Part 2: Goodnight Moon
Elizaveta Héderváry was feeling her life fall apart. "I'm not surprised. The White Knight was always right in the end, even if he didn't go through due process." Her oldest friend sat beside her, newly cleared up and no longer a mystery as to who precisely was before her.
"Shut up." She said, with her voice muffled by grief. The brunette was reading her own file in the records. She had been the Iron Maiden, the White Knight's partner.
How could this be true? How could Roderich have just…lied to her for four years now? That just made it all the worse! She knew, the man, once one she had loved as much as he loved her, was preparing to propose to her as well.
He- Roderich, a man she had trusted…and loved- had been her captor!
She felt her phone crush in her hand in her anger and grief.
It all made sense now. Why Roderich was obsessed with finding the White Knight, why she broke things on accident that, feasibly, no human could break. And most importantly, why her memories didn't make sense
Her strange dreams finally were put into perspective, understanding them to be memories.
She had to find someone to talk to about this. Elizabeta tossed her phone aside, and her brain went directly to the thought of the one person who would take her side in this matter.
The person Roderich persecuted more than anyone- Gilbert Beilschmidt- Loud, obnoxious, foul-mouthed, but a person who would never go to Roderich for anything; also a known Super sympathizer.
He would understand- er, probably.
The woman, now suffering an identity crisis from the years of lies, put down her file, the incriminating document practically burning her hand.
She didn't bother looking up Roderich's.
The White Knight had been right. Elizabeta- Erzebet- her brain quietly corrected her- was a Super, caught and registered, a literal prize or…worse, a trophy- won by Roderich and then kept captive, like a bird in a cage.
That was how the White Knight had known her name. He had been her partner. It was a shock, but it also left more questions for her. Why did he never try to get her? Why did he appear outside last night? Why did he seem hesitant to talk to her?
"You weren't exactly welcoming." The specter reminded her. "Didn't you call him a punk and threatened to kill him?" He tilted his head at her, and she thought back, now unsettled.
"Shut it, hoser." Elizaveta threw him a grimace. "I had no way of knowing."
The woman tossed her phone to the side- she would never answer a phone call from him again.
"So you're finally going to try and find out why you can't remember things? Well, better late than never." The specter beside her said, and she flashed a menacing glare towards him, making him laugh. "Maybe you are going crazy."
"Shut it. I'm going to see Gilbert Beilschmidt." She told it, to satisfy the quiet gaze she recognized as inquisitive.
"Didn't you tell that guy you hated his guts the last time you saw him?" The specter made a grimace. "He's the only place you can turn to? Can't you find me?" He asked, wondering; her hallucination was only echoing her own thoughts, which she ignored for the time being.
"The White Knight has eluded the police for years. What makes you think I could find him now?" Erzebet said to herself.
"Maybe he'll find you. But, ah, I don't think you should alert anyone to the fact you've rediscovered your secret." Her hallucination, though he his head towards her with a bit of a smug attitude, had a point.
However, all thoughts of that blew out of Erzebet's mind when she saw Gilbert laughing in his car; talking to the cute little boy he had been storked with four years ago- strangely, Gilbert was storked around the same time she, then called Elizabeta had been "found" by Roderich.
She had to go after him. She got into her car quickly, and strapped her seatbelt on. "This is a bad idea, Erzebet." Her hallucination told her, sitting beside her in the passenger's seat.
"What if he has the answers?" She growled out, and shoved her car into reverse, before slamming it into drive, and going into overdrive with a harsh stomp on her gas pedal.
And the chase was on.
XXXX
"Dammit, I can't seem to lose them!" He cussed in front of his brother as he hit the gas, taking off at a speeding pace, and not particularly caring as he drove out of the metro part of town.
"Gilbert!" Ludwig cried, hanging onto his seatbelt as he was being thrown about as Gilbert took a sharp turn. "What on earth are you doing?"
"Some shit is following us!" He called back, sounding a little panicked. After his close encounter with Natalia the other night, he had been reminded he had to be on high alert at all times, not just for the sake of his brother and for his own safety.
He went up a gear on his stick, grumbling as he slammed on the gas again, trying to shake the bitch as he went into one of those fancy neighborhoods with two story houses and horrible winding roads. As he jerked the car around the corner, pushing 70, he almost felt them flip, but it was a mercy when they did not.
"Brother, I'm scared." Ludwig was crying, looking absolutely terrified.
Gilbert pulled down the mirror to look at them, and flashed a grin, hiding his own nervousness. "Don't worry little bro, I got this!" The albino laughed, and then slowed down at the next turn, and tried to look into the windshield of the car riding his ass, only to see it was tinted.
That wasn't doing the damn red car any favors in his book.
He made a confusing path for the follower, and lost him after spending thirty whole minutes in some sort of neighborhood. His poor van was almost out of gas, and he had to pray as he got it to a station, Ludwig quivering in the back of the truck as Gilbert parked. He went to the back, and opened the doors, before opening his arms for a hug. He kissed his brother's forehead, and cradled him, rocking him back and forth. "It's alright now. I lost them." He said soothingly, rubbing his back. "We're safe now."
Ludwig started crying openly then, clinging onto Gilbert.
After he got Ludwig situated in the back seat again, he drove home especially slow, making people angry, but he didn't care.
Gilbert was just doing what was right for his little brother.
XXXX
When he was home, he got Ludwig into the bath, and got to work making bratwurst for dinner, rubbing his temples. That could have killed them both. He was ready to kill the little asshole that had spent that much time freaking them both out.
That was when he heard a knock on the door. He put the spatzle on to boil, and went to the door. "Roderich, if that's you, I'm calling the cops on your stupid ass." He opened the door, and his mouth dropped open. It was a pissed off looking Elizaveta.
"Oi. I was going after you for thirty whole minutes, and you didn't even bother to pull over!" She said, frustrated, and Gilbert felt kinda bad now, though he was still mostly pissed.
"You scared the ever loving shit outta me, princess." He grumbled. "Me and Lutz were both freaked out. I thought it was one of Roddy's cronies."
"I told you not to call him that!" She snapped, before looking a bit put out all of a sudden. "A-anyway, I was here to ask a favor from you, but since it's obvious you aren't going to help, I'll-" He cut her off with a raised hand, interested in what she was going to him for, of all people.
"A favor? From me?" He raised an eyebrow, slightly suspicious. "Are you smoking dope?"
Her face turned bright red. "I'm trying to be serious here, Beilschmidt! If you won't help me, I'll just have to find some other bastard that doesn't like Roderich."
"No, no, I'll help you." He said, quietly. "But why me?"
"You hate Roderich more than life itself." She said, plainly. "I need to hide something from him. Where better to turn than a person who hates him?"
This further intrigued him. "Alright. I'm listening."
Her voice was a whisper. Elizabeta's face was closer to him than it had been in years, and it was all he could do not to take in a deep drink of her scent. "I think…. I think I might be a Super."
Gilbert's face hardened suddenly. "I think we need to talk." His voice was grim, face set in a frown.
XXXX
"So you're saying that I am a Super. Well- I mean, I already knew that, since I read my own record, but I already told you all of that." Elizabeta stuttered a bit, confirming with him, but stumbling over her words as she rushed to talk to him about all of this. His presence was cool, accepting of all of this, as Gilbert gave her a word of caution.
"You put yourself in a serious amount of danger Elizaveta- what if Roderich had seen you?" He asked, his face grave, red eyes staring straight into her green ones. "And yes. You are a Super. A registered Super."
She put her head into her hands. "Oh god, I had no idea… I only found out from the file, but I was reading it then, though! ….To hear someone tell me I'm a freak-"
"You aren't a freak." Gilbert corrected her immediately, not tolerating that sort of anti-Super talk. "You're just different from humans. Besides that, don't freak out, 'kay? We have to think up something still- what we can do to keep you safe now." His resolve had gone right out the window. He wasn't going to introduce himself to her as the White Knight, which was because he was the most wanted criminal in the city- even if she now knew she too was a Super.
"What do you mean?" Elizabeta murmured, her green eyes wide in fear. "How am I not safe…?"
Gilbert sighed. "Roderich buckles down pretty hard on Supers. If he catches you, you'll forget everything all over again. It took you four years to get curious enough to investigate for yourself. Imagine how much harder it would be if he got around to convincing you to never look in the records." He pointed out the obvious, brow furrowing.
"I-I didn't know…" Elizabeta looked scared now. "Do you think he could…hurt me?"
"If you think you're exempt from the strict Super laws, then you're kidding yourself." He said, plainly. "That should be worry number 3 though. First worry is how you're going to pretend that you're still under his thumb."
"I have to go back to him?" She sounded outraged, standing up and slamming her fists on his table, making Gilbert raise his hands defensively.
"Uh, yeah, unless you want to raise alarm." He was cool, though a bit sarcastic. He knew what to do, and so he explained it in utter calmness. "In the next few weeks, find things that bother you about him. Then, explain all these things to him, and just break up- move out, while you're at it. That's the best way to go about it." He finished, looking up at her expectantly.
"I'm not happy about it." Elizabet grumbled. "But it's better than what I have right now. Thanks for your help, moron." The brown hair woman who held his heart got up to leave, getting to the door and waving. She paused at the door, her green eyes glaring at him poisonously. "Don't think this means I like you. I'm going to be looking for help from someone else entirely."
His door slammed, but her voice rang in his ears, making his heart ache horribly, those last words injuring him more than anything else she had said.
Since that other person, the one she was looking for, was probably, also him.
XXXX
"Was he any help?" Her memory asked her, in full costume now as she drove home.
"I don't know." Elizabeta sighed. "His point is valid, but I hate his guts."
Her grip on the wheel tightened. "He seemed genuinely concerned about me, though." She mumbled. "…but the White Knight isn't Gilbert." Her mind finished, though Roderich had always told her that he was.
Honestly that was the terrifying thing- She didn't know what to think anymore, what was true and what was lies fed to her to keep her in the dark about the truth.
Elizabeta drove home quietly after that, the specter of the White Knight disappearing as she pondered on Gilbert's words. No, she didn't think she was exempt, but…after four years, would Roderich treat her like any other Super if she revealed she remembered?
Gilbert had been convinced that he would. But he also hated Roderich.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend, Elizabeta reminded herself, trying to rid herself of those poisonous thoughts.
Gilbert did know what he was talking about, and had been exposed to Roderich's true self far more often than she had. And, moreover, Roderich was certainly her enemy now. Now that she knew he had hidden the truth from her for four years, her thoughts of him were far less fond.
She went over the conversation with the White Knight again. He had shaken his head at something, before trying to appeal to her humanity by saying he had a kid at home.
A child. Her mouth went dry as her mind raced with possibilities and she parked erratically in her own garage, closing the door. She licked her lips, feeling as though they were too dry.
There had been a time when the White Knight's activity had gone down- for two years between her being "found" and now.
"Are you thinking that you might be a mother?" Her memory of the White Knight asked her, sitting beside her, naked in the front seat, as she sat in her own garage.
Elizaveta fiddled with her hands. "I won't think that until I have better evidence. But…. it gives me just another reason to fight Roderich."
The specter nodded, and she got out of the car, and pat down her skirt as she went inside, faking a smile as she expected Roderich to be waiting at the front door, but was surprised when he wasn't.
Instead, trails of rose petals lead her into the kitchen. Had this been two days before, she would be swooning right about now, but now, after all that has occurred, she was wary of this. She walked into the kitchen, and smiled as she saw Roderich waiting for her, looking a tad nervous.
"Elizaveta, I know that we've been dating for three and a half years now, and I'd like to take the next step." He got down onto one knee, and Elizabeta's mouth felt dry as a bone.
"Will you give me the honor of marrying me?" There was a large ring, and his violet eyes were looking up to her lovingly, the picture of adoration, but there was also a certain smugness that she couldn't quite quantify.
"No." Her voice resounded in the silent kitchen, and he looked shocked, their eyes meeting at an impasse, both unsure for the moment.
"No?" He asked, confused. "But I thought you loved me."
"Just because I date you, doesn't mean I'll marry you." Elizaveta said, firmly, her hands balling into fists as she swallowed the last of her doubt- her green eyes hardening. There would be no return to normalcy of living with Roderich.
"Why on earth is that?" He was frozen, a perfect picture of harsh confusion, and no small amount of pure heartbreak.
"Y-You're stuffy, arrogant, and always you assume I'm on your side, even when I'm not." To be honest, she was stealing a little bit of her argument from Gilbert. "You don't treat me like a person with feelings…but like, like I'm some kind of doll you can put coins into, and get a prize out for it." But that would be alright, it would just be another ego boost for him. "And…and I don't think I'm ready to marry."
She felt a little guilty for saying all these things, as Roderich looked genuinely hurt at her wounding words. "I won't force you," He murmured, putting away the ring and standing up, his shoulders slumped forward a little.. "And I'll give you time to think about it. But I love you Elizaveta, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
But Elizaveta was quietly thinking to herself, you love the me you created from a previous person. Not the real me.
The White Knight was standing where Roderich had been two seconds before, and lifted his mask up to smile at her. "Well done, Erzébet."
God, she hoped she was doing the right thing. Roderich started cleaning up the rose petals on the floor, and she knelt down to help him.
She had to hurry, because she was going to go out and patrol, and hopefully would run into a certain someone. Someone she was going to get, and they would be happy again- together.
XXXX
That night when Gilbert patrolled, he was mulling over the deep resounding sadness inside of him. While Elizaveta had rediscovered her Super powers, she still hasn't remembered precisely who Gilbert was- that was the most disappointing thing, to be honest.
What should he do, or more accurately- what could he do? He could try and bring her home to him, but that could backfire and she would leave him forever.
He wouldn't know what he would do if that happened.
Gilbert tried not to think about that option.
He saw his prey then, a thief stealing from a jewelry shop. He unsheathed his sword, and jumped down into the alleyway to catch him, only to be surprised. Someone had jumped in front of him- with a rather recognizable mop of brown hair, and a tacky outfit, which- unfortunately- looked more like she was an accomplice of the thief rather than a Superhero.
"I got this one partner." Elizaveta said cheerfully as she raised her fists up, to fight. She was in sweats, a tank, with her hair in a bun and a ski mask on her face.
Jesus, this was going to be rough.
"What on earth are you doing!?" He hissed, "Leave this to the professionals, rookie!"
"I just want to help you!" She looked incredibly disappointed in his sour reaction to her appearance. "Come on, I can do this!" She caught the robber by the arm, and swung him around to face her. Gilbert winced as she punched the guy.
"Hey, watch it! You're going to give him brain damage!" He sharply yelled at her, shaking his head, rubbing his temples a bit. Elizabeta looked surprised as she looked to his own disapproving stance. Gilbert huffed, and took the dazed criminal from her. "You don't know your own strength." He reminded, chastising her. "You've lost years of experience, and you don't know how to use your powers properly."
"But..." She began, before he raised a hand to cut her off.
"No buts. It's excellent to see you fighting again, Lizzy, but for goodness sake, take a class or something. They say fighting always comes naturally, but yikes. You are rus-ty, Iron Maiden." Gilbert whistled, and picked up the criminal in a fireman's lift. "Now you take the jewels, and I'll drop off this fucker at the hospital with a note." And then he would get outta dodge.
Elizaveta couldn't find out it was Gilbert, the guy who lived next door, not until the right time-if it ever came to a point where he was able to do so.
"Wait for me!" She called back to his disappearing frame, running as fast as she could to catch him. He started walking faster, despite her protests. Either way, she still caught up quickly. That made him groan internally, shaking his head and rolling his eyes behind his white mask.
Couldn't he catch a goddamned break? This whole week had been bad luck central.
Gilbert didn't want her to fall in love with a fake persona, a façade to hide his real identity. He wanted her to love him for Gilbert, the true him, the guy she had loved last time, when they had slowly fallen for each other, as best friends, rivals, and partners. That was how they had done it last time, and it had been so amazing to love her like that; as intimate as they were last time.
"Jeez, are you trying to lose me?" Elizabeta had to speed walk to keep up with him. "I wanted to ask you. Did you and I date before?" He couldn't see her face, but her body language gave away her hopefulness.
"Yes. We did." He said, curtly. "Before you were brainwashed and taught to hate me. Yanno. That kinda hampers a relationship." He tilted his head backwards, and turned around to start walking again, trying to shut her down, and being rather unsuccessful.
"See, about that." She began, and this time, Gilbert groaned audibly. "I'm starting…to remember things from before, and…and I wanted to know if you could take off your mask so we can meet face to face!" She took off her own, smiling. Gilbert really was tempted. He really was. He loved her, after all. He loved her as much as he loved the stars at night, certain like the sky above them.
But this meeting could go sour in a heartbeat, he knew, even though it pained him to know, to resist the temptation.
So he had to wait.
"The Erzébet I loved died four years ago." He grumbled, plainly. "And until I know you are out from Roderich's thumb, l can't reveal myself to you. It could be a trap." He was telling her the truth. This would be dangerous, after all.
She had let her hopes get too high, only to crash now. "I thought we were partners..." Elizabeta watched him quietly, putting her mask back on and covering her bright green eyes a bit.
"Note the use of the past tense." He was a bit gruff with her. "That's all that needs to be said."
They had walked in silence for a long time after that. "How can I prove it to you that I'm no longer under Roderich's control."
"You can't. Not to me. I have my own way of watching you, all right? Trust me, I'll know when it's safe to trust you." Gilbert told her flatly, turning his head towards her as he dropped off the criminal. "Here's where we part ways."
"What. But…I just got here." She whispered, her upset clear in every inch of her body.
"You're untrained. Dangers to yourself as well as others- humans already have a piss poor opinion of us. Take a class on it, okay? Then maybe I'll consider it." He jumped onto the fire escape of the alleyway by the hospital, and again to make it to the roof of the building beside it. Elizaveta watched him right up until he disappeared under the cover of darkness.
XXXX
He stayed out until three, and then decided to go home, knowing his little brother would need him there in the morning, in some kind of decent condition. Gilbert sighed softly, before he realized someone was following him.
"Who's there?" He asked, warily.
"It's us, dumbass." A distinctly accented voice called to him, and Francis Bonnefoy stepped out into the light, unmasked. He was a Super that had gone into hiding. Next to him was Antonio, and both were old friends during the Golden Age, the early 2100s.
"You've put on the pounds." Gilbert stated bluntly, noticing a fair bit of chub on Francis' belly. "Ain't my fault I didn't recognize you."
"Yes, yes, delicacy was never your strong suit." He said, sounding a bit ticked off. "Still keeping up the old routine, I see."
"I'm not one to stop fighting." He grinned, going over to him happily. "What are you two doing here for? Didn't you go to Europe or something?"
"For you, amigo," Antonio said, easily. "You should move over to Europe with us. The situation there is so much better-one by one, they're finally lifting the laws against Supers, you know, and are helping those whose memories were erased."
Gilbert was shocked. "How come I didn't hear about this?" He asked, quietly, concerned about his and Lutz's safety.
"American news is keeping it quiet, they don't want unregistered Supers getting away." Gilbert nodded, humming.
"That makes sense." He said, thoughtfully. "I haven't seen you guys in years, how about you two come over to my place?" He invited, grinning at them- though they couldn't see it, they knew he probably was super excited to have them back around.
"We'd enjoy that." Francis said, and they went their separate ways, meeting up at Gilberts home, once he was changed and fit for guests.
"Why were you guys out at 4 in the morning?" Ludwig asked, crankily after Gilbert had introduced him to his two old friends.
"I had a hot date." He lied easily. "And it went on a little too long. Then these idiots found me, and here we are." He grinned as he picked up his little brother. "Let's get you back to bed, silly, you still have two whole hours before you need to get up.
Gilbert quickly tucked Ludwig back into bed with a kiss to the forehead, and went back out to his old friends.
"I dunno if I wanna leave this place." He was very honest here, licking his lips nervously, but otherwise grimacing. "There is a huge, unchecked amount of Supers that are dangerous because they aren't in control of themselves, and I want to be a part of the change that will take place."
"Think of your little boy." Antonio pleaded. "He's a Super, isn't he? It will be safer if he leaves America's tattered states and head for the safety of Europe."
That stopped him in his tracks. That was something that was definitely important to him, perhaps even more important than protecting the general populace.
"Where's Erzébet?" Francis asked, suddenly looking a little curious and worried.
Gilbert looked down, his face crumpling in sorrow, and it dawned on both of them what happened.
"Gilbert, I'm so sorry." Antonio said, quietly. "She was a wonderful woman."
"I'm sorry we didn't come back. If we had, perhaps Erzébet would still be among us." Francis said, looking grim.
"That's yet another reason I can't leave yet." He said, voice soft. "I have unfinished business left here."
"Gilbert, you know that Supers under the thumb of the city never remember." Antonio said, sternly, his green eyes showing his worry for his friend.
"But that's just it." He mumbled. "She hasn't remembered, but she knows that her life is a lie, and she's actually the Iron Maiden." Gilbert sighed, rubbing his temples.
"What?" Francis looked surprised and interested. "She knows? But, how?"
"I said her name." He grumbled, still irritated with himself. "I slipped up and revealed how much I know about her, and we got into an argument about Roderich, and somewhere along the line, she looked in the records of Supers that employers use when they're hiring someone. She discovered her life was a lie." He used his hands to then rub the nape of his neck.
"Mi amigo," Antonio said, brightening up. "That means you can win her over again!"
"I doubt I could." He looked sheepish. "Elizaveta-what she's called now- hates my guts."
"She hated your guts then too." They said in unison. "You still found your own, special way to charm her."
"The real difficult thing is- she's infatuated with the White Knight."
They shared sympathetic looks. The worst thing about being a superhero was the crazy groupies.
"She's not that bad, though. Just wants to get back into the swing of things with me, and I don't want her to love that self, I want her to love me." Gilbert explained.
"You sound so gay right now," Francis chuckled, "But I understand the workings of love."
They chatted for a little while longer, before Francis looked at Antonio, and they nodded. "We're going back to our hotel room, and will be getting some rest. We're tired. We'll stay here until you make a decision."
"Who looks gay now?" Gilbert smirked, putting his hands on his hips with confidence, and they all laughed again.
It was good to talk with old friends, after so long.