Opening Notes: Kinda feel like that last section in the previous chapter could've been better served here in hindsight, but meh, no biggie. Time for the shit to hit the fan after some promised wholesome degenerate lovey dovey handholding and fluffy romance.

Chapter 11

Date Night

New York City, New York

An abandoned Endbringer bunker, the Batties' Hideout

A day before…

Emma Moore/Shockjock POV…

"You must really hate the guy." Max muttered with a shake of his head.

"Personal feelings have nothing to do with this." The fedora lady replied with a lazy, unconcerned shrug. "It's simply necessary." She tapped the suitcase in front of her. "Personally I'd suggest you'd strike on his first day of patrol, before he gets used to things, but you should have plenty of opportunities over the next three days one way or another."

"I'll decide when we move, not you!" Max responded, bristling angrily at the perceived slight.

"Of course." The woman returned, a fake, placating smile on her face. "At least try to be somewhat discret though? It would be a shame if our association ended so soon."

Emma huffed at that. She didn't like the idea of becoming anyones lapdog, but who knew? Maybe they could turn this around, get their revenge, keep the proof of what that bitch leaked, and get something out of this. After all, no matter who this chick was, having caused the death of an upcoming hero would fuck her up. Easy enough to take advantage of.

Besides, from the way she looked at them, talked to them, all patronizing, it was clear that she thought the lot of them were morons. She'd regret that. "You sure the other patrol routes are good?" Emma pressed, killing the upstart would be enough work, running into someone more experienced later would just fuck everything up beyond recognition.

"Of course." Fedora returned smoothly. "I know what I'm doing." There it was again, that smug arrogance that made Emma want to strangle her, or fry her ass so bad that the bitch's eyeballs popped as her skin sizzled off her bones.

Instead Emma let her fingers spark and crackle with purple lightning, pointedly giving Contessa a look that said more than she ever could. "We won't fuck it up provided your information is accurate. Because if it isn't, we will make you wish you'd put that gun in your own mouth."

And yet the Fedora wearing bitch only smirked in response before a portal appeared at her back. "I'd worry more about your preparations than my intel, little girl." Emma knew she'd miss, but she tried to zap the bitch anyway as Contessa promptly disappeared through the portal someone else had created for the bitch in the suit. "God I hate that woman."

Max growls through clenched teeth before slamming a fist into the wall at his side. While it does fuck all, the boom from the resulting punch is still loud and almost deafening in the bunker's interior. "As soon as we kill that pretty boy and skull fuck his empty eye sockets, we're tearing that bitch's head off her neck."

"Honestly, I figured we'd blackmail her." Emma returned with a shrug. "Since we got plenty of stuff that could have come only from an insider an-"

"Fuck that." Max spat, not bothering to hear her out. "She's more trouble than she's worth. We'll do this, and then we fuck her up."

"Works for me." Prudence states from the ever growing contents of the corkboard that had Dion's pretty face all over it, along with his future patrol schedules, public appearances, and a number of personal details they'd uncovered since being told who he was. "If not for the fact his uncle is clear across the country, I'd say we just kidnap the bastard and go from there. Thankfully we have an entire city's worth of people we can go after instead."

"We'll use the stuff that cunt gave us." Max declared darkly. "So he is preening around like a peacock feeling all good and safe? Good, makes it easier to mess him up, and also sends a message to folks not to mess with us." His scarred face split into a bloodthirsty smile. "We just gotta find a nice place for us to introduce ourselves to the bastard."

It was Dorothy that smirked as she zipped over to the corkboard, and pulled down a piece of paper with a vicious smile. "I think I've got an idea!"

Greta Bailey's apartment building, the Townsend apartment

September 13th, 2007, 1:21 PM…

Rebecca Townsend POV…

"Shit…" She muttered, turning this way and that in the mirror as she tried to decide which outfit she was going to wear for her maybe date with Dion. "One of the few times I don't have a sexy dress!" She grumbled under her breath before fighting the very strong urge to throw off the latest baggy and conservative outfit that she'd been stuck with thanks to her mother. She'd have raided her mother's closet for something already, but Maria was much better endowed than Rebecca, so there was no way anything her mom had would fit her anytime soon, though given how her clothes were getting tight in some places she was getting there. Speaking of her mom, she should've probably checked on her by now if for no other reason than to see if she had something tucked away that she could maybe steal for an afternoon?

"Why is this so difficult?!" Rebecca grumbled under her breath. It shouldn't be, she had walked up to Dion before in her baggy clothes, she had nicer, less baggy ones, not flattering, but decent… but the moment they went and called this a date she felt like freaking out! Wrapping herself either in the sexiest dress she could find or a mattress to hide everything. She hadn't decided yet, but she wasn't a fan of the latter idea, so hoping against hope her mom had something even close to her in size was her only option.

"Breathe." She about jumped out of her skin when her mother seemed to materialize behind her. "You look like you're about to go to face the firing squad instead of a date."

"What are you doing up?" She grumbled as she rounded towards her mother, who smiled tiredly, but she just as quickly clamped her mouth shut when Rebecca registered the pain in Maria's eyes. "Mom, what's wrong?"

"...Just…blaming myself for why you're freaking out, dear." Maria softly replied as she sat down on the edge of Rebecca's bed with a sigh. "

"Wha-?"

"I spent so much time worrying about you, trying to keep you safe that I neglected to let you be free." Maria said lowly, a deep sigh escaping her lips. "You're beautiful, you should be allowed to show that to the world… I'm sorry that I've been… that I still am less than helpful in that regard." Becca could do little more than stare at her mother dumbly, wondering where all of this was coming from, how the hell she was supposed to react to this. "I know this isn't just gonna fix everything magically, but… I got a you a little something." Maria held out a small package towards her, unshed tears brimming in her eyes even as her hands shook.

Rebecca gently clasped her mother's hands on either side of the box, squeezing them just as tenderly, and shook her head. "Don't. You had every reason to be afraid, mom. I might get frustrated about it sometimes, but I get it."

"I know, but you should be able to live your own life, outside of my own fears and insecurities… I guess what I'm trying to say is… I- I can't promise that I won't freak out anymore… but I'll at least try to let you… let you do your own thing from now on." Maria managed to get out, her lower lip quivering. "Enough about that though, open up, it's for your date."

Instead of taking the gift, Rebecca chose to hug her mother tightly, burying her face in her lustrous black locks against the side of her neck. Maria's smile was tear filled, but it was a far sight better than what'd been there earlier as she returned the hug just as fiercely. Rebecca sniffled, feeling her own tears form, but she ignored them as she slowly pulled back, taking the offered present before sitting next to her mom on the bed. Opening it, Rebecca felt her eyes go wide as the box's contents were finally revealed. "Mom…"

"I told you, you deserve a chance to live your own life." Despite the lingering anxiety Rebecca could see written all over her mom's beautiful face, that she was giving her a dress that didn't cover up every inch of her was still a huge step for her, one that Rebecca wasn't going to ruin by doing anything stupid. "Well what are you waiting for?" She asked, spurring Rebecca to hurry up and put the thing on with a wide, almost ear to ear smile. Today was turning out to be better than she could've hoped for already, and the date hadn't even started yet. It was the work of minutes for Rebecca to get the new dress on with her mother's help, even if she didn't actually need it, but she let Maria fuss over her with a smile. It was a simple thing really, a floor length black dress with a leg slit down one side, and exposing the shouler, collarbone and arm on the same side as well, while the rest of her body remained covered, though it was certainly more form fitting than anything else she had gotten used to wearing.

The sensation of it all was… alien to say the least, but Rebecca couldn't help but smile nonetheless. She looked… She looked pretty. Maria's soft, approving smile was matched only by Rebecca's awed expression at the stunning figure that stared back at her in the mirror. "You're already more beautiful than me, Rebecca. I'm certain that you're going to knock Dion's socks off."

"I'll just be glad not to trip over my own feet." Rebecca muttered, but she shook her head and turned to face her mother anew. "Th-thank you. This…I can't even-"

Maria smiled and pulled her into one last hug before whispering into the top of her head. "I know dear, but stay safe. That's all I ask."

"I- I will, I promise." Rebecca promised her mother, pulling her into another hug. She smiled when her mom returned the gesture, feeling as though… as though they were closer to one another than they had been for a long time.

"Speaking of safe, I have something for you." Maria told her, and pulled out a small taser. "Here, I made sure it's ready, just in case something happens, you can easily hide it in your purse." Becca smiled wryly at that, if a bit sadly. She wasn't surprised, she really wasn't, but her mom was trying… and she was right. New York was dangerous on a good day even without Capes running rampant, especially if the Teeth were around doing one of their blitzkrieg crime sprees.

"Thank you, mom, I mean it." Rebecca told her gently as she took the taser from her mother's hand.

"Good, and here, the last bit of protection." With that Maria reached behind herself and pulled out a package of XXL Condoms.

"Mom!" She shouted, mortified as she pouted at the amused expression on her mother's face.

"Hush dear, I'm not blind you know? They're the right size, trust me. So tell him to be gentle, careful, and to take it slow. Hardly the ideal size for your first time but-"

"MOM!" Rebecca's shout she'd realize later was almost heard throughout the entire building, but at the moment she didn't care as she snatched the offered condoms out of her mother's grasp with a groan. "You…just…ugh!" She settled upon at last before snatching up her purse, shoving the condoms and the taser into it before she forced herself to stop, take a breath, and offer her mom one last grateful if annoyed smile. "Just…thanks, but do you have to be so-"

"Yep." Maria teasingly retorted, popping the 'P' needlessly, which had Rebecca muttering unintelligible grumbles as she made for the door, more to get away from her good natured laughter than anything. Thankfully a knock on the front door distracted them both, with Rebecca hurrying over to answer. To her relief and surprise, Dion looked just as frazzled as she'd felt earlier when she set eyes on his handsome face. "Oh, your dashing knight has come to sweep you off your feet at last."

"H-hello Maria, and yeah, that's the idea anyway." Dion replied before he finally notices what Rebecca's wearing. She couldn't help but take more than a little pleasure at the way his mouth slowly fell slack, eyes wide with wonder at the sight she presented. "Incredible." He exhaled, before shaking his head and stammering out, "Y-you look amazing, Rebecca."

"Th-thanks. Trust me it was a surprise to me too, what my mom had lying around." She shot her mom one last grateful look before taking Dion's offered arm with a smile. "Shall we then?"

"We shall indeed." Dion replied, before turning to her mom next, "I'll have her back by seven as promised, Maria."

"Oh…if it goes later, just call or text." Maria said, surprising Rebecca for a second time in as many minutes. "Have fun, but stay safe."

"We will." Dion promised with a firm nod before leading the way out of the apartment at last. Despite the butterflies fluttering around in her stomach, Rebecca was excited in a way she hadn't thought possible before as she leaned slightly into Dion's side. "You truly are a vision of beauty, Rebecca."

"You don't look too bad yourself." She replied, letting her gaze sweep over the smart looking grayish white suit, matching pants, and a light blue tie he had on with abject approval. "One could almost mistake you for a fanboy of a certain Dragoon that's been making the news." She teased, earning an embarrassed laugh from Dion for her trouble.

"Y-yeah…but wearing black didn't seem like the best idea, and now I know why." He said, letting his own gaze fall upon her new black dress with his own clear and present approval.

A thought occurred to her though, and Rebecca asked, "Wait…you don't own a car. How are we going to get to where we're going?"

"Well…" Something about the way Dion trailed off makes Rebecca nervous.

"Dion!" She shouted as Rebecca found herself falling through the air as he carried her, having Jumped from the roof of the apartment building they shared onto the next.

"Now you know why I was freaking out!" He exclaimed, not that that stopped him from making another Jump without ever breaking his stride. "Keep your mouth closed though, or you might end up biting your tongue off whenever we land."

"You could've said that beforehand!" She shouted, but she also clung to him all the more tightly. Because despite the fear as they began to fall through the air again, there was unmistakable excitement as she saw the city in an entirely new and unexpected way. There was something undeniably thrilling about soaring across rooftops, feeling the air rush past her as he ran along one wall or another before pushing himself further upwards. Better still, they were easily outrunning most of the cars that had to navigate the normally congested city streets, making Dion's run across the rooftops exhilarating in its own way before he was forced to make another Jump to reach the next roof in line with their destination.

"I'm sorry, but I doubted you wanted to ride on the back of my pedal bike." He grumbled, but there was no heat to his words. "For one there wouldn't be enough room for us both, and for another I'd truly hate to ruin your beautiful dress."

"Fine…just get us there in one piece." She said with a roll of her eyes, but despite the fear still rattling around in her chest, Rebecca's smile told an entirely different story to anyone who happened to look their way. It helped that she trusted Dion to indeed get them to where they were going in one piece, plus the view most definitely helped even if they were moving at such a pace that it made it a little difficult to really appreciate it for the most part.

"Of course." Dion assured her with a small smile. "I'll protect you." He added gently, looking at her for a long moment before he had to refocus on where he was going. She snuggled even closer to him, though not out of fear this time, but because she believed him… and it made her feel safe and protected despite the breakneck speeds they were going. "We're almost there, and as fun as it's been to princess carry you this whole way, we're bound to draw more attention that way, that and the Protectorate's probably going to complain about it enough as it is."

"Then why do it?" She asked, even as she snuggled closer into his chest and shoulder.

"Because while I might be beholden to their rules and regulations, I also prefer to follow my own path, especially when it comes to people I hold near and dear. Besides, if I hadn't been sure of your safety, I wouldn't have even attempted it." She blushed, taken aback by his sincerity, touched that she was already among that no doubt small number of people he wanted to protect and make happy as best as he was able. She felt like her heart was gonna burst already with how happy she felt just from that.

She was glad for the distraction though when he rapidly descended, pushing off from wall to wall on his way down to street level, until his feet touched the sidewalk once more and he gently set her down. The spot was shrouded mostly in shadow and out of sight of the large crowds. "Saw this during a patrol recently." He told her in a way of explanation. "Figured you'd prefer not to land right in front of a crowd."

"That is appreciated." She quipped, a part of her loath to leave his embrace, but she followed him without complaint. She blinked though when she recognized the large glass structure they were fast approaching, eyes widening upon seeing where they were heading. "The Brookfield Place? You got reservations to one of the restaurants here?!"

"Is that…a problem?" He asked, suddenly hesitant and unsure.

Her answer was to let out a surprised laugh before giving him reassuring smile. "No, but this is one of the biggest and best shopping malls that are left in New York. Getting a reservation here, in any of their restaurants, is like winning the lottery."

"Ah, well I guess I just got lucky then." He said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly for a moment. "I just…wanted to treat you to a good lunch, and I remember hearing you and your mom talking about wanting some Italian and well…" He gestured towards the giant mall in front of them, allowing her to fill in the blanks from there. "Afterwards we can go shopping together, with the money I make, I don't mind footing the bill. Just uh…don't break my wallet too badly please."

"I make no promises." She giggled, but nodded, her stomach growling in anticipation already.

And just when she thought the day couldn't get any better.

The Brookfield Place

Right outside the front doors

1:51 PM…

Maxwell Brown/Max Steel POV…

It was sheer fucking chance that he'd spotted the bastard and his little bitch too, but the fact that he seemed completely clueless to his presence only made it better as Max hurriedly pulled out his cellphone to alert the others to what he'd seen. "Get here, now. He's on a date, and he's unarmed, now's our best chance to get his ass." He didn't wait for Prudence to respond before he hung up, already moving to try and follow the little shit without getting spotted in turn. That…wasn't the easiest thing given he kinda stood out, even without his scarred up face making everyone who saw him uneasy, but with the way the fucking knight and his admittedly gorgeous slut were making eyes at each other, he doubted they'd notice if her hair suddenly caught fire.

It was just as well since it meant they had an extra effective hostage to play with, and if he could make the bastard watch while he messed up his little doll before he killed him… all the better. For now though he was content to watch and wait, knowing his buddies would be here soon. Once they arrived though, then the real fun could begin, but for the moment he simply followed at a hopefully safe distance to avoid drawing their attention. So it was he ended up following the two to a fancy looking Italian restaurant on the far northeastern edge of the mall, although he didn't go inside since that'd just be stupid, making him far too easy to spot. Instead he waited outside, leaning against a shadow covered wall on a simple bench, making as if he were fiddling with his phone to deter anyone from getting suspicious or curious.

He gritted his teeth though. What was the point of having a damned speedster on his team if she couldn't get her ass here? The others he could understand, but Dorothy? Where the hell was that little blonde bitch? He didn't have to wonder for much longer as she soon enough appeared, skidding to a stop just a few feet away five minutes after he'd sat down. "What the Hell took so fucking long?"

"Oh I'm sorry, I had to carry everyone here one at a fucking time, plus our gear!" Dorothy growled in response, giving Max the strong urge to punch some of her teeth out of her whore mouth. "Give me a break, literally because I could use some ice cream right about now, or I'll just be useless later."

"Fine…go take care of yourself, but don't keep me waiting." Max grumbled, glad that Dorothy didn't stick around for more than a few seconds once she told him where the others were going now that they were all present and accounted for because he really would've found it difficult not to beat her face in. Going to the same part of the mall, he wasn't disappointed to find an electrified security lock, leaving a heavy metal security door that led into the parts of the complex that the average person wasn't supposed to enter open for him to follow, which was exactly what he did. The few guards that were supposed to be patrolling these halls had been killed without a sound, Prudence's control over her power allowing her to effortlessly deafen an area of her choice, allowing Emma to do what she did best without anyone being the wiser judging by the smoking corpses he carelessly walked over. Finding Emma and Prudence in a security monitoring station, he found the latter doing…something at one of the many consoles while Emma leaned against a wall, fiddling with a nail file.

"What are you even doing?" He asked, drawing their respective attention as he kicked a dead body of another guard out of his way to the console.

"Trying to activate the security lockdown protocols." Prudence said without ever looking away from the numerous screens in front of her. "We need to lock this place down so Dion won't be able to get away. The Tinker-tech jammer Dorothy's going to set up in the subbasement levels, courtesy of Contessa, can be remotely activated so we won't have to worry about someone following us to the thing and finding it that way, but once it is, we won't be able to call anyone while in its field of effect. Neither will anyone else be able to call out though."

"Right…so keeping in touch will be a problem for us once we kick things off." He grumbled, but nodded. "At least we won't have to worry about any Protectorate pricks showing up until we get what we're after. We've got time though, but don't take too long."

"I'm working as fast as I can." Prudence grumbled, sounding just as bitchy as Dorothy had earlier. Max again had to fight the urge to punish Soundquake by smashing her face into the keyboard in front of her, but like Dorothy, he didn't. They were too close to their long overdue revenge to risk it, but he did make a mental note to put the two of them in their place once this was over and done with. He was the leader after all, they were supposed to follow his every word without question. He couldn't have them mouthing off, challenging his authority, it was just how it worked. Still, he saw the bastard on one of the security monitors, and smiled cruelly in anticipation, imagining all the ways he'd make the little knight suffer.

Today was shaping up to be a very good day.

The Brookfield Place, Sant Ambroeus

Corner table by the window

Dion Lesage/Bahamut POV…

While taking Rebecca to what amounted to a mall for a date probably wasn't the best idea, Brookfield Place wasn't one of the best shopping centers in New York for nothing. Even though Leviathan had effectively shut down international shipping by boat, there was still enough trade to allow places like this to keep going apparently. It probably helped that most of what was on the menu had likely been locally produced, as in somewhere in the US, but that wasn't even the tenth thing on Dion's mind as their food arrived soon after they'd put in their order after they'd been allowed to take their seats.

"God but that looks delicious." Rebecca moaned appreciatively at the mere sight of what'd been put in front of them, not that he could blame her since it all smelled delicious too. Her Tortellini alla Panna looked delicious, the white sauce had a nice creamy texture and bits of some green herbs, as well as ham, were visible through the pale color. The pizza they'd also ordered was equally as appetizing, covered in pepperoni, mushrooms, olives, and parmesan cheese that was soon enough covered in salad dressing. Between that, and a side of salad for the both of them, along with a couple of sodas, they had quite the feast before them that Dion found it difficult not to drool over. Thankfully Rebecca didn't sit on decorum, and wasted no time in digging in, with Dion quick to follow her example with a light laugh and a smile.

The next few minutes saw them simply eating in comfortable silence, savoring every bite that followed with little moans of appreciation that neither felt compelled to try and hide. This was a rare treat, so of course they were going to enjoy it. Eventually though, Rebecca paused and put her fork down, prompting Dion to do the same as they took a sip of their sodas to help wash down their current mouthfuls. "Ugh…you sure know how to pick them, Dion."

"I'm glad you approve." Dion said with a relieved note to his voice, while trying not to look at her with a dopey grin on his face. 'Coughing' off to the side, he managed to focus on her actual words, and added, "Despite my normally calm demeanor, I truly was worried this wouldn't go half as well as it has so far." Which was an irony that wasn't lost on Dion given that he was really a thirty plus something older man in his first life, but that thought he shoved aside as best he could. That life was behind him, even if he, occasionally, was reminded of it when he saw a powerful enough reminder that brought to mind some memory or another.

"Well," Rebecca unknowingly interrupted his thoughts before he could get lost in them further, "you did good, Dion." She assured him, smiling in such a way that made his heart skip a beat as a flash of warmth suffused him.

Again he had to fight to keep his focus on the actual content of her words rather than imagining kissing her silly right then and there. "Have you lived in New York your whole life?" He didn't blurt out the question, but it certainly felt that way to him as Dion mentally kicked himself for not thinking that through better.

But Rebecca only smiled and nodded, unbothered by the random question that'd escaped him. "Yeah, at least as far as I can remember anyway. I don't think my mom's lived anywhere else either, but I wouldn't quote me on that since I've always tried not to ask about her past much."

He doubted Maria would truly mind, but at the same time he didn't want to say it. He didn't know the two of them well enough to just throw something like that out there. Besides, he knew enough to know it was a sensitive subject for a good reason given the hints Maria and Rebecca had dropped before now, so he could hardly blame Rebecca for not wanting to pry too much. "Understandable given what little I know currently." He settled on saying instead of what he'd been thinking.

"What about you? You mentioned you used to live in Silverton, Oregon before coming out here a few weeks ago now."

He nodded and leaned back with a soft sigh. "I did, and it's where I Triggered, where my powers awakened, as it were." Rebecca hummed, a sign she understood what he was getting at, "I won't get into the details here for much the same reason I'm not prying into your mother's past, since such awakenings tend to…not be good experiences, but I can say while it was arguably one of the worst moments of my life, it was also the best once I recovered from what made it happen in the first place."

"Because you were no longer helpless? Powerless?"

"Yeah…more or less." Dion said with a solemn nod. "It took time, and I spent a lot of it in isolation to better hone what I'd been forced to bear, but it was worth it in the end. My uncle, despite marrying a woman that hated me though I could never figure out why, helped far more than he'll ever know to get me on this path in the first place."

"Well I guess I should be thanking him then for putting you here." She quipped, but the warm smile on her face said she truly was glad for his Uncle Byron's help.

Dion smiled right back, sharing a similar thought despite technically lying about the whole thing given the nature of his arrival here and all. "My Uncle Byron would downplay his role in my being here, but he'd still accept the praise. But as for Silverton itself, it's a fairly large town, really a small city if I'm being honest, but it's surrounded by beautiful forests and gently rolling hills, the former of which has a number of hunting cabins. I found one that hadn't been in use for a long time during the summer months where I did what I could to prepare myself for the next three years. I still used the rest of the time to train where I could between school and the like, but no one can be entirely devoted to just training or studying. I had friends, but no one I'd consider close. Only my uncle I really keep in touch with these days."

"And what does he think of the new Ward in town?" Rebecca coyly asked, earning an amused chuckle from Dion even as he appreciated her not audibly connecting him with Bahamut in case there was someone paying too much attention to them.

"He's proud of what I've done already, even if I feel that it hasn't been nearly enough." Dion replied with a wistful look towards the middle distance, remembering the last text exchange he'd had with Byron. Even if, technically, Stephen hadn't lived here for the last sixteen years, he still had the 'memories', and thus the experience, so really it didn't change his feelings on the matter even if they were artificial in a sense, provided to him by the ROB that had made all this possible in the first place. "But my uncle's always been quick to remind me that Rome wasn't built in a day, and that I simply need to keep at it, to keep doing the best I can, no matter what life tries to throw my way."

"Sounds like a smart man. You'll have to introduce us sometime."

"I don't know if that'd be wise since he's also liable to embarrass me." Dion chuckled, 'remembering' well the many times his uncle had harmlessly teased him over this or that while he'd still been living with the man and his wife. "On that note, he also told me to watch out for beautiful women."

Rebecca laughed this time, and asked, "Afraid they'll distract you was he?"

"No, I just think he's waiting for his chance to tease me some more." Dion explained with a soft smile. "So I'm sure you can see why I'm worried about you two meeting."

"Well now I have to meet him." She retorted teasingly, earning an amused scoff from Dion in turn.

"In all seriousness, I think he'd like you a great deal, Rebecca. With that said, his wife is a far less pleasant person to be around. I don't like speaking ill of anyone, but she's…not a good person." He said with a sigh as he slumped a bit in his chair.

"That bad huh?" Rebecca asked at the same time she put her hand on his on the table.

"Let's just say her words can be just as deadly as any blade, and she's never shy in using them to hurt people. Thankfully Byron, last I checked, was preparing to divorce her, but to be honest I wouldn't shed any tears if she were to get hit by a truck tomorrow."

"She must be a real piece of work if she's got you of all people wanting her turned into roadkill." He didn't answer, but he welcomed the gentle squeeze of Becca's hand against his own, a squeeze he returned with a sad, but firm nod in silent agreement. "I'm also gonna take a wild guess and say she's part of the reason you're as far from her as you could get."

"Not much of a guess, but yeah, she was a huge motivator for me to travel as far as I did to be here, and away from her. While I hadn't been anywhere near the…the place where my parents were gunned down in the crossfire between two rival gangs, one of her favorite things to hit me with was how it should've been me."

"What the fuck?! How the Hell does she get off with saying shit like that to you?!" Rebecca exclaimed, and despite the anger on her face, Dion couldn't help but find her even more beautiful in that moment.

Still he could only shake his head, just as lost and confused now as he'd been then. "I honestly don't know what her problem was with me. It could've been as simple as she wanted Byron's undivided attention, and I was getting in the way of that. Personally I've always suspected she's a gold digger, and she just wanted my uncle's money, so she was hoping by tormenting me enough I'd either kill myself, or I'd try and attack her, allowing her to get me arrested and shipped off to who knows where, leaving Byron vulnerable. She had no idea I had powers, not at first anyway, and that I could've probably turned her into an ash pile if I weren't trying to be better than that, although I doubt that would've stopped her. She just would've been more careful about it. When she did find out though, well…the only good thing I can say is that she didn't blab my identity to everyone she could once I started making a costume with some help from someone who was far better at metal forging than I would've thought at the time."

"Well I'm just glad that bitch didn't win in the end." Rebecca didn't quite spit out, but it was clear she wasn't happy with what he'd told her. She shook it off though as best she could, took a drink, and said, "But I don't want to hear about her, I'd rather get back to what we were doing."

"I can get behind that." He said with a more open and relaxed look on his face, grateful for the change of topic. "How's college treating you?"

"Ugh…it's fine but it's aggravating sometimes. The professors I swear like to give everyone the runaround half the time, taking forever to answer email messages about their coursework, and when they do answer, half the time it doesn't help." She grumbled, but Dion only chuckled, knowing far too well what she was getting at given he'd been there and done that once already. "But while I would love nothing more than to go into space one day, something that can't happen with the Simurgh keeping us stuck here, simply being able to study space and all its wonders is good enough for me even if my focus is just regular physics."

"Well even that's still impressive, Rebecca." Dion praised honestly, making her blush a little. "Beauty and brains." He continued, waggling his eyebrows a bit. "Guess that means you can help me with math homework."

"Ah, so that's how it is, you just want to use me to slack off." She joked back, her full lips curling into an amused smirk.

"Of course not!" He protested, dramatically placing a hand over his heart. "I'm not trying to get into your school bag!"

Rebecca snorted at that, shaking her head at his words. "Okay, I admit, I never heard anyone use that one before."

"Yeah sorry, that was the only thing I could think of." He admitted, both of them laughing moments later.

But Rebecca sighed when her phone began to vibrate from her purse, and she pulled it out before checking to see who was calling her. "Mom…" She grumbled, but her smile didn't fade despite her audible annoyance as she answered. "Hey mom, yeah we're at the restaurant. Yes things are going good, I'm alright and it's been amazing already. Dion's as awesome as ever even if he's planning to use me for my mind." She teased, earning a soft snort from Dion as he took a sip before shaking his head at Rebecca's choice of words. "No but seriously, we're good, I promise. We're gonna probably do some shopping after we're done here. Yeah we- wait, mom? Hello? Hello?" She blinked, looked at her phone once she pulled it away from her ear, and frowned at whatever it said on the small screen. "Huh…dropped call? That hasn't happened in a while."

He couldn't have said why, but the hairs on the back of Dion's neck began to stand on end as he slowly looked away from Rebecca to the few other patrons in the restaurant. Of the five that were there, only two were looking at their phones in confusion and aggravation. "I don't think it's just you." He murmured, a sinking feeling settling in his stomach.

"What?" Confusion slowly turned to concern as she too began to notice something was wrong at the same time Dion slipped the steak knife into the sleeve of his suit. Something told him something bad was about to happen, and Bahamut's ominous rumble in the back of his mind said the Eikon agreed with him. That's when the mall's intercom blared to life, and all eyes snapped to the nearest speaker.

"This fucking thing on finally?! Jesus you'd think it'd be easier to make a store wide announcement." A male voice grumbled before addressing someone away from whatever microphone he was in front of. Whatever was being discussed seemed to satisfy him though because the speaker came back, a malicious smile audible in every word that followed. "This is the leader of a little known gang known as the Batties, and you fine fucks can call me Max Steel. Let me get right to the point, and say everyone here can go about their little lives, just as soon as we get what we want. As some of you've likely noticed by now, your cellphones, smartphones, and internet access is completely blocked. You can thank a little Tinker-tech piece of hardware we've set up somewhere in the mall for that, but don't expect to find it. That means you won't be calling the police, or the Protectorate to save you. Better still, the mall's security lockdown has just been engaged, so you're all stuck in here with us."

As if on cue, heavy steel security shutters began to slam down while the glass doors of the restaurant they were in shut on their own before locking themselves, trapping them in the place. Dion didn't move, and kept ahold of Rebecca's hand as her face began to turn pale as a sheet as their situation began to sink in at the same time a few of the patrons began to run for the now locked glass doors. They could only watch as one man picked up a heavy chair and tried to bash it through the glass, but the chair only bounced off, revealing that it was reinforced in some way. Shit…that wasn't good. "Like I said, you fine fucks can get back to your unimportant lives once we get what we want. And what we want is Bahamut, the new Ward with the Protectorate. He's here in the mall as we speak. Say hello, you blonde prick." Dion didn't move a muscle, not about to give these bastards the satisfaction of outing himself. Max Steel didn't seem to mind though, and continued on moments later. "Meh it's fine, we know where you are, and one of my buddies will be along shortly to bring you and your slut to us just to ensure you behave yourself. Or we can start killing everyone in this place, it's entirely up to you." With that, the intercom was switched off, and Dion could only mentally fume in impotent rage.

This was a nightmare, and he wasn't sure how to get everyone outta it.

End Notes: I said that the shit was gonna hit the fan, and I meant it. How will our young hero get out of this mess? Well, you'll just have to wait and see. See ya for now folks