Nighthawk: A Superhero Story (closed for Siobhancan99)

[Halcyon638]

“Oh. Hey,” the detective said, as Monica began to break down. He rose from his chair and approached her cautiously, like a person approaching a skittish animal. He reached a hand down and took hers. “Don’t do that to yourself, okay? First of all, you saved my daughter’s life. It doesn’t matter what else happens. She’s my life. Secondly, I knew the risks getting involved with you. And just being a cop in general. You happen to remember meeting me getting beat to a bloody pulp by a couple of Russians? I got into that mess all by myself. You think I wouldn’t have gotten myself mixed up with the Imperial somehow anyways? That’s kinda what I do.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Nodding, she blew her nose into a paper towel and got up to throw it out. She inhaled and got control of herself "just. Nobody is supposed to get hurt. Except me. And bad people. Really." She bit her lip, looking back at herself and wondering if maybe she hadn't started this thing to get hurt and swiftly pivoted, not wanting to think about that. "It's been hard, not being able to say I was sorry. To know what you went through because of me. Us. I guess. sort of."

 

[Halcyon638]

Knapp reached over and grabbed a beer, popping it open. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, okay? You can make up whatever you feel like you need to make up to me by keeping on doing what you’re doing. And eventually beating the ever-loving shit out of the Imperial, once you get your hands on him.”

Iggy galloped into the kitchen again, carrying another toy. “And honestly, I’ve spent more time with Hads in the last couple of months than I probably have, in like, a year?”

 

[siobhancan99]

Inhaling, she got ahold of herself. "well I'm glad its been good for you and Hads." She neglected to mention Hads probably needed a positive male role model given her various behaviors. "anyway." she stood, then squeezed his shoulder "I'm glad you're improving. I'll keep an eye on your daughter this weekend. I'm glad you know now." She left Gabi's parents info so he could call them and 'follow up on the report' and all. She wondered if Thalmer's body had been found. "I'll see you around, detective."

 

[Halcyon638]

Detective Knapp gave her a nod and a little salute, then said, “Be careful out there, okay?”

Monica returned home to an empty apartment. It was Tuesday night, and Gabi had been staying at her parent’s house since Sunday, having asked Monica to save her notes on their Monday Calculus II class.

After about an hour, Monica received a FaceTime call from her girlfriend. “Hey, baby,” Gabi said, smiling and waving happily at the phone’s camera, but still seeming a little subdued. “How was your day today?”



The Latina toyed with some stray strands of her long, dark hair. “So…would you mind sending me your notes again? I don’t…think I’m ready to leave yet.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica nodded. She'd wanted to talk about this when they were in perrson but it seemed that wasn't going to happen. "You might as well come back. Thalmer's not going to be an issue any more." She resented that she was there and Gabi wasn't, and yet she was being expected to carry the load but emotionally and for class, after watching her friend kill himself out of despair and making her participate.

 

[Halcyon638]

“I know,” Gabi said, stifling a yawn, “it’s just been a rough couple of days, and I just…it just feels like I need to be with my family right now. I can see how I’m feeling about it tomorrow, though.”

Sensing the edge to Monica’s tone, a look of concern crossed Gabi’s features. “You doing okay, carino?”

 

[siobhancan99]

"No. I'm not ok." She sighed "i'm really fucking not. I watched someone I thought was my friend turn into what seemed like a psychopath in some weird attempt to commit suicide. So no, I'm not fucking ok."

 

[Halcyon638]

A pained expression appeared on Gabi’s face. “Baby, I…I’m so sorry. Have you talked to Melanie?” She scrunched up a bit of fabric at her neckline nervously. “I can…I can plan to be there tomorrow.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica sighed and ran a hand through her hair "no. you know how I hate to bother anyone." as she said it she knew it was probably stupid. Mel was her doctor, after all. "I'll call her when we hang up. Good idea hon. Thank you."

 

[Halcyon638]

The dark-haired girl seemed to be on the verge of tears. “Please do that, baby. You can talk to me, too, but she…” Gabi trailed off. “I can be there tomorrow, okay? I don’t know what time yet but I’ll try to get there as soon as I can.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica nodded "its... you know its just not a phone conversation." She blew out a soft breath "it is a lot, baby. It is a fucking lot." She groaned and laid back on the bed "i miss you. I wish you were here."

 

[Halcyon638]

Gabi nodded. “I miss you, too, querida. You should stay home tomorrow. We’ll get the notes from Allie or someone. Just wait for me to get there.”

She put her hand to her forehead and yawned again, though it was only a little past 9. “I love you.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica nodded "I love you too babe. Come home. I want you to be here." She sighed and said her goodnights, then texted Mel to see if she could work in a visit the next day. Feeling anxious and not sure what to do with herself with an empty apartment, she suited up and slipped out the fire escape, making her way to a shitty part of town.

 

[Halcyon638]

A few minutes later, Mel texted back. “Of course. Why don’t we aim for 12:30?” Monica had 3 hours between her Biology II course and its accompanying lab, so the slot was open for her.

It was a damp, warm early April night as she flew the Sliver toward some of the rougher neighborhoods. Finding Founder’s Square and Benjamin Park fairly quiet, she eventually heard the telltale sounds of gunfire erupting near the riverfront.

A small container ship sat alongside the docks, and two dark SUVs were parked nearby, along with a cop car. Gunshots were coming from the deck of the ship, behind one of the SUVs, and from behind the cop car, where a single police officer seemed to be pinned down.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica surveyed the scene a moment, and decided the best route was to come down behind the SUV. If it came to it, she couldn't lift it but she could flip it onto its side and maybe create a path for the cop to escape. For now though, she concentrated on the shooter or shooters. She steered the sliver behind the location of the SUV and then opened the hatch and jumped down, trying to land on whoever was shooting from behind it.

 

[Halcyon638]

There was a single gunman behind the SUV, weapon trained on the cop car as he prepared to unleash another barrage from his submachine gun before he noticed the looming shape above him. The greasy-haired middle-aged man tilted his weapon up, still crouching behind the car to protect him from the police officer’s attacks.

He tried to lock in on Monica as she dove out of the vehicle’s hatch. His eyes widened as he failed to line up a shot and instead ending up taking a diving kick from her that crumpled him to the dirty ground and cushioned her fall. He would not be conscious any time soon.

The other combatants hadn’t seemed to take notice of her yet. The cop’s head rose above the hood of the car momentarily to allow the person to squeeze off a round at two men on the ship, who were also almost fully concealed behind parts of the ship that provided cover.

The cop seemed to be on target with their shot, but the gunman who had been targeting didn’t seem to have been injured too badly from what Monica could tell.

The two gunmen on the ship, about 30 feet away from Monica and about 50 feet away from the cop car, fired their compact submachine guns at the police officer. The wave of bullets torn into the vehicle but didn’t seem to have connected with the cop.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica took advantage of the sound of the guns and the fact that there was a direct fire exchange between the two parties to make her way closer to the boat. When she was close enough, she jumped onto the boat itself, then crouched down trying to avoid detection as she moved closer to the men with the submachine guns. her goal was go get close enough to grab one and toss him over, but for now she was mostly just hoping to stay undetected.

 

[Halcyon638]

Monica stealthily made her way onto the ship, seemingly undetected. Again, the cop popped out behind cover to shoot at the assailants. She caught a better glimpse of him this time, seeing a boyish, wide-eyed officer who looked barely out of the academy as he squeezed off another round. Again, his bullet seemed to nearly find their mark, grazing the sleeve of one of the men on the boat but not injuring him.

The two machine gunners, both grizzled, hard-looking men, let fly another hail of bullets as the cop once again made himself scarce. Monica crept toward one of them as the gunfire drowned out her approach.

She managed to get her arms around the man, but he fought harder than expected. “You!” he shouted, then tried to club her with his weapon. Monica avoided it as the other gunman and cop exchanged another round of bullets.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica agreed "me. and i've had a rough week so maybe don't make me take my frustrations out on you." she grabbed for his wrist, trying to get ahold of him and maybe hurt him in the process "This will all be a lot easier if you don't make me fuck you up." At heart, she didn't really want him to surrender, though. She wanted something to focus on that wasn't her bullshit week.

 

[Halcyon638]

Her fingers sunk into the man’s wrist. He used his powerful frame to struggle again, but this time, she had the angle just right. She yanked hard on his arm, wrenching it painfully behind him and causing him to cry out in pain. His gun bounced on the edge of the ship and then plummeted to the river.

Monica had a good hold on the man now, but the fight seemed to have gone out of him. The other gunman dodged a bullet from the cop and spotted Monica. He made a break for the other side of the ship, running away from her.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica held onto the one shooter "Second shooter is on the run" she thought for a moment, then just dragged the first one along with her, giving chase. She wondered where he might go, but assumed he might be making for the SUVs. Still, might be some kind of other boat attached or something. If she could get them both, great.

 

[Halcyon638]

The gunman had run to the river side of the ship and looked out over the edge as if contemplating jumping and swimming for it. However, he turned back toward Monica now, seeing her approaching with his partner in tow. The stubbly gunman lifted the submachine gun, hesitating for a moment as he lined up a shot despite the other criminal potentially being caught in the crossfire.

“Sorry, TJ,” he said, “I don't want to hit you.”

He sprayed off a round of ammunition. Luckily, even with the added burden of her erstwhile human shield, Monica managed to easily avoid the shots and even managed to keep the other man out of the line of fire.

The thug looked down at the submachine gun in his hands. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the young officer making his way onto the deck.

 

[siobhancan99]

"here's the deal, I can embarrass you by beating you unconscious with your friend, or you can put the gun down and surrender." Monica sighed "and honestly I really hope you choose the first one because I've had a shit week and giving me an excuse to resolve this with an ultra-violent solution is really what I need. It's just you know, not part of my idiom. So. Giving you a shot here, hoping you don't take it because I'd really like to just pummel the ever living shit out of you."

 

[Halcyon638]

The gunman’s eyes widened as Monica laid out his options. He glanced over at the cop making his way onto the boat, the officer’s gun also trained on him.

Sighing, the man held the weapon out at arm’s length. “Put the weapon on the ground!” the cop shouted, making his way towards the man. His uniform bore the name “Koloshenko.” He was good-looking, with distinctive, blue-gray eyes and short, russet-colored hair tucked under his cap.

The criminal lowered the weapon onto the ground before him.