Solace Ch.26

— Titan —

Titan sat at his desk with a cigar in his mouth and his large rough hands laid on his desk as he prepared for tonight’s news.

The good thing about being the Kingpin of Chicago was that he didn’t need to go searching around for updates regarding what was happening in his city. Word got around, and always found its way to his desk.

And earlier today, he had heard whispers of something pretty big approaching around the corner.

Tonight would confirm the validity of those whispers, and if they were true, then the more heroic side of Chicago’s order would need to step in and clean that shit up as soon as possible.

“Boss.”

Titan closed his eyes and grinned. He inhaled, taking a long draw from the cigar, before pulling it out from its snug place between his lips and letting out a cloud of smoke.

“Just the man I’ve been waitin’ to see.” Titan nodded his head at Isotope and the woman that had entered with him. “Shirley.”

The woman, Shirley, had grown to be one of Titan’s more trusted employees. Mainly because the black haired, blue eyed woman happened to be the one fucking his right hand man.

“I pray the evening finds you well, Boss.” She lowered her head and bent her body slightly in a curtsy. A well calculated move judging by how much cleavage she allowed him to see from such a simple move.

He was a married man, a happy one at that, such temptation didn’t affect him, but it did affect others. It was why this woman was so damn useful.

“I could be better, especially if the word around the street is true.” Titan narrowed his eyes seriously, earning equal seriousness from his two workers.

“‘Afraid so, Boss.” Isotope’s lips twitched downward.

“Explain, and leave nothing out.” Titan practically snarled.

“Allow me.” Shirley offered, earning a nod from the Boss. “A group of unidentified supers have taken up residence within several locations across the city. We do not know their numbers, their motives, or even their alignment, but we do know that given enough time, they can overwhelm us.”

Titan narrowed his eyes at his desk, his fists clenched hard as he processed Shirley’s words.

A group, or potentially even multiple had taken up residence in his city.

“Their alignment means nothing.” Titan placed his hand on his chin, trying his best to decipher as much as he could. “Regardless of if they’re superheroes or villains, they’ll want to take us down, we’re the biggest thing this city’s got, and the richest too.”

“Agreed.” Isotope nodded. “They’re a threat, one that needs to be dealt with.”

“But we can’t.” Titan shook his head. “Not without knowing what we’re fighting. Attacking them without info would be plain stupid.”

“But leaving them as they are would be just as bad.” Isotope argued gently. “If we leave them be, they’ll have more time to grow and organize themselves. We may not know what we’re dealing with, but I’m sure they do. And beyond that, other gangs may see a group moving into our city without problem and decide to do the same, we can’t risk something like that.”

Titan sat in silence, trying to think about what their next move should be. Isotope was right, waiting too long would be detrimental to them, but attacking early would cause problems as well.

“Do we know how many locations they have?” Titan questioned after a minute or so of silence.

“Two as far as we know, both within the city center.” Shirley informed quickly.

Titan’s eyes shot wide open.

“They’re here?!” He hissed out. “How the fuck did they slip in under our noses?!”

“Apparently they had the funds to purchase land deep within our turf, an unexpected turn of events.” Isotope frowned. “No one saw it coming, who would go and set up base right next to the strongest group in the Chi?”

“A genius, or a dumbass in over their head.” Shirley answered Isotope’s question with mirth, but Titan shot her a look that told her now easy the time for games.

“There's a high chance they have more locations set up, there’s been a lot of movement coming too and from their known locations. I was gonna have a group of men start monitoring-“

“Do that, now.” Titan waved Isotope off, and the surprised man lowered his head before eyeing Shirley and walking off with her, leaving Titan to his thoughts.

The large dark skinned man rubbed his temples. He had always considered himself a good judge of character, and even more skilled when it came to situational awareness, every fiber of his body was telling him that shit was about to hit the fan.

His fists clenched so tight he could feel pain coursing through his palm.

This group was going to be detrimental to him, and if they got their way, he and his family wouldn’t be safe.

He had just gotten this city a couple short years ago, and he had no intention of losing it so soon.

Titan reached out to the phone on his desk and quickly dialed a number.

There was a reason for his alliance with a hero, one who could do dirty work without being looked at weirdly by his admirers, and a crucial time like this was exactly the time Titan needed to rely on every ally he had.

A soft sigh escaped him as the call connected.

“[Titan? Something wrong? You never call me.]”

A grin came to the kingpin’s face at the sound of the boy. He knew when shit was serious without even needing to be told a word, his situational awareness was no joke either.

“Yes, something is wrong.” Titan spoke calmly through the line. “There is a threat to our order.”

— Darius Johnson (One Week Later) —

A week ago my life changed. One of my closest friends in the world had become my girlfriend, and I didn’t know what to make of it.

I had been worried about my own morals, and how wrong my relationship with Eve would be in my own mind, and had completely disregarded any positives that may come from us growing closer to one another.

That was until I stopped being so selfish and looked at the situation from Eve’s point of view.

She’s been faithfully in love with me for years, and though I noticed her feelings, I did my best to prolong dealing with them.

And why did I hesitate for so long?

It’s because I knew that I wanted her, even though it was wrong of me.

Regardless of what is morally right or wrong, I have come to the realization that my life at the moment feels right.

I let out a deep breath as I stared up at the ceiling. The weight on my chest wasn’t heavy or cumbersome at all, in fact it was wholly welcome.

Soft, silky red hair greeted my vision and filled my nostrils with the scent of lavender. A pleasant smell, and an even more pleasant sight.

My hand ran along the back of my girlfriend, and the more I felt her chest rise and fall on my side, the more I realized that I had made the right decision.

I couldn’t escape the truth, no matter how hard I tried.

I’m in love with Eve Wilkins.

“What’s causing you to make that face?” Eve asked. I looked down to see her green eyes looking at me with unhidden interest.

“What face?” I raised a brow only to earn a snort from her.

“Do you really want to play games right now?” She questioned with an amused smile.

I thought about it for a moment before shaking my head, earning a short giggle from her.

“Then tell me.”

My hand continued to run along, a gesture more for myself rather than her.

“Nothing really, I was just thinking about us.”

Eve’s smile faded away as she eyed me with a serious expression.

“You were thinking about us with such a tense face?”

I frowned and used my free hand to facepalm.

“Yes, but not in a bad way.” I quickly tried to salvage the situation, the last thing I needed to do was put a dent into the relationship we just got into.

“Then what did you mean?” She edged her face closer to mine, and her green orbs were locked onto my brown ones.

“I was thinking about how long it took us to finally get together.” I admitted without going into the more extensive details. My words almost immediately made her tense body relax. “I had been worried that things wouldn’t be the same, and all it would take is one mistake to mess up our relationship forever. Only now do I see how stupid I was.”

Eve gave me a soft smile, one I didn’t feel deserving of receiving, and placed her hand on my cheek.

“That doesn’t matter, what matters is what we have now, what we are now.”

I looked deep into her eyes, and a part of me slipped away inside those green pools.

For a moment, nothing else mattered and all was forgotten.

My mom, my brother, Mark, my father, Nolan, and Viltrum, even heroing. All of it vanished from my mind, and I realized I’d be perfectly content in life if I had this one woman by my side.

“I love you, Eve.” I blurted out, uncaring of everything but the woman in front of me.

A storm of red came over her face at my sudden confession, and her eyes momentarily left mine as she pushed herself up from her place on my chest and onto her knees.

I sat up, following to keep myself as close to her as possible, and I patiently waited for her response.

Maybe I said it too early, maybe I should have waited until we had breached more levels in our relationship, but as I looked closer at my embarrassed girlfriend, I quickly realized that I made the right choice.

I meant what I said, and I’d say it again.

“Darius… I l-love you too.” She spoke softly, a quiet whisper barely loud enough for me to hear—but I heard it all the same.

I smiled at her, a true genuine smile and reached out to place my hand just beneath her chin. Her eyes locked onto mine, and as we looked at each other, I saw her embarrassment fading, replaced by slow-building confidence.

Both of us leaned forward, ready to express just how much we loved each other-

“Dear, I brought you two some lunch!”

Both Eve and I turned to the door where Eve’s (adoptive) mother, Betsy Wilkins was standing. Her happy mood quickly shifted to surprise, and then horrified realization as she quickly put down the plate.

“Mom, you’re supposed to knock!” Eve shouted in awkward embarrassment.

“Right, sorry, I’ll leave you both!” Betsy quickly said before turning and leaving the room, making sure to close the door behind her.

Eve sat staring at the door for several seconds before slowly turning to me.

“I’m sorry-”

That was as far as she got before I pressed my lips against hers, shutting her up and allowing me to gain a good feel of her soft supple lips.

“Mmm” Eve leaned closer, deepening the kiss. Her arms found their way wrapped around my neck while mine stayed just as modest on her chin and back.

After a few seconds, we broke away but kept our faces close. A moment of silence passed between us as we looked into each other's eyes, before a chuckle escaped me.

It didn’t take Eve long to break either as she began to giggle. Our quiet murmuring chuckled quickly turned to full blown laughter.

“Y-You’re an i-idiot!” Eve breathed out through her laughs.

“I know what I want!” I held my hands up in surrender.

“But now isn’t the time!” Eve grinned and crossed her arms under her fairly large bust. “My mom just walked in and that was the first thing you thought of doing once she left?”

“Again, I know what I want.” I winked at her and she rolled her eyes playfully.

“And again, you’re an idiot.”

“Fair.” I nodded easily.

Both of us took a second to let silence soak between us, the good mood slowly died down as Eve looked at me with an apologetic expression.

“But seriously, I’m sorry about that.”

I raised a brow. “I thought me kissing you would show that I couldn’t care less about the intrusion.”

She paused at my words before a small smile danced on her soft pink lips.

“I should have known.” Eve pushed herself up from the bed and walked over to her closet area before looking back at me. “Recently, my…mom, this one, has been acting more…caring? Considerate?” Eve awkwardly rubbed her arm as she tried to contemplate her own feelings on the matter.

“And that’s a bad thing?” I questioned with a frown as I pushed myself over to the side of the bed facing the closet so I could talk to her more comfortably.

“No!” Eve waved her hands in front of her face. “It’s not a bad thing! It’s just…odd.”

I didn’t really need Eve to explain her family dynamic to me, I already knew it. Eve was typically left by herself throughout the day and would only see her parents when it was time to eat, or her mom was bringing her snacks. Besides that, they’d usually be doing their own thing, lounging about downstairs or Eve’s dad would be at work.

The fact that her mom was doing more than just blindly following her father’s every word is a good thing, something that deserves celebration.

But clearly Eve doesn’t see it that way.

“Odd? How so?” I leaned forward, ready to have her air out her feelings to me, just as she had been doing for years.

She looked at the ground for a moment before walking back to the bed and sitting right next to me, so close that our sides were firmly touching.

“Well, my dad has been acting…strange for a long time, and recently it’s gotten even weirder.

“Strange?” I gently squeezed her arm, hoping she’d expand.

“The day I noticed it was the day after your family came here to have dinner with mine.” Eve closed her green eyes in recollection and I squinted my brown orbs, trying to recall that day.

Then it hit me, and my entire body cringed.

“At first my dad just allowed me to do more things I wanted.” Eve smiled at the memory. “Whenever I wanted to go somewhere, he allowed it without a fuss. He wouldn’t even attempt to input his own wisdom about what I was doing…it was freeing.”

“And now?” I looked away from her, unable to look her in the eyes right now.

“He’s become so…distant, as if he doesn’t care about anything anymore. He doesn’t yell at me or mom like he used to, he doesn’t give me lectures or order me around, he just…exists. He barely talks to either of us and he’s so quiet.”

I frowned deeper at the full realization of what may have happened, no, what did happen.

I have spent my time around a fair share of people who have been depressed or scared shitless to the point of self-isolation, and I can tell the signs when I hear them.

If these signs truly started appearing the day after my family came to Eve’s house, then this definitely is my father’s fault. I had forgotten that he told Eve’s dad to have a chat with him, but at the time, I made a note to talk to Eve about what he said, and when I did, Eve had told me that her dad had refused to tell her anything.

“Darius…”

I looked at Eve to see she wasn’t looking at me, her eyes were locked onto her bedroom floor.

“How am I supposed to feel about this?” My heart sank at the sight of tears falling to the floor beneath, and all I could do was wrap my arm around her body and rub her opposite arm soothingly.

“All my life, I wanted to be normal, for them, so they could treat me like a daughter. So they could love me, and now they treat me well, but my dad barely even talks to me.”

I was speechless, and I had to rip my eyes away from her. I could hear her sobbing and that only made my eyes sharpen at the wall.

So much shit was going on now, first all our hero patrols and sudden influx in crime rate, then the unknown group Titan was talking about, and now this. So many problems were happening around me, and they all needed to be solved by me.

I’d have to talk to my dad some time in the future, probably when I get home, because stuff like this can’t stand. Eve already doesn’t like him because he killed her siblings, even if he didn’t know at the time, and now he’s made Adam Wilkins a soft, yet cold man.

“Eve, I know my words may be hard to believe.” I started after taking a deep breath. Her wet eyes looked into my determined ones and I grabbed her hand in mine. “But I promise I’ll make it all better.”

She looked at me for a few moments before rubbing her eyes with her free hands and offering me a small smile.

“I know you will.”

— Chapter End —

Beta Readers: @Dragonboy1

Author’s Note: This chapter was more on the emotional side than I wanted it to be, but it sets up for the next one nicely. There will be more action in the next one, and the plot should only rise from here.