Chapter Text
William sits under the moonlight, the stars twinkling at him in an almost angry way. As if to say "fuck you". Honestly, he thinks he should call in and report a new constellation, they could call it 'the moon's middle finger' because currently, he's pretty damn sure that the moon is flipping him off. It's probably deserved, after all his mentor did once say something about harnessing the power of the moon. And if the moon is anything like the spirits, then it most likely doesn't want its power harvested. But he wouldn't worry if he were the moon, he doesn't think Mal is even strong enough to take the moon's power (he could be wrong though, he's learnt to not underestimate Mal).
Speaking of Mallard Conway, where is the asshole? Because William is getting tired of waiting for him on a roof. Look, he knows that the mission could be 'highly dangerous' and to have someone inexperienced there could 'jeopardize everything' but when it comes to having to wait on a roof for three hours, you tend to get fucking bored. And curious. Look, you can't blame William, it's in his nature. Honestly, if William ever said that he wasn't curious Mallard would shoot him on the spot, either for lying or being an imposter (or possessed, but they're not too sure if that's even possible). The only reason he hasn't sneaked in to at least watch what's going on is because Mal basically told him that if he did, he would be chained in his bedroom for the next month (and Mal always seems to know when William is there). It was already a stretch for Will to just be here, and he doesn't want to push his luck with Mallard anymore than he has. But… It's just really boring.
Will could be solving mysteries right now, he could be practicing his power, or, or spying on people! But here he is, stuck on a roof, eyes focused on the building below in case he gets a signal to come in and help. It's not even an interesting building. It just looks like an office building, identical to every other structure in the city. And it's night time too, so Will can't even go down into the streets and listen in on a dumb conversation (not because he could get mugged, but because there's probably no one awake enough to have an interesting conversation). Really, he's starting to regret coming altogether. He could've stayed at home and gotten some proper sleep, but instead he's stuck on a roof.
The most interesting thing that's happened so far was watching someone get mugged in the alley next to his building. But other than that it's just been cars passing by and lone people walking on the sidewalks. He does have to admit that the city is pretty beautiful at night. With everything illuminated in yellow light, and the darkness everywhere else, it is a nice sight to see (and one that he doesn't get to see often, considering how little he gets out of the house). It's strangely calm and serene, even with all the sound coming from below.
And he's so caught up in it that maybe it's the reason he didn't hear a person climb up the side of the building, either that or he was just too tired to notice.
"Hey"
William is so startled that he almost falls off the ledge, saved by a hand reaching out and grabbing his shoulder to stop him from tumbling over the side.
"Jesus Christ!" William whips around and comes face-to-face with a hero. He recognizes them as Virion, virtually the apprentice to The Hexpert and Silhouette. If he were anyone one else he'd be fanning over getting to have a superhero talk one-on-one with him. But he's not anyone else, he's William Wisp, so he is not overjoyed, nope, instead he is in the middle of talking himself down from a heart attack.
He wonders if this is it. If this is the end of the line for him. If he's about to be arrested and dragged off to an inescapable prison to be sat down and forced to wait for death. But then Virion speaks up again.
"Sorry! Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, god, are you okay?"
William gets less than a half second to be relieved and thankful that he's not wearing his get up right now, that to this hero, he's just some teen sitting on the edge of a roof.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine, didn't know you were there"
Briefly they are plunged into awkward silence, and William is hit with the realization that Virion must not be very experienced with conversing with civilians, seeing as he's acting like he didn't want to even be here.
"Right, sorry again" the hero speaks up. "I was just wondering what a kid was doing sitting alone on a roof"
And okay, yeah, that doesn't really sound the best when spoken aloud, but William will just have to improvise. "I'm waiting for my dad"
"You're dad? Why are you waiting on a building?"
Good point. William almost feels like he's playing a game, he says something, gets a flaw pointed out, and then corrects it. It's the kind of thing Mal would pull on him to help improve his quick thinking.
"My dad's an electrician, he's working here and told me I could wait up here, so I could look at the stars"
"Why doesn't he work during the day?"
And there it is, the counter-argument, the reason why he's wrong, or lying.
"He takes the night jobs, no one else wants to do them, so he gets paid more"
Silently William prays that that's a thing and if it isn't, that Virion isn't very knowledgeable on electricians. Luckily, either Will knows what he's talking about or Virion doesn't, because the hero takes the bait and swims along with it until he's out of the water.
"Oh alright, well, I just wanted to make sure that you were alright, and uh… To be honest I'm really bored"
And of course he doesn't leave, why would William ever have anything go his way? Instead the hero sits down next to him, feet dangling off the edge.
"Aren't you a hero? Is saving people too boring for you?"
Virion just rolls his eyes. "It's nice when I'm actually doing things, but if you haven't noticed this side of town doesn't have much crime, so currently, I'm just aimlessly strolling around town. You looked like the type to be lonely, or need some life-advice"
Oh if only he knew. William's almost tempted to say that there's literally a super-villain in the building in front of them, he doesn't, not just to save himself from being skinned alive by Mal, but to also save Virion from the humiliation.
"Ah, so you didn't actually care if I was in need, I'm just a temporary distraction"
Virion snaps his fingers, and William can tell that underneath the mask, he's grinning. "Exactly!"
"Aren't you supposed to be the good guy? You don't admit to someone that they're just your entertainment"
"I try to be real," Virion says in clear sarcasm.
"Well, it's nice to try things out," William says with a smugness in his tone.
In response Virion doubles over, laughing. And for a moment, William thinks about how easy it would be to just… push. He could plant his hand on the hero's back and send him over the edge; it'd probably be so unexpected that Virion might not be able to save himself in time. And sure, the drop probably wouldn't kill him immediately, but it wouldn't be so hard for William to float down afterwards and break his ribs. His lungs would be punctured and he'd suffocate, and no one would be the wiser, the only person who'd know would be William. Everyone else would think it was an accident.
And he freezes. William finds that his hand is semi raised, but it's that thought that stops him. Only William would know, everyone else would think it was an accident. He doesn't know why, but he hates that. He hates the idea of someone thinking that Virion tripped more than he hates the thought of going to jail, or dying. In a jerky movement he plants his hand firm on the roof, digging in with his nails a bit.
"I have to go," he says, pretending to check his phone, and then quickly dashing for the stairway. He can feel Virion's gaze on his back.
"Oh, alright, bye then" the hero calls out to him, sounding confused.
William makes a sound that could vaguely be considered as a goodbye, and then he's dashing down the stairs, pulling his hoodie up as he goes and darting out of the building. It's not hard to find a deserted alleyway and to plant himself in a corner, darting in-between of being invisible, intangible and normal.
When Mal shows up two hours later he finds William crumpled in a ball, flickering between states, tears running down his eyes. And William can practically feel his disappointment.
Without a word Mallard takes him by the arm, pulls him, and waves the other hand. In front of them a portal appears, and William follows Mal back into the spirit world.
Back to where he can be whole.
Back to his home.
Back to his death.
Back on the rooftop is a dark indigo haired boy with pointed ears, he watches as the boy who was about to kill him runs away. He calls out a confused goodbye, as if he isn't fully aware of the fact that this teenager had raised his hand and was ready to push him off the roof.
Look, Vyncent isn't as dumb as most think he is. Sure he likes to joke around sometimes, and do stupid things. But he knows how to live, he knows when someone is going to kill him. He also knows how to read people.
He truly was just looking for a distraction. And if that distraction came in the form of a ghostly pale teen standing on the edge of a building, then so be it. But there was something else, when Vyn startled him and the kid nearly fell off the roof, he saw something. An impeccable fear, and it first he thought it was because he was falling, but in the moments after, he realized that the fear was trailed on Vyncent . That for some reason, this kid was true, deeply scared of him, and yet unphased by the possibly fatal drop.
And as he spoke to him, he seemed to be challenging him, as if telling him to find a flaw in his story so he could fix it. As if he was looking for a reason for Vyncent to turn and snap at him.
And then there was the hand. While Vyncent laughed he saw out of the corner of his eye a pale hand reaching towards his back, but when he glanced at the kid's eyes they seemed glossed over, like he was in a form of trance. And when he seemed to realize what he was doing horror crossed his face. And then he fled.
Vyncent wonders what made him lift a hand. He wonders what made him stop. He wonders if this kid even has a dad who's working through the night. He wonders if he'll see him again.
For some reason, he finds that he wants to see him again.
(For some reason, he wants this mystery boy as a friend)
And then he feels an alert ping to his watch and in the place where Vyncent once was is a speck of dust and a teardrop.
Dokota is having the time of his life. No, really! Nothing beats waking up at seven am sharp, taking a shower, eating a stingy breakfast and getting on a bus to head to school. A school where all of his friends give him pitying looks and the teachers frown at him when he can't focus on his work and suggest that maybe he should see the counselor. It's fan-freaking-tastic.
So he ditches. Whatever, they had gym and math left, and he's either too good or too bad at those subjects for it to matter. Instead he spends his time wandering the streets. There's not really anyone around, it is Monday after all, everyone's either going to be working or at school. He walks past a TV telling the news, something or other about some new villain that's recently showed up, he's not really listening.
Instead he turns the corner and sees the most strange sight possible. There, sitting on a bench, a coffee in hand is a hero. Well, more of a hero in training really, but a hero nonetheless. He's known as Winter and is someone that Dakota idolizes. Well, Dakota idolizes every hero, but Winter is someone that he puts in high regards. As it is known that Winter doesn't actually have any powers. Instead he just carries a book around, and from it summons never before seen magic. It's awesome!
Winter just glances at him, gray hair obscuring half of his face, and a scarf obscuring the other half, Dakota only really gets a glimpse of dark eyes.
"Watcha' doing?" Dakota says, eagerly walking up to the superhero. Winter just seems to shrink into himself, his shoulders hunched in an almost defensive position as if he really doesn't want to be here.
"Oh y'know… on a coffee break" and he holds up his drink, taking a sip from it as if to prove that he really, truly is on a coffee break.
"Cool! I'm not allowed coffee, my aunt says it makes me too hyper, which, like how is that a problem? The more energized I am the more I can kick ass! But I guess you're allowed coffee, you look tired, is being a hero tiring?"
Winter just blinks at him for a moment. "Don't you have school?"
"Yeah, but it's just gym and math. And I'm already the best at gym, there's no point in me taking it, I get more exercise out here! And then there's math which is just so boring, like, come up with something actually interesting. I don't see a point in going to that one. Besides, you're like, my age and you don't go to school"
"I take online classes" Winter says, and it's so slow, honestly how long does it take for a word to pass through one's air pipe? Although he supposed that he might be being a bit much, he's been told he can get like that. But he's just really excited to be meeting a hero! The closest he's ever gotten is having been corralled away from a fight scene by Ms.Gilbert, and that was fucking awesome!
"Oh, I guess that makes sense, being a hero and all. What's it like being a superhero?"
Winter just sits up a bit. "What's your name?"
"Dakota Cole!"
"Well, uh, Dakota, um, being a hero is… it's dangerous and kind of terrifying and I almost die everyday"
"Awesome!"
"Uh, how is that awesome?"
"You get to save people, duh. And kick villain ass while doing it! I wanna be a hero, but I don't really have any powers, or magical things. But that's why I'm training to be super strong!" Dakota looks at Winter and sees an almost amused expression on his face.
"You train?"
"Yep! I could probably carry you no problem. And I'm pretty used to parkouring around the city. The hope is to be able to carry someone and parkour around the city by the end of the year!" Dokata says excitedly. "If you want I could show you!"
"Oh, um, okay, but I'm not too great at the whole strength and parkour thing. That's more of a Vy- Virion type deal"
"That's okay, I'll take the easier routes, and I won't let you fall"
And that's how Ashe Winters finds himself following an overly hyper red haired kid on top of a roof. It's honestly terrifying, and while he has a magical book to catch him, Dakota doesn't. Instead the kid is jumping over roof gaps and swinging on poles like it's nothing. Ashe hesitantly follows, it seems that Dakota gets that Ashe isn't the best at this and tends to help him whenever he's having an issue.
Eventually (Ashe has no idea how) they make it on top of some kind of cathedral, where they get a pretty good view of the city.
"Well that was terrifying" Ashe says, clinging onto the building with a death grip. All the intricate patterns on the roof make it harder to keep his footing, and also harder to fall off, he supposes.
"I know! It was great!"
Ashe has discovered that he and Dakota have very different definitions of great. Dakota glances back at him, and Ashe can tell that he looks disheveled, he's out of breath, and sweating and his muscles hurt. This is better than the training room, why don't the heroes send every person to just run around the city?
"Here's your coffee" and holy shit, Dakota carried his coffee the entire way there.
"Thanks" Ashe takes it and it is somehow still warm. Even with all the wind and shit it's still warm, how did Dakota keep it warm? Actually y'know what, better question, how is Dakota still alive? Because he is more reckless than any hero, villain, or teenager that Ashe has ever met.
"How is this still warm?"
"I have warm hands!"
And Ashe just looks at him with a dumbfounded expression. "You carried this up here, with your hands"
"Well, yeah, how else was I going to? With my feet? Actually, that sounds pretty cool, new goal! Carry a drink up here with my feet!"
Ashe is just going to ignore that last part and silently cross his fingers that he didn't just indirectly get Dakota killed "I mean, I just, I thought you might've put it in your pocket. How are you not dead?"
"I dunno, probably luck"
Somehow this random kid manages to impress him more and more every second that he talks to him. Ashe recalls someone once saying that there was a fine line between 'brave' and 'stupid' but somehow Dakota manages to blur that line until it's none existent.
Ashe's thoughts are cut off by a phone ringing, and he watches as Dakota's face drops, before he takes out his phone.
"Shit"
"What's wrong?" Ashe asks
"Oh, um, I'm supposed to be home. Damn, she's going to have my head, um" and then Dakota answers the phone, listening for a moment. "Sorry Aunt Cas, I'm uh, I'm out with a friend… mhm… yup… okay, yeah, I'll see you in a bit… yes ma'am!" And then he hangs up. "Okay, um, my aunt is going to kill me if I don't get home in an hour, so let's get you down from here, and then I gotta run"
"Oh, uh, alright"
The route down is much quicker and easier than the way up, but Ashe is pretty sure that that's because Dakota was in a rush. Honestly, Ashe is impressed by Dakota's physical prowness. He jumps and swings around the city like he's been doing it his whole life, like he's just meant to be doing this. His movement could rebel Vyncent's, and this kid isn't even a hero. Actually from what Ashe has gathered, Dakota was entirely self taught.
"Anyways, I've got to go, bye!" Dakota says, looking like he's about to sprint off.
Ashe finds that he's strangely sad to see the red haired boy leave. He's only known him for a couple of hours but there's an odd friendship there.
"Wait!" Ashe calls after him, the other completely pausing in his running, doing a strange kind of pirouette to turn around. "If, uh, if you're ever skipping out on school again – which you shouldn't do! – but if you are, I'll probably be at that coffee place again. If you wanted to stop by, I'll be there tomorrow"
And Dakota's face lights up, the teen giving him a brisk nod before turning around and running off with the words of: "see you tomorrow!" Briefly, Ashe wonders if he just indirectly became the reason that Dakota might fail school, before deciding that it isn't his problem.
His thoughts are cut off by the sound of an alarm going off. He quickly checks the time and discovers that it's time for him to start his patrol.
"Shit!" And Ashe runs off to go back to being a hero.