Work Text:
Breathe in.
Inhale.
Breathe out.
Exhale.
You can see your breath as it rushes past you, disappearing as you feel your Adam`s apple rise up and down with your swallow. The cool grip of the gun against your hands feels nearly clammy in the chilly early morning air, the meager heat of your hands makes the metal almost uncomfortably moist against your grip- but you manage to deal with it alright enough.
Your grip wouldn’t slip, even as your body was wracked with tiny shivers. Not of nervousness, no, but it was still pretty cold up here. You’re perched on the rooftop of a nearby building, the sun just barely starting to come up, tinting the cloudy sky a stone-wall blue.
Inhale, Exhale.
Focus on the noises around you. Not of the birds, or the sound of the waves as they hit the wharf, but of the people near you. The echoing sounds of their shouts through the struggle.
You felt that if you concentrated hard enough, you could almost feel their heartbeats. You were focused on one in particular, though. It hasn’t come into your sights yet, but it would.
Patience.
You could almost feel the fluttering rhythm in your own chest, but your heartbeat stays steady in time with your breathing. You had to keep it steady, forgetting to breathe was bad. It would throw your aim off. You couldn’t forget to breathe right now if you tried. The energy surrounding you has caught up with the wavelength of your mind, and your neurons were running along your spiderweb of thoughts just as easily as electricity runs through a computer.
You were in the moment.
Your colleagues were elsewhere, more specifically, down on the streets fighting below you, you had taken up perch on the building to get a better shooting angle, waiting for the leader of the outfit of thugs below you to show his face. They were among the heartbeats you could hear, but they stood out rather noticeably.
For example, Ace Dick’s heartbeat was loud, thunderous and strong, in time with his frantic breathing. You could almost feel how the energy went from his fist, singing loudly as it made contact with the meaty jaw of the thug he was trading blows with. He was like a volcano, raw strength in its purest form. If ‘No’ was a person, it would be him. You could feel the damage that had already been dealt on him, But he would be alright. He was durable, used to taking hits like that and dishing them back out tenfold. Life would not break him, Not again. Never again. He fights for who he cares about, and it lends him strength beyond what any vim stat boost could ever hope to achieve. He was like a rock, in a storm. He'd always be there to help, even if he would grumble about it the entire time.
He may have been surly, but despite all the outward intimidation and seriousness, he was somebody who would protect his friends with everything he had. Loyal and true.
He was smiling with grit teeth as the man he was facing hit the pavement, clenching and unclenching his fist as he searched for another foe to pummel.
You felt yourself smile with him. He was ok. He would be ok.
Problem Sleuth’s heartbeat...was different. It was the same kind of energy, just as powerful, if not more excited. It was more like a storm. Wild, fluttering, but equally capable of leveling a battlefield if it decided to. It was determined, and capable of adapting to any scenario no matter which way the winds would change. Resolve in its most ionic form.
He dodged under the knife of a would-be attacker, whipping his eyes up wildly, excitedly.
The detective was still somebody to respect. Admire, even, with the energy he gave trying to help others. Even if it got him into trouble sometimes, it reminded you that he was not all ego and hard-boiled. Not a deity, not somebody on a pedestal, but a friend you could trust to reassure you when the going got tough and who lead your team to victory. He had his faults, but they helped him, in a way. Like the cracks of a vase, gilded with gold, that made him shine all the brighter.
He rolled past a second attack, and slammed his elbow down on the criminal’s back, smirking cheekily as they went down. He roared his triumph to the heavens, and what felt like right in your ear. Ow.
“TAKE THAT, YOU SURLY SON OF A BITCH!”
He was still a total asshole, honestly. Some things never changed, but you were glad that he was ok too.
Inhale. Exhale.
You peered down through your scope as the man you were targeting came into view, cross-hairs aligned in the perfect position. You were easily distracted, that was true, but you could think of many things at once. It was a talent, even if it meant you made people a little uncomfortable when you ogled at them on accident. But at this moment…
BANG!
All you were thinking about how you were able to sense everything, including the stopping of the man’s heartbeat. Just in time, you thought. He was just about to shoot your unawares team-mates while they were occupied with the hired thugs.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Your teammates may have had their own talents, but you were second to none when it came to aiming.