Mrs. Serrano runs the bodega three blocks away from Robbie's house. She's got two kids in their sophomore and freshman year and owns an old red VW bug that breaks down almost as much as the bodega's coffee machines.
Normally, he'd start a conversation with her as she signs the paperwork for the repairs, but his attention is taken away by the dark burgundy van parked behind the fence line. He recognizes it from this morning, and though he smiles at Mrs. Serrano as she trades the clipboard for her papers, he's fighting to keep from wearing a very different expression. Glancing around, he sets the clipboard in a tool crate and exchanges it for a crowbar, concealing it as he walks towards the van.
He jerks open the door, ready to clock whoever's inside, but no one's there and the unease it evokes claws at his consciousness all the way back into the shop.
He's too wrapped up in his thoughts to hear the conversation Canelo is having with a customer until his boss says, "Hey, Robbie, so this girl says she knows you is telling me-"
"Robbie Reyes," a familiar voice says, almost smugly, and he stiffens at hearing that voice. You've gotta be kidding me. "You look so different from the last time I laid eyes on you."
He turns around and his concerns are only confirmed when he sees the girl from last night, his possible soulmate, leaning against the break counter, holding a mug of coffee
"Long time, no see," she says, and there's a taunting glint in her eye that he really doesn't appreciate.
"Yeah, it's been a minute," he replies through gritted teeth.
"I was just telling Canelo here how tight we used to be back at Garfield High," she says, flashing Canelo a sweet smile. "The stories I could tell…"
He forces a smile. "What are you doing here?" he asks, and the demand is clear.
"I'm having trouble with my van," she says innocently. "Yesterday, out nowhere, it just burst into flames," she emphasizes, feigning shock. "And I hear you're kind of an expert at that sort of thing so I figured it was time for us to reconnect." Her smirk is hidden by the coffee mug, and she arches an eyebrow at him like a dare.
What the hell?
He can't believe this.
He can't fucking believe this.
She came back, in broad daylight, and now she's chatting up his co-workers with a cup of coffee. What the fuck is she thinking?
It's becoming clearer and clearer to him, her death wish. The words she spoke to The Rider last night are obvious proof, but this is next-level insanity.
He works on her van, pretending like everything's fine as he says, "I don't know, looks fine to me." He's tempted to sabotage her van, but his pettiness is outweighed by his desire for her to leave as soon as possible.
"The engine caught fire, how is that not a dangerous problem?" she says, incredulous.
"Maybe you should leave it alone," he replies. "So you don't get hurt," He lowers his voice so his coworkers don't hear, "Or smoked." He climbs inside her van to continue his premise of trying to help her.
"You claim your victims earn that," she says quietly. "Hard to verify all of them."
"Somehow, you tracked me down," he replies, trying to keep his tone level.
"Just to talk. I figure you're either on the right side of things, or-"
"Or what?" he dares her. "Or else?" He shakes his head. "You're out of your mind coming here. You know who I am but you don't know me-"
"It's funny you should say that," she says, loud enough for the others. "I was just thinking of how many memories I have of you, Reyes," she says, an edge of fake fondness in her voice. "Not this too-cool-for-school version you got going on now, but...the real you."
"He wasn't always the strong, silent type?" Canelo chuckles.
"Well, I've known him since, what, Crandall Elementary?" He tenses. How the fuck does she know what school he went to as a kid? Just his luck. His soulmate's a stalker. "He was always quiet," the girl goes on, "like he was hiding something. The two of us used to hit up the Moonraker Arcade down in Little Tokyo, isn't that right, Robbie?"
He just glares at her.
"Yeah, it is," she affirms, "So I've seen a side of him that most people haven't. We used to hang there everyday until your uncle would pick us up. How's he doing these days?"
If she knows what elementary school he went to then she knows damn well how Uncle Eli is doing these days, and her feigned ignorance pisses him off.
"You get lost," he says, his tone dangerous as he leans towards her. "Or I'll get angry, so angry I may not remember what I do to you. Sometimes I prefer it that way." What a farce it would be if he ended up killing his soulmate. She stares him down almost defiantly.
"In front of them?" she asks coolly, referring to his co-workers, and this is exactly what he was trying to avoid and look where it got him. He swears to himself, but knows he can't press it here, so he backs down just long enough to say, "It's just a hose loose. You're all good." He starts her van to prove him point.
She lifts a hand, and he can feel vibrations trembling the van until there's a horrible rattling and smoke starts to drift upwards.
"Oh, no, look at that," she says, and he glares at her. "Looks like we'll be here a little bit longer."
He can't fucking believe this.
No matter what he does, she keeps messing with the van, clearly trying to prolong her stay here, and Canelo won't let him leave, something about how Robbie needs "to play catch up with more old friends."
He slams the van's hood down before snapping, "What do you want?"
"I looked into your kills," she says as he passes her to reach a toolbox. "Some of them check out."
"I told you, it's-"
"Vengeance," she finishes. "Well, vengeance seems to put you on the same track as me. So tell me what you know."
Jesus Christ, what is she playing at? "Look, detective, they got what they deserved, end of story."
"Alright, I'll tell you what I know," she says. "There's a group called the Watchdogs. They're hunting people like us."
Us? He's the only Rider he's ever known.
"Us," he repeats.
Her brow furrows. "Inhumans," she clarifies.
Ah. He scoffs. "That's not what I am."
"Look, I know what you're going through, I've been there and I know that it's hard to understand-' Sympathy is new from her. He doesn't want it.
"You here to counsel me? You want to save my soul?" he says quietly. "I'm telling you, girl, I sold mine."
She looks thrown by the that. "To the devil," she says in disbelief.
"He was the only buying, you know?" he says with a tight grimace.
She clearly doesn't know what to say to that.
"Look, I'm done talking," he says, stepping closer. "You want to throw down again, we could do that. I like my chances. You want to turn me in? Try it. I got nothing to lose."
"You may not but Gabe might be a little sad to lose his big brother," she says, and his blood runs cold, then white hot at the mention of his brother's name. "You're all he's got."
His heart thuds in his hears, with anxiety or anger or something when he hears Canelo call, "Robbie! Listen, I got to take the truck, drop off the GTO in Palm Desert."
"Take all the time you need," he replies, locking eyes with the girl. "I'll lock up."
"Andale. Mañana," Canelo bids farewell, and shop door clangs shut. At the sound, he breaks eye contact, and grabs a wrench from the nearby toolbox. "Now, you? You shouldn't have mentioned my brother," he hisses and both his eyes and the wrench catch fire. Between Gabe and some girl who might be his soulmate, he'll choose his brother every time.
She backs away and around the van, and he follows. "It doesn't have to go this way," she says, and he wants to laugh, because they're way past that.
"You're wrong," he replies, and in response she aims her hands at the car near them propped up for repairs and it comes down, a metal wall between them. Ricky Sanchez is gonna be pissed about his car.
He drops the wrench but rips the exhaust pipe off the car, turning to see her wincing and holding her arm. Seems her powers take a toll.
She doesn't seem to give up though, and sends a heavy cart rolling towards him, but it's not hard to jump to the side and avoid it. She manages to evade the first few swipes, but then he brings it down on the arm she throws up to shield herself, and whatever pain she's already experiencing plus his blow sends her to the ground.
It doesn't take much to knock her out.
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