27 Understanding. (13)

The drive back from that point was uneventful, and except for Bryant and Visuveus, the Dawn crew crashed hard as their adrenaline began to settle, and it actually dawned on them just what it was that they had just done. They got back to HQ as the sun itself was setting, and found Sonny standing awkwardly with his arms crossed. The moment the truck came to a standstill, he rushed to it, causing most of the crew to look somewhat embarrassed, thinking he had heard what happened earlier and was waiting for them to arrive safely. That was the case, however not for the reasons they were thinking, as he rushed to the load bin of the truck and went for the drone, which was in the corner. He didn't even look at or speak to anybody as he grabbed the droid and started running, or rather, whatever the equivalent of running was in Sonny's case, towards the building. Bryant simply got out of the car, seemingly not giving a shit, whereas the others looked rather hurt. Just as Sonny made it inside, there was a loud yelp and moments later, he trudged back outside stubbornly, like a bearded, potbellied toddler.

"Oi. Glad you lot made it back in one piece." Sonny grumbled begrudgingly.

"Say that before grabbing the drone, Pop." Bryant dismissed as he went around to help Visuveus down.

"Do you know how much these things cost?" the old man boomed.

"Enough for you to cherish it more than us?" Natalie said with a shrug.

"That, and then some." Ryan chimed in.

"Which is sad, especially considering how he cheaped out and got a midrange knockoff." Morgannin said, delivering the final blow.

"What the fuck do YOU all know?! This is top of the line equipment!" Sonny protested.

"If that was true, you wouldn't have had to be close by to operate it." Bryant quipped after helping Vincent down, who nodded his appreciation and walked off, making his way inside.

The straps and harnesses were still hooked up to his body, so even though half of the costume was hanging off of him, he was still able to move. The light hearted ribbing paused for a bit, as everybody just watched him walk. Gone was the goofy toddler walk from before as he was no longer 'in character' and they all paid attention to the litany of scars running across his back that obviously continued not only to his chest, but his entire torso, limbs included.

"…what the fuck kind of life do you have to live in order to get scars like that?" Natalie asked.

"Probably a life that none of us here could even fathom." Bryant answered.

"When villains get buckled, they have their powers forcefully extracted. The process of extraction is brutal the more powerful the powers are, and can leave a nasty scar." Sonny explained. "I've never seen extraction scars quite like that though." He mumbled.

"I'd never seen him topless." Ryan noted. "I can't even begin to imagine how badly that shit must have hurt."

"Well, knowing why he went to jail, that pain and those scars probably don't matter at all to him." B said with a look on his face that just screamed of newfound comradery.

"What?" Sonny said as he snapped his head around to look at Bryant.

Meanwhile, Visuveus was seated in the locker room, having sent Evan a text to let him know that all was well, in the event he had heard about what happened. He had yet to free himself from the costume, and just as he was contemplating snapping the harness with brute strength, in walked the old lady who was often holed up in the office upstairs. The pair looked at one another, having been in a room together for the very first time, before he nodded at her. She smirked and chuckled, before nodding right back.

"Quite the calm reaction there, Vincent. Bryant damn near threw a fit when I walked in on him in here for the first time."

"An older woman barging into a room while I'm half naked is something that has happened so many times in the past few months, I've had more than enough practice stopping myself from exploding her head."

"For parole purposes?" The woman said with a snort.

"Exactly. The moment it's done, I'll start my killing spree with her."

"I'll bet!" The lady said as she threw her head back and laughed. "You're awfully candid." She said as she calmed down.

"Hopefully it comes across as humour."

"Is it?"

"I'll let you know in three years."

The woman laughed again, before sitting down on the bench next to Visuveus and smiled at him.

"The name's May."

"Visuveus Vincent."

"I know. I handle all of the admin here, after all."

"It's a pleasure." Vincent said with a nod.

"I watched what happened earlier from the drone's video feed." May said with a sigh. "You lot handled that situation incredibly."

"We did what we could."

"You stayed in character the whole time because the drone was following and recording you, didn't you?"

"I did."

"Did you help those children for the same reason?"

"I didn't really think of the drone then. But it was a rather fortunate thing for that stupid Councilor's plan to go awry, because now you have golden footage of us protecting and delivering life's most precious packages."

"Smart!" May said with a chuckle before standing up. "Stand up – I'll help you out of that ridiculous costume."

Visuveus did just that, and after a few minutes of things being unbuckled, he was finally free from the incredibly heavy costume, which fell to the floor with such a heavy thud, Vincent figured that the control panel and all the rest in the top half of the costume had broken. He didn't seem to care all that much as the costume had served its purpose, and he just stepped out of it.

"I wish there were showers here." He lamented as he opened his locker and reached for his suit. "Appreciate the assistance, May." Visuveus said as he looked back at her.

May, who was openly ogling Visuveus quickly regained her composure and her poker face, before nodding.

"I'll leave you to it. A word of advice, though – Sonny is a twisted sonuvabitch. Be careful not to get caught up in his bullshit."

She then turned around and left Visuveus to get dressed in peace. Not long afterwards, Visuveus exited the locker room and made his way to where everybody else was, where the debriefing and bickering was taking place. He went punch his time card, and as he did, Bryant, who was a silent participant as per usual, noticed Vincent was getting ready to leave.

"Leaving to make it back before curfew, eh Vincent?" He said, initiating small talk for the very first time since the ex-con started working there.

"Yeah. It's even less forgiving during the weekend."

"Makes sense. Have a good one."

"…you too." Visuveus said with a nod, before turning around and leaving.

A stunned silence descended over the room as they all observed the exchange between the two.

"…when the fuck did you two become so chummy?!" Sonny asked.

"Understanding somebody is a powerful thing, Pop."