Nighthawk: A Superhero Story (closed for Siobhancan99)

[siobhancan99]

Monica raced out to the front and opened the door. She drew Gabi into a hug and whispered "Home stuff. Like... mom and dad home stuff." Not sure if Gabi's family was intent on coming in "why don't I come down and say hi to your sister? I know she misses her cooler adopted sistser" She grinned at her girlfriend, mostly to cover the stress. She was honestly a little mad she didn't ask for more, but... her dad could take weapons and stuff she assumed. her request had been pretty broad. She'd leave that to James' discretion. being trained by an actual Centauri killer though. Exciting. Someone who could teach her to use all her strength...

She threaded her fingers through Gabi's, then led her away from the danger. From a man who was not here in America to fade into the background. Some absurd zealot that was clinging to ashes because he had nothing left. A useful zealot though. When she got to the car she waved to Gabi's sister and poked her head in the window "hey half pint"

 

[Halcyon638]

Gabi’s eyes widened and her mouth opened as if she was about to speak, but she had no words. “Yeah…Ana would love that,” she said, perking up slightly while her eyes still broadcast her concern.

“Monica!” Ana said as she approached the car. The cherubic girl had her dark hair up in a messy bun. Matt, 12, said “hi” as well and Aaron, 20, gave her a shy wave from behind the steering wheel. “Wanna come over and see the Lego sets I built? I got two Technic sets. One was for my birthday and the other was from money I saved up from my allowance and leftover from summer vacation.”

A few moments later, she added, “Can I come to Thanksgiving with you guys? I don’t really like turkey.”

After catching up with her briefly, the three Ruiz siblings were on their way. Before long, Gabi was heading into the house with Monica. Not long after they pulled out of the driveway, Monica spotted John walking toward his curbside van.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica called over to the guy "I'll see you in Prospect City, monday." She wasn't about to let this be a "we'll get to it" sort of training. He would hold up his end of the bargain before she'd let James head off. Besides, if James disappeared she'd need this guy to turn over to the government. He knew where the beacon was. Monica also had the advantage of being an actual US Citizen and not a fake one. She could leverage a lot with an alien spy, the location of their secret base and her own ability to aid the government. She just had to keep that all together. Her dad would have to let her know the location too.

 

[Halcyon638]

James was uncharacteristically quiet the rest of the night and then retired early, saying he had to finish up some chores around the house before they all started prepping for Thanksgiving. When Monica and Gabi were alone in her room again, the dark-haired girl asked, “So, who exactly was that guy? Are you guys in trouble or something?”

As the night went on, Gabi reflected on her evening with her siblings. “I don’t know what to do. I miss Ana. I sort of miss Aaron even. I kinda want to be there with them for Thanksgiving and see my cousins and abuela and everyone, but…I really want to be with you, and your dad, and I don’t want my mom to see this as me giving in.” Her eyes were glazed lightly with tears. “It just sucks.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica curled up around Gabi. it was tempting to offer to go speak to Sara herself, to try and fix things, but this wasn't something she should try to fix. This was Gabi's battle and just like Gabi had to watch her fight from the sidelines as the Nighthawk, she had to watch Gabi fight from the sidelines here. She kissed her temple "go see your family if you want. Your mom can't take them from you and the rest of them need to know why you and your mom are fighting. you don't have to talk to her. In fact, you could pointedly ignore her" she stroked her fingers along Gabi's tummy "of course, you're welcome with us. You're my girlfriend. people have holidays with their girlfriends. My dad already loves you so... easy peasy if you stay here"

 

[Halcyon638]

Gabi lightly kissed the tip of Monica’s right index finger and then placed it back on her navel. “Yeah. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll go see everybody after dinner.” She rolled over so that she was facing Monica now. “Ohh, Aaron brought my bags to Pie Heaven, so I won’t have to borrow your clothes any more,” she said, smiling. “Now you only have to worry about me getting into your panties in one sense. I don’t think these look too bad on me. Maybe a little snug.” She leaned in and gently nibbled at her girlfriend’s lower lip. “So…is it just me, or did having to stay quiet last night make it a little hotter?” She gave Monica’s rear an affectionate squeeze. Despite them both being tired from the day’s events the night before, Gabi had insisted that they fuck, possibly a not-so-unconscious gesture of defiance following the confrontation with Sara. The dark-haired girl began to place tender kisses along her lover’s neck.

Thanksgiving morning, Monica was hazily aware of Gabi getting up to shower but drifted back to sleep. The brunette came back in wrapped in a towel and woke her by stroking her hair. “Heyy, sexy. We should get a start on that pie,” she said, referring to the dessert they’d offered to contribute to the day’s feast.

The doorbell rang. “I don’t think your dad’s home,” Gabi said. The doorbell rang again, followed by a solid knock. Eventually, Monica was able to stumble out of bed, throw on some pants and make her way downstairs.

When she opened the door, she saw a familiar-looking, stout, middle-aged man with a bristly dark brown beard and a receding hairline standing before her. He was wearing a police uniform.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica smiled at the cop. "Hello there officer. What can I do for you?" She assumed it was over someone seeing the van, though the house was pretty isolated. That or Sara said Gabi was kidnapped. That would go over with Gabi like a lead balloon though. "What's up?"

 

[Halcyon638]

“Hello,” he said in an almost distracted tone. She recognized him now from around town—Officer Ben Reynolds. “Monica, right? Is your father home?”

Gabi was coming down the stairs. When Monica confirmed that James wasn’t, he nodded and scratched his eyebrow. “Do you know where he might be?” Catching sight of Gabi a moment later, he added, “About how long ago did he leave?”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica shifted "not long. Why, what's going on officer?" She was concerned. THe officer's distracted look and him asking after her dad wasn't great. "I can call him if you like."

 

[Halcyon638]

“Maybe in a little while.” An almost pitying expression crossed Officer Reynolds’s features now. “Can I get that number from you? Want to make sure it matches the one we’ve got on file.”

Gabi had her arm on Monica’s midback now. “Not long ago? Did you see him leave? About what time was that?” the cop asked.

He was taking copious notes. “Did he stay in last night? About what time did you see him last last night? Did he go to bed before you, after you?” Monica recalled saying goodnight to her father around 11.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica hmmms "i don't know really. I saw him around 11... what's this about anyway?" She brushed her hair back "This guy came around who had lost his dog the other day, he was here a few minutes, then we ate and hung out till about 11..."

 

[Halcyon638]

“Guy?” Officer Reynolds said.

“Is he okay? Is her dad okay???” Gabi demanded.

“11 o’clock And this guy. This was…?””

“You didn’t answer me,” Gabi said, agitated.

“Miss, if you could remain calm for now,” the police officer said, putting a hand out. “I’ll answer your questions in a minute. I just need a little more information.”

 

[siobhancan99]

"they wouldn't be asking if he was here if something happened to him babe" Monica drew Gabi in, wrapping her arm around her shoulder and kissing her. This was in part to reassure her, but mostly to distract the cop and see if with a little PDA she could get him off his game "Really officer if you just let me know what this is about I can probably help you out."

 

[Halcyon638]

A momentary look of surprise came across the officer’s face, but he did his best to quickly hide it. “Now, I don’t want you to be alarmed,” Reynolds said. “Around 5:00 this morning, we had a report of shots fired by the Sleep-Inn Motel. Our one eye witness who was peering out her room window said she caught sight of a white van pulling away five, maybe ten minutes afterward. The reason I’m checking in with you is that your father’s vehicle was found in the motel parking lot but we haven’t been able to find him. Do you…have any idea what he might have been doing there?”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica schooled her face to placidity "maybe he found that guy's dog. the dog guy had a white panel van. Handsome guy. mid 30s?" She gave a brief description. If her father had fucked off to Michigan aand the beacon right away without telling her there would be fucking hell to pay. "Let me call my father..." She drew her phone out, hand shaking though she played that up a bit, calling her dad

 

[Halcyon638]

The phone rang eight times before James’s voice mail picked up. “No luck, huh?” Officer Reynolds said. Gabi was now nervously stroking Monica’s upper arm. “Does your dad own any firearms? Do you know where he might keep them?”

Monica knew he owned a pistol beside the shotgun, though she wasn’t entirely sure if the former was licensed.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica hmmms "he's got a shotgun." She felt it was best to tell a half-truth there. "I don't think its ever been outside of the house except for shooting a possum that was in his garden. Honestly, he's not a great shot." Inaccurate by earth standards, but entirely accurate by Centauri army standards. Sometimes you just had to keep a certain perspective in your head in order to tell the truth.

 

[Halcyon638]

Officer Reynold tapped his notepad with his pencil. “Do you mind if I get a look at it?”

Gabi had gone off to sit on the couch and was texting someone. “Thanks for your help,” Officer Reynold said. “Last thing for now—did your dad ever mention a guy named John? John Chambers?”

On his way out of the house, the cop said, “You let me know if you see your dad. Or if you hear from him. If you remember anything--if anything comes to mind—if he’s been acting strange or if you noticed anything weird lately, you let me know.” He gave Monica’s the police headquarters’ phone number. “Take care,” he said, then walked away.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica texted her father "if you are alive, you call me right fucking now." She frowned at Gabi "if he left on god damn thanksgiving to ..." She fumed and sat on the couch, crossing her arms "there's like. home stuff. people showed up. They want him to do a thing. He agreed and then I threw extra conditions on it. That guy in the white van is involved somehow."

 

[Halcyon638]

Gabi looked bewildered. “I don’t understand,” she said. “Help me understand. Are you and your dad in danger? What do they want him to do?” The dark-haired girl placed both hands flat on the sides of her face as if the pressure of comprehending was too intense.

“What can I do?” Her tone was almost pleading.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica cupped Gabi's face "i dunno. they want him to fix some kind of transmitter. It's all very stupid. Their empire all fucking collapsed and the homeworld blew up." She couldn't remember what all she told Gabi, to be honest "and the guys on earth that are still like.. true believers or whatever were using some communicator to still talk to their bretheren out there. Well. It broke. my dad is like the only one that can fix it. I'm gonna guess that most of the Centauri left on earth don't want it to be fixed. They all have cars and houses and mortgages and lives here now."

 

[Halcyon638]

Gabi’s brow furrowed in concern. “Okay. So…they kidnapped him? We can’t let the cops know anything about this, right? And I’m guessing we don’t want this transmitter thing to get fixed. Do you know where it is?”

She glanced toward the kitchen. “We got to let your dad’s girlfriend know that something came up. Do you want me to tell her? I was doing a little cyberstalking before to see if I could find her through her photography page and found her.”

The Latina kissed Monica’s forehead lightly. “Let me know what you need, baby.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica sucked softly on Gabi's lower lip "I need you to log into my dad's desktop. The password is SpongeisthegreatestAmericanband2003" which celebrates his bizarre love for obscure grunge and the year of my blessed arrival in this world. Pull up google and do "where's my phone". Monica set the sliver to arrive at the house after dark. "We need to track where he's going. The phone is on. I'll need you to stay on it after I leave. you have to be my navigator baby. I need you"

Honestly she could have done it all herself, but giving Gabi a task would stop her from being scared "as for the beacon, well, the Centauri weren't entirely sure they could invade such a big planet when there were hundreds of millions of them and the full war machine was available. Now, they're fighting among themselves and over the scraps of tech that are in the colonies. They could take over like... canada or something. But that's about it. Honestly... If this all goes south I'm going to turn the installation over to the US government once I find it."

 

[Halcyon638]

“Okay, carino. I can do that.” She wrapped her arms tightly around Monica, pulling the blonde-haired girl toward her. Gabi went to her father’s computer and sat down, brushing some of her dark locks behind her ear with her hand.

Just as Monica thought she was set with the Sliver, she received an error message stating “Out of Range.” It was possible that, given the tech lying around her father’s house and workshop, she could find a way to extend the signal, though it would take some luck on her part.

“Got it!” Gabi called out. When Monica joined her at the computer, she saw that the phone was located alongside a highway just past the northern border of Pennsylvania, about a four hour drive away. The device appeared to be stationary at the moment.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica set about fiddling with the stuff in her dad's shed to try to get range on the sliver. she considered that maybe she should have some kind of internet connected thing control it, but... then it could be hacked. for now she'd just try to boost the signal. "Well, babe, hopefully I can catch up with it. Hopefully its not tossed somewhere, which would be a pain in my ass."