Hero & Villain

Falcon | 1515w

  "She doesn't have any kids."

  I stare at him, my mind whirring. If she doesn't have kids, and she's an ex-Villain, and I just heard a child's voice from inside her house...

  As soon as the door swings open I'm moving. I lunge forward, shoving the woman out of the way and hurrying to find the little girl. My priority is to keep her safe, and once I've achieved that I'll have all the time I need to deal with her kidnapper.

  To my surprise, I find her almost immediately, sitting on the carpet in a living room, an unfinished puzzle sprawled out in front of her. She seems surprised to see me, but after a moment she squeals and jumps to her feet. "You're Falcon!" She exclaims, looking a little awed.

  "Yes," I reply simply, still feeling confused. If she's not being hurt by her kidnapper then... what's going on?

  I walk forward, holding out my hands. I'm happy when she only seems a little hesitant to hold them, and I promptly swing her up into my arms. She giggles into my ear, then gasps and a moment later I feel her very gently petting the tops of my wings.

  "Are you okay?" I ask softly, looking toward the doorway where I would have expected an attack to already have come from. Unless the ex-Villain went after Macer instead of me.

  "I'm happy." I hear her mumble as I creep back towards the front door. I hear the woman and Macer talking about the girl, and it finally dawns on me that if Macer trusts her, maybe she isn't completely awful after all. In any case, he seems to be handling her just fine, so I retreat back to the living room and set the girl down.

  "Help me!" She squeals suddenly, and I jerk my head down to look at her in alarm. I feel stupid when I see that she's holding pieces to the puzzle and looking up at me imploringly.

  I let out a breath and sink to the carpet, answering her questions as I mindlessly help with the puzzle. My mind strays back to a few minutes ago. Macer kissed me. More than once? If what he said is true then he kissed me in my normal form too.

  My nose wrinkles as I wonder if I kissed him back. I don't... hate him. Do I like him more in my normal form? Probably, I trust people easier then.

  Why wouldn't I kiss him back? I like him just fine. I like him just great. I like him... a lot.

  "Falcon?" I hear, and snap out of my thoughts.

  "Hm?" I ask, blinking.

  "Where'd your wings go?" The little girl asks, puzzle forgotten for the time being. Why am I doing a puzzle with a little girl? What was I doing last?

  I was with Macer, in mid air, asking to be dropped. I gasp and cover my mouth in embarrassment as I remember that I kissed him. So the little girl must be the kid we were looking for, who Macer saved from my old foster parents.

  "They go away when I don't need them," I answer her question simply, looking her over for any injuries. To my relief I can't find any, but I don't believe for a second that sadistic couple changed their ways. "Are you okay?"

  She giggles, leaning against my arm. "You already asked me that. I'm happy!"

  When I smile I realize I still have my mask on, and quickly remove it. "I'm happy that you're happy. Why are you happy?"

  She starts back on the puzzle, clumsily trying to slot pieces into place. "Ms. Amelia came and got me from school and she said she was taking me away from the mean people!" She exclaims happily, shoving a puzzle piece into my hands.

  I smile when I hear Amelia's name, figuring she must have volunteered to take care of the girl until a new family could be found. I wonder if I brought the girl to Amelia and that's why I'm doing a puzzle with her on Amelia's floor. It must be, right?

  I let myself relax a little, and focus on helping the girl finish her puzzle.

  I'm not sure how much time has passed when she suddenly gasps, looking delighted. "Wow..." she breathes, staring at me.

  I fold my hands in my lap nervously, eyes wide as I look at her. "Wh-What?" I ask.

  She climbs to her feet, stepping closer to me and reaching out to pet my hair. I shrink a little in embarrassment as I feel her fingers brushing against my ears. I don't know who she is, but she seems nice and harmless, so I let her keep petting my hair. She stands right against my side, wobbling a little when I shift to cross my legs.

  Eventually she plops back down onto the carpet, but squeals when I wrap my tail around my waist. I'm more self conscious about it than my ears, so she only pets it a few times before I ask her to stop.

  She leans on my thigh, pointing at the puzzle excitedly. "Look, you look like the kitty!" She exclaims loudly, making me jump.

  I put a calming hand on her back as my cheeks warm for no reason. I wonder if Lance brought the little girl while I was showering. Maybe he left me with Amelia because he had to go get her.

  "I didn't know Falcon could look like a kitty! I love kitties. I told Ms. Amelia and she said maybe I could get a kitty!" The girl rambles cutely.

  "My n-name isn't Falcon," I mumble, then immediately hunch my shoulders in embarrassment. Maybe I shouldn't tell her my real name, but Amelia already knows so it couldn't hurt, right?

  "It's not? What is your name?" She asks, eyes wide and imploring.

  I fiddle with my fingers for a few moments as I think, unable to keep a frown from my face. "My name i-is Calen," I answer, looking down at my lap.

  She crawls closer, then lurches forward and wraps both her arms around one of mine. "Are you sad?"

  I open my mouth to reassure her I'm fine, but all that comes out is a pitiful whine. "I-I don't feel li-like Calen," I try to explain as my tail shifts from my waist in favor of wrapping around hers.

  "Hm..." she hums loudly, cheek squished against my shoulder as she stared up at me.

  "CayCay!" she suddenly squeals, grinning. I smile back shyly, hugging her when she releases my arm. "You can be CayCay," she adds, wriggling away from me and turning back to her puzzle.

  "Thank you! Wha-What's your name?" I ask curiously as she shifts through a pile of puzzle pieces.

  "My name is Elli!" She exclaims, grinning as she fits a piece neatly into place, completely the cute face of a cat.

  I help her put on a couple more pieces, then my attention is caught by the nearing of voices from the other room. So Lance is back! I wasn't sure, but I'm really glad he is. I was sad when he left.

  I rise to my feet, surprised when I wobble a bit. My whole body feels sore, and I begin to wonder if I changed more than I thought I did recently. I put a hand on the back of a chair to keep myself balanced, and I'm especially glad I did when Lance walks into the room.

  I gasp audibly, my hand jerking up to cover my mouth as I stare. Lance is in Macer's clothes, and... and his eyes are glowing very faintly. Lance is... Macer?

  Lance starts toward me, and even though he doesn't look threatening I can't help but shrink back in fear. I've never really fought Macer myself but I know the bruises and cuts I sometimes wake up with are from him. I see on the news when we've fought and I always wish we didn't have to. It hurts.

  I tremble as I back into a corner, watching Lance draw closer. My eyes widen when I look behind him and see Elli being pulled to her feet. Is Amelia going to hurt her? Are they both going to hurt her?

  I ignore the tears dripping down my cheeks as I press my fingers to the wall beside me, willing my claws to make an appearance like they did when I was in the park.

  Lance is almost close enough to touch me when I finally feel my claws forming, the feeling painful enough to wrench a whimper past my lips.

  I'm scared! I don't think Lance will hurt me, he hasn't yet, but maybe he's different as Macer like I am when I'm Falcon? And I don't really know Amelia, what if I've fought her before too? I just don't want them to hurt Elli.

  I flex my fingers, my new claws raking against the wall.

  I won't let them hurt Elli.