Jimmy took his time as he walked down the street, the sky was filled with angry grey clouds and people all around were rushing to get home to avoid the upcoming storm. He paid no mind as people bustled past him, his heart still heavy from that day two weeks ago.
He told the Freedom Pals about what Leslie told him, no point in putting them at risk, even when she claimed that she wasn't giving the government the information, so the group of heroes was keeping a sharp eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Jimmy hadn't heard from Leslie since that night, and he kept telling himself that he was perfectly fine with that, but in actuality he missed her, but that didn't mean he could forgive her, or still wasn't hurt.
He then felt the promised rain hit, he sighed and put his hood up but that didn't mean he was going to hurry his pace along. He reached the corner of the street only to see two figures in black dash out of an alleyway, he narrowed his eyes at the two as they got into a black car and drove off. Suspicious, he made his way to the ally and took a peak. He didn't see anything at first but then he saw it, it looked like an arm under a pile of garbage bags, alarmed that there was a body, he hurried forward and threw off the bags off the person. After clearing he went to look at the body only for his blood to freeze. "L-Leslie?"
Her clothes were ragged and torn, her hair was a matted mess, and her eyes were closed, tossing his crutches on the ground he kneeled next to the black-haired woman and brushed her hair away from her face, "Leslie? L-Leslie wake up!"
Her eyes slowly opened, but looked twitchy as if they were about to close again, "J-J-Jimmy?" Her voice echoed and sounded glitchy.
"L-Leslie what happened to you?"
Her blue eyes looked into his own, but they looked dim, "I'm s-s-sorry..." Her eyes then closed again as she ceased responding. "Leslie!"
He shook her, but she didn't move, Jimmy's heart hammered in his chest as she didn't wake up again, what happened to her? Fearing for the worst, he gathered her in his arms, while able to grab his crutches, "Don't worry Leslie, I got you."
He then sped away using his superspeed. Holding the woman close to him, he sped through the streets, thankful the streets weren't that crowded thanks to the weather and made his way to the Freedom Pals base. Busting in through the doors, grabbing everyone's attention, some were and some weren't in costume, he panted, "W-where's Token?"
Mysterion stood and walked over to Jimmy, "He's in the lab, and who the hell is this?"
"Leslie."
"Wait, that girl who was using you? Why the hell did you bring her here?"
"Something's wrong, I th-think they wanted to k-kill her."
The dark hooded hero glared at the brunet but sighed. "Fine, but if anything bad happens, that's on you."
He motioned for Jimmy to follow him to the lab where they saw the cyborg hero facing a screen, "Token."
He turned towards them only for his gaze to fall on the woman in Jimmy's arms, "What-?"
"Explain later, just h-help her!"
"What am I suppose to do? I'm not a doctor."
"She's an android! You can figure something out!"
Token took a step back with wide eyes, "Alright, alright, put her on the table I'll see what I can do."
Shakily, Jimmy laid Leslie on the table and watched as Token looked her over, brushing her hair away from her face, he felt around till he stopped at the back of her neck. After pressing against it, a panel opened up, revealing robotic hardware, looking in Jimmy saw a few blinking lights, but they were slow and dim, and some of the circuits looked fried. "Wow, that's a lot of damage," Jimmy watched with concerned eyes as Token looked, "There are some ports, maybe we can get some information on what happened and how we can help, this looks like it was done from the inside out."
Jimmy bit his lip as Token hooked some cords into the ports and connected them to his computer, he glanced at the screen as the cyborg typed away. After a few minutes a file labeled, 'Collected Data' pulled up and inside was a list of dates. Token glanced over at Mysterion as he stepped closer to the computer. Risking a glance at Jimmy, Token clicked on a file from a month ago, causing it to open a video.
"So L-258. Have you learned anything from that hero?" A man in a black suit asked.
The room was silent for a moment before a feminine voice answered, "No I do not have any information to report."
The man let out an irritated sigh, "Just hurry up and find something, those heroes are causing us problems, and if we don't do anything the higher-ups will have our head!"
"Understood."
"You're dismissed."
The image moved, and it turned towards a door and it looked like it was going down a hallway until there was a mirror. Pausing, the image turned and there in the reflection was Leslie, she had a blank expression as she adjusted the hairclip in her hair, only to then hear a buzz. Looking down she pulled out a phone and there on the screen was a picture of Jimmy with a text message asking if she wanted to hang out, in the corner of the screen, in the reflection, a smile could be seen on her face as she texted back.
The video then stops as it seemed to have a continuing after. Jimmy glanced at Leslie's unmoving body and back at the screen, where Token had clicked on another video, it was from almost two weeks ago. It was nearly the same as before, except for the fact that Leslie's voice was quieter and the man seemed more pissed, ranting about her cover being blown, and instead of her being dismissed, the man marched out of the room leaving her alone, she sighed as the image went black.
Another video. This time from a week ago.
The image showed a large computer screen, and in the reflection, Leslie could be seen typing away as cords could be seen attached to the back of her neck, she then pressed the enter key, and the screen flashed a bright red, and she jolted forward, letting out a glitchy yelp, as she held herself up against the keyboard. She panted, "You deserve it...you deserve it..."
It ended, Jimmy felt his breathing become labored as he glanced at her unmoving body. Token then clicked on the last video.
"You defective piece of shit!"
The image glitched and jerked as if it was slapped, "You're useless! Smith, Johnson!"
Two men dressed in black entered the image, "Yes sir?"
"Dispose of it. Don't care where just do it."
"But sir? Couldn't you recycle it for parts?"
"It's fried and defective, there is no point."
The two men glanced at each other, but did as they were told, the image went to black.
Jimmy's heart hammered in his chest. "Leslie..."
Token and Mysterion turned towards the brunet, "Jimmy?"
"This is my fault..."
"Jimmy, listen to me," a purple gloved hand landed on his should, he looked up and saw Mysterion staring at him, "She was sent to try and take us down using you...but from the looks of it, you are the reason she didn't go through with it, you got her to go against what she was made for. She did this to protect you."
The brunet didn't say anything as his eyes trailed over back over to Leslie, he didn't know what to say as the guilt continued to eat at him at his heart.
"Hey take a look at this!"
The two looked over at Token who still typed on the computer, on the screen was a page full of information, "What is it?" Mysterion asked as he walked back over to the cyborg.
"I found a file that goes into detail of what the government planned," he turned towards Jimmy who still hadn't moved from his spot, "She must have left it for you if you found her to stop them."
"So this is the government's plans?"
"Looks like it."
"What if it's a trap?"
Token shook his head, "Doubt it, these files aren't like the others, and we need to hurry, from the looks of it they'll try a Plan B soon."
Mysterion sighed, "Fine, I'll inform the others and Doctor Timothy, we need to stop them as soon as we can."
Token nodded and Mysterion turned and dashed out of the door, but Token looked over and saw Jimmy, unmoving as he stood next to the android. He sighed as he pressed a few keys on the computer and walked over to the brunet. "You can stay Jimmy, I'll run an analyst while we're gone, knowing how Mysterion and Doc are we'll leave soon, and I'll see what I can do for her."
Jimmy could only nod. "You should sit down, I know this is a lot."
Token grabbed a chair for the brunet, who collapsed in it immediately. Then a voice echoed in their heads, 'Freedom Pals, Report to the Front now.'
The cyborg sighed as he watched the speedster hero sit defeated in his seat, "We'll be back Jimmy, and we'll save her, I promise."
"Th-thanks To-token..."
Said man left the room, leaving Jimmy alone in the lab with Leslie. He didn't feel the rise of tears in his eyes or them slipping down his face, as he put his hand on top of hers and whispered, "I'm s-sorry Leslie."
What are you're alls thoughts on this new development? The next chapter is the last.