It happened once in a dream.

chapter 10

Warning: this is not a happy chapter.

Adrian woke up with undeniable feeling of hope. He was aware that he and Nova still weren't getting any closer to the solution of this messy situation.
But last night gave him hope. Maybe everything wasn't lost.
At least he was sure, that Nova already forgave him about the whole Sentinel thing.
He smiled to himself at the memory of her grin before she kissed him. The memory of the weight of her body in his arms, her fingers tangling his hair.

He peeled open his eyes, only to see the empty spot next to him. He couldn't tell what time it was, but he wasn't surprised that Nova woke up earlier than him. She wasn't exactly one to sleep in. He wondered if she actually slept.
Adrian reached for his glasses, that lied folded, on the bedside table, before he sat up and looked around the room. First he noticed one of the chairs slightly pulled away from the table. Then his eyes skipped to Nova's duffel bag next to the door, at the same moment when Nova emerged from the bathroom.
She startled for a second, but then as if remembering something, she shook her head and walked over to her bag.

Adrian felt the urge to pull her back to bed and return to the relaxed atmosphere of last night. His body ached with just the thought of getting back to the car, feeling useless as he couldn't take over driving to let Nova rest.
But seeing her standing nervously by the door, avoiding his gaze, he could feel that something has changed. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was clear that Nova didn't want to stay in the hostel any longer, with their chances of being recognized by basicaly anyone. Right now, he would give about anything not to be the son of the most famous superheroes in the world. Anything to make this easier for Nova. Not that he could do much about it.
Adrian streched and began to climb out of the bed. "Give me 5 minutes to get ready, then we probably should finally pick the destination of our secret trip. I think they had one of those paper maps at the receptionist desk."
"Now you only have 4 minutes." Adrian grinned at the weak attempt at a joke, but quickly grabbed a toothbrush and a change of clothes from the bag and locked himself in the bathroom.

Exactly 3 minutes later, they were returning the keys for their room.
If the receptionist was surprised by their early exit, he didn't let it show.
Nova stayed quiet until they sat in the car again and the engine was running.

Adrian wanted to know what happened. What changed while he was sleeping. He was about to ask when Nova interrupted his thoughts.
"You have to go back to Gatlon." A moment of silence followed. "What? Why?"
"I have a plan. It might sound a little crazy, but we can't stay together for this plan to work." "A little crazy? How would that help anything, if I just leave you here and go back?" Adrian couldn't hide his frustration, but Nova has already made her decisions. "Could you at least hear me out? I don't like that idea either, but I thought about it from every possible angle and it's the only way. We can't let the anarchists win and I know for sure they are going to attack the public neutralization to free Ace. You have to warn the others. And there is one more thing you could do at HQ that would help a lot. There is one file in the system. It's.. about my family. I need to know what's written in there. I think.. I think the Renegades know the truth, but for some reason it stayed hidden. There wouldn't be password if it wasn't important." Adrian stared at her. He couldn't argue with that. "Where are you going to go?" "I'm going to buy you some time. I'll turn myself in. In a different city, but I'll make sure they bring me to Gatlon." She took his hand and smiled weakly as she said. "Don't worry, you're not getting rid of me that easily." Adrian couldn't bring himself to smile back, but he squeezed her hand as he replied "I wouldn't dare try." Adrian didn't like the plan. He hated the idea of Nova going back to prison. "There has to be some other way. How would you going to prison help anything? They are going to think it's some sort of trap from the Anarchists. And when you prove that you are Nightmare, they'll take you straight to Cragmoore. The Council is so busy with preparations for the public reveal, I doubt they will take time to personally interrogate you." "I know the risks. But I can't keep lying, that won't help anything. And we can't return together, because then they would put you in prison for helping me! You see how messy this is? There is nothing else we can do. It's a huge risk, but it's our only option. I don't care if I spend the rest of my life in prison or if they neutralize me or execute me. If the anarchists free Ace, there will be a second Age of Anarchy and he will murder every single Renegade including you. And I couldn't live with that, okay? We have to stop them." There were tears in her eyes. Adrian could see how terrified she was at that moment. There was something she wasn't telling him, but he didn't dare push it. Instead he pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her. He wished they didn't have to go through that. He wished they could stay in this moment and that he could just keep her safe in his arms. Hasn't she been through enough already? Nova didn't return the embrace, but she stayed like this for a few more seconds. Suddenly she pulled away and turned to the steering wheel. "Could you look in the map and tell me if there is a train station nearby?"

They pulled over to an empty parking lot. It wasn't that early in the morning, but perhaps people didn't travel by train that often. Adrian never took a train so he wasn't sure. Nova walked with him to a big metal box that was clearly the ticket machine. A sign next to the machine said, that the next train to Gatlon City should arrive in 5 minutes. They quickly tapped at the machine, until it asked for money and then gave a one-way ticket to Gatlon. Adrian held the piece of paper that was his way home, but felt like it was sending him to hell. He didn't want to leave Nova alone in this abandoned place, with no way to contact her. Espeacially when he knew her plan, he hated it even more. How could she be so calm about turning herself in? He thought about revealing the Sentinel's identity so many times, but he was never calm about it. He had no idea what would happen, but he knew he would have to come out with the truth at some point. Just like Nova, he couldn't lie forever.
He put the ticket in his pocket and turned to Nova so he could take both her hands in his. "I'll do all I can, to help this plan. As much as I don't like it. I trust you." He leaned a little lower until their faces were just few inches apart. "All you have to do for now is get access to the file. When I get there, we might both get interrogated." She squeezed his hands and lifted herself on her tip-toes, until they were just a breath apart. "When this is all over you can take me on a real date." Adrian smiled as their lips brushed lightly. "What, this didn't count?" Nova smiled back. "Sure, you could say that." Then their lips finally met and it was everything they didn't have time or words to say. Adrian really hoped this wasn't the last time he got to kiss Nova. A deafening sound of arriving train interrupted them. Adrian looked at the opening door of the train and sighed. Nova pecked him on the lips one more time before she pushed him towards the door. "Remember our plan." Adrian squeezed her hand one more time and then the automatic door shut behind him, creating a wall between them. Adrian whispered againts the door "We'll continue that kiss later." Nova couldn't hear him, but she nodded anyway, confirming that she understood. Or maybe it didn't have anything to do with what he just said. Maybe it was her own thoughts and she was just preparing herself for what was coming next. The train started moving, but Nova didn't move. Adrian stayed by the door until he couldn't see Nova, the yellow car, the station.

Finally he forced his feet to move and he walked into the car and looked around. He was the only one there. Good. He sank into the nearest seat and hoped this wasn't the biggest mistake of his life.

Meanwhile Nova stood on the station and waited until she could no longer see the train. Then she got back in the car and opened the paper map. The nearest Renegades syndicate was still very far. At least 8 hours of driving. If she wanted to make it at the similiar time as Adrian should arrive at HQ, she needed to hurry. With that she turned on the engine again and headed towards her possible doom.

Please don't hate me for this. I don't like this turn either, but the story is basically writing itself. I have only little power here and I'm using it to squeeze as many cute scenes in it as I can. Hopefully we'll get a better turn at some point.