Anna Marie sat in the living room, nervously running a hand under her turtle neck, her fingers gently brushing over the bandages as she went over the intel she had on the Serpent King's Empire on her laptop again, An inhaling a bowl of Chunky Puffs at the kitchen table loudly enough for her to hear the mess she was making and wince a bit at the sound.
At least it was a distraction from the unpleasant knowledge that her fears last night were now confirmed; the man who had hit on her last night was the most dangerous of the trio;
Larie Kanker, aka Wyvern, who was in charge of security and, according to police theory, FBI, Interpol and the Justice League, the more violent side of the family business, mainly murder and arson.
A man suspected in so many horrible acts had been twirling a strand of her hair and asking what was under the costume and if he could have a look, his tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth as he asked that and a silver stud shining in the dim light...
Ann shivered at the memory, her arms quickly becoming covered in goose bumps that she tried to rub away…
She was also grateful that the cuts and scrapes on her neck and back from the sharp objects that she'd blocked with her hair weren't too deep or painful, not that she couldn't of handled it. She was a medical student, after all.
She felt her body begin to shake a bit and held herself for a moment, medical student of not, the man who flirted with her so easily last night and impishly curled a lock of her hair between his fingers could have just as easily broke her neck without much effort.
She closed her eyes as she silently thanked various deities that they'd managed to get out of there with so few injuries. It wasn't often that they got away from trouble without one of them getting hurt enough to have to find a creative way to hide it from the world for a while. She counted her blessings that she only had a few cuts and bruises when she literally had been breaths away from a murderer.
"You okay, Double-N?" An asked from the kitchen.
She looked at her simple friend, whose unibrow was scrunched into a concerned frown, her lip in a pout that practically screamed, 'friend hurt equals An sad'.
"I'm fine An." She fibbed, quickly closing out the program and closing her laptop as she said, "Just a slight chill." She then gave her arms another rub, hoping it would sell her excuse.
An looked at her for a moment, still worried, before Ann gave her a gap toothed smile and asked, "Aren't you filming today?"
An's face brightened immediately, "Yeah! We'll be in a restaurant today!" She then pouted, "It won't be a monster scene, though…"
"Well, it should just be an interesting day, at least." Ann said, "It's your first shoot as a camera woman!"
An's face erupted into a broad grin and she nodded.
"We are so proud of you, An." Ann told her as she checked her watch.
Oh dear, it was getting late! They'd all have to go to work soon and she should pack them all a lunch, after all, it would be safer for them to have a lunch and not have to leave the safety of their work places than to risk walking into one of those Kankers while trying to purchase one from somewhere.
She got up from her spot and joined An in the kitchen to pack some simple lunches for the three of them, "Should we celebrate later when you get back?" she asked, wanting to continue the more cheerful conversation and keep her mind off of a recent slaughter believed to be done by Larie Kanker that she had just finished reading about.
An beamed and vigorously nodded again, her tongue sticking out gleefully.
"Alright, I'll pick some things up on the way home after my shift at the library." Ann promised as she began making lunch for the three of them.
Before either one of them said another word, Anny burst through the door, frustrated before slamming it behind her.
"I take it that your jog did not go very well this morning?" Ann guessed as she placed a few fruits in the three brown paper bags on the counter and began making a sandwich.
"THAT FRIGGIN' KANKER FOLLOWED ME FOR OVER A MILE!" She shouted angrily as she flung her towel onto An's face, making her chuckle as Anny grumbled about how, "Wonder Woman doesn't havta deal with this kind of shit!"
"Did he suspect you?" Ann asked, concerned, a half made sandwich on a plate in front of her.
Anny snorted as she locked the door behind her, "The only thing he suspected was that I'm easy!" She pushed back a few stray strands of sweat soaked pink hair off of her face as she let out a frustrated huff as she joined them in the kitchen.
"He kept staring at me and making gross comments at me as I ran. Took everything I had not to just send him and that truck of his flying with a loud 'Fuck off'." She growled as she plopped down in the seat across from An, "He finally drove past me when I was on my way back home. Only flipped him off with one hand 'cause one of my middle fingernails broke last night and I don't want to give him any more clues to use against us."
"We thank you for your restraint, don't we An?"
"It's dark!" An giggled. Anny groaned and pulled the towel off of her face as Ann finished up making lunches and the three went over their schedules for the day and agreed to have a party for An's first day as a camera woman after work. After jotting down a quick list of things to pick up later, Ann packed her satchel up and hitched it over her shoulder.
"Well, ladies, I'll be off!"
"Off of what?" An asked.
"Just be careful, Genius." Anny warned, "Those guys have their eyes on us, and it doesn't matter if it's because they think we're Superheros or easy pickin's, you should know better than anyone that their attention ain't good." An nodded in agreement.
Ann swallowed as a few of the Justice League's records of Larie Kanker's more violent crimes popped back up into her head and she nodded, her mouth suddenly dry as she then wished her friends well once more before nervously exiting their apartment.
The further she walked from her friends, from the safety of their apartment, the more she felt as if she should have asked Anny or An to walk to the bus stop with her, but she didn't. No, that would be seen as odd, as she usually went to take the bus to work and school alone and people would notice the company with her as odd and it would be remembered and probably mentioned if asked. She needed to be brave and vigilant.
Even though the idea of calling in sick and staying home today was so very tempting…
She walked onto the bus with a lack luster greeting to the bus driver and, after explaining that she was just in a bit of a funk this morning when asked if she was alright, took a seat.
She sighed and looked out the window, she just had to stay focused and not attract suspicion, and the best way to do that was to do what she always did and stay calm.
Speaking of what she always did…
She smiled softly as she pulled a book from her bag, it was a book written by Cyborg of the Justice League about his experiences after the accident that changed him from Victor Stone to Cyborg. She could certainly learn a thing or two about how someone might feel losing a limb as a medical student as well as learn a bit more about how to be a more effective super hero and possibly come up with some new ideas for helpful gadgets for when she and her friends were on patrol.
She had been so absorbed in her book, that she hadn't noticed that someone was leaning over to see what she was reading until she felt a hand lift her book up and jumped.
She scowled and opened her mouth to scold the person who had so rudely grasped at her book and frightened her, only for her scowl to slide off her face and for her to need to bite hard into her lip to keep from making a sound, a bit of her lip popping out from the gap between her front teeth.
Larie 'Wyvern' Kanker was staring at the cover of her book and was hovering over her while holding onto the handle over her!
HOW HAD SHE NOT NOTICED?!
She looked back down at her book as she quickly struggled to compose herself, putting on a poker face and struggling not to pull her phone out of her bag and call 911.
No, she needed to stay calm and act like she normally did. Anna Marie has never met this man. She didn't know him from any other unknown male on this planet. She needed to make sure he believed that just as much as she wished it was true.
"Um…" she managed, her body trembling, "M-may I please have my book back?"
He looked up at her, as if processing her request before giving her a smile that spread slowly and send alarms blaring in her head before he purred, "Depends."
He lowered his head towards her as he lifted her book up a bit, "Ya mind tellin' me what's so interestin' 'bout this book?"
"Oh!" she said, feeling a bit more comfortable at the thought that he was curious about her book than wondering if he recognized her from last night, "Well, I'm in medical school and recently my teacher has discussed some of the difficulties amputees face and I wanted to learn more to see if there was anything I could do to help them adjust. I thought this would help me understand them, at the very least…"
His eyebrows rose at the information and he let go of her book as the bus began to slow to a stop.
Her stop.
'Thank you, Lord.' She thought to herself as she carefully moved to the side and…
Wait.
The spot next to her was empty. A lot of seats were empty.
So why did he literally stand over her like that for who knows how long?
Fear started to flood her system and she could feel herself babbling, "Well, it was nice chatting with you, but this is my stop, so…" she then quickly and without any more concern for acting like she always did anymore, practically flew out of the bus, calling out a good bye to the driver as she dashed into the library, silently praying that he didn't follow her inside.
