Chapter 16: Chapter 16: Friends Meet

Being able to finally talk to my best friend like this was kinda relieving in a way. No longer would I have to lie or give half-truths whenever she asked what I've been up to, no longer would I have to hide Mimica.

And Rachel seemed to agree as well, even if she hadn’t said it out loud. She was so much more open about her life now that I know her big secret. 

She talked about her hero teammates, their personalities, their funny little quirks they all had, and etc. Like how apparently Silver Fist is a big softie when he's out of costume, but I was a little doubtful of that from what I've seen of him in costume.

She continued to talk about her hero life, until she leaned back and let out a sigh.

“You know, I’m actually a little envious of you.” She started, “Vigilantes have so much more freedom.”

“What do you mean?”

“Being a hero is mostly just paperwork and laws that prevent us from going out and chasing villains like vigilantes can. The only reason we were even here today was because we got a report of an explosion.” She looked towards me. “Which I assume is your doing?”

“Technically that was Trick, but I did help in a way.”

She nodded. “Still, it let us find their base because of that. Who knows how long it would’ve taken us to find it.”

“You ever thought about just...dropping it all?” I asked curiously. “You know, drop being a hero and become a vigilante?”

“Plenty of times…” She sighed. “The lack of restrictions is certainly tempting, but even still, I don’t want to stop being a hero. Guardian is a symbol to this city, and it would be hard to continue being one if I was a vigilante. The media would have a field day with that one.

“Guardian goes rogue! Guardian’s path to villainy!” She said in a mocking tone. “Doesn’t matter what the truth is, they just know that a headline like that will sell like hotcakes.”

“Seems like being the number one hero in town has its downsides,” I added.

“Heh, you can say that again.” She responded. “I’m just glad that you and your team are there to step up where us heroes are falling behind. Just keep up...the good...work…”

Her speech slowed and she started to slump forward slowly, before she snapped herself back up. She put a hand to her head and grimaced.

“R-Rachel..?” I worriedly asked. “I-Is everything okay?”

She blinked a few times before letting out a big sigh. She put on her mask and opened the car door. She got out and stood just outside the door, looking behind the car.

“We have company.” 

Huh? Company?

I glanced towards the car's back windows, only to see Eve in her disguise standing just behind the car with a shocked expression. She looked a little roughed up, but she didn’t look injured so that’s a relief.

I quickly got out of the car, ignoring the bits of pain from my bruised body as I tried to get closer to Eve.

Rachel acted before I could even get a chance to speak. She held her hand up, and shortly after a small translucent barrier in the shape of a ring appeared around Eve. A split second later and it shrunk to the point that it restrained her from moving.

“Ra-Guardian stop! She’s a friend!” I exclaimed in a hurry. I hope she only restrained her and didn’t injure her.

“Ah, I assume this is Trick?” Rachel asked and I quickly nodded. “I see.”

She loosened the restraints, but not enough for Eve to escape.

“Why aren’t you asleep!” Eve exclaimed with a frown as she struggled to escape. “I’m confident that my illusion hit you!”

Rachel sighed and looked at Eve with a look of disbelief.

“What do you think? How could a hero with the power of barriers stop your attack?” She said. A moment passed where she waited for Eve to answer. She sighed again. “A mental barrier. To stop mind-based powers like yours, or at least help defend against them.” 

She undid her powers and set Eve free, who gave her a glare before walking over towards me. She quickly wrapped me up in a hug, and I winced and sucked in a breath as she accidentally touched my injuries. 

“S-Sorry,” Eve said as she broke away and eyed my bandages. “How are you holding up? We panicked when we lost contact with you…”

“I’m doing better, but I'm probably going to be sore for like a week,” I said with a smile to cheer her up. “Wait...we? Are you able to talk with Ghost?”

I heard Rachel chuckle to herself while muttering something about being a ‘medium’, but I ignored it as I focused on Eve.

“Yeah I’ve been talking with her, it’s only your end that’s messed up. Ghost says you likely broke the communicator during your fight.” A moment passed where I assume she was listening to Ghost talk to her. “Also, she says you're getting an earful when you get home. But she’s glad that you're safe, we both are.”

Phew. I was worried that the lack of communication meant she was in trouble, but I’m glad to see that everyone came out of this safe and sound. Well...mostly.

“Wait, can’t Ghost see through my gear?” I asked as I pointed towards my eyes that had the contacts she made. “Shouldn’t you two have known I was okay then?”

Eve looked like she forgot that it worked like that, and she relayed my question to Ghost for me. “Turns out, she linked your communicator and contacts to work off each other. She figured if you ever need privacy while you had them on you could just switch the communicator off. Guess she forgot to tell you that.”

Guess that explains why they were worried about me. If the communicator broke, then the contacts probably malfunctioned along with it. 

“More importantly…” Eve started as she turned towards Rachel with a frown, who just waved back with a smile. “Why are you hanging around a hero? I can’t imagine someone with your history being on the best terms with one.”

“We’re fr-”

“Jason is a friend of mine, but I’m not quite sure of what you mean by his “history”.” Rachel started with a smile. But what does she mean? She knows who I am, she should know why Eve is saying that.

“Surely you’re not implying that my friend Jason here could be on the wrong side of the law, as a hero I’d have to take such accusations seriously.” Rachel said with a wink towards me. “If you’re right, then by the hero code I would have to take him down to HQ for questioning. But surely this is all a misunderstanding, right?”

Oh, I think I see now.

“Of course, forgive me I must have misspoke,” Eve said as she caught on. “He’s done nothing that you need to worry about.”

“Good.” Rachel nodded.

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“...and I’m sorry for attempting to put an illusion on you,” Eve admitted with an apologetic smile. “I didn’t realize the two of you were friends, I just thought he was captured by a hero and tried to bust him out.”

“Water under the bridge.” She responded with a shrug, before she started walking towards us. When she was just a foot or so away she stopped and pulled out a small gray business card. She held it towards Eve, who frowned and just looked at it.

“What’s that?” She asked.

“It has my number on it, my private hero number. If you and Jason ever find yourself in trouble, then just call this number. The Phantoms are getting closer and closer to their end, and a cornered animal is the most dangerous. So feel free to call if you need the assistance.” Rachel said as she pushed the card closer to Eve.

Eve nodded and reached over to grab the card and gripped it, but as soon as she did Rachel grabbed her wrist and tugged her forward. 

“You better take good care of Jay or else,” Rachel whispered as she leaned in. “If I ever see him in this state again, hero restrictions be damned, I'm coming after you.”

Eve quickly nodded. “Of course we will, he’s our friend after all.”

“Good.” She said as she backed away. “And Jay?”

“Y-yeah?” I responded.

She looked like she wanted to say something, but shook her head and let out a sigh. 

“Just stay safe okay? And if you ever need a place to stay, know that my house is always open to you.”

“I will,” I nodded with a smile.

“I wish I had known about your living situation before this so I could have helped, but I understand why you didn't want to tell me,” She said before she started walking back to the driver's seat of her car. “You two are in pretty bad shape, hop in and I’ll take you home.”

I started to take a step, before Eve grabbed my shoulder and stopped me.

“Our ride is already on its way here, but thanks for the offer. Plus, you’re not getting the location of our hideout that easily.” Eve said.

“Can’t blame a girl for trying.” Rachel said as she opened the door. “I’m beat. I think I’m going to go home, change, and then get some coffee.”

I flinched, surely she didn’t mean…

“You wouldn’t happen to be mentioning our usual place, would you?” I tentatively asked.

“Yep! Why? You wanna come with?” She asked.

“N-no, I think I'm good.” 

“Shame, well see you two around later. Hope you get home safe.” She said as she hopped in. She turned the car on and drove away, leaving me and Eve standing there.

“Eve.”

“Yeah?”

“We’re going through the back entrance when we get home.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

When we made it home we managed to get upstairs without being seen by Rachel. Thank god for the back door. Once we made it up the stairs, I was nearly tackled over by a blur of purple hair. 

I looked down at Skye who had wrapped me up in a tight hug, and I tried to ignore the butterflies in my stomach and the burning on my face. This is just a friend hug, just a friend hug...

“H-hey, Skye?” 

“Hmm?” She responded without lifting up her head.

“I-I can’t breathe…”

She hesitated, but eventually peeled herself away. When she did, I felt my blood run cold as she looked up at me. She was pissed…Just how badly did I worry her?

I’m not getting out of this am I...

“Good luck,” Eve said as she patted my shoulder and went to her room.

“Jason,” Skye said with a cold tone. 

“Y-Yes?”

“My lab. Now.”

The next hour was probably one of the worst experiences in my life, Skye made sure I knew well just how badly I scared her and Eve. How she wanted me to never push my powers like that again. She knew I didn't really have a choice at the time but she still wanted to drive the point home of how she didn't want me ever getting that hurt again.

When the hour was over, she let me go. Only stopping me once when I reached the door out of the lab.

“Jason.” 

“Y-Yes?” I worriedly asked.

“Thank you...for coming home safe...” She said with a slightly embarrassed expression as she glanced away.

I smiled.

“Glad to be home.”

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