Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

They watched as Frostbite and her goons walked off. Nova slid out of her train car, leaving her costume and weapons in the train car. Ingrid was clutching her frozen arm, teeth gritted.

“Damn Renegades, ready to jump on us as soon as something bad happens.” She began walking to the tunnel entrance, “I’ll show them.”

Honey grabbed her arm, “Ingrid, dear, you know that you’ll die if you do that.”

“Perhaps we could take a more... strategic approach,” said Leroy. “The stunt at the parade was smart, but it required the accuracy of a single shot. We need a plan where it’s not as likely we will fail.” he scratched his bald head, trying to think.

“Maybe, Nova could infiltrate them.” said Honey. “They know us, but not her.”

“No way,” said Nova. “I couldn’t pretend to be one of them for a second.” She made a face like she was sucking on a lemon.

“Doesn’t Captain Chromium have a son?” said Ingrid. “Wouldn’t be hard to just kill him.”

“Or… use him as bait.” Honey drawled. “Don’t you see! We could get them in a vulnerable position, and then we strike.”

“They would storm our tunnels immediately!”

“Not if their precious boy was in danger, we would have all the chips.”

“Honey’s right.” said Leroy. “They wouldn’t risk us harming him.”

“So it’s decided, then?” said Honey.

“No, but we should keep it on the table.”

It turned out, that was the only idea they had on the table.

“Okay, Honey, we’ll do it.” said Leroy.

“Fabulous!” she said.

“Nova, try to track him down and get him alone. Alert me to his location when he is. I’ll get it done.” said Ingrid.

Nova’s mouth was dry. She was a bit nauseous at the idea of kidnapping someone. But she could do this, right?

“Okay.” she said.

After the meeting dispersed, Nova crept back into her train car. She had finally gotten her chance at revenge. Why wasn’t she excited? Why couldn’t she kill Captain Chromium? Was her will faltering? It couldn’t. She needed revenge or else everything was pointless, and she failed them. She failed her parents.

“How’s Danna?” Adrian asked Ruby. Guilt gnawed at his stomach as he was reminded that it was his fault she got hurt. He could see the flames licking at the butterflies, devouring them one by one.

“Still comatose. They think she will be okay, though.” Ruby said, though from the look on her face, he doesn’t think she believes it.

“She’ll be okay,” Oscar asserted. “She will be.” It’s obvious he doesn’t believe it either.

“Our patrol is over in…” Ruby checks her watch. “Five minutes. Do you guys wanna come over and, uh, do something. I think that with everything that has happened, we need a distraction.”

“Sure,” says Oscar, sipping his iced coffee.

“Yeah,” Adrian agreed. He couldn’t see Danna now. He wouldn’t be able to handle it.

She took a breath, “Okay.” She gave a weak smile.

Oscar slurped his coffee, “I’m done. Where’s the trash can again?”

“Around the corner,” Adrian pointed to the alleyway on their left.

“Kay,” he picked up the bottle and walked around the corner.

Ruby’s smile fell off her face. She laid back on the stone wall of the building with a sigh. Her eyes were glassy and she bit her lip.

“What’s wrong?” Adrian asked.

“I’m worried about Danna. I… I don’t think she’s going to make it. I fucking hate the sentinel! I fucking hate him.” She erupted into sobs. Adrian felt another pang of guilt.

She sucked in a breath and lay back down on the wall.

“It’ll be okay,” said Oscar, who had returned while they were talking. “It has to be.”

She started sobbing again. Oscar hugged her as she cried. Adrian felt like an imposter, knowing he was the one who had caused all this grief. He joined the hug, hoping it didn’t feel awkward or forced.

Ruby smiled, “Thanks, guys.” She stood up. “Let’s go.”

It was a short walk back to renegades HQ. The breeze was light and provided relief from the hot sun. The smell of cigarette butts and pot was stronger than usual, leaving them wrinkling their noses.

The lobby in renegades HQ was bustling with activity. People in full patrol gear chatted in corners, knowing they had a few more minutes until they had to head out. Frostbite’s team was among them. Thankfully, they didn’t notice them, but Adrian still tensed. He had seen what frostbite had done to the Anarchists in the tunnels, and he might have felt a bit sorry for them. Might.

They dispersed at the locker rooms and got changed into their normal clothes. Adrian flinched as he pulled his shirt over a new tattoo. It was almost healed, but it still hurt to touch. He met with his teammates in the lobby again.

“My brothers bought Mario Kart,” Ruby said. “It’s… juvenile, but I thought it might cheer us up.”

“Oh, no no-no. No friendship ever survives Mario Kart. I’ve had about 10 friendships lost to that game.” Oscar said.

“That’s an exaggeration.” said Ruby.

“Yeah, I don’t have ten friends, cause I lost them.”

Ruby rolled her eyes, “Come on”.

Her house was on the other side of the city, so they called a cab to bring them there. The cab driver chatted throughout the ride. Talking about his daughter getting married next month. He didn’t seem to get that none of them were paying attention. It was a nice way to fill the silence, though.

The cab driver stopped. “You're here! That will be 5.99.” Adrian paid in cash and they exited the cab. Ruby’s apartment was on the fifth floor of the eight-story building. It was one of the only surviving pre-Anarchy buildings. The age was clearly visible from the worn bricks of the outer walls.

Ruby pushed her key into the doorknob, turned it, and opened the door. Her brothers and Mom weren’t home, and the house seemed eerily silent. Adrian was used to their noise every time he visited Ruby. She opened the door to their room and came back with a DVD. She placed it in the DVD player and the screen loaded up.

“I call Luigi,” Oscar jumped onto the couch, grabbing a controller from the coffee table.

“Why do I have to be Mario?” Ruby whined, but she was smiling.

“Guess I’m… whatever players are left.” Adrian said. He could admit that he wasn’t so familiar with video games. He spent most of his free time drawing.

“You can be bowser.” Ruby said, tossing him a controller.

Oscar won the first game, then Ruby the second. They were practically screaming at each other at this point. Adrian lagged behind while Ruby and Oscar battled for the tie breaker.

“Fucking banana,” Oscar yelled.

Ruby cackled, “I’m gonna beat your ass.”

“No, you aren’t!”

Adrian groaned, “Play the game, you two.” He looked at the screen. “I’m literally ahead of both of you.”

“What?!” Oscar screeched. He rammed his car into the back of Adrian's, sending him flying off the screen. He and Ruby were back in the lead.

Ruby knocked Oscar off the screen and passed the finish line.

He threw down the controller, “This is what I said about losing friends!”

“Aww, you don’t wanna be fwiends with me?”

“Oh, shut up.”

Adrian snorted. He found this situation hilarious. “Oh, come on guys.” He suppressed the urge to laugh at them.

“You wouldn’t understand.”

Oscar looked at his watch, “Oh, I’m passed curfew. Gotta go.” He stood up. “My mom is going to be scared.”

“I better get going too.” Adrian said, putting down his controller.

“Bye guys!” Ruby said. Her expression softened, “Thanks for helping me.”

“Anytime.” Oscar said.

Adrian felt another pang of guilt, “Yeah.”

They exited the building together. Oscar called his mom to inform her.

“Mom, I’m fine.” He heard Oscar say.

“No, ew. We didn’t do that. Adrian was there too. I’m calling a cab. Jeez. Bye.”

“What was that about?” He asked him.

“She thought I had… y’know… with Ruby.” Oscar wrinkled his nose.

“Well, I wouldn’t be surprised.” Adrian smirked.

“Hey! It’s not like that!”

“Sorry.”

Oscar called his cab and said goodbye to Adrian, who was left alone on the sidewalk. He began to walk towards his house, estimating he would reach it in about 15 minutes.

It was dark outside now. The sky was the normal starless dark grey of the city, but street lights illuminated the path. Music could be heard from a club down the street.

He reached a dark patch on the sidewalk, somewhere where the street lights had yet to be repaired. The hair on the back of his neck stood up for seemingly no reason. He breathed deeply.

Footsteps.

He whirled around, trying to see where the footsteps were coming from. A dark figure moved towards him.

Strong arms knocked him to the ground.

He kicked out, getting whoever his attacker was straight in the stomach. He thought about using flames again, but after what happened with Danna…

He sensed an incoming attack and rolled to the left. His heart was pounding and his head hurt from rolling on the concrete.

The attacker put a foot on his stomach, squishing his lungs so he could barely breathe. He felt a sweet-smelling cloth over his mouth, and the world started to fade away. He struggled for breath, convinced that this was the end. But there was only black.

Chapter Text

Adrian forced his eyes open. The room around him was pitch black, and for a second, he wondered if he had opened them at all. He was lying on cold, wet concrete. The smell of sewage overwhelmed him to the point of pinching his nose. Where was he?

He tried to use his arms to force himself into a sitting position, but a jolt of pain found him back on the cold floor again. His hand found its way onto his head, and he drew in a sharp breath when he felt a large lump. If he was concussed, he couldn’t rely on his powers to get him out.

He had gotten a concussion in 1st grade after falling off the play structures in the park. He couldn’t watch tv for days, and since it had been only a year since Ace Anarchy’s defeat, his Dads were much too busy to spend any time with him, so he spent most of his time drawing.

None of his drawings came to life as he was used to. Sometimes they didn’t leave the paper at all, even when he put his fullest intentions in them. Sometimes only half of the drawing came to life. Sometimes they stood for a moment then flopped about like Jello.

He lifted the hand where he had drawn the fire tattoo. He gritted his teeth as a small flame flared in his palm. It was not nearly as powerful as he would usually be able to, but it was light. He scanned his surroundings

The room around him had probably been a ticket booth. There was a plane of metal sticking out from the wall, probably serving as a counter. The walls were red and metallic, and the window had been boarded up with a plank. Mildew covered most of the walls and ceiling.

He used the counter to pull himself to his feet. He was still wearing the same clothes he had left patrol in that evening. Or was it even that evening? Who’s to say multiple days hadn’t passed?

He felt his wrist for his com, but it was bare. Letting out a groan, he slumped back down to the floor. He put out the flame and let the darkness close in around him.

“Have you seen Adrian?” Ruby asked, sitting down beside Oscar. “He’s not responding to any of my coms.”

“No,” said Oscar. He shrugged his shoulders, “Should we be worried?”

“Maybe?” She said, drawing out the syllables. “He’s usually at headquarters by now.”

“Maybe he’s sleeping. We were up late last night.”

They were in a cafe in the north side of the city. On off days, they met here to get breakfast. The cafe was rarely crowded and gave off a calm aura. It was filled with house plants and the walls and ceiling were painted a light brown, the kind that was weirdly pretty and warm. The seats and tables were made out of reddish glazed wood, with added padding on the seats for comfort. It was also relatively cheap and had good food.

“Was your mom mad?” said Ruby. After a second, she clarified, “About you staying out past curfew.”

“Oh, um, no. She just was annoyed about having to clean up dinner herself.” He chuckled. “It was beans. The house smelled soooo bad.” He made a mischievous face and waited for her response.

“Ew,” she wrinkled her nose. “I could’ve lived without knowing that.”

“If that sounds bad, imagine being there.” He shivered. “I can still smell it.”

“I think I get the idea,” she feigned annoyance but was smiling a bit. “My mom had a fit when she found all of your junk food on the couch. Had me clean it up, as if I did it!” She mocked an angry glare. “You’re officially banned from my couch.”

“But you have all the video games!” He pouted, “You are violating my civil rights by restricting my access to video games.”

“Well, you should’ve thought about that before you left popcorn on my couch.” She smirked. Obviously, he wasn’t actually banned, but she was pretty sure he knew that already. “Come on, I postponed breakfast for this.”

She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into the line to get food. It was short, as always, but there was still a bit of a wait. She surveyed the food on display, knowing full well she would get the same thing as always. A blueberry muffin and tea.

Apparently, she didn’t look like a tea person. At least, not to the team. Oscar liked to comment on that nearly every visit.

After they had ordered from the sweet young man that was the cashier today, they sat back down at their table. Oscar dug into his pastries immediately, not bothering with using utensils. Ruby rolled her eyes at him, and slowly ate her muffin. She didn’t bother telling him to enjoy his meal, knowing he wouldn’t listen anyway.

Danna would usually get something boring, and the whole group would tease her. She would laugh with them, but she still always got biscuits or bagels. If they were sitting next to each other, she would grab Ruby’s shoulder when she laughed. It always made her blush.

It hit her that Danna was comatose and that she may or may not get better. Instantly, her face darkened and she looked down. How could she have forgotten?

Oscar noticed and looked up from his food. “Are you okay? Is it Danna again?”

“Yeah,” she said, not looking at him.

“I got a com last night saying she was in better condition. And it’s Danna, she’ll power through this.”

“Ok,” she sighed. “Wait, you got a com and I didn’t?”

“I saw you on the ‘sent to’ list. Have you checked your coms?”

“I will now,” she lifted her wrist. She scrolled through her coms and saw the com she was looking for. It was from the healer looking after Danna. It said, “Danna in better condition.” Wait, there was another one, a minute ago. “Will probably wake up in a day to a week.”

“Must’ve come in while I was showering,” she said. Relief filled her chest.

She stood up and pulled Oscar into a hug. Tears of joy sprung from her eyes. Oscar stayed still in shock for a second then returned the hug. Danna was going to be okay.

She pulled away and showed him the new com. His eyes lit up. “Danna is waking up. She’s going to be okay.”

“Hey Leroy,” Nova said as she passed by.

He looked up from his project for a second, “Hi.”

Nova opened the door to the station and walked over to her train car. She pushed through her stuff, finding her binoculars under some clothes and weapons. She was working on modifying them to give them an x-ray vision lens. The lens needed to be replaced with the metal film that produced the image. She was still having trouble with having it deal with moving images since usually x-rays were used to take photos.

After working on it for about an hour, she exited the train car. The rest of the anarchists seemed to be asleep, which made sense since the sun was setting when she’d started her work.

She roamed the streets almost every night. There wasn’t much else to do that she could accomplish without disturbing the other anarchists. She mostly wandered aimlessly, absentmindedly strolling through alleyways.

But tonight she didn’t feel the usual urge to escape the tunnels to the city. It was one of the rare occasions when she missed sleep, when the need to pass time felt like it was closing in on her, threatening to trap her in an endless cycle of boredom.

She walked back to the train car and lay down, closing her eyes. Sometimes, she could manage to let her mind walk away and distract her for long enough to pass time. It still wasn’t sleep, but it was something.

After laying there for at least ten minutes without any particular thought grabbing hold of her, she gave up.

But she was feeling the usual urge to go to the city, so it had helped a bit, hadn’t it?

“In a day or two, the Renegades are going to realize he’s missing.” said Ingrid. “We need a game plan.”

“He’s an advantageous bargaining chip. We could use him to ask for almost anything.” said Leroy. “The question is what? What could they give us that will lead to their downfall. I doubt they would give up the entire organization for one person, but we could be more subtle than that.”

“We could bargain for Winston’s release,” suggested Nova.

“No, Winston brought about his own demise,” said Honey.

“But-,”

“No, that would destroy the whole purpose!” said Ingrid. She took a breath. “How about Nova retries her shot? She was close last time, and at a closer range while they’re distracted, we’ll have a much bigger chance of success.”

Leroy nods, “Are you up for that, Nova?” Nova nodded. Her mouth was dry.

They dispersed.

Nova got out her gun. The cold metal felt natural from every time she had held it before. She shot, one time, three times at the captain chromium poster on the train car wall, right at the location she would need to shoot. She couldn’t fail a second time. This was her last chance.

She needed to make it. So the Renegades could end their oppressive rule and no one would have to be betrayed by them as she was.

Chapter Text

“Are we going to feed him, or...?” Nova asked Ingrid.

“No, what’s the point? He’ll be dead in a few days anyway?” Ingrid dismissed her.

“Okay,” Nova nodded.

She didn’t know why not feeding him bothered her so much. He was the enemy, she reminded herself, and sometimes you need some people to suffer for the majority to survive. Ace always told her that. And when was Ace ever wrong?

Mid-afternoon, when the sun had not yet begun to set, Nova visited Narcissa. She did this often. Narcissa was a break from dreary life in the tunnels.

She told Ingrid where she was going before exiting the tunnels, making sure she wasn’t spotted. It didn’t seem that Adrian’s absence had been noticed yet, but she needed to make sure that nothing was suspicious before then.

Gene Cronin’s library was only a 10-minute walk away from the tunnel entrance. When she got there, Cronin looked surprised that Ingrid wasn’t with her, as she usually was when they were there to get weapons. Narcissa then came up behind him through the mirror. Gene frowned.

“Hey, Nova,” she said. “Wanna hang out?”

“Yeah, that’s what I came here for actually.” Nova forced a smile.

“Awesome.”

Narcissa directed her to a room in the back of the library. Flopping down on the couch, she gestured for Nova to sit next to her. Nova complied.

“Ok, so I need your help with something.”

“What?” Narcissa said.

“So, hypothetically, your cat is dying. You want to give them food, but if they’re gonna die anyway, what’s the point?” Nova said, knowing that it was a somewhat gruesome analogy. “Also you hate your cat for some unknown reason.”

“Jesus, what sort of problem is this?” She replied, raising an eyebrow.

“Just help me out here.” Nova said, letting out a large breath.

“You feed the cat… Like a decent human being.” Narcissa said. “This is a really weird analogy? Are you ok?”

“Yep. Fine. Thanks.” Nova said. “How’s that romance novel you were reading last time we talked?”

“Good, it was about-”

“Narcissa! Dinner!” Cronin’s voice came from the front desk.

“Oh! Do you want to stay for dinner?” Narcissa asked.

“No, thank you.” said Nova. “I have to do something.”

The last thing she wanted was to sit across from Gene Cronin for a whole 30 minutes. He wasn’t the happiest about Narcissa hanging out with Anarchists, even though he willfully dealt with them. He was understandably afraid that Narcissa would be sucked into his criminal history.

The sun was beginning to set when she left the library. She speed-walked back to the tunnels, successfully almost getting hit by cars multiple times. She entered the tunnels and went to the food storage room at the back to get some cereal. That was basically all they ate except the occasional noodles, and Nova sometimes wondered how they all hadn’t gotten sick from a vitamin deficiency yet.

She poured some cheerios into a styrofoam bowl and walked to the holding place. It had previously been the ticket place where people asked to be let on the subway, but, just like the rest of the tunnels, it had been abandoned.

She breathed in a deep breath before opening the door.

Time passed. At least Adrian thought it did. Had it been a few hours? A few days? It couldn’t be that long, since he was just beginning to feel hungry, though it felt like a million years had passed.

He still wasn’t completely sure what happened to him. Nothing had changed the slightest bit about the room he was in. He still couldn’t think straight, probably due to his head wound, and he couldn’t decipher his thoughts. They felt foreign.

He also didn’t feel scared, just confused. That was probably the concussion as well.

He was just drifting off to sleep for about the fifth time when he heard what he thought was footsteps. He stayed still, fearing what the footsteps could mean. The metal door screeched open, letting a sliver of dim light in from the outside. A figure stepped out, but it was too dark to determine who it was. He pretended to be asleep.

He felt a foot nudge his side. “Get up idiot, I got you some food.”

He opened his eyes and sat up, “Where am I?”

He could now see that the figure was that of a girl around his age. She had brown skin with slight yellow undertones and brown eyes. Her hair was shoulder length and black.

“You’re with the Anarchists,” she scoffed, “Idiot.”

Adrian jumped to his feet, starting to form a fireball. It was stronger than the last one he had formed and looked reasonably threatening.

She pulled out a gun, staring him down. He let the fireball go out. Well, at least he knew where he was now.

“Just eat,” she said. “I don’t have all day.”

“You don’t have to do this, you know.” he said. “If you let me go I’m sure you could get leniency for… your age.” He knew bargaining was probably not going to work, but it couldn’t hurt to try.

“Yes I do. And besides, I doubt the renegades will exist in a few days.” She said, rolling her eyes.

“You can’t possibly want things to go back to the way they were?” He said, genuinely not understanding her perspective.

“Well, I do. It was better than the tyranny of the Renegades. And it’s thanks to me you’re getting any food at all.”

“So you’d rather people starve to death than have to follow the law?

She left and slammed the door. Adrian sighed.

Ruby’s com chimed. Groaning, she opened her eyes and pulled the glowing screen in front of the face. Her eyes widened, and she rushed out of bed as quickly as she could in her half-awake state. She pulled her pajamas off and threw them on the floor and quickly dressed into normal clothes. Danna was awake.

Oscar was already outside of headquarters when she got there, panting. She hadn’t bothered to call a cab and had instead ran the whole mile to headquarters in her excitement.

“Where’s Adrian?” Ruby asked, wiping sweat off her forehead.

“I don’t know. I still haven’t seen him.” Said Oscar, “I’ll talk to his dads after.”

“It’s so unlike him to disappear like this.” she said. “Oscar, I think we should be worried. It’s been two days.”

“Yeah,” he conceded. “But Danna’s just waking up. It would be rude to ditch her.”

Visitor hours started at 8:00 o’clock, so they waited 15 minutes outside of headquarters in relative silence. At about 5 minutes to 8, they went inside and navigated to the medical department. It was on the 8th floor and looked like a hospital, probably because it was one, but filled with prodigy healers instead of doctors.

They sat down on the chairs in the waiting room until a woman gestured for them to come with her. They walked down the hall, holding their breaths in anticipation. When they entered the room, Ruby jumped in happiness and ran over to Danna’s bedside.

“Danna!” she said. “Thank goodness you’re awake. We were so worried about you!”

Danna smiled. “Well, no more worrying. I’m good.” She shifted in the bed. “Also I’m hopped up on so much pain medication that I wouldn’t notice a knife in my back. The healers say I’ll be able to be discharged in a few days though.”

“I brought donuts!” said Oscar, holding out a bag that Ruby previously hadn’t noticed was there.

Danna’s smile widened before shrinking a bit. “Where’s Adrian?” She craned her head.

“We don’t know. He’s been missing for two days.” said Ruby, suddenly feeling a bit sick.

“That’s… not good,” said Danna.

“We weren't going to tell you because I didn’t want you to feel like you couldn’t do anything. We hoped you wouldn’t notice.”

“You’re right, it does feel shitty not being able to help,” she said, biting her lip.

The room fell into silence. Oscar timidly put the donuts on the edge of her bed. Ruby shot him a look, and he shrugged in return.

The woman from earlier entered the room. “The patient’s parents are here. I request you vacate the room.”

Ruby and Oscar nodded and filed out the door, faces blank.

“Great, we ruined the first time we saw our friend since she went comatose.” said Ruby. “Also, I think we need to stop ignoring the fact that Adrian has y’know, disappeared off the face of the earth. Something could’ve happened to him.”

“We really should talk to his dads about this.” said Oscar. “But you know, they’re the leaders of the renegades, we can’t just walk up to them at any time.”

“Well then, we need to look for him on our own.” said Ruby. “But where? Where would Adrian go?”

“We should visit his house later. Maybe we’ll find something there.” Oscar suggested.

“Isn’t that an invasion of privacy?”

“ He’s missing! That doesn’t matter!”

“I guess you’re right.” said Ruby. “But no stealing.”

“Deal.”

They were going to find their friend.

Chapter Text

How could that boy-Adrian-speak so highly of the Renegades? How could he actually believe that crap?

And yet, was he wrong about the Anarchists? Had life really been better when they were in charge? Well, not in charge exactly, but when the world was on their side.

She hadn’t been much over six when the Renegades had been overthrown. Back then, the lack of the ability to sleep hadn’t weighed so heavily on her. The future had seemed bright. The Anarchists were thriving, how could people have been suffering?

But she also somewhat remembered the time before that. When gunshots were heard in the streets, and Nova had to hide with Evie in a cramped closet while their parents were away, hoping that they would see them again. How her fears had turned out to be true, and not just her parents, but Evie as well, were killed by the roaches. How they constantly worried where their next meal was going to come from, or if they rely on Alec for medicine if one of them got sick.

Maybe things weren’t as good as she thought they were.

But she couldn’t go against Ace. He had saved her! He had ended the tyranny of the renegades. The anarchists couldn’t be bad, because that would make the renegades good and they couldn’t be good.

Maybe both are true, Said a voice from inside her head. Maybe there’s another way.

She sighed in exasperation. The utter mental gymnastics of this situation was wearing on her.

She kicked a rock across the concrete the lined the floor of the tunnels. It skidded, making a slight white mark. She stared at it blankly.

She thought back to how Narcissa would talk about the Renegades and the Anarchists with equal disgust. Nova had always chalked it up to philosophical differences, ones that she could tolerate because at least they weren’t pro-renegade. She was starting to see the appeal of looking at the world like that.

She found it ironic that the girl who sat around all day reading romance novels of all things might have it all figured out. Damn, the world was made of idiots.

Also, this meant she might have an ally in this chaos. She needed to talk to Narcissa.

“Found anything?” Ruby called back to Oscar, who was going through a broom closet.

“No.” He called back.

They had been searching the house for 15 minutes. Ruby had been given a key to Adrian’s house about a year ago for emergencies. She hadn’t ever anticipated using it, especially for this.

“When did you say his dads would be home again?” Oscar asked her, closing the closet.

“We have at least two hours, maybe more if they are having a slow day,” she said. She had asked them if they knew where Adrian was before they resorted to this, and they had shrugged and told her that they hadn’t seen him either, and had assumed he was with them.

“Why are we checking closets, anyway. Maybe we should check his room or something?” He was retying his shoe.

“That would be an invasion of privacy!” she said, indignant.

“Ruby, he’s missing!” said Oscar. “And we need to find him.”

“I guess,” she said.

They navigated their way to the stairs, something that was almost second nature after being in this house so many times, and descended towards his bedroom.

The room was decorative, filled with colorful pictures of animals and landscapes. The walls were painted lime green and the carpet was dark blue and incredibly soft. Several drawers full of art supplies lined the walls and a lone dresser stood against the far wall.

Ruby made her way over to one of the drawers, shuffling around for any hint of where Adrian had gone. Oscar did this with another drawer and soon they were methodically shuffling through every drawer in the room.

“We’re not finding anything,” Ruby whined. She half-heartedly pulled open the last unchecked drawer and was about to close it before something caught her eye.

The drawing was of an armored figure, about Adrian’s general size. There were arrows pointing to different parts of the body labeled with drawings. As she pulled it out, she noted the name scrawled in black ink at the top: “The sentinel”.

“I found something,” she said, dropping the diagram on the floor. She looked over it. It was the sentinel alright.

“I didn’t know Adrian was a Sentinel fanboy,” Oscar said, coming over to observe the drawings.

“What are these symbols?” Ruby picked up the image for him to get a better look. “They seem to correspond to the sentinel’s powers. Though there are some on here Adrian would have no way of knowing.” Her eyes narrowed, “You don’t think…”

They looked at each other and then back at the drawings.

“Well, this is… unexpected,” Oscar said. “But it helps us find who could have taken him.”

They didn’t have time to get mad about how Adrian had been keeping this a secret from them. Still, Ruby felt a bit of rage churn in her stomach when she thought about how he had hurt Danna.

“There are two suspect groups in this case, and I think we know which one is responsible,” she said. “We have to tell the council. But leave out the fact that he’s the Sentinel.”

“Why?” said Oscar. “They might have taken him because of that.”

“I have a feeling that isn’t about that. He went missing two days after the Sentinel’s first appearance. They couldn’t have figured it out in that time period.” She sighed. “Also, I think he should tell his Dads on his own terms.” As reckless as he was, Adrian was their friend, and they weren’t going to betray his trust.

Narcissa had been reading a copy of ‘Love In The Ashes’ when she heard a knock on the wall. She jumped up and slid through the mirror, coming out next to her grandfather’s desk. “What is it?” she asked him.

“Nova’s here. Again.” He said, deadpan, gesturing to Nova, who was standing at the desk.

She led Nova to her room, closing the door behind her before sitting down on the couch.

“Second time this week,” she smiled at Nova. “Lucky me.”

“You don’t like the Anarchists, do you?” Nova asked.

Narcissa blinked, “Not in the mood for small talk, are we?” She relaxed her smiled. “But to answer your question, no.”

“But you don’t like the Renegades, either?” Nova asked again.

“No,” she responded. She wasn’t sure where this conversation was going, and she wasn’t sure she liked it, either.

“Then who do you support?”

“People, Nova, I support people being able to have a say in government, and I prefer there is a government to begin with. It’s quite simple.” She was often questioned about her ideologies. It was uncommon to not be on the Renegades side in the first place, but it was even more uncommon to not pick a side at all.

“So let’s say, hypothetically-”

“Stop with the hypotheticals, I know it’s about you.” Narcissa interrupted. She didn’t want to be rude, but it was a touchy subject they were playing at.

“Ok, so I might not be totally on board with the whole Anarchist thing anymore,” Nova admitted, looking at the ground. Silence hung in the air.

“And there is something going on. The thing I asked you, hypothetically, earlier had something to do with it.”

“The weird cat question?” Narcissa raised an eyebrow. “Yeah.”

Nova went on to summarize the situation. Narcissa listened to it, nodding along to the main points, not breaking focus once.

“Well, I’ve always wanted to do a rescue operation. I’ve read enough of them to pull a decent one off.” She said when Nova finished.

Nova stared at her. “What? Who are we rescuing?”

“The Renegade boy, dummy,” said Narcissa, smirking.

“But why?”

“We need someone with influence on our side,” she said.

“Oh, okay. We’re just gonna launch a full-scale rebellion, I guess.” Nova mumbled, secretly somewhat excited.

“Exactly!” said Narcissa. “Now you’re speaking my language.”

Danna flipped through yet another People magazine, uninterested in the contents of the pages. Why didn’t the hospital have anything else than stupid magazines to read? The world may never know. She’d have to ask Ruby to bring some at her next visit.

As she leaned over to return the magazine to her bedside, a bolt of pain shot through her side. Damn, she had forgotten about the burns. The doctors said she needed at least another week to recover before she started doing physical activity. Apparently, going to the bathroom also counted as ‘physical activity’, so she had to call a stupid assistant to help her with that. It seemed easier to just let her do it herself, but whatever.

Danna didn’t like having to rely on people. It always seemed to slow her down or make things harder, so at school, she opted to work alone when she could. The only team she could tolerate working on was her team. Adrian, Oscar, and Ruby. She knew she could trust them. These doctors were not her team.

She lay back in the bed, hoping to get some sleep under the bright hospital lights. She hadn’t gotten rest since she’d woken up that morning, and she wasn’t quite ready to sleep just yet, but there wasn’t much else to do.

She was just about to doze off when her comm beeped. There was one message from Ruby: “The Anarchists took Adrian.”

Chapter Text

“No, that won’t work.” Nova groaned. The ground around them was littered with supplies. An old map of the subway station laid on the table between them, covered with erased pencil marks.

Narcissa sighed, “You need to stop doubting this. You slip in, get him, slip out. Nothing suspicious until you are long gone.” She yawned. “This isn’t an elaborate heist.”

“I know,” said Nova. “I just don’t want to screw this up.”

That was a lie. She was stalling and they both knew it. How could she turn against the people she had known all her life in less than a day? They had raised her, and she was throwing all that away.

“I vote we call it a day,” said Narcissa, checking her watch. “It’s 10 pm.”

“Yeah,” Nova sighed. She silently cursed her insomnia. Sleep would sure be helpful right now.

She stepped out of the library. The air bit at her skin and she pulled her hood over her head.

She could still turn back. Still go along with the plan. They could take down the renegades for good. But would that really change anything?

As she approached the entrance of the tunnel, she paused. Ingrid’s voice was audible inside.

“Does Captain Chromium know yet?”

“I would bet. But he’s not here yet, strange for how much he ‘loves’ his son.” She gave a crude laugh. “I’m sure that’s a lie anyway. All they care about is keeping their power.”

“I’d bet,” said Nova, raising her voice.

“Nova! You’re back,” said Leroy, raising an eyebrow. Where were you anyway? We need you here in case the renegades show up prematurely.”

“The 24/7 diner at the intersection of 12th and Oak,” Nova lied. “I was hungry.”

Ingrid scoffed, “We have food here. If two bags of cereal can be considered food.”

“I doubt it,” said Nova, already growing tired of this conversation. She needed time to think.

“Nevermind that, in a few days we will have all the food we need.” There was an unsettling twinkle in Ingrid’s eye that sent a shiver down Nova’s spine.

Nova excused herself from the conversation and sat down in her train car. She let the hoodie fall off her shoulders, allowing the air to embrace her and clearing her head. There was nothing she wanted more than to put off this choice for just one more day, but she didn’t have that time. He didn’t have that time.

There was a chance of the plan failing. The renegades would catch all of them, and then what? Rot away in cragmoor for the rest of her days? Who were they kidding, this wasn’t going to work. Even if the Anarchists were right. Rescuing the boy would be best for them too. All of them avoiding a life sentence-or worse-was certainly a pro, and what if they succeeded. The Renegades was a gigantic organization, much more than two members.

Really, she was doing this for the good of the Anarchists.

Adrian had accepted he was going to die at this point. He was almost surprised it hadn’t happened already. Weren’t they wasting time? They didn’t need him alive, for all his dads knew he wasn’t even with them. They could simply tell them he was alive, and they would have to believe it.

He was stewing in these thoughts as the door opened. He stared in the direction of the sound.

“I’m breaking you out,” Nova whispered. “Move. Quietly!”

He obliged, pushing himself off the floor and steadily making his way towards the sound of her voice, pressing his hands to the wall to guide him.

She grabbed his wrist as soon as he neared the entrance and dragged him through the tunnels. There were plenty of other ways to the outside that the other anarchists rarely used.

They turned a corner and bolted through a narrow passageway, the concrete sides scraping their arms. The lack of light made navigating a challenge, but Nova knew these tunnels. Knew them like a childhood best friend or a favorite stuffed animal. They had raised her.

And now she was leaving them.

Ruby and Oscar sat in the back of the cab. It was awful timing to come across this information at rush hour; they were now stuck in awful traffic with a cab driver who would only play Natalie is Freezing.

It wasn’t like they could have walked there much faster since Oscar’s cane slowed them down a fair bit.

“So this is… very bad,” said Ruby, lowering her voice so she wouldn’t be overheard by the driver. The last thing they needed right now was the news of the son of two counsel members going missing spreading via a taxi cab.

“No shit,” said Oscar. “Can’t believe we haven’t seen him for like two days and didn’t even connect that dot.”

“The one about him being the sentinel or the anarchists getting him?” She asked, feeling a dash of hope as the car slid forward a few feet, and disappointed when it stopped again.

“Both,” said Oscar.

The car turned out of the lane and got moving again. They approached Renegades HQ.

Ruby pushed the cab door open, got out, and leaned back in to swipe her credit card. It took a few times to do it right, and she shoved it back into her wallet as soon as she did. Then, they went into the building.

The lobby, like the rest of the city, was busy at this time of day. As they made their way to the crowd, people bumped into them on both sides. They put in the Counsel’s floor number. Someone had pressed every single button on the elevator as a kind of weird prank, and they had to stop at least 20 times.

They made their way down the hall to the counsel’s chambers, opening the door and sticking her head in to the vast chamber.

“The anarchists took Adrian,” she yelled across the room.

As he turned his head over to her, the dread warden said, “We’re in the middle of a meet-, wait the anarchists did what?”

Captain Chromium’s eyes widened.“What do you mean?”

“Last evening was the last time anyone saw him, right?” She said, slightly realizing that it sounded like she was leaping to conclusions. “He wouldn’t just disappear. Something must have happened to him.”

“I understand, but let’s not jump to conclusions,” said Captain Chromium. “Several things could have happened.”

“It’s your son!” She yelled. “You have to do something.”

“I am doing things! I will send out a patrol unit to look for him,” he said, angry that she would imply he didn’t care that his son went missing.

“But what if-”

“We’re in a meeting,” he said, deadpan. “Please leave so we can continue.”

Oscar and Ruby left the room, heads down.

“Did they just… not want to look for him?” said Oscar. “They can’t do that! He’s missing.”

“Well, they did. I’m sure they are right. Let’s go.” She gestured for him to follow her.

“No, they can’t be right. We have to go find him ourselves,” he said. “They might kill him.”

“I know, but we can’t do it with just the two of us,” she said, looking dejectedly at the door of the counsel’s chambers.

“Three of us.”

They looked up to see Danna in front of them, standing proudly. Her side was covered in bandages and she wore a blue hospital gown.

“You’re supposed to be resting!” Ruby yelped, startled by her sudden arrival. Despite the situation, she couldn’t help but notice how the gown outlined her shape, and she blushed a bit.

“So? I’m feeling better already,” said Danna, but from the way she was wincing, she knew that that was a lie. “Plus, getting Adrian is more important.”

“By the way, you may want to know that Adrian-” she began to say.

“Let’s do this!” Oscar cut her off, shooting a fist in the air. “Let’s not tell her about the Sentinel thing,” he whispered when Danna turned away.

“Why?” It seemed stupid to not tell her, especially when he had hurt her.

“As you said earlier, he should tell her,” said Oscar.

“Damnit, of course, you would use that on me,” she said.

He smiled, “Your fault.”

As they hugged Danna, they were careful to avoid putting any weight on her burnt side. No one even thought of telling her to go back. It wouldn’t work; Danna was too stubborn.

Oscar was the first to pull out of the hug, telling them he needed to go home and they could plan tomorrow. They all agreed, and Ruby watched Danna turn back into a swarm of butterflies to get back to her room unnoticed. The swarm made a slapping sound, almost like applause.

She opted to walk home that day, to appreciate the city. The sun had already set, so her journey was guided by street lights.

It was probably a bad idea to attempt this on their own, but what else could they do? Wallow in worry? Yeah, right. The Anarchists would be arrested if they hurt them anyway since it was very obvious where they would go if they went missing, seeing as they were convinced the anarchists took Adrian. Hopefully, they wouldn’t get hurt, but it was nice to know that even if they failed there was a bright side.

As she opened the door, her mother offered a tired greeting. She helped her clean up the mess her brothers, already asleep had left. Certainly, they would get a lecture from her mother in the morning, but for now, they got away with it.

“Are you okay?” she said to her mom. She had been acting sluggish lately, almost as if every move pained her.

Her mother offered her a smile, “No worries, I just have been tired from work.”

“Are you sure?” she asked again.

“Yes,” her mother confirmed. She didn’t ask any more questions.

After the work was done, she flopped onto her bed. Sleep overcame her far quicker than expected.

Chapter Text

Adrian and Nova finally approached Renegades HQ when the first beams of sunlight began to filter through the city. They both squinted at the light, having become used to the dark in the tunnels.

After escaping the tunnels without much hassle, they had sneaked through the city, careful to not bring attention to the missing renegade before he could explain to his dads. Adrian was still baffled at why Nova saved him, but she shut down any attempt to question her on the matter, leaving him slightly confused.

He had never had a knack for determining people’s motivations, and this was no exception. There was seemingly no reason for her actions. The anarchists were on the brink of victory after all! Why would she abandon them now?

“We’re here, I guess.” Nova said, checking her watch and gazing at the building before them. “I’ll leave you to it.”

He began moving towards the building before pausing. “Wait, you aren’t coming with me?”

“Why would I, I’m an Anarchist after all?” She looked around, her mouth pressed into a flat line, as if nervous that she would be seen. “I’m sure I wouldn’t be given a warm welcome.”

“Well yes,” he replied. “But you freed me. I’m sure they’d at least pardon you.” The renegades were the good guys, they surely wouldn’t just throw her in jail. Especially since she could help them capture the rest of the Anarchists.

“Ugh, fine.”

They made their way into the building, pushing through the large swinging doors at the entrance. The dark, empty lobby at this time of day always gave him the creeps, like an abandoned building. He was pretty sure no one saw them enter, which was probably for the best. Still, the pitter-patter of their feet penetrating through the silence sent a chill down his spine.

He pressed the button for the elevator and watched as the doors opened. He pressed the button for the floor of his dad’s office and the elevator began moving.

“Why did you get me out of there?” Adrian asked.

Nova scowled, “It’s nothing personal. I just didn’t agree with their methods.”

“Ah,” he exhaled. “How do you think they’ll react when they find out you betrayed them?”

Her voice softened and she turned her head to look at the floor, “I don’t know.”

Feeling a twinge of guilt, he attempted to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. When she saw it, she glared and slapped it away.

“What was that for?” She growled. The dejectedness on her face vanished, replaced with an angry expression.

“Just trying to help,” he stuttered out. “I’m sorry.”

She maintained her glare and turned away.

The elevator dinged when they arrived at the correct floor. He began to sprint down the hall, overcome with the desire to see his dad’s again. He knocked forcefully on the door at the end of the hallway. “Dad! Pops! I’m back!”

He heard a click and the door slid open. “Adrian?” Hugh questioned. “Adrian! Where were you? We were worried sick.” He grabbed Adrian and pulled him into an embrace.

He could feel the air being squeezed out of his lungs. “Dad,” he groaned. “Let me go.”

“Oh, right.” He let Adrian out of their embrace. “Sometimes I forget about the super strength.”

Adrian coughed, “I can tell.”

“Anyways, what happened? You were missing for two days. We were going to send out a search party for you.”

“The Anarchists got me.” he said.

“So your team was right.” Hugh’s expression changed. “Are you hurt? Did they do anything to you?”

“I’m mostly fine,” Adrian replied. “Nova helped me escape.”

“Nova?” Hugh asked, and he remembered he’d forgotten she was there.

“Hey,” Nova called from a bit down the hallway.

“Dad, this is… um… Nova.” Adrian said, gesturing to Nova. “She was an Anarchist.”

She shot him a look. “Um… but not anymore, she’s good now!”

Nova rolled her eyes, “Nice to meet you.”

Before she could blink, Nova felt herself pressed into the ground.

“Dad!” Adrian shouted. “She’s not an Anarchist anymore.”

“I still don’t trust her.” he said. “She probably is trying to sabotage us? Maybe she is trying to kill me again?”

“Kill you?” Adrian asked, incredulous.

“An Anarchist we don’t know about? She’s obviously Nightmare. Does she have any weapons on her?”

“If I had any weapons I would have been stabbed by now,” Nova wheezed out.

“You’re trying to lure us into a trap, aren’t you?” He glared at her. “It isn’t going to work. Even if you aren’t, you still are under arrest for nightmare’s crimes.”

“Jesus christ, dad!” He shouted. “She saved me!”

“She still committed a lot of crimes.” He snapped back. “She needs to be locked up.”

Adrian stood to the side as his dad called the rest of the council. The entire time, Nova kept a glare fixed on him, as if to say ‘I told you so’. Perhaps his father was right. She had done a lot of wrong as Nightmare, and she couldn’t just be forgiven for it, but this was not the answer.

After Nova was taken away, his dad placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, son.”

Adrian just nodded, feeling a lump begin to form in his throat.

“But she was a criminal. Criminals can’t be trusted.” Adrian nodded again.

He sighed, “Thank you for understanding.”

Ruby woke up to yet another message, from Danna this time. ‘Adrian is back!’ Damn, she really had to stop finding out important news through comm messages.

She rushed to HQ again that morning, joining Oscar and Danna at the entrance. “What happened?”

Danna raised an eyebrow, “Didn’t you read my message?”

Her cheeks turned bright red, “Yeah. I mean how is he back?”

Oscar sighed, “We don’t know. Haven’t had a chance to talk to him yet.”

“So I guess the rescue plan is off?” In all honesty, that was probably a good thing. A bunch of unarmed teenagers probably would have made the problem worse.

“Yeah, I’m kinda disappointed,” he replied.

Danna lightly smacked him in the arm. “You mean we are happy he’s back and we didn’t do something that was in hindsight ridiculously reckless?”

“Yeah, that.” he waved her away.

“Hey guys,” Adrian approached them. They had expected him to be excited to see them after two days, but instead he looked dejected.

“Why the long face?” Danna asked.

He bit his lip, “Nothing.”

“Anyway, we’re happy you’re back.” Ruby smiled and wrapped her arms around him. Danna and Oscar joined in. She tried not to be hyper aware of Danna’s arm across her back.

“Thanks guys,” he smiled faintly.

“Are you ok? Did the Anarchists hurt you?” Danna asked. “We were so worried.”

“Yeah. They didn’t hurt me. “ he replied. “Do you ever feel like… maybe they have a point?”

“What? Did the Anarchists brainwash you too?”

Adrian laughed, “No, I still hate them, but…”

“The Renegades are the good guys, Adrian.” she insisted. “What prompted this?”

“Something happened after I escaped.” he said. “Or rather I was rescued.”

“Rescued?” Ruby inquired. Why was Adrian questioning the Renegades? He had just seen firsthand why the Anarchists were evil. She had never questioned them, not after they had rescued her granny from a mugging when she was four. True, they hadn’t been able to save her when she had gotten her powers, but they couldn’t save everyone. That was just not possible. They truly wanted the best for Gatlon.

“Nightmare rescued me.” He said. They all fell silent. Nightmare? The girl who had tried to assassinate Captain Chromium, Adrian’s own father?

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Danna said. “Are you sure it was her?”

“Yes,” Adrian replied. “I’m sure.”

“But… why?” Ruby said. “That seems like the opposite of what Nightmare would do?”

“I know.” he said. “She said that she didn’t agree with their methods.”

“That also doesn’t sound like her.” said Ruby.

“She seemed pretty young, around our age.” he said. “How is someone so young a supervillain?”

“I don’t know.”

“Anyway, she got arrested.” He said. “And I can’t help but feel… bad? You know? She didn’t seem like such a bad person. And shouldn’t there be a trial?”

“Adrian, she’s a super villain.” Ruby said. Was he out of his mind? Supervillains shouldn’t be given sympathy, even if they were minors. They would kill you at the first chance they got.

“I know, but maybe this isn’t the answer. Maybe we shouldn’t be locking them up for life just because they did a few petty thieveries and a misguided assassination attempt. Shouldn’t we be focused on changing those worldviews instead of punishing them?”

“Yes, but Anarchists don’t change their worldviews. They wouldn’t show us mercy.” said Danna.

“You’re right. I shouldn’t be thinking about this.” he smiled. “I’m so happy to see you guys again. Did I miss anything?”

“We were going to try to rescue you, but obviously that didn’t end up happening,” said Oscar.

They decided to spend the day together, happy that Adrian was back. Despite this, Adrian couldn’t push Nova from his mind. She really didn’t seem like a bad person, and she did oppose what the Anarchists were doing. It didn’t seem fair to lock her up for the rest of her life without a trial.

He resolved not to worry too much about it and to have fun with his team. After all, they had probably been really scared about what had happened to him. It made sense for them to want to spend time with him.

But the seeds of doubt had already been planted in his mind.

Chapter Text

Nova stood at the back of the lunch line, staring half-heartedly at the backs of her prison mates. The foul scent of the cafeteria food wafted from the counters, and they moved slowly to get that day’s food. She wrinkled her nose when she smelled it and hoped she wouldn’t throw it all up again. Her cellmate, Alison, hadn’t been exactly helpful last time.

She accepted the food quickly, going to sit at an empty table at the end of the cafeteria. It tasted like mud, which was at least better than how it smelled. She had taken to holding her nose while eating it to ease the taste. Thankfully, there were no stomach gurgles accompanying the meal.

After she had choked it down, she dumped her tray in the ‘dirty’ pile and took a seat to wait for them to return to their cells. She took the time to study the interior of cragmoor once again. The walls were at least fifty feet tall and made of cold, shining, faux steel, a metal that looked like steel but was resistant to steel-manipulation prodigies. The ‘cells’ hung from it, preventing earthquake-making prodigies from making an escape. It reminded Nova of those scenes from movies where animal cages are suspended from the ceiling in circuses and zoos, filled with crying animals. A circus, Nova thought. How funny. It sure would make an interesting circus, filled with the most dangerous prodigies in Gatlon.

Unfortunately, it made it almost impossible to make an escape. Getting out of the cell would result in a near-fatal drop, and she certainly wouldn’t be able to make it out afterwards. The doors were made of the same hard metal as the walls, and were triple locked from the outside. There were at least 10 guards on the floor at all times, and they all had heightened senses, making sneaking around impossible.

“Lunch is over!” Shouted a guard. They all were escorted into their lowered cells before they were lifted off the floor once again. The lurch of the cell made her stomach do a somersault and she clutched it until it reached the top and stopped swinging.

She supposed it would look interesting to be up this high if there was anything to see. Everything in this place was varying shades of grey, with the occasional muted plastic of their cafeteria utensils. It almost hurt to look at.

She wished for sleep. No, she wished for death. An escape from this miserable life she was sure to lead from now on.

Adrian awoke to a knocking on his mirror.

It had been two days since Nova was dragged away to Cragmoor, since she had saved his life. He still couldn’t make up his mind about her.

On one hand, she had tried to kill his dads, was an Anarchist, and had helped kidnap him. On the other hand, she didn’t seem so bad. She had saved his life after all. He had always seen the good in people, and he wasn’t going to stop now.

The knocking grew more persistent, and Adrian’s eyes widened as he saw there was no one standing at the mirror. Could the knocking be coming from somewhere else?

No, he could hear it from the mirror, clear as a bell. He clenched his teeth and pushed the sheets off of him, making his way over to the mirror. As he saw the girl in the mirror, he jumped back.

The girl looked around his age, with the baby-fat not yet gone from her cheeks. Messy, bright red hair fell down in a braid. She was wearing an old pair of round glasses that were too small for her.

“What the fuck?” He yelled, staring at the mirror. He couldn’t see his reflection in the glass, as if the girl had taken the place of it. It seemed he could reach right through the glass and touch her if he wanted to.

“Shh,” she said. “You’re going to wake someone up.”

“I should wake someone up. There’s someone in my mirror!” he inched towards the door, ready to run if she made a move to attack.

“No, you shouldn’t.” The girl hissed. “Listen, Nova saved you, right? So how about you repay that debt.”

“How do you know that?” If she knew that, she would also have known the identity of nightmare. Then why didn’t she report it? Was she an Anarchist too?

“I was her friend, or as close to one as she had, at least.” she sighed. “We planned the rescue together, but as you see, that went awry.”

He could only nod meekly. It was weird to think that villains, such as Anarchists, could have friends, lives outside of their villainy. A pang hit his chest. How many friendships had been torn apart when the Anarchists were caught and cut off from the world. Too many to count.

“Look, I don’t really like Anarchists, but I sure do like Nova. And the Renegades aren’t going to take her away from me,” she said. “They already took my parents, and my grandfather isn’t exactly on their good side.”

“I’m... sorry?” He didn’t quite know how to respond to the renegades getting blamed for such atrocious things. If someone committed a crime, it was on them.

“I don’t need your sympathy,” she snapped. “I just need your help.”

Adrian considered for a moment. He would be a criminal if he did this, possibly subjected to the same fate as Nova if caught. All for what? Someone who he had known for a day? Yes, she had saved him and he wanted to trust her, but sometimes good feelings aren’t enough to prove someone trustworthy.

“Why not ask the Anarchists?” he inquired.

She rolled her eyes, “She defected. They don’t want anything to do with her. Now, are you going to help me or not?”

He shook his head, not looking the girl in the eyes.

She scoffed, “Typical Renegade. Well, if you change your mind, ask for Narcissa Cronin.”

“Hey Adrian, why the long face?” Oscar’s voice came from beside him.

“Nothing,” he continued to ignore him, fixating on his scrambled eggs. They were probably the worst cafeteria item, but he was too down to pay much attention to what he ordered. The edges were a rotten green and they tasted like dust.

He really didn’t want to ignore Oscar, but he just couldn’t bring himself to respond today. His mind was haunted by the choice he had made earlier. You could still do it, a voice in his head whispered. It’s not too late to change your mind.

He bit his lip. He had made the right choice. He wasn’t going to throw away his life to save someone he barely knew, no matter how badly she might deserve it. And she probably didn’t, as she was an Anarchist and all.

“Seriously dude, you’re ruining the mood.” Oscar prodded again.

Adrian finally looked up to see Ruby and Danna laughing and chatting across the table, oblivious to his sour mood. “I don’t think I am.”

“Listen, you know you can talk to us, right? We’re your friends, that’s what we’re for.” he replied. “You’ve been kinda distant since the whole Anarchist fiasco.”

He spared Oscar the slightest smile, “It was just a lot. I’m fine, really.”

He wasn’t though, but he couldn’t explain it to him. He knew what answer he would get, and before now he was always sure it was the right one. That the Anarchists were all irredeemable bad guys. But he wasn’t sure anymore, and he wanted to affirm that more than ever, to be told that Nova was evil and it was a good thing she was captured. But he knew that was the easy way out, not the right one. He needed to reach his own conclusions.

“You’re really not,” he said. “You thought that would work on me? Give me credit, I’ve known you for six years.”

“I really can’t tell you Oscar,” he replied, feeling oddly hurt at the insinuation he would lie to Oscar, even though he had. “I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t apologize,” he said. “You’re entitled to your privacy. Just… I’m here, man, if you need me.”

“Thanks, Oscar.” Adrian pulled him into a hug, which he returned enthusiastically. “You really are a good friend. I wish I could tell you.”

“It’s okay, dude. As I said, you’re entitled to your privacy, you don’t owe me an explanation. Sometimes things just have to be done.”

He let go of the hug and smiled at Oscar. “Yes, yes they do.”

Chapter Text

Nova jumped back as she saw Narcissa’s face in the mirror. Her fellow inmates gave her dirty looks and she muttered an apology before pretending to continue brushing her teeth.

Narcissa put a finger to her lips before pressing it to the glass and spelling out, “Lunchtime?”

She looked to both sides before responding with her own finger, “12.”

She appeared to consider that. “I’ll be there.” she traced. And then she was gone.

Nova’s heart rose in her chest. Narcissa was coming. She might not have to live her days out in this godforsaken place.

Thankfully, no one had seemed to notice her exchange with the other girl. She smiled to herself as she continued cleaning up for the day. She didn’t even notice how disgusting and grime-filled the water was when she splashed it on her face.

She then remembered how hard the prison was to escape, and her hopes plummeted. She couldn’t go through a mirror with Narcissa, and two unarmed girls were only worth so much against at least ten guards with guns.

But still, they had to try, right?

Nova ruminated on this as she and the other prisoners were led back to their cells. It seemed Narcissa was intent on carrying out this rescue, and Nova wasn’t selfless enough to try and stop her. On the other hand, it risked Narcissa being trapped as well. She didn’t want to be the reason Narcissa got in trouble.

Spacing out, she walked into the back of a taller prisoner.

“Hey, watch it,” they said, turning to face her. They towered over her by at least two feet.

“Sorry,” she muttered. She wasn’t in the mood to be confrontational.

“What did you say, you little twerp?”

“I said, ‘Sorry,’” she said, louder now. Even though she knew she shouldn’t use it, she felt her power flowing to her hands.

“It didn’t sound like ‘Sorry,’” They took a large, intimidating step towards her, and on instinct Nova put out her hand to stop them.

They fell to the floor, asleep.

“Hey,” a guard called out. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Another one walked over to her and looked at the prodigy on the floor, “Did you do this?”

“N-no,” Nova stuttered. She wasn’t sure what would get her more in trouble, knocking someone out with brute-force, or with her powers.

“It was her, I saw her.” Another chimed in. She was busted. “She used her powers.”

The guards face hardened, “Take her to solitary. I don’t have time for this.”

“They started it!” she called out in a panic. “It was self-defense, I swear.”

“Take them both to solitary then.” she looked down at the body. “Well, maybe take this one to the infirmary first.”

She couldn’t go to solitary! Narcissa wouldn’t be able to contact her then, and she might do something stupid if she didn’t show up.

“Wait, wait!” Nova shouted. But it was too late. She was already getting dragged to the cell block.

Nova paced around the grey, suspended room. The walls were soundproof, apparently supposed to add to the solitude of the experience. She took the opportunity to let out a deranged laugh. She was stuck here, and somehow it was the funniest thing that had ever happened to her.

Humans always laughed in distress. It was a coping mechanism. If you can’t change it, laugh at it, stick up a middle finger at it, and die laughing. It was a comforting defiance of hopeless circumstances. Letting the reality of the situation dawn on her was not an option, her mind wouldn’t allow it. So she kept laughing.

Narcissa looked at the mirror. She had stayed up all night trying to come up with a plan, but she had nothing. She was beginning to feel like it was impossible to rescue her.

She was not an impulsive person, and the lack of any sort of map or floor plan made it hard to form concrete plans. Nova had always been good at improvising, so she guessed that they would need to rely on that.

She had tried to get the boy in on it, but he had refused. Typical renegade, unable to do anything against the rules. Honestly, she hoped he changed his mind. She was not sure how she would work up the nerve to go in alone.

Nova would be there at lunchtime, and she would jump through the mirror. They would somehow make it past the guards with her powers and get out. That was the entire plan. Why did I think this was a good idea?

“Narcissa!” she heard her grandfather call. “A young man is asking for you.”

He had changed his mind? Well, that was quick. “I’ll meet him in a second!” she called back.

When they were alone outside the building, she leaned up against the wall. “Why the change of heart?”

“I may hate Anarchists, but I guess I do owe her something,” he said. “Anyway, I’m not so sure the Renegades are in the right anymore. I mean, they just locked her up, didn’t care she saved me.”

“The fact you lot are basically dictators didn’t even cross your mind? Typical. I don’t care what your motive is, I need help. Do you know anything about Cragmoor? The layout and such?”

He scratched his chin, “I don’t know. I could probably get my hands on a blueprint in our library. I could ask my dads.”

“Bring it back here,” she told him, relieved she might not have to go in completely blind. “I’ll be checking with Nova at 12.”

“Ok,” Adrian replied. “How will we get there?”

“Mirrors, duh,” she said.

“I can’t travel through mirrors,” he told her. “And I don’t know how I’ll get anywhere near there without anyone getting suspicious. My dads know I felt kinda bad about the whole situation.”

“Who said you had to actually be there?” Narcissa rolled her eyes a bit. “I don’t trust you much. Leave the actual operation to me.”

“Hey, I should be part of it. She did save my life.”

“Fine, if you can figure a way to get in, you can come. Don’t expect me to save your ass, though.”

“Deal,” they shook hands.

Adrian wasn’t quite sure himself why he was doing this. He did feel an obligation to the person who had saved his life, but that wasn’t all of it. It felt like a blindfold had been lifted off and he was finally seeing things the way they are, beyond the binary of Renegades vs Anarchists.

The truth was, neither the Renegades nor the Anarchists were saints, and neither were completely evil. After this realization, it was hard to look at anything the same. His parents and friends were all completely on the side of the Renegades. His parents especially wouldn’t allow questioning of the Renegades. Maybe the squad would, but he couldn’t say for sure.

He climbed the stairs to the second floor, where the office was. He didn’t know whether his dads would leave such documents, but he couldn’t find them in the HQ archives. The office had many small boxes filled with papers scattered throughout the floor. A single office lay in the middle of the back wall, carrying a single computer.

He began rifling through the first box, humming a tune as he worked. The task would be a lot of work, as there was no particular order to the documents.

He made quick work of the documents, skimming them briefly before discarding them. At the sixth box, something caught his eye.

The folder was simply labelled “Cragmoor”. He opened it and rifled through the contents. Most of it was information on the prisoners themselves. He couldn’t see anything about the blueprint.

He sighed and tossed the folder to the side before getting back to work, only to find that under the folder a clear blueprint of the prison lay, Construction Plans For Project 31A. Bingo.

Chapter Text

Adrian slid the folder onto the table. “I got it, now what?”

Narcissa sighed, “Give me that.”

Surveying the plans, she stuck a stick of gum in her mouth, something she did when she really needed to focus. The prison initially appeared completely secure. Guard outposts were placed at every possible exit. The vents were completely sealed off, with filters periodically placed in order to make them impossible for the average human to squeeze through, and anything smaller to be unable to reach.

She used a pencil to mark the bathrooms, the most likely location for a mirror. She couldn’t take Nova through with her, but having an entry point from within couldn’t hurt. But Nova would need an exit, which was a slightly different dilemma. They would have to use force to get past one of the exits, and that’s where the boy came in.

“Here’s the plan,” Narcissa snapped up to look at him. “I’ll handle the inside stuff, but we need an exit. You’ll be at…” She scanned the paper for the nearest exit to her chosen entrance point. “There. You’ll need to incapacitate the guards in some way, but keep quiet about it; We need time to escape.”

He nodded, trying to absorb all the information being thrown at him.

“The exit point might change after I talk to Nova, so be ready. We’ll act tomorrow, as soon as possible. They’ll be expecting an attempt from the Anarchists, considering their numbers are so few. Although they care about her, but not enough to risk their freedom. We need to act before they can step up their defenses.”

“How will she sneak away from the group? When they’re not alone in their windowless cells, they are all together in an open dining hall.” He inquired.

“Easy, we start a riot. They probably won’t notice she’s gone in the confusion, and the guards will be too busy with other prisoners to care much if they do.”

She checked her watch. “It’s 11:30. Time to check in.” She glanced back at him. “Stay here.”

Narcissa pulled her hair back and stared into the mirror. An identical face stared back at her. As she reached out to touch the mirror, she felt the familiar moisture of her hand in the glass. It felt like moving through viscous gallium. She pictured the mirror in her head, and suddenly her head was peaking through to open air. She brought her entire body through and surveyed the bathroom.

Nova wouldn’t arrive for around 15 minutes, so she briefly glanced around. The bathroom was dingy and moldy, and she wanted to gag just looking at it. There were any stalls on the toilets, and some generous… gifts had been left in the toilets. She retreated back into the mirror to wait for Nova.

15 minutes passed. Others entered the bathroom, chatting quietly. Around the corner, the full cafeteria could be seen. There was no sign of Nova.

She slipped through all the mirrors in the building, wondering if she had perhaps gotten the wrong one, but she found no trace of her. Panic spread in her stomach. Had Nova already escaped? Narcissa doubted that. So where was she?

“That new inmate has been causing some trouble.” A guard said somewhere to the side. Narcissa’s ears perked up.

“She’s in solitary now; she started a fight with someone else. It’s good to get her out of the way anyway while the security is tightening up.”

Her breath caught in her throat. Nova was in solitary for an undisclosed amount of time. This was very, very bad. She resigned herself to go back and rethink her plan, but as she passed back through, she saw another point had opened up.

After about 15 or so minutes of laughing, Nova calmed herself and took proper inventory of her surroundings. There was a small air vent in the upper quadrant, unreachable by her small figure. There was a small bed in the left corner consisting of a metal frame, two blankets and a pillow. Maybe she could smother the guards when they came to get her. No, that was too slow; Someone would catch her before she was done. A small bucket, presumably for human waste disposal, sat next to it.

A glint in the frame caught her eye.

Narcissa was coming, Nova suddenly remembered. She couldn’t get in without a mirror. What counted as a mirror? Did it have to be made out of glass, did it have to be able to fit a human? Or did it just have to be something somewhat reflective that someone called a mirror.

She spit into her hand and rubbed the frame. She could see her reflection, somewhat blurrily but clearer of being wiped. She saw humongous purple bags under her eyes and a bruise near her left cheek that made her flinch. A mirror, this is a mirror, she thought to herself. Mirror, mirror, mirror…

She continued to stare at herself, barely registering it, repeating it to herself over and over in her head. She knew this was a long shot, but she had to try. Just as she was about to give up, she saw a faint face that wasn’t her own in the reflection.

“N-narcissa?” she asked, expecting the face to disappear as soon as she said the words. She had heard of people going crazy in solitary, but she hadn’t believed it could happen to her.

“Nova!” Narcissa’s reflection yelled. Tears of joy seemed to be wetting her cheeks. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

“Not much,” she replied. “It’s so good to see your face.”

“Yours too.”

They sat there for a moment, feeling the other’s presence, making sure it was real. Enjoying the contact they had.

“How are we going to do this?” Nova broke the silence.

“I-i don’t know.” Narcissa said. “I had this whole plan but... this place is so big, and you’re never unsupervised. Starting a riot might just get you hurt.”

“We have to try, don’t we? I’ve spent only a few days in this hellhole and I don’t think I can take many more. We can’t do it now though. As soon as solitary is finished, we’ll try.”

Narcissa nodded, “I got the boy into it, he’ll get you an exit and kick out the guards.”

She smiled a bit, “He’s actually helping?”

“Yep.”

“Not a typical Renegade, I guess.” She chuckled. “I guess being the son of two of the most powerful people in the world gives you some chutzpah.”

“It sure does.”

Chapter Text

Ruby clapped. “Good work, Danna.” She allowed a large grin to spread onto her face.

Danna blushed and rolled her eyes, “I could do this before. It’s just a bit more difficult now that…” she gestured to her still-damaged torso.

The training room was all but deserted. They had been practicing transforming for almost an hour now, and Danna was just about getting the hang of it. They didn’t know if it she would ever live up to her previous level, but progress was slowly, but surely, being made.

Danna took a deep breath and closed her eyes once more. Ruby watched as her friend’s body gradually transformed into a swarming mass of butterflies. They fluttered around the room for a good minute before coalescing once more into Danna’s usual form. She panted and looked around.

“I think that was a new record, time wise,” she said. “I don’t think I can do any more of this today, though. I’m all out of spoons.”

Ruby nodded and began to help her towards the door. Danna’s recovery was going better than originally predicted by the healers. Not that it was that unexpected. She had an unusual habit of bouncing back at lightning pace. Once, when she was around 4 years of age, she had broken her arm trying to run up some stairs. Unable to access healers or even a hospital, her parents had held their breath with a makeshift sling. Somehow, within 6 weeks that arm had healed perfectly well, though it would always be a bit crooked.

Ruby had joked that she must have some sort of extra healing power. It wasn’t unheard of for people to have more than one. Due to recent events, it might have some actual merit as a theory.

“Have you seen Adrian?” Danna asked. “He hasn’t been answering any of my comms.”

“No.” Ruby sighed. “I know I shouldn’t be worried but… he just almost got killed, and now he’s running off on his own again.”

“I guess we have to trust him. He can take care of himself.” Danna was also worried, but she knew how reckless Adrian could be. There was no point trying to stop him.

Adrian steadied his pen on top of his skin. How the fuck do you draw invisibility? He thought to himself. This power seemed like the most valuable asset to have in a prison break; the necessary stealth and all. But he was hitting a wall trying to inprint it onto him.

He opened a new page in his notebook and began doodling, losing himself in totally unrelated drawings of everything from latkes to palm trees. When he looked up again, it was almost 10 P. M, and he had gotten nowhere. There had to be a different approach.

He flipped open his laptop and typed in a simple “invisibility symbols” into the search bar. Thinking about it, he probably should have started like this, but he had wanted the chance to be creative. His solution was laughably simple, just a crossed out eye. He took out an erasable pen and began scribbling it onto his skin. He breathed in and 3… 2… 1…

His skin became transparent, and he almost jumped back at the sight of it. Hopefully, he willed himself to change back. It happened without a second thought.

Although it worked like a charm, he was hesitant to permanently imprint it onto his skin. Adding a few more layers of pen and not showering for the night was going to do the trick just fine. He would want one of his permanent tattoos to be a bit more… flashy. He turned back to his computer. If this worked, he could probably do something similar with mirror walking. If he could quickly tattoo something on Nova before they made their escape, they could all go together. The tattoos would wash off, no wear or tear, and no one would be able to track it back to them.

This symbol was a bit harder to master. He couldn’t simply look up the symbol for it; it was much too specific. He opted to simply sketch a mirror and see how it worked. After that failed, he thought about how he would modify it to convey the power. The combination that ended up working was a simple hole inside of the mirror’s centre. After a few tests, he imprinted the combo into his mind and went to bed, slathering a ridiculous amount of deodorant under his arms to make up for the lack of a shower.

He slipped out of the house at 5 am the following morning and met up with Narcissa.

“I have an idea,” he said, lowering his sleeve to show her the tattoo. It had dried by now, but had not yet started to fade. She grimaced and traced her finger over the design.

“Are you sure this would work?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

“I think it will. I’ve been able to put my wrist through the mirror a few times,” he replied. “Don’t worry, the ink will wear off and you’ll be special again soon.”

She elbowed him for his teasing and nodded, “just don’t do anything stupid.”

“I wont.”

She closed her eyes, clasped his hand, and together they stepped through the mirror. Adrian kept his eyes closed, doubting he could comprehend the labyrinth inside. It felt a little like walking in water, but he wasn’t wet when he emerged, and he could breath perfectly fine.

They were standing in a damp, dark bathroom. The walls were line with toilets and urinals without any dividers or privacy at all. It was completely deserted at this late hour, and the prisoners were probably still asleep.

“What do we do now?” He asked Narcissa, somewhat confused on how they were going to get Nova alone.

“We make our way into Nova’s cell,” she said. “I can go back into the mirror and you can use your invisibility. How fast will you be able to draw the symbols on Nova so we can escape?”

“I’ll probably need a minute,” he said. “Then, we can pull her through.”

She nodded. “So, how does this whole,” she gestured to her arms. “Tattoo thing work?”

“The same as the rest of my powers, I assume,” Adrian whispered. “I draw it, it becomes reality.”

“So you’re technically all-powerful? Not fair! I thought we got one each.”

“Well, technically, Nova has two…”

“I’m not sure I would consider that a superpower. More like a super-weakness. Who doesn’t like to sleep?”

He laughed, “It’s still an unnatural ability. But I get your point.” He had never considered how that must affect her. Not sleeping was probably boring, and gave you way too much time to think. He didn’t envy her.

She retreated back into the mirror, and Adrian became invisible, slowly making his way through the prison. All he needed to do was find where Nova was being kept.

A whisper from the metal caught Nova’s attention. Carefully, she moved towards Narcissa’s face in the mirror.

“The boy is coming for you,” Narcissa whispered. “Let him write on your skin. I know that sounds weird, but trust me.”

She nodded, deciding not to question it for now. She had nothing to lose in this place. Taking a breath, she closed her eyes and waited for him to come.

Chapter Text

She flinched as the pen touched her skin. Adrian hadn’t said a word to her during the entire rescue, and she felt oddly thankful for that. She wanted nothing more than to get out and never have anything to do with him, the Renegades, or the Anarchists ever again.

Sometime after she had entered the prison, something had clicked. A wave of tiredness, the need to be done with all of this had surfaced in her. Superheroes, supervillains, it meant nothing to her anymore. She saw what they all really were: Fools, vying for power and the love of the people. She was going to run away, away from this godforsaken city and away from all of them.
As he finished writing the glyph on her arm, she stood up and looked him in the eye. “Now what?”
He returned her gaze, “We need to find a mirror, a big one.” He tapped the drawing on her arm, “Until this rubs off, you have possession of power’s roughly equivalent to those of your mirror-walking friend.”
That made well enough sense. She followed him out of the cell, dimly aware of the alarm beginning to go off as they exited. They needed to hurry.
They weaved their way through the hallways as fast as they could, aiming for the large mirror in the west bathroom. The guards were groggy, rubbing at their eyes and slowly taking in the commotion. It must be such a weakness to sleep, she thought.
Coming upon the mirror, she threw herself in without a second thought. Adrian followed after her, and they both fell out in what Nova recognized as Narcissa’s bedroom. Looking around she saw Narcissa materialize next to them.
Eyes wet, she ran to Nova and hugged her tightly. She allowed herself to sink into the embrace. The room seemed to hold its breath around them, for 30 seconds, a minute, maybe more.
Nova was the one to break the embrace, not saying a word as she surveyed the room and let her newfound freedom wash over her. She was out. Sure, they may send a squad after her, more likely several, but she was safe for now. Free.
She continued gripping Narcissa and finally spoke. “Narcissa… I… Thank you. Thank you.” She hugged her again, surprising the other girl, who returned it after a second. Nova realized she was crying, and wiped the tears from her eyes, embarrassed.
She turned to Adrian, features flattening into an almost bored expression. “Thank you.” He nodded in return, not giving her any more emotion than she was giving him.
Narcissa took her hand and they began moving towards the bathroom once again, trying to be as quiet as humanly possible. They were so close to freedom.
Just as they were about to reach the door, a startled yelp ricocheted through the hallway. They turned to see a young guard frantically speaking into a comm. The group broke into a sprint towards the bathroom, only a few meters away, but they could see guards closing in around them, blocking off the door.
Adrian readied the fireball in his hands, hoping that none of the guards could recognize him in this state. He launched it right at the side of a guard’s head, only for it to harmlessly be absorbed into the armor. Shit, of course they would have flameproof armor.
The guards holstered their guns, and a tall one said, “Put your hands in the air or we won’t hesitate to shoot.”
Adrian began to panic. His powers were the only ones that could be combative at this distance, and they were seemingly useless against these guards’ armor. Slowly, all three of them raised their hands above their heads. The guard gave a grunt of approval and they closed in on the group. A pair of handcuffs clinked in his pockets.
As soon as the light from the guard’s headlamp illuminated his face, he jumped back in shock. He quickly trained his features and resumed cuffing Adrian. After stepping back he surveyed the group. “Chromium’s son? What the fuck is up with this?”
“I can explain!” Adrian shouted, shaking. “She shouldn’t be in here. She…”
“Tell it to your old man. I’m too tired for this shit,” the guard snapped and gestured to his companions. “Return the prisoner to her cell. Put the boy and the girl into separate holding cells. “
The guards compatriots nodded and Nova could only watch as she was dragged away from any hope of freedom.

Oscar was starting to get worried about his friend once again. After their… strange exchange a few nights ago, he was getting curious what Adrian might be up to. Although he respected his privacy, as he had said in that conversation, he was curious by nature, and not good at holding himself back at the prospect of learning something he wasn’t supposed to know.

Danna’s long recovery was coming to a close, relieving everyone. She could now reform into butterflies on a whim, almost as well as she had to. As with any injury, the scars remained, and she would never be exactly the same, but for now, they were all relieved that more damage hadn’t been done. Danna herself was especially pleased, already making plans to go back into action as a Renegade. The doctors said that she should continue resting, but she was as excited as ever for her work.
She had taken to spending her days associating with Ruby, who had been by her side throughout the recovery. Oscar came along with them most of the time, but he sometimes felt shut-out of their conversations. And after the abduction, Adrian had barely been around. Oscar was surprised that the Captain and his husband were letting their son wander around so much after nearly losing him, but it was all in the job description of a Renegade. They couldn’t give preferential treatment to their son, no matter how worried they were.
The girl who had apparently rescued his friend fascinated him as well. Adrian hadn’t said much about her, but it was clear there was more going on than a civilian going out of their way to rescue a Renegade. There had been no public display of gratitude, no reward, nothing. It was as if she had not done anything noteworthy at all. He didn’t even know her name, much less if she had received any reimbursement for her efforts.
Whoever she was, he wanted to thank her for saving his friend.