"…No." Hailstrom didn't say more, but his tone might have given him away. He had some idea, but he wasn't going to say what. It was nothing that would help them, really, so he wasn't going to speak on it.
He followed after Shea, his hands in loose fists.
Shea narrowed her eyes at the cryokinetic. "Your heart skipped a beat, Frosty. You know something."
She turned around, choosing to drop the topic rather than press further. The duo continued on in silence until they came to a door at the end of the hall. Shea slightly loosened her self-control, letting her powers reach out and assess the life in the room but not enough to alert anyone of their presence.. "There are people in here…" She muttered. "Four or five dozen at least."
Hailstrom didn't speak when Shea pointed out his lie, or the number of people in the room. They tilted their head some, looking to the door as they kept to the side.
"We can take them," he finally said, quite calm.
Shea smirked under her visor, readied a knife and backed up a few steps. She rammed into the door with her shoulder, flinging it wide open and suddenly 60 pairs of eyes were on her. "Let's do this," She muttered as each of the people stood from their desks and aimed a firearm at her chest.
And then all hell broke loose.
Hailstrom came in after Shea. He didn't meet the eyes of a single person in the room as he fought, more withdrawn than he normally was. If it seemed someone might have recognized him, they weren't around long enough for Shea to tell- if anything, they were being targeted to die instead of just accidentally doing so as the not so mercy-inclined hero fought them.
Shea ignored the icicles flying left and right at sonic speed and focused on dodging bullets. She rolled and ducked and sprinted to the front of the room where the lead scientist stood behind a large semi-circular desk decked in all sorts of strange technology. Shea wasn't tech savvy, not in the slightest, but she knew that whatever that scientist was working on was important and dangerous.
She threw a knife, pinning the sleeve of the scientist's lab coat against the wall. And then another one trapping his other arm. "Hey, you mind telling me what the hell your doing sending thousands of drones into my city?" She shouted and slightly loosened her control, letting her powers reach forward and mess with the scientist's mind for a few seconds before drawing them back in.
Hailstrom kept up his work- in no time, he had the men in the room either killed or trapped. He made his way behind Shea and the scientist, kicking a man on his way. This was… different, then their other times working together. Hailstrom was actually furious, a seething rage that contradicted his normal indifferent attachment to the job.
The scientist cursed to themselves, unable to keep the shiver from running down their spine. Their eyes widened some, and they pressed back against the wall they were pinned to.
"I-I'm just following orders! The boss- he said there's something here he wants!"
The scientist was already scared shitless, but Shea wanted more information. She let go of all control, powers latching onto the scientist and manipulating his mind. The man's eyes widened and a strangled scream caught in his throat. Through her mind's eye Shea could blurrily see what he feared the most. There was a man dressed in expensive silk sitting on top of an iron throne. He must have been located in some sort of skyscraper for windows surrounded him, showcasing a foreign city below. The man was holding a gun and spoke in a different language. The man sneered and shot his weapon and then the fearscape ended. The scientist had tears running down from his eyes and his heart rate had skyrocketed.
"And why are you so terrified of your boss? What sort of power does he have and what does he plan on doing with my city?!" Shea was screaming into the poor scientists face.
Hailstrom looked away when Shea started demanding the things she was of the scientist.
"Shea," he said, still not looking over. "You don't need to know." He wasn't going to let anyone, not even this scientist, give away his past. So, once he'd gotten Shea's attention, it wasn't hard for him to form a single ice shard to send spiraling towards the scientist's head.
Shea stepped back as the scientist's head fell and his body went limp. Scarlet blood was seeping from his temple and stained his pristine coat. "Great," She muttered, venom dripping from her words. "Now I have to get answers myself." She enunciated each sentence by ripping her daggers from the wall. The scientist fell into a heap on the ground, clouded eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.
Shea sent one last glare at Hailstrom before running past dozens of bodies to the door. She exited the room and sprinted down the hall, searching for anything that would help her find whoever flew the vehicle.
There was no way Hailstrom was going to let Shea do that. Every time she'd get to someone who could give her those answers, Hailstrom would take them out. They didn't care if the other hero was mad at them- no one was getting to know about his past, or his father. They took after Shea, mostly to be able to get in her way.
(Sorry if bad grammar shall happen. I'm on my phone and I type way to fast so my words suck.)
Shea could hear the other vigilante taking after her as she skidded around a corner. Her heart raced with the adrenaline and she found herself grinning underneath the reflective visor. Her dark combat boots sent echoing noises through empty hallways and the air around her was slowly becoming colder and colder. Damnit Frosty, she internally cursed. She turned right when she got to an intersection and ran into a dead end. Her hands searched for any crease or button to see if the wall was a hidden door, but alas it was truly a wall.
Shea whipped around when Hailstrom had finally caught up to her. "Frosty, you know something." She balled her fists. "And you better tell me before I rip it from your mind."
(It's okay! I mess up sometimes just typing on my computer because brain speed =/= typing speed aha)
Hailstrom didn't say a word as he and Shea made their way through the halls, letting her lead. He wasn't giving a single thing away, so he wasn't about to show her where to go.
When Shea stopped at the dead end, and turned to face him, the man scowled.
"I don't know shit," they said, their own fists balling up. "And if I did, you'd think there'd be a good god-damned reason I'm not telling you." The was… genuinely, the most Hailstrom had ever said at one time to Shea, or anyone else.
"Fine," she snarled and let go of all control. Her powers in small amounts did little to absolutely nothing on Hailstrom… but all of it, enough to kill a regular man from a stroke, was just enough to crack into his head.
She only saw a quick glimpse and that was all she needed. Shea reeled in her powers, locking them away deep inside. She stared at the other vigilante. "You have a connection to this place."
Hailstrom reeled back when Shea let her powers go on him. No, no, no no, he couldn't- he didn't- The vigilante leaned against the wall, starting to breath heavily.
"I- I have no connections to that m-man," Hailstrom spat out. "I-I, I can't-" Pushing themselves off of the wall, they lunged at Shea, grabbing her top and slamming her against the other wall. His breath was freezing, ice starting to form on the bottom rims of his eyes.
"I can't think about him!! He'll- He'll find me, a-and, and then I won't- be in control anymore, he-he thinks I'm dead, i-it keeps m-me safe!!" This was from no influence of Shea's- this was Hailstrom's own fear, surfacing on its own.
Shea yelped like a kicked puppy when Hailstrom unexpectedly slammed her against the wall. She was thankful for her helmet as the thick plastic vibrated from impact.Shea sensed Hailstrom's usually dead heartbeat roar to life and fear radiated off of them in heavy waves.
"Let. Go. Of. Me." Shea hissed.
"No!" Hailstrom glared down at Shea, his fists pressing into her body. "You have- no i-idea what you've done…" Hailstrom didn't move, wasn't going to. Except…
He did. He let go of Shea, stumbling back.
Now, that's not how you treat a lady, now is it?
"No, no, no, no!! Get out!! Get out of my head!!" The hero's hands moved to their head, gripping at it. Their fingers scratched at their hood, trying to get it off, trying to get it out of his head.
Shea watched the other hero struggle with their own mind. Shea could feel the turmoil and chaos happening with his head. The air temperature plummeted, ice formed on the walls.
Shea had to stop him.
She thrust out her hands and allowed her powers to latch onto Hailstrom's fears. Instead of feeding the fear, however, Shea began to draw it away from them.Her hands shook and beads of sweat rolled down her face. She rarely used this side of her abilities and there was a reason for that. Once she had finally drawn a majority of the terror from the vigilante, Shea locked it deep down within her internal safe. The fear lashed and snarled like a rabid and caged animal, desperate to be set free. She knew she would have to release it soon, but only when she was alone. Fear was a dangerous thing.
Hailstrom fell against the wall, breathing heavily as Shea pulled the fear out of him. He slumped down, head hung low.
"Hnnn…" They slowly raised their eyes, looking at Shea. They were back to their normal indifference. He slowly pushed himself up, hands shaking just a bit.
"Thank you," he said. "Let's get back to finding the pilot."
Shea nodded, now feeling much hotter in her dark ensemble. She removed her signature helmet, chestnut locks falling around her face. She breathed in the stale air of the ship, still much better than the air from within her helmet. She ran gloved fingers through her hair and blinked her violet eyes a few times to adjust to the dim lighting of the ship. She looked over at Hailstrom, noting that this was the first time he had ever seen her without the helmet and reflective visor.
"Which way, Frosty?" She asked.
Hailstrom had no reaction to Shea's move to take her helmet off. Nothing, not at all. If anything, the vigilante was even colder than they had been before Shea took away their fear.
"Back two turns," he said. "To the left this time." The hero started off, not looking back to see if the chestnut haired woman was following him.
Shea nodded and followed Hailstrom, her helmet tucked between her body and the crook of her elbow. She followed them through what seemed like endless hallways, each of them identical to the next. She was silently amazed that Hailstrom could maneuver through there with such ease and sureness. Shea probably would've gotten lost… multiple times.
She came to a quick stop as they rounded a corner and Hailstrom halted. She opened her mouth to make some sort of snarky comment but his hand flew up, a silent gesture telling her to be quiet, so Shea settled with an eye roll. The duo slowly walked down the hall to a final door sitting at the end of it.
The cockpit.
Hailstrom hated it. He hated how well he knew these halls, how well he could lead Shea through them. Even if it helped them both in this, Hailstrom couldn't stand it. Their memories were still itching at the back of their head, of how they knew these halls. How his body had been through them so many times.
When they got to the cockpit, Hailstrom's heartbeat picked up a bit. Even though they knew he wasn't there, they couldn't help but be afraid he was. After all these years, to be faced with the minuscule chance of being back in his hands…
Shea placed her helmet back onto her head for she would need both hands if a fight broke out. She glanced over at Hailstrom and placed a hand on the door. The vigilante could feel fear radiating off of the latter, not as much as earlier but still a significant amount. Shea took a deep breath and barged into the room.
He wasn't there. Hailstrom could have cried for joy, if he could feel those things anymore. Or cry. It was just one of the underlings. Hailstrom made his way in after Shea, his ice particles condensing again.
"What are you doing here?!" The man in the room demanded, quickly standing.