Chapter 10 - Saved

[A/N]: I forgor to schedule this post 💀

Thank fuck I caught it just as I finished eating breakfast

—=—=—=—=—=—=—=—

A renewed sense of urgency made Lucian redouble his efforts. Even as his muscles burned and his ligaments tensed up, he rushed his ascent between buildings. Once he crested the rooftops, he hurried to get as close as he could to the "couple's" car without being spotted.

As luck would have it, there was a good spot where he could leap down and land right on the car's roof. He perched at the building's edge and kept low, relaxing his body to recover from the strain he'd just put it under.

There was still some time until the couple reached their vehicle. They were walking at such a leisurely place that it almost made Lucian antsy. To remedy that, he squinted his eyes and tried to get a better look at his targets so his brain had something to do.

The man had this smile on his handsome face that would no doubt have most swooning, even if their preferences didn't quite swing that way. The woman, meanwhile, looked cheerful—smile broad, pretty eyes crinkled at the edges despite the deadness he could still see in them. Her soft, wavy pink hair bounced with every skip-like step, and she had her "partner's" hand clasped between both of hers. It really did look like she was having the time of her life.

[ Justice Sense ] buzzed all the stronger in Lucian's skull, growing more and more insistent the longer he watched. He could only wonder if she was truly conscious of what was going on. If she was, then how did the really feel?

Soon enough, as he thought that, the man let go of the woman's arm. She went oddly still on her feet at that very moment, expression falling to complete neutrality. Lucian tensed at his perch as the man finally made to reach for the car door's handle.

C r a u n c h !

Lucian fell from the sky. The car's roof buckled under his boots, and small glass shards flew in a semicircle—the front windows cracked on impact. Lightning rolled off his body as the not-couple staggered away. Screams came from within the vehicle.

'Three hostiles, one civilian. Two hostiles are trapped in the car. Should be easy...'

He already had a knife in each hand, ready to lash out or throw at the best opportunity.

"Let's get reckless, assholes!"

While everyone was stunned, he kicked the man right in the face. He was sent stumbling backwards, clutching at his nose and whimpering in pain. From there, Lucian twisted off the car's roof and plunged a knife through the driver seat's cracked window.

His attack sent more shards flying towards the people seated in front. The knife flashed, leaving a shallow cut on the driver's forehead—a man armed with a hefty-looking handgun, who looked at least ten years everyone else's senior. With the driver effectively blinded, Lucian jumped with one hand clutching at the edge of the car's roof. This sent him rolling through the air above the vehicle at just the right speed and angle to land on the other side.

Now on his feet, he dropped one of his knives and punched into front passenger window. His gloved fist opened and closed up again, fingers clamping down on a gun in the same motion. It was in the hands of a woman that resembled the man he kicked in the face. She failed to fight back as Lucian yanked her weapon right out of her hands.

[ Notice. ]

[ Chain Quest, Part I: Get Nosy has been updated. ]

[ Objective [2] complete. ]

The notifications flashed in and out of view, ignored to be perused later. There was still the would-have-been victim—he couldn't relax until she was safe.

One for All still roiling in his blood, he pocketed the gun and once again jumped over the car to end up back on the driver's side. Reaching out, he pulled the woman close and hauled her over his shoulder. Someone started shooting—likely the one that was taking her to the car in the first place. He angled his body so less of the woman was exposed.

None of the bullets hit, fortunately. Neither Lucian nor the woman were injured. He thanked his luck and ducked into the alley to set his rescue down, and she got steady on her own two feet in one smooth motion. She did nothing else after that, and didn't utter even a single peep.

To make sure they weren't being chased, Lucian peeked out from the alley... to find that the driver had taken the backseat, as well as the man he had kicked in the face. The woman that was working with them had taken control of the wheel, and the car screeched off and drove away. [ Justice Sense ] died down as they disappeared around a corner.

'Shit,' Lucian swore. 'They got away... fuck it, at least lady's safe for now.'

Besides, even if the perpetrators did get away, he still managed to get the driver's blood on his knife—not to mention the gun that likely had prints on it. He just hoped they weren't ruined by being pocketed.

This woman, though... fuck, where was he gonna put her? He couldn't just take her to the authorities as he was, and even if he did change into civilian clothing, what then? They cops would just get in his way no matter what.

There was also the matter of trust. It was nearly impossible to relax around Gotham police unless he was dealing with people like Jim Gordon or Renee Montoya. The lot of them would likely just pin the blame on him, get him imprisoned and then pat themselves on the back for a "job well-done."

He also had the option to approach the Lucky Coyote for help, but Lucian didn't trust them either. They were a Gothamite gang, after all. Former cartel on top of that. While Iñigo Gutierrez did say that they were turning over a new leaf—and it might very well be true—that was limited to Iñigo and the people directly under his control.

As a last 'reasonable' option, Lucian checked the Program's mapping application. It was a feature that recorded whatever he saw of the environment and compiled it for him as a three-dimensional simulation, but it only saved environmental data as long as he was actively observing. So far, he'd made what was essentially a skeleton of a map... but it was good enough.

Sighing, Lucian marked a path that would take him as close as possible to his chapel home while staying away from congested areas. Avoiding police presence was also a priority. Once he had that path set up, an idea came to him.

"Time to see if you're actually in the state I think you are," he mumbled. There was no need to complicate things as he thought his idea through. Speaking authoritatively, he commanded, "Follow me."

As part of the test, he started walking deeper into the alley. The woman followed, expression flat with her eyes glazed over. She was looking right at him... but not like a person would. Her eyes were more like cameras trained on him just to keep track and follow orders.

That confirmed it—mind control. How he had the ability to command her, he had no clue, but there was something to be said about gift horses and their mouths.

Instead of questioning anything, he just removed his mask and shoved it into his hoodie's pocket. He proceeded to clean off all evidence of combat from his body, as well as the woman's, and hit his gloves as well for good measure.

Now that he had cleaned himself up, Lucian checked on the woman to make sure she was physically alright. By some miracle, she had come out of the encounter unscathed, though he did find some scratches and bruises on closer inspection. They were all at least a day old by now, which only soured his mood further.

Now resolved to bring this woman's would-have-been captors to justice, he led the way through his path in the Program's map. The woman dutifully fell into step with him, and though he felt bad to take advantage of the state she was in, cold, hard logic won out.

"I can promise you this, at least," he said to himself as much as her, "I'll find that jackass that did this to you and peel his face right off. If you're sane by then... I'll let you have your pound of flesh too if you want it, one way or another."

...

The journey back home was as uneventful as it was nerve-wracking. It wasn't every day that Lucian had to bring home a woman under mind control, after all. There really wasn't any fear of being caught, but he hated the thought of being accused guilty of making her the way she was.

False accusations... those were some of the few things that could really piss him off.

In the end though, they made it safely to the chapel that he now called home. The woman, named Tamara, was now safe at the top of his bell tower. He made her some quick food and had her fed and hydrated, and there was no fuss at all as she obeyed without hesitation.

It was as he sat there across from her, eating his own instant cup noodles, that a call came. It was the vets—his kitten was finally cleared to be picked up. Though he was loathe to just leave Tamara alone in his chapel, he was sure that no harm would come to her. After all, he hadn't spotted a single person even wander anywhere near his area.

Quickly finishing up his food, he got up ready to leave for the veterinary clinic to—

Riiiiiiing...!

Another call. A vein threatened to pop on Lucian's temple, but he reined himself in. He was glad that he did, as instead of just ignoring it, he now knew to accept the call. It was Waylon.

"Lucian?"

"Ayep. That's me. Ready to head out?"

Waylon paused, but his voice could heard still, however faint. He must have been talking to the kid. "Yeah, we're ready. Do we meet up somewhere, or are you gonna pick us up?"

"Stay at your place," Lucian replied. "I gotta pick up my cat from the vet first. I'll take you to my chapel on the way back."

"Chapel?" Waylon parroted. "Didn't peg you as the religious type..."

Lucian chuckled. "That would be my dad. But, no. It's an abandoned chapel in a ghost district. Ain't nobody come here but me. Now, you'll be sharing digs with me."

Waylon laughed at something—likely something that Nicks had said, considering the squeaky-ish voice that came up through the speaker. "Alright," Waylon said eventually. "Kid's kinda freaked out, but I'll get him straight. Don't keep us waiting now."

With that, the call cut... and Lucian felt that things were going right again.

—=—=—=—=—=—=—=—

[A/N]: Still not feeling so good, so I couldn't proofread this chapter either. Hope it's still a good enough read despite that.

Also, thanks to AlikeDiagram2 for wishing me well last chapter. Definitely feeling better than last time even if I'm not completely well yet.