Two Minutes for Two
A Villains of Valley View oneshot
by mew-tsubaki
Note: The Villains of Valley View characters belong to Chris Peterson and Bryan Moore, not to me. Am I desperately hoping for Starling to be upped to series regular (for a variety of reasons)? You bet. ;w; Read, review, and enjoy!
- ^-^3
The Hero League demands a lot of its superheroes. Fight crime. Be a good role model. Always be spotted smiling.
Starling has juggled a full schedule for years without trouble, and those first two items have never been a problem. But that last one? That hasn't been a struggle until after ColossaCon brought her to Valley View—and all the heartache that's followed.
Whenever Valley View and a certain resident come to mind, Starling takes a breath, centering herself on whatever task is at hand. Yesterday was an episode of her show. This morning was a commercial before the League contacted her, reminding her about taking her turn to patrol her assigned quadrant.
Yeah, patrolling is a great distraction. Patrolling is one of her easier tasks, and it's something Starling handles with ease. Dropping in on a bad guy mid-crime spree? Just her average day at work. Stopping to take selfies with her adoring fans? Work, too, but that's the icing on top, that's the fun stuff.
…it's a little less fun when a young, teen couple asks her to take a selfie with them. Starling obliges, but her mind once more wanders to Jake and to her brief time spent together with him.
After she passes the phone back to the couple, Starling shoots back up into the sky, trying to get her head straight again. She's got to finish her patrol duty before this evening, since she's meeting her manager at a new company that wants to ask her to shoot yet another new series of commercials.
But Starling's patrol takes her to the edge of the community parked right beside Valley View, and she hesitates.
The young superhero glances around her. No…the skyline's clear. No one's around for miles…
Temptation beckons, so Starling hovers a little higher—and then she takes off, including Valley View in her patrol just for today. (It'll be a little secret between her and her cape; no one else will ever know.)
She kind of wishes she'd had the time to explore the place when she last visited. She and Jake couldn't exactly go out and about, and the convention schedule before that barely allowed Starling time to breathe let alone go adventuring. But, seeing it now, in autumn, she rather likes it. Valley View's a pretty place, well deserving of its name.
Flying above this place nearly scratches her itch. Starling zips around for a couple minutes, thinking of doing a full loop before heading back to her assigned quadrant, when someone catches her eye.
Jake.
He's coming down the street, casual and by himself, without a care in the world. He takes a right (her left) into a quaint, neighborhood supermarket, disappearing amongst the other shoppers coming and going.
Starling chews on her bottom lip. She caught a glimpse of him—she should be satisfied with that, shouldn't she? And yet she hovers, ignoring her duties just a bit longer.
A couple minutes later, Jake emerges with a small bag dangling off his arm. Then he glances left, ready to head home—
—but Starling gives in to her want and lands safely beside the building before concentrating and freezing time.
She takes two shaky breaths and nears the mouth of the alleyway. She didn't even have to go peeking, really, because Jake, a fellow super-powered being and not one of her many targets, comes jogging around the corner, his eyes wide and searching. His eyebrows jump into his hairline when he spies her.
"Hi," she offers with a strained smile (strained because it's been too long, strained because this particular power is exhausting).
His shock doesn't fade even as he closes the distance. But, actually, Starling reads some fear in his charming looks once he's within arm's reach. "I can't believe— But—" Jake whips his head around and glances behind him, too.
Starling's smile softens as she tucks him into a blind spot, behind the large recycling bin that blocks the store's frozen security camera's view. "I won't get in trouble if I don't get caught. But I don't want you or your family hurt, either."
Jake inhales and exhales; it's a big, steadying breath, because he's still wrapping his head around the reality that Starling is here, she's really in front of him. "I don't want any of those things, either…so why, Starling?"
"I thought we could have a moment together."
He frowns.
And Starling knows exactly why. She has all the left-on-read text messages that she couldn't bear to delete as a reminder. "…I miss you," she says, finally confessing the words she's refused to admit until now.
Unfortunately, his frown deepens to a grimace, and he pulls his arm—still loosely in Starling's grasp—away. He shakes his head. "Star, look. I…I don't want to jeopardize my family. I don't want to hurt my sister, either," he adds, referencing Havoc's epic tantrum the last time she encountered Starling. Then he musters a weak smile for her and tucks his hands into his pockets. His right hand clamps down on something. "…despite that, it feels as if my phone's been burning a hole in my pocket, not texting or calling you anymore, let alone seeing you."
His words light a spark of hope in her chest that she knows is one thing: dangerous. But that's the hero in her talking. The plain and simple girl behind the mask feels her eyes growing damp with the threat of happy tears. And then Starling falters.
Jake catches her. "Starling!"
She shakes her head, though she's glad for that super strength keeping her steady. "It's all right. I'm still practicing this power and I don't have nearly enough stamina to use it for too long." She looks up at him and brushes some hair out of her face. "Our time's almost up."
His grip on her tightens, for a fleeting second.
"Thanks for not ignoring me or running away the moment you saw me…" She laughs at herself a bit, but she can't help looking up into his eyes again. "I really did just want to see and speak with you again, Jake."
Jake nods and lets her go. He stays put and watches as she takes a few steps backwards in the alley.
…but she can't leave him, looking as lonely as she feels, so Starling walks forward and sinks into Jake's arms instead.
Jake wraps his arms around her. There, in his arms, time stops anew for another moment. Then he kisses the top of her head, and time gets moving again.
It's easier to go this time. Starling backs away still looking at him as if committing Jake Madden to memory, and they make no promises to meet like this ever again.
He doesn't even try to hold on to her hand when she begins to levitate off the ground, but her heart skips a beat that last second when their fingers are linked.
High up above, Starling watches as her temporal power diminishes and regular life resumes. Shoppers keep coming and going, traffic picks up at this time of day, and Jake heads out on the sidewalk, melding in with the crowd as if nothing happened.
But…something did, in a way, and Starling watches his back fondly, contemplating that maybe she ought to train harder so she can extend the duration they can meet in the future….
- ^-^3
SO. Some hcs thrown in here, about Starling's time-freezing power mostly (I'd still love to know exactly where Centropolis is and how far from Valley View it is), but I like to think that, the more the creators develop the lore (and hopefully they do it well TT-TT), the more interesting things will get and the more hope Jarling will have, bc I do think they're cute. ;w; Altho, *lol*, as I type this, it's still mid-October and I've only watched thru e13, so I'm waiting to be fed more Jarling moments to soothe the soul (esp since we're getting Hartmy feels in spades). -w- I s'pose, in the meantime, it's time to drawing Starling? She's adorable. XD
Thanks for reading, and please review! Check out my other VoVV fics if you liked this~ And, as with my other VoVV fics, reblog this fic on tumblr to show your support!
-mew-tsubaki :')
