United [A Superhero AU] - Book Two

Chapter Fifty-Eight - Return

The week passes far too quickly for Jack's liking. He knows that going back to the institute is inevitable and that he has to be there when the heroes attack for appearances sake, but the thought of leaving Mark is unbearable. Since their kidnapping and escape they haven't left each other's sides, but now everything is changing and Jack hates it.

Without a word of explanation, Jack leads Mark into the empty kitchen. Most of the heroes are in their rooms and the rebels are coming over in ten minutes, so they don't have a lot of time. Jack squeezes Mark's hands and leans in, kissing his lips.

"What's with the sudden show of affection?" Mark asks, freeing his hands in order to wrap them around Jack's waist.

"Our last mission ended really badly," the villain replies. He kisses him again. "I don't want a repeat of that."

"We'll be fine, Jack. Just fine."

The Irishman says nothing, just wraps his arms around Mark and snuggles against his chest. He tries not to cry, but then there are tears welling in his eyes and he sniffles. Mark immediately pulls him closer.

"Shh," the hero murmurs.

"I don't want to go," Jack whispers, scrubbing at his face with his sleeve. "The institute is the worst place in the world and I get hurt every time I end up there."

"I know, hun, I know. We're going to free you and Cry and Matthew and then you never have to think about it again, okay? Just today. Just go back today and then it will all be over."

"Okay."

Mark presses a kiss to the top of his head and smooths his hands down his sides and hips. "The others will be here soon."

"Yeah. I guess I should go..." Jack runs his fingers through his untameable field of green hair and exhales. Mark watches him, his brown eyes flitting from his fingers to his baby blues. Jack glances over, notices the hero's wandering gaze, and leans in for a quick kiss. "See you later."

"Love you."

"Love you too."

Twenty minutes later, Jack is pushing open the door of the villain institute and stepping inside. Out of the corner of his eye he can see the security camera swivelling to follow him and his stomach churns. The old models didn't move unless they got hacked, which was only once or twice, or moved through a controller in Matthew's office, and nobody in the institute ever did that anyway.  These ones, however, are almost always monitored and when they're moving, someone is watching.

He takes another step forward and jumps as Cry materializes out of thin air. His mask is resting on top of his head, his skin and eyes glow gold, and Jack can't stop staring.

"Cry, you... your mask..." Jack stammers.

Cry nearly smiles, but it's a weak gesture. "Yeah, I'm working on it."

"It's so much better! Like, you're still glowing but it's so much better!"

"Thanks." An actual grin rises to the villain's face for a moment before falling away again. "Um, Mr. Vincent wants to see you in the office. Normally I would just tell you to run, but Matthew's life is on the line."

The Irishman's hands start trembling at his sides and he grits his teeth. "Is he the one watching us right now?"

"Yup."

The two villains head down the hallway towards the office in tense silence. Jack absentmindedly tightens his eyepatch and fiddles with his sleeves, nerves settling in. He was right. He should have stayed with Mark and hidden away with the heroes and avoided the pain that's bound to happen.

Cry pulls his mask down and pushes the door of the office open, taking his spot beside Matthew. The other villain sits in a chair with a crony standing beside him, aiming a gun at his head. Mr. Vincent leans against Cry's desk, and when the two villains walk in he straightens up.

"Welcome back, Seán," he sneers. "How did you enjoy your two weeks of freedom?"

"They were just peachy," Jack replies through clenched teeth.

"Great. Now, I'm not really in the mood for talking, so let's get straight to the point. You and Mark resisted my attempts to get answers and now I'm turning to alternate methods. Those methods being I cut off your eyepatch or Matthew gets a bullet through the skull."

Jack freezes in place, his hands balling into fists. Matthew squeezes his eyes shut, his eyelashes already glistening with tears. Cry remains completely still, distinctly aware that if he does anything, Matthew is a goner.

Jack...

The Irishman's visible eye closes and he grits his teeth.

"You can take it off, right? Nothing will happen," Cry asks, fear lacing his tone.

Jack looks over at him, his expression obvious. He's back. Cry stares at him through the mask before looking down at the floor, his hands trembling.

"What's it going to be, Seán? Matthew's life or a silly piece of cloth?" Mr. Vincent demands. "We don't have all day."

After another few moments of silence, Jack takes a deep breath.  "Take the eyepatch," he whispers, his bottom lip wobbling. "Don't hurt Matthew."

Mr. Vincent steps towards him and Jack instinctively steps back, his fingers moving up to his eyepatch. He holds his hands over his covered eye, shaking uncontrollably.

"Please don't," Jack pleads, backing up until he feels the solid wall behind him. Mr. Vincent ignores his pleas and continues moving towards him, causing Jack's trembling to only get worse. "He's a monster, he won't listen to you, he only does what he wants and it's a bad idea to let him out he could destroy all of us, even you..."

Mr. Vincent grins, the gesture greasy and sinister all at the same time. From his belt he produces a knife, and the moment Jack is backed against the wall, he leans in and takes a hold of the eyepatch strap.

Free, free, FREE!

Jack holds his hands up as though it will protect him and starts curling in on himself, trying desperately to get away from the end of Mr. Vincent's knife. The advisor keeps a firm grip on the strap of his eyepatch and the blade cuts through with some difficulty, sending the cloth fluttering to the floor.

Laughter fills the room, demonic in nature and chilling to the bone.

"I'm back~"