped her figure out why she was different. Because she's going to be. You're strong as a fucking ox. Some of that is passing through. Look at my parents." she tucked her knees up under her chin and hugged them. "is... if i talk to the people from home again is there anyone that you want to know? or all they all..." She assumed the second. If he had people he might have tried to get back to them.

 

[Halcyon638]

Thalmer winced as Monica voiced her shared regret that he hadn’t stayed with his child. “Yeah. There’s a guy named Obthellon. If you could tell him…I died…serving the Empire…I’d appreciate it.”

He reached up and managed to move his right arm. His once powerful grasp was weak now, but she felt him gently squeeze her hand with his.

The warrior pulled himself to his feet. Looking out over the expanse of raging waters, he stuck his arms out as widely as he could, fingers and wrists trembling. “Keep working on that combo I showed you, okay?” he said, referring to the last move he’d been teaching Monica. “Shit will make you unstoppable.”

A moment later, he fell, swallowed up by the shadows. Monica was alone.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica watched him disappear and then sat, weeping. It seemed like everything from home was destined to turn to shit. Nothing would ever work out, where the centauri were concerned. In that moment, she hated her mother for going back to a culture that produced a Thalmer, and made him feel like his lone wolf badass routine was the only life worth living. It made her sad for a little girl who never knew her father. The worst part was, she could never escape. She could hang up "The Nighthawk" becuase.. due process or some shit. She could always stop her crusade against street level crime. She couldn't, however, leave cleaning up her people's mess to someone else. A squad of humans poorly equipped to handle it.

Going back she found Thalmer's phone and dutifully put the info of his daughter into her own. She then opened his email and sent a short email to the FBI. "I was paid to kill Alex Sutter by a man who claimed to be an agent of the Helix Corporation. They have been hounding me ever since. I am jumping off the Coutersport Dam. Avenge me. As proof, look over the pictures of Sutter just prior to death. You will find me in most of them. I acted alone, but I was paid by his enemies."

She wasn't sure what good it would do, but she knew sutter and Helix had beef, and really Helix was into what seemed like some evil shit. She then went and tossed the phone down after Thalmer into the gloom before heading home. Once home, she texted Gabi "it's done. On my way home." She went upstairs, showering, numb, unaware of how much time had passed till she noticed the water getting cold.

 

[Halcyon638]

Gabi texted back. “I stayed at the house. Probably going to be sticking around here for a few days at least. Did you want to come over? I would come there but Mom would probably freak out right now.”

Monica found her father in the kitchen. He was making one of the few dishes he knew how to make. “Hey, kiddo. Pancakes? I only managed to burn the first two.”

 

[siobhancan99]

"Thalmer's dead. He threw himself off the dam. This whole thing was suicide by Nighthawk." She sat "I don't really feel like pancakes. You and Gabi and everyone are safe, and I texted the FBI from his phone to say he killed sutter and he was paid by shadowy agents of one of Sutter's enemies." She shrugged, then opened a Dr. Pepper without really drinking it. "I wonder. you know. If mom would have if she had stayed." she toyed with the can, then got up and hugged her dad "thank you. for you know. everything."

A few days later, she called Haley's father, as the Nighthawk "Do you have some time to talk? or is your daughter there?"

 

[Halcyon638]

“Oh…hi,” Detective Knapp said, sounding surprised. “She’s…” He lowered his voice. “She’s just about to head out. Call back in 20?”

When Monica returned the call, he answered immediately. “Hey. You know I’m not still back on the force yet, right?”

 

[siobhancan99]

"I was not aware, but I have a matter that you might be able to help me with that is somewhat personal. What beer do you drink I'll come by in 20 minutes or so?"

Monica figured that for the detective to help, she'd have to let him in on this thing. She also assumed he already on some level knew.

 

[Halcyon638]

“I’m not so much with the drinking these days since the injury, but thanks for the offer. See you soon.” The detective greeted her at the back door. It had been months since she’d seen the man. His dark hair was closely cropped and he was sporting a neatly trimmed beard. She spotted a few streaks of silver here and there.

His dog rushed to see who was at the door, and Knapp did his best to corral him. “Come on, Iggy. Be good. Yeah, so…welcome to my humble home. It’s been, uh…a while. How have you been?"

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica stepped into the house and leaned down to let the dog sniff her hand. She stood, then peeled off her helmet and shook out her hair "that thing gets hot." She had brought beer for herself, bought at one of the scores of bars in parts of the city that didn't give a shit about carding people. "Got a bottle opener?" She looked him over to see if he was surprised at the reveal.

 

[Halcyon638]

The detective’s eyes widened for a few moments. “Um…” Then, a grin began to settle onto his features. “You’re lucky I’m not on active duty or I’d have to turn you in for this.” He slid open a drawer, pulled out a bottle opener, and tossed it over to Monica. “Shit. It’s true. I thought I had pegged the voice one time you were here with Hadley, but…it was a hunch. Never confirmed it.”

Letting out a short laugh, he settled into a chair. “It’s, uh…it’s nice to see—hear from you. So…what can this washed up semi-cop do for you, Monica?”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica shrugged "i personally thought there were way too many coincidences with my involvement in rescuing Hads, but I assume you were kind of in full dad mode over that and maybe didn't notice." She drained about half the beer, then played with the bottle a little "So. This is going to require some explanation."

She drained the beer and then set it aside "My mom." She tapped her fingers on the table a bit and then mostly out of nervousness opened another beer. "My mom is the reason I'm so strong. Her people are uh. Superhuman. Some of them." She shifted a bit and then cracked another beer. "My parents are aliens. My dad from a legal perspective as he immigrated from Sweden. My mom more in the bug eyed monster sort of sense. I guess more of the 'amazon women on the moon' sense. You know, space vixen. Tall, blond..." She shrugged "Able to lift a truck over her head. You know."

"I mean what I'm going to ask you requires a little context but I'm not sure how curious you are or anything. So I guess, how much do you want to know?"

 

[Halcyon638]

Detective Knapp listened, unable to hide the surprise regarding Monica’s heritage. “Wow. Can’t tell you how badly I want one of those right now,” he said, indicating the bottles of beer. “If you had told me any of this a year ago, I would have very gently and very kindly escorted you to the nearest psych ward, but…I believe you.”

He stood up and made his way to the fridge, pulling out a can of diet root beer. “I mean, masked mystery woman who I worked with for five months turns out to be my daughter’s college friend and also an alien? You could say my curiosity’s a little piqued. Plus, I don’t get out much, so, please. Entertain me.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Laughing, "I was born on earth! I promise" she took another sip. "Yeah its a lot." She leaned back "Well. Where my mom's from there was this civil war. And a lot of her people are here." She glossed over the part that they were all here to invade earth and basically got stuck. "So, I was working with this guy to get trained. I. When you're as strong as I am being trained by a regular human is. Well. The technique is somewhat limited by your limitations." She shrugged "So I was working with this guy who is also like me. Strong, fast. A trained killer. My dad told me it was a stupid idea. Turns out he was correct."

 

[Halcyon638]

The detective took a drink as Iggy ran to him, trying to get him to toss a squeaky toy. “Sorry—Alien-American. Go on.” He tossed the vinyl frog down the hallway and the dog went chasing after.

He played with the metal tab as Monica began to describe the situation with Thalmer. A concerned expression slowly spread across the man’s face. “I don’t like where this is headed,” he said. “Are you in danger?”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica shook her head "No. Not any more. He got obsessed. He started threatening people I was close to. He came around to Gabi's house on Sunday, in Cottersville." She played with the bottle "So i told her family that he was a stalker from the gym." She inhaled, putting the bottle down "But the thing is... is he didn't really want me. He wanted me to kill him. I didn't by the way." She frowned, laying out the course of sunday afternoon "And then he threw himself off the dam." She shrugged "but. I need a cop to call Gabi's parents so they think something's being done about it."

 

[Halcyon638]

The detective crossed his arms across his chest, listening with unfolding horror. “Jesus. I’m sorry. You should have called me sooner.”

He stood up again. “Consider it done. Is there anything else you need? Is it true you’re going with Hads to NYC in a couple of weeks?”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica shook her head "no I'm good. and yeah we're going I think in a few days." She peeled at the bottle label "And don't worry. Now that i'm you know, all settled down and domesticated I'm boring" She grinned "So I'll keep an eye on Hads and make sure she's not getting into anything she shouldn't."

 

[Halcyon638]

Detective Knapp smiled. “It’s definitely reassuring to know my daughter’ll have a superhero looking after her. And make sure you make her take you to some super touristy places. She’ll complain about it to act all cool but she secretly loves that stuff. Has since she was a kid.”

He eyed Monica’s second open container. “Yeah, so…you hit that first one pretty hard. Does alcohol not really affect you? Or is there an Uber app for masked vigilantes? There’s also some leftover lasagna if you need to give it some time.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica tensed a little and looked down at her beer "I mean i can drink a lot for someone my size. Cause you know. Alien amazon." She played with the bottle and let out a breath "and while I've been here. you know, to check up on you as Monica" She swallowed, throat tight, eyes starting to well up "you're off work and hurt because of me and I don't... I'm responsible for that and I don't know how to handle it and I haven't even been able to apologize to you and I can't fix it and I don't ..."