Nighthawk: A Superhero Story (closed for Siobhancan99)

[Halcyon638]

Another reply came in from DashingBritishVillain: “I’ll think about it. But if you even think about suggesting matching uniforms, I’m out.”

Gabi listened, smiling. When Monica mentioned getting a car, the excitement on her face was plain. “Oh, that would be so cool! Do you know when? I’ll still save up for one, but—” She coughed. “It’d be cool if I didn’t have to rely on borrowing Dad’s car so much this summer.”

The Latina took a sip of water. “You know…I’d really love to go on a road trip. Just the two of us. Like, nothing crazy, just drive out to a lake somewhere, maybe spend the night. Lay under the stars.”

She coughed again. “Uggh. I’m so gross right now. You going to meet up with Cristina this weekend?"

 

[siobhancan99]

"I dunno. I need to find something reliable that won't be stolen." She laughed and leaned back "And doesn't attract attention. Something used probably, just so there's plausible reasons for me to have it." She considered "i probably will hook up with Christina. I'm gonna drag my new work friends out to meet her and her friends."

She sighed "I really miss you. I miss coming home and cooking for you, and curling up with you and listening to you talk about your day. I miss fucking you. I miss waking up next to you. I miss looking over and seeing you asleep curled up with Thadeus."

 

[Halcyon638]

Gabi smiled. “Aww, querida. I miss you so much. Mom was like, ‘you’ve only been apart for two weeks, don’t be so dramatic,’ but everything is better with you.” She brushed aside a lock of shiny dark hair, tucking it behind her left ear. “Maybe if I’m feeling better and don’t actually have COVID I could come into town mid-week? I’ve got Tuesday and Wednesday off. It’ll depend on if Dad will lend me the car. And if it works for you.”

 

[siobhancan99]

"I don't know that I can get out of work, but honestly if you wanted to come down Monday night, bum around while I'm at work a bit tuesday, then stay over Tuesday night I'd love that. You could come down and we could take a long lunch Tuesday and you can meet my work friends. I think they'd love you. They're a fun bunch. It's a shame they aren't really from the area. Why don't we do that? I mean it never hurts to rub into your coworker's face that your girlfriend is smart, funny, sweet and beautiful" She smiled "And it's not dramatic to be sad about being apart. The last time we were apart this long was when I refused to participate in life in any fashion and you hauled me out of that. Since we were what, 6 and 7? Even vacations were never more than 2 weeks. I'll introduce you to the neighbor too. He has an adorable kid."

She let herself get excited about the prospect of seeing her girlfriend "I have something I want to talk to you about too when you're down here. We need to find a place for the fall. I was thinking we'd move off campus."

 

[Halcyon638]

Gabi nodded. “Oh, yeah. I didn’t think you’d be able to take work off, but I can definitely hang out with you after work, cook for you. It’d be cool to meet your work friends.” She grinned. “Now I just have to, like, not get COVID.” She slapped her left forearm. “Come on, lymphocytes and interferons! Do your thing!”

She let out a cough that shook her whole frame. “I was thinking about that, too. Ruben was talking about some apartments off of Aspen Street that are supposed to be pretty cool. We should—” Her already strained voice petered out. Trying again, she said, “We should check those out.”

Gabi took another few sips of water. “So, I started working on this fantasy story. Like, kind of a romantasy thing. About an academy for female wizards. I don’t know if it’s any good, but it’s been fun so far. In case you wanted to take a look some time.”

There was a knock on the door of Gabi’s room and Monica could hear what sounded like Sara calling. “On the phone with Monica,” Gabi called as loudly as she could manage.

“I should go, carino. I love you so much. I’ll see you soon.”

After the call with Gabi, there were a few dishes to be done, but Monica was otherwise able to relax. She had received another message through the private Nighthawk inbox.

MinaGirl99: Hi. Is this really you?

 

[siobhancan99]

"That's awesome! I totally want to read it. We should play dnd with our friends some time too."

Looking over her Nighthawk messages she replied "If by really me you mean the heroine who had to hide her face under your skirt, yes. It is." She chuckled to herself but then seriously wrote "but so I know it's really you, tell me what happened when I first came into the room." In case "Mina" was going to ask questions that might get her brother into some trouble, Monica figured she should at least make some attempt to verify this wasn't just the Imperial or something. Superheroing had to involve a level of paranoia.

 

[Halcyon638]

MINA: Omg I was going to make you prove your you by saying what color panties I had on but nevermind now

There was a pause between the replies.

MINA: It is a little hard to remember. Wait didn’t you laugh at me??

 

[siobhancan99]

"Not AT you. Exactly. more at the situation. You know, me being there to save you and you ready to fight." She continued "so how are you holding up?" She wanted to let Mina know her brother sent her, but she figured she could ease into that part of the conversation.

 

[Halcyon638]

Monica’s AC kicked up another notch. A reply came in after Monica’s comment about her entering the room for the first time:

MINA: Just giving you hard time

There was a short delay.

MINA: Pretty good, thanks. It feels more like weird dream I had, you know? I don’t know if it has really set in yet. Maybe I will wake up screaming tomorrow. Who knows. How are you doing? Do you like relax and take a day off or…?

MINA: Btw I'm following you on your socials. MinaGirl99 if you want to follow me.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica followed her back, and then a few other people who had followed her to make it not seem weird. The nighthawk following one woman she saved might raise a little stink. So she followed a ton of people all at once, just to obfuscate the situation.

"Just so you know, it was your brother that asked me to save you. He and I are NOT friends. he basically played on my desire to help the innocent. I just thought you should know."

 

[Halcyon638]

From what Monica glimpsed, Mina’s feed was a mix of lip syncing and dancing videos, makeup tutorials, a few reaction videos, and plenty of selfies of her impeccably dressed, impeccably made up. After Monica hit send, the replies died down. It was just a little past 7:30. A few texts came in from her father, sharing pics of a day trip he and Kat were taking to Maine.

A little past 8:30, more messages from Mina came through as Monica was picking out her clothing for work.

MINA: Yeah I talked to Branko afterwards. OF COURSE his dumbass got me in trouble.

MINA: He is definitely a better brother than he is a person. But he is just about the only family I got I am sorry you had to deal with him.

 

[siobhancan99]

"I'm not much for religion, but I think it says somewhere in there 'I am not my brother's keeper' or some shit. don't worry about it. As for what I am doing I do not get a day off really. I have my regular job, and the Nighthawk thing, and a relationship to tend to and so on and so forth. I don't sleep a great deal

 

[Halcyon638]

MINA: Yes. Hopefully you know I am not like him now So busy! You make me feel lazy lol.

A few minutes later, Gabi called to say goodnight, looking exhausted on the FaceTime call. She just stayed on for a few minutes, reiterating her excitement about the upcoming visit.

Another message came in from Mina around 9:45 as Monica was preparing to settle into bed for the night and put away her burner phone.

MINA: Yayy you follow me! I should of warned you that my posts are all super basic. I think most of my followers are random horny guys lol.

 

[siobhancan99]

"Girl, same. You don't even want to know how many men want a woman to step on them "

She put the phone away and laid back to deal with weeks of pent up sexual frustration. She closed her eyes and slid her hand into her boy shorts, not bothering to get undressed at all. Her fingers moved subtly, stretching the cotton of her panties as they circled her clit. She slid one hand under her top, toying with a nipple as she lay there. Her mind went first to the feeling of Gabi against her, the familiar lush curves of her body against Monica. She thought about her scent, the soft trail of her lips and the drag of her fingers along her skin. Her breath came quicker as she thought about those full lips moving along her body, exploring it.

Fingertips making a tight circle she felt her body responding, clit swelling in response. She felt the flush of arousal in her cheeks as she plunged on. Small whine in the back of her throat as she pinched her own nipple. She gasped and moved her fingers faster, thining now of Gabi's mouth between her legs and another woman, unidentified, sitting on her face. How she'd taste, how she'd feel against Monica's mouth, how she'd moan as she was eaten. She held those feelings in her head, Gabi going down on her, her going down on another unnamed partner, her fingers dipping into herself, then pulling out to rub her clit. She tugged hard on her nipple, feeling herself let go as she imagined fucking the other woman with her tongue as Gabi did the same to her.

She lay there, spent for a moment, not really content with getting herself off. Tuesday couldn't come soon enough.

 

[Halcyon638]

MINA: Haha I am not suprised.

When Monica made it to her workstation the next morning, she felt well-rested. Her coworkers were abuzz, smiling and glancing in her direction as she approached.

They all greeted her as she settled in to find a printed piece of paper on her desk. It was confirmation of a ticket to the Sloane Park Sound Fest on Saturday.

“We all got them,” Ishani said, holding up hers without taking her eyes off her work monitor.

“Good job impressing the bigwig yesterday,” Nelly said, clapping Monica on the shoulder. “My girl is articulate as hell.”

“Yeah. Thank you,” Evan chimed in.

“Wendell thinks maybe Russell Katis is attracted to you,” Ishani noted casually.

Wendell rubbed his forehead. “Thanks, Ishani. That was a joke, okay?” Looking at Monica and blushing he said, “Just a very funny joke that maybe Monica didn't need to hear.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica had the exact same impression. They hadn't really done anything worth Katis coming down to see them, or this kind of reward. They were two weeks into the job. Still, at least he'd given the whole group tickets so she didn't have to confront the fact. "Really I didn't say anything you guys wouldn't have said. I just got to it quicker." She shrugged "He just recognizes our good work. It's not like he said 'Oh Monica why don't you meet me later to talk about all the good work your group is doing.' or something. Katis has too much on his plate to be chasing 20 year old intern ass." That much was true, but that didn't mean he wouldn't do it anyway. "so don't get ahead of yourselves." She shook her head and rolled her eyes, but under it all she felt like there was probably a grain of truth. Well, nothing to do about that but keep her head down and make it through the next 6 weeks or so. Setting to her job, she tried to do just that.

 

[Halcyon638]

A moment later, Dr. Bascombe entered the room, and all of the interns shifted to work mode. When lunch time rolled around, they were seated together killing time after their meals, Wendell and Nelly checking their phones.

“Oof,” Wendell said, “sounds like a bunch of hipster bands and overpriced microbrews. Remind me why I’m going to this thing again?”

“There’s been research showing that spending time with coworkers outside of the workplace can increase productivity,” Ishani offered. Pausing a moment, she said, “Plus, free tickets.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Wendell noted.

Monica thought she heard a familiar voice coming from Nelly’s phone. “What are you watching?” Evan asked, stealing a glance at the brunette’s screen.

“You haven’t seen this yet?” The southerner tilted her phone toward Evan. “Some girl posted all about how Nighthawk saved her the other night and asked people to start posting their Nighthawk stories. It’s been blowing up.” She briefly flashed her phone to the others, showing a picture of Mina on mute speaking into the camera. “Who knows if any of it’s legit.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica grinned, maybe a little too wide. "Yeah it made the news." She pulled up the Prospect City Post "Saved her from a boat full of P-Diddy types or some shit." She crossed her legs "You know, probably a good thing people can share. Except half of them will be bullshit slashfic. 'After the Nighthawk saved me she made sweet gentle love to me for hours' sort of thing" She laughed "Meanwhile she's probably some suburban mom who has to rush home and get her kids off to school in the morning."

The next day they made their way through the unbearable July heat to the concert. They gathered outside, looking around for Christina and her friends, who Monica had texted about meeting up. "At least the tickets are free or I'd be lying at home on the floor with 2 fans and the portable ac blowing on me" She was dressed for the weather, in denim shorts that were barely there and a blue bikini top and blue tinted sunglasses. She'd slathered on an ocean of sunscreen and was almost repulsed by how coconutty she smelled. Still, better than a burn. She had some in her pack for the crew in case they needed it. Leaning against a post, she waited for everyone to gather.

 

[Halcyon638]

“For real,” Cristina said, making her way over with Berto in tow. The Latina was wearing a yellow, floral-printed, square-necked sundress and a white, wide-brimmed straw hat. Her brother was shirtless already, showing off his toned, tan upper-body in just a pair of soccer shorts.

As the hour approached 1:30, Monica’s fellow interns began to trickle in. Wendell was still committed enough to his preferred musical genre to rock all black, though even he had resorted to shorts. Ishani wore a Georgetown tee and shorts, while Nelly, now cast-less wore tiny shorts and a blue tank top with a rainbow and the words “Good Vibes.” Evan had bowed out due to a family commitment, ostensibly.

Monica received a text:

GABI: My voice is mostly back! Still coughing up gunk and blowing my nose a lot, but progress.

The first band finished setting up and began to play. They were a decent enough rock band, though nothing too memorable aside from a hot frontman who Ishani and Cristina compared notes on.

Monica and Nelly wound their way through the crowd to grab some more food as the second band set themselves up. “So, wasn’t your girlfriend supposed to come to town this weekend?”

Nearby, Monica spotted her neighbor from across the hall standing next and conversing with a 40-something woman and guy. The man—Sam? Seth? Sid!, the name popping into her head just as he spotted her—was dressed in a dark t-shirt with the words Frightened Rabbit on it, rocking sunglasses and holding a beer. He gave a little nod to her.

 

[siobhancan99]

"That's great! " she texted back "can't wait to see you."

She took a long sip of her water and nodded to Nelly "she was. She's sick. She's coming Monday night and hanging out Tuesday. She's gonna come to lunch so you all can meet her." She turned towards the southern girl "then she's gonna go home Wednesday. This all assumes there's no calamities." she shrugged, then took another sip at her water. She looked over to Sid and waved "That guy lives across the hall from me. I met his ex the other night. She seems like a real fucking peach" She rolled her eyes a little "Their kid is adorable though, so you know. At least he got something out of it." She turned her attention back to Nelly. "Shocker of my day though really is that Ishani is attracted to anyone. Didn't see that one coming to be frank" She laughed and shrugged "So are you gonna see your girl at all this summer?"

 

[Halcyon638]

Nelly smiled in response to Monica’s remarks about Ishani. “Ohh, you must have missed her definitive ranking of K-Pop boys. So maybe she only likes musicians.”

When asked about her girlfriend, Nelly took a sip of her beer. “Yeah, not so much. She decided to dump me over FaceTime on Wednesday.” She forced another smile. “Could have been a text, so I guess it could have been worse.”

Another text notification chimed on Monica’s phone:

GABI: Wow, that Mina girl is like a professional hot girl lol

Nelly and Monica reached a food tent and queued up. “It was…only six months? But…it still kinda sucks on a molecular level. She could have at least waited until I was back. Also, I’ve…never been dumped by a girl before so, yay for new experiences!”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica texted back "yeah she's pretty. She's not you though "

Turning to Nelly she nodded and smiled sympathetically "that does suck." She'd actually never been dumped. Before Tom, the few guys she dated she'd always done the dumping. "Gabi's my first girlfriend, so you know. Trying to make it to the end of my life without being dumped by a girl. Goals. you know?" She leaned against a nearby object, crossing her arms "Gotta ask you Nelly. Did you really you know, want to be in a relationship?" Nelly's unsubtle come-ons had given Monica the impression the girl wasn't exactly committed to this thing. "Or was it like, hey maybe I like girls and this girl also likes girls so you know, why not?"

 

[Halcyon638]

Nelly shielded her eyes against the sun. “I don’t know. I tend to get…bored with people real quick. Like, it’s bad, but I’ll be like, ‘okay, we’ve dated for 3 months, I know your whole deal, I know your moves, I’m done.’ Kasey was the first girl where I was trying to break myself out of that habit. I mean, I was really trying. Doing the relationship thing and meeting her parents and…” She shrugged and grabbed a bag of chips from where they stood in the line. “I guess she kind of sensed it. So, yeah. I kind of had it coming.”

Monica received another text. It was a photo of Gabi taken in her bathroom. She was fresh out of the shower, naked, her long ebony hair slick against her neck and shoulder, putting on a bit of a playful pout as she looked into the camera lens.

GABI: You always know the right thing to say Just in case you needed to do a little side-by-side comparison…

Nelly perused the food options listed on the whiteboard. “Wow, the end of your life, huh? You’ve really got it bad for this girl, don’t ya?”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica was momentarily stunned by the picture. "Absolutely nothing on you. Fuck I wish you were here"

She snapped out of it after a second "sounds like you were trying to force it. You should consider the possibility you're Aro. If not Aro, you just aren't finding people you're right for and are right for you. There's no shame in that." She shrugged and nudged Nelly "Look if you saw the picture she just sent me... and you won't... but if you did you wouldn't ask why I believe in forever" She laughed "You'll see Tuesday. But its more than the fact that she's fucking hot. She was my best friend growing up. We were ugly little nerds with immigrant parents living in a shitkicker little town in the middle of god damn nowhere, and since our dads worked at the dam and her mom has her own shop we both had just a little more money than our peers. So yeah we basically were outcasts until suddenly I got clear skin and boobs. We just had each other you know? Then last year after Tom died I wouldn't eat, or go to school or shower. She came to my house and said if I wasn't going to school she'd drop out with me. Which of course infuriated me, so I went to school because I was mad at her for fucking up her life. So yeah. She basically fucking saved me you know? When I told her I might be bi she was like 'oh good i'm super gay' and basically did the sweetest nerdiest seduction ever. If i don't try for forever with Gabi, there is no forever. Like, fuck."

She laughed "I mean, there's more to life than what people do with their mouths for a small portion of the day. Moves aren't really the sum total of a person. Also people can surprise you. I've known Gabi 13 years and she apparently was fucking a few girls in high school behind my back. Like just low key. So you don't get everyone totally figured out in 3 months. You get the portion of who they are they elected to show you figured out, which is different."

 

[Halcyon638]

Nelly ordered a falafel and then continued the conversation after they’d both put in their requests. “Huh. I never thought of that,” she said in response to the suggestion about the possibility of her being aro. “I’ll have to Google it. It’d be nice to have something to explain the…things I do a little bit. Sometimes I just think I’m not a very good person.” She smiled at the admission.

“That is so sweet,” Nelly said warmly as Monica talked about Gabi, “even if I don’t buy your ‘I was ugly and nerdy’ bit for a minute.” They received their food and drinks. “See, I want that. That sounds amazing. Maybe someday.”

Eyeing a pair of scantily clad women walking by, Nelly added, “But today I really really really just want a hot girl to go to town on me in the worst way.”

When they made it back over to their friends, Cristina and Wendell were shooting the shit. “Yeah, I don’t know if I want to work here, but it’s good to have on the resume blah blah blah. What about you? You have to do an internship, or…?”

Cristina shook her head, “I’ve got my student teaching coming up this fall. I’m super excited about it,” she beamed. “I’ve volunteered in classrooms before, but it’ll be amazing to actually get to lead some classes.”

“Oh, nice,” Wendell said. “Student teachers were always the best.” Spotting Nelly and Monica approaching he added, “Either of you thinking you’ll apply to Vigil at some point?”

Berto was now snagging Ishani for a dance, as the second act had a more rhythm-based sound.