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Dumb doesn't exactly live in a vacuum when it comes to keeping up with the recent developments with the whole national task force versus the so-called "metahuman freaks," especially considering she's one of those metahuman freaks, but she also doesn't particularly like to follow every single upsetting development either. There's a balance to be found between being aware of the witch hunt for her and her friends-slash-former-acquaintances and wanting to actually live her life. She won't shy away from the headlines when they blare their news in her face when she goes out, but she keeps newspapers and tabloids out of her little apartment. This is her safe space.
And it works. When Dumb is at home, at least, they can pretend everything is going to be okay. They can convince themself that they're safe.
And it works.
Right up until there's a soft thump at the door while Dumb is in the middle of washing dishes.
They freeze, heart thudding heavily in their chest.
The mailman doesn't deliver packages to her door. It's on the fourth floor and most of the lights in the stairwell are perpetually out, so everything always gets dumped on the floor under the mailboxes on the ground level.
There's no reason anyone should be outside the door.
Slowly, avoiding all of the spots on the floor that creak, Dumb approaches the door.
They squint through the fisheye peephole lens and see… nobody standing there, but there is something lying on the mat in front of their door. Dumb carefully moves back, fighting to control their breathing and to not instantly run for the fire escape outside the living room window.
There are only four people who know that she lives here. Maybe five, but… anyway, Harmmony wouldn't come over without giving her some kind of warning, Dumb hasn't heard from Hazeli in three weeks since the train incident, Gopg is too scared to meet with anyone since the task force took Midnight and Sharooh, and as for the fourth…
Dumb quickly unlocks their door and opens it.
Stormz slumps in past the threshold, no longer supported by Dumb's door. The blood-colored mark on his skin has spread to cover most of his face and much of his neck. There's a glaze over both his eyes, and he barely twitches as Dumb gasps quietly and grabs his arms to drag him inside.
"What are you doing here?" Dumb whispers, quickly shutting her door and locking it again as soon as Stormz is fully inside. "No— what happened to you? What the— what the hell, Stormz?"
"Sorry," Stormz says, her voice coming out like a wheeze. "I didn't…" she sighs and shuts her eyes, going completely limp on the ground.
Dumb presses their hands over their face, gritting their teeth. It takes a second to push down the panic and fear— did anyone follow Stormz? Did anyone see him come here?— but after another second or two, they crouch down on the floor next to Stormz. Their hands pat gently over his body, checking for blood or injuries.
There are a number of concerning wet spots on her body, but whatever it is, it's not blood. Some weird grayish liquid that coats Dumb's fingers like oil. She grimaces, but continues her methodical search.
"What happened?" she says. When there's no response, she shakes him gently. "Stormz?"
Stormz's eyes flutter open again. He's conscious, at least. The blood-red mark is still concerningly large across his skin, but that isn't anything that Dumb can fix. Stormz is gonna have to deal with that on his own. Whatever happened that he felt the need to use his powers…
"I'm sorry," Stormz says. "I didn't— I didn't have anywhere else I could go. I— I shouldn't have come here, I'm sorry—"
Dumb's hands curl into fists.
"Did anyone follow you?" they say, voice low.
Stormz's face tilts upwards. Her lips shake for a moment. "They might have," she whispers.
Dumb stands up quickly. They rush to the kitchen window and look down at the street.
A black van, unmarked but larger than any delivery van has any right to be, parked along the street directly opposite the building. No windows apart from those at the front. Dumb backs away, already starting to panic.
No.
No, this can't be happening.
She was careful, she was so careful. She kept her head down, banished any thought of using her powers, stayed away from every place the task force would go hunting. Avoided hospitals and clinics, avoided downtown like it was contaminated with the plague, quietly walked the other way every time she heard a siren.
"What did you do?" she says.
"I'm sorry," Stormz says again. "I'm sorry."
Dumb shakes their head. They return to Stormz, hefting her up and bracing her against their side. Shit, this is not going to work. They're going to need help if they're going to make it out of here with Stormz. And they're not leaving Stormz, even if she is the one who brought this straight to Dumb's doorstep. Literally.
"Dumb…"
"Shh," Dumb says. She looks back at the door.
How long will it be before they come up here? She hasn't been paying enough attention to the task force in the past three weeks since— since the train. What kinds of weapons do they have now? It's only been three weeks since then, but the task force adapts way too fast. Especially now that they have more of them. Especially if they've figured out Sharooh's powers. Dumb doesn't want to think that any of them would betray the rest like that, but—
Dumb casts a glance at Stormz, weakly leaning against Dumb's side. He looks up and their eyes meet.
"I'm sorry."
Damn it.
Dumb shuts their eyes and throws their hand out in front of their body. They concentrate, and slowly start to close their fingers in. Pressure builds, and the air around them starts to hum with the forces gathering in Dumb's palm. With a final grunt of effort, they close their fist.
When they open their eyes, the entire room is dark. Everything is dark, darker than night, dark like a void.
"Come on," Dumb says, dragging Stormz towards the fire escape. "This isn't gonna stop them for long."
"I can't see—"
"Yeah, that's the point," Dumb says. She grabs at the window, unlatching it and shoving Stormz out first. He yelps as he tumbles out onto the metal frame. Dumb follows after, shutting the window behind her.
"Are we going up or down?" Stormz says.
Dumb bites her lip. "Down," they say, finding Stormz on the metal grating of the fire escape and helping her back to her feet. Thankfully, Stormz gets up and starts moving, albeit slow and shaky. "Hopefully someone else notices soon and comes to help."
"What if nobody does?" Stormz says. She nearly falls again as the two of them reach the next landing, but Dumb anticipates it and pulls her back to her feet.
Dumb doesn't want to answer Stormz's question. They continue to hurry her down the fire escape. Both of them flinch at the ordered shouting from the other side of the building, distinct amidst the growing panic from all the normal people reacting to the sudden impossible darkness that's settled on the area. Below them, cars are honking, colliding into things with loud crashing noises, and Dumb feels bad about all of the chaos, but they don't have any other choice.
"Keep moving," she says.
If the two of them are lucky, Shaun will notice what's happening and spread the word to Harmmony, who can come out to help. If they're slightly less lucky, Arcn will hear the inevitable emergency broadcast and will come out to fight with the task force which will give Dumb and Stormz more time to escape. If they're even less lucky than that, Squid will show up considerably later and will hopefully be able to find them in time to help them get away.
And if none of that happens, Dumb will still do everything she can to get the both of them out of here. Her powers are… terrifying to use, and can be extremely damaging to everyone around her, but the thoughth of losing Stormz to the task force is worse.
This is worth it.
Stormz is worth it.
They drop to the ground together, and Stormz cries out at the impact. Dumb shushes her, but immediately feels bad because they still don't know what kind of injuries Stormz has sustained. They can't really afford to stop now, so they have to hope that she's not so badly off that the two of them can't get the hell out of here to deal with it in a more secure location.
Wherever that might be.
"Where are we going?" Stormz whispers.
Dumb wishes she had an answer for that. She grips Stormz tightly against her side, keeping him on his feet as she starts shuffling quickly down the narrow sidewalk. She remembers enough of the layout of the nearby streets that she shouldn't run into anything, but there's the very real risk of people or vehicles fumbling around in panic while the darkness still sits over everything within the radius.
"Dumb?"
"Shh," Dumb says. "We're gonna go to…" she hesitates. "Harmmony."
Stormz scoffs. "She's still with Dolphin and Shaun, isn't she? Dolphin's not gonna—"
"She's not gonna turn us away," Dumb says, even though she doesn't fully believe that. Dolphin might tolerate Dumb, but she'll throw Stormz out without hesitation if she thinks he's a threat to Shaun's safety, especially once she finds out this whole mess is Stormz's fault in the first place.
But if Dumb can appeal to Harmmony and Shaun before Dolphin puts her foot down, then there's a chance. The three of them and their powers are genuinely Dumb's best shot for keeping Stormz hidden until the heat dies down.
If it ever dies down.
Dumb still has no idea what Stormz did.
The two of them continue to shuffle along the sidewalk, until they reach the crossing. Dumb stops at the edge of the curb, trying to listen through all the noise and chaos around them, and quickly decides it'll be safe enough to run across. They tug Stormz into a quicker pace, and she makes another pained sound, but matches Dumb's speed all the same.
A new sidewalk. Dumb puts one arm out to make sure they're not about to run into anything, but otherwise keeps up the faster pace, listening to everything and trying to filter past the expected sounds of panic at the unnatural darkness.
This distraction won't last long. There might be hundreds, maybe even thousands of people concealed in the darkness, but the task force will know what to look for. They likely already know that Stormz is hurt, and Dumb just has to hope that they haven't already caught on to their retreating figures.
"Please," Dumb whispers. "Please, please, just a little further."
"I'm trying," Stormz says. "I'm… I'm so sorry, Dumb."
Dumb shakes her head. She keeps pushing forwards, desperate, but the hope crumbles in her heart as she hears a large vehicle's engine coming down the street, not crashing but rather advancing intently towards the two of them.
They've run out of time.
"In five seconds, you need to run," Dumb whispers.
"I can't," Stormz says.
"You have to," Dumb says.
She releases the darkness. The mid-afternoon sunshine is blinding for everyone, even Dumb, but she yanks on Stormz's arm, pulling him into a run even as her eyes ache and tear up. She spares a brief look over her shoulder at the van which suddenly swerves to the side of the road, the driver inside pressing a hand over his face.
"Go!" she yells.
The streets and sidewalks are full of disoriented people, most of them crying out with their hands over their faces. There aren't as many crashed cars as Dumb had feared there would be, most of them stopped in the street or along the side of the road, their headlights— turned on uselessly during the period of darkness— adding to the intense brightness.
Dumb pulls Stormz down a cluttered alleyway, then out onto another sidewalk. They have a momentary thought to stop running and try to blend in with the crowd, but one look at the obvious blood-red mark on Stormz's face swiftly sets their mind. They cling to Stormz's arm, dragging her behind them as they run across the road full of still-stopped cars.
Slightly more time now, but there's going to be more people on them soon. Dumb's chest shakes with heaving breaths, adrenaline still carrying them but the dread weighing heavy on them.
Fear.
What if Harmmony doesn't convince Dolphin?
What if Hazeli hasn't been answering because she's been taken too?
What if—
Stormz stumbles to the ground. Dumb pulls on his arm, trying and failing to get him back to his feet.
No, no, no, this is not happening.
Dumb casts a quick look around her, trying to memorize her immediate surroundings, and then clenches her fist, bringing back the darkness. Her head pounds with the effort and her right eye immediately starts to burn, but she ignores it, returning to helping Stormz back up to his feet.
It doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter if they don't get any help.
Because she'll be damned if she doesn't give it everything she has to save Stormz. No matter what.