Ivan groans as he woke up. The pain was unbearable., every inch of his body felt like it was on fire. His ankles were the worse. His attention shifted onto two voices he heard. One was a young male and the other was a older female. "I have to be honest with you. This water is amazing. I hated it at first but my god. Its a acquired taste. I don't think I could drink anything else! Can you get us a water cooler set up at headquarters?" The younger male said.
"And if I do put one in, you're going to pay for it." The woman said back. There was other sounds that drowned out their conversation. A low constant buzzing, distant chatter, low jazz playing, and the clanking of pots and pans. Ivan finally opened his eyes. Locke was sitting across of him, she was still in her business outfit with the sun reflecting off of her dark red hair.
Zachary smirked as he noticed Ivan waking up. "See. Told you that he'll wake up. I'm surprised with how unstoppable you are." Zachary said with glee. "Food will be here soon. I hope burgers and fries are fine with you Ivan." Locke chimed in. Ivan could only muster up a nod as a waiter came and placed our food in front of us. Locke got a salad and Zachary got nachos.
The two started to dig in as Ivan stared at his plate, his arms stinged as he tried to lift them up. "Are you OK Ivan? You're barely touching your food. I told you we should've sent him to the hospital." Locke snapped at Zachary. "We seem him go through worse. We'll get his food to go." Zachary smirked back.
"What did you do with Static?" Ivan finally croaked out. "I tied him up and left him for the cops." Locke explained. Zachary decided to chime in while raising his glass of soda. "To another say of serving justice!" Locke joined him in the chime and Ivan could only let out a soft whisper. His head started to ache as the waitress came over and gave them the bill. Zachary and Locke both pitched in money to pay it off. Ivan got his food in a got to go box and they all left back to the headquarters. The car ride was slow and painful for Ivan. He was in the backseat while Locke and Zachary was in the front with Locke driving. They were discussing something about money. Ivan couldn't focus with all the burning pain. He was half asleep but the pain was the only think keeping him up.
Zachary turned to Ivan, smirking again. "Wow. I admire how tough he is. Hanging on by a thread but holding on for dear life. Glad he's the boss." Zachary's teeth keychain clacked together as he turned to Locke. "Let me guess. You're trying to figure out how Silverstate will cover the bank heist up." Locke nods. "I hate to suggest this but couldn't we just..." Zachary's eyes flicker over to the window. "We're not executioners Zach." Locke snapped at Zachary. "I know but I've seen the data. Crooks like Static don't learn. This is like what, the 9th time we encountered him? He's our nemesis for a reason." Zachary chuckled. "I mean. One of us is already a murder." Locke's jaw tightens up as she hears Zachary's words. Zachary said something before she could respond. "But even if it's bad, you have to be honest, it has saved our asses a few times." He chuckles again as Locke pulls up into the headquarters parking lot.
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Locke and Zachary helped Ivan out of the back of the car and carried him into HQ. Locke flickered on the light as they past the light switch. The same old headquarters they been using, with the same clutter and same looks. It's truly Ivan's home. Locke and Zachary set Ivan down on a chair next to the lunch table. After Ivan was set in a chair, Locke noticed something at the end of the table. She walked over to it a picked it up. It was a USB with a piece of tape on it. A simple smiley face written on it.
"What's that?" Zachary said with a face of curiosity. "It's a USB." Locke tightens her grip on it. "Did one of you leave it behind by accident?" She looked at Zachary then at Ivan. Both shook their heads. Someone else left this here, someone they don't know yet. Is this a message? It was hard to say, the only way to know was to plug it into a laptop and see what's on it. Locke walks over to the laptop they use for all of their missions. She put the USB in its corresponding port and opened the computers file explorer.
There sat a new folder that was named "When there is darkness." Opening the folder shows a video file called "There's light" Locke could hear Zachary's keychain as he watches over her shoulder, she could feel his grin from here. She double clicks the video and it starts playing. The first few seconds was a black screen, with a faint clacking. Then something flicked the lights on and it showed the body of Lady Darkness limped over in the corner of a dirty and broken down bathroom. There was a visible hole in her neck with dried blood under it. Then the camera panned down to her hands which was holding a bloody pair of scissors. The video finally ends with the camera zooming in on a piece of paper what was handing on the cracked bathroom mirror. The paper had something written on it but due to low gritty quality of the video. The written was blurry and hard to decipher. Then the video cuts to black as the replay button appeared.
