Chapter Three: An Unlikely Ally
The world seemed to be dancing when Havoc's eyes opened. Her vision was very blurry and she was having issues focusing. One thing was for sure- she was not dead. This confused Havoc, as she remembered all the aggravating torture Starling had put her through. Then someone's face was leaning in. Three of them, really. "Oh, my God!" The civilian clapped her hands together in excitement, "You're awake! Thank goodness! Oh, you have no clue how worried I was! You were out there bleeding and I was all like "Oh, my God!" and then I took you here, in a totally not kidnappy way, more like an emergency care kinda way. You've been unconscious for three weeks and now you're here! Oh! Where are my manners, I'm Hartley!" She reached out her hand for a shake and Havoc just stared at it then back up at the stange girl. Sensing her confusion, Hartley grabbed Havoc's harm and shook it. Now, Havoc seemed more confused than ever.
"That was a handshake." Hartley explained, "People do it when they meet for the first time."
Havoc pulled her hand back and opened her mouth to say something nasty but nothing came out. She narrowed her eyes further at the girl. First, Havoc had been kidnapped and next, she had her voice taken away?
"Oh! Let me get you some water." Hartley said, running off into the other room to grab a glass. Havoc took this as an opportunity to observe her surroundings. Instantly, she felt the need to throw up. That bitch Starling was everywhere. Posters with her stupid, ugly mug were on every corner of every wall. Starling's freakin' emblem was even hand-painted on one of them. Looking down at the covers, she gagged at the sight of the Starling bedsheets. She noticed all the windows were locked while the bedroom door was wide open. She etched the layout into her brain, formulating a plan.
She heard a loud clunk and whipped around, only to see a glass of water on the nightstand. Oh, and it also came with that stupid girl. She was holding a tray of food and gently handed it over to Havoc, "I don't know what kind of food you like." Hartley admitted, "So, I just picked the stuff that is the easiest to digest. Make sure to drink your water first, though."
Why? What is she plotting?
Hartley picked up the glass of water and offered it to Havoc. The villain just eyed it skeptically. "Oh, come on, it's not like I poisoned it or anything." Hartley chuckled, her eyes widening as Havoc's face remained as hard as stone. "Wait…" Hartley cocked her head to the side, "You really think that, don't you? Here, look." She raised the glass to her lips and took a sip. When nothing happened to her, Havoc blinked in astonishment and eventually grabbed the cup. Not fully trusting the girl, Havoc took a quick sniff of it before gulping it down.
"Okay, great! Now try to say something." Hartley suggested, taking a seat down on the chair and pulling herself closer.
"Why?"
Hartley beamed, while Havoc just seemed perplexed. She stared down into the empty cup before turning to Hartley and asking, "Is this a potion?"
"No, it's just water."
Havoc blinked at the civilian twice before uttering the words, "You're weird."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"Yeah, you shouldn't."
Hartley rolled her eyes, "Just eat your food, okay?"
Havoc eyes it skeptically, still not trusting the strange girl. Fed up, Hartley grabbed a spoonful of the plain oatmeal with cinnamon on top and forced it into Havoc's mouth. When the supervillain refused to swallow, Hartley grabbed Havoc's cheeks and forced her to gulp it down. When she did, Havoc felt a strange warmness in her chest. She looked down at the meal in front of her then back at Hartley. Was food supposed to taste this good?
"What is it?" Hartley asked, fidgeting in place, "Does it taste bad or something? I can re-make it if you want."
"It doesn't have flies in it." Havoc whispered, swirling the oatmeal with her spoon, "No mold, either."
"Well, I should hope not." Hartley quipped, "Wait… what kind of food do you normally eat?"
"Anything we can find."
"Which means…?"
"Dumpster diving." Havoc answered without a beat, "You'd be surprised how many free meals you can get on our little side of Centropolis. Wait… do you not do that?" She asked, noticing Hartley's pitiful expression, "Do normal people not do that?"
"No, of course not." Hartley answered, "Well, most of us don't, anyway. There are some other people out there who don't have the privilege to just go to the grocery store and buy food."
"Who are those people?" Havoc asked curiously, "And what's a grocery store?"
"Well, "those people" are homeless. Something happened in their life and they can't afford to buy themselves food so they have to beg for money." Hartley answered, "A grocery store is a place where people buy food to feed their families among other household items. Like detergent, pet food, stuff like that."
"Oh!" Havoc's eyes widened, "Is it that place where everyone is pushing those metal baskets on wheels and always getting angry with each other?"
"Yes, that sounds about right."
"Oh, yeah. I robbed one of those with my family a few years ago." Havoc said casually, smiling at the memory. Hartley just stared at her in astonishment and just sat there staring at Havoc. "You really scared me, you know."
Havoc scoffed, "Yeah, like that's anything new. I tend to scare a lot of people." She smiled again, and it made the civilian's heart flutter a bit. For a supervillain, she had the most dazzling smile Hartley had ever seen.
"Okay, we're done here." Havoc announced, rising up out of bed and masking her pain, "I'm heading back home."
"What? No! You can't do that!" Hartley protested, "Your wounds are still healing! Heck, you only just woke up! You need to stay in bed! You need to take care of yourself!"
"Oh, please! I mean, you expect me to just stick around and have to stare at that all day?" She gestured to the largest Starling poster, "Besides, I know you're just holding me for ransom. You're buttering me up with the food and the water and once you're done with me you're going to call Starling!"
"No!" Hartley shook her head, "If I called Starling, she might just hurt you all over again."
"And what's it to you if she does? We're not friends. You don't owe me any favors."
"No, but it's just the nice thing to do."
With that, Havoc fell over. Hartley yelped and grabbed the girl's gloved hand and pulled her to her feet, guiding an irritated Havoc back to bed.
"I hate to say it, but you're gonna have to stay here." Hartley sighed, crossing her arms, "Just until you get better. Leaving is totally not an option."
"You're annoying."
"And you're stubborn."
"If you know that, then let me leave."
"No can do."
"And why the hell not?"
"Language!"
"Ugh!" Havoc grabbed a pillow and screamed into it. When she finally removed it, she glared at Hartley once again. "I don't trust you."
"That's perfectly fine."
"You're so nice."
"Thank you…?"
"It's not a compliment."
"Figures."
"I'm not weak."
"No one said you were."
"I can take care of myself."
"So can I." Hartley argued, "That doesn't mean I don't need a little help sometimes."
"Yeah, well where is it then?"
"Uh, well, nowhere." Hartley admitted sadly as she began to replace the gauze, using their argument as a distraction. "Though people do like to ask me for help."
"Ah, I get it now." Havoc nodded, "You're a total doormat."
"I beg your pardon?"
"People are taking advantage of you, stupid." Havoc spat, "I'm no expert in this, but in the villain world, when you do a favor for someone else, the rule is that they have to do something for you in return. What have these people done to return your help?"
"Well, uh…" Hartley sputtered, "N- Nothing, I suppose. I mean, you don't just do good stuff if all you're looking for is a reward. That would be ridiculous."
"Maybe." Havoc shrugged, "But good people are supposed to be appreciated. Just look at that Superbitch Starling. She gets a thank you every time she foils my evil plans. I mean, I would get irritated if that was me up there. I don't think I would ever want to be thanked every day." She continued, "But you…" She turned her head to the side, "You don't think you deserve some kind of reward? For being such a pesky little do-gooder?"
"Well, I suppose it would be nice to get a simple thank you." Hartley admitted, reapplying the gauze.
"Fine." Chaos groaned, "I guess I should be grateful for you saving my life and all. So, thanks…?"
Hartley straightened her back and stared at her, moth open and eyes wide.
"What is it?" Havoc asked, " Did I do it wrong? I've never actually thanked someone before and don't expect me to do it again!"
"No, no! You don't have to." Hartley shook her head, "It was just very sweet of you to thank me. I really needed that."
"Did you just call me "sweet?" Ugh! Gross! Now I really am going to puke." She gagged, making Hartley giggle. Havoc shook her head, "Is there really nothing else you want?"
"Well, what I'd really like is a friend. Someone who cares about me and my feelings, you know? But, by the way things are going, that's never going to happen."
"Okay." Havoc closed her eyes and let out an annoyed sigh, "What about me, then? We could be fr… fri… that thing you want, right?"
"Seriously?" Hartley laughed, "You want to be my friend?"
"Well, I mean I owe you." The villain shrugged, "And if there's really nothing else you want, then I guess this'll have to do."
"Okay." Hartley nodded, "Okay. Yeah, let's be friends! Best friends! We can hang out, talk about music, oh! We could even go have lunch together! How about that?"
"I think you have to turn it down a notch." Havoc said, raising her good arm to stop the civilian. Hartley mumbled out a quick apology before wrapping her new friend in a bone-crushing hug. "Friends, friends, friends!" She sang, while laughing joyfully. It was then that Havoc began to wonder what exactly she had gotten herself into.
