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Red alarms blared throughout the warehouse as Luo Li guided whatever civilians she could to the exit. Smoke filled the air and the flames at her back had already consumed a lot of containers and equipment, she stopped when the sound of a cough reached her ears, realizing someone had been left behind.
Luo Li screamed at the line of workers to keep going before backing a few steps to help a woman stand up, they only made it a couple of meters forward before the sensors of her suit detected danger from above, a beam was about to fall over them, she pushed the woman to the side and caught the piece of metal just in time.
The weight of it wasn’t a problem at all, but the workers stopping to stare at her in awe certainly made it more difficult to get everyone to safety.
“Go!” she yelled.
One of the woman’s colleagues reacted, coming close to grab her by the arm and usher her to the exit along with the rest. Luo Li let out a sigh of relief, but just as she was about to put down the beam, her suit showed another alert, a person to her left, his clothes were the same as any other member of the company, but he was wearing a mask and pointing a gun at her.
The trigger was pressed. There was no time to call her bat or duck to the side, all that was left was hope for the suit to be strong enough to protect her.
A small shadow passed in front of her before the bullet could reach her chest, metal clanked together and in a flash her jetpack was pierced instead.
By the end of it, there was a knife stuck on a nearby wall.
She ignored the warnings that popped on the screen in front of her and laid down the metal bar, and just when she took a step towards the shooter, another figure showed up and threw him to the floor, a man dressed in black and holding a knife identical to the one that was used to deviate the bullet.
Luo Li used the few seconds she got to ensure all the civilians had left already. The other hero seemed to have everything under control, until she heard a snap from above them, the last of the strings holding a sturdy box broke.
She launched one of her gauntlets at them, successfully getting them out of the way before the container reached the floor. The collision against the wall startled the shooter, which gave the hero in black enough time to tie up his hands with some rope.
The siren of a fire truck could already be heard as they rushed to the exit.
Apparently, the word had spread out quickly, because as soon as they took a step outside a few reporters got close to them, the other hero simply ignored the cameras and took the perpetrator to the federation agents that were securing the area, so Luo Li just gave a brief report and assured that all civilians were evacuated safely.
When the ambulance and some inspectors arrived, the attention finally slipped away from her, which was a relief, she wasn’t sure for how long she could stand straight, something must have short-circuited inside her jetpack, judging by the burning feeling on her back.
No way to fly back home now, she could probably just call her manager at FOMO and ask for a ride, but that would imply getting scolded for getting her suit damaged again. For now, she just walked to an empty alley and took off the jetpack and the small part of armor at her back that was attached to it, the cold air grazing her skin made her shiver.
She didn’t notice the silent figure at the entrance of the alley until she turned to the side. It was the other hero that had been at the warehouse, Ghostblade. He was holding the gauntlet she left inside the building.
Luo Li simply took it from his hands and mumbled a thanks, she decided to pick up her jetpack, better to look for a street that was open before calling for a ride. However, when she turned around, the gray-haired hero was still standing there.
“What?”
Ghostblade pointed towards her and then the ambulance. He probably saw the small burn on her back.
“I’m fine, it’s just a scratch,” she dismissed. That seemed to do the trick because the hero walked away without asking more questions.
She took a moment to rest and pulled out her phone, it was full of notifications, some of them talking about the fire that just happened, she couldn’t help but scroll through a couple of posts, the pictures of her coming out of the building filled her with a small sense of pride, a hero, people called her without thinking twice. There were also pictures of the man that started the fire being taken away, they were blurry, but there was a symbol on his belt that looked close to the one Spotlight used.
A tap on her shoulder made her look up, Ghostblade had come back and was extending a wet rag towards her. Luo Li took it and pressed it just to cool down the small injury, grateful that it was enough to ease the pain, for now at least.
“Don’t you have anywhere else to be?” she asked with a slight hint of annoyance.
To answer her question, Wang Yi pulled out his car keys and took the gauntlet the girl had left on the floor, he stared at her for a few seconds, and at no signs of being stopped, he walked out of the alley. Luo Li begrudgingly followed him, deciding that a free ride wouldn’t be so bad.
They walked a few blocks down the street until Ghostblade stopped in front of a small gray car, an old model, probably second hand, no one would think a hero would use something like this to move around, although most heroes used the vehicles provided by their agencies. That’s when she remembered.
“Wait. You mean you go to missions like this now?” She couldn’t hide the shock in her voice, had he gone bankrupt after leaving MG or something? Besides, a car seemed inefficient for anything that required quick action, even a motorcycle would have been better.
Ghostblade didn’t try to give her any type of answer, he just frowned and opened the rear door, leaving the gauntlet and gesturing Luo Li to leave her armor there. Meanwhile, he put the neckpiece of his own suit and mask in the trunk, closing it carefully before getting into the car.
Luo Li left the heaviest parts of her armor at the back; gauntlets, jetpack, boots, and after making sure no one was around, she took off her helmet and closed the door with a loud thud.
“Just drop me at the lab, I need to check my suit for damage,” she said while taking a seat beside Ghostblade at the front.
They didn’t go right away, Wang Yi was checking something on his phone, a minute later he opened the notes app and showed Luo Li a text saying he needed to make a stop first, at a library apparently. Fitting for someone so quiet, she guessed, but if this turned out to be a post-mission ritual of sorts, she would regret not asking her manager to pick her up.
She agreed to the plan and Wang Yi put on the GPS, their destination was fifteen minutes away, fifteen minutes that went up to eighteen as soon as they entered the main street. Flying to places was so much easier, it got you to emergencies quicker than the rest, made it simple to create an escape route, and best of all, it saved you from awkward rides with your girlfriend’s dad.
The two of them made a silent agreement to be there for Nuonuo and not get into each other’s way after all those times they met at the hospital, when they exchanged no more than greeting nods and small updates on the gray-haired girl’s health. This felt like a breach on that deal.
Being in such a normal situation with Ghostblade left her with an eerie feeling given their first meeting and the events that happened after, it was like finding a pristine machine in an abandoned laboratory where everything was covered with a layer of dust, it just didn’t belong there.
However, after waiting in silence for a few minutes, and seeing that there were still fourteen minutes left till their destination, Luo Li finally gave in, the two of them could take a step for the sake of not making future family dinners awkward.
“I forgot you had to find your own missions now.” The quietness that followed should have been expected but that didn’t discourage her. “There are forums on FOMO for different types of emergencies, I could show you later if you want.”
Wang Yi nodded after a moment, great, maybe things wouldn’t be so bad after all.
“Cool, because no offense, but your cape could have caught fire if you had gone any deeper into the building, so you could benefit from more options.” Her eyes fell on the worn-out state of the steering wheel. “I’ve also seen some missions that pay, although those are scarce.”
The car stopped abruptly at a red light making Luo Li almost fall forward, message noted, no more talks about money. She put on the seatbelt after that, leaning sideways so that her back didn’t touch the seat entirely, just a few minutes left to endure, she told herself.
“By the way, did you see anything weird on that dude you caught? I think he was with Spotlight.” Wang Yi’s eyes remained on the road, but he nodded once more. “Man, they’re really starting to become a problem, the media isn’t even trying to hide their attacks anymore.”
Fear itself was an issue already, but now that they were building sophisticated devices to use it, heroes’ workload had doubled. If only they had found something useful that day two years ago, instead she lost so much, could have lost even more. A hand unconsciously reached for her wrist, underneath her armor there was a bracelet that Nuonuo had given her long ago, one that she always made sure to carry.
She wished the metal of her armor alone could tell them more on how to fight fear, but she had to be careful with it, after the alien ship was destroyed her suit became more important, the metal on it, along with the one she kept in a container to build spare parts, was something invaluable now. So now it each time it got damaged, repairing it as soon as possible was the only thing on her mind.
Her thoughts got interrupted by the sound of Lucky Cyan playing on the stereo, Wang Yi must have turned it on. Those songs always managed to calm her down, but knowing how the hero beside her started listening to her music still produced a conflicting feeling.
Sure, Nuonuo told her that nothing had been done with ill intention, but the fear Ghostblade made her feel had been real, Luo Li still remembered her panicked expression when they met, something like that wasn’t so easy to shrug off. At least he was trying now, so Luo Li made a small effort and decided to let the melody play in the background, trying to believe that he stopped using his old methods by now.
There were eight minutes left and they just passed a photography studio when an idea hit her. She spent two more minutes trying to come up with words that didn’t get her instantly dismissed, but in the end, she settled for something akin to a joke.
“Imagine if you had stalked someone from Spotlight instead, we’d probably be having dinner with them by now.” She saw the way Wang Yi rolled his eyes. “Fine, that was a bad joke. But if you happen to investigate them later or something, tell me, I can help.” Luo Li gestured at her armor.
Even if she didn’t get an answer, she still hoped that Ghostblade would get curious enough to start looking into it.
They pulled up in front of the library a few minutes later, and the gray-haired man grabbed his phone to text someone, it wasn’t long before a girl with a couple of books in her arms came out of the building and walked towards the car.
“Luo Li! I didn’t know you were with him,” said Nuonuo, getting into the back of the car, carefully moving Luo Li’s armor to make space for herself. “And hi, dad.”
Wang Yi turned to her give her a nod, his expression didn’t change much but his gaze seemed softer.
“I wasn’t planning on this,” Luo Li told the other girl. “We just happened to be at the same fire; he was taking me to the lab.”
“The transducer again?”
“No, the rest of the suit kept working, it probably has something to do with the propulsor.”
“Wait. A fire? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, all good.”
Wang Yi stared at Luo Li, and when she didn’t confess, he turned towards his daughter, gesturing the jetpack and mimicking an explosion with his hands.
“You got burned?” Nuonuo exclaimed, she leaned forward but the pink-haired girl didn’t allow her to see the injury.
“Traitor,” Luo Li muttered to Ghostblade.
“My mom’s house is nearby. Dad, can you drive us there?”
Wang Yi avoided her gaze, and when Luo Li insisted on going to the lab instead, he nodded eagerly, turning on the car again.
“But I can’t treat you properly there,” she told Luo Li. “We’ll get your suit fixed later today, I promise, but I need to make sure you’re okay first.”
“Fine…”
“Thank you.” She gave Luo Li a squeeze on the shoulder before turning to Wang Yi again. “Mom’s house, please?”
Ten minutes later they arrived at Zhang Lan’s house, both girls rushed inside, but came out again when they noticed Wang Yi wasn’t getting out of the car. Nuonuo asked him to stay to drive them to the lab later and he was unable to refuse.
He greeted Zhang Lan with a stiff nod and after Nuonuo explained the situation, the older woman offered him tea.
“It’s okay, dad. We won’t take long.” The gray-haired girl gave him a pat on the back and grabbed Luo Li’s hand to guide her upstairs to her room.
When they got in, Nuonuo set her books on the bedside table. Her room always felt like home, with walls painted in a warm color and the faint smell of vanilla in the air from the candles she usually used, Luo Li smiled at the pictures of them pinned to a board in the wall.
“Alright, come here,” Nuonuo said before helping her take off the rest of her armor, starting with her arms. “What exactly happened at the fire?”
“I was helping civilians evacuate, but then someone with a gun appeared, apparently he caused the fire.” The other girl frowned, concerned. “Ghostblade deviated the bullet, but it pierced my jetpack, and well…”
There was no need to continue, she felt Nuonuo’s gaze piercing her back. The burn mark was too low for her top to cover it.
“It doesn’t seem too bad, I’ll get something to clean it,” Nuonuo said after the last pieces of the suit were removed.
Luo Li decided to sit on the bed while waiting for the other girl to come back, there was a giant bunny plush that wasn’t there the last time she visited resting against the pillows, her girlfriend was still full of surprises it seemed.
When Nuonuo came back she put some medic supplies on the bed and told her to turn around. The sudden action of a cold rag pressing on her back made Luo Li hiss.
“Sorry,” the gray-haired girl apologized.
“I already did the cool down thing, you can just clean it.”
Nuonuo nodded even if she couldn’t be seen right now, she grabbed another rag that had some disinfectant on it and lightly pressed it on the burn, keeping a close eye on the way Luo Li’s body reacted to make sure she wasn’t hurting her.
“Don’t dismiss something like this again.” Her voice was too soft for it to be a scolding, but Luo Li still found herself compelled to listen. “You’re way more important than that suit.”
The rag was set aside and was replaced with a gentle hand covered in a gel that smelled like eucalyptus, the coolness of it made her shiver, or at least she thought that was the reason, until she became aware of Nuonuo’s breath grazing the back of her neck.
Fingers danced across her back, a clean hand this time, tracing invisible figures and old scars. A warm touch that reminded her of being kissed by the sun, everything about Nuonuo was like that, from her smiles that melted hearts to the burning fire of standing up for what she believed in. Luo Li was more than grateful to have her own sunshine, even on cloudy days.
That hand eventually came to her shoulder and trailed across her arm until it stopped when their hands met, she laced them together and gave a gentle squeeze.
“Be more careful next time, please.” Nuonuo’s words were a fragile whisper, there was simply no way to refuse.
“I will,” she said back in that same quiet tone.
Luo Li felt her heart race when the other girl pressed her lips to her shoulder and decided to rest her head there for a while. She looked so peaceful like this that it pained her to break the moment a few minutes later to tell her that they probably should go to the lab.
“Just five more minutes. Injuries require a lot of rest, you know?”
It was a weak excuse, but Luo Li didn’t mind indulging her, after all, being surrounded by warmth and the scent of sweet candles seemed like the perfect cure for any wounds.