"Come in!" Alice called. Will's silver hair was starting to grow long, his body still told the story from that night. Burns and other injuries still visible on his skin, a story that no one could read. That night was a blur to everyone, well, almost everyone. A fire started by the crimson haired girl, thought to be self defense, but maybe it was more than that
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Xander looked over his friend's body with a shudder. He sat next to Alice and glanced at her sideways. A few tears were already welling up in his eyes. He cried literally every time he came to visit Will, and it was embarrassing.
"Alice… I know it was her. She recognized me," he said, rubbing the corner of one of his eyes to wipe some of the tears away.
Alice got up from her seat and hugged him tightly, "we'll look for her, okay? But I'm not looking for the entire group," Alice shivered, she was in the gym when it happened, but she stood no chance. "If I was stronger," she muttered, her voice cracking and a tear rolling down her face, "maybe Will wouldn't be still asleep, maybe.. maybe Scarlett would still be here." Her face streaming with tears as she let go of him, "if it really was her, we'll find her,"
"But she was… quite literally killing people. Do you think it's as simple as 'go find her'?" Xander asked, his voice very quiet and fragile.
He pressed a hand to his ear as a sharp ringing sound pierced through the quiet of the hospital room.
He frowned before responding. "I think we all feel the same. I watched an upperclassman die right in front of me, trying to protect me. If I'd even had the strength to move… Damn I wish I'd had the strength to move, even if it meant going to hide so I wouldn't be in the way."
He said that, but his injuries from the attack had been so bad that he spent almost two months in the hospital, and over a grueling year in physical therapy. He ended up graduating later than most of his peers because of everything.
"I know for sure that they are in the city, but I'm not sure where. If she's here, we'll find her." She gave a warm smile and grabbed her things, "Hang in there," She whispered, leaving the room.
As Alice left, Xander leaned over Will's bedside, looking down the length of his body. Even if he did wake up, would he ever be the same?
"Are you still even in there, Will?" he whispered, eying the heart monitor.
Xander reached out a hand to touch Will's fingertips, but they were ice-cold. He wasn't sure what he expected. Even when he was alive and well, his touch had always been unsurprisingly freezing.
"I should be here instead… I'm trying to do what you couldn't, and frankly, I'm not cut out for it."
Scarlett walked around town, buying food and looking at shops, "Ahh what a nice day!" She laid back in her seat, munching on a crepe. She thought about seeing Xander again, He looked rough, bad day I guess.. She thought to herself, "Maybe I should visit will.." She muttered
Xander rarely visited Will, but when he did, he stayed for a long time. He always mulled over the what-ifs and unfortunately, he often relived that day over and over again. Truly, even being here was incredibly triggering, and he probably wouldn't get a good night's rest for days if things went how they normally did.
"Maybe it wasn't her- maybe I was hallucinating," Xander muttered to himself, "I don't usually experience psychosis, but- ugh…"
He sat back down in his chair next to where Alice had been. Her spot had already gone cold.
Scarlett strolled into the hospital, she signed in to see Will and noticed Xander's name, she laughed and made her way to the room. Heels clacking, she walked, making it to the room. She flung the door open and walked in, looking directly at Xander.
Xander froze when Scarlett walked in. He should have attacked, but he stopped like a deer in headlights. He may have been a bit hard to recognize at first, with the scarring across his face, and years of worry and grief etched into his features. But he was still the same guy she had known from school. And after the fight at the runway, it was clear she knew exactly who she was dealing with.
Scarlett had always been a bad matchup for him- not necessarily stronger, but his powers were often burned alive when matched against her.
"What are you doing here?! Are you looking for trouble?" Xander cried, "All these years and- we meet again like that. Give me one reason not to turn you in right here, right now."
"Oh quiet," She walked to the side of his bed, looking at Will, "I'm just here to visit, don't make a big deal over nothing." She crossed her arms and starred at him, "You know, I came here a few months after that night, it's been a while huh." She reached out and touched his hand, "Do you even know why he's like this?"
"I wouldn't call it 'nothing,'" Xander murmured through gritted teeth, "Killing people… like it's nothing…"
Yet, when Scarlett spoke about visiting and posed him a new question, his hostility decreased.
"I… don't, really. I'm the wrong person to ask. They weren't sure I was going to wake up either, you know- or maybe you don't know. I missed a lot of the details early on and woke up to a list of the dead, the wounded beyond recovery… I never asked much about it, Scarlett. It hurt too much, and it's not like I could do anything."
She let go of his hand and looked at Xander, "Maybe next time we meet I'll tell you what's wrong with him." She walked towards the door and paused before the door, "How have you been," She asked, "It's been a long time."
"How have I been?" Xander asked uneasily.
There was no good answer to the question. A noncommittal "oh, I've been well," was not the right answer here. Yet the truth- the fact that he was tormented with nightmares, beared the mantle of several fallen heroes and heroes-to-be, and had been through hell managing his own physical pain and recovering properly- seemed as if it was oversharing.
"It's been a tough five years. Not what I would've hoped at all," Xander replied, "How about you? What have you even been doing all this time? Why show up now?"
"That's good," She turned his way, "It's good to see you again, you know." With a large sigh, she spoke again, "I've been training, training my flames, and I know why Will is still asleep." Scarlett turned away and opened the door, "That's enough for today, goodbye."
"Wait!" Xander called.
Yet, he had no clue what he might say to her. What was there to say? He was too shocked and hesitant to fight back, and while he could turn her in, he didn't really want to.
"Wait! Where should I meet you?!" he finally finished, standing and reaching towards the door as if it was going to stop Scarlett from getting away.
Scarlett stopped, she turned to face him. Walking towards Xander, she smiled, "You'll never find me unless I want to be found, but don't worry, you'll see me soon," She grabbed Xander and embraced him in a hug
Xander stiffened a bit when Scarlett hugged him. He was still horribly shocked by the situation. And no way was he having hallucinations this vivid. It was all real. Xander wanted to ask how the hell she had such close tabs on him, why she hadn't visited when he actually needed her- a million questions, really. Yet he couldn't even form the word "why" on his lips.
"I'll- I'll see you, then," he said, still shaken, confused, and dying to talk to someone.
However, if earlier was any indicator, Alice would probably blow him off again.
Scarlett let go of him and waved, walking away Taka appeared next to her, then whisking her away.
The second Scarlett disappeared, Xander turned to Will.
"I'm going to get to the bottom of this, okay? And if that means I can figure out how to make you better, then I'll put in everything I have."
Xander started on his way home. His equilibrium was most certainly off, which the doctor said was to be expected. When he got back, one of his roommates, Isolde, who was a lesser known hero, and also in the attack five years ago, was sitting on the couch, crouched with her knees pulled up to her chest. She had her laptop on the coffee table.
"Xander! You're home! I was beginning to worry. I saw the news reports. They blocked off most of the heroes from getting to the crime scene, and you disappeared shortly thereafter, but you didn't come home right away.
He was starting to get used to the muffled hearing. At least he had his other ear still.
"I left to get checked out, and I visited Will."
"Have you even seen what's going on?"
Xander shook his head and leaned over her shoulder. "No, not beyond what I witnessed."
(I'm gonna throw in a new character, if that's cool! Feel free to add a third roommate as well!)
(That's totally fine :)
"Why even see them, you're not friends anymore." Taka complained,
"Oh put a sock in it." She rolled her eyes and headed to Omen's room. She opened the door and walked inside, "Scarlett," He spoke softly, "I need you to attack *** Middle school, lot's of kids from there transfer to school that train heroes, burn it to ashes." She nodded, "What's the big plan anyway, taking the city is going to be harder than you think."
"Don't doubt me," He laughed, "This time, I will step in,"
Xander sat down and promptly explained the situation with Scarlett, how he had most certainly seen her.
Isolde frowned as she listened.
"Xander, if it really was her, something is very wrong here. If not, you need to get help."
"I know that. I'm not stupid."
"I know you're not."
Isolde locked eyes with him.
The third roommate walked in the door, he wasn't all that strong so he wasn't a hero, "What are you guys talking about..?" He asked, setting his keys down. He had met Xander a while ago and became friends
Isolde crossed her arms, then pointed at her computer screen, an article about the airport attacks.
"Have you seen all this? Xander was there, and-"
She looked to Xander expectantly, leaving it to him whether to tell his other roommate about the encounter or not. He looked away and explained again. He must've sounded crazy.
"sooo.. your dead friend is the one that turned the airport into a fireball.." he gave Xander a weird look, "Isn't she like.. dead?"
"I… thought so," Xander replied uneasily, "But I never saw her body. To be fair, I never saw anyone's body with as long as I was out."
"That's true," Isolde agreed, "I saw most of them, but never Scarlett."
Xander frowned. "Yeah, I guess you would know better than anyone, huh? You were the first one able to do triage and treatment. And doubtless, you saw a lot of dead…"
Isolde shrugged. The situation had been horrific, but she was over it. After all, it had shaped her and her hero work greatly, and she did manage to save a lot of the wounded from bleeding to death.
He smiled and got up, "well this isn't my problem, I'm not a hero so go find your murderer friend," he smiled and got up, heading to his room
"He's not asking you to find her, you little bitch," Isolde snapped, "If you actually cared about our friend's wellbeing, the least you could do is pretend like you cared about the situation at hand."
Isolde was very much an open book when she disliked something. No need to lead them on hoping for friendship, right? The only reason she stayed here was because of the lower rent and her friendship with Xander. The other roommate got on her nerves horribly and it left her seething that Xander considered him a friend.
"I didn't know you guys before you were attacked, and I sure as hell am not being a part of a fireball maniac that blew up the airport! Those villains are trapping us in this city, if you didn't realize, were trapped." He stood on the stairs, yelling at her, "all my ability can do is repair inanimate objects, so no thank you!"
"Look, you don't need to be part of that," Xander agreed softly, "But what do you mean? The airport has been blown into oblivion, but the rails and roads are still intact, no?"
Isolde glanced at their roommate, now more confused than angry. "Yeah, what exactly did you mean by that?"