Chapter Text

Nova felt terrible. And proud. But actually she felt rather bad, because she this time hadn't only lied to Adrian, but had also ice-coldly deceived him in order to steal the Vitality Charm. Luckily, it had still been in the house.... and luckily neither Hugh nor Simon had been home this time. No, not Hugh and Simon. Captain Chromium and the Dread Warden. Her enemies. Nova kept telling herself that, though it only made her feel worse. But Nova knew she wouldn't have felt any better if she had failed again. After all, that was her greatest fear: failure. Phobia would surely have been only too happy to remind her on that when she would have returned empty-handed for the second time. Just as Honey would have pointed out that she let Ace down. And right after that, Honey would have teased out all the details about her and Adrian. Nova could well do without that. During the long walk back to Wallowridge, her thoughts drifted back to the day's events.

She had been quite nervous when she had shown up at Adrian's for the second time in two days. Although no, since she had slept 24 hours, it was the second time in three days. Still. She hadn't even thought of a proper excuse why she came.... she had simply wanted to improvise. Maybe I just want to see him again.
But that was just nonsense, of course. Nova had come to steal the Vitality Charm. And this time, no come-to-life dream and no super cute boy would stop her. 
At least in theory.
Then she had stood there, trying to get herself to ring the bell. Perhaps it would be easier to break in secretly at night and steal the Vitality Charm without attracting much attention. Despite the mansion's many security sycophants, it had seemed easier than double-crossing Adrian. Enough of this, Artino! You pull yourself together now and ring the goddamn bell!
Before her courage could leave her again, she had already rung the bell. Just a few seconds later, a stunned Adrian had opened the door.

"Hey Nova! What are you doing here?" 

"Hi Adrian. I, uh..." She had tugged at her jacket sleeves and hadn't said a further word. So much for improvising. And why had she been so shy all of a sudden? Adrian had smiled as if he already knew the answer.

"Come in," he had invited her and she had quickly slipped through the door. 

As on her first visit - which seemed to her as if it had been years ago, although she had been there yesterday - she had been amazed at the sheer size of the estate.

"Shall we go to the basement and watch a movie?", Adrian had asked. 

"If we're really going to watch it this time, I'd love to." Nova had given Adrian a crooked smile which he had returned. 

And so they had made themselves comfortable on the sofa. Adrian had put an arm around Nova, whereupon she had tensed briefly, but had quickly relaxed again and leaned against Adrian. They had originally started a detective story, but after ten minutes Nova had already guessed the murderer. When Adrian had to agree with her twenty minutes later, they had decided to watch a less serious movie. That's good. It will be less noticeable that way.... 
Finally, Adrian had turned on a fairy tale, and Nova had had a fit of laughter. 

"Seriously? You want to watch a kids' movie with me?" 

Adrian had his arms crossed. "It's not a kids' movie. It's a classic. Besides, I don't think you know many fairy tales."

With that, Nova's laughter was gone. It was true, the Anarchists weren't much for telling fairy tales before bedtime. 
And the bedtime part was a bit difficult for her, too. 

So they had watched the fairy tale. Even though it had been a little childish, Nova had enjoyed watching the movie with Adrian. Sometimes she had caught him looking at her when he thought she was focused on the movie. And the movie itself had turned out to be less cheesy than she had expected. A young thief living on the streets is forced by a cruel, high-ranking guy to steal a lamp and is promised to be rewarded for doing so. But the high-ranking guy breaks his promise and betrays him, leaving the young thief alone in a collapsed cave. But thanks to the lamp, the thief is freed and gets three wishes. He uses them to create a new identity for himself: he pretends to be a prince and gains the trust of the king and the princess. And, because it is a fairy tale, he falls in love with the princess and the two become a couple. But the princess gradually realizes that the "prince" is an impostor and confronts him.

Adrian had paused the movie at this scene. "I don't understand it. Why doesn't he just tell the truth? The princess loves him anyway." He had looked at Nova inquiringly. 

"Well," Nova had said and stirred a little, "maybe because it wouldn't be very wise to reveal the secret identity just like that?"

When Adrian had frowned, she had sighed. "Look, he has spent his whole life on the street. Since he's an orphan, he had to fight his way through himself, and I'm sure he's done a few things that the royal family shouldn't hear about."

"But," Adrian had said, "she loves him. So I'm sure she'll forgive him. To keep on lying doesn't help. It'll come out eventually." Strangely, he had seemed a little shy as he said that. Like he's hiding something himself... But she didn't want to know what he was hiding from her. Knowing a secret about him and hiding her own at the same time... no, she couldn't do that to him.
Even if that's what a good Anarchist would do. She had banished this thought from her mind and had returned to the actual subject.

"Okay, okay. I can see you'd tell her right after the first date. But you also grew up in a sheltered home. Our little thief obviously not. Not to mention the fact that he once trusted a high-ranking person... and in return, he was just used and abandoned. No wonder he doesn't want to trust anyone anymore!"

Adrian had remained silent for a while. Finally, he had half turned to her and said mischievously: "You really can't lose an argument, can you?"
Before Nova could defend herself, he had silenced her with a gentle kiss. "Don't worry, I heard you already. But it's just cute how you can turn a fairy tale into a profound conversation." 

"Hey, you started it!"

"I never said otherwise."

For a while, they were just sitting there. Nova had noticed how comfortable she was with him, that she had automatically leaned against him. A warm feeling had spread to her, but had been driven away by a bitter sting in her heart. Now is the perfect time to-

"You know, Nova, I’m wide awake when I'm with you." Okay, that makes things a little more difficult. 

She looked up at him in confusion, "Um...okay? I don’t get many compliments, but this is probably the weirdest of them all."

Adrian laughed. "Ah, yeah, that might be a little odd. But I really meant that as a compliment. 'Cause I haven't slept properly in days and I'm pretty exhausted. But with you around... I don't know. You give me new energy, you know? And you take my mind off my injury." He pointed meaningfully to his cutter injury. "You... just do me good" Oh, Adrian. If you only knew.

But he had looked at her so lovingly that she had melted inside. "Adrian..." She had been speechless. She would have loved to hug him again and kiss him, like yesterday. But she wasn't allowed to. She still had a mission to complete. 

"I'm really miserable when it comes to this sort of thing." She had shrugged her shoulders helplessly and looked at him apologetically. Adrian just grinned at her.

Then Nova had an idea. A risky idea that would probably go horribly wrong. But if she succeeded, at least her problem with the wide-awake Adrian would have been solved. 

"But I might be able to help you fall asleep."

Adrian had raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? How?"

"Well..." Nova had summoned all of her knowledge of lying and deceiving to try to sound as authentic and teasing as possible.

"I'm Nightmare."

The next three seconds had been hell. Nova would have preferred to put Adrian to sleep straight away, grab the Vitality Charm and run away, to be never seen again. But instead she had fought down her paranoia and tried not to let her fear show. Adrian gaped at her first. Then he burst out laughing, and Nova laughed with him, if only out of relief.

"If you're Nightmare," Adrian said as he had recovered from his fit of laughter, "then I'm the Sentinel."

That had really made Nova laugh. "The Sentinel? Seriously?" She had shaken her head. "You and that cocky tin can are worlds apart." 

"Oh, you think so?" Adrian's smile had seemed a little forced.

Nova had leaned against him again. "I guess it's no big secret that I can't stand the Sentinel because he's just inhumanly annoying. But I can understand why you're a fan of him.... after all, this guy is practically a comic book character. And you're the biggest comic book geek I know." She had smiled teasingly at him. 

Adrian had visibly relaxed in response. "I guess I can't argue with that. Again." He'd winked at her as if it were an inside joke between them. "But now what did you mean when you said you could help me with my sleep problem?" 

"I told you I am Nightmare. So I'm going to make you fall asleep. First, lay down comfortably."

"From what I've heard, Nightmare operates in a different way. Not to mention that she's officially dead."

"Shut up Everhart and lay down. You even said yourself that you think she's still alive."

"So you believe me?"

"I don't believe you. I'm the living proof." 

Finally, Adrian had given in grinnig and laid down. "What's next, boss?" 

"Now you need to relax. Wait, I'll lay down with you." Nova had laid down next to him and snuggled him. The last time... 
She heard his heartbeat quicken like hers. 

"Um, Nova? You do realize you're making it harder for me to get calmer this way?" 

She had blushed, but had hoped it wouldn't show in the dim light. "Funny, I get directly calmer around you, while you get directly wide awake around me. Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?" Without waiting for an answer, she had kissed him softly. "Just think of something nice."

"I guess I already know what to think about." Adrian's voice had been warm and comforting.  With these words he had pulled her a little more against him and closed his eyes. Nova had left her eyes open so as not to fall asleep as well. After all, I didn't come here to cuddle. Unfortunately.
She had listened to the way his breathing had slowed down and had carefully freed herself from the embrace. But before she could get up, he had held her back with his arms, probably unconsciously.

"I like you, Nova McLain. I really do", he had breathend. McLain. He likes McLain. That's not you. He will hate you when he finds out. 

Despite those thoughts, she hadn't been able to go but had lingered in the embrace for another brief moment. 
"I like you too, Adrian. More than I should." She had kissed him gently on the forehead, letting her power flow slightly to be truly sure. She had been rewarded with a quiet snore.

Then Nova Artino had gotten up and gone in search of the Vitality Charm before Captain Chromium and the Dread Warden would return home. 

And now the Vitality Charm dangled around her neck, reminding her again and again of Adrian's soft snoring. Enough of that. I am Nightmare. I am an Anarchist. I do the right thing. She repeated her mantra until her guilt faded into the background. Focus, Nova. 
Finally, the house was in sight. Suddenly, she couldn't wait to get back to her family. She had accomplished her mission despite all obstacles, now she could deal with the theft of the helmet. Just as she was about to enter, she heard voices coming from the open window. Instinctively, she ducked behind the wall and listened. She had always wanted to know how the other Anarchists talked about her when she wasn't around. 

"No, Honey! We can't do this!" That was Leroy's voice. He seemed upset. 

"Oh, Leroy, aren't you listening at all? This isn't our decision. Ace has made clear his command", Honey replied. Her voice was just as lilting as usual. 

What are they talking about? What did Ace command?

"I don't care what Ace said! I'm not going along with this!", Leroy's voice rang out again. He must be really angry. 

"You're afraid for her. You don't want to lose her." Phobia, no doubt. 

"Of course he doesn't want to lose her. None of us want that. The stupid thing is that our little Nightmare has already made up her mind. We lost her a long time ago, just like Ingrid predicted. We should have listened to her." 

They were talking about her. Ace had commanded something that had to do with her. Something that was probably not a surprise party. At least not a happy one. 

"Even if she chose the Renegades, it's not our problem! As long as she doesn't betray us, she can live the life she wants." 

Chose the Renegades. The Anarchists thought she chose the side of her enemies? 

"Oh, Leroy, darling, you really are a hopeless case. I know what love is like. Either you blind others with love, or you get blinded. Nova never had what it takes to manipulate others. She's just too much like her weak father. Good thing Ace hired the hitman to kill him and the rest of his family. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been nearly as easy to manipulate her."

Nova was shocked. Although, no, that word didn't even describe how she felt. Which word describes how you feel when everything you've believed in is falling apart? When there's nothing left to hold on? When you're just pulled into the depths of the realization that your whole life has been a lie? 

"Please, Honey. Let her... let her go. I'll talk to her. She will leave the town and we won't have to worry about whether she'll betray us or not." Leroy's voice sounded... broken. As if he no longer had the strength to say anything in her defense. It gave Nova a shudder. The Anarchists wanted to punish her for something she hadn't even done. They wanted to kill her. Ace wanted to kill her. 
The realization hit her like a slap in her face.
She was raised by the killer of her parents. Trembling, she withdrew from the wall. She already knew what Honey would say. She could almost hear the words that would sentence her to death.
No. No, I won't let that happen.
Nova tried to think straight again. What do I know?
Honey and Phobia wanted to kill her. That sucked. Leroy didn't want to kill her. That was good. Ace wanted her to be killed. That sucked again. All Anarchists thought she had chosen the Renegades. That sucked because she'd just done everything to stay loyal. That was good because they obviously thought she was still with Adrian. That was good because it gave her some time to get out of Galton before they could kill her.

Hmm. I guess that's a draw. Time to use my few advantages.

For a moment she thought about whether she should go back to Adrian. But no. The Anarchists might have betrayed her, but that didn't mean she was better off with the Renegades. It was almost ironic: the Renegades wanted to kill her because she was Nightmare and therefore an Anarchist. And the Anarchists wanted to kill her because she was Insomnia and therefore a Renegade. No, on closer reflection it was better to leave town once and for all.

Nova quickly crept around the house and stopped under her window. The beehives could become a problem. There were quite a few stuck on the wall and the ground below. But she would have to risk it. She pulled on Nightmare's gloves and began to climb carefully, giving a wide berth around the hives. Once she was stung by a particularly aggressive wasp, but she managed to suppress a cry of pain. Nova carefully peeked through the dirty panes. The room was empty. She climbed lithely onto the window sill and quietly opened the window. From below, the muffled voices of the arguing Anarchists could still be heard, so apparently they hadn't noticed her yet. Almost soundless, she ran to the closet and got her emergency backpack out of it. She quickly checked its content. Most of her inventions, Nightmare's costume, change of clothes, water. After a moment's hesitation, she also took the jar with Danna's butterfly. She quickly stuffed the jar and her gloves into the backpack and swung it onto her back.

Suddenly she heard the door open. Alarmed, she turned around, ready to fight. But it was just a very surprised Leroy standing there in the doorway. Only now did Nova notice that the voices had stopped. She should have paid more attention to that.

Leroy seemed about to say something at first, but then decided otherwise. "I'll distract Honey and Phobia for as long as I can. I'll meet you later at the docks." And with that he turned and left. Nova stared after him for a few seconds until her survival instincts reminded her that she should better get out of there.

And so she jumped out off the window, out into the familiar darkness of the night.