Damsel: No More, page 30
part #1 of Damsel Series
There was a nod.
“I’m... I don’t know if I can explain where I’ve been and...” He went silent then, seeming embarrassed.
Hannah lifted her head. She tried not to let her anger over the situation show.
“A slave, to a madman, who had you abused, raped and beaten down, made to eat people and suffer, to serve him totally, or else Dad and I would be killed? I was told. Also, that I flat out would be dead right now, if you hadn’t done it. Just so you know, there was some hero worship for you in the man’s eyes when he went over all of that. You are, apparently, pretty incredible. Which I already knew, even when I thought you were off living the quiet life. When you came to visit?”
There was a deep breath then, and a nod.
“Fuck. I didn’t know you knew. When I was allowed to visit... I had to fake things, so that you and the others wouldn’t be hurt. We were being watched, pretty carefully, the whole time. I wasn’t going to tell anyone about the rest. It’s... I’m not really a man now, am I?”
Hannah understood what he meant. It was, out of all of that, about the rapes. Probably at the hands of men, to shatter his will. To point out that, even if he could have killed them all, he wasn’t strong enough to save her, unless he did what was forced on him.
Which left her with a sense of shame and obligation. A thing she buried, deep inside.
“Bullshit. Like I said, I was told, by a person who can’t help but know what you really are inside that you’re a hero. A real one. Not a victim. You weren’t raped because you were weak. They did that to you because you were strong and protecting me. Which... I have a truce with Zero Six and can’t break that, right now. Not and survive, but I doubt that will last forever. We should make some plans.”
There was a slow, sad, nod then.
“I had to do what I was told. It... I’ve killed people. Innocent ones. Not that many, but it happened. How do I live with myself, now?”
Hannah nearly shrugged, not knowing. that wasn’t a good enough answer, of course.
“By helping others. You can’t bring back the dead. Well, you might, but zombies walking around never plays out well, from what I’ve read about the topic. So you have to protect the living. To remember that what you did was for a reason and not because of hate or petty greed. I’m working on a food bank.”
Her younger brother, who was a man now, and had been for a long time, closed his eyes, then managed to seem happy.
“Dad told me about that. It seems a bit off, to be honest. From playgirl to philanthropist in two weeks? Plus... I still have contacts, in the Khan Collective. I was told that the word was that Zero One is impressed with you. No one knows why, so there are a lot of rumors. Most of those have you as being some kind of super villain or even a hero. I don’t see a costume, though.”
She grinned.
“I have one. It’s this lacy little mask that doesn’t hide who I am, at all. I’m pretty sure Veronica got it off of a friend of hers. You know, the kinky kind? I’m just me. I... Really, I just couldn’t take being a victim again. I haven’t been able to for a long time. The last thing, with the Red Trio, when they tried for me the first time, I fought. Not well or anything, but I did it. I just... No more. That’s all. I’m not a costumed hero, I’m just a regular person who isn’t going to take it, any longer.”
There was a popping sound, from behind her then. As she turned, her weapon coming out, she noticed it was Lashondra. She had a gold chain, with an amulet on it, held out in front of her. Her vaguely Chinese peasant outfit was black, that day. Then, a second later, The Moore popped in, followed by Zip, who moved toward the kitchen in a quick, almost dancing move, a tall thin man who also had a large black handgun out, as well as body armor on, and then, Debbie, who was in a tasteful red dress that evening.
Finally, Wisp showed up.
Nate stood, facing them, his eyes slightly wild, even as Hannah put the weapon away.
“Oh, hey. This is my brother, Nate. Nathaniel.”
Carl, seeming pissy, like always, growled.
“Solar Storm. He’s a wanted criminal, Damsel.”
There was a handgun pointed at her brother, so she answered by rolling her eyes.
“That situation was a lot different than you might think. He’s a superhero, but has been... under cover, after a fashion. Kept as a slave. He’s free now. Are you putting him on your team, or what? It would be a good catch, if you can win him over. He might be a bit flashy for you guys.”
Debbie, interestingly, looked at everyone else and then stepped forward.
“Ah? Well, that’s good to hear, then. I’m Deb. This is my wife, Lash. The Moore, Zip, Luther and Wisp. Friends of Hannah’s, so when we heard that a notorious super villain flew into her place, we decided to come and make certain things were all right. We should have known that they would be. Now, can we get the whole story? I could make some coffee, if you want?”
Hannah had something like that, she thought, so she nodded.
“In the kitchen, the cabinet over the counter by the sink? I should do it, but I don’t want a fight to break out, if... Luther here can’t realize I’m not being duped in time.” She turned to her brother then, who was standing very still. “A smart man, Luther. Unfortunately, he’s also an untrusting prick, from time to time.” She grinned at him, which got the weapon to be put away and a middle finger to come up, rather childishly.
“Fuck you, Damsel. I’d like some joe, if that’s not a problem, Debbie? I can get it myself.” That had both of them walking toward the other room. Flanking them, or at least her brother.
They went into the other room though and made the correct noises, which was reassuring.
Nate, for his part, settled back on the sofa.
“Nice to meet you all? I can’t go over the whole story. It’s... Not fun for me. I don’t have to hide a lot though, since my sister already confronted me about the worst things. It started when I went to college. I met this girl, named Cindy. She seemed nice. At first. We sort of started to date, then... She invited me to her family island, in the Caribbean, on one of the breaks from school. That... I mean, my family has an island, too. I wasn’t wowed by the idea and didn’t even think it was anything except an excuse to get away and maybe do some drugs and have sex in interesting combinations.”
He shook his head then, but went on.
“The rest of the story is pretty much what you might expect. I got there and was told by a strange man, Johan Carter, number Zero Six of the Khan Collective, that if I didn’t do what he wanted, he’d have my sister kidnapped, raped, tortured and murdered. Then he had her taken. That was in the press. I had to... I had to suck his cock, to get him to let her go. Literally. After that, he made me do a lot of things. Dark ones. Evil stuff. There was always more. At first, I was basically just his sex slave. Not just for him, since he’s old and has almost no sex drive left, thankfully. But anyone he could find to force me to do things I didn’t want to with.” There was a hard look, then.
“Finally, I had enough and was going to kill him. This was a long time later. When I started to kill him, he simply laughed at me and showed that Hannah had been taken again. Every time I did anything, showed any hint of rebellion, bad things were done to her. This last time... I’d refused to destroy a school, with kids in it. He sent the Red Trio after her. That... I think he was going to kill her and then use Dad, the same way. Maybe Cynthia, my half-sister. So, I just... Did what he wanted. Then, about a week ago, he drove me to the airport and told me to go and save Hannah. That he’d made a miscalculation there and that I was free. Also, that if I come at him again, and he dies, that hell will rain down on my family. All of them.”
Lashondra, interestingly enough, moved in and gave him a small hug.
“That’s horrible. We didn’t know, or we... Well, what do you have planned, now?”
That got a smile, which was a bit blank and didn’t touch her brother’s eyes, as well as spread hands.
“I don’t know? Go back to school? Get my life right... Maybe volunteer at a soup kitchen or something. I know I have powers, but... I don’t want to fight, or hurt people, any longer.”
Zip, his voice familiar now, spoke from the side of the room.
“Those are good things to do. Education and helping others. That doesn’t take powers to do, just a will and a desire to give aid.”
Hannah heard the words and nodded. After all, she was pretty much in a similar boat. One that, as it turned out, hadn’t been nearly as bad, comparatively.
“For now, he’s moving in here. I’m on for lessons, in the morning, Lash?”
That got a sweet looking smile from the woman.
“At dawn, if we aren’t up all night, chatting here. We have coffee coming. Wisp, you’ve been pretty silent on things...”
The man, her friend, Kate, spoke in a mid-tone tenor, his face behind a blank blue mask.
“Not in a bad way. That... I’m glad to meet you, Solar Storm. Nate? If you change your mind about things, you should give us a call. We can always use the help. We’re a quiet organization, compared to some.”
“The Requiem. I’ve heard of you, of course. The big teams get the press, but when Johan Carter spoke with hate and loathing, your names came up, just as often. Maybe more. Anyone that’s a pain in his ass is good in my books.”
They drank coffee, spoke a bit about cannibalism and sexual abuse, since hiding that kind of thing was a poor plan, and then left. Nate did as well, flying away, this time not glowing as he did it. Meaning he’d been showing off, the first time.
Only Wisp was left then. The all blue man holding very still.
Hannah smiled at the guy, who wasn’t one at all.
“Staying for that booty call? Or just to talk. Either way is good with me.”
The offer, which she was willing to back up, was waved away.
“Talk. You’ve done some good things, recently. Useful ones. What are your plans, as far as that goes? Being a super hero.”
She blew raspberries then, her tongue actually vibrating from it as her cheeks puffed with air.
“Nothing? I’m not a super hero. I could, if I can get good enough, maybe help find some people? Right now, I’m working on that food bank project. I did offer to hire the Red Trio, to help with that. They’re thinking about it. I sold it as them sticking it to the man by feeding the poor with their corporate monies. That probably won’t work, but you can’t rehabilitate people in a prison cell.” Not by leaving them under the control of a radical crime organization, either.
Wisp gave a dark sounding chuckle then.
“So, Tinner, Solar Storm and the Red Trio? Get all of them to come over to the other side and people are going to notice. They already are. You need to be more careful, Hannah. Regardless of what you do, it’s going to be seen and noted, from now on. You have to assume that. I think you should work on a secret identity, even if you just plan to do backup for people. That and learn to fight better. Even if you only find lost and missing people, or give logistics, you’ll eventually have to fight. Training isn’t a power, but enough practice and good technique can offset a lot of things. We were talking about that, earlier. Before we got word that Solar Storm was headed your way. We didn’t know he was related to you.”
She nearly called Kate on that then, since it was clear she did have that knowledge. Except that Wisp wouldn’t have, so it couldn’t be put out into the world. Even with her own friends. Then she nodded, since there had been a real enough warning there.
Hannah wasn’t a victim any longer, but that didn’t mean life was suddenly without danger. In a way, it was more threatening. She wasn’t safer, for trying to be strong... She was just more of a target. So was her father and brother.
Though, as she thought about it, that last one was better, in a way. He was powerful enough that, if anyone threatened to kill him, she could just laugh it off and expect him to deal with things himself. It had worked, a threat of harm toward her, because Hannah had let herself be easy prey.
Nate wasn’t going to make that same mistake. He probably couldn’t.
There were others in her life that were at risk, though. People who she needed to protect, so they couldn’t be used against her. Not that anyone was really going to try. Not yet.
“I’ll do that. I could work the whole Damsel thing? I’m not really wild about that name, you know that, right? It’s exactly opposite of what I’m trying to be.”
Wisp moved back then, a few steps.
“I know. We all do. That’s why it fits. You are the Damsel, no more. Now you must turn that, your greatest weakness, into a strength that can be used to help others. At least, if you want to. I think you do. So, a secret identity, more training and less partying? That sounds like a fun way to spend the next few months, don’t you think?”
She would have liked to say no, but honestly, she really couldn’t.
“I’ll do that. Wisp. Thanks, by the way.”
The blank face tilted, just a little.
“For what?”
“For thinking I was more than just a victim.”
That got a nod and the blue man wasn’t there any longer, which was followed by a pop that kind of made her inner ear ache, for a moment.
Then she sighed, and went to practice in VR. A thing that she still wasn’t all that great at. She was getting better, which was the point.
It was enough, for the moment. It meant she was getting stronger. Taking strength for herself, and learning to be more than she had been. Maybe, if she got good enough, she could even learn to be a real help to other people.
A thing, which, she decided, she kind of liked the sound of.
Thank you for reading!
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P. S. Power, Damsel: No More
