Characters: Villains

Theme: Fear

She kept the money tightly gripped in her left hand as she was slammed into the wall. It wasn't much, but it was everything she had in the world. She slid down to the ground as the three boys, who already towered over her, grew even larger. "It's simple, girl. Give us the money, or we'll take it. And we won't be gentle doing it." She knew she should give it to them, but she was starving. She hadn't eaten in three days. If she gave them her money, she wasn't sure she would live long enough to make more. Her only hope was that someone would see what was happening and come save her.

She shook her head, and as she did she looked around for someone to help. The alley she was in was deserted, but in the street she saw her salvation. A cop car was parked right across the street. If a car was there, a pair of officers couldn't be far away.

The biggest boy there must have seen something in her eyes because he turned to follow her gaze. When he saw the cop car, he stared laughing at her. The others joined in, and their cruel laughter was the worst thing she had ever heard. "You think the cops are going to save you? You should call out to them. Surely they'll hear you."

She opened her mouth and tried to do just that, but she couldn't make a sound. The familiar terror squeezed down on her heart, and no matter how hard she tried to cry out she remained silent. Their laughter only intensified.

"That's what I thought. Now, it's time to teach you a lesson." The lead one said as he reached down to grab something. She barely had time to identify it as a metal rod before he slammed it into her leg. She heard a loud crack as the most horrible pain she ever felt burnt its way up her body. She tried to scream in pain, but she remained silent. The boy only laughed and raised the bar above her. She raised her hand to cover her head, knowing that it was pointless. There was nothing she could do to stop him. He brought the bar swinging back down at her, but it missed by a foot as a hook appeared around his throat and yanked him backwards. She looked up to see her savior was a young man in a white suit wielding a cane.

"Boys, boys, boys, it's bad form to steal from starving little girls. You're going to give thieves a bad reputation." The other two boys charged at him without a word, but the man stepped backwards and swept his cane at their feet. They both tripped, and the man proceeded to use a few well-placed flicks of the cane and kicks to incapacitate them all. Whether they were unconscious or dead she neither knew nor cared. She was in too much pain to worry about her assailants. The man walked over to her and silently examined her. He stood there for what felt like an hour as she sat in blinding pain.

"The streets are no place for someone like you, kid. Come on, we need to leave before someone calls those cops over." He reached down to grab her, but she scooted away from his arms. Or she tried to, at least. The second her leg moved an inch she collapsed into a world of pain.

"Do you really want to stay here like this by yourself?" He asked exasperatedly. She was too hurt to even consider the answer. The man sighed, reached down, and grabbed her face with his hand before she could react. His skin started to glow softly, and before long she felt a cold wave rush through her. Her leg lessened from incapacitating to merely painful, and when she looked her skin was glowing as well.

"Now, do you want to come with me or stay here?" He asked. Whoever he was, nobody else had ever gone out of their way to help her. It couldn't be worse than starving on the street. She nodded at him, and he scooped her up in his arms and walked out of the alley.

/

"You don't have to do this if you don't want." Roman said. The pair were sitting in the Bullhead cockpit with a group of their men in the cargo hold behind them.

"I know. I want to do it." She replied. "You've been taking care of me for years. It's time I do it for myself." After Roman saved her, it took her three years to work up the strength to say anything to him. She managed to get out "Thank you." before leaving and hiding in her room for the rest of the day. Now, she could talk with him freely, as long as nobody else was there. If someone else could hear her that same terror came and wrapped itself around her throat. It was time to overcome that fear.

"Okay, I'll be right behind you. Remember, the job is simple. The docks should be unguarded from the air, and we already know where the Dust is. Land next to it, pack it all in, and fly away before anyone knows we're there." Neo nodded and opened the cockpit door. She took a deep breath and told herself all she needed to do was give a short briefing to five people. Simple.

When she walked into the back, the men fell silent and waited for her orders. She stood there, with Roman behind her, and tried to speak. Nothing came out. She tried to make a single word, even a single syllable, but she was frozen in terror. She silently watched as their expectant eyes slowly turned judgmental. She had almost started moving to run out the door before she felt warm fingers lock onto her hand as Roman stepped up beside her. With newfound energy, she tried again to speak. She managed one small sound, something that sounded more like a cough than a word, before the anxiety stifled her again. Roman stepped forward and started explaining the job for her. And, as he walked past, she heard a barely audible sigh. Roman was disappointed in her.

Roman was the only person in the world who truly cared about her, although she wasn't entirely sure why. Whenever she asked Roman why he helped her, he always gave the same response. "How could a man who loves to hear himself talk find a better partner than someone who never makes a sound?" He was lying, obviously, but Neo never really pushed him on it. Whatever the reason, he saved her. He raised her into a dangerous and capable woman. And right now, although he would never say it, the only person who mattered was disappointed in her. She couldn't bear to let him down again.

She felt her hand involuntarily clamp down on Roman's and knew her nails were digging into him, but the contact helped give her a surge of courage. "We're going to land right next to the Dust containers." She said, taking over the explanation from Roman. The fear didn't lessen, but it somehow didn't matter as much. Her heart was still pounding, her palms were still sweating, and she still felt like she was mere moments from bolting out the side, but she kept her voice strong and steady. "Pry them open, load the contents, and we'll be out of there inside ten minutes. Understood?" The men nodded, and she returned to the cockpit with Roman. The door had barely closed before Roman lifted her up in his arms. He didn't say a word, but he didn't need to say anything. She had just done something she was too petrified to even attempt her entire life.

"Thank you." She whispered. Roman put her down and laughed.

"Me? I barely did anything. That was all you, Neo. Just watch, soon enough you'll be a regular conversationalist. You won't even need me to do the talking."

/

As she walked the streets of Vale, she heard dozens of rumors and theories about the attack. All of them were varying degrees of wrong, but that didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore. Because there was one thread that ran through every theory. Roman Torchwick helped lead the attacks, and Roman Torchwick was dead. He died, on that airship. After she had abandoned him.

The only thing she had left was a burning desire for revenge. Red and her little Huntress pals died first. Mercury, Emerald, and Cinder would need to be next. Then she would work her way up that organization until everyone even remotely responsible fell to her sword.

But she couldn't do it by herself. She returned to one of their safe houses and walked in to find a dozen former White Fang waiting for her. Roman had slowly been hiring away their best people in case they needed some extra muscle. They were her men, now, and they would help her get vengeance.

"What's the plan, boss?" One of them asked. She knew exactly what needed to be done. Red lived somewhere in Vale, and they needed to start tracking her down. She tried to say that, but an icy hand squeezed down on her heart while another wrapped itself around her throat. She stood there, unable to say anything.

The men looked at her with confusion. They had all heard her explain a dozen jobs before. None of them understood her. Nobody did, anymore. The walls started collapsing in around her. She desperately needed to escape this place before it trapped her forever. She disappeared with her semblance and sprinted out the door, and when she finally stopped she didn't recognize her surroundings.

The paralyzing fear that Roman helped her conquer had returned stronger than ever. She knew she wouldn't be able to beat it again, not without his help. It seemed a fitting punishment for her failures. She hadn't been able to save Roman, but she would share one last thing with him. She would share the silence of the grave.