Beguiled damsel book 5, p.24
Beguiled (Damsel Book 5), page 24
That day, since she wasn’t going to be out camping, having pretty much burned her bridges everywhere already, she put on makeup and then thought about where she needed to be, if she wasn’t going to be pretending not to be a superhero like she had been, of late. Nothing much came to mind. For the first time since she’d started working on not being a victim, she seriously considered going back to her life of partying and debauchery.
Not just wanted a drink or some drugs, but actually wondering if going out that night would be possible, at all. It was Monday, which meant the club scene would be a little slow, but it was something to look forward to. Even staying home and getting drunk would be enough. That, she understood, meant going to get something to drink, of course. That was what she was thinking about, for several hours, when her phone finally rang.
“Hannah here.”
“Damsel? This is Guardia.”
She sighed.
“Just Hannah. That… I’m not playing at being a hero any more. I guess that was pissing people off, doing that? Still, what can I help you with?”
There was a long pause then.
“Um… I kind of wanted to borrow some money? I’ve been so busy fighting crime that I sort of lost my job, and… Well, the rent is due.” She sounded small then, as if asking was making her less than she really was. Hannah thought for a moment, then shrugged.
“Oh? No problem. Where do I send that?”
There was a string of numbers then, which Hannah moved to her computer to handle. After a bit, she tapped in several times what had been asked for, since real people needed food and to pay the power bill too, and then did a few other things.
“And… There. You’ll get this much each month, for as long as you need it. I don’t expect it back or anything. How are… Did you get with John Fawks about the slaves?”
The woman actually made a small, triumphant, sound then.
“It’s why I haven’t been at work for three weeks! We’ve recovered over a hundred women and children, Hannah. He said you were paying him for the work? I wouldn’t have thought of doing it that way, using magic, but between scrying and making portals, it’s really made a difference. It’s cheaper than buying them, let me tell you that!”
“Good! Anyway, I’m sort of descending into depression here, so, I should go now? I don’t want to drag you down with me.” She managed to sound cheery enough, she thought. Like it was a joke, and not her life being shown to be a fraud.
As if her only real value to the world was going to be in paying other people to do work for her. Forcing a smile, she just hung up. It was rude of her, but hopefully Guardia would understand. If not… Well, they weren’t close friends or anything, so it didn’t really matter.
The woman had been there for her a few times already, when she or others had needed help. That counted. Enough to drop some funds into her account, so she wasn’t worried about having a place to live. Food to eat and all that.
The television, in the background, on a twenty-four-hour news station, which was more about spinning things to a far-left opinion than giving exacting news, finally reported something new of interest to her. The picture they were showing caught her mind instantly, in fact, causing her to focus on it in a way that she hadn’t really been managing that day, so far.
It was of a deep pit, in Texas, with a picture of her face next to it. Accusing her of having murdered fifty-odd people. On the good side, no one had pointed a finger at Carl yet, or even Luther. Just her. The picture they used was of her walking down a red carpet, at some event or another. She looked younger, so it was probably at least five years old. The dress wasn’t one that she remembered at all.
Back then she’d tended to only wear things once, then stored them away, or tossed them out.
It occurred to her that, given the information being used, that someone on the inside of her life, a person that she’d thought might be a friend of hers, had to have told on her. Given everything, it was tempting to guess at it being June, but it really could have been a lot of other people. The issue there was that only her name, was being used.
The woman on the screen, who had lovely red hair that probably came from a bottle, sounded a bit skeptical, at least. Also scripted. It was different, like a planned speech being given. As if it were a joke to them.
“Wait, Jose, you’re telling me that Hannah de Peyser has superhuman abilities and killed dozens of people? The heiress? Not just someone with the same name?”
“According to our sources, that’s right, Alicia. I do want to point out that these anonymous sources did confirm that she did it to save lives, since there was an attack planned on New York City, which she almost single handedly thwarted. Others were named in less lethal operations. Katherine Sinclair and Devya Pool, specifically. All of them used teleportation abilities. We don’t have any word why Hannah de Peyser has that kind of thing. Some are suggesting demon possession. Everyone knows that teleportation goes hand in hand with possession of that sort.”
The woman made a concerned face.
“Is there going to be an investigation into what happened last night? We can’t allow law enforcement to go around deciding who lives and dies.”
The man, who looked pretty, rather than smart, gave a single, fairly sharp, nod.
“That’s the kicker here, our source indicate that Hannah de Peyser isn’t working in any official capacity, meaning she won’t have the protection of the government in this. They said, and I’m quoting here, that she’s only an amateur, acting like a queen bee. Our legal team actually thinks that this was an allowable action, under the Special Superhuman Act of Ninety-Seven. That act provides an allowance for any person to use any skills, talents or powers they have to protect society from greater harm. So far, no one we’ve spoken to thinks that these men and women weren’t an immediate threat to millions of people.”
Hannah sucked in air, feeling as if she was being smothered, even as the man indicated she wasn’t going to be in trouble for the killings the night before. He could be wrong, certainly, but as they moved along, including to the local prosecutor in Texas, in the County she would be tried in, if it happened, the woman they talked to actually glared at the questions.
“Regardless of who did this, the Great State of Texas isn’t going to go after an individual who clearly was acting to protect society at large. We also have no evidence that this has anything to do with any specific individual. This took place on federal lands, and happened under the guidance of a Federal Agency. Frankly, if this had been done by Hitoshi himself, we wouldn’t bring charges for it. Every person who died out there was among the worst killers in modern times. Now, I don’t have anything else to add to this topic.” The heavyset woman, who seemed to be pushing fifty or so, looked ready to tell some people off, if they didn’t stop bothering her.
The problem then, wasn’t her having to face prison. No, it was that the news started going over even more about her. How she’d helped find Hitoshi and had gone in to stop him, herself. Also that she’d taken Red Menace and put him directly in a cell. Then, as if a flood gate had opened, almost everything she’d done as Damsel poured out into the world. All of it with a finger pointing directly at her.
“On the good side, only half a dozen or so people actually want me dead.”
Dr. Sendra being executed by her, shot five or six times, was mentioned as well. Without mentioning why it had taken place in the first place, naturally. At about five in the evening, people started to call her. She didn't bother to answer. There was no way for her to hide it all, after what had been spoken of.
Besides, it was, she had to feel, almost certainly someone close to her. Who would do that to her, she didn’t know. Well, Hitoshi, Menace and several other people had a good reason to, if they found out about her. Not knowing what else to do, she dropped into a trance, and held it. Ready to fight, or flee. Also, to see what was coming. So she understood when Katherine and Devya were set to arrive. Along with another person.
She pulled her forty-four. If that person was June Seres, the woman was going to be shot in the face. Anger surged through her soul then, pushing her to a level she’d never experienced before. For the first time in her life, she understood what the term livid actually meant. If she saw June, who was, obviously, the person who had betrayed her, she was pulling the freaking trigger.
Which was exactly what happened, just as soon as Devya popped in with the woman, still dressed in purple and black. Her aim was good even, each of the three bullets striking the woman directly in the right eye. It was enough to get her to scream, even.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to actually leave a mark and sounded a bit like the woman was being beset by an angry bee than a real weapon.
To that end, as Wisp came in alone, Hannah moved June, her grandmother, outside of her apartment. It only took her about ten seconds, since she’d technically started the move before anyone was there at all. Knowing what would happen.
Devya blinked, the others being clueless about what had just taken place. Hannah simply ran to the patio, opened the door and jumped.
It was the fastest way to the ground after all, and she was pretty certain the fight wasn’t over yet, by a long shot. She started flying, before she hit the ground, which meant the car that was thrown at her missed. She didn’t even care that it would have killed her, she just picked the woman up, using her mind to raise Liberty about two hundred feet into the air, and then accelerated her back into the pavement below.
Several times.
Chapter sixteen
There was, Hannah came to realize, a reason that Liberty was one of the oldest and most revered superheroes in the world. She was cute, sure, but also tough. Every time she hit the ground, the woman was up instantly, throwing things at Hannah, or in one case managing to get her hands on a police officer’s nine-millimeter and trying to shoot her. She was pretty good, but not so great that Hannah wasn’t able to simply avoid the paths where the bullets would be flying.
The seventh time the woman was teleported straight up into the air, Hannah found herself tackled. It was actually painful, since she was hit both high and low, from front and back, at nearly the same time. Wisp and Agent Seven, both in uniform, tried to hold her then, with Kate actually stopping her from teleporting away. Impressing Hannah’s own ability with the fact that she was, in all actuality, there. Intensely so. It made it hard to move at all, in fact.
“Hannah! I know she insulted you, but this isn’t the right response.”
They were struggling, but politely, which meant Hannah couldn’t win. Short of drawing a knife while stopping them from using their own powers, that wasn’t going to work. She was just too small, and both of the women could actually fight. Either of them could have taken her in a fist fight. A thing that she didn’t let bother her. Almost everyone could do that. It didn’t make them special, in particular.
“Get off of me!” That didn’t work, so she tried to explain. “I’m not… Go and look at the television! Now. This isn’t just about her being a bitch.”
That didn’t work, exactly, but did have Devya teleporting them from the street, where Hannah had ended up, to her own living room. There, of course, it took several minutes for them to play the whole lineup of accusations. Most of them being correct. She was a killer, after all. Hannah was let go, after a while, as both women realized that their names had been attached to things as well. For Kate that wasn’t such a big deal.
Devya however had been a private citizen as far as being known as a crime fighter. She wasn’t, any longer.
Hannah pointed at the screen, when they got to the quote of the anonymous source.
“That’s exactly what she said to me, earlier. Exactly. She came at me, yesterday, and I wrote it off. I mean, sure, it hurt my feelings a bit, but she wasn’t really wrong, was she? I’m not a superhero and yeah, that probably comes off wrong to people who have lived that life for ten or twenty years. It’s not fun to hear, but I took that and just decided to get out. But this? This was way past what anyone would do over a minor argument!”
June, her outfit torn almost to shreds, but still hanging on, her mask gone totally, actually looked a bit messed up. Her hair was awry and she had some small, rapidly healing, bruises on her face.
“Hold her! I’ll knock her out!”
She was calling out to Kate and Devya. A thing that, thanks to the news, they didn’t move to do at all, even as the woman started toward Hannah, her fist curled. The room dropping in temperature, which meant her powers were being activated.
Katherine held her right hand up.
“Wait… June… There’s news. Here, they’re going to repeat it, I think. This…”
It took a while and the woman clearly fumed, turning red, as Hannah was outed, called a killer, and thankfully, was being given support by several of the guests. It wasn’t until she heard the others being named for their part, capturing fugitives that she really altered her stance. Her fist was dropped at least and she seemed baffled.
“I didn't tell them that…”
The room felt unreal to her, for a moment, as she shook her head. Trying to make the world back into something that made sense. The others seemed to be trying to do that too, physically shaking their heads.
Hannah got it first, having taken the time to compose herself. Also, to reload her gun. It wouldn’t work on Liberty, of course. She was willing to shoot Kate and Devya in the leg, if she needed to get them off her back. It would take work, but she could get them healed up after. It wasn’t what she wanted to do at all, but she couldn’t go up against June hand to hand, and the others were too much for her, if their powers were part of the game.
They might be distracted for long enough to teleport Liberty into orbit, though.
Hannah cleared her throat.
“You mean to say, you didn’t tell the press about Devya and Kate? So, you told them about me? And here you two thought I was being over the top.” She waited for the woman to deny it, but there was just a sullen, almost teen age looking, shrug.
Then the woman gave her a sullen look.
“You were causing problems, so I removed you. I won’t let you take over The Society. I worked too hard to build this group for some puffed up, self-important ditz to come in and corrupt it in a few weeks’ time.” She started to move in again, doing it at a deliberate pace.
Either on accident, or on purpose, Kate forgot to block her powers. So Hannah started a movement, and stalled for time.
“Some grandmother you are. No cookies, and always acting like a bitch. I have one question, before we finish this?”
The woman glared then and shook her head.
“What?”
“You’re invulnerable… That isn’t a hundred percent, but you’re really hard to hurt, strong and all that. Not too fast… I wonder though, do you need to breathe?” Her voice was almost conversational, since she wasn’t trying to force the woman into action too soon.
The woman disproved part of what Hannah had just said, almost instantly, since she moved across the room so quickly that, if she hadn’t been teleported into space, Hannah probably would have died when the punch landed. Just the wind from the motion actually knocked her back a step, even with Liberty’s shape being removed from the space they were in. Together, the conflicting motion of air sounded like a small thunderclap.
She nodded at the others, who seemed baffled.
“That will probably buy us a little bit of time. So, you can both apologize now? I think you broke some ribs in that first move.”
Devy nodded at least.
“Sorry. Still, you were fighting with Liberty. I mean, that isn’t normal, you know? Even if she said mean things in the press, that isn’t a good enough reason for that. This is odd. Some kind of mind control? Or… Was that really her?”
That was a thing that she didn't honestly know. The woman wasn’t always perfect, but what she’d said moments before made almost no sense. Hannah tilted her head, thinking about it.
“You got her from The Society HQ?”
Shaking her head, Kate went wide eyed.
“From the campout. She just showed up, and I didn’t ask who had brought her there. She wanted to come and make up with you. I figured it was, you know, like when she’d told you to go bake some cookies? That was rude, but the kind of thing that a really old person might say, not meaning it in the same way that we’re going to take it now…”
Hannah had a few choice terms to say about the topic, but was willing to give the woman the benefit of the doubt. After all, she’d been in fights with family members before. Not often, but enough to know that people could say really mean things, or even do bad things to you, like outing you as a killer to the press, without actually meaning it in the way that kind of thing had to be taken.
She was pissed off enough to fight, but only because she knew that June was almost impossible to actually hurt. It was why she’d done all right against her, and kind of sucked against the other two. She wasn’t going to rip out Kate’s eye, for instance and short of doing that kind of thing, almost instantly, Hannah was always going to lose against her. Then, neither woman had just punched her in the head, either. It certainly had seemed like her grandmother was planning to try.
“We could call her, I guess?” She wasn’t doing it, but Devya had her number and her phone was still on her. When that was dialed, Hannah half expected it to go to voice mail. That or for the woman to curse at her, and let them know she was planning to kill Hannah.
Instead Devya started to speak, almost instantly.
“Liberty? This is Agent Seven… Um, not to stir shit, but were you just teleported into space, by any chance?” The pause wasn’t a long one, but there was a chuckle from the phone that could be heard. “No? You were just at Hannah’s, fighting with her. It really seemed like you. The look was right and so were the powers. You even made the room cold. Also, you survived being dropped from hundreds of feet up, a half dozen times. Just a note, don’t really get into it with Hannah. She just sent whoever was faking being you into orbit.”
