Chapter Text
“Hey, P. It’s V. I’m going to be off the grid for a while, so I won’t be able to answer my phone. Not that you care, since you went somewhere without me. It’s fine! I mean, I just thought we were supposed to be best friends, but I guess sometimes best friends go places without their best friend. So, I’m not going to tell you where I am, either. Maybe I’ll just tell Economos instead. Anyway, call me back when you get this message.”
Adrian looks down at his phone screen, waiting to see if Chris might answer at the last second, but the screen just goes dark. That’s fine. He doesn’t even care that Chris went somewhere without him. He has someone else that he can hang out with. He just needs to find you first.
Gripping the straps of his backpack, he keeps trudging through the dead leaves and steps over fallen branches. His mom wanted to drop him off closer, but he insisted on getting out of the car a few miles away. The last thing he wants is to give away your hideout. Even if Adebayo already knows.
He wouldn’t even know where you are if she didn’t tell him. His brow furrows a little and he pushes up his glasses, squinting into the distance and trying to spot the cabin. Adrian still doesn’t know why she was laughing when she called him. That was pretty weird. What’s so funny about a secret hideout in the woods?
When Adebayo called him, he was trying to track down Chris. For some reason, Chris wasn’t answering his calls or texts, but all of his texts showed “read”. He didn’t post anything about where he was going on Facebook, which made Adrian even more anxious. He was starting to think that Chris had been arrested and taken back to Belle Reve when he got the call.
The chance to join you in the woods? The opportunity to hang out and kick some ass, just the two of you? He was all for it! Besides, it was his weekend! With Chris missing, it’s not like he had anything better to do.
Being with you all weekend sounds pretty fun. Even if you’re just hanging out in the middle of the forest. It’s not like he gets to hang out with you very often. Okay, maybe he does talk to you almost every night on the phone, but that’s not the same! Talking to someone for hours while he’s staking out a graffiti site or researching some gang activity isn’t the same as having you beating the shit out of someone right beside him!
His steps slow a little when he thinks about it, his mouth twisting into a frown. Why don’t you hang out together, just you and him? It’s not like you’re strangers! You were both part of Project Butterfly and you teamed up to take out a lot of those alien-infected cops. Wait. You haven’t been avoiding him, right? That would be pretty fucked up.
“Oh shit! There it is!” Adrian’s eyes light up when he spots the cabin through the trees. The sun is setting behind him, casting an orange glow over everything in front of him. Past the cabin, the lake almost looks like it’s on fire from the reflection of the setting sun.
He jogs between the trees, his backpack bouncing against his lower back as he gets closer to the cabin. There’s no sign of your car, but he can see the light on in the kitchen. You probably got a ride, too, right? That would make it way easier if you have to hide from someone.
Adrian feels like he knows you pretty well. Obviously, not as well as he knows Chris, but he definitely knows you better than the rest of the 11th Street Kids do. So, Adrian knows that you didn’t come out to the middle of nowhere just for a vacation. You’re probably tracking some drug dealers or moonshiners, right? Maybe you’re hunting a human trafficking ring that has a base in the woods.
You’re lucky he came prepared. He has his Vigilante gear in his backpack, along with some handguns, knives, and ammo. He even brought a sniper rifle, just in case he has to take someone out from a long distance. The strap is pretty uncomfortable, though. It keeps digging into his shoulder and he can feel the rifle pressing against his back under his backpack.
He’s grinning when he gets closer to the edge of the forest. Almost giddy, thinking about how fucking awesome it’s going to be to kick some ass with you. He’s already daydreaming about shoving a knife through someone’s eye socket when Adrian hears the crunch of leaves under someone’s footsteps.
Crouching down, he squints and he can see someone moving through the trees towards the cabin. At a glance, the guy just looks like a lost hunter. Except that Adrian knows that it isn’t deer season and this guy is staring right at the cabin with a rifle in his hands. His heart races, his grin spreading, because this guy is definitely planning something.
Just like Adrian, the stranger has a backpack. Unlike Adrian, he has no fucking clue who he’s dealing with! He probably spotted you earlier and thought you were just some helpless lady camping all by herself. This guy has no idea that there’s actually a reality-warping metahuman waiting in the cabin.
Creeping closer, Adrian stays hidden among the trees and in the growing dimness of the forest. He reaches behind him into a side pocket on his backpack, keeping his eyes locked on the man in the black jacket. If this guy is just scouting out the place for a group of traffickers or something, Adrian isn’t going to give him the chance to let them know about him. That would ruin his chance to take out the rest of the group!
Throwing away the element of surprise, he sprints forward and pulls his knife back. Adrian hooks his ankle around the other guy’s and knocks him off balance, forcing him to the ground with his rifle pinned under him. Before the guy can call for help, Adrian presses his knife against the side of his neck and he grins, leaning down.
“Wow! You’re really bad at sneaking up on people! What were you going to do? You thought that you’d rob her, right? I mean, she does look like an easy target, but it would’ve been hard. If she figures out what your name is, that’s it. She could make you do anything! Even kill yourself! That’d be fucked up, but I’m pretty sure it would qualify as self-defense. I think I saw something like that on Reddit.”
When the guy bucks and thrashes, Adrian rolls his eyes and brings his hand back. The tip of the knife punches deep into the guy’s arm, making him arch and scream, but Adrian is already shoving his face into the ground with his free hand. “You’re going to ruin it! Look, I came all the way out here so I can hang out with her. And I’m not going to let this ruin my weekend just because you thought you could rob a metahuman. Quit squirming!”
In the cabin, you’re dozing off on the couch. With your head resting on a plush throw pillow, you can see the lake through the big window in the living room. There’s just a little orange on the water’s surface from the setting sun, rippling like fire as the wind whips the lake into gentle waves.
There’s a quiet yawn on the other end of the couch that evolves into a whine, making your gaze shift to your companion for this cabin trip. The black lab mix huffs and smacks a paw against the soft blanket, looking at you expectantly. With a sigh, you stretch a little, knowing that the dog is right. A short walk before dinner does sound pretty nice. Maybe you could try playing fetch again.
You really needed this vacation. It’s just been one thing after another lately. Project Butterfly, followed by getting dragged into Task Force M, then trying to just live a semi-normal life back in town. That’s easier said than done. When you’re used to being drafted for life-threatening missions with zero warning from A.R.G.U.S., the idea of a girls’ night with Adebayo or hanging out with Chris and Adrian just feels…weird.
Adrian. Fuck. That’s right. Part of why you came out to the woods was so you could clear your head. Try to sort through the complex shit you’ve been going through when it comes to him.
Grabbing the dog’s leash, you pause to check your phone. At a glance, you can see a few new texts from Adebayo and one from Economos, but nothing from the others. Not that you’re surprised Harcourt hasn’t texted you; you’re not exactly close. Chris is probably drinking again and you can only imagine that wherever Chris is, Adrian is…but you know that Adrian will still probably call you later.
Don’t get attached. That was drilled into your head since your powers developed. Attachments are weaknesses. Emotional connections can be exploited. That’s one reason why it’s so difficult for you to just relax and let yourself enjoy other people’s company.
Adrian makes it too easy for you to lower your guard. That goofy smile, the ridiculous stuff he says sometimes, the way he can shift in an instant from being this semi-awkward guy to a brutal killing machine. During Project Butterfly, Adrian used himself as a human shield a few times to help you get closer to your own targets. You can still remember watching him crush a man’s skull using another guy’s severed head, all while he cheerfully told you to close the distance.
Just as you’re clipping the leash onto the dog’s harness, a loud crack rings out through the forest. With a jolt, you crouch down and pull the dog close. Your eyes focus on the front door, every muscle tensing as your blood rushes in your ears. There’s this awful sinking feeling in your stomach as the dog whimpers and you wait, listening and hoping not to hear another gunshot.
“Just a hunter,” you whisper to the dog, but it’s more of an effort to comfort yourself. The cabin is a long way from the nearest town and it’s not exactly peak camping season. It’s not really hunting season, either, so whoever is getting trigger happy outside is doing it without a hunting permit. That’s all it is, right? A hunter, taking their shot, and they’ll probably leave soon.
There’s a thump beyond the front door. A wet sound that makes your blood run cold as it’s repeated again and again. Closer than the gunshot from earlier and still unmistakably the sound of human brutality. The dog squirms free from your arms and bounds toward the door, snarling and barking as a row of hair raises along his upper back in his fury.
You can do this. You’ve faced monsters before. You’ve fought against super villains and criminals, faced a horde of alien-infected law enforcement. Taking on a burglar or kidnapper should be easy! So, why are there goosebumps raising on your skin? Even when you grab one of the knives from the block on the kitchen counter, you still have this wretched uneasiness gnawing at your gut.
Creeping closer to the back door, you reach for the dog’s harness and keep your eyes on the little window at the top of the door. Thump…thump…thump…thump…thump. You can count the stairs as someone climbs them, then the quiet creak of the floorboards as they approach the cabin. The sound of your heartbeat is almost deafening as their steps finally stop on the other side of the door.
A scream catches in your throat when a stranger’s face suddenly appears in the window. There’s blood running down the side of the man’s face, trickling from his nose and lips in thick streams. Your eyes are wide, locked onto that face as it presses closer against the glass, but his eyes aren’t moving. He isn’t even blinking. You jolt back a step, dragging the barking dog with you, when a voice penetrates the door.
The voice is deliberately lowered at first, but it’s still unmistakably familiar. “This is the department of natural resources! Open up!” Adrian can’t keep the voice up for long before he starts laughing and shakes his head. “I’m just kidding! Come on! Open the door!”
How did he find you? How the fuck did Adrian find you? This cabin isn’t part of a campground and it’s not like you’re in a national park. This was supposed to be off the grid.
The door is opened just in time to see Adrian toss a man’s severed head off toward the fire pit, where there’s a headless corpse sprawled in the dirt. Resting just a foot away is a piece of firewood. Shiny, gooey, with what’s very obviously fragments of skull clinging to the bark.
There’s even more blood clinging to Adrian’s flannel and t-shirt. The knees of his jeans are smudged with dirt, his glasses are speckled with blood. You’re pretty sure you can see a human tooth stuck in his hair and when you reach out to remove it, he just grimaces. “Gross! How’d that even get there?”
“Are you okay? I thought I heard a gunshot.” Looking him up and down, you almost immediately notice the wound on his left shoulder. It’s upsettingly close to his collarbone and there’s still blood pouring from the hole in his flesh. “Let me take care of that. Then…I guess we can talk about what the fuck just happened.”
You don’t know why he killed that guy. Sometimes Adrian just kills people for arbitrary reasons, but this feels different. Looking at the headless corpse, you wonder why that man was so close to the cabin and why he was armed. Was he really just a hunter? Did Adrian just save your life again? On that note, how the fuck did he even find you?!