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A Possible Reconciliation (2/3): Willow and Victor
Victor watched as the movers in khaki color uniforms traveled back and forward between the moving truck and Willow's house.
Well, her fake house with fake memories.
He had been watching those memories play out inside his head while he sat inside his car for the last thirty minutes, trying to gather the courage to get out.
He had received a text message from Willow asking him to talk with her before she moved out of her house. That was almost a week ago. He left her on read.
Instead, he would drive to her house every day and stare at it, hoping to get a glimpse of her.
He sighed. He knew that he should get over her. He should put a stop to all of the feelings that he felt for her. However, he couldn't easily forget her. Nor, could he forget another fact.
She had played him like a fool.
She had pretended to be someone that loved and cared for him. And he fell for it.
Hard.
He had fallen in love with the woman of his dream, only to find out that she was just that: a dream. A dream that was full of good times, warm laughter, incredible dates, passionate kisses, and constant lies.
The lies.
He gripped the steering wheel as fury flooded his system. Each day that he came to her house, going down memory lane, he reflected on each moment, wondering how he didn't see the truth.
Even to this second, he still couldn't figure it out. However, he knew one thing was true: he still loved her. He hated himself for it.
A tap on the window of the car passenger side brought him out of his memories.
He turned to see the object of his pain beaming at him within the frame of the window. His heart stopped. How could someone that you hate still control the beating of your heart?
Reluctantly, he wound down the window. It was no point in ignoring her now that she saw him.
"Hey," she said, "The taxi that I called hasn't arrived yet, and my uber app isn't working for some reason. Do you mind giving me a lift somewhere? If not, I can try to call another taxi."
"What happened to your car?"
"It was part of my contract with the FBI. They already took it back."
He clenched the wheel even tighter. After days of not seeing him, the first words out of her mouth was to ask for a favor. The worst part of it was that they both knew he was going to do it.
Also, given the recent news about kidnappings related to taxi cabs, they knew that he wouldn't let her take one.
.
"Fine," he said, regretting the word that came out of his mouth. "But you have to sit in the back since this is a courtesy ride."
"Thank you," she said with a smile that he started to hate. It was like she knew the reason why he didn't want her sitting next to him. He would reach out and touch her if she was too close.
She got in the car. He waited for her to buckle up and give him an address before he drove off.
They rode in silence. It was suffocating. He stole glances of her from the rearview mirror. The view of her looking out the window was killing him. She was smiling with content as if she hadn't thrown his world out of orbit.
"I was just passing by your neighborhood to check out a call." He felt the need to explain a lie and to end the silence. "It turned out to be a false report."
"Oh," She said in a tone, which caused him to glance at her again. It sounded as if she was laughing at him. He felt like a fool again. He should have just kept his mouth shut.
"John Cooper," she said, causing their eyes to meet in the rearview mirror.
"Who is he?"
"He was a handsome man painted in dark ebony skin, spoke with a heavy British accent, and dressed in a fashion that didn't suit him." She chuckled as her eyes twinkled.
"Who was he to you?" He rephrased the question.
The twinkle in her eyes dimmed. "A lot of things. A mentor, a lover, a friend, a horrible supervisor." She giggled at the last part, causing the twinkle to light up some. "But, I guess, the most important role that he played in my life was being the first guy to be my protector outside of my father.
"I first met him after I ran away from Ant and transferred to another university. I was struggling with several issues. The main one was trying to get Ant out of my head. He had controlled and influenced my life for so long that I couldn't even pick out a shirt to wear for class without hearing his voice." She took a deep breath in. "I was a mess but John…John," she said with a grin. "He said that he saw something wonderful in me.
"He was my tutor for my Abstract Algebra class. What potential he saw in me at that time I still don't know, but I'm grateful that he saw it. He encouraged me to take charge of my life, to be better than I thought I was, than what Ant taught me I was. John protected me from my worst enemy at the time: myself. He also protected me from outside enemies."
She giggled at the next part. "It was the reason for so many arguments at work. Eventually, I was transferred to another supervisor before quitting to start my own company. But we kept in touch and started to date. Had he still been alive, we would have had our wedding and a kid or two by now."
"What happened?" Vic asked softly.
"An undercover operation went wrong. He and his partner Yuki were investigating criminal activities related to the Triad which led him to one of Amy's alias The Circle. They got too close. John was killed as a warning.
"My world was turned upside down and crashed in the sun. While growing into me, I didn't realize how much John was a factor in my life. But he knew. That's why even after his death, he made sure that I was taken care of. He –"
Victor saw that her expression shifted for a moment before she painted a smile on her face and continued.
"Over time and with help, I was slowly able to move on and pull myself together again. However, I didn't come back to life until Yuki approached me for help in taking down The Circle.
"Yuki had been pulled from the case after John's and his identities were discovered, but he didn't stop looking for The Circle. John was like a brother to him, and he had been determined that John had justice.
"By fate or by design, it seemed that luck was both on our side. While I was placing I hate you flowers on Ant's grave- something I did annually in order to cope with never confronting him while he was alive-Amy approached me. She spun this story of how Ant was alive and you were holding him hostage. She thought that Ant still had emotional control over me. Maybe he does in a way.
"However, the reason why I decided to 'help' her was because of John. Yuki had told me only a day before that he had suspected her as The Circle. Had he not shown me the picture of her then or told me, we would have missed our window of opportunity because I would've turned her down.
"So you joined my company to catch Amy?' He asked, needing to know.
She nodded. "However, if you had done what Amy told me you did, you would have been an added bonus. The FBI was already investigating strange activities surrounding your company. We later discovered that everything was related to Amy."
"When did you know that it was Amy?"
"For certain, the morning that you and the rest of the Titans were trapped in the pit. Jerry, the old CTO, had made sure he wasn't the only one that went down. He hid a message so deep in the digital data to keep it from Amy that it was hard to find.
He nodded before proceeding to ask another question. "And the night that we were in the tunnels did you hack into the Tower system?"
Looking in the rearview mirror. He saw her giving him a sad smile.
" I did but not that night. Sorry, I was just doing my job."
"And sleeping with your fake boss was part of your contract too."
Her gorgeous eyes stared into his. "It was a personal choice. I was supposed to get close to you, not in a relationship with you. "
"So why did you? "
"You were the first guy to tell me that a woman who likes insects wasn't unattractive."
He grumbled. "You should have higher standards."
She chuckled. "Well, it's a good thing that I don't know too many guys that think so. Turn into that apartment garage." He did as he was told
"Here you are." He stopped in front of the elevator door in the garage. He was ready for her to get out of the car so that he could start forgetting about her. His feelings had not been a factor when they started their relationship and it wasn't one now. So, he wanted to forget everything.
"Thanks," she said, still beaming. He didn't respond, but her eyes twinkled at his silence.
"Well, I guess, I'll see you later." Her hand touched the door. "Wish me luck on my last mission."
"Last mission? " Vic turned around in his seat.
"Yes, it's kind of difficult but it has to be done."
"What is?"
She gave him a knowing smile. They both knew that he wouldn't let her go in by herself
"I can tell you, buuuuut if you happened to come up and see for yourself….." They stared at each other for a moment. " I can use the backup."
Vic groaned. "Let me park the car."
"Thank you."
After he parked the car, they rode the elevator in silence and remained quiet until they reached a doorway located on the seventh floor.
"Are you ready?" She whispered with her hands on the doorknob. He nodded. She opened the door.
"Hi," said a cheerful, Native American woman. Her eyes sparkled as she gave a quick glance at Victor. She almost jumped with joy when she shook his hand after Willow introduced them.
"Do you mind walking us through the place one last time?" Willow asked the realtor who replied yes excitedly.
It wasn't until they were touring the second bedroom that Victor came to realize that he was setted up. However, he played along until the realtor left them alone in the apartment, which Willow just bought.
"You lied to me again." He growled at her. He was tired of being string along by her.
"What did I lie about?" She said inspecting the cabinets in the kitchens. He could tell that she was thinking about what items she wanted to go in there.
"You told me in the car that you were on a dangerous mission and that you needed my help."
She closed the door to the cabinet and looked at him. "I didn't lie. I do need your help."
"To help you pick the color for your cabinets."
"No, to help me get back together with the man that I had fallen in love with."
His brain stopped working as his heart took over. She was in love with him.
She walked closer to him as his eyes followed every motion that her body made. The sway of her hips, the blinking of her eyelids, and the steps of her feet.
"It is kinda hard to accomplish that if you won't even acknowledge my efforts to reach out to you." She placed her hand on his cheek and his brain kicked back in.
He removed her hand and stepped away from her. "What was there to talk about? You lied to me, used me. You never loved me. I was just -" he took a deep breath as he wiped his face with his hand. "I was only a means to an end."
Sadness gathered on her face. "You were at first. Yet, somewhere along the way that changed. I'd developed feelings for you and I came to love you." She stepped closer to him, causing his heart to beat faster. "Why is that so hard to believe?"
"You may have fallen in love with me but I don't know who I had fallen in love with." He now understood how Gar felt when he found out that Retra was Terra. There were so many shared experiences between them that he was now second-guessing them.
"You fell in love with me. The same person who likes to bake pie and play video games. Who likes insects and lost her parents at a young age. Almost everything that I told you about me was the truth."
"But the things that you didn't, mattered. It matters a whole lot."
"Why are you making this difficult? I love you and I know that you still love me. Yes, I may have lied and omitted several things but I'm still me."
"No, you're not! The Willow that I know was slightly shy and nervous. And she was honest and told me everything. You are….."
"More confident and assertive."
'Yes,' he wanted to shout. However, he didn't dislike those traits. He actually found them to be quite sexy.
"I needed to be someone that Amy thought that she could control. She thought that Ant's mental abuse still affected me and I needed to be that way in some areas."
"But you were like that when you were only with me."
"No, but you often talked with Amy about me because you trusted her. I couldn't ruin my mission."
"No, but you could have trusted me. We have been a couple for over a year and some months. I held you in my arms. And, you couldn't tell me the truth?"
"I had to be sure that what I knew to be true wasn't something that my heart created but something that was a fact. Me falling in love had me second-guessing a lot of things except the fact that I was in love with you."
"Willow-"
"I loved John, Vict. I had to make sure that the person who took him away from me was held accountable. I won't apologize for doing what I had to do to accomplish that. But I do apologize for the hurt and confusion I caused you. I'm sorry."
"I ….I understand what you did but I ..." His system couldn't compute what had been real with them. "I have to go."
He stepped back and turned away from her. He needed time to process everything.
"Vic." He stopped at the teary voice of Willow. "Please, remember the time you infiltrated H.I.V.E.S and fell in love with Jinx."
He spun around. "How do you know about that?"
"Changeling told me." She said with a watery smile. "He said that you and Jinx had something going on but you weren't able to act on it because you were both on opposite sides.
"Well, in this situation, I'm you and you are Jinx. We have something going on and we are on the same side. I'm acting on it because I love you. I know that we can't go back to how it was-" she stepped closer to him, placing her hands on his shoulders. "-but I don't want whatever we have to end."
He grabbed both of her hands and held them as he stared down into her eyes. "I don't want to either but I can't trust you, and trust is something that I need in my relationship. I'm sorry, Willow. It's over."
He released her hands and left the apartment.
As he moved down the hallway to the elevator he was transported into the past. In one scene, he saw tears falling out Sarah's baby blue eyes as she begged him not to go. In another, he saw himself staring out of his bedroom window, wondering if he would be alone forever. In the last scene, he heard Garfield telling him that he was making a mistake.
And it was a mistake to leave Sarah that night. It was truly honest; He was upset that he believed that she was cheating on him, but what made him break up with her was the fact that he didn't think that he was good enough for her. He thought being more of a machine than a man wasn't good enough for her.
Both Sarah and Willow cried when he walked out the door. It wasn't because their tears didn't touch his heart. It was his own insecurities that he allowed to dictate his life again.
He halted and turned back around. He hesitated for a second before he knocked on the door. He had to knock on the door three times before a puffy eyes, tear-stained Willow answered.
"Yes, did you leave something?" She asked, whipping her face.
"I...I don't want this to end either. Not like this."
"Then, how do you want it to end?" She barely choked out the words.
"Never." He grabbed her face and kissed her.
A week ago, the night Amy died
"It's done." He reported as best as he could. It was hard to concentrate as pain ran through him.
The necklace that he had taken from around Raven's neck in the tunnel now sent hot fire throughout his body. He was in excruciating pain, but he knew better than to show it. Because it was a sign of weakness, and no one cared for the weak person. In fact, no one had truly cared for or about him since his mother had died.
"Good job, Slade. I could rest easy now that Black Willow is gone." His sponsor placed a hand on his shoulder. He suppressed the urge to buckle down at the additional weight on his body. He bit the inside of his cheeks. He wanted to brush his hand off of him as much as he wanted to take off the necklace around his neck. He couldn't do either.
"No problem. Just earning my keep." He said through the pain. He was sweating profoundly
The man smirked and patted him on the shoulder twice, causing him to blackout for a moment. When he came to, he was happy that he hadn't fallen over and that he was still standing on his feet.
"And get some rest. I think that you can use it." He caught the tail end of the conversation.
"I will." He said in a strong voice that he had to force out.
The man nodded and left the room with the woman and child following behind him. The child gave him a sad expression at the door before it closed behind him.
He wanted to relax and scream out in pain, but he knew better. The man's eyes were everywhere, watching him, reporting his every move.
With control and precision, he walked to his room, where he suffered in silence until the right time to move.
And when it came, he hurried out the hideout.
There were three times a day that the mastermind's eyes and ears became blind and deaf. This was information that he had gathered from the kid.
He used that time to get away from his sponsor to breathe freely.
He would sneak off to a place that he shouldn't be near. A place that he was going to now. To a person that he had been severely warned to stay away from.
As he moved about the city, he thought about what he was going to say to her. It had been years since he saw her up close in person. With them both being conscious.
He wondered if she would forgive him for staying away from her for so long after he returned.
But he doubted that she would be that angry. No matter what he did or say or how angry he made her, he was her most favorite person in the world and there was no one living who loved him as much as she did. In fact, there was no one who she loved more than him. Not even the leader of the Titans, who she began dating, could come close.
So, as he walked in her flat above the bar, watching her in agonizing pain as she gripped the bathroom sink with her head bent forward, he wondered if he should leave her alone.
She didn't have to know. She could finally be free of them and live a normal life.
He gulped as he willed himself to make the right choice. He counted backward in his head starting from three. When he got to zero, he was going to turn around and walk out the window that he had used to enter her flat.
However, when he reached zero, she looked up and her eyes connected with his masked face in the mirror.
Through the mirror, he saw all of the emotions in her eyes, the longing, the pain, the disbelief. The need to suppress her happiness if he wasn't real.
He decided to put her out of her misery and called to her like a soft melody. He felt embarrassed because he choked on his words as he became overwhelmed by emotions.
However, when they were older and he would look back on this moment, he would realize that she didn't even notice.
All that mattered that he stayed in her arms for the rest of the night.
