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"Wait! Alice!" Xander cried, reaching after her. "Scarlett- you remember her, right? It was her- she did this. She's not dead-"
He held a hand up to his ear.
"A-and that aside, could I get a ride to the hospital? I need out of here before any press arrives, and I- um… I should probably get checked out. I'm pretty sure that explosion blew out one of my eardrums."
"Don't be ridiculously, she's been dead for 5 years, maybe you just saw someone similar." Alice drove the car to the hospital, "Go get fixed up, I'll be waiting in his room." She walked to the front desk to get checked in
"You think I don't know that?!" Xander snapped, which was uncharacteristic given his usual demeanor.
But his voice lowered a bit, and he was quiet for the rest of the ride. When they got to the hospital, he thanked Alice for the ride.
"Alice… I-I'll try to visit him after. Sorry I don't show up a lot, it's still really hard for me."
"the attack on the airport was successful, very well done," Omen spoke, "Star blocked all the roads going out of the city, we're taking this place"
Scarlett sat in her window, staring out into the sky, "hey, Scarlett?” The squeaky voice was star, she was young, maybe 14, no one knows where she came from. "What's up?" She responded, turning her head to look at Star,
"I heard from Taka, that you say someone you used to know.." She mumbled, her eyes widened at the words. "I guess I know him, but that was in my past life, always remember that the two are separate." Scarlett got up and poked Star's nose, "I'm going out , don't wait up,"
The doctors sent Xander home with some medicine and other care instructions. He should get better on his own, but might need surgery if not. As annoying as the lessened hearing and dull buzzing in his ear were, he was fine.
Xander eventually made his way to Will's room. It always made him uneasy, and he'd never visited much unless Alice made him. If only he'd been a little stronger, maybe he could have done something.
Once he got there, he knocked on the door.
"Come in!" Alice called. Will's silver hair was starting to grow long, his body still told the story from that night. Burns and other injuries still visible on his skin, a story that no one could read. That night was a blur to everyone, well, almost everyone. A fire started by the crimson haired girl, thought to be self defense, but maybe it was more than that
Xander looked over his friend's body with a shudder. He sat next to Alice and glanced at her sideways. A few tears were already welling up in his eyes. He cried literally every time he came to visit Will, and it was embarrassing.
"Alice… I know it was her. She recognized me," he said, rubbing the corner of one of his eyes to wipe some of the tears away.
Alice got up from her seat and hugged him tightly, "we'll look for her, okay? But I'm not looking for the entire group," Alice shivered, she was in the gym when it happened, but she stood no chance. "If I was stronger," she muttered, her voice cracking and a tear rolling down her face, "maybe Will wouldn't be still asleep, maybe.. maybe Scarlett would still be here." Her face streaming with tears as she let go of him, "if it really was her, we'll find her,"
"But she was… quite literally killing people. Do you think it's as simple as 'go find her'?" Xander asked, his voice very quiet and fragile.
He pressed a hand to his ear as a sharp ringing sound pierced through the quiet of the hospital room.
He frowned before responding. "I think we all feel the same. I watched an upperclassman die right in front of me, trying to protect me. If I'd even had the strength to move… Damn I wish I'd had the strength to move, even if it meant going to hide so I wouldn't be in the way."
He said that, but his injuries from the attack had been so bad that he spent almost two months in the hospital, and over a grueling year in physical therapy. He ended up graduating later than most of his peers because of everything.
"I know for sure that they are in the city, but I'm not sure where. If she's here, we'll find her." She gave a warm smile and grabbed her things, "Hang in there," She whispered, leaving the room.
As Alice left, Xander leaned over Will's bedside, looking down the length of his body. Even if he did wake up, would he ever be the same?
"Are you still even in there, Will?" he whispered, eying the heart monitor.
Xander reached out a hand to touch Will's fingertips, but they were ice-cold. He wasn't sure what he expected. Even when he was alive and well, his touch had always been unsurprisingly freezing.
"I should be here instead… I'm trying to do what you couldn't, and frankly, I'm not cut out for it."
Scarlett walked around town, buying food and looking at shops, "Ahh what a nice day!" She laid back in her seat, munching on a crepe. She thought about seeing Xander again, He looked rough, bad day I guess.. She thought to herself, "Maybe I should visit will.." She muttered
Xander rarely visited Will, but when he did, he stayed for a long time. He always mulled over the what-ifs and unfortunately, he often relived that day over and over again. Truly, even being here was incredibly triggering, and he probably wouldn't get a good night's rest for days if things went how they normally did.
"Maybe it wasn't her- maybe I was hallucinating," Xander muttered to himself, "I don't usually experience psychosis, but- ugh…"
He sat back down in his chair next to where Alice had been. Her spot had already gone cold.
Scarlett strolled into the hospital, she signed in to see Will and noticed Xander's name, she laughed and made her way to the room. Heels clacking, she walked, making it to the room. She flung the door open and walked in, looking directly at Xander.
Xander froze when Scarlett walked in. He should have attacked, but he stopped like a deer in headlights. He may have been a bit hard to recognize at first, with the scarring across his face, and years of worry and grief etched into his features. But he was still the same guy she had known from school. And after the fight at the runway, it was clear she knew exactly who she was dealing with.
Scarlett had always been a bad matchup for him- not necessarily stronger, but his powers were often burned alive when matched against her.
"What are you doing here?! Are you looking for trouble?" Xander cried, "All these years and- we meet again like that. Give me one reason not to turn you in right here, right now."
"Oh quiet," She walked to the side of his bed, looking at Will, "I'm just here to visit, don't make a big deal over nothing." She crossed her arms and starred at him, "You know, I came here a few months after that night, it's been a while huh." She reached out and touched his hand, "Do you even know why he's like this?"
"I wouldn't call it 'nothing,'" Xander murmured through gritted teeth, "Killing people… like it's nothing…"
Yet, when Scarlett spoke about visiting and posed him a new question, his hostility decreased.
"I… don't, really. I'm the wrong person to ask. They weren't sure I was going to wake up either, you know- or maybe you don't know. I missed a lot of the details early on and woke up to a list of the dead, the wounded beyond recovery… I never asked much about it, Scarlett. It hurt too much, and it's not like I could do anything."
She let go of his hand and looked at Xander, "Maybe next time we meet I'll tell you what's wrong with him." She walked towards the door and paused before the door, "How have you been," She asked, "It's been a long time."
"How have I been?" Xander asked uneasily.
There was no good answer to the question. A noncommittal "oh, I've been well," was not the right answer here. Yet the truth- the fact that he was tormented with nightmares, beared the mantle of several fallen heroes and heroes-to-be, and had been through hell managing his own physical pain and recovering properly- seemed as if it was oversharing.
"It's been a tough five years. Not what I would've hoped at all," Xander replied, "How about you? What have you even been doing all this time? Why show up now?"
"That's good," She turned his way, "It's good to see you again, you know." With a large sigh, she spoke again, "I've been training, training my flames, and I know why Will is still asleep." Scarlett turned away and opened the door, "That's enough for today, goodbye."
"Wait!" Xander called.
Yet, he had no clue what he might say to her. What was there to say? He was too shocked and hesitant to fight back, and while he could turn her in, he didn't really want to.
"Wait! Where should I meet you?!" he finally finished, standing and reaching towards the door as if it was going to stop Scarlett from getting away.
Scarlett stopped, she turned to face him. Walking towards Xander, she smiled, "You'll never find me unless I want to be found, but don't worry, you'll see me soon," She grabbed Xander and embraced him in a hug
Xander stiffened a bit when Scarlett hugged him. He was still horribly shocked by the situation. And no way was he having hallucinations this vivid. It was all real. Xander wanted to ask how the hell she had such close tabs on him, why she hadn't visited when he actually needed her- a million questions, really. Yet he couldn't even form the word "why" on his lips.
"I'll- I'll see you, then," he said, still shaken, confused, and dying to talk to someone.
However, if earlier was any indicator, Alice would probably blow him off again.
Scarlett let go of him and waved, walking away Taka appeared next to her, then whisking her away.
The second Scarlett disappeared, Xander turned to Will.
"I'm going to get to the bottom of this, okay? And if that means I can figure out how to make you better, then I'll put in everything I have."
Xander started on his way home. His equilibrium was most certainly off, which the doctor said was to be expected. When he got back, one of his roommates, Isolde, who was a lesser known hero, and also in the attack five years ago, was sitting on the couch, crouched with her knees pulled up to her chest. She had her laptop on the coffee table.
"Xander! You're home! I was beginning to worry. I saw the news reports. They blocked off most of the heroes from getting to the crime scene, and you disappeared shortly thereafter, but you didn't come home right away.
He was starting to get used to the muffled hearing. At least he had his other ear still.
"I left to get checked out, and I visited Will."
"Have you even seen what's going on?"
Xander shook his head and leaned over her shoulder. "No, not beyond what I witnessed."
(I'm gonna throw in a new character, if that's cool! Feel free to add a third roommate as well!)