Happy Belated Valentine's Day (by 30 minutes)!

"I…can't believe you just did that," Dr. Flug said, once he was alone with the woman.

Lita hung her head. "Neither can I."

In fact, the last few minutes had been a lot for both of them to process. In Flug's case, not only had his boss not vanquished the intruder, but he had let their prisoner go and recruited a new member to their team. He'd learned not to question Black Hat's decisions, but it was still weird that no one had died in all the chaos that had recently unfolded.

In Lita's case, she had just literally signed her soul away to the closest thing in this world to the Devil. Not that she was really religious, but this whole ordeal was still pretty Faustian. Point was that she'd just given up her freedom for her father's sake. Was he even going to be okay, without her there to help pay the bills? She hadn't really thought this through.

After a long period of awkward silence, Flug straightened up and adjusted his goggles.

"Yes, well," he said, tucking his tablet under his arm. "Mr. Black Hat's ordered that I get you settled into your room."

She looked over at him in confusion. "Room?"

"Yes, of course," he said, walking up to her. "If you're going to be living here, you're going to need a place to sleep, aren't you?'

She bit her lip. "I, uh…just thought that, uh…"

"You thought what?" he asked, cocking his head.

She couldn't help but find the blank look of his paper bag and goggles…creepy. Shaking it off, she replied, "You know, that I'd be…chained to a wall or something?"

Flug glanced over at the examination table. "Oh, that. We only do that for prisoners and test subjects. You are here as an employee, which means you'll receive room and board like the rest of us."

"Huh," Lita said, unsure of how to respond.

"However," the scientist said, moving in front of her, "given the fact that you burst into my lab and threatened my boss with a knife, I have very little reason to trust you. So…"

He held out his hand. Understanding, Lita let out a sigh and took off her backpack.

"Fair enough," she said, dropping the strap into his hand.

Once Flug had slung the bag over his shoulder, he held out his hand again. "Pockets?"

Rolling her eyes, Lita unzipped her hoodie pockets and turned them out. With much reluctance, she surrendered her wallet, her cellphone and her house keys. Flug held up his other hand when she took out a packet of tissues.

"Those you can keep." To make things easier, he dropped the confiscated items into Lita's bag before holding out his palm a third time. "Your jeans?"

"I never keep anything in my jeans."

He gave her an incredulous look.

"No, seriously." She demonstrated by backflipping into a handstand, surprising him. "See? Easy for things to fall out if I keep them in my jeans!"

Flug shook off his amazement as she jumped back onto her feet. "Very well then. Follow me."

After slipping his tablet into his lab coat, he walked towards the door. Lita kept a few paces behind him.

"Ah-ah-ah," Flug said, gently grabbing her arm to pull her up to his side. "Up here where I can see you, if you don't mind." He noticed her eyeing her backpack. "Don't worry. You'll get this back once I check through it." He picked up her switchblade from the floor. "Just so you know, though," he said, slipping the knife into his front pocket, "you might not get everything back."

Dr. Flug was definitely…different from his boss. There was no doubt he was evil, as not ten minutes ago he'd been electrocuting her father, but he was at least more…polite, to say the least. And despite the fact that his face was hidden, he was definitely less unsettling. Plus, he wasn't touching her in any weird ways.

Needless to say, Lita already preferred his company over Black Hat's.

The two of them were silent for a while as they walked out of the torture chamber and through the lab, which, Lita had concluded, was within the crashed airplane on the roof. Once they were inside the old-fashioned elevator and going down, Flug glanced sideways at her.

"W-What you did," he stammered, "back there. That…that was very brave."

She looked back at him. He sounded like he genuinely meant it.

"Thanks," she replied softly.

He turned his gaze back to the moving floors in front of them. "It was also really stupid."

She sighed. "I know. But what else could I do? He's my father."

"You realize he could've killed you," Flug said bluntly. "Black Hat…rarely shows mercy." The elevator stopped and the gate opened up. "You got lucky."

"If that's lucky…" Lita said as they stepped off the elevator.

"You don't wanna see him when he's in a really bad mood," Flug said, leading her down a green hallway. "But as long as you do as he says, as long as you don't challenge him, you'll survive here." He looked suspiciously at her. "And don't even think of attempting to escape. Even if you manage to succeed, there are security cameras hidden all over the place." He glanced nervously up at a portrait of his boss. "Except the bathrooms, for obvious reasons. So, I would recommend changing clothes in there. Though I would not recommend trying to flush yourself down the toilet."

"Aw, phooey," Lita said sarcastically.

"Mr. Black Hat will give you the finer details in the morning. But the basic rules of this house are that no one leaves without Black Hat's permission, no leaking sensitive information about the organization—especially on social media—and, most importantly, never disobey the boss, or else suffer the consequences."

She noted his cryptic tone. "Guess those rules apply to you too, eh?"

He shrugged. "They apply to everyone under this roof."

"What's his dirt on you, then?"

"Excuse me?" Flug said, turning to her.

Folding her hands behind her back, she said, "He's gotta have something against you to make you work here."

He gazed at the path ahead of them. "Not everyone gets coerced into evil. For some of us, it just comes…naturally."

Lita wondered what he meant by that, but decided not to question it further as the scientist didn't sound like he wanted to get into it. Maybe it had something to do with that paper bag over his head. Glancing at a portrait of Black Hat riding a ghostlike horse in a cowboy getup, she figured she should lighten the melancholic mood a bit.

"Man," she said, forcing a laugh, "does your boss love himself, or what?"

Flug raised an eyebrow at her.

"Seriously," she said, gesturing to the walls. "How many self-portraits does one guy need? Not to mention all the black top hats everywhere! I mean…shit. Hope that hat is big enough to hold that big head of his."

Flug stifled a giggle, but then glanced around in panic. "I-I would be careful saying that sort of thing out loud! I-If he hears you…"

Lita huffed. "He already has my soul. What more can he do to me?"

He stared at her in disbelief. "Um, kill you? Or worse. He could rip your intestines out and use them as a jump rope."

For some reason, she couldn't help but snicker at the image, which confused Flug even more.

"I'm serious," he said. "Don't think he's going to go easy on you because you're a woman."

"Nice to know he's not sexist," she muttered.

He stopped a moment, narrowing his eyes at her. "Is this all some big joke to you?"

"It's my way of coping, okay?!" she snapped, darting her eyes at him.

"Eep!" Flug squeaked, flinching at her outburst.

Relaxing, Lita let out a sigh. "Just…let's just get to my room, okay? It's been a long day."

Flug watched in bewilderment as she continued ahead of him. He didn't dare admit it aloud, but she…kind of scared him. Her temper was so short, so sudden, and wow, could she ever be nasty! She almost reminded him of…well, his boss.

Realizing that he was supposed to be leading the way, Flug quickly caught up to the woman.

"It's not all bad," he said reassuringly. "Mr. Black Hat is a fair boss. Well…when he wants to be." He perked up. "But you'll get three square meals a day and free use of all Black Hat products!"

"Oh, joy," Lita said, rolling her eyes. "I've always wanted my own death ray."

"Oh! We just released a travel-sized death ray! I can hook you up once Black Hat approves of your weapons-wielding privileges—"

"Jesus Christ, I was kidding!"

"Eep!" Flug glanced around anxiously. "D-Don't s-say that…" he whispered, "that name in this house!"

She blinked. "What? J—?"

He quickly covered her mouth. "Don't! Trust me! You're better off saying the F-word! But never the J-word, C-word or G-word!"

"Okay, okay!" Lita exclaimed, swiping his hand away. "Jes—I mean geez, relax!" She grumbled under her breath. "Never been gladder to be atheist."

Flug sighed in relief. "You really need to watch that mouth of yours. Black Hat has incinerated people for saying less." He pointed a finger at her. "So, no talking back to him."

She frowned at this. "I've been talking back to him all night. Not that I'm complaining, but how come I'm not a pile of ash?"

He shrugged. "You must've amused him. If a, err, victim keeps him entertained long enough, he'll let them live a little longer. But…"

"His interest doesn't last long," she said, remembering Black Hat's earlier words.

"Exactly. So I wouldn't push your luck. Ah, here we are."

They came to a red oak door. Flug reached inside his lab coat and pulled out a key, its bow a skull wearing a black top hat.

"Skeleton key," Lita murmured as Flug turned the key in the lock. "I get it."

"Many of these guest rooms are filled with deathtraps," Flug said in an inappropriately chipper tone. "Made especially for…unwanted guests. So I wouldn't go exploring, if I were you. But don't worry." He pushed open the door. "This one's perfectly safe."

She glanced at him. "You sure?"

He nodded. "Black Hat ordered that I show you to the least lethal room. Only thing remotely lethal about this one is the amount of dust." As if embarrassed, he rubbed the back of his neck. "We…weren't expecting company, you see. Company we didn't want dead, anyway."

Deciding she'd had enough of his…nonchalant grimness, Lita stepped into the room. For a moment, she was awestruck at its size. The ceiling was so high, one could fit an elephant in here. Flug flipped a switch on the wall, illuminating the crystal chandelier.

The old-fashioned furniture made the room look like something out of Downton Abbey. A queen-sized canopy bed with golden comforters, a tri-mirrored vanity, a huge mahogany wardrobe, a beautifully patterned carpet matching the red wallpaper…it took her breath away.

Though Flug had been right, there were dust and cobwebs everywhere. And there were no windows. So guests can't escape, she figured.

"What do you think?" the scientist asked, sounding like he genuinely wished to know.

Shaking off her amazement, Lita shrugged. "Eh. Beats juvie."

"I can get 5.0.5. to clean it out in the morning, if you don't mind sleeping in an asthmatic nightmare." He paused. "You're not asthmatic, are you?"

"No," she said, turning to him. "This…this'll be fine."

"Good!" Flug exclaimed, happily clapping his hands together. "Well, I'll leave you to it, then! I'll come to let you out when the boss is ready for you."

"Wait," Lita said as the scientist put his hand on the doorknob. "Let me out?"

Seeing him take the skeleton key out of his coat, she realized what he was about to do. She sprang to the door, but was too late. Flug had already shut the door, and she could hear the key turning in the lock.

Letting out an exhausted sigh, Lita leaned back against the door and sank to the ground. She lay her head back as she thought about all that had happened tonight. It wasn't her first time being locked up. It wasn't her first time dealing with dangerous people. But juvie, the pickpockets, the assaulters, they all seemed pretty small compared to this.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. This new room was a step up from her old one. Certainly a step up from the jail cell. And hey, she had a job now.

But she was going to be stealing again, after working so hard to turn her life around. Ten years of rehabilitation, out the window. And for the most dangerous criminal alive, no less. Along with his slightly less dangerous—but still dangerous—mad scientist and…what was her name? That crazy lizard-girl who'd sometimes interrupt Black Hat's commercials? Dementia, right. She wasn't looking forward to meeting her either.

Then again…didn't Lita sort of belong with these people? After all, she wasn't innocent either. Not only had she stolen from others countless times, but she'd beat up and slashed people in the streets. Out of defense, yes, but it was not like she'd ever called an ambulance for those lowly criminals.

But Black Hat didn't do things out of basic necessity. He did it for…what, money? Money he didn't even need! Or was it just for the pure pleasure of it? Yes, that was the difference between her and these people. Everything she'd ever done had been to protect herself, and her father. It had never been for leisure.

At least…that's what she kept telling herself.

And what about her father? Would he make it back home safely? Would he make it without her? What must he think of her right now?

Lita sniffed as she opened her eyes, and found herself staring up at a huge portrait of Black Hat. She narrowed her gaze at it, wanting to tear that painted, smug grin off his stupid face!

The one painted eye directed at her then reminded her of the security cameras. Not wanting to give that bastard the satisfaction of seeing her cry, she stood up and looked around the room. In the corner was a small golden door with a glass knob. It could only be the bathroom.

She held back the tears until she was safely inside.

Ricardo Gris cradled his head as he slowly came to. Once his vision was clear, he found himself in his armchair at home. He looked around anxiously. Had all that been a dream? There was only one way to be sure.

"Lita," he murmured, springing to his feet.

He'd stood up too soon, however, and his head started to spin. He didn't care though as he raced up the stairs. When he threw the door to Lita's bedroom open, he was met with a shocking sight.

The room was completely empty. All his daughters' pictures and posters had been torn off the walls, leaving only the hooks and pieces of tape. The dresser drawers were wide open and bare, as was the closet. Her exercise equipment, her laptop, her books, they were all gone! All that remained was the furniture and bedding.

It was as if…his daughter had never lived here.

Ricardo fell to his knees in horror. It had not been a dream then. He had her. That demon of a creature had his daughter.

And it was all Ricardo's fault.

If he hadn't dealt with Black Hat, if he hadn't retired from thievery, his daughter would still be here! He had tried to save his wife…at the cost of his own daughter.

What kind of father was he? What kind of father was he that he couldn't protect his own daughter? He had only stopped stealing because Lita had wanted to stop. He hadn't wanted to tempt her out of her decision. Unfortunately, with his record being much worse than Lita's, he'd been unable to find an honest job, forced to stay at home and waste away, turning to drink and the comfort of his television set. Leaving Lita with all the responsibility, including taking the punishment for his mistakes.

But there was a glimmer of hope yet. Black Hat had no intention of killing her yet, that much he knew. She'd merely signed up to be his lackey. And Ricardo knew she was a skilled enough thief to satisfy Black Hat enough to let her live. But for how long? Black Hat had a short temper. She could slip up once and that'd be the end of her!

Ricardo had to find a way to get her out of this place. But how?

His first thought was to run downstairs, pick up his cellphone and dial the police.

"Hat Island Police Department," a male voice said. "How may we be of assistance?"

"Yes, please!" Ricardo said. "Help! My daughter, she's being held captive by Black Hat!"

"Black Hat?" There was a sigh. "Sorry, buddy. But your daughter's pretty much screwed."

"How can you say that?! Please, you're the police! You must be able to do something!"

"Look, buddy. We've lost enough cops just trying to give that guy a fucking parking ticket. It's a lost cause. You might wanna try the Hero Organization. Here, I'll give ya the number."

"Thank you," Ricardo said, getting a pen and paper to write the number down.

"Sorry about your daughter, sir."

The cop then hung up.

"Now I remember why I never went into law enforcement," Ricardo said, dialing 1-800-HERO.

A female computerized voice answered this time. "You've reached the Hero Organization! If you've been a victim of a robbery and or home invasion, press one! If you're dealing with a supervillain, press two! If that supervillain is Black Hat, hang up right now! It's a lost cause!"

Ricardo felt like crying. "Can no one help my daughter?"

He knew it was true though. He knew what Black Hat was capable of. Oh, how he worried about Lita being anywhere near that monster! Never mind that he was also a male…

His chubby hand closed around his phone in anger. He would not let that monster defile his daughter!

But what could he do? He couldn't possibly save her on his own.

Unless…he came up with the money to pay off the loans. But how? He was in no shape to get a job, let alone steal.

One thing was for sure. If he was going to be of any help to his daughter, he was going to have to step up and be the father she deserved.

Decidedly, he picked the beer cans off the floor and threw them in the trash. He did the same with the full cans stocked in the fridge. He then got a broom and swept up the glass from the broken picture frame. Taking out the photo, Ricardo stared at the image of his wife and daughter and kissed them both.

Lita was a strong girl. She could hold her own for a little while. In the meantime, he was going to get his life together. He would come up with the money somehow.

"First thing's first," he said, throwing open the living room closet in search of his old weights. "Get into shape."

At first, Dr. Flug didn't notice his boss entering his lab, as his goggled eyes were glued to the screen of his computer.

"Flug!"

The scientist squeaked as he spun around in his rolling chair. He quickly saluted, his chair still slowly spinning as he attempted to keep his eyes on Black Hat.

"What are you still doing up?" his boss demanded, walking up to him with his hands behind his back.

"J-Just," Flug said, stopping his chair by placing his foot on the floor, "d-d-doing research on our latest recruit."

Black Hat looked at the screen in interest. "And what did you find?"

"Well, sir," Flug said, turning back to his computer. "Her full name is Adelita Anders Gris. Twenty-five years old, five-foot-six, one-hundred-thirty-pounds, which in metrics is—"

"Skip the useless facts!" Black Hat barked.

"Eep!" The scientist opened another window. "Well, I managed to locate her resumé, which wasn't hard given how many job sites she's submitted it to. She has so much work experience, her resumé's eight pages long!"

His boss cocked his head. "Work experience in what, exactly?"

"Well…pretty much everything. At least the minimum wage jobs. Movie theaters, clothing stores, restaurants, construction sites…she hasn't stayed at any of them for more than six months in the last ten years. Which is unsurprising, given her criminal record and lack of a high school degree."

"Criminal record, you say?" Black Hat said, leaning onto Flug's desk. "So, she wasn't bluffing then?"

"It would seem so, sir."

He pulled up a screenshot of an old news article. On it was the black-and-white mugshot of a teenage girl wearing a dark hoodie. Her light eyes were looking straight at the camera, holding a mixture of shame and fury. The title read: Teenage burglar arrested.

Black Hat didn't need to read the article to know the identity of the girl.

Flug summed up the article. "She was arrested at fifteen while invading a home. According to the police reports, this wasn't her first burglary. Her DNA was found at seven other crime scenes. They just hadn't found a match until her arrest. She was in the juvenile detention center for about a week until bail was posted by her father. Shortly afterwards, she dropped out of school and started working."

"Interesting," Black Hat said, rubbing his chin as he stared at the mugshot.

He now recalled when he'd first met Lita Gris. After he'd tried to tempt her with a lollipop—he'd intended to give her a surprise scare once she was close—not only had she slapped the candy away but she'd kicked him in the shin. Normally, he would've incinerated her on the spot, but he couldn't help but admire the child's gumption.

"That little brat of yours has more backbone than you, Gris," Black Hat had said to the father. "Perhaps she should be the one thieving instead of you. My youth camp is accepting applications."

While Ricardo had refused his offer to send her to camp, it seemed he'd taken Black Hat's advice after all.

"Looks like I've been doing business with the wrong Gris," he said, grinning in satisfaction. "And here I was, searching for a competent thief to run my errands, and she turns up in my own front yard!"

"But are we sure she's evil enough, sir?" Flug asked. "Aside from that one arrest, her record's pretty much clean. Not even a parking violation. Well," he said, glancing at the black wallet on his desk, "that might have to do with the fact that she has no driver's license. But still, it looks like she hasn't stolen anything in ten years."

"That we know of, anyway," Black Hat said, pressing his fingertips together. "Whatever her current moral code may be, she is still a soul desperate to keep her father safe. As long as I have that against her, she'll do whatever I ask of her."

"I suppose you're right," Flug said, pulling up the video feed of Lita's battle with the security system from earlier. "At any rate, I can see why you took her offer. She at least has the basic skills we've been looking for, though nothing superhuman from what I've seen."

"Which reminds me." The demon directed his one eye towards the scientist. "Considering how easy it was for a mere mortal girl with no superhuman abilities to infiltrate our lair…"

He slammed his hands onto the desk, causing Flug to jump. Black Hat growled, bearing his teeth at the scientist.

"YOU CLEARLY NEED TO UPGRADE THAT SECURITY SYSTEM!"

"I-I'll start working on it right away, sir!" Flug said with a squeak.

"No," Black Hat said, slowly calming down. "First thing I want you to do is construct a tracking device for Miss Gris. If she manages to escape, as I suspect she will, I'll need to know her location at all times."

Flug saluted. "Right away, sir!"

He rolled his chair away to get to his worktable. Black Hat turned back to the screen, watching Lita as she dodged the lasers and buzz saws. While she was clearly panting from exhaustion, there was something in her eyes to suggest that she was…enjoying herself. Leaning his elbow onto the desk, Black Hat gave a toothless grin as he indulged in the impressive acrobatic display.

"Oh, Lita Gris," he said, chuckling deeply in his throat, "I'll make a villain out of you yet."

Hero Organization? Hero League? Fandom can't seem to decide.

Oh boy is Flug's dialogue ever fun to write!