Nighthawk: A Superhero Story (closed for Siobhancan99)

[Halcyon638]

They climbed into her father’s car just as a light summer rain started to fall. “Yeah. She talked about it,” James said. “I know there’s some…genetic component with Battle Caste Centauri, but to be honest, at the time, it felt like…her just justifying what she already wanted to do. Maybe I was…maybe I could have tried harder to understand. I don’t know.”

He started up the vehicle and checked his mirror. “But she did try to marry you off to some Totality asshole, so…yeah.”

He reached over and lightly grabbed her hand. “And I probably say it too much,” he said with a wry smile, “but I love you, kiddo. With everything you’ve gone through, I don’t know how you turned out to be such a strong and thoughtful and ethical person. If I had any part of that, I’ll take that as a ‘W.’ ”

 

[siobhancan99]

"well you know for every parent I had that wanted me to know how to kill a man I had one that said maybe that wasn't a good idea" She laughed and winked at her dad. "Honestly you did a pretty good job. I am who I am, which is ... also her. But. I think I'm pretty even keeled, berserker rage and all that aside."

 

[Halcyon638]

Her father chuckled. “Fair enough.”

It only took Monica and her father about a half hour or so to unload her belongings and haul them into her rental home. At that part, a steady rain was falling. Afterwards, they grabbed a late dinner, then James was off to his hotel.

A text came in.

IAN: Sorry to hear about the whole Gabi sitch. Any time you want to hang out with us or talk, let me know.

On social media, a video kept popping up in Monica’s feed with an accompanying news story.

WATCH THIS: BALTIMORE’S OWN NIGHTHAWK? MYSTERY WOMAN RUNS DOWN DRIVE-BY SHOOTERS ON FOOT

In the video, a woman in a hoodie can be seen sprinting after an SUV, catching up to the driver’s side door, throwing it open, and yanking the driver from the car, sending the vehicle careening into a parked vehicle.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica viewed the footage with a mixture of pride and trepidation. Pride because she'd inspired Shay to do something and use her abilities for something good, trepidation because the girl had no training and could get her ass killed. Still, she was Centauri enough to not seriously consider asking her to stop. Instead, she sent the following message.


"Shay, saw the footage Just keep in mind I have body armor and years of training. Lets get you some of both. Let me know what sort of training you have and we can supplement it. I'll teach you to use the chain and stuff too (sooooo helpful). hmu and we can talk about a regimine for you to keep you safe and make you even more badass."

She didn't want to dampen the spirit but didn't want a death on her hands. It was all about the balance.

 

[Halcyon638]

A reply from Shay came in almost instantly, which, Monica was finding, was atypical for the girl. She’d been attempting to check in with Thalmer’s daughter fairly regularly, but her laconic replies suggested the Baltimore native was still feeling reserved toward her fellow Centauri, even after their in-person meeting. The text messages had attained a basic level of politeness, though, which was progress from their earlier communications.

SHAY: I don’t even really know what happened i was having a shit day and saw some dudes pull this shit and I just reacted. I didn’t even know what the fuck i was doing but I still cant stop thinking about it. Like I haven’t slept since it happened but I’m not like scared or something. So weird.

 

[siobhancan99]

Replying "You're born to fight. We all are. Look, it's not a side of yourself you HAVE to indulge. It's not a side of yourself you HAVE to repress either. If you want to do it again, I'm here. I'll teach you. If you don't... fuck have a normal life. God I wish I could. Honestly? If you take the middle path and start some fighting classes, MMA or Krav Maga or some shit, you can always decide later on. Just remember to pull your punches when you're sparring. Always here for you, whatever you decide."

 

[Halcyon638]

Shay’s reply came in about a half an hour later when Monica was finishing up her FaceTime with Gabi.

SHAY: Thank you

Monica’s phone chimed again a few minutes later.

SHAY: So is this an invite to your Bat cave? Hawk cave? Lol

Outside, a heavy rain began to fall.

 

[siobhancan99]

"God I wish I had one maybe when my toy line comes out" The second sentence was only kind of a joke. Her lawyers said hasbro was ready to go, but she needed more villains and another few allies. She wasn't entirely sure about that, but her lawyers kept using the words "generational wealth" and it was sort of tempting. She messaged again "You're welcome to come up to prospect city when you want, either for training or full time. I think since it's a haul I can drive down and we can meet in parks and stuff halfway. You can see my face too. the mask is super hot. haha. Seriously though i have a house to myself here, so any time you want to come up you can. Till then lets get you into some classes and I'll supplement where we can."

She looked out at the rain. Only the most dedicated dealers would be on the street tonight. Those were the ones she needed. She suited up and headed out. She'd find a street level dealer and start punching her way up.

 

[Halcyon638]

Monica made her way across the city, rain pounding down on the Sliver. She delved into the typical haunts, starting with Benjamin Park and Founder’s Square, rattling some cages in hopes of turning up some solid leads. Eventually, the rain died down to a humid drizzle.

One particularly talkative dealer threw out a name: Lucas Sommers. Sommers had bragged about getting paid a ridiculous amount of money to help ensure the safe arrival of some “product” harborside, and spent most of his time at a club called Maxxd.

Monica was piloting the ship toward the club when she received a phone call on her burner phone. Brendan Knapp’s name appeared on the display.

“I was wondering how long it’d take us to run into each other,” she heard the detective say. “I…didn’t want to say anything until it was official but…I’m back. As of last week. I’m parked outside the shoe store.”

Below, she spotted his vehicle. “Lemme guess. Some charmer by the name of Sommers bring you here?”

 

[siobhancan99]

"You know it." She tried to keep calm but she really felt like she might cry. It was all so much, and for once for the past month it was a good kind of crying. It was something she needed so fucking badly, to know that not only was Knapp alright he was back in the saddle. She steered the ship down and looked around "Yeah, trying to chase down the source of that tainted SWAT. Figured i'd punch people till I found it, unless you've got a better idea."

 

[Halcyon638]

“It’s gotten you this far, right?” The streets near Maxxd were mostly quiet, and she could hear thumping bass coming from inside the building. She saw the detective slip out of his car, phone still pressed to his ear. “Tell you what: why don’t I go distract that bouncer while you do the ninja thing and slip right in?” He texted Monica a photo of Sommers, a heavily tattooed and pierced 30-something with a nose that looked like it’d been broken more than once. “Then you can work your magic.”

 

[siobhancan99]

"I mean, i feel seen." She laughed and got out of the sliver, waiting for Knapp to work his magic. Once the cop had the bouncer occupied, she made her way, trying to slip in the door behind him and into the club. If successful she'd look around for Sommers. She had to be quick as she was conspicuous.

 

[Halcyon638]

Monica couldn’t quite hear what Knapp was saying, but she saw him flash his badge and gesticulate in an animated fashion, drawing the attention of both the bouncer and the handful of people waiting in line on a weekday night. The last time she’d seen the man, his dark hair and beard had gotten a little out of hand, but now he looked poised and well-scrubbed, while displaying the swagger he’d shown when they’d gotten into a tussle with Russian thugs during their first meeting.

Monica slipped into the garishly lit club, immediately drawing eyes on her. Fortunately, due to the sparse crowd, she immediately picked out Sommers, who was seated at a table with two equally shady looking men and two dark-haired women who could have been sisters.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica stalked over to the bar with Centauri confidence, which was like white man confidence except actually being invulnerable. She moved over, grabbed a chair from a nearby table and turned it around so the back faced the end of the table. straddling it she looked over at the man "Mr. Sommers. I'd like a word" she shouted over the din of the crowd, though her eyes were on the others, prepared for things to turn violent.

 

[Halcyon638]

The handful of patrons inside either made their way toward the exits or began filming on their phones, though at enough of a distance that anything Monica and the people closest to her said wouldn’t be audible.

Sommers folded his bulky forearms in front of his chest and leaned forward, doing his best to maintain a steely look in his eyes. “I’m listening,” he said over the music in a gravelly voice.

 

[siobhancan99]

"Some of your customers are turning into monsters. That's not a good look for you. If it were all over the news one might suspect you'd be out of business and... if I had to hazard a guess the cops might want to scapegoat you. Now, people are going to do SWAT and people are going to sell SWAT and I can't stop that, so I don't particularly feel the need to do anything to you. What I do need, however, is to work my way up the chain to the people that are adulterating it and turning people into god damn gargoyles. So, you help me by helping me find the next step in the chain up... including taking me to where you get it, and I forget you exist and you keep ... being you."

 

[Halcyon638]

Sommers’s expression was blank but his eyes revealed he was listening intently. “I don’t sell that shit. For real.” He leaned back in his chair a bit, relaxing his posture. “Look, all I know is that somebody was willing to pay a shit ton of cash to make sure some chemicals got to where they needed go to.”

He looked at the people seated near him. “Diablo, give me some space.” Both of the men flanking him rose and the two young women followed. Sommers leaned toward Monica. “There’s a steel mill south of the city. That’s where we took the shit.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Nodding, she leaned in a bit "So that I don't have to come back..." she wanted to let it sink in that he couldn't just fuck her off without her finding him again "do you have an address? Also was the lab set up there? did you see anyone distinctive? any information you can give me would be helpful in making sure you and I don't have any follow up visits."

 

[Halcyon638]

“Yeah. I got it.” He pulled up his phone and read the address to Monica. “I don’t know about a lab, but there was some lady there in, like, Breaking Bad suits and shit, you know? She was like, 30-something.”

He let out a brief chuckle. “Then there was this other guy there. Short, bald guy, creepy looking. Carrying around a pair of big-ass knives. He was kinda watching things.”

The description fit Flashpoint’s old partner in crime, Cutthroat, to a T.

 

[siobhancan99]

She sighed "yeah I know the guy. Now that I don't have to fight him three on one, I have a feeling he might find one of those knives shoved up his ass. Fuck that guy." She hmmmed "one last question, in case the site isn't there any more... who contacted you and how? In case I have to follow things up that way."

 

[Halcyon638]

Sommers looked nervously around the room. “I don’t know who it was. One day, I’m leaving work, and I find a brand new burner phone sitting on the passenger seat with a note that says 'Call me' on it. One number saved in the thing.” He was expression was hesitant as if he expected his response to anger Monica, but he seemed to be telling the truth about all of it so far.

 

[siobhancan99]

Nodding "i mean, that's fair." she leaned in a bit "so you get a call, man or woman? what did they say?" she wanted to hear anything sommers could say about it, because she wasn't sure what would be relevant or not. She sort of wished she had Knapp to interview the guy as he was probably used to asking questions, but at the same time she needed the practice so... interrogation time it was.

 

[Halcyon638]

“It was a guy,” Sommers noted. A look of distress crossed his features. “I don’t really remember too much. I mean, anything that stood out. Said he knew I did some good work, said all I really needed to do was help guard this truck and unload it when we got out to the mill.”

Shifting in his seat, he said, “Listen. I swear I didn’t know what this was about. My mom’s in the hospital and her insurance isn’t covering shit. I didn’t know it would end up this way.”

He took a sip of his liquor. “There is one thing. I don’t know if this helps. At one point, the dude said ‘CP’ for checkpoint. That’s a military thing. My uncle was in the Navy."

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica considered the possibility that this was all set up by her summer employer to get a juicy contract out of it. She really hoped that wasn't the case, but it wasn't a possibility she could discount. Still, there were a LOT of military men in the world, and they didn't all work for the security firm. She nodded "hey man, gotta take care of mom. You didn't know. Just remember in the future if it seems to good to be true, it is too good to be true you know?" She nods "CP. Got it. So looking for like a blackwater type. Honestly you've been very helpful. With any luck you won't see me again." She got up, ready to go, but not moving away in case he remembered anything additional.

 

[Halcyon638]

Sommers simply nodded and didn’t appear to have more to say. Knapp was making his way past a few clubgoers who were heading past toward the exit. Seeing Monica wasn’t in trouble, he started making his way back out into the night air.

“There was less punching,” Knapp observed as they were moving away from the club, smiling. "You gone soft since I’ve been gone?”