Nighthawk: A Superhero Story (closed for Siobhancan99)

[siobhancan99]

Monica watched her friends a bit. She wasn't much of a gamer herself, but it was fun to listen to them talking smack. She sipped at her drink, then looked around a little. Spotting Christina she waved her over. She figured the more the merrier at this juncture. Plus she'd be able to say hi for Gabi. "Christina is here at the barcade." She texted her girl, then waved again, trying to get the woman and what might be her brother to come over. She approached "Hey you! are you meeting people here? I'm with some friends from work and you'd be more than welcome to come hang with us."

 

[Halcyon638]

Cristina smiled and returned the wave. “No! Just giving mi hermano a little taste of Prospect nightlife.”

The young man grinned. “Hey. I’m Berto.” He extended a muscular arm to shake Monica’s hand.

“He’s transferring to PCU this fall. Majoring in Narc Studies.”

“Criminal Justice. Someone’s gotta bail your ass out of jail eventually.”

Wendell made his way over with Ishani. “Fuck, dude. Nelly is getting a little too competitive for me. I’m afraid for my safety.”

Monica introduced the two newcomers, and they soon hit it off quite easily. “You look amazing tonight,” Cristina said as they settled in at a table and she ordered a cosmo. “I would kill for those shoes. It’s so hard to find things in my size.” She tugged down on the hem of her dress which was riding high on her thighs.

Monica’s phone chimed.

GABI: Say hey for me!

“What do you say we get you out of those?” Berto said to Monica. “You look like you’d kill it at Dance Dance Revolution.”

 

[siobhancan99]

"Why?" Monica laughed, joking in response to the transfer "You know Prospect City is dirty poor and dangerous right?" She grinned at him, taking his hand and giving it a firm shake. "Monica, by the way."

When Wendell arrived she bumped him with a hip "She's too much for you Wendell? Just gonna have to get good I guess." She winked up at the big man, then joined Christina at the table, where she ordered a rum and coke, trusting in her air of confidence to get her past any carding. "Gabi says hi by the way, Christina." She looked down at Christina's feet when the woman asked about her shoes "that's a shame." She looked back up at her "you should start a shoe company for you know, girls with larger feet. Make your own cute shoes. Might not be the biggest market in the world but you'd have a captive audience you know? Everyone would flock to Christina. You don't even have to know how to make shoes. You just design them and get someone to make them. You'd make a killing."

She slipped out of her own shoes at Berto's suggestion "I will floor you at DDR."

 

[Halcyon638]

Cristina’s brother chuckled at Monica’s faux-Prospect City warning. “So I’m guessing you’re not leading too many campus tours.” He shook her hand.

“Naw, I’m cooked,” Wendell responded to Monica, “it’s only Wordle and shit for me from here on out.” Nelly and Evan were back at on another cabinet, with the brunette getting more and more animated by the second.

Cristina smiled. “Aww. We were supposed to grab lunch together once more before she went back home but I had some stuff come up.” The Latina looked down at her feet, lifting one. “Ooh, I like that idea. It’ll at least be a good side hustle. I mean, I’m sure being an elementary educator, I’ll just be rolling in it.”

The server brought Monica her drink without hesitation.

“You’re on,” Berto responded to Monica, rising from his seat.

“I need to see this,” Cristina said, putting a hand out. “Hold your shoes? I promise they won’t be mysteriously stretched out when you get them back.”

Monica, the siblings, Ishani, and Wendell walked across the barcade. Another pair of players were finishing up. As they waited their turn, Cristina asked, “How’s the internship going? And your apartment? I was totally going to let you know I’d be around this summer ‘cause Gabi had mentioned you were staying.”

Cristina sipped more of her drink. “I had a friend who needed a roommate, so I figured, hey, I’ll stay in the city for the summer.”

Berto approached the game pad, glancing back at Monica.

 

[siobhancan99]

"It's fucking weird without Gabi, is how it is. Even when we were kids in Cottersville she was always around. I think we fought for like, one week of our entire lives. the only time sshe wasnt really around was just after Tom. I kinda pushed everyone away, but then she just starte showing up and saying if I wasn't going to shower or brush my teeth or go to school neither was she. So I had to go so she would go. She's always just been there. Then you know, living together. you get used to having the other person around. As for the apartment itself... the hvac could be a lot better. There's a lot of boob sweat.Internship is great except for the idiots I work wi... oh they're right here" she grinned at the other two "Seriously everyone's super great."

She made a face, then drank most of her drink and handed it to Christina, getting up onto the pad. "Alright, Berto. Lets do this thing."

 

[Halcyon638]

Cristina nodded, leaning in a bit closer to hear Monica over the noise. “That’s very sweet. I mean...it sounds tough not having her there. You’re welcome to come hang out at our apartment any time. Our AC’s actually not too bad,” she said with a smile and a gentle pat on the shoulder.

Wendell mock-dramatically furrowed his brow at Monica. “Thin ice, Bergenson. I’ve been carrying your ass since Day 1.”

As they stepped onto the gamepad, Berto leaned toward Monica. “I should warn you. Mi abuela made me watch a lot of Dancing with the Stars episodes with her, so…you might want to back off now.”

Nelly and Evan were making their way over now, too. By the time Monica started getting into the rhythm of the game, she had her own cheering section. It was clear that Berto had some familiarity with the game, but her natural agility gave her a fast advantage.

Cristina and Wendell held up their phones, recording the competition. “Go, Monica, go, Monica!” Cristina chanted.

“That hurts, sis,” Berto called out.

Monica triumphed, to the cheers of her assembled supporters. “Alright, guera,” Cristina said, stepping up behind her brother. “You gotta give me a chance to redeem the family honor.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica chuckled as Christina cheered her on. Honestly she'd never really felt like the girl liked her, so it was kind of nice. She bowed, winking at Berto "We ladies stick together." She chuckled and gestured for Christina to take the pad next to her, and fed tokens into the machine to start up another game. "Go easy on me chica. It's only my second time" She batted her eyelashes coquettishly, like some innocent ingenue about to be sexually ravaged. "I'm practically a DDR virgin" She bit her lip and put on her best face, then laughed and stepped to the pad, ready to stomp her feet in time with the game and land on the arrows at just the right moment.

 

[Halcyon638]

“Now who’s going to cheer for you?” Berto teased Cristina as she walked past him.

“Shut up and record this on my phone.” She handed the device to him. “It’s about to get real.”

Cristina’s dusky cheeks colored a bit at Monica’s double entendres. “Hmm, you better watch me then. Learn a few things.” She dramatically tossed a curtain of dark hair away from her face, wiggled her hips, then smiled and got moving.

The Latina moved with a combination of grace and confidence that won her a few cheers from Monica’s assembled coworkers, even as they continued to cheer on the engineering student.

“Care to make this interesting?” Cristina asked over the din of the arcade machine’s music.

 

[siobhancan99]

"what did you have in mind? drinks or something?" She hmmmmed. Christina seemed pretty confident. Still, it was a pretty harmless bet. Unless she meant something else. "Or what?"

She kept her eye on the prize, not letting the conversation distract her too much. She was competitive, and she finally didn't have to hold back like when she was in High School. "because, I mean, I already smoked Berto."

 

[Halcyon638]

“Winner drinks free?” Cristina said, getting into the rhythm. “Winner buys lunch?”

“Loser buys us all drinks!” Nelly called out over the cheers.

“Berto is easily distracted by hot girls. I’m just kinda distracted.” Cristina grinned and bounced forward, then back.

 

[siobhancan99]

"loser buys a round. that's fair." Monica chuckled "I'm sure, after my accident, that i'm just soooo hot" she rolled her eyes and pointed at her arm. She then concentrated on the game again, trying to make sure she hit the rhythm just right. Her natural centauri competitive instinct going into overdrive.

 

[Halcyon638]

“You’re on, guera,” Cristina said, then laughed at Monica’s comment. “If you think I’m going to go easy on you because you’re hurt, think again.” She winked and picked up the pace of her movements.

Cristina was good, but Monica was better. Eventually, her fast footwork and peerless coordination gave her the edge in the scores. “Damn, girl. You hustled me,” the Latina said as she stepped off the dance pad. Monica’s coworkers cheered and patted her on the back and (uninjured) shoulder, while Cristina gave her a quick, one-armed hug.

“Maybe you should try getting in car accidents more often,” Wendell noted, grinning.

“Alright. Monica’s friends, a round of drinks on me,” Cristina said.

“I’m Monica’s friend, right?” Berto said. Cristina made a face at him then walked back over to Monica as her coworkers placed their drink orders.

“Look at us.” She squeezed in next to Monica to show her the footage on her phone that she’d already posted. “We don’t look too bad together, do we?”

A text from Gabi popped up on Monica’s phone.

GABI: Omg I am literally dying watching this. You are

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica sat, flush with the thrill of victory, glad it for once didn't have to come with the risk of death. She tucked into her second drink, glad for the ice. She smiled at Christina "We both do look pretty fucking good. You have serious skills, lady. Puts that brother of yours to shame." She bumped Christina with an elbow, playfully.

"Wendell, you should show us your moves. I bet you're surprisingly graceful for such a big dude. You and Evan can square off. Nelly gets to sit this one out though." She laughed and looked around for her and their gloomy coworker.

Texting Gabi back she wrote ' be hotter if you were here with your sexy ass. Miss you so much."

Leaning back in her chair she relaxed, taking in the mixed group of friends and the ease of the evening, in stark contrast to her hard week so far.

 

[Halcyon638]

Cristina raised her glass in a salute. “Aww, thanks. I’m smiling like an idiot,” she said, beaming and taking another sip.

“How can I say no to that?” Wendell said, slapping a meaty hand on Evan’s upper back. “You heard the lady.”

The reticent intern blushed and grinned. “Okay. I’m in.”

“Go, Evan!” Nelly called out, dragging a stool over to sit near where Monica was watching. “Shake what your momma gave ya!”

Leaning in so Monica could hear her, Nelly said, speech slurred a bit, “If I say anything that’s gonna get me hauled into HR tomorrow, you’ll at least give me a warning right?”

Evan acquitted himself surprisingly well, and was beaming when his rhythmic skills catapulted him to victory over his fellow intern.

Berto was coaxing his sister toward a cabinet with twin-mounted fake guns and hordes of zombies on-screen. “Come on, sis. You know it’s calling to you.”

Cristina turned to Monica. “Excuse me. Boys and their guns. Don’t go anywhere.”

Nelly took another sip of her drink. “Just a heads up that that dude’s been clocking you for a bit. If you wanna get handsy with me to let him know he’s barking up the wrong lesbian tree, I'll take one for the team.” She grinned and gently punched Monica’s arm.

Monica almost didn’t recognize the man Nelly was nodding toward at first, until she caught a glimpse of his distinctive bluish-gray eyes. Officer Koloshenko was dressed in shorts and a black t-shirt sporting a picture of a chicken and the phrase “Cluck around and find out,” posting up near the bar with a tall, lanky 20-something man with stringy blond hair. The cop's casual clothing showed off his sculpted physique in a way his uniform only suggested.

 

[siobhancan99]

Of course it was hot cop. She couldn't even fucking tease him without giving away the whole thing. "Oh. He's pretty put together. Probably into the guy he's with" She nodded and nudged Nelly "So good of you to offer to fall on that grenade, but last I checked I wasn't on your list of approved adultery." she winked at her "Even if I were to dress up as the Nighthawk." She grinned and sipped at her drink, making a note not to drink any more and keep an eye on Nelly, who was clearly feeling no pain. When Evan came back over with Wendell she congratulated him on the win. "Nice footwork there Evan. very dextrous." She sipped at her drink, nursing it now. "Good effort Wendell. This was a good suggestion everyone.'" Scanning the room she tried to make sure she knew here Ishani was too. She wasn't entirely sure the woman wouldn't get drunk and just sit with any random guy that was willing to listen to her be gloomy.

 

[Halcyon638]

Nelly snickered at Monica’s Nighthawk comment and took another sip of her drink.

Evan smiled. “Thanks. Beginner’s luck, I guess.”

Before long, she spotted Ishani standing at a cabinet with two guys playing Captain America & The Avengers. Elsewhere, despite her protests, Cristina seemed to be having a blast playing the zombie shooter game with her brother.

Elsewhere, Koloshenko stole another glance or two in her direction, but then headed for a cabinet.

Wendell nodded. “Yeah, this was cool. We’ll have to figure something out for next weekend.” Looking to Monica, he said, “Anything you think we should check out?”

 

[siobhancan99]

Satisfied everyone was where they should be and nobody was in danger, Monica relaxed. "There's good places to eat by Founder's square, but we should go Saturday afternoon."

Heading home she texted a bit with Gabi, but tried not to interfere in her girl's night out. She sat in the heat, sullen, then ordered a portable air conditioner she could use for when she was sleeping. THank god for two day delivery, it would be there Sunday. She made a mental note to set up appointments to look at apartments when Gabi was in town the next weekend, so she could check out the AC situation. Saturday and Sunday she used to see what she could scare up about Thalmer's ex and his child. She had the contact information, address and phone and whatnot, but she wanted a look at the woman's socials to see what her life was like before she reached out. It was past time, and she figured at least now she had a little money to maybe help out, depending on how things were. She thought Thalmer had mentioned her being a nurse, but she might have hallucinated that.

 

[Halcyon638]

Thalmer’s ex’s name was Clarissa Cermak-Abbott. There were scattered search results for the woman, a petite, lovely brunette who seemed to be smiling warmly in every picture, including old search results listing her as a 2nd-grade teacher at a school in Maryland. Monica also came across an obituary dated to 8 years ago.

The then-38-year-old had been killed in a school shooting that claimed her, one other teacher and staff member, and 2 students. The obituary spoke glowingly of her kindness and dedication. It listed her as being survived by her daughter, Shay; and a son, Benjamin Abbott.

Shay Cermak was 20 years old, and listed as a resident of Baltimore. She had long, straight, sandy brown hair and brown eyes, with a sullen expression to her unsurprisingly beautiful features. Even in the photos showing her with friends, she rarely smiled. Some of the pics showed off her full-figured, amazing body, along with the tattoos that marked her forearms and left shoulder.

In the most recent photos, she was accompanied by a towering, bearded man who was in his early to mid-30s, equally tattooed and sporting more than a few piercings. He had small, sleepy brown eyes, a receding hairline he concealed with a baseball cap in most pics, and a crooked smile.

 

[siobhancan99]

Thalmer was suddenly full of surprises. She had assumed that his "lapse" occurred not at the outset of the mission (like her parents) but after the destruction of the Centauri homeworld. She'd been anticipating a living ex with a school age child. This was certainly different. She sat back, wondering if she should blow up this girl's life at all. She was clearly Centauri, but it was unlikely she was as strong as Thalmer or Monica unless her adopted parents had also just freaked out and decided she should hide what she was in terms of her physical abilities. She thought a bit, and chalked it up to the issue likely being that both her parents were Centauri, so even if her father wasn't battle caste the genes were all floating around in there somewhere. Still, if the girl was strong she had a right to know why and if she wasn't she still had a right to know who her father was. She seemed unfathomably sad.

MOnica logged into the Insta she made for the Nighthawk, mostly with pictures of her posing batmanesque on precarious perches around the city. She inhaled, then let out a long slow breath, DMing the girl "I knew your dad. If you want me to fuck off, I will, but if you want to know about him and where you come from I have a few (but not all) of the answers."

 

[Halcyon638]

The weekend concluded without a response from Cermak. The air conditioner couldn’t have arrived at a better time, as the city air grew even muggier in the first half of the week.

Monica was headed into work on Wednesday and exchanging texts with Gabi on the train ride.

GABI: Uggh. My throat’s all scratchy this morning. Hope you have a good day, carino! Be your usual brilliant self!

Work was intense as the team set to conducting some of the tests of the device, tests that they’d helped design. It was a full day of non-stop, often frustrating, trial-and-error, and by the late afternoon, the team was looking spent, including Dr. Bascombe himself.

Cermak had responded that afternoon.

SHAY CERMAK: How about fuck off

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica frowned as sick Gabi wednesday was inevitably going to lead to "not coming down" for the weekend. Banner day so far. Hot, work was hard and her girl was getting sick. When she saw Cemak's reply she shrugged and sent back a "thumbs up" emoji to rudely indicate her acceptance. If the girl didn't want to know about Thalmer, fuck her then. Her obligation to the man was complete.

 

[Halcyon638]

After enduring a sweltering subway ride, Monica finally made it back to the air-conditioned lobby of her apartment building. Approaching the elevator, she spotted her neighbor, Sid, a bag of groceries in one arm and a tired-looking daughter in the other. The heat having left him a little disheveled around the edges, he looked distractingly attractive. An elderly Black woman punched the elevator button for them. “Thank you,” Sid said.

The woman saw Monica approaching as well and held the elevator. “Somebody looks like they’re going to sleep well tonight,” she remarked, smiling at Elise.

“There’s a good chance I’ll pass out before she does,” Sid said, returning the smile as his dark-haired daughter rested her tiny head on his shoulder.

The elderly woman got off at the 3rd floor. As Monica, Sid, and Elise were making their way out of the elevator, the 30-something said, “Hey…Monica,” he said, pronouncing her name in a slightly questioning tone, as if he wasn’t sure about her name. “Random question, but do you want any cupcakes? It was my turn to bring something to crafts time today but like, two people, showed.”

“There were more than two people,” Elise corrected. “I think there were seven. No, ten. I think.”

“You’re probably right,” he said warmly but with an undertone of weariness, looking down at her. “They’re chocolate with chocolate frosting if that helps.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica offered the woman a grateful smile. First thing to go right all day, really. "Thank you so much." She nodded and looked down at Elise, agreeing she looked wiped out. The extreme heat was sapping everyone. Honestly, despite that or maybe because of it she should probably patrol tonight. People would be outside to escape their stifling houses, and tempers would be flaring.

At the offer of of cupcakes she nodded. "Honestly I would love a fu.... cupcake." she caught herself before she cussed in front of Elise. "Why don't you two come over and sit at my place for a minute? I got a portable ac I can throw on and it makes it actually somewhat bearable to be inside."

She led the two into the apartment, moving the portable from the bedroom to the main area, then cranking it on high. She got herself a Dr. Pepper from the fridge while Sid put some cupcakes out. "Can I get you two anything to drink? There's water and Dr. pepper in the fridge and some Pineapple juice." The juice would not go with cupcakes and she only had it to mix with tequila.

 

[Halcyon638]

Sid scratched a stubbly patch along his jawline where his 5 o’clock shadow was coming in. “Are you sure? We won’t stay too long.”

He and his daughter disappeared into their apartment for a moment, and he returned with a Pyrex container with 4 cupcakes. “I helped Daddy make these,” Elise noted.

“You mainly helped with cleaning off the beaters,” he said, smirking.

“Dr. Pepper,” she declared happily.

“Uh, no soda this late, Lisey. Do you want some water or some pineapple juice?”

“Pineapple juice.”

“Please,” he reminded her, taking in Monica’s apartment.

“Please.”

The girl followed Monica over to the refrigerator, staying a couple of steps back. “I’m good, thank you. I really need to get one of those,” Sid said, pointing toward the AC. “We’ve got a couple of window units but we couldn’t put one in the living room with the way the outlets are set up so the cold air just kinda hangs out in the bedroom and teases us occasionally.”

“Thank you,” Elise said as Monica poured her the juice.

“How’s the internship going? Is it one of those ‘grab bagels and coffee’-type gigs or do you actually get to do real stuff you’re interested in?”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica nods "the thing about window units too is they can be pushed in from the fire escape so you can only have them in windows without access." the portable exhaust sat in the window, but could be easily removed when she wasn't home, which is what she did. She poured Elise a pineapple juice "I'm sure you're a good help to your dad." She nodded, quite sure that it was probably the opposite. Still, it was cute to see them together. "I was mostly raised by my father too. He was not adept at making cupcakes though so I had to do it all myself. You're very lucky." She grinned at the girl, then turned her attention back to Sid.

"Honestly it's the real deal. I can't say exactly what we're working on because NDA and all that." She leaned against the counter, sighing as she felt the temperature dropping already from the machine. she fanned her polo a little to let some of the ehat out and then looked back over at Sid "But we're fully involved in testing things. It's one of the nice things about engineering I guess, right? If I was a business major they'd probably just be asking us to merge excel sheets." She sipped at her Dr. Pepper "No offense if you have a business degree. I'm sure that spreadsheets with other people's money on them are super interesting. Like the most interesting" She laughed "But yeah for my 10 bucks an hour they get quite a bit of labor out of me."