A heart?

"My boy!" A voice yelled.

"Mr. V-Vance!" Zari said nervously.

The super villain since then had aged terribly, his face sagged and lines of worry etched deeply into his face. But it was nothing compared to how he looked in this moment. His eyes were wide, almost bulging out of his sockets from shock and the corners of his lips pulled downwards.

"Zee? What happened?" He asked urgently, looking up at her through concerned eyes.

She felt herself flinching under that gaze. She could only imagine what must have been going through his head as he stared at her with such concern.

It wasn't that she didn't want him to know exactly what happened; she just wanted him to go and not look at her anymore like she'd done something unforgivable. And for all intents and purposes, she hadn't. Not yet. Not really. But she knew that it would be hard enough on him when it did happen.

"I promise you, Mr. V—Vance, everything is fine." Zari insisted once more, stepping closer to him in attempt to comfort him. She placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, hoping that that would calm him down. "I don't believe for a second that you did anything wrong." But if she were being completely honest, she couldn't help but wonder if he ever believed any of these lies either.

"Oh, Zee," He whispered sadly and leaned against her slightly. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him. "You are so good..." His grip tightened and he buried his face in her neck. "Why am I such an idiot...?" He whispered before burying his head further into her skin, letting out a shuddering breath.

Lance was not awake yet resting peacefully. Zari could tell that Vance still held more than enough strength that the seraph was scared of disturbing him, even though he clearly wanted nothing more than to talk to Lance about things which she was sure would only make it worse.

Zari watched as Vance stood over the bed, his body tense as he reached out to cup Lance' face. There was pain written all over his features, causing tears to form in her own eyes. He pressed a soft kiss to Lance's forehead, wiping away some of the dried tear tracks along the boy's cheeks. Zari bit her lip, unable to stop staring at the two of them.

The door slammed open , forcing her to snap back into reality. Her father stood there staring at her, looking rather shaken from his encounter with Vance earlier.

"You are Mr. Vance right?" A man asked.

"Has the weapons come?" He asked.

"Yes, please come with us." The man said.

Vance nodded slowly, still holding one hand tenderly on Lance's cheek. He turned towards Zari and she felt his eyes piercing her soul. They lingered longingly, silently pleading for her to say that everything was alright. That he could leave whenever he pleased.

The man quickly left the room without another word, taking her heart and leaving a painful void behind him.

Lance sat up gawking left to right, trying to grasp what he was seeing. His vision was blurry and fuzzy around the edges and he was having trouble breathing. He gripped the sides of his head tightly with both hands and let out a groan of frustration.

"I've killed...!" He muttered to himself.

There was someone else who needed saving too, but right now his focus was solely on the problem at hand, not on anyone else's suffering. He tried again to focus on his surroundings but failed.

A dull ache spread itself across his skull and his whole body was shaking uncontrollably. He felt sick to his stomach. His eyes rolled back into his head as the world swam and darkened, his knees buckling beneath him. He fell backwards into the pillows and closed his eyes, giving into the inevitable. The last thing he heard before falling unconscious was someone calling his name.

"You are the hero killer! It's too late to regret!" Zari scolded.

He lay motionless atop the covers, refusing to move even an inch. He refused to open his eyes, afraid of what he might see if he did. All he had ever wished for was to save one person. To make the world a better place. He wanted everyone to be free from fear and oppression.

Lance didn' t want it to be necessary to resort to violence to save people or to stop people from doing bad things. That wasn't who he was supposed to be. And he thought he had made a fair decision in choosing to become a supervillain instead.

He'd always hated bullies and wanted others to feel the same way they did. And here he was, living proof.

"I'm sorry," Lance mumbled tiredly, not bothering to turn his head.

Zari sighed. She knew something had come over him after the incident earlier and she was worried that his condition was affecting his ability to focus. "Please get up." She pleaded, placing a hand on his leg.

Lance remained silent. He was stubborn. Stubborn and reckless. He would have probably been dead by now if he wasn't being controlled. If someone hadn't saved him that fateful day.

"We can't do anything while you lie there, you are not safe right now and you are not helping your case by lying here pretending like nothing has happened." She explained. She took hold of one of his wrists and gently placed his arm next to his head.

After a few moments, she removed her hand and Lance reluctantly opened his eyes.

"How are you feeling?" Zari asked anxiously, sitting cross legged on the side of the bed.

"...Fine..." Was all Lance managed to say.

There was something different about him. He'd been quiet and somber since the events of the past couple days, but now his face seemed blank and his posture rigid, like he was trying to keep a wall up. He was clearly uncomfortable with her presence but he had no intention of letting her go.

It was clear that he needed some time alone to think, so she decided it would be best if she got off the bed to give him some space.

"If you need me, just yell out. Okay?" Zari requested softly.

Lance simply nodded in response. As she moved to stand, Lance's hand shot out and grabbed hers, surprising her. He squeezed it reassuringly before releasing his grip.

"I hate you..." He said.

Zari frowned at that and stepped out of the room to give Lance some privacy. She closed the door quietly and slumped onto the ground, resting her back against the wooden frame.