AN: Welcome everyone to Drumhead justice! First off, tiger and bunny and its characters sadly do not belong to me. Once again, as with all or most of my stories, there are two ocs in this fic, so if those aren't your thing, I apologize. I also hugely apologize for the tremendous length of this chapter; it turned out far longer than I had anticipated! ^^' A huge thanks to my beta reader, without whom, this story would not be! Anyway, let's get this party started! Thanks for taking a look, and please enjoy!
P.s. please don't forget to review, reviews make Miss Echo happy~
Thanks, and thanks again!
Valeriya shrank back into the corner on her hands and knees, cradling her head in her hands when she filled as much of the tight space as she could.
"Frank, please, I'm sorry, I didn't mean- I wasn't thinking, I-"she attempted to apologize before a large hand came down and forcefully grabbed her wrist.
"That's right, you never think, lazy bitch!" The man yelled as he yanked the smaller woman up to his face. The ugly scent of alcohol filled Val's nostrils and began to choke her airway. His other hand tangled in her long raven locks, yanking a handful upwards, causing her to cry out in pain. The hot tears began to well up twice as fast and soon clouded her vision completely.
"Frank, please!" she begged, but it never did any good, he always hit her until she lay in a heap on the wood floor of the tiny apartment and he had sauntered back to the bar for a refill. This night was no different. Valeriya could taste the iron of her blood on her tongue as it seeped from her swelled lips. Using what little strength she still possessed, she dragged herself to the bed and rested for at least a few hours.
When morning arose, Valeriya woke to the 6;30 sun shining through the dirty window. Since she worked late most of the time, and franks was constantly inebriated, nothing around the apartment was clean. Although, the small space hadn't even been clean when they moved in. with the only income coming from Vals paycheck, it was hard to afford anything other than this rundown apartment on the dangerous side of town.
Small feet meeting the cold wooden floor, the woman yawned and stretched, but stopped short when her ribs angrily protested. No doubt they were bruised, just like the rest of her body. Her bare feet padded to the bathroom where she stood, surveying herself in the mirror. Glancing down at her arms, she noticed new angry bruises forming over top of the fading yellow ones.
'Guess it's a good day for long sleeves.' She thought to herself as she made her way back to the dresser to retrieve some clean clothes.
After her morning routine, Valeriya passed Frank sitting unconscious at the kitchen table. After she poured her coffee, she was out the door, waking him would only cause her more pain.
Dressed in a navy blue blazer and matching trousers, she made her way through the doors of apollon media headquarters. Three badge swipes and several corridors later, she arrived at her shared office. When she walked through the door, her partner, Yuri Petrov was already sitting at his desk.
"You're here early, couldn't sleep?" she asked. Yuri looked at her and gave a small smile.
"We both know how much I love my job; I wouldn't miss a single second of it." He replied sarcastically before averting his gaze back to the paperwork on his desk.
She loved that he actually spoke around her. When she saw him with anyone else, he gave them the cold shoulder. She guessed it was because they both worked as legal consultants for apollon media, but she could have just seen him on bad days.
When he was sure she was seated and began to work, he looked up at her discreetly, observing her every move. He noticed the large dark rings and the puffy nature of her eyes, she had been crying recently. Her lips were cracked and puffy once again. He wondered what put her in this position day after day. He admired her this way each day, the way her long raven lochs framed her slim face, and her petite figure caught his eye constantly.
Her appearance was not the only positive feature about her, she was completely brilliant. As a child, she had lost her parents and skipped from foster home to foster home until she was sixteen. Instead of pitying herself, she sought to gain as much knowledge as she could, and she succeeded. Graduating law school at twenty three as valedictorian had certainly paid off.
The squeak of her chair echoed through the room and broke Yuri from his thoughts as she stood and walked to the door. "I'm going down to engineering for a minute, be right back." He gave a grunt in response as she exited.
Now was the perfect time to find out more about her. Clicking the icon next to her name, Yuri learned all of the general info she had already told him, but one thing jumped out to him, her address. Could she be getting mugged or beat up because of where she lived? There was only one way to find out.
The sliding glass doors opened and she stepped through. Before she could even call his name, Fitz was standing there in front of her. Startled, her hand flew to her chest.
"Oh my god, I didn't even see you there Fitz!"
Fitz had been Valeriyas best friend for many years, and knew all of her troubles. His next powers allowed him the minutest hearing, enabling him to work perfectly alongside Saito. Val always had to be careful as sometimes she would unintentionally yell, causing him pain.
"I wouldn't think so with those puffy eyes. What happened to you Val?" of course, Fitz knew the answer, he just couldn't say anything.
"oh, I burnt myself making dinner last night, and I cried a bit, that's all, nothing to worry about." She gave a faulty smile.
Fitz only gave a hum in response. He decided to let it drop for now; he'd talk to her later. Their conversation was short lived as they both had work to do, but Fitz placed a hand on her shoulder on her way through the door.
"Why don't you meet me down here when you're getting ready to leave, I'll be here pretty late, there's something I need to talk to you about." He suggested.
Val nodded, whatever he was planning, it sounded serious.
Passing through the familiar building, she finally arrived back at her office. There was no expression on her face as she sat at her desk and worked, occasionally sipping the steaming beverage.
After a long day filled with silence, Val finished her last bit of paperwork. Glancing at the clock, she read 10 pm, when did it get that late? Frank was probably awake, and angry about not getting his dinner. With a solemn sigh she rose from her desk and began packing her things into her bag.
"Leaving so soon?" Yuri poked, hoping to stall her a few more minutes.
"Well, I'm not a hard worker, like some people around here." she wore a weak smile and slung her purse over her shoulder. "I've got to go see someone in engineering then I'm outta here. Goodnight Yuri, you should get home and get some sleep as well."
"Don't worry about me; you should be the one getting more sleep." She gave a humored snort and made her way out of the office.
Yuri knew who she was going to see, she went down to engineering all the time to see him. At first, Yuri had been jealous of the short blonde, she cared so deeply about him, but through time, he realized they were only close friends.
Making her way back down to engineering, a hand raked through her hair. The door whooshed open and she stepped through. "Hey Fitz!" she called to him when she spotted him in his chair. He swiveled to face her and nodded in greeting. "So, what is it you wanted to talk about?" she asked, dropping her purse and coming closer to him.
An exhausted sigh escaped his lips as he thought of how to phrase it. "What really happened last night Val?"
She suddenly became fidgety. "w-what are you talking about? I already told you what happened."
"Val, don't lie to me, I'm not stupid." Glasses lifted off his face, and he brought his hand up to rub his temple.
"Why would I lie to you Fitz?" she asked, acting innocent.
"You know why, stop covering for him Valeriya, you can't let him do this to you anymore" his tone began to rise, if he didn't say something soon, he might lose his friend completely.
"What on earth are you on about Fitz?" her tone exasperated.
"I'm talking about your scumbag boyfriend! I know how he treats you, how he hits you and pulls your hair and burns you! He spends your paychecks on booze then comes home and beats you! You cannot live like this Valeriya, he will kill you! You're so smart, and yet, so oblivious!" there was an intense tone in his voice. She didn't like this, he was very seldom angry about anything, and when his tone rose above anything more than a whisper, she knew things were serious.
"Why would you say that?" the familiar stinging of hot tears prickled at her eyes and she turned so she did not show him her defeat. "you have no idea what you're talking about, he's just having a rough time right now, that's all, he'll get better!" she harshly swiped the back of her hand across her face, getting rid of the tears that had escaped.
"He will never get better Val, only worse! Look at what he's done to you, when I met you, you were a confident, strong, beautiful woman, now you're just a timid girl, and I understand why. You always dressed in clothes that let some skin show because you could, but now your body is covered in welts and bruises so you can't! I don't know you anymore, the Valeriya I knew would never let anyone talk to her in a raised tone, let alone smack her around like this." He let a small silence take over before continuing "I know what you're feeling, you feel like you deserve this, as a punishment, but you don't Val, you deserve so much more." He let his voice fall to a disappointed whisper and let his words sink in.
His words hit her deep. He was right in everything he said, and she knew it. Knowing that if she said anything more, she would break down, she prepared to leave. Grabbing up her purse, she stopped in the doorway. "When you're ready to apologize, I'll be in my office." She said calmly.
The doors in the front lobby rushed open and she rushed out, pulling her hand harshly across her face, she tried to wipe away her tears. Yuri stood, watching the entrance of the building for a long while before she finally exited. She was sobbing heavily, could this be the reason she was in such bad shape? Was he responsible for her tears? Questions buzzed through the judges' mind as he thought about confronting Fitz, but soon remembered his plan.
Moving quickly, Yuri rushed to dress into his suit. Slipping on his mask on the way out of the door, he caught up with the short woman. He secretly watched her from the top of a building. She swiped her eyes angrily with her sleeve, was she crying? He moved from one rooftop to the next to keep an eye on her. Before long, she was out of sight. He whipped his head around frantically in search of her, but found nothing, then there was a cry from within an alley way.
The wind of the night was hard on Valeriya's face as it chilled the tears on her cheeks before she could wipe them away. The sound of another pair of feet behind her reached her ears but as she turned to find the source of the tapping, a large hand met her mouth. Another hand shot out and grabbed the bruise that Frank had left around her wrist. She tried to scream, but the hand over her mouth clamped tighter and she felt hot breath on her ear. "Scream and I'll gut you like a pig." The gravelly voice warned before dragging her into a dark alley.
Val felt her back collide with the ground as the figure loomed over her. She felt the man's free hand roaming her body and stop just above the top of her trousers. Using his blade, he popped the first five buttons of her shirt. "Maybe you like it here first, or perhaps we should start up here." he gave a chuckle as his hand grabbed firmly to one of her full, round breasts, groping through her bra.
She gave a small cry and the ever present tears began again. This wasn't how she wanted her life to end, although, then she wouldn't have to take the beatings every night, no more harsh slaps, or cuts from broken beer bottles. Yes, maybe she should scream so that he could kill her and end all of the torture.
Getting lost in his lust, the hand over her mouth lifted, and she let out a piercing wail. Immediately, the hand appeared again and a knife pressed itself into the skin of her neck.
"What did I say, huh?! No I'm gonna have to kill ya!" the attacker said furiously.
"Hear the voice of Thanatos, repent sinner, for this is your judgment." That voice, she had heard it before, but where? Her eyes widened with realization, she had heard it on hero TV, it was Lunatic.
The man jumped up and off Valeriya, now pointing the blade at the masked figure. Lunatic raised his crossbow to the assailant and began to load it. The man became fidgety with the realization that he was no match for the next and fled down the alley, tripping, picking himself up and fleeing once again.
Val flinched and cradled her head, bringing her knees to her chin. Her eyes clenched together so hard, she began to see spots.
A few minutes of silence passed and she warily opened her eyes, scanning around before a gloved hand came into her field of vision. At first, she flinched, but then she recognized that she was no longer in danger. Slowly and ever so cautiously, she gently grasped the hand and rose to her feet. The man in the mask towered above her, and she looked up at his face. No longer was she intimidated, she was only grateful.
"Thank you...but…why did you not shoot me?" she asked quietly.
The figure cocked his head to the side before letting his voice be heard once again. "Because only weak men harm the innocent." And in a flash, he was gone.
Looking around quickly, she tried to spot her savior, but he was nowhere in sight. Smiling a bit to herself, she grabbed her purse and kept walking.
Lunatic still followed close behind her, just in case. Finally, he watched as she entered a small apartment complex. Finding just the right perch, he could see into one of the apartments, and luckily, it was hers.
Stepping through the front door, she called out meekly. "Frank? I-I'm home…" she had just enough time to duck and cover her head as a beer bottle whizzed past her and smashed into the wall.
"What the hell woman, where is my food?!" he shouted at her angrily, suddenly staring down at her.
"W-well, see, I had this big case and…" she began to trail off before the back of his hand collided with her cheek. Picking her up by the throat, he threw her down onto the floor with a loud thud, with ease, as if she were a rag doll.
Propping herself up on her elbows, she began to apologize once again, but it was no use as she received a kick to the mouth. He had decided that he wanted to try something new. Picking up a large piece of the broken glass, he tugged her arm away from her body, raking the glass up and down the appendage several times before ultimately getting bored and sauntering away to pass out on the couch.
When she was positive he was snoring lightly, she gathered the little strength she had left and dragged herself to the kitchen sink. Running the cold tap, she stuck the blood soaked limb under the water. She hissed at the pain, but let the water run over the cuts for a few minutes longer. Val shut off the water and reached under the sink to grab the first aid kit and an old rag. First, the wrapped her arm tightly from the elbow down to her wrist to cover the cuts, then wet the rag to go clean up the puddle of blood that had formed on the floor.
After making sure she had cleaned up all of the red liquid, she returned to the sink to rinse the cloth. Now turning off the water, she rung out the rag and hung it on the edge of the counter. The stars outside the small window above the sink were almost mesmerizing to her as she became wrapped up in her own thoughts. Lunatic's words rang through her mind over and over.
Part of her wished that Lunatic had done away with her, and yet, part of her was extremely grateful to him. She wished he could come save her once again from this awful nightmare. Maybe Fitz was right, maybe she had to do something, but what could she do? She was trapped. She also wished the media would speak better about Lunatic; he couldn't be bad if he had just saved her from being raped. Sighing, she dragged herself to bed for yet another sleepless night.
Outside, Yuri sat looking in on the horrible scene that unfolded in Valeriya's apartment. So that's why she always looked so beat up and down trod. His eyes shut tightly and his fists clenched in anger. How could anyone treat someone so special in such a way, especially a woman, a weak fragile one at that. He would make sure that this bastard could never hurt her again, he would lock him up for good, or better yet, his idea of "justice" would pull through.
AN: Poor Val, she's got it pretty hard huh? Do you think Yuri's sense of justice will prevail, or not? And what about Fitz? What's he going to do? Find out in the next chapter! Thanks for dropping by, and don't forget to review!~ see you next chapter!