Denouement

SEVEN

To say things were grimm, would be an understatement.

Shade had been tracking Falcon for weeks, and her seveiling hadn't yielded anything. He hadn't done anything dastardly, anything out of the norm.

She was growing irritated at the mounting lack of evidence against Falcon. It was keeping her from other things; primarily her own schemes that had to be put on halt after this started. She hadn't gotten any closer to figuring out teleportation further than twenty feet.

Her fuse was short, and set to go off at the slightest inconvenience. In fact, it already got the better of her last week, when Keenan had spilled his soda on her schoolwork. She was immediately ready to give him an ass-kicking he would never forget. But, Soren stepped in and dragged her away before she could.

It was going on the fourth week, when Shade recognized Falcon's routine. She didn't know where he lived exactly, but he always started his crime sweeps in midtown, then worked his way outward. He stopped the usual slew bank robberies, or purse snatchers or museum heists. Then he would do another lap around the city, in true falcon fashion, as the damned bird he called himself after. If everything looked well he would clock out around 3:00 AM every night.

Tonight she spotted him around 10:30, as always, perched (very much like a bird) on one of the buildings in the financial district, three blocks from wall street. She found it odd that he wasn't starting in midtown, but decided that maybe he too, grew tired of his own routine and wanted to mix it up a bit.

He was still perched on the ledge of the sixty storey building twenty minutes later, when there was a cry for help below. He didn't so much as move. Now Shade found this utterly bizarre. She was three rooftops away. She could teleport there in two breaths.

And she did just that.

She appeared in front of him, stepping into the moonlight. "What have we here?" she asked slowly.

He stumbled back a step, "You come back for more, Shade?" he snarled.

She began circling him, "I believe it was the other way around, bird brains. If I recall I gave you a few broken ribs and a bruised nose."

He shuddered at the memory, "then what are you here for?"

"Just one thing," she said, pausing for effect. "Your mask."

His eyes widened and Shade launched herself at him. She tackled him to the ground so that his waist was pinned beneath her. She quickly looped her left leg under his knees to keep him in place. Then she punched him square in his jaw, and he loosed a seething breath. "Fuck!" he cried, clearly in pain.

She planted a hand his chest to keep him from squirming as she used her free hand to slowly pull up the mask that concealed everything except his eyes. Those deep brown eyes she had sent fear into every time they fought.

She was impatient and she concluded that this would be the easiest way to speed up her investigation. Get his identity, and then threaten him.

He twisted his head to try and conceal his face as a left effort. Shadows rippled around the two as Shade's heartbeat sped up, she would be getting the answers she desperately wanted. This was it.

The yellow and orange mask slowly slid up his features. She first saw his angular jaw, then his lips and prominent cupid's bow. A feral grin began to spread across Shade's face, showing only white teeth beneath her cowell. It was menacing. Next came his nose; it was wider at the bottom, thinning out at the top. It sat slightly crooked on his face. The bridge of his nose had a light scar, probably from an accident years ago. Finally, she pulled the rest of it off, as Falcon closed his eyes a muttered a defeated "no, please". His hair was sandy brown, slightly short on the sides, and then a curly mop sat on top. Putting all the pieces together, she recognized who it was.

Keenan Pullinski.

Her pulse quickened, and shiver went up her spine. The shadows surrounding the two throbbed with Shade's pulse. She struggled to maintain her composure.

"I know who you are, Keenan" she seethed.

He winced. He had nothing to say. No protests, no snarky remarks. Absolutely nothing. All these months and he had never placed Aurelia as Shade. She had her leverage now but she hadn't anticipated this. She had to place this right.

She studied him. There was a fresh bruise blooming on his cheek. She still had the mask bunched up in her hand. She took a deep breath regaining her composure. "I will be keeping this Keenan. And please do be more careful with your identity. You never know who you're dealing with."

He stared at her for a moment, brown eyes unblinking. "What are you planning Shade?"

She fanned out shadows around herself, "you'll see soon enough baby bird" she winked out of existence "soon enough."