Of Heroes And Villains

In which a superhero meets his match, masks are uncovered and a mad scientist just tries to get some mad science-ing done without getting distracted by the antics of her magical minion.

Fanart by the talented Ian Samson, creator of City of Reality and artist of The Wotch


“Diane?”

She hummed softly in response, eyelids fluttering as she enjoyed the feel of Kara’s fingertips gently tracing patterns on her bare back.

“What do you want to be?”

Diane frowned and looked over her shoulder. Kara was watching her intently.

“Fabulous. But I’ve already achieved that.”

Kara’s lips curled into a wry smile but it didn’t quite reach her eyes which remained solemn. “Do you want to be a villain?”

Diane sighed and rolled over to face her; they were lying so close together she could feel the heat coming from Kara’s skin.

“I thought we weren’t going to talk about any of this today?”

Kara’s fingers brushed her jawline. “The day is over,” she murmured, glancing at the curtains of the oversized window. Soft moonlight was spilling through the cracks.

“Oh. So it is.”

There was a long moment of silence.

“Do you want to be a hero?”

“Yes.” Kara’s answer was instant and without hesitation.

“Because of Caroline?”

Kara’s eyes widened and she drew back. Then they narrowed. “Yes,” she rasped, and there was a fire in her eyes Diane had never seen before. Not in Kara’s eyes, anyway.

She had seen it in Amethyst, though.

That was hatred.

Is that what it took to be a hero?

Diane had never hated anyone in her life. Oh, there were plenty of people she disliked, but her scathing thoughts of them were fleeting. To hate someone one had to care first, and overall, Diane cared very little for much of anything besides herself.

But she cared for Kara, now.

She thought of the assassin who had almost killed Kara before her eyes, remembering the rage and anguish that had pushed her powers far beyond what she’d ever been capable of before. Was that hatred?

Maybe if Kara was taken from her, she would have fire like that in her eyes, too.

“I don’t want to be a hero,” she said bluntly. It seemed an exhausting existence. She’d rather keep Kara and go without knowing hatred.

Kara’s face fell.

Diane’s thoughts lingered on the assassin. His casual cruelty. So much like Amelia’s, who’d spoken of breaking someone for loving her sister with not a hint of regret.

“But I don’t want to be a villain either.”

And Kara smiled, her face lighting up with happiness.


***


Diane watched the sun rise over the treetops of Kara’s estate, her arms crossed on the window sill. She wondered how far the property stretched – if she hadn’t known better, she’d have no idea they were in the city. Only the skyscrapers rising the in the distance reminded her that they were still in Paragon.

“It’s yours, you know.”

Diane turned her head to see Kara leaning against the doorframe, wearing a bathrobe and still blinking sleepily. Her hair was adorably tousled.

“Dangerous words to say to a thief, Kara. You’ll have to be more specific or I’ll take everything.”

There was a small smile tugging at the corners of Kara’s mouth. “Then take it. It’s mine. So it’s yours.”

“Did you hit your head while I wasn’t looking?” Her fingers itched to take absolutely everything that wasn’t nailed down.

She shrugged, and smirked. “I am not above bribery, you know.” The smile dimmed and she looked serious. “I remember what you said. I don’t want your choices to be constrained by lack of money when I am swimming in it.”

Diane blinked rapidly.

Nobody, nobody had ever given her anything in life. She always had to reach out and steal and lie and take it.

“That is, of course, assuming that I can sort out my paperwork.” Kara laughed ruefully. Diane cocked her head quizzically. Then it hit her.

“Yes, well, if you get evicted due to magical identity confusion, we’ll just steal everything back. I’ll help. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I’m kind of a pro at this stealing thing.”

“It has come to my attention, yes.” Kara crossed the distance between them with a few long strides.

“It’ll be a life on the run, always looking over our shoulders. Travelling from city to city to stay ahead of the law. Oh, the fun we’ll have. Or, alternatively, you could do the boring thing and delegate.”

Kara cocked her head, not seeming to follow.

“Say it with me, hero: deception.” Her eyes crinkled. “Get thyself a shape shifter to pretend to be male you and do your paperwork for you.”

Kara’s lips formed into a silent Oh.

Then she frowned in dismay. “I don’t know anyone I could ask for that.”

Diane tilted her head. She could think of several shape shifting heroes off the top of her head. Weren’t heroes supposed to have that solidarity thing going on?

Kara fidgeted uncomfortably. “I don’t… have a lot of friends,” she admitted, embarrassed, as if Diane hadn’t already guessed that.

“Me neither,” Diane said cheerfully, and raised herself on her toes to whisper against Kara’s lips. “But there’s just one I want anyway.”


***


Amethyst Star could feel their gazes on her.

So she raised her chin and strode past them. She did not care what they thought. She did not care if they were thinking that she fucked up again. She hadn’t. She’d done what any hero in her situation would have done and they could take their judgment and shove it.

So Amethyst walked past the caped crowd of the E to a secluded corner near the bar, nursing a drink.

Her hands shook as she raised the glass to her lips, almost spilling the clear liquid.

She raised her gaze and saw several pairs of eyes quickly looking elsewhere. She sneered. Cowards. And this was the fabled hero community: thinking one of their own was losing it and doing nothing.

Well, that wasn’t quite true. They had talked and talked at her, at first, but no one made an effort to understand, just rambling on and on about lines and crossing them and what it means to be a hero.

But they hadn’t listened.

Shade had listened.

They’d sat on that roof and she had talked and talked and he hadn’t tried to interrupt her once.

Amethyst raised her hand, absently touching her shoulder. It was back in its socket, but the pain still echoed, a little.

That hadn’t been him.

Had it?

It had been a woman, for god’s sake.

She couldn’t even find him to confirm. Her gaze trailed over the crowd, looking for his familiar form. It was a long shot, really; Shade wasn’t exactly the partying type.

“Hey, Amethyst!”

She closed her eyes, bracing for the impending headache.

The Captain sat down next to her with that bright, carefree smile that she was fairly sure he thought was smooth, but only struck her as very, very fake.

“How’s it going? You’re looking great.”

Amethyst just silently took another sip, waiting for him to get to the point. He always got around to it eventually, gruesomely slaughtering the very concept of innuendo in front of her eyes with his terrible pick-up lines. And they called her a murderer. Ha.

“So, uh, saw the news. Did you see that story about the Doom Squirrel with the laser eyes? It’s evolving.”

“Utterly fascinating.”

“Right.” He was nodding, seeming to struggle for words. She supposed it had to be hard, forming coherent sentences when one’s brain was so very diminutive. Plus, getting hit on the head so much probably did not help. Invulnerability only went so far. “That thing, at the hospital. You know, with the kid. I… I would have made the same call, you know?”

Great. Now she was as smart as Captain Dudebro.

“Thanks,” she said in a flat voice, her thoughts returning to circle around the woman who had fought so much like Shade and displayed the same power. She couldn’t find anyone who had the means to contact him – he’d just appear sometimes, help out, and disappear as soon as the threat was over. The man had no friends.

Wait.

That wasn’t quite true.

Her gaze shifted to the Captain who seemed busy arranging his next sentence.

These two were regularly seen together.

“Say,” she interrupted his thought process and he looked startled at her actually initiating conversation with him. “Have you seen Shade lately?”

He blinked and then smiled, face brightening. “Yeah, we went out drinking a couple nights ago.”

Drinking? Shade didn’t socialize, everyone knew that.

“I didn’t know you were friends,” she said slowly.

At that, the Captain laughed. “Oh, we weren’t, for a long time, but yeah. I even know her real name.” He looked incredibly smug.

Crack

Amethyst gripped her glass so tight tiny cracks were emanating from her fingertips like spider webs.

Her.

He’d called Shade her.

The cracks deepened.

She forced her lips into a pleasant smile.

“Captain, I’d hate to impose, but could you help me get in touch with Shade? I need to see him regarding a villain we both recently ran into.”