Betrayal

I was recently put on night patrol duties. My team and I were assigned an area code and a safe house. We have to cover the given area multiple times and give a check-in every half-hour via headset communications to the team leader. Or rather they do. My team leader doesn't like me much and forces me to stay behind. I guess news travels fast. Especially when the news happens to be that the son of the worst villain ever known is working with you. My mother only told me the story recently. When I was a child she told me he was dead. She meant to say, "dead to me" and not just dead. He used to be some big-shot Hero that everyone loved. One day he went crazy and killed his entire team after allowing a villain to blow up half a block. He disappeared that day and hasn't been seen since. Once my team heard he had a son who was joining their team, they were unhappy, to say the least. They hated me just for being his son. I never even met the guy. I've done everything I can think of to get them to trust me or at least let me patrol with them but they won't even entertain the idea. My leader hates me the most. He used to know my father. The first thing he ever said to me was, "You look like him." and he looked at me with such hatred. He tried to transfer me out the following day and failed. He won't speak to me unless it's a necessity, insult me, or yell at me to "know my place." I've lost count of how many times I've heard that one. Sometimes I wonder if this is really what I should be doing with my life. My mother told me this wouldn't be the right path. She'd told me, "Once their vision is blurred by lies it's harder to show them the truth that they refuse to believe is there." and she was correct. They believe I'm a born villain and nothing I do seems to change their minds.

"Hey, Adrian. What's up?" there's only one person I work with who actually speaks to me and he's the only idiot who forgets everyone's code names. Jonah Moore is the only person who doesn't hate me.

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Lux when we're on the clock?" he shrugs his shoulders and sits down next to me,

"Like a million times but I still would rather say your name." I cross my arms.

"So you don't forget, you just choose to ignore? Noted. I will remember that the next time and just punch you in the face." He chuckles and wraps his arm around my shoulders.

"Why do you always choose violence so quickly?" I shrug.

"Maybe it's in my blood, who knows?" he just laughs and pulls me into a side hug.

"Nah, you're way too nice for that to be the case." I just smile and roll my eyes like I do to most of the things he says.

"Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be on patrol with the rest of the team?"

"Aren't you! This is your dream man. This is what you have always wanted to do with your life. You gotta fight. You can't just give up!" he's right but there isn't anything I can do in this situation.

"There isn't much that I can do about this situation. You heard about my father. What he did to the captain's brother. They will never accept me as a part of this team. Not really." he just sighs and pulls me in closer.

"Yeah, I heard. He fucked your life up. I don't see what any of that has to do with you anyway. He did those things before you were born." I just nod my head in agreement. I don't know what else to say.

|Fire on the east side of the area. Nile, get your ass down here. It's not looking good!|

We pull apart and he jumps to action.

"Sorry, duty calls. Wish I was you sometimes. You get paid to sit on a rooftop and play on your phone." we both chuckle as he races for the fire escape.

"But I could do so much more." I could see Jonah reaching his car in front of the building.

"You could but why would you want to?" my body shivered. Jonah had already driven away and I was alone. Everyone else from my team was on their way to that fire on the east side, so who was this man? His voice is so close behind me. I didn't notice him until he spoke. I slowly turn my head to look behind me but a hand grabs the back of my neck and forces me to look forward. "Don't look, I'm shy."

"Ok, ok." my body stiffens. It was like the world became so quiet around us. I could hear his raspy breath just behind my ear. He is so close that I can feel the heat emanating from his body.

"You're the Hero they call Lux, right? Real cute name." his other hand snakes around my waist and pulls me in. "Adrian." it was barely a whisper but I heard him. He called my name.

"Y-you know my name? Who are you?"

"I've been looking for you. Had to blow up a building just to get you alone. You're always with that idiot, Nile." I can feel his elbow dig into my back as he pulls me against him tightly. His hand is still firmly grasping my neck.

"Why? What do you want from me?"

"I was sent by someone who's just dying to meet ya'. I came to see you a bit earlier than planned but who cares, right? The big Boss doesn't have to know."

"Your boss wants to meet me? Why?" he sighs and lets me go. He lightly pushes me forward. I grab the edge of the rooftop and push myself back.

"You'll find out when the day comes. I'll know where to find you. I'll be back in three days to take you to him. Be ready." I just nod my head and sit still. He's gone silent. I can't hear anything. No words, movement, or even the faint rasp of his breathing. After a few minutes of silence go by I slowly turn around. He was gone. He most likely had been gone for a while but I wanted to be safe. I sit in silence for the next hour until Jonah returns.

"Hey! Were you waiting for me?" I don't answer him. It was like a never-ending hiccup. My throat squeezes and I can't speak. He waves his hand in front of my eyes. "Adrian? What's wrong?"

"Ah-I…h-he…" he looks worried now.

"Hey, c'mon! You're scaring me, man! Talk to me!" I shake my head. I can't do it. My voice is gone. He grabs me by the arm and forces me to my feet.

"Captain, come in. Adrian is in shock. He can't speak and he's shaking. I'm bringing him to the safe house."

|Copy that. Re-routing to the safe house now.|

"I need Mirror from HQ."

|It can't be that bad that you need to bring Mirror into the field. Are you sure he's not just faking it for attention?|

"Sir! I'm telling you we need her!"

|Fine! Copy that!|

By the end of that conversation, we were already on the road. He'd moved me so quickly. We're now speeding toward the safe house. He is so worried about me yet I don't quite understand why i'm like this. Was I really this scared? Nothing happened. That man didn't hurt me. He just said that he and another man wanted to meet me. However, he did blow up a building to get me alone. But he didn't do anything to me. Why am I acting like this?

"We're here. Don't worry, Mirror is going to help you speak. Then I can help you, too." I just nod my head and follow him. The Captain's car and a motorcycle are parked outside. They are already here. They must have been close by. Jonah holds my hand and leads me inside. Captain and Mirror are sitting at the dining room table. Mirror stands and makes her way over to me.

"Is this him? The poor thing looks frightened out of his mind." she reaches out toward me but I back away.

"It's okay, Adrian. She needs to make physical contact for her power to work." she extends a hand out to me.

"I just want to help you, Lux." Jonah nods his head in agreement. I trust him. If she has his trust then she has mine. I grab her hand and it feels as if my fears are being forced away.

"Can you tell us what happened?"

"The man that set the fire on the east side showed up after you left. I didn't see his face, he grabbed me from behind. He knew my real name. He said that someone sent him to get me. Someone who wants to meet me. And… and he said that he'd come back for me in three days." Jonah rubs my shoulders.

"It's okay, it's okay. You have nothing to worry about. I'm not going to leave your side, okay?" I just nod my head. The Captain rushes up and pulls Jonah to the side.

"We don't have time for you to play protector. You have a job to do. Either way, how do we know that this wasn't just some prank by an obsessed fan?" Jonah pulls away from him.

"Look at him! This isn't some prank. Why do you always treat Lux like that? What did he ever do to you?" I reach out and grab his hand.

"Stop, Nile! It's fine." he tries to argue but I stop him before he can get a word out. "Captain, I am so sorry. Just forget I even said anything." Mirror squeezes my hand.

"Hunny, you don't have to downplay your fear. Your Captain needs to take you seriously. This is an actual emergency concerning a teammate and this is highly inappropriate behavior." Captain rolls his eyes at her and crosses his arms.

"You want me to waste time on this? He could be doing this to get attention. He is just distracting us."

"You're a terrible person. I will be telling H.Q. about this tomorrow morning, I hope you know that." she lets go of my hand and heads for the door. As soon as she let go, my crippling fear returned. It is as if the air left my lungs.

"You tell them what you want. I bet they'd even take my side. You know who he is." Mirror turns around and slaps Captain across the face.

"This has nothing to do with that boy's father! He didn't do anything to you and he wasn't even born when your brother was murdered! You can't blame him for what happened." he spits at her feet.

"Can't I?" she finally had enough and storms out. I let go of Jonah's hand and back away. I know that Captain hates me because of what my father did but I never thought he blamed me for what happened.

"How was any of what happened Lux's fault? He wasn't even born yet." Captain ignores him.

"We don't have time for this. You've both wasted enough of my time. We have work to do. I guess since you were so bored that you decided to make up stories for attention, that means I'll have to give you work to do. You'll be going on petrol with Nile tomorrow night." I don't respond and neither does Jonah. I'm sure the Captain doesn't want to hear my voice anyway. "Since you're so fucking scared you can stay here. And Jonah, you can stay with him since he's your girlfriend." without a word from either of us he scoffs at us and leaves, slamming the door behind him. Jonah quickly comes to my aid and pulls me into a hug.

"Don't listen to a word he says. He's an asshole. What happened to his brother has nothing to do with you." I shake my head in disagreement. What if it is my fault? What if my father did those things because I was being born? What if my birth pushed him over the edge?

He just sighs and holds me tighter. I never want this hug to end.

The rest of the night consisted of Jonah doing anything and everything to cheer me up. He mostly just held me and told me that everything was going to be alright. He even slept next to me.

The next morning he made breakfast and we made plans to spend the entire day together before we had to go to work. He reassured me that he'd keep me safe and that everything would be okay. We cuddle up on the couch and watch stupid movies. I feel so calm at this moment. The more comfortable I get the more I dread going to work tonight.

"Thinking about tonight?" I'm surprised he knows. I nod my head in response. "You don't have to worry about it. We just have to look around town and report back every half hour with our pa- to the Captain, but you don't have to worry about that." I push away from him and sit up.

"W-with who?" I force my voice out.

"It's nothing. It's just that…everyone on the team has a partner. You just happened to be mine." I'm a bit annoyed at the fact that no one told me about this. No one ever informed me that everyone has a partner. He'd never told me that he was put with me and didn't choose to be around me.

"C-captain…chose you as my partner? Why? Why did he- kof, koff!" my throat clenches and I can barely breathe through coughs.

"Are you ok, Adrian!?" his arms wrap around me. I gasp and try to calm myself down. "You shouldn't force yourself to speak if you're not physically ready. You're still too anxious for that."

"I just-kof-want to lie down." he nods his head and pulls me up from the couch. I pull away from him and walk to the bedroom we've been sharing. He didn't attempt to follow me. We spent the day apart. He comes into the room around 7:00 p.m. to get dressed for work. I grab my outfit and go to change in the bathroom. I'm still annoyed with him and even more so at the fact that he never answered my question.

The whole team met up at the rendezvous point atop the H.Q. building. The Captain was enraged upon seeing my face. I brush off his glares and look around at everyone. I haven't seen the rest of the team since my official Hero ceremony. They all congratulated me quite dryly. The Captain had already instilled his hatred of me in them. They hadn't liked me since before they'd even met me.

"Why is he here?" the Hero known as Ignis narrows his eyes at me. I cross my arms over my chest. He eyed me and sized me up as if he wanted to fight me.

"From today on he will go on petrol with Nile." everyone giggles and sneers at me while whispering rude comments.

"Poor Nile. You have to carry around dead weight. I feel bad for you, hunny." Aliquis pitches in.

"Can you guys just shut up!? I thought we came here to brief not talk shit like teenage girls. Do your fucking jobs!" she throws her hands up and giggles while nudging Ignis. Aliquis has always been such a bitch to me. I guess that's to be expected. She is the Captain's girlfriend and just so happens to be good friends with his younger brother. Who my father murdered.

"Wow, so touchy when it comes to your boyfriend." Jonah just rolled his eyes. The rest of the team joke and giggle while pointing or side-eyeing me.

"Everyone head to your designated areas. Report back to me the moment you see anything out of place and we meet back here at midnight to check in. Let's get out there! " everyone pairs up and starts to head out. "Oh and Lux, try not to die out there. They'll suspend me for it. You know how it is." the Captain just had to get one more jab in at me before he left. He grabs hold of Aliquis' waist and pulls her in for a kiss. I roll my eyes and head for the fire escape. I could hear Jonah quickly follow behind me.

"Wait up!" I ignore him and quicken my pais. "Dammit, I know you heard me Lux!" he rushes up and grabs my arm tightly. I just huff at him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think it was important how we got together. We're friends and that's all that should matter. Why does it bother you so much that I was paired with you?" I pull away from him and continue walking.

"D-did you also think of me that way before we became friends?" he stops walking and cocks his head to the side.

"Like what?"

"Like the son of a murderous Villain!" I whip around to face him.

"Yes, of course I did. Because that's what you are but that's not who you are. You didn't kill the Captain's brother. Hell, you weren't even born. How could I hate you for a crime you didn't commit?" my eyes water as all the stress melts away.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. If anything they should hate my father. But I still-kof-can't shake the feeling that it's-kof, kof- that it's my fault somehow." he rushes down the stairs to check on me.

"How could any of that be your fault, Adrian? You were a baby. Either way, you shouldn't talk anymore. You'll damage your vocal cords." I nod my head in agreement. We waste no more time and head to our designated area. The night is quiet and we have nothing to report by midnight. Even so, throughout the rest of my shift, I feel as though i'm being watched. I chalk it up to paranoia because of my recent scare and ignore it. Yet the feeling never goes away even when my shift ends. Jonah and I head back to the safe house after the Captain is finished berating and insulting me. Once inside I finally relax. I never knew how much running the others have to do while on petrol. I'm so tired that I just simply shower and head to bed. Jonah tries to convince me to eat but I am already half-asleep and barely listening. Instead of hassling me he just crawls into bed with me. We don't wake up until late the next morning. I wake up in Niles' soft embrace. He'd already been awake and was watching me sleep. It's embarrassing to find him staring at my face first thing in the morning.

"Morning sunshine." he smiles as I try to wriggle my way out of his arms.

"Shut up~ you're so cringe." he laughs as he pulls me in tightly and buries his face in the crook of my neck.

"You sound happier. I hope our conversation from yesterday cleared things up between us. You made me worried." I just sigh.

"I know. Everything is fine now." he takes a deep breath and separates from me.

"Alright then. Let's eat breakfast." I think about it and decide I am not feeling up to it.

"What if we just made coffee and watched cartoons instead?" I get a wide smile and nod in response.

"Whatever you want." he leaps from the bed and races off to the kitchen. He seemed a bit off today. Usually, he would argue with me about eating three meals a day like the mom friend that he is. And he never offers to do whatever I want because he doesn't like it when I ask him to spar with me. I get up and quietly walk into the living room. I walk past the kitchen and can hear his voice. He is speaking as if there is someone else there. I peek my head into the kitchen and look around. He is standing in front of the coffee machine talking on the phone. I'm confused because I could have sworn he left his phone in the bedroom. He has a burner phone.

"Seriously!? But I…no that's not what i'm saying. Can't he wait? But you said "three"! No, I understand. See you soon." after he's done with his call he smashes the phone against the counter. I gasped in shock and caught his attention. He whips around too fast and burns his right hand on the coffee pot. He groans in pain but still comes over to me instead of dealing with his injury.

"W-what's up? Why'd you come to the kitchen? I thought you wanted to watch cartoons." I look over his shoulder at the smashed phone he left behind.

"Was that the Captain? I know he's a dick but you just destroyed your…burner phone? Is that another thing the team has that I don't know about?" he chuckles and shakes his head.

"No, that has nothing to do with the team. A while back someone hacked my phone and found out where I lived. I use the burner to talk to my family so no one bothers them. My brother pissed me off and well…" he peeks over his shoulder at the phone.

"Ok." he reaches up and pushes a loose curl behind my ear.

"Why don't you go to the living room and put on your favorite show? I'll make the coffee and bring it out." I just nod my head and walk away. His explanation seemed plausible but I still didn't believe him. To be so angry that you'd shatter your only means of communication to your family? That doesn't add up. And it was almost like he was trying to hide it from me. Also, that conversation sounded a bit concerning. He'd been so surprised to see me there that he hurt himself. Almost as if he was afraid that I might have heard what he was talking about. Maybe i'm just looking for something that isn't there. I'm being too paranoid. I sit down on the couch and try to relax. Just focus on what's happening here and now. I grab the remote and turn on some old-timey cartoons. Soon Jonah came to join me. He hands me a cup of coffee and wraps me in a cover. He sits down next to me and just stares at me like he's waiting for something to happen.

"What?" it was freaking me out. He's not acting normal.

"Nothing. I just want to look at you." I give an awkward smile.

"Ok." I can't maintain eye contact and just turn my attention to the TV before it gets any creepier. I can still feel his eyes burning holes into the side of my face. I take a few sips of my coffee and glance over at him. He looks down at my cup and then back up at me. I was now completely petrified. Why is he looking at me like that? Did he put something in my coffee?

"Do you like it?" I jump back into reality.

"What?" he points down at my cup.

"Your coffee? I tried something new. I wanted to know if you liked it. I can make it like that from now on if you do." a sigh of relief escapes as I try to calm myself down.

"Y-yeah, it's great. I honestly didn't even notice-kof,kof-that it was any-kof-any different…" I trail off as my body numbs and I collapse. Jonah catches me and I hear the sound of glass shattering. I dropped my cup.

"I'm sorry, Adrian. The boss called me and said that he was moving up the timetable. Eclipse was supposed to come get you tomorrow night but…plans have changed." my breathing became raspy and out of control. I'm panicking and I can't even run away.

"W-why are you doing this? What…what did you do to me?" my voice is barely a whisper. He frowns and pulls me in for a hug.

"I'm not doing this to you. I'm doing this for you. You were never meant to be a Hero and neither was I. That's when I met the Boss and he told me about you. About how you wanted to be a Hero. I became a Hero to get close to you, to watch over you, and to one day take you to meet him. Too bad he replaced me. Now he's sending Eclipse after you…and I have to let him take you." his voice echoes in my ear. I try to speak, try to ask him if anything he ever said or did with me was true. Or if he even cared about me. My vision starts to blur and I can hear footsteps approaching from the hall. Someone was in the house. Everything slowly fades to black and I'm left wondering what else in my life has been a lie? Is my entire team in on this? Did they all plan to get rid of me? What are they going to do with me? And who is the Boss?