Barden, VA

xx
Being called blondie reminded Piper that she really needed to schedule an appointment to touch up her roots. She made a mental note to do that once they got Lucy back, and she hopefully had some time to breathe. Really, Piper thought that Malfyre was just doing their job, but Atticus apparently thought that the heroes should be moving heaven and earth, and doing the impossible to get Lucy back. To an extent, she understood: Lucy was their friend, and she was in trouble. They didn’t have any time to waste, but they also didn’t have the time to rush and make stupid mistakes. Then Artimis spoke up. Piper figured that, with all the things that had gone wrong during the mission the night before, it was only a matter of time before they pinned down several of the others as being there.

Piper had decided that one half of Gemini was okay after their mission, and now, as she listened to his little speech, she was thinking that the other half might not be so bad, either. He was trying awfully hard to assure them that the heroes all considered them to be one big team, but
she had to wonder if they all felt the same. She quickly glanced around the room, even over her shoulder, where Paladin still stood. Really, she didn’t trust any of them to truly be on her side if things went south. There were a few that she figured would help her if she were in trouble, but it was hard to trust the people that had been trying to put her in prison a few weeks ago.

Piper rolled her eyes as Malfyre went on to defend themself from Atticus’ accusations. Really, it was unnecessary. They all knew Atticus was just panicked- and why shouldn’t he be? Honestly, Piper would have been lying if she said she wasn’t bothered by all of this, too. “No shit she’d be dead if they wanted her dead.” As far as Piper was concerned, viewing this thing as anything but a potential trap was stupid and dangerous- but unfortunately, if it was a trap, it was a trap they were very likely going to have to walk right into if they wanted Lucy back.

Malfyre kept talking, going over what she and Luciana had found on a computer a while back. Piper’s blood went cold: obviously, she knew that whoever was doing all of this had to have information on her, but for Malfyre to have those files, that was different. Piper glared holes into that stupid mask of Malfyre’s as they crushed a copy of the files- what was the point of that? It was clearly just for show, as if showboating would earn any trust. They assured the group they didn’t look at anyone’s files, but it didn’t sit right with Piper.

Malfyre went back to the laptop, announcing their intentions of finding Lucy. Piper didn’t want to interrupt that, finding Lucy was, obviously, going to be top priority. Before she knew it, though, she’d said, “How are we supposed to trust that you won’t use those files against us in the future?”

xx
If it hadn’t been for the others, Dhani might have reached out for Atticus, tried to do something to comfort him. As it was, he didn’t want to draw more attention to that relationship than he needed to. He knew that Kieran wasn’t always the best with her words, but he also knew she was trying, and probably didn’t deserve to have Att go off on her like that. He never knew what to do in these situations: he wasn’t much of a leader, and even if he knew a good half of the people in the room would listen to him if he spoke, he wouldn’t know what to say. Lucky for him, Gemini decided to be the one to try to keep the peace. He noted the look Adrian shot him. If he needed to, Dhani knew he could probably physically break up any fights, and he could hopefully get Kieran to shut the fuck up if she said anything that the villians in the room would consider offensive.

Kieran didn’t need to defend herself, not really. Nobody thought she wasn’t really going to do her best (expect maybe Atticus, but Dhani could understand the desperation to find someone when they were in danger), but she still explained how it wasn’t that simple.

When she admitted to having done similar things in the past, Dhani found himself shifting uncomfortably where he stood. He didn’t like thinking about what the people he knew were capable of. He knew that everyone in this room was capable of- and more than a few of them had done- some pretty fucked up things. Kieran wasn’t wrong, though. This was about something.

Dhani wasn’t personally too worried about the files- he didn’t have much to hide from Kieran- but he was a little uncomfortable with the concept of her keeping them. It seemed like Kieran was hoping to just sweep the information about the files on them all under the rug, and she quickly went back to her computer to find Red Witch. He considered saying something- he’d called for the meeting, things got a little tense, maybe he should try to patch things up a bit, even if it was only to once-again assure Atticus that they would do whatever they could to find Red Witch.

The Aboleth spoke, and Dhani figured she had a good point. She didn’t have a single reason to trust Malfyre. “I wouldn’t worry about the files, Malfyre-”

“It’s not just Malfyre, it’s all of you. How do I know that you won’t use the files and turn on us the second all of this is over, if we don’t all die.”

Dhani didn’t know how to answer that. “Well, uh,”

“How do I know that they won’t look and decide we aren’t worth helping based on our pasts? I know you have nothing to hide other than that you’re tall and stupid, but some of us have real things that could be used against us.”

Dhani frowned, “I know you’re scared, but-”

Aboleth shook her head, “And you aren’t? Look around, guess how many people in this room I trust to have a dossier on me? I don’t trust any of you that much.”

Dhani didn’t know what to say to that; of course he was scared. None of them were fearless. “Yelling at me isn’t going to help anyone.”

Att just glared at Gemini as he stepped between him and Malfyre, telling him to calm down. They didn’t seem to understand how urgent this was, that this wasn’t him overreacting to the call. Gemini gave another one of his grand speeches, telling them how they all knew what they were getting themselves into and how they were all in danger. He knew that the hero was just trying to stop things from escalating into another fight, but he was angry. He felt that if it was a hero that had been taken, they all would have been trying much harder. But because it was one of them, it didn’t matter as much.

He stared Malfyre down as she stared at him. He wasn’t scared of her, and he wasn’t going to back down just because the heroes told him not to be so angry. Malfyre said that she didn’t want to see Red Witch dead any more than he did, but it felt hollow. He just raised an eyebrow as she said she couldn’t see any reason that they’d kill Lucy, but fresh anger burned in his throat. They weren’t taking him seriously. They still thought he was over-reacting, and now they were just trying to de-escalate the situation. “It doesn’t matter that we don’t know why they’re going to kill her. They will kill her unless we do something. That’s how it works, and I have never been wrong before.”

He might have let it slide, had Malfyre not then produced a hard drive, stating it was a copy of all of the information she had on them. He didn’t understand why she crushed it. Probably just another display of power. The only bit of information that Atticus really took from Malfyre’s little speech was that she had access to information on them, information that they’d all tried to keep buried. He was glad when Piper spoke up and said exactly what he was thinking. Malfyre said she had only looked at her own, but he didn’t fully believe that.

Dhani tried to placate Piper, but seemed to only make things worse. Att trusted Dhani, probably much more than he should have done, but the others didn’t get the same privilege. Piper made the point he was thinking. Best case scenario, they looked and viewed them all differently. Atticus knew that they all underestimated him, not knowing how dangerous he was, and if they found it out… well, he didn’t know how they’d react. He glanced at Dhani, almost subconsciously.

“We have much more to lose if our secrets, our identities are leaked. Me and Paladin burned the files we found because we didn’t think anyone deserved to have that much power. You keep saying we’re all in the same position, we’re all in danger, and then you reveal that you have compromising information on us? How are we supposed to trust you if you have that information at your disposal? All we have if your word that you won’t read it and won’t leak it and won’t use it against us.” He shook his head and ran his hand through his hair.

Artemis tensed as everyone else seemed to ready themselves for a fight, almost instinctively bracing herself into a fighting stance. But it didn’t seem to get to that, Icarus and Malfyre seeming to prefer to stick to just words for now. But a divide seemed to be rapidly growing between the group. She visibly winced as Malfyre revealed that she had information on them all, and claimed she hadn’t looked at them. Aaron seemed to believe and trust Malfyre about this, so Cerys would return the favour, but she didn’t particularly like the idea of someone having that much information on her.

Icarus and Aboleth, however, were very obviously not happy about it. And in some ways, Cerys almost didn’t blame them. Dhani tried defending Malfyre, but couldn’t quite stand up to Aboleth. The villains didn’t trust the heroes, that much was clear. Did they really have more to lose? Or did the heroes have further to fall from the podium they’d be put on?

“Listen. We can’t afford to let this come between us, and Red Witch sure as hell can’t afford it either. Trust me, I’m not totally happy about someone having that much information about me either but we need to work together, if only long enough to get Red Witch home safely. But we need to know that our secrets are safe and that nobody will use them against us. I don’t blame anyone for wanting that assurance.” She said, folding her arms. She knew that it was the villains that wanted the reassurance their secrets wouldn’t be used against them, but she also wanted to know that if the villains got their hands on the heroes’ secrets, that they’d be offered the same respect.

“So. Has anyone any suggestions? Or can we just agree to at least trust each other for a few goddamn days to save Red Witch’s life?”

Adrian was starting to get annoyed at the moment, taking a step back and pacing around the others are they continued to talk, well more so argue. He had his hands over his mask and going through his hair when Malfyre produced a hard drive, talking about her and Red Witch finding something. He was glad, it could possibly lead to making their lives easier as more information on their adversaries meant better. But when she crushed it saying it was too dangerous for any of them to see he just tilted his head in a confused fashion. I’m confused Jena spoke to Adrian, though Adrian didn’t respond, just paying attention to Malfyre as she continued to speak.

When Malfyre revealed what their enemies had on them, then Adrian started to get worried. Not entirely because their enemies had files on them as Gemini didn’t have much to hide, besides being two souls trapped within one body, but because he had a feeling the villains wouldn’t take too nicely to one of the heroes having information on them. A little glimmer of hope came up when Malfyre went back to the computer, though that was quickly dispersed when Aboleth spoke up, questioning about the files. This isn’t good, is it? Adrian just shook his head, about to step in again and attempt to calm down Aboleth.

Paladin spoke up first, trying to reassure Aboleth about Malfyre and an argument quickly coming forth, getting a bit heated between words. The female villain was making some valid points, but none of them had the answers they wanted at the moment, especially about hypotheticals coming up. But then Aboleth her tone from bringing up good points to insults. It wasn’t long until the insults, and hopefully it wouldn’t lead to that. Adrian took a step forward to speak, but the other villain spoke up this time, discussing what he and Paladin did with the information.

The arguing back and forth was starting to annoy Adrian. They didn’t have time for this, and the only thing that this would lead to would be more conflict. “Enough!” He said loudly, stepping forward, between the main people arguing. Gemini formed a small amount of water and flicked it at the main people arguing, Paladin, Aboleth, Icarus, and knowing Malfyre, a little bit at her before anything else was said. It wasn’t anything that would soak them, but just a little mist to get their attention and get them to calm down or check themselves, sort of like a spray bottle for cats and dogs. “We get it, this information isn’t just something to have laying about. And I’ll be honest, I would be cautious if Red Witch or any other villain had information on me and my partner. But that’s an issue for another time, we don’t have time for all of you to be arguing like little god damn children.” He looked around the room, pausing at the villains. “Icarus, Aboleth. I promise we will discuss this later, but our attention needs to be on Red Witch and letting Malfyre. Afterwards, we can decide on this information Malfyre has.”

Adrian was breathing mostly through his nostrils and was relieved when Artemis also spoke up, mostly echoing what was being said by everyone, but as well as staying neutral. “Exactly. Now as Art said, let’s just be civil for five fucking minutes, or I might have to bring someone else out to turn up the heat.” Gemini finished, referencing having Jena come out. He let a out a deep breath as she turned around and back towards the edge of the room. “As Artemis said. Any other suggestions or ideas? Think it might be good to call it a day now, maybe even do a little recon around the areas while Malfyre works. But that’s just me.” I forgot how sexy you get when you get mad. Jena said with a giggle. “Shut up…” Adrian whispered under his breath as he leaned against a wall and waited.

xx
Piper knew that there was no way the heroes understood her stance on this. They outnumbered herself and Atticus, and several of them had bonds strengthened by years of working together. All Piper had was a flimsy relationship with her friend’s roommate. They only even trusted each other out of necessity, if she were being honest. They’d never worked together, and wouldn’t even know one another if not for Lucy. Piper would have his back here out of principal, but she wasn’t sure she could trust him to do the same. She simply didn’t know him well enough to trust that he would. That was the nature of the beast, wasn’t it? The heroes formed close bonds, friendships, and had fierce allies. What did villains get? A life in the shadows, professional contacts, and usually nothing more. Piper figured it was because of the higher burnout rate of “villainy.”

She appreciated Atticus taking her side, though she knew it was likely as much about his own privacy as anything else. When Gemini spritzed water at the group, Piper shot a glare in his direction. She understood that he wanted to keep things civil, but was that really necessary? She rolled her eyes when Malfyre complained about the mask getting wet. It seemed impractical to have a mask that couldn’t withstand the elements, but it wasn’t any of her business. It surprised her when the other heroes spoke up, seeming to understand their point of view. It made sense, really; if they were supposed to be some kind of team, they all needed to cooperate and quell each other’s fears. It was time to treat this like a business meeting instead of a high school cat fight, apparently. “I can let the files go for now, so long as it is addressed after we have Red Witch back.” Piper didn’t care if they were already destroyed by then. Apparently they all needed to have a talk about each other’s comfort levels and how soon they should disclose any sensitive findings.

Gemini suggested that they call it a day, and honestly Piper thought that might be for the best. Maybe she could take Att to lunch, see if she couldn’t get him to settle down a little. This whole situation was proving difficult for both of their nerves, and while she didn’t know him exceptionally well, she figured they could both use a friend.

Then Malfyre started talking. Piper figured that they’d never learned when to keep their mouth shut. Malfyre started to apologize for their whole attitude, and Piper was willing to relent and accept the apology: this didn’t affect them all the same way, so Piper was willing to let it go and forget about it. Then they decided to emphasize the fact that they didn’t owe any of them anything, and Piper resolved to remember that if Malfyre ever needed her help. Piper may not seem like much, but if there was one thing she was good at, it was being petty and spiteful.

“I appreciate the help. But you have to understand that Red Witch isn’t just some villain to me, she’s my friend. This is personal, and not just because we’re all in danger too.”

The line about going back to being the “the heroes and villains you all so desire to be,” really rubbed Piper the wrong way. As if she’d wanted to grow up so poor she’d had to use her powers just to have enough to eat. That was it, wasn’t it? The rest of them had enough of a choice that they didn’t see that some of them didn’t have much of one. Piper knew that most of the people in the room wouldn’t ever view her as anything but someone who used her powers to lie and steal. It shouldn't have bothered her, especially since she was pretty sure Malfyre was just lashing out because they were making the job more difficult than it “needed” to be. Piper didn’t know Malfyre well, but people weren’t very hard to read.

Piper wanted to tell Malfyre that if they didn’t want to help, then they shouldn’t bother. Instead she settled on a terse, but genuine, “Thank you.” Regardless of how they all felt about each other, at least Malfyre was helping. Piper decided to remember that, too.

She figured that Atticus would want to get to work on scouting out locations right away. “I don’t expect it, but if anyone’s willing to put in the work to help scout out locations, Icarus and I would both appreciate it.” Normally, Piper wouldn’t speak for Atticus, but she wanted to be a united front on this issue. He said he was never wrong about his visions, and she believed him.

xx
Dhani had really wanted to get this situation under control, but like always, he didn’t have the nerve to actually stand up to the confrontation. He handled hero work just fine, but personal confrontation? That was scary. He was happy enough when Adrian stepped in (though he wasn’t sure what he did to deserve being sprayed with water), he was just all-around a better leader than Dhani could hope to be.

Dhani’s perspective on Kieran having the files wasn’t going to help anyone. He trusted that she wouldn’t do anything with them, but he figured he’d already expressed as much. Aboleth seemed willing to let it go, at least for the time, so Dhani was hopeful that things would calm down. At least on an interpersonal level.

He couldn’t tell if Kieran was trying to make things better or not with her words, but he hoped that Att and Aboleth wouldn’t take it too personally. He didn’t like the idea of the lot of them being in danger, and he wondered to himself if they would stop at putting them in danger. Whoever these people were, they didn’t seem too concerned with morality or ethics. Dhani didn’t personally have much to hide, but he did have people he’d like to be kept safe.

Kieran seemed intent on being done with the whole group after they found Red Witch, and Dhani made a note to talk to her about it later, once she’d had a chance to calm down. He still needed to apologize for yelling at her the night before; that hadn’t been fair. As it was, Kieran had something set up to send them real-time updates of her progress, which he hoped would do something to ease Atticus and Aboleth’s minds.

Dhani had to admit, he was tired. He was tired of how often all of this erupted into infighting, he was tired of not feeling safe anywhere, even in his own home. He was ready for this thing to be over and done with, one way or another.

As Kieran left, he shot a look at Aaron. One of them probably needed to check on Kieran. She could be a pain in the ass, but she was his friend.

Aboleth said that she’d appreciate help, and Dhani immediately nodded his head, “I’ll do whatever I can to help. We’re gonna find her.” He shot Atticus the most reassuring look he could manage with his mask. He wasn’t the type to give up easily, and he wasn’t afraid of a little danger. He probably should have been more afraid than he was, but he’d been through too much for this sort of thing to shake him too much.

It probably helped that he wasn’t overly attached to Red Witch.

The splash of water might have been enough to snap the others back to reality and minimise the arguing, it just brought Att back to earth and to the realisation that he felt like shit. Even if the aftermath of the vision had faded, the fact that he hadn't eaten in almost twenty four hours and hadn't slept particularly well the night before was starting to take it's toll. Throw in the anxiety and the stress of the whole situation and, well, it probably wasn't surprising he was feeling so terrible. The minute he saw an appropriate moment to leave, he did so. On the way home, he stopped to get food, texting both Dhani and Piper that he was fine. Piper and him weren't really friends, not really, but he knew she'd have his back and figured she probably deserved to know. And he'd seen the glances and reassuring smile that Dhani had been shooting him throughout the meeting. And he knew that from a logical, strategic point of view, that had been foolish, that the others mightn't react so well if they found out, that it could splinter the group. But... what was there to find out, really? Nothing had happened since they found out each other's identities. And in a hostile situation like that, where he felt so outnumbered and outmatched, it was nice to know that someone else might have your back.

The evening was spent preparing for the following day. He called in to work telling them that he wouldn't be in the following day, and decided to call in a few favors. A few sets of eyes and ears... and a bulletproof vest. With his family, he'd never needed one, because he'd always been totally in control of the situation. When he'd been acting as Icarus, he'd always made sure to meet in public areas where they wouldn't dare touch him. But this was different. He knew that almost everything about him and about his body was just as normal as anyone else, and going in unprepared would be a death sentence.

To give Malfyre their due, they did get the location figured out pretty quickly. A quick scout out around and information from his contacts confirmed there had been some unusual activity in the area. They paired up in advance, figuring that dividing and conquering was probably the best way to cover as much ground as possible as quickly as possible. He ended up being put with Malfyre, which he wasn't totally happy about, but he wasn't going to argue about it either. He knew by their reputation that they were powerful, and they'd already shown that they stuck to their word, which was really all Atticus cared about for the mission.

It felt odd, getting ready for the mission. The weight of the vest was unfamiliar and uncomfortable, while the weight of the gun at his hip was becoming all too familiar. He reached for the suit almost instinctively, slipping back into what his family had taught him too easily. He knew that it would be beneficial for this- but the thought that he really hadn't come that far at all was disconcerting. He shrugged the feeling off and made his way to the prearranged location to meet Malfyre.

Gemini flicking the water at the bickering heroes made her chuckle, but she was also hyper aware of the tense energy that persisted in the warehouse as people began to leave. It felt like the tension had been put on hold, not broken, and it was sure to emerge at the next given opportunity. Cerys just prayed that it wasn’t going to be during the mission.

Malfyre impressed her with how quickly they managed to get the information out to them. Nobody wasted any time in setting plans and groups set out for the rescue attempt, which was reassuring. The bickering didn’t seem to be getting in the way of things and they could actually do their job in peace. Even still, Cerys was glad to find herself paired up with Dhani. They hadn’t worked or even trained together in far too long, and it wasn’t like the tension would interfere with them working together.

They’d scouted out the building and had identified three potential entrances, dividing the building into thirds for each team to search, with earpieces and microphones allowing them to communicate with other teams. It was significantly more elaborate than anything else she’d ever been involved in, but she was oddly confident in the team. They’d survived and gotten themselves out of every situation they’d encountered so far, she was optimistic about this one.

She geared up and slipped along back streets and alleys to get to their designated meeting point, her bow strapped to her back and a knife up each sleeve to be safe. The adrenaline coursing through her veins had her feeling almost excited for the mission, even though she knew she should probably be more concerned or on edge. Dhani was probably going to be leaning towards the latter and would probably be serious enough about the whole thing to keep her grounded.

xx
Getting that text from Atticus, that he was home and he was fine, was more of a relief to Dhani than he could have said, really. He cared entirely too much, and he was aware that he cared too much. It was a risk, letting himself care, being so invested in helping. It went beyond doing the right thing, and he had to wonder how much of it he could get away with before the others started to notice. If he were smart, he’d put a stop to all of this, but as it was he was constantly fighting the urge to call Att up and check on him.

But here they were: they had their location, they had their teams, and he was going to be working with Cerys. It had been… Probably years since they’d even trained together. He and Helen had been friends, and that meant Cerys often had to deal with him joining their training and patrols. It was strange, knowing it was just going to be the two of them this time. Dhani knew he could trust Cerys, and that he could work with her, so he was sure they would be just fine. In truth, he was more worried about some of the others. He’d been a hero for years, and he hadn’t gotten the hang of not feeling responsible for everything that happened. He had no real desire to lead, or to be in charge, but he still felt responsible for the wellbeing of those around him. He liked to blame the nature of his powers for that.

This whole operation was a little intense, and that was the way it should be, but it had Dhani feeling a little jumpier than usual. This wasn’t average everyday stuff, it was “stay in constant communication or someone might die” stuff. Dhani didn’t doubt that they could handle it, but he did hope it would be a quick job.

He had a million things on his mind as he geared up, but that was pretty normal. He’d calm down once he was in his suit, he always did.

Cerys was already at the meeting spot when he got there, which didn’t really surprise him. Cerys looked pretty confident, and Dhani shot her a smile before saying, “Looking very badass, as usual. How you feeling? Ready?” Now that he was here, Dhani finally felt just about ready to do this. So long as they didn’t get ahead of themselves, they’d be fine.

Dhani would’ve been happy to wait a moment if Cerys wasn’t ready, but after confirmation that she was, it was time to move on. They had to get in place. This whole mission was a team effort, so it was best not to leave the others waiting. The warehouse in question was pretty quiet, so far. Dhani wasn’t sure whether to mark that as a good or a bad thing. “What do you wanna bet that Malfyre’s gonna be late?” He asked, even as he fiddled with his earpiece; he didn't fully trust the thing to work properly.

Adrian was relieved when the emotion in the room moved from anger and annoyance with each other to a bit more understanding. He was a bit surprised at Malfyre apologizing, though the surprise ceased a bit as she made it clear she didn’t owe the villains anything, or was it all of them in general. The conversation quickly went back to the reason they were all called here, getting Red Witch back, everyone coming to the agreement of getting Red Witch back. Though it made him think for a second whenAboleth made it known Red Witch was her friend. The mind-control villain seemed the most “nice” out of the group, and Red Witch seemed like the most evil, with the small altercations Gemini and Red Witch had in the city, but now wasn;t the time to question friendships.

It wasn’t long until more messages were exchanged between everyone about Red Witch’s location and their next move, and even quicker for them to start getting things into motion. Gemini would be with BludWynd and Aboleth. Jena was relieved that they would be working with the female villain again after their first mission, and Adrian would be lying if he wasn’t excited to work with BludWynd again, it’s been some time since they had actually fought together.

The three of them were to meet near the eastern side of the warehouse across the street and enter through the third floor. Aboleth had received some information from Icarus about their being an outside entrance that they could enter through and work their way from there. The teams wouldn’t all be entering from the same point, to give them more of an advantage of finding and getting Red Witch out. Adrian and Jena discussed a bit about who would be in charge while they were out, Jena’s fire had a bit more pros than Adrian’s water, since they knew there would be some sort of conflict.

Jena got to the location first and scoped out the area a bit, seeing much security around the building, though it wasn’t long until Aboleth showed up. “Hey there girl, hoes it going? Not much activity I noticed. But might be better security and more on the inside. While Jena and Aboleth were talking, Adrian noticed BludWynd approaching them, well more so noticed the shadows. BludWynd is here, can tell by the shift in the shadows nearby. He let Jena know. Having a second set of eyes and ears within one soul came in handy when one half was busy or distracted. “Oh hey Shadow boy, my other half says what’s up.”

Malfyre was late. They weren't that late, Atticus knew that much, but on a day like today, even only being a few minutes late was enough to set him on edge. But then he heard the approach of footsteps and turned to see someone in a familiar mask, albeit in a slightly different suit. He raised an eyebrow in surprise as she handed him the food, and grinned despite himself as he unwrapped it. "Chicken is great. Thank you," he said. He hadn't realised how hungry he was until the smell of food hit him. He continued eating as they started speaking, apologising for their behaviour and their attitude. He knew that he'd overreacted, but it was still nice to hear them take it seriously. He didn't need more flippant behaviour today; he probably would have reacted worse than he had the day before, and that could have seriously jeopardized their mission. So the sincerity was nice, if a little surprising.

"Thank you," he said as they finished. "And... I'm sorry for overreacting. But... the visions always stress me out, even if it's a total stranger. So seeing something like that happen to your best friend..." he trailed off, crumpling his wrapper into a ball. "And then to add to it, we already feel outnumbered. There's three villains, and five heroes. Six if we count Gemini as two people. So if anything happens to one of us, it puts us on our guard. At the end of the day, we've been fighting each other for so long, it's hard to completely forget that and forgive you guys. It's not an excuse, it's... an explanation."

He nodded as they asked if he was ready, cracking a grin as they warned him not to break their nose again. "Don't go jumping on me from any heights, and we should be just fine," he said. "Let's go kick some ass." He put a hand to his earpiece to activate it. "This is Icarus and Malfyre, we're in position and ready to move, entering from the north entrance. Is everyone else ready?"

Cerys returned Dhani's smile. It felt good to be working together. It had really been far too long. Considering that she'd seen so much of him growing up, she basically considered him another brother, and the least annoying of the bunch to boot. On a mission as dangerous and as risky as this, Cerys knew it was important to have someone you knew would always have your back, and she knew that they both knew that about the other. His compliment just widened her smile momentarily.

"Likewise. And... yeah. I know this is a dangerous one but... I think we can handle it." They moved to get in position, Cerys drawing her bow to have it ready at a moment's notice. She smirked as he asked if she thought Malfyre would be late. "Without a doubt. Have they ever been early to anything in their life?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "And leave your earpiece alone, Granddad, you're going to break it. They're the same as the ones we used the other night, they're going to work," she teased. Sure enough, Icarus' voice came through only a moment or two later confirming that he and Malfyre were in position and ready to go. "Unusually punctual for Malfyre," Cerys muttered, before speaking into her own mic. "This is Artemis and Paladin, we're also in position and ready to move, approaching from east entrance," she said.

She hadn't seen anybody entering or leaving the warehouse yet, which struck her as a little unusual. Then again, activity out of what appeared to be a fairly disused warehouse from the inside could have drawn other unwanted attention, so maybe it make sense. At the confirmation that the last team was ready, she looked over at Dhani. "Ready to get moving?" She asked.

x
Piper would be lying if she said she wasn’t nervous. As glad as she was that everyone was able to set aside their differences for this, Piper couldn’t shake the feeling that she wasn’t doing enough. Truly, she wasn’t sure what she could do, beyond what she’d already done, but she couldn’t help but think that if this went wrong, Lucy would die. There was a part of her that couldn’t help but wonder if Lucy might already be dead, and this was now nothing more than a trap for the rest of them. She kept it to herself. If there was even a chance of getting Lucy back, they’d just have to take that risk.

Three entrances, three teams, in and out, find Lucy. That was the plan, more or less. There wasn’t any room for misunderstandings, and hopefully each team could hold their own if something went wrong. Piper was glad to be working with Gemini again: she felt like she could trust them. She hadn’t had much of anything on the line when she worked with BludWynd, but he seemed alright.

Gemini was already there when Piper made it to the rendezvous point, and though she knew Gemini wouldn’t see it, Piper smiled at her greeting. “I’ll feel a lot better once we get Red Witch back,” If they get her back. When Gemini said there didn’t seem to be much activity, Piper glanced at the building, “That makes me nervous.” The last thing Piper wanted to do was walk into a trap. She tried to tell herself that having visible guards for an old abandoned building would be suspicious, but she wasn't sure bought it.

Gemini noticed BludWynd before Piper did. She supposed working with him for longer made it easier to tell when he showed up. As it was, Piper couldn’t quite wrap her head around his powers. They were incredible, and a little scary. Good for him, though, not being type-casted into a villainous role. That was more than a lot of them could say for themselves. She turned and stared at BludWynd as he arrived, almost as if she were testing to see if he’d meet her gaze. Atticus’ voice came through her earpiece first, and then Artemis. For the first time, Piper silently wondered what Luciana would think about her helping look for her. “Aboleth, Gemini and BludWynd are on site and ready to go.” There was a part of her that wanted to wish everyone luck, or remind Atticus to be careful, or thank them all for being here, but instead she just turned to look at Gemini, “I’ll try not to get us caught this time.” She joked, hoping against hope that she might make herself feel a little better about the whole thing.

xx
Cerys’ crack about the communication devices had Dhani rolling his eyes. “What ever happened to respecting your elders, huh?” He shot Cerys a wink, “I always break these damn things. It’s a wonder anyone trusts me with them.” He wasn’t too worried about the communication devices, really, it was just something he felt like he could control. At Cerys’ observation that Malfyre was surprisingly punctual, Dhani cracked a genuine smile. “Icarus must be a good influence,” A pause- as much as he wanted everyone to be able to work together, he wasn’t sure he was ready to give off the impression of liking any of the villains overly much. But before he could add anything else, Malfyre’s voice was crackling in his ear, making some quip about his negativity. “If you’d show up on time every once in a while,” He spoke into his mic, “I might have a better vibe.”

Nothing was happening in that building, as far as he could tell, and that made Dhani uncomfortable. It felt an awful lot like going in blind, and he didn’t like the idea of that. He tried to tell himself that it would be fine, and he’d feel better once they got underway. This was how he felt about anything that wasn’t terribly straightforward. He had Cerys and he knew she would have his back. When she asked if he was ready to go, Dhani just nodded.

It had been a long time since he and Cerys had worked together, but it quickly became apparent that they hadn’t forgotten how. Maybe it was because he was often there while Cerys was still learning the ropes, but Dhani found he still felt he knew what she would do. Something about it almost felt like coming home: Dhani had trained a lot with Helen when he was first starting out as a hero, and her influences were obvious in Cerys. Getting into the building was easy enough; there were no real barriers to prevent their entry, and no immediate guards either. Dhani didn’t like that one bit. He shot a look at Cerys- if Red Witch wasn’t at stake, he would have suggested they pull back, regroup, and rethink this plan right then. It wasn’t even as if he cared that much about Red Witch, but Atticus’ desperation to find her (which was another thing that bothered him just a bit. Probably more than it should have.) had Dhani jumping in to help.

Dhani took the lead through the building. It was a habit, really; he’d always had a tendency to put himself between the people he cared for and any potential danger. He felt a little extra protective over Cerys, though- a testament to the blurred lines of friend, family, and “coworker” that come with beginning your hero career in your teens.

It wasn’t long, though, before they rounded a corner and came face-to-face with a couple of guards. They needed to take care of that before they sounded the alarm. Dhani backed up a few steps and said, “Artemis,” Before breaking out into a run towards one of the guards. This was, of course, his way of saying “I’ve got this one,” Momentum could be a great weapon. Dhani dropped his shoulder and body checked the guy, took a brief moment to regain balance, and a quick struggle later, he threw in a quick jab to the jaw. As quickly as it started, it was done. “You good?” He called back to Cerys. He didn’t doubt that she was fine, she knew what she was doing, but no matter how sure he was, he always liked to hear it.