I stomp back to my car. It's her goddamn fault. That fucking idiot is the reason Anna was hurt! I yank the trunk open and find her still unconscious. I grab her shoulders and shake her. "Wake the fuck up!" I slap her.
"Mommy?" she asks, sounding half delirious. Hopefully I didn't cause any brain damage. She was unconscious for quite a while. I'd hate to have to kill a disabled woman.
"Not quite." I grab her by the throat and pin her to the bottom of the trunk. "It's your fault! You let Notos get away! Because of you, my girlfriend –" my voice breaks, I don't even bother to compose myself, "because of you, Anna could die! I had her, but you interrupted things. Your stupid fucking heroics may have gotten the woman I love killed! If she dies, you join her."
She tries to say something, but I'm putting too much pressure on her throat for words to come out. I consider ending her there, but she just looks so pitiful. I ease up, just enough for her to breathe. She coughs, gasping for air. "I just wanted to help people," she sobs. "I didn't want to let you keep killing people and making people scared of me."
"I kill bad people. If they're scared of me, then they likely aren't too innocent. Besides, it's been like four days, how has word already spread?"
She shrugs. Very helpful. "Killing is still wrong, but if that other lady is really such a danger, maybe we could team up. I've always wanted to do a superhero team up." That was sudden. Is the oxygen still getting to her brain?
"I thought I was a villain." It's her fault. I should just push down hard enough to crush her trachea. I'll watch her suffocate for what she did to Anna.
"Maybe you're more like an anti-hero. Heroes can team up with them. It'll be fun."
"Spending any amount of time with you sounds as far away from fun as I could possibly imagine. I don't need to work with you, you'd just get in the way."
"Was it Notice?"
"Notos," I correct her, snarling the word.
"She got away last time and you weren't anywhere near as injured then, I'm assuming. There are still holes in you –"
"I'm fine." I increase the pressure the slightest bit. I want to do it. I need to do it. She deserves it.
She gasps for air. I ease up a little. Damn it. Why is she so pathetic? "You need help. Let me help you. She just burned down a bunch of buildings and probably killed more people. I swore to protect this city. I'm not willing to kill her, but we have to stop her. Please, let me help you. We can settle our own differences later."
"She needs to die."
"We can stop her together. We can figure everything else out then, and you can kill me then if you still want to. Please, just let me protect my city first."
I hate her. I hate her so fucking much. She is the absolute worst. "Fine." I release her throat and let her climb out of the trunk. "Did you have a plan?"
Her eyes widen and she stares at me. "A plan? Like for how to stop her?"
"I figured I'd just stab her a bunch. I meant a plan to find her."
"Oh." She eyes me nervously, concealing her throat with her chin. "You don't know how?"
She is so useless. Why am I even bothering with her? "Well, she came for Anna already. I was just going to wait here and watch over her."
"That's a terrible plan."
Why am I not killing her again? "Well then what do you suggest?"
She shrugged. "We look for any fires starting somewhere else in town?"
I turn to head back inside. "I'm not leaving Anna alone. So we're staying here."
"Fine." She grumbles, but lets me lead her inside, back to the waiting room.
I tap my foot, watching every doctor that comes by, desperate for word of Anna. She has to be okay.
From her seat next to me, Jasmine places a hand on my shoulder. Who the hell does this girl think she is? "You don't have to worry, Elsa. Anna will be okay."
"You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about! You haven't even met her. You're just some stupid little girl who thinks she's a superhero! What are you even doing here?" I shrug her hand off and give her a death glare, the temperature in the room dropping drastically.
She places her hand back. "I'm here to help. I let that villain get away because I was blinded by my single-minded pursuit of you. She'll be okay. Or else it's my fault, and that can't be true. It can't be. I'm a hero, I can't have messed up that badly."
I'm surprised to find myself laughing. Anna is possibly dying a few feet away and I'm laughing. Laughing because this foolish puppy of a superhero is convinced that the world is a wonderful place where everything always works out and evil is punished. Because she thinks she's Superman. "You did. You decided to attack me, without so much as a plan. If I was as bad as you thought I was, you'd be dead. Instead, I played with you for long enough that the love of my life might die instead. Because you didn't let me kill Notos. Because you're a fucking idiot."
She sniffles, dabbing at her eyes with the sleeve of what must be the most garish super hero outfit I've ever seen. I will not feel bad for hurting her feelings. She had it coming, damn it. "You're right. I messed everything up. Why did you even save me? You clearly have no issue with killing people, why wouldn't you just kill me? It's what I deserved."
I find myself hugging her. I'm possessed. This is not okay. Boreas must have taken control of me or something. "You're not that bad. You're just a bit of a stupid kid, but you'll learn. You're what, sixteen?"
"I'm eighteen!" She looks so offended I can't help but giggle. This is all so humiliating.
"When Anna was your age, she was a lot like you. I was always this jaded asshole, but she was pure. She didn't start to act more like me until our life ruined her." Our father – the family – everything started to get to her. We were treated like scum, and we had to kill to get by. She was never meant for this life. Hell, I put her in charge and she almost dies the next day. Why didn't I just run when she wanted to? "Don't let the same happen to you. Don't lose who you are, okay? You're really annoying, but I'd hate to ruin you, and if you stick around me, it'll happen." Does she have some super power that makes people care about her? I am not this nice.
"I'm at least sticking around until we finish fighting our supervillain." She stops, gears turning in her head. Grinning, she looks up at me. "What's your superhero name?"
I hate her. "I guess it would be The Borealis."
"The Ice Queen and The Borealis team up! Together we can take on anything." She holds up her hand in a peace sign. I take it back. Anna was never this bad.
"I'm regretting this already."
"Oh don't be ridiculous. This will be amazing!" She's beaming. She is far too happy for a hospital.
I glance back towards the operating room, wringing my hands. She has to be okay. She will be okay.
A nurse approaches us. "You need to sign in if you're looking to be treated."
"We're fine," I reply, my voice cold. "We're just waiting for my girlfriend to get out of surgery."
"You don't look fine." My clothes should be covering all of my injuries, and they should be cauterized anyway. I don't think I took a single punch to the face. He points towards my shoulder. "That looks pretty nasty. Let's get you signed in and the doctor can take a look at it."
God damn it, Jasmine. I unbutton a couple buttons and show him that the hole in my shoulder is already healed. Unfortunately, she wasn't the only person to stab me in the shoulder. Notos's burns are still there. Can I just not heal from her at all?
"That looks serious. Let's see what we can do."
"Hell no, I'm fine. I have to look after Anna." I button my shirt back up and conceal the wounds. Maybe if I hide them then he'll forget they're there. I just wish I could too.
"I can stay and wait for her," Jasmine offers.
"She doesn't even know you." Besides, she has a concussion, she should probably be the one seeing a doctor. "I'm fine. Go find someone else to treat." There's nothing medicine can do that my powers can't.
He seems to decide that I'm not worth the trouble. He turns to Jasmine. "What about you, miss? That's quite the shiner you've got there."
She clutches at her face. "Oh no! Where's my mask! He can see my eyes, a superhero can't go out without a mask! Elsa, where is it?"
Was she even wearing a mask when we fought? "I think you forgot it, your Ice Queenness." She calls me by my real name while complaining that she lost her mask. I don't give a shit either way, but it's still hypocritical as all hell. And I actually had a mask!
She covers her face with her hands. "No, I'm fine, no treatment needed. I was never here!"
"Right." He backs away. Clearly dealing with two genuine superheroes is just too much for him. He is in awe of our might. Oh great, Jasmine is getting to my head.
"I'm sorry for stabbing you," she says suddenly, after a few minutes of silence.
"It's fine. You weren't the first." I just can't stay mad at this girl. It's like kicking a puppy.
"That doesn't matter. I should be better than that. I know better than to just stab someone because they seem to be evil. Even evil people don't deserve to have a javelin hurled at them without fair warning. I shouldn't have done it. Besides, you're not that bad."
"So I'm not a murderer now?"
She frowns, considering my words. "Well, you are, but maybe you're not a bad murderer."
"I'm a very good murderer."
"Yeah! That's right."
She didn't get the joke. How exactly is she going to help me fight Notos? She could barely stand up to a horribly injured me when I wasn't even trying to kill her. "How long have you been doing this superhero thing?"
Her face lights up. I will take note not to call her a superhero again. "It's been about a year now. It was really scary at first, but I've gotten really good at it. I even beat up that scary guy that was planting bombs all over the city this summer. I beat that wannabe god up last year too, before they could manage to finish the ritual to gain their power from the demon realm. That's when I started getting fans. I kinda saved the day." She turns away, looking rather self-conscious.
She really managed to do all that? "Well you're fighting a real god now. You might be in over your head."
She waves her hand in a dismissive gesture. "Nah, it's fine. I'm the Ice Queen. I can handle anything. Besides, I've got you there with me, and you're crazy strong. You even managed to beat me."
"That's what worries me. I beat you when I was pretty beat up already. I hate to admit it, but she's stronger than me." Even with this magical sword I was barely even keeping up with her. I can't beat her on my own, but this kid just isn't ready.
"She's injured too. You would have had her if I hadn't interrupted you, and I have to make that up to you."
She handles kidnapping a lot better than I do. "Fine, but you're following my lead. I don't want to get you killed too – I mean, at all. Anna is gonna be fine." She is. She won't die. She's too damn stubborn for that.
Jasmine squeezes my hand. "I'll be fine. I'm not exactly a rookie, you know. How long have you been doing this anyway? I hadn't heard of you until a couple days ago, but you seem really experienced. Were you a superhero in another town?"
I laugh. "I'm still not much of a superhero. I got my powers about four days ago, on my birthday."
"Oh, happy birthday!" That ridiculous eager grin. She really is a puppy. Why is she always so happy?
"Thanks," I grumble.
"Wait, you've only been doing this for four days? Then why are you such a good fighter? That doesn't even make sense. There's no way you would be able to beat me if you're that new." She chews on her lower lip, staring contemplatively at me.
"I've been doing this for a long time, only the powers are new."
"I guess that's not quite as bad then. I just don't like the idea of being shown up by someone so new to the game. Don't worry though, Elsa, you're a natural. You'll be the best superhero ever." She jumps up from her chair. Does she need to go for a walk? I'm really not sure what she's expecting here. "We've got this!"
"Sure we do. Now sit down. We're still waiting on Anna." I gesture towards her seat.
"Oh. Right." She drops back into her chair with enough force for it to slam into the wall. She looks behind her, her cheeks coloring. "She will be okay, Elsa. I promise."
I squeeze her hand in response. Come on, Anna. Just pull through. I need you.
~o~
I must have fallen asleep. One second there was no one there, the next a doctor was shaking me awake. "Ms. Arlotti?" she asks.
I nod.
"Your wife just made it out of surgery." My heart skips a beat. No one has ever called her my wife before. I guess she just saw the same last name and assumed. I might just have to do something about that before too long. It's not like there was ever any doubt that it would happen, we just weren't in a hurry. An image of her in a wedding dress flashes before my eyes. It's a nice reminder of what I'm fighting for. I won't let Notos take that away from me. "If you'd like to come see her –"
"I'd like to take her home."
She blinks, looking me up and down. "She should really rest here."
"It's too open here, anyone could find their way in. We have doctors on staff. I'll make sure I have one looking after her. If you'd like to do so instead, I'm happy to pay for your time, but I'm taking her home." I can't go to the apartment. Maybe a safe house? Someplace that not too many people know about. I know we can trust Pete, so he can pick a few men that he trusts, and one doctor, maybe a nurse, then little Ms. Ice Queen here, and me. That should do it.
She looks hesitant still. "I really think she should stay here."
"We're leaving. You're coming or you're not."
"My shift ends in two hours. Let me finish up and then I'll go with you. Deal?" She meets my eyes and holds out her hand. We can wait two hours. I'd rather have her than a mob doctor; they're not always the most reliable. Though Kevin's pretty good.
"Deal." I take her hand. "But I'll be driving, and you'll be blindfolded. I'm not having anyone know where we are."
"Kinky." She giggles before giving me a wink. "My safeword is frog."
I'm unsure if I'm more unnerved by my wife's – fuck I love saying that – doctor flirting with me or that her safeword is 'frog.' It's just a really dumb safeword. Really. "Why frog?" I have to know.
"It's something I would never say normally. Red could come up."
She has a point. Jasmine stares between the two of us. "What are you talking about?"
I place a hand on her head. "Don't you worry your little head about it."
Her pout is amazing. It's like the dictionary example of a pout. Anna had the exact same one when we were kids. She continues sulking for a full five minutes as we wait, but it doesn't last, and she's back to chatting my ear off until we finally leave.