Pain exploded through Violet’s body like shrapnel. She hit the concrete hard, almost peeling off the wall and falling like a ragdoll to the ground. Her vision blurred and her head dropped backwards as every part of her body burned like it was caught in the flames that surrounded her. She painfully pressed herself flat against the concrete, hoping that the thick smoke would obscure her. 

‘Little one’, a voice seemingly pitched on a note lower than the Western scale rang out amongst the crackling flames, ‘I find myself hoping you live so that we can continue to play’, a haunting chuckle followed. 

Violet trembled as she watched through blurred vision the huge man who had thrown her against the wall take a step towards her location, silently thanking anyone listening as he took a step back, fighting off the flames that had become the enemy of the both of them. She shut her eyes, her heart pounding through her chest when he sharply turned towards her position, as if sensing her relief. The earth shook a dozen times sending dust into her already smoke-clouded throat and she painfully opened her eyes to see that the huge man had disappeared, the fire soaring higher than the forklift it enveloped. A new, primal desperation to survive unlocked within her, adrenaline coursing as she slowly lifted herself from the ground and began to hastily limp away from the fire and into the open streets, biting her lip to distract from the pain of the rest of her body. 

‘Fuck!’ she cursed and sprang back as a pole of burning timber crashed down sending orange sparks exploding into her, burning little holes in her hero suit, which will cost a fortune to repair—she desperately needed to upgrade to a fireproof one. The fallen timber on the other hand drew her eyes to the exit, a small gap in the fence which she quickly side-stepped through. Upon catching sight of the all too familiar red and blue of police lights and a red-jacketed fireman racing towards the blaze some 50 metres away from her, she gently shrouded herself in invisibility, manipulating the light to pass right through her so no one would ask any questions. She slipped away from the scene, lungs burning, grimacing as pain seared through her entire body every step, stumbling as her concentration focused on her invisibilty. 

She had no clue where she was going, the night had closed in on her and her feet began walking an automatic path which she could not object to in her state. Only one house still had its light on through the window, and she collapsed fully visible, pressing onto its familiar black doorbell with all the strength she had left. Hesitant footsteps made their way to the door and a soft, dark-haired figure opened it with a question that Violet couldn’t hear. 

‘Liana’, Violet choked out, more the memory of the name rather than a conscious calling. 

The woman shot like an animal to her side, a noise that Violet deemed was a mixture of a sob and a shriek let itself out of the woman as Violet felt her arms cradle around her. The woman was crying and speaking so quickly and jaggedly that Violet couldn’t understand, the pain was like a sea of red flooding her body and vision, and waves of tiredness lapped at her shore. Strong hands caught her falling head, and in the back of her mind she caught the words ‘please don’t die’, from the woman’s lips. The sound held a wave of peacefullness to it, and Violet felt completely at ease, her battered body resting in the woman’s arms.

She opened her eyes—she hadn’t even realised she had closed them and was met with the bright overhead-lit view of Liana’s living room and the soft leather of her couch. Blood—her blood was coating Liana’s hand as she hovered her fingers over Violet’s arms as if at any second she was going to shatter like a porcelain doll. In a sprint of energy, her consciousness came back to her enough to assess the situation. 

She gritted her teeth and shakily raised her fingers to lightly touch Liana’s waist, ‘Liana, you can’t tell anyone’.

‘Violet! What the fuck!? I can’t tell any—you’re fucking dying!’ Liana leaned over Violet and carefully brushed her sweat-drenched bangs aside, cradling her head.

‘I’m not dying, I’m ok. Trust me I’ve probably been through worse’, a faint grin spread across Violet’s face, ‘it’s better than it looks ay?’ 

Liana half laughed half cried, ‘Yeah? Well, it’s not looking too good I’m afraid’.

Violet studied Liana, her tightly curled hair had specks of oily blood transferred from her hands and dark circles rested under her eyes yet her expression held the most warmth and love that could ever be conveyed through the muscles of the human face. 

‘Liana, fuck—I’m so sorry. It wasn’t meant to be like this I was gonna tell you eventually I just didn’t want you to worry or worse get dragged into all this and this is such a shitty way of finding out I just didn’t know where else to go and—’

‘Violet! Violet stop. I don’t care’, Liana’s hands shook as she breathed slowly and Violet covered them with her own, ‘ I don’t care who you are what the media calls you or what supervillain you were just fighting—I don’t fucking care ok? I just care if you are ok. Like if I come home from work and I get a call that you’ve fucking died or you’re in a coma which is honestly worse—I couldn’t—I just couldn’t do it ok?’ 

‘And I know that you will never stop fighting, and I’ve accepted that, barely, but just—please don’t be ashamed to ask for help even just from me. And for the love of God be careful!’ 

Liana watched as Violet processed her words. 

‘I will, I won’t promise but I will—wait you knew I was Lightbreaker?’ 

‘I know you. And yes I figured it out, I’m quite proud of that actually’. She held her chin up and grinned, breaking out into another choked laugh.