Nighthawk: A Superhero Story (closed for Siobhancan99)

[siobhancan99]

Monica looked around. She assumed anyone behind the van wasn't seriously hurt, as she couldnt have been going that fast, and they should have jumped away, but just in case she called 911 and said they should send many many ambulances. Bending down, she tried to shake Flashpoint awake. She also grabbed one of the tranq guns and stashed it in her bag in case she could figure out herself what was in it. She then settled and waited for the police to arrive.

 

[Halcyon638]

Despite her best attempts, she couldn’t seem to wake up the superhuman thief. Though he’d shaved off his beard since she’d first encountered him attempting burglary, it likely wouldn’t take the authorities long to see through the half-hearted disguise attempt, the glasses he’d taken to sporting lately weren’t in sight.

The motorcyclist she’d backed into was stirring slightly but didn’t seem badly hurt.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica picked up the former criminal and hid him in the sliver for now. She moved over, slapping the stirring one awake "alright. Before the cops get here, this is your chance to maybe get away. Tell me who you fuckers are and what you were doing and maybe. MAYBE. I will let you run." She glared down at the guy "don't, and unfortunately since one of your little friends died." she lies "you're looking at felony murder. Even though he was on your side."

 

[Halcyon638]

“We were apprehending a wanted, dangerous foreign national,” the man said, grimacing and propping himself up on his palms. “You interfered with us carrying out our lawful duty. Someone winding up dead—that’s on you or him, lady. You want to protect a criminal, we’ll see what the cops say when they get here.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica laughs "Uh, no I landed on a van and you shot me. I was not interfering at the time. Also, government agents dont threaten to blow people's brains out. So, let's see your ID." she shoved him back to the ground. "And then we will see what millions of people think of you when i release the footage" she gestured at the sliver "on tik tok, and my youtube channel. Because I'll bet everyone involved... if you are feds... gets fired for this. You can't just shoot at people without identifying yourselves, and you can't point guns at unconscious men's heads. Also if you would have just shown your ID i would have walked away, so this is... at best... a PR nightmare. So let's see your ID if you're a cop."

 

[Halcyon638]

There was a flicker of fear in the man’s eyes. “Hey, I didn’t threaten to shoot anybody. I’m a private contractor. Bellwether Security Solutions. I’m a glorified Lyft driver with a gun. All I know is we were supposed to load the target in a van and take him to an airfield outside of Walton. You have any other issues, you can take it up with Corporate.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica laughed "I'm about to rip your mask off and put your face all over fucking tik tok my good man. So maybe give me a little more than that. Who is your boss, who gives the orders? who was the guy with the gun? I'll bet you know all that." She crouched "and I'll bet you'll tell me in exchange for not having every asshole on the internet dox you and put your shit out for everyone on earth to see. So let's have more info. It is information or your face. Up to you." She probably wouldn't dox the guy, or rather have her followers dox the guy, because that was messed up. She would certainly let him think that though. "Just a little more, and then you can run. Your friends here are going to jail though. Kidnapping. Assault. Attempted murder."

 

[Halcyon638]

Monica managed to get the name of his boss out of the man (Spencer Baerga), but claimed that he and his squadmates only knew each other by state-based codenames—the gunmen went by “Missouri.” From what she could tell and the general look of unease on his face, he seemed to be telling the truth.

She heard sirens nearing from about a block away.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica looked around at the unconscious few mooks she'd managed to take out and gestured "alright. run. leave the bike." She waited for the cops to arrive, and gave a statement. As she did so, she sent the sliver to hover over a nearby golf course. She left flashpoint out of any statement, instead implying that some of the men that got away were dragging the victim with them and she lost track of them in the fracas.

 

[Halcyon638]

By the time Monica was ready to reenter the Sliver, her passenger was still out like a light. Finally, as the vehicle got into motion and began to pick up speed, she heard a low groan.

A moment later, she felt a pair of strong hands grasping at her neck. “Who the fuck are you?” Flashpoint demanded, his tone a mix of rage, disorientation, and possibly fear. “Where are we?”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica grabbed for the hands "It's Nighthawk, Flashpoint. You were attacked. Calm the fuck down, I'm taking you somewhere." She tried to keep her voice low and calm, non confrontational. "just breathe, we will be landing soon enough. I promise you."

 

[Halcyon638]

He quickly pulled his hands back. “Fuck.” He glanced out the window, then closed his eyes again and put a hand to his forehead. “Sorry. Thought you were one of them.” For a moment, it looked like he’d gone under again, but then she heard him say “Fucking hell.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica relaxed "you're lucky I was out looking for trouble." She was wedged into the sliver and uncomfortable but it was worth the trade "you got somewhere I can take you? was just going to hide out at The Meadows Golf Course till you woke up." She steered the sliver to a copse of trees, hovering over the course "I assume that they will be looking for you at your house though. Bellweather? that ring a bell to you? Spencer Baerga? these people you've crossed before?"

 

[Halcyon638]

“Rescued by the Nighthawk. How bloody embarrassing,” he said, though she spotted a wry grin in the cockpit’s mirrors. He patted himself down, seeming distracted. “Shit. Fuckers must have pocketed my phone and wallet.”

He shifted his focus and responded to her question about where he could lay low after a delay. “Not so much. There’s one bird who I could ask, but pretty sure she’s got her damned kids this week. Don’t think they’re quite ready to meet mum’s special friend, the drugged-out fugitive. What about you? You got a couch in your Batcave?”

He looked out the window at the treetops below. “Don’t recognize ‘em. Doesn’t mean I haven’t pissed ‘em off before. I need to connect with some of my mates to find out if we ripped off any of those cunts on any past jobs.”

 

[siobhancan99]

"I do own a couch. That would involve showing you my face and showing you where I live. We can go back for your wallet, or we can scope out your house and see if they are there then go get you some stuff and take you to a hotel." She hmmmed "let's do that. There's some seedy shitty places down by the warehouses over by the interstate. We can stash you there then try to figure out where these Bellweather guys are headquartered and maybe take the fight to them directly." She had already decided she was all in on helping the man out. "Do you have an android? If so we can use your laptop to tell where your phone is."

 

[Halcyon638]

Flashpoint nodded, his eyelids occasionally slipping down still. “iPhone. For the privacy.”

He considered Monica’s plan. “That sounds good, but if I’m going to be of any use to anyone, that means getting my head on straight. Which means I need coffee. And lots of it. Don’t suppose I could borrow a tenner?”

 

[siobhancan99]

"I think we can get some coffee in you." She touched down on the golf course and then it was a short walk into the nicest part of the city. There were still a few coffee places open. There was a La Calombe about to shut down when she made her way in. She paid for a few cups of coffee for him, but got nothing for herself as she couldn't eat or drink with her headgear on and she wasn't about to be on film somewhere where part of her face was visible "So after this we hit your house?"

 

[Halcyon638]

“Thanks,” Flashpoint said as she settled back into the cockpit of the Sliver and handed him the beverage. “Super flying technology and not a cupholder in site.” Taking a sip, he added, “Good shit. Yeah. We can hit my place. It’s in Crenshaw.”

He provided her with exact address to his townhouse in the Crenshaw neighborhood. “Did you build this thing? Or you have your own Q who made you this and Nighthawk throwing stars and shit?”

He was beginning to perk up now as they made the quick flight over.

 

[siobhancan99]

"What makes you think I don't work for the CIA? Super technology, battle suit. I mean who has the cash to engineer a female super soldier and who would test that super soldier out in the shittiest neighborhoods in America? There's really only one answer. Or is there? I mean if I was in the CIA i couldn't tell you I was in the CIA, unless telling you I was in the CIA was designed to make you think I definitely am not in the CIA." She touched the sliver down a few streets away. "If there were strange vehicles on your street, would you notice? Either way, we should go in the alley that runs behind the townhouses."

 

[Halcyon638]

Flashpoint rubbed his forehead. “Fucking hell, I don’t have enough caffeine in me yet for brainteasers.”

When they arrived near his place, he nodded. “Yeah. One of the perks of being a wanted criminal is the lovely, constant paranoia that comes with it.” The rugged man peered out the window at the street near his townhouse. “Nothing out of sorts, from what I can tell. Follow me.”

They made their way through the back alley and arrived at the rear entrance. He slowly and silently slipped his key into the door, then gently pushed it open with the lights still out. With her night vision, she could see the place appeared to be empty. He summoned a tiny ball of light near the tip of his right index finger and went further into the residence, creeping slowly forward.

The place was spartan in its décor. A large hoodie lay draped over the back of a sofa, an empty bottle of Strongbow hard cider sat on the kitchen counter, and a pair of sandals rested near a set of free weights, but otherwise, it would have looked uninhabited.

“Get you something?” Flashpoint had opened the fridge and was grabbing another Strongbow.

 

[siobhancan99]

"Christ almighty, bachelors never change do they?" she shook her head at Flashpoint "can't drink without taking off the helmet. Same problem as the coffee." She looked around the place a little "go get your shit together. I'm going to look out at the street and see what I can see." She made her way over to the window, then gently parted the blinds to see if she could get a good look at the street and potentially anyone looking for them. "you have a stash of cash here Im guessing so you can get yourself into a cheap hotel? moderately priced hotels require a credit card. So unless you have credit cards under other identities might be a bad idea to stay somewhere nice."

 

[Halcyon638]

“I’ll make sure to add you on fucking Pinterest so I can get your interior decorating tips,” Flashpoint responded, popping open the bottle of golden liquid. He took a swig then began making his way down the central hallway of the townhouse.

Monica peered out the window. There was a man in his mid-twenties outside vaping and scrolling through his phone, but he looked more like a hipster than whatever the men she’d encountered were. A car marked as an Uber slowly drove by as if the driver was looking for a drop-off.

Flashpoint made his way over to her, carrying a messenger bag, wearing wire-rimmed glasses, and brandishing a stack of cash. “For the coffee,” he said, extending a 20-dollar bill her way. “And, uh…gas money? Take me to your finest, shittiest motel.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica hmmmed and gestured "you know that asshole with the Vape?" she kept her voice low. They should probably sneak out the back anyway, but if she knew for sure teh guy didn't belong he might be worth interrogating. "keep your money." she gestured.

 

[Halcyon638]

He made his way to the window and peered out. “Yeah. He’s my neighbor. Trust fund. Yappy dog. Fucked his MILF of a mum.”

Flashpoint walked across the living room quietly and opened up the back door again. They crept through the back alley, then waited for the Sliver to arrive.

As they approached a cheap hotel, he asked, “Do you remember any other details about these shitheads that tried to take me?” He had brought his tablet along and was typing. “Bellwether. Bellwether Security Solutions? Looks like they’re for real. They’ve got their own posh website and shit. What is that—Baerga? How the fuck do you spell that? Bellwether’s headquarters are in Connecticut,” he said, stumbling a little over the pronunciation of the state’s name.

 

[siobhancan99]

"conneticut. the second c is silent. English is stupid, but your people invented it so that's on you." She chuckled "see if they have a local branch. I don't think those guys were driving you in a van all the way to god damn Connecticut. They also mentioned an airfield." she hmmed "look up local airports nearby. Not Prospect City international. but smaller ones. Like you can fly a private plane out of."