Nighthawk: A Superhero Story (closed for Siobhancan99)

[Halcyon638]

“Stay out of this!” Sabyn snarled, slapping the table aside with ease that suggested he was as strong if not stronger than Monica. He stepped toward her, releasing a wild, wide-arcing punch that seemed fueled by blind rage, less calculated than his prior attack. She dodged it easily as Knapp and Ellis exited the room.

 

[siobhancan99]

A bit of panic set in as she realized the man was so strong. She wasn't used to this. This was real superhero shit. Was she one? did she belong in this fight? She had her doubts. Still, in for a penny in for a pound. Keeping him off balance was key, she had to focus more on not getting hit than hitting herself. She weaved, trying to stay out of his way, then when an opportunity presented itself she stepped inside his range and tried to kick for his knee. She doubted she could break it like a normal knee, but she might buckle it. Or get lucky. Either way she had to at least throw a little offense or he'd chase after Knapp "Come on, supervillains are supposed to banter. its like, the raison d'etre of supervillainy. Come on, tell me your sad story."

 

[Halcyon638]

“Your friend Mr. Ellis is a real piece of shit,” Sabyn responded. “I don’t deny pulling the trigger but it was in self-defense, not ‘cold blood’ like that son of a bitch said.” As he lunged toward, Monica let loose another kick. This one also connected, and he let out another pained grunt.

“You are really starting to piss me off!” he shouted. He rushed towards Monica in a flurry of kicks and punches, putting her back on her feet and forcing her to leap to the side to avoid them as his hands smashed into the drywall. His assault had left him off-balance, setting him up for what appeared to be an easy hit on her part.

 

[siobhancan99]

"Really buddy? 12 people agreed with him" He didn't seem super great at fighting. Probably just relied (like her) on being the hardest mother fucker around. In his case literally. "I'm picking up some real henchman energy from you. Lack of banter, not great with your hands" She threw a hard kick at him, trying to take advantage of the fact he clearly hadn't learned to fight in prison. "Gonna tell me who did this to you? was thinking of getting some upgrades."

 

[Halcyon638]

“I’ll show you what I can do with these hands, you mouthy bi—.” Monica’s kick cracked against the left side of Sabyn’s head. It was an attack that would have easily incapacitated if not killed a normal person. Sabyn responded by groaning and gritting his teeth. A crazed look in his eye, he threw himself at Monica. The ferocity of his attack made up for what he lacked in skill.

While she was able to find off some of his initial attacks, he smashes his metallic elbow down on her extended left forearm. There was a moment of blinding, searing pain that started in her arm, then resonated down what seemed like the entire left side of her body. She had never been hit this hard in her entire life, even in a few sparring sessions with her mother that got a bit out of hand. “There’s not going to be anything left of you to upgrade,” he growled, his wild attacks continuing and again leaving him wide open to a well-placed attack. He was also eyeing the doors through which Ellis had been carried.

 

[siobhancan99]

"you're never gonna get him now you know." She kept ducking, weaving. It was going to be hard to keep from getting badly hurt. He was no good fighter but he seemed way stronger than her. tougher. She needed a centauri weapon. Shame her mother fucked off with them into space. Yay mom. Thanks for nothing. She ducked again, weaving back, leading him away from the door. She waited a moment, and when he looked towards it again she tried another hard kick, trying to hurt him or at least keep him focused "you totally bullet proof? I guess we will find out after the cops get here."

 

[Halcyon638]

Monica’s kick connected with Sabyn’s ribcage. “Fuck!” he cried out, holding the area. He unleashed another barrage of blows, though more under control this time. Still, Monica was able to avoid them, her left arm throbbing all the while.

Knapp re-entered the room. “Sabyn! Give it up. Ellis is secured and a SWAT team will be here any minute. Why don’t you sit your ass down before you’ve done anything you can’t undo and make things easier on yourself.”

Sabyn said nothing and lunged for Monica again, missing.

 

[siobhancan99]

Now that the proverbial Cavalry was on its way Monica felt more confident going on the defense "this freakshow is really strong detective. and tough. Tougher than the vampire girl" she called out, hoping Knapp stayed back unless he had his gun on him. She put everything into bobbing and weaving now, throwing a few punches and kicks to make it less obvious that she was trying her best to not get hit. "Come on man, indulge me a little. You're about to get taken to some CIA black site where the government will disappear you forever while they literally take you apart to see how you're made. At least tell me who did this to you? Maybe I can get revenge for you on the people that changed you. Because lets not beat around the bush here. The rest of your life is going to be just you being subjected to crueler and crueler experimentation so the government can make super soldiers." She ducked under a wild punch and backed up a bit "and whoever did this to you I'm sure didn't exactly explain that. So who was it? I can get them for you."

 

[Halcyon638]

“Cops can’t hurt me,” Sabyn said matter-of-factly. “You, you’re freaky enough to maybe sting me a little,” he noted, though from his movements and the sounds he’d been emitting, he sounded a bit more than stung. “But I can hurt you a lot.”

Monica connected with a punch, feeling it reverberating down her uninjured arm but not hitting solidly enough to do much to him. “He was giving Ellis his full origin story,” Knapp said, approaching him and looking for an opening. “Sounded like this fuckhead volunteered for some prison experimentation. It’s all going to be worth it when you go back there after being out for two whole minutes.”

Sabyn pressed the attack toward Monica. “No one’s fucking putting me back. Not Ellis, not this freak!” He attacked Monica with renewed vigor and abandon. With the sheer ferocity of his assault, he broke through her defenses and punched her on the left side of her ribcage, jolting her with pain once more.

Knapp ran towards Sabyn, trying to at the very least distract him by grabbing a hold of him, but the metallic man shrugged him off.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica fell back with the hit. Fuck that hurt. It hurt a lot and it was terrible in pretty much every way. Still, now she was in the thick of it. The Centauri came out in her. This was the struggle that made life worth living. This was that crucible her mother always talked about, where the fight burned away the impurities and left you stronger. She snarled and launched another kick for the guy. If he could be hurt, there was something she could really hurt. Something all soft inside. She feinted for his leg, then brought her knee up to try to crush his balls. If she was getting through, that was the place to really get through.

 

[Halcyon638]

Monica’s knee crunched between Sabyn’s legs. Though the angle wasn’t perfect for hitting him full bore, she was guessing even metal-plated balls would be fairly vulnerable, and the guess paid off. He let out a loud, deep moan, then began stumbling, clutching his wounded groin before batting aside Knapp’s attempt to grab onto him. A moment later, he collapsed onto the ground, writhing.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica ran over to stomp on the guy's head as hard as she could. She couldn't take the risk of him getting back up. Her arm felt like it might be broken, ribs badly bruised if not outright cracked. He was strong, tough, hard to beat. He was a worthy opponent but that meant not underestimating him. She wasn't sure he could be restrained, but at the same time she didn't really want to be there when SWAT got there. Plus her dad needed to get out of the building as well. maybe they could cram into the sliver if it had made it to the roof. For now though, she was laser focused on keeping this guy down before he really hurt her even worse.

 

[Halcyon638]

Monica’s foot came down on Sabyn’s head. It clanked hard against the linoleum floor, and then he lay motionless, though still breathing. “Are you okay?” Knapp asked, making his way over. They could hear sirens outside and the not-too-distant thrum of a helicopter’s blades. “I think you did it. I’ll take over from here. You're making me look good again.”

Monica had received a text from her father: “Outside with Gabi and her family. Are you okay? I see the Sliver on the roof.”

Receiving a reply from her, a moment later, he texted, “Head up there now before the police chopper gets too close. I love you.”

Fortunately for Monica, everyone in the hotel (understandably) seemed to be locked down in their rooms with the gunfire, so there was no one to gawk at her in her attire as she made her way to the roof to find the waiting aircraft.

 

[siobhancan99]

"I'm really not ok." Monica's ribs were definitely broken, and her arm probably was as well. Everything hurt. Everything hurt badly. She took shallow breaths, trying not to aggravate her ribs too badly. Getting into the sliver one handed would be a bitch, but she couldn't exactly head out the normal way. She groaned at her dad's text "I kind of thought you'd be my alibi but I suppose not now that literally everyone has seen you without me." Maybe a little short, but she was in pain and he was careless.

She made her way to the roof, opening the sliver with the remote, then hauled herself with her good arm into the sliver. She was worried she needed the hospital, but she couldn't take the risk of blood samples and the like. Settling into the sliver she gasped and then sobbed from the pain that hammered her with the withdrawal of the adrenaline. "fuck" She teared up, just hurting like nothing before. Part of her wanted to quit, but part of her realized that things like this meant maybe she never could. Maybe she'd be the only person that could handle things like that. She started the sliver off to a remote part of town, not wanting it to be tracked back to her dorm "Tell Gabi's parents I fell int he stairway and got trampled by some people and I'm headed home." she texted.

 

[Halcyon638]

Knapp’s face fell at Monica’s tone. “I know you have to split, but I was an EMT before I became a cop,” he said. “If you can’t do hospitals, I’ll get out of here as soon as I give my statement and you can text me.”

The Sliver was speeding along over some portion of Prospect City where the buildings seemed to be set at slightly off-kilter angles, creating chaotic warrens of streets and alleyways. There were a litany of texts from Gabi:

“Carino?”

“Please tell me you’re alright.”

“I need to hear your voice. When you can talk.”

She received a belated text from her father. “I’m so relieved to hear from you. Sorry, I told them I’d seen you slip out one of the fire exits. I think Gabi’s headed with her parents to their hotel for now. Meet you back at your apartment?”

Somewhere down below, another set of sirens blared. Another crisis, another danger, in a city seemingly full of them.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica considered for a moment, then decided she should probably get an xray on her arm, which wouldn't involve any blood drawing. Her ribs were definitely cracked as well, but she knew from TV that there wasn't much they could do for that but wrap them and she could get Gabi to do that. She googled an urgent care and then texted her dad to say she needed to stop somewhere. "If its broken it needs to be set." She called Gabi, and said that she fell and she had to stop somewhere and have her arm looked at. "I'm fine baby. I promise. I just took a few hard hits." She tried to keep the pain out of her voice so Gabi wouldn't worry over much with her parents around "I fell on the street and a guy stepped on me. I mean not really but that's the story for your parents ok?"

Setting the sliver down nearby, she sent it off and then slowly, painfully, made her way into the urgent care to sit.

 

[Halcyon638]

“Okay, querida,” Gabi said. “I don’t think I’ll be here at the hotel long. Just waiting for my mom’s Xanax to kick in and then your dad said he would give me a ride back to the apartment.”

There were a bunch of texts from their group text asking if everyone was alright, along with a text from Austin, asking if she, Gabi, and their families were all safe. Knapp also sent a follow-up text noting that he’d gotten away from the scene and could take a look at her injuries if she needed.

About a half hour later, Gabi and Monica’s father arrived. Gabi ran to her and began to wrap her up in a hug, then restrained herself, not knowing what was hurt. “Tried to convince her she should try to get some sleep rather than waiting up for you,” James said, holding Monica’s hand. “She was not on board with that plan.”

Gabi kissed Monica’s face a few times in quick succession, then sat down beside her as the night crept along. It was almost two hours before they got in to see a nurse, a dark-haired woman about a few years younger than James who introduced herself as Kelly. “Alright, let’s see what we’ve got here. Which of you is Monica? So, what happened tonight?” she asked in a sympathetic tone.

 

[siobhancan99]

Texted Knapp to thank him for the offer, but that she probably needed a cast. "Good to know though"

She resisted the urge to kiss her girlfriend in front of her dad, just squeezing her with her good arm. "i'm glad you two came" and she was. She hurt, a lot, and she wasn't really prepared for it. "I'm... you know. I'm not mom. She would uh. She would have handled this better. She wouldn't have..." gotten her ass handed to her by some clown was left unsaid, in case their were prying ears. "anyway I'm glad you came. Also clearly dad i'm gonna have to take you up on your offer to let me quit my job. I'm not exactly going to be active for a while."

Monica described the situation at the ball, and lied her ass off and said she was heading down the steps when some over eager people panicked, she fell and they trampled her. She assumed the story was innocuous enough, and probably wouldn't register for anyone to connect her with the Nighthawk... she hoped. IF she'd had more soft tissue trauma or could have been sure her arm wasn't broken she'd have taken Knapp up on his offer. Her injuries were pretty consistent with her story though so hopefully it held. "I am reasonably sure I have a broken rib, and i might have broken my arm so I guess I need xrays"

 

[Halcyon638]

“Let me get a look at that forearm, okay?” the nurse said. She gently pulled up Monica’s sleeve, revealing a swollen, bruised mess. “Yeah, that is looking pretty painful.” Out of the corner of her eye, Monica saw her girlfriend’s brown eyes widen at the sight. At the mention of possible broken bones, Gabi grabbed James’s hand and gave it a tight squeeze.

“Let’s not compare you to your mom, for a bunch of reasons,” he said, kissing the top of her head when the nurse had left to have the x-rays ordered. Under his breath, her father said, “And I was all but useless.”

“It’s going to be a few minutes on those X-rays, unfortunately,” the nurse said when she came back. “You said you came from the Chevalier? How did you all end up way out here and not at Grant?” To their blank looks, she added, “Grant Hospital?”

“We’re actually not from the city,” James said, “and our GPS ended up taking us on a merry ride.”

“Ah. Well, I’m sorry you’ll be waiting longer.”

“Could you tell me where the bathroom is?” Gabi asked.

“Sure, no problem. I’m headed in that direction.”

“You must be starving,” James said as Gabi left with the nurse. “Let me grab you something from the vending machine, okay?”

Monica was alone for just a minute or two. Her father returned with an armful of granola bars and salty snacks, followed a moment later by Gabi.

It was a little before midnight when Monica was discharged with her diagnosis: a deep bone bruise of her left radius and two hairline fractures of her left ribcage. “Ride back with Gabi and I and send the Sliver back,” James suggested.

He hit a drive-through of Monica’s choice on the way. Gabi was mostly quiet on the way home, holding Monica’s right hand in between her hands. Soon, they were back at the girls’ apartment. Outside the building, her father asked, “Do you want me to come in?”

 

[siobhancan99]

Better than she expected, worse than she wanted. Worse for sure than Gabi could probably handle. She was not sure how the night was going to go after this. It was a shame because tonight proved to her that someone like her was needed, and until prospect city had a replacement for the Nighthawk she was compelled not to stop.

She let her father get her some Popeyes, because Popeyes was fucking delicious. Fatty and salty and everything that fast food should be. Popeyes was the apex of fast food. she clutched Gabi with her good arm and let the bag dangle from her other hand. "I think that uh... inside is kind of Gabi can take it from here dad." She smiled and kissed his cheek "I love you. Thank you for being here. Thank you for taking care of Gabi too. You two are the most important people in my life." She squeezes Gabi's hand, then looked over at her quiet girlfriend. "lets go in, Corazon." She made her way in, then let Gabi unlock the apartment and sat gingerly down at the table to eat. She sipped her Dr. Pepper and looked over to the curvy girl across the table "So." She ate a big bite of chicken and swallowed "how are YOU doing?"

 

[Halcyon638]

“Goodnight, honey,” Monica’s father said. “ ‘Night, Gabi.”

Gabi blinked a few times, her gaze lost somewhere in the middle distance temporarily. “Me? I’m okay,” she said, taking a small bite of a biscuit. “I’m just glad you’re…you’re home,” she said. “A little worried…okay, a lot worried about how Mom is going to react to what happened, but…you’re safe. You’re safe, and…” She managed to fit down a few bites of chicken and dabbed lightly at her soft lips with her napkin, then came around behind Monica and draped her arms over her shoulders. Gabi kissed the top of her head once, then a second time.

“I’m going to go get ready for bed, okay?” Her hand was trembling atop Monica’s right shoulder. “Do you want to do your bed tonight? Let’s do yours. Or…” She looked over at her girlfriend’s swollen forearm. Given the size of their beds, it was very unlikely Monica was going to be able to sleep comfortably (or at all) with her injuries with another person pressed up against her.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica sighed "um. I'm gonna sleep sitting up. Probably easier on the ribs and I won't roll onto my arm" She put some blankets and pillows on the couch "If you want, you can curl up on the couch with me. You can rest your head in my lap if you want and I'll play with your hair till you fall asleep. I mean if you want to. You don't have to..." She wasn't sure how OK Gabi was with all this, and wanted to give her the space to process it.

 

[Halcyon638]

Gabi nodded. “Okay. You let me know what you need, querida. If having me curl up with you would help…” She leaned in and kissed Monica warmly on the lips. “Here, let me,” she said, spreading out her girlfriend’s sheet and blankets. “Do you need an ice pack or heat or anything?”

A little while later, Gabi rested her head on Monica’s lap. “Tell me if that’s not comfortable.” The brunette lay there for a while, but it seemed like the younger woman wasn’t falling asleep, a problem Monica herself was having. Gabi got up eventually. “I’m going to…” She pointed toward her room. “Get some good sleep, sweetie. ‘Kay?” She kissed Monica again and went off to her bedroom.

Monica finally drifted off. When she awoke, she found Gabi was in the bathroom. A few minutes later, Gabi wandered out, looking sleepy. “Morning. I was going to make us some breakfast. What do you want?” Walking toward the kitchen in her pajama pants, she added, “I missed you next to me.”

Gabi checked her phone as she was preparing to start cooking. “Wonderful. I get to have the whole conversation about how dangerous living here is again.” She wrinkled her in brow in concern. “And apparently Ian got arrested yesterday? Amy texted my mom that she and Joe are coming in to the city today to bail him out,” she said, Amy being Ian and Tom’s mother.

Gabi let out a sharp cry. “Oww, fuck.” Shaking her finger, she explained, “Turned on the wrong burner.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica sighed. She knew Gabi meant well but... "Babe. I'm not super hungry" though she was. "maybe some cereal or something." She leaned back a bit, then regret filled her. She felt like she'd been hit by a truck. Or you know, some super made of metal freak. "Babe I missed you last night too" she bit her lip "as for your parents and its dangerous to live here. I have a plan. I'll adopt a supervillain persona and go blow something up up at state. Then it won't be safer there" She laughed, then regret came again. "fuck" She muttered. This was awful. "Do we know what Ian was arrested for?" probably possession. She sighed. She felt another twinge of resentment that he was alive and Tom was dead, though... and she felt bad for this... that was blunted somewhat. No doubt due to Gabi. "See if you can't google and make sure it's not national news or anything."

 

[Halcyon638]

Gabi smiled at Monica’s faux-plan, but then a serious look returned to her face again as she tugged on a strand of her dark hair. “Just cereal? Okay,” she said with a sweet smile briefly appearing on her face.

She typed on her phone. “Google’s not bringing up anything yet about him.” She peered intently at the phone and scrolled some more. “My mom might know more. We’re going to the service at the campus chapel,” Gabi said, though Monica knew she was at most agnostic, but more leaning toward the atheist side. She paused. “I don’t know when we’ll be back. I think we were going to meet Hadley and Layla to head downtown around 1:00? Do you still feel up to that?”

Gabi asked Monica which cereal she wanted and then brought it over along with a bowl filled with milk. The brunette put her hands on Monica’s shoulders and massaged them lightly. “I’m going to get showered up and meet them at the chapel, okay?”

Gabi kissed Monica on her way out and then left. A moment later, her father texted that he was on his way over out of town, and she received a text from Austin: “Hey there. Just wondering if you’d still be up for me coming over to study today/tonight? Totally understand if you all are shaken up and just need to chill. Hope all is good.”

Her father arrived shortly after, bringing in a cup of coffee. Her greeted her with a light hug and then they sat down at the table. “You know this isn’t on you,” he said. “You don’t owe them anything. You don’t owe this city. Especially if they’re going to go and fuck things up once you’ve gift-wrapped a bad guy for them.” Registering the confusion on his face, a pained look came over James’s face. “Shit. You didn’t check yet?”

Monica checked her phone. Mark Sabyn had escaped from police custody around 2:00 this morning, and a police manhunt hadn’t found him as of yet. The article described him as linked to something called Project Chromium, gene therapy experimentation that investigators believed was linked to the US military. “Some of the sites are calling him ‘Chromium’ like he’s a fucking Batman villain,” he said, shaking his head. “I guess Chromium vs. Nighthawk is a little catchier than ‘Mark vs. Vigilante Girl.’”

“Anyway. They dropped the ball on this mess, they should clean it up. Sorry for mixing my metaphors,” he said, drinking more coffee. “Caffeine hasn’t hit yet.”