Nighthawk: A Superhero Story (closed for Siobhancan99)

[siobhancan99]

Monica inhaled, then let out a long slow breath. She had jitters from the adrenaline, having genuinely thought things were going to go down, and because of the size of the crowd she had concerns that it might not go their way. Melanie having gotten in the car and the boys having peeled off was frankly a bit of a relief. "I'm ok. I promise I'm ok. They unfortunately aren't the first set of douchebags to catcall me and they, unfortunately, won't be the last. Men are fucking pigs, and when you get a group of them together they all move to the lowest common denominator." She put her hand on Mel's arm "thanks for standing up for me, though. And also thanks for moving to the car when I asked. I mean, unless you're that costumed vigilante or something. Cause if that was the case I mean, it would have been hot to watch you in action" She laughed, though it was a nervous one, as she was both unsure of her ability to pull off the lie that she wasn't herself the vigilante and she was still riding the edge of that feeling of uncertainty about the whole situation. "Are YOU ok?"

 

[Halcyon638]

Melanie sighed. “At the risk of affirming the man-hating lesbian stereotype, they can be pretty terrible sometimes,” she said with a wry grin. The lamppost that lit the dimly illuminated parking area made her red hair look particularly fiery. “So that’s what does it for you: a take-charge woman in form-fitting black clothes?” She opened the driver’s door but didn’t get in yet, leaning up against the car with one hand on the blue frame. “I’m okay, thank you. I was more worried about you. I’m not the vigilante, but if they had touched one single hair on your head…” Melanie reached out and stroked a few strands of blonde hair that now rested on Monica's right shoulder.

 

[siobhancan99]

Turning as red as Mel's hair she muttered "uh, maybe" She laughed and had to remind herself what an objectively terrible idea it would be to pursue a relationship with Melanie. Hot to consider but it seemed like just the worst idea. She made a lot of terrible decisions lately though, what was one more?

She cleared her throat "uh...aaaaaanyway." She let Mel play with her hair a second, then slipped into the car. She had to keep focused. Hooking up with her emotionally unstable professor instead of her amazing roommate was not great. No matter how many times she'd had thoughts of Mel taking charge in black form fitting clothes over the last few weeks. Hot but just not a good idea. Hot though.

"Thanks for driving me home." honestly she had planned on summoning the sliver to a nearby location, but she could do that from campus as she usually did. She needed to scope out the trainer's house tonight. She also needed to read some of Mateo's book. She was a busy girl.

 

[Halcyon638]

“Absolutely,” Melanie said. They made some small talk on the way home, but the older woman was a bit more reserved. “I really hope the vigil was a…positive experience for you, even with that…incident afterwards,” she noted as she steered the car into a turn.

They pulled into the parking lot for the student apartments. As Monica was unbuckling her seatbelt, Melanie said her name softly. “I’m not quite sure how to put this, or whether I should…I really feel as if I have a strong connection with you. Am I…is it just me?” There was an anxious look on the professor’s face as she waited for a response.

 

[siobhancan99]

Awkward. She felt awkward. On the spot and all that. like when you're a kid and you get the note in class asking if you like the boy back. She decided to go with a truth. Maybe not THE truth, and maybe not THE answer, but A truth and an answer that would both be genuine and also good for feelings.

"I do like you Melanie. I mean obviously there's the whole ... you're my professor thing, but I do like you too." Smooth, work in that your job says we shouldn't date thing without saying it. That always works right? Subtle messages are always received and received well.

She got ready to leave the car "I'm glad you were here tonight. It was a lot easier having someone to talk to and not just lose my shit." She was itching to get out there though. Hopefully between tonight and the next day she'd have two dna samples to compare to the cigarettes. She'd be closer to finding out what happened to Paige.

 

[Halcyon638]

A look of relief blending into another emotion—hope?--played across the red-haired woman’s face. “Glad I could be with you tonight,” she replied. “Have a good night. Oh, and just let me know when you’re going to stop by for Mateo’s book.”

It was a little past 12:30 and Gabi was asleep. They’d texted after the vigil so she’d known Monica would be late. Soon, Monica was in her costume and meeting with the Sliver as the sleek craft landed in a heavily wooded area not far from their apartment complex.

 

[siobhancan99]

The long commute was a bonus. Monica made it into the craft and set the autopilot for the area she was going to. In the meantime she pulled up the e-book of Mateo's second book, settling in to read it. She was not hunting for particular phrases or anything at this point. Instead, she was searching for overall themes that might, if read in a certain light, say that he was a creepy stalker. If in doing that she stumbled across "wielded beauty like a weapon" or some of the other dubious phrases in the posts from Father12 and his aliases... so much the better. She also made a note to see if Matteo had kids, if she could. He was an older guy. His social media presence was probably limited to his secret Tinder or Grindr.

 

[Halcyon638]

Along the way, Monica read two of Mateo Leonard’s short stories. Neither raised red flags, the first being a story about a boy growing up in the Dominican Republic who struggles to win his scholarly father’s approval, and the second a surreal story about a family picnic beset upon by a series of biblical-style plagues told from the perspective of children of two parents who stubbornly insist on not letting the picnic be interrupted with every increasingly ludicrous occurrence.

Monica arrived at the address of Jason Giovanni’s home. It was a mid-sized house with two cars in the driveway. There were no lights on, not surprising given that it was around 1:15 in the morning. From above, she could see what appeared to be a modest tool shed on one corner of the property.

 

[siobhancan99]

It was somewhat relieving to be able to tentatively scratch Mateo off the list. He was Mel's friend and finding Paige in his basement would be a real fucking bad time for everyone involved. Not that finding her in any basement wasn't already horrible, but that seemed particularly horrible. Still, she'd read all his stuff just in case some choice phrases or something leapt out at her, or if the well ran dry on other suspects. Two cars in the parking lot implied a wife at home at the trainer. Or a girlfriend. The substantial likelihood was that he didn't have a creepy sex dungeon with a captive blond in it and a steady relationship. Paige could be moldering under the woodshed though. The risk though of wandering around the house wasn't worth it to not find a live human.

First, to the toolshed. She crept up through the backyard, then looked under it to see if it was on a concrete pad or just dirt. After, she'd pick the lock and nose around inside a moment.

 

[Halcyon638]

Monica snuck through the backyard to the toolshed, which was surrounded by dirt rather than placed on a concrete pad. Her lock-release gun made quick work of the doorknob. Opening it, just enough light streamed in for her Centauri night-vision to give her a clear look at the contents. It seemed to be filled with ordinary household tools and some children’s toys—a small plastic rolling vehicle, a plastic bat and ball—nothing unusual. A closer inspection turned up nothing alarming as well.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica felt her stomach turn acid. This was a family house and she was planning on violating their sense of peace and security by breaking in. Breaking in for little to no reason at that. There were, essentially two possibilities. One is that Paige was the wife... and as there was a car for her in the driveway she was there of her own volition. She assumed as well that the cops would have closed the case if they'd driven out here and Paige was just sitting there all "I like the D now." The other possibility was that he had Paige tied up in the basement for two years and his wife and kids were totally cool with it, and none of the kids accidentally revealed their father was a sex maniac with a woman in the basement at school. Couple all that with the fact that he didn't have anything to do with the other disappearances given the messages came from inside the University and well.. she'd wasted her time. If no other leads panned out she could come find him. Maybe just talk to him and see what additional light he could shed. Maybe she could write to him or something.

She sighed and got herself back in the ship, after locking the shed. She took off for home and decided to use the rest of the hour to finish Mateo's book. She also was more just looking to write him off. Townes was suspect number one, Cameron number 2. 2 British Camerons she knew at the moment. So... professor Cameron, not actor Cameron. Still... he didnt own land... though it occurred to her a partner might. Still, this seemed like solo weirdo shit. Focus on townes. She was having coffee with him in a few hours anyway.

When she got in, she collapsed into bed and the alarm came too soon. She got up, doing full makeup, wearing a nice skirt and a blouse, wanting to look good and be seen looking good. She wore a black lacey bra beneath the blouse, and after class she unbuttoned a few buttons so it would be visible and attract Townes attention when they met for coffee...

 

[Halcyon638]

There was one story in Mateo Leonard’s collection that did concern Monica centered on an aging athlete who objectifies and harasses the women around him, most of whom are substantially younger, including his son’s fiancée. Depending on one’s interpretation, the story could have been read as a portrait of a pathetic, vain man clinging to his fading star power, or as an attempt to render such a man at least somewhat sympathetic, though it seemed more the former.

Gabi was getting ready to leave the apartment with phone and protein bar in hand when she caught a glimpse of Monica. “Wowww,” she said, smiling. “You look amazing, querida.” As they exited together, she added, “I got some work done on the D&D scenario last night and we should be able to start some time this week!”

Monica hit the caffeine harder than usual, as the first cup of coffee barely roused her enough to pay attention in her physics class. She caught Townes glancing in her direction a bit more than usual during his lecture.

After class, he met her inside one of the on-campus cafes. He was dressed in his usual crisp dress clothes, and grinned at Monica as she approached. “Monica…thanks so much for taking the time to do this.” As she sat, Townes stole a glimpse of her cleavage as she sat down. “Can I get you a coffee or something to eat?”

The café was fairly busy still despite it not being prime coffee time. “Full disclosure: I’m not going to give up in my quest to try to seduce you to the Dark Side. So what’ll it take to get you to major in film? Or at least minor. You made a great observation the other day about Eisenstein’s use of camera angles. I love your passion for cinema.”

 

[siobhancan99]

"coffee would be great. I've been burning the midnight oil." Monica waited on him to return with drinks, then answered his questions "I guess, for me, the big thing is like, the whole Mark Twain thing right? Work is what a man is obliged to do. Right now I can lose myself in a movie and forget about everything I have to do, and indulge myself. It's like a glass of wine. I like wine but I don't want to be a Sommelier. I don't want to be constantly looking for notes of old leather." She laughed "so its a balance right? like... understanding and being able to analyze what was done helps me appreciate the art, but at the same time I think if I did it professionally I'd lose the forest for the trees. Also... my mother was an artist and an art teacher. My father was an engineer. If you had to guess which one of them has enough money to pay for college..." She winked at that, trying to be friendly and keep up a sort of fun upbeat persona while she talked to Townes.

"So what's the whole podcast process like then?"

 

[Halcyon638]

“Wine? You don’t mean to tell me there’s illegal consumption of alcohol happening on this campus, do you?” he said. “I completely get what you’re saying. Once you go down this rabbit hole, it’s pretty hard to turn certain parts of your brain off and just simply enjoy it a movie. Though I’m not sure that explains my love for The Fast and the Furious franchise.”

“The podcast process is pretty simple, really.” Townes provided Monica with an overview of where they would meet and then asked for her availability. “I tend to be busy during the day but anything after 7:30 or 8 usually works for me,” he noted. The recording space was located on campus. “I want you to hold off on telling me any of your opinions about the movies, but just wanted to describe the structure of a typical episode. You can also get a decent idea by listening to one of the previous episodes. We just did Arrival and The Day the Earth Stood Still if you’re into sci-fi. I figured with the engineering interest…” He provided her with a few more details, but all of the information covered could have easily been covered in a quick email exchange. “I’m really looking forward to this. I’ve been impressed with you since the first week.”

 

[siobhancan99]

"I haven't seen arrival yet. I've been avoiding it because I loooove the short story its based on, but I think that its probably very loosely based on it and I don't want to be disappointed. The story is like, a really deeply personal story about a mother and daughter and not really alien drama. Very moving. I love Ted Chiang."

She took a big sip of her coffee "I'm glad I made an impression! I seem to be doing well in my non-engineering classes. You never really know what to expect as a freshman you know?" She leaned forward again a little, grabbing something out of her bag to make the movement seem natural. She wanted him thinking about anything other than what was going on when she was ready to offer to take his cup to the trash. "How many of these are available to listen to? Maybe I should really bone up and listen to a few. Wednesday night works for me by the way."

 

[Halcyon638]

Dr. Townes smiled. “I haven’t read the short story, but it sounds like it’s a faithful adaptation. Which sometimes isn’t the best course when it comes to adapting source material to the medium of film, but I think it works in this case. Villeneuve knows what he’s doing.”

He took the bait when Monica leaned forward, his eyes fixing on her cleavage. When she looked up again, he took what appeared to be the final sip of his coffee. “There are about 6 episodes, but please, do yourself a favor and don’t listen to more than 1 at most. You already get enough of my voice in class, I’m sure.” He grinned again. “Wednesday night sounds great. How about 8?”

The professor thanked her for offering to take his cup and went on his way. She was able to secret it away within a Ziploc for safe keeping on her way to her first day of work-study. After a 10 minute walk, she reached Bagley Theatre. Entering, she saw a group of actors gathered around on stage including Cameron and Hadley, the latter having returned her hair to its natural mahogany color. They were receiving instruction from a balding, squat, middle-aged man.

Monica proceeded to the office of Dr. Marianne Hoshi, the willowy, glasses-wearing, 50-something Asian-American woman who had interviewed Monica for the job. “Hi, Monica. Glad to have you aboard. Let me introduce you to your crew.” She escorted Monica through the labyrinthine passages behind the stage, at one point leading her past a rack of period costumes and props, then led her to an area where three people were hard at work.

“Monica, this is Sam,” she said, motioning to an attractive, well-built, clean-shaven guy around Monica’s age with long, straight dark hair and bronze skin, dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt. He stopped hammering to look up at Monica.

“Hey,” he said. Dr. Hoshi motioned to the two people who were hunched over lifting a sizeable piece of the set. One looked to be in her 40s, already mostly gray hair pulled back in a ponytail, with a bulky frame, wearing a t-shirt and jeans, and the other looked to be a handsome guy around in maybe his mid-20s with a linebacker’s build and auburn hair, wearing jeans and an unbuttoned check button-down over a white T-shirt.

“Monica, this is Angela and Graham,” Dr. Hoshi said, referring to the middle-aged woman and the younger guy, respectively. There was a look of confusion on Angela’s face.

“This is her?” Angela asked.

“Yes,” Dr. Hoshi said.

“Hi,” Graham said, grabbing a swig from a nearby water bottle.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Dr. Hoshi said to the four of them. “Graham here will get you started in terms of what will be expected of you today, and just make sure to stop by my office so I can show you how to submit your timecards. It’s all online, so it’s fairly simple. Good luck,” Dr. Hoshi said with what Monica was finding to be her typical reserve.

After Dr. Hoshi walked away, Graham waved Monica over. “So, we don’t have much in the way of an orientation,” he said with a noticeable twang. He handed her a hammer. “Hope that’s not a problem. You can start with Sam over there. Just a couple things: earbuds are okay when the theatre’s in use and we don’t want to disrupt the precious actors by playing music out loud, but just keep em low enough that you can hear us. ‘Cept for Sam; gradually you’ll just kinda want to drown him out.”

Sam flipped Graham off. “Also, I’m sure this was in the safety info Doc Hoshi sent you, but while I’m all about equality and all that good stuff, I’d rather you not mess up your back trying to lift something just to impress us or whatever, so don’t be afraid to ask for another set of hands if you’re dealing with something heavy. Cool?”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica looks down at the hammer and does her best Kardashian impression "So this is a screwdriver? I've like... only ever had the drink." She looks over at the other three "Look, I mean I'm here to build sets but what I really want is to direct"

She smirked then, and looked over at the pile of construction materials "so what are we actually building? I admit I haven't read the script or anything. My friend is in the show and all but ... I'm not an actress or even very good at lying." Which was, of course, a lie. She'd been lying to people her whole life and she settled into that well practiced lie now. She disappeared off to the bathroom and changed into more work appropriate clothes, then came back and set to work. Her father was appalled at the notion of paying anyone to fix anything in the house, and it had been a lifetime of home improvement projects. She'd never been allowed the powersaw or anything, but she'd hung drywall and laid flooring and the like. This didn't seem like a huge stretch.

She let the others who knew what was supposed to go with what lead the way, hammering adroitly and generally making herself useful. She employed some time honored strategies for concealing her prodigious strength, pretending to strain here and there, using Angela as a benchmark for how much she should pretend to be affected, trying to keep herself just slightly less capable than the other woman. Also, when lifting something large she hoisted her end slightly higher than whoever was on the other side, so that they'd naturally bear more of the weight and feel like she wasn't working too hard.

 

[Halcyon638]

Graham returned the smirk. “I think you’re going to fit in just fine.”

“We’re making a water tower,” Angela said in response to Monica’s question, pulling out a tape measure and measuring a piece of set dressing.

“Which play’s your friend in?” Sam asked as Monica made her way over with the hammer. “Driving Distance or The Crucifix?” Monica recalled the former being the title of the play about small-town ennui Hadley, Porter, and Cameron had auditioned for.

“It’s The Crucible, college boy,” Graham corrected him.

“Listen to the professor over here,” Angela said, noting the measurements on her phone.

“This is for the one that doesn’t take place in olden times,” Sam noted, nodding toward the in-progress set.

“I think she could have figured that one out,” Angela said. “Not a lot of water towers in pilgrim times.”

Monica fielded the usual questions about her major and hometown as she got settled in. She had the sense they were giving her lighter work to begin with. It was involving enough work but not physically taxing for her; at certain points, she saw all three of her coworkers getting winded or straining. Finally, Graham asked her help transporting a larger piece of the water tower set, giving her a chance to put her strength to use while still needing to hide it.

Graham grunted and lifted his end. “You got that okay? Shitballs, that’s heavy.”

At the end of her shift, Monica found Hadley and Cameron waiting outside. “Hey, Mon,” Hadley said. “We wanted to check in to see how your first day went.”

“I hope it went well,” the English student said, “otherwise I’ll feel more than a bit guilty.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica grunted and took short steps, muttering "no talking" as if she was really straining under the weight of the set piece. She could lift something like a ton or a ton and a half. Wrestling with a few hundred pounds felt silly but necessary, all at once. Still, at the end of the two hours she was glad to be done with it. It was nice to be active, but it was nicer to not be. She had studying to do and she had to get the cup to knapp for DNA analysis, which would hopefully confirm sooner rather than later that Townes was her man. She smiled when she saw Cameron and Hadley "So.... it was fine. You know. Country girl. I'm used to working with my hands a bit." She smiled at Hadley "how's the play going? You still enjoying it?"

Looking back to Cameron she shrugged "no need to feel guilty. I needed the job, you got me a job. It's better than working at the library or some shit. And the crew is alright. We're making a water tower or something. Clearly not for the crucible. I mean sure its a play thinly veiled about McCarthyism but its still veiled."

 

[Halcyon638]

“The play’s going pretty well,” Hadley responded. “At least I think so. Haven’t been asked to leave yet. Speaking of which, sadly, I gotta bounce in a couple of minutes.” A pleased smile crossed her lips.

“Yes, you seem utterly devastated at that fact,” Cameron said. “Glad to hear the job is alright. As far as jobs go. Ah, yes—the water tower. Fun fact: my character pisses off it at some point. Very little pissing in The Crucible as I recall.”

“I gotta go,” Hadley said. “How do I look?” she asked Monica.

As Hadley departed, Cameron added, “You also get to go to the cast parties, so there’s that. Although there’s really little worse than drunken theatre kids,” he remarked with a shrug. “See you around,” he noted. He waved to Sam and Angela who were leaving the building. Only Sam waved back.

Monica received a text from Gabi: “When we’re back home this weekend, we have to hit up the Target to get Halloween decorations!” Though Cottersville didn’t have one of the stores, a slightly bigger town 30 minutes away did.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica texted back "for sure! what sort of stuff do you want? I'm totally down."

Smiling at Hadley "yeah you do. Hot date? you'll have to give us the details. At some point. Have fun!"

She also waved to the crew and smiled at her co-workers as they left, then grabbed her burner phone and emailed Knapp. She arranged to meet him around 11 to drop off the goods, then made her way home. She had a quick shower, then changed and headed up to the roof. She took the burner, and summoned the sliver then headed out to the rendezvous point. She hid herself in an alleyway, waiting for Knapp to arrive. When he finally did she stepped out and cleared her throat. "Knapp" she handed the bag over "sooner on this is better but you know, beggars and choosers. I really appreciate the help on this, and obviously, you'll get all the credit if it breaks."

She looked around, then back to Knapp. "So... uh you know. How are you doing? You know you uh... holding up alright and everything?" She knew he was a bit of a fucking mess, and well he was as close to a colleague as she had. She felt like he should at least take a little bit of an interest in his well being "You settling in here in Prospect City alright?"

 

[Halcyon638]

Gabi texted back: “Decorations-wise, I’m thinking nothing too pricey for a couple of broke-ass college girls. Also never too early to start thinking costumes!”

Hadley grinned. “Thanks, Mon. See ya!”

That night, the detective seemed somewhat surprised at the question. “I’m…doing fine, thanks. Oh—if you’re wondering why I was back in the office Saturday night…I screwed up a weekend away with a perfectly nice girl.” He adjusted his tie. “It’s fine. She was good-looking and smart and everything but there wasn’t…a spark, you know? I know I’m probably too old to be looking for a spark or whatever the hell you want to call it.”

A blast of cold wind whipped across the rooftop. “How about you? Did you get away, I mean. Didn’t hear any reports of any gangsters getting beat down so I thought that was a good sign. Believe me, it’s important to pull yourself away from this occasionally,” Knapp said, holding up the bagged coffee cup. “I can get this fast. I can tell it’s important to you.” He blew on his hands as more chill air blew past. “Shit, that’s fall alright. ”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica leaned back against the building and crossed her arms "yeah about that. I mean... how do you balance like, your normal life and your supercop routine?" She sighed "I... like someone and well. I'm afraid that if I let them like me back I'm going to have to stop doing this because their feelings about my safety become important and valid. And I don't even know how to like... tell someone. Oh hey, I can lift a car over my head for a few seconds and I fight crime like a low rent batman." She sighed "I mean you clearly don't have all the answers, given that you came back this weekend to do work instead of making it work with your lady friend but... You have more experience than me with this sort of thing. Is there any way to make it work? Do you know any happily married cops that aren't you know... phoning it in at work? I had a nice weekend and I like... I dunno. I can see this normal life just beyond my reach but... I... feel like I'm good at this."

She inhaled and exhaled "yeah it's important to me... I tangentially know someone who its VERY important to but also... I don't think I want to just beat up morons and street thugs forever. I mean. I enjoy that. It is a palette cleanser sure but... this feels. I dunno it feels important. Like with the mutant girl. That felt important. It felt like I was really changing someone's life. This feels that way too. It ... feels like it makes all the other effort and danger worth it."

 

[Halcyon638]

“No, I most definitely don’t have all the answers,” the detective said. “I have managed to raise a pretty amazing daughter, somehow so maybe I do know some shit.” He grinned. “There are good cops who manage to make it work and keep some kind of separation. Me, I just couldn’t make it work, and the damage is already done…with my marriage, with my kid, though maybe not so bad.”

“The one thing I can tell you is that honesty is really as important as everybody says it is. If I’d been upfront about how big a role the job was going to play in my life, my ex could have made her own decision. Instead I kept promising her I was going to change, kept promising myself when that’s…not me. Though I realize telling somebody you’re Superwoman or whatever isn’t the same deal as telling somebody you're obsessed with your job. If I could lift a frigging car I’d be telling everyone all the time. They’d be tired of hearing about it.”

"You are making a difference," Hadley’s father said. “But you can also walk away. It’s not your fault that this weird shit keeps happening or that half of my coworkers are either too corrupt or too focused on getting promoted to do actual work that matters. Grab this lucky guy…or girl of yours, and move to some place decent.”

 

[siobhancan99]

"I think if I became normal for someone I would hate them, eventually." It was a bitter revelation, not only about herself but maybe her mother and her reasons for leaving. Did she hate Monica and her father for tethering her to a life she didn't choose for herself, but was thrust upon her? Did she love them, but maybe love wasn't enough?

"They aren't lucky by the way. I'm a hideous lizard under the mask" She jokes with Knapp "I mean, like full on scaled skin, forked tongue. I'm basically a villain if this was a comic book. I fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch. Anyway, glad to hear you have a good relationship with your daughter. Kids need that you know? Especially if the mom isn't around. Not sure what your situation is there but... you know" She shrugged "anyway, thanks for this. I'm gonna head to the bar where the murdered waitress worked, see if anyone is still around from that time. Show them a few pictures of suspects."

After making a tiny bit more small talk, she got into the sliver and headed off to the bar. There was a bouncer at the door, and he asked for her ID "Really?" She patted her lack of pockets "look man, you've seen me on the news and I'm not drinking. I just want to talk to anyone who worked here around the time that waitress got murdered."