Of Heroes And Villains: The Ties That Bind By Minikisa An assassin. A fallen hero. An unlikely meeting. The road to redemption is long and hard and filled with explosives.

Radiance gritted her teeth, her arms shaking under the impact of the Executioner’s katana.

Her body dissolved into light and resurfaced behind him. Executioner instantly spun around, whirling his sword to leave no point unguarded. Radiance hissed and teleported once more, rolling on the floor of the other side of the room. She crouched low to regain her balance.

Executioner’s chest was rising and falling with each breath. He had parried every strike, every ambush, and every feint she could think of. In turn, his blade had not been able to touch her at all as she dodged and weaved and teleported.

When two opponents were equally skilled, strength and stamina were often the deciding factors. No matter how hard Radiance trained, her small frame imposed limitations. He was tiring, but so was she, and, having to stay much more mobile than he, at a much faster rate.

She was losing.

Not yet.

But soon.

Which meant she had to finish this fight now while she still stood a chance.

Executioner was advancing on her, face hidden beneath that expressionless mask he wore. Another advantage he had over her – he could read her face and intentions while she could not hope to do the same.

It didn’t matter which angle she chose to attack from, he always, always parried her blows. He had to have an extremely tactical mind as well as vast experience with fighting teleporters to be able to predict her movements so well.

Parried every blow.

She narrowed her eyes as an idea slowly formed in her head.

Blindingly bright light enveloped her as she teleported once more – but she did not materialize right away, remaining in the alien and uncanny transdimensional space she used and counted down to five.

Then she reemerged in a flurry of white mist and whirling blades.

He dodged to the side and she landed on her fingertips, somersaulting as she disappeared once again.

And waited.

Then she struck.

Steel rang out against steel in the most pure sound of battle as he deflected her weak blow.

Silver light took her away.

Radiance reappeared high above in the star-studded sky.

And started falling, a small grin on her face.

When she had first come into her powers and started learning to control them, there had been one lesson she had learned quickly through scrapes and bruises.

Momentum carries.

She twirled her long double-bladed staff, twisting her body into the right stance.

Eerie silence descended, abruptly cutting off the deafening roar of the wind. For a split second she materialized in the middle of the room, taking in the Executioner’s position out of the corner of her eyes and calculating the angle she would have to strike from.

Her blade came down in a whirl of shining light and with all the force of goddamn gravity.

Executioner parried.

Bone shattered.

He made no sound as his shoulder was wrenched out of its socket, his sword thrown from his suddenly limp hand. Radiance teleported, her combat boots hitting the ground hard enough for her knees to buckle. Coming in for a horizontal landing had cushioned her fall, but it still hurt like hell.

Nonetheless, she raised her head with a triumphant smile.

He stood motionless, gazing at her for a long moment.

They both knew he was as good as dead.

He lunged.

Broken and unarmed as he was, Radiance subdued him with ease; she spun around and sliced open the back of his knees. He fell, and still made no sound as she pressed steel to his jaw, her boot crushing his windpipe. Admirable that he had not even tried to run. If nothing else, he was facing his death with dignity.

“Why did you target Ian Reynolds?”

He did not answer her, merely raising his head in defiance.

“Answer me.”

Silence.

“Very well. Going after my brother is the last mistake you’ll ever make, Executioner.”

That, at last, forced a sound from his lips. It was barely recognizable as a chuckle, so raspy and harsh, as if he had forgotten how to laugh.

“Of course. I should have known.” He raised his head further, baring his throat for her. “You have no brother.”

Her eye twitched. It was a line she had heard often enough from Assault.

The Order is your family. Let go of your blood ties. Nobody but us will ever understand what you are now.

“I see you want your death painful. I’ll be happy to oblige.”

She drew back her staff, and brought it down.

Metal clanged as her aim was thrown off, and her blade buried itself in the floor just inches from Executioner’s shoulder. Radiance’s head snapped and she narrowed her eyes at her new opponent.

It was a woman clad in skintight black leather, her eyes hidden beneath a domino mask. She stood tall, easily more than six feet, and had a glowing plasma blade strapped to her wrist. A second such blade was buried in the wall not far from them, thrown at Radiance’s staff to throw off the trajectory of her swing.

“Don’t.” The woman’s voice was grave and husky.

Radiance cocked her head, and renewed the pressure she was putting on Executioner’s chest while she assessed the newcomer. She wasn’t sure she could take both of them at once; Executioner was weakened, but a cornered animal was a dangerous one, and Radiance had no idea what the woman was capable of. Unknowns were a threat. Then again, she might just be a weak novice protecting her master. Had Executioner taken an apprentice?

“Don’t kill him. Please.”

Likely a novice. The elders didn’t stoop to begging.

“And why shouldn’t I?” she asked, tightening her grip on her staff as she stalled to consider tactics, mentally drawing up battle plans.

“Because you’re better than this, Caroline.”

Caroline froze.

And stared.

You have no brother.

I’m not what I look like.

Your sibling loves you.

There was a hero Executioner hated above all others. Shadow. No. Shade, that was his name. A hero who had been turned into a woman a few months ago.

“Ian…?”

The black-haired woman gave a slow nod, inching closer the way one would approach a cornered animal, her – his? – gaze on the Executioner. Caroline’s gaze, in turn, was transfixed by Ian’s face, searching for familiarity. The mask covered the eyes, but she could see he still had his high cheekbones. Yet his jawline was delicate and narrow like Caroline’s own. In fact, height disparity notwithstanding, he looked a lot like her.

So that was what he’d been hiding.

“Ian,” she repeated, smiling in relief. Of all the things the illusion could have been covering up, this seemed reasonably fixable.

And for one brief, glorious moment, he shyly smiled back, seeming just as relieved as she was. But then he looked back down to the man she was about to execute.

“He knows your identity,” Caroline argued. “And he’s already called for other assassins. He needs to die now or they’ll never stop hunting.”

“We don’t kill.” Ian’s voice was gentle, but had the ring of finality to it.

“Ian…”

“Caroline. There are lines. This is one of them.”

“But think of the consequences.”

“Nobody ever said the right thing is easy, or without price.”

Her fingers tightened on her staff as she stared at her stupid hero of a brother. Nobility like that only got people killed. Executioner would not stop, ever.

But then Ian smiled again, tentative and hopeful.

“Trust me.”

After a long pause, Radiance eased her grip, drawing back her staff.

And Executioner struck, swiping at her leg. She teleported instantly to the other side of the room to prevent herself from falling atop of him and possibly ending up in a chokehold. He seemed to have counted on it, because he was already on his feet, lunging for his sword–

Ian materialized in a swirl of shadows, his boot smashing into the Executioner’s torso. Radiance heard the crunch of bones. Within the second, Ian had teleported once more, and rammed his knee into the Executioner’s spine.

The floor cracked under the impact of the limp body, and the assassin did not move again.

Ian casually picked up the blade he had thrown earlier, fastening it around his wrist. Then he seemed to notice Caroline’s disbelieving stare.

“Just because we can’t kill them, doesn’t mean we can’t make sure they won’t get up again anytime soon.”

She laughed, breathless.

“When did you become such a vicious fighter, Ian?”

He gazed at his wrist as he – needlessly – adjusted his blades, averting his eyes. “I did not take losing you lightly.”

Caroline swallowed heavily. Then she crossed the distance between them with a thought, and he tensed. She gingerly reached out, brushing his cheek. He drew back.

“Don’t try to knock me out again.”

“Not what I’m doing.” Though now that he’d brought it up, she wondered how the hell he had recovered so fast. Her fingertips traced his domino mask, and then she gently tugged it away.

Pale blue eyes blinked down at her.

With the mask off, the family resemblance was undeniable. If it wasn’t for the short hair and his straight nose lacking the gentle upturned slope of hers, it’d be like looking in the mirror.

“I guess we’re more alike than I thought,” she murmured.

“Is that a bad thing?” The tension rolling off him was palpable. So she weighed her answer carefully.

“I don’t know. I only ever wanted you to be happy, Ian.”

“Not Ian,” he whispered.

Caroline frowned.

“My name. It’s… it’s not Ian anymore.”

“Why? Because you were turned into a woman? Don’t be silly, Ian, we can fix this, there’s magic users–“

“No!” She flinched at his sudden vehemence and his cheeks flushed as he defensively crossed his arms over his chest. “I… no. I don’t want it undone. I don’t need to be fixed.” Then he glared at her, as if daring her to say something.

Caroline blinked, taken aback. Having just spent only a few days in a body that was not her own, she had become intensely aware of how wrong it felt to have the body not match the mind. The relief that switching back had brought was indescribable. But Ian didn’t want it? After months?

And then comprehension hit her.

That day. In her room.

“…so how long have you wanted to be a woman?”

The blush deepened. “I… I don’t know. Always? I was in denial for a long time.”

“Okay.”

There was a long silence as she processed this.

Then Caroline looked up.

Ian was holding her breath.

“What’s your name?” she asked, and her voice was gentle and soothing, the way it always was when her baby brother came to her with his problems.

Her sister exhaled, closing her eyes. “Kara. I’m Kara.”

“Kara,” Caroline repeated, and her heart contracted painfully as she couldn’t help but notice the resemblance to her own name.

Then Caroline shoved her.

“Idiot. I love you no matter what. You should have told me.”

Ridiculously strong arms were suddenly wrapped tightly around her, crushing her in a bear hug.

“Glass houses, Caroline.” Kara’s voice was muffled, her face buried in Caroline’s hair.

“I’m the eldest. I make the rules, and I never said they were fair.”

“Hush, tiny one.”