It still felt like yesterday. Waking up after crashing at Isaiah and Myla's place overnight, drudging into the kitchen where Myla was making breakfast, and hearing it on the news. "Leviathan unmasked, petty criminal Walter Crawford is in police custody." Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing to stare at the television. Everyone in the room had thought they knew Walter Crawford well. Isaiah and Walter had been friends since they were both in their twenties, and Myla had been around for the last ten years of that herself. Giovanni Capitani was on a completely different level, though. Walter Crawford was the father of his best friend — well, ex-best friend. Either way, that man had been like a third father to him while he was growing up.
There was a video that started circulating. Spitfire and Leviathan's "final battle". Upon analyzing the data, pulling different angles from security camera feeds and phone videos, and compiling it all together Gio could piece together all of the fight. Spitfire had caught hold of Leviathan as he tried to get away, taking their fight to the sky. It seemed Leviathan's plan was to fly as high as he could and get Spitfire off, but that went awry when Spitfire started punching the reactor in Leviathan's suit. After ripping it free there had been a huge blast, knocking Spitfire one way and Leviathan the other. They both fell some three hundred feet and both crashed into the bay together.
Isaiah didn't even have to tell Gio to go check on the Crawford family, he was already bounding out the door before Isaiah had even finished his coffee and breakfast with Myla. It was a swing by at first, as he really didn't have enough confidence to go all the way up to their front door and knock. Truthfully, he still felt ashamed. He'd let his pride ruin not once, but twice a friendship with someone he'd known for the majority of his life. Tate Crawford was someone who could bottle all of his feelings up and repair any cracks where they started to leak out, but the second he exploded it was cataclysmic. There were no reparations that could be done to fully mend what once was. He would hold a grudge until the day he took his last breath. Gio was, for good reason, a coward to Tate. In true fashion, he chose the cowardly way out of this conflict as well. Leaving as soon as he saw they were all okay.
Months passed and still Gio thought about actually reaching out to Tate. If anything, he could at least reach out to Tana. She would more than likely give him an ear full, but at least he would know how everyone was truly doing. Instead, Gio threw himself more into his work as Sentinel. Part of him felt guilty, he'd only ran into Leviathan a handful of times but he'd always gotten away. They were evenly matched, except Leviathan always had more potent weapons. Gio contemplated burying his guilt and shame. Simply moving on like he always did. Walter was locked up, and the Crawfords probably wanted nothing to do with the Capitani boy. At least, that's what he thought about doing, until he clashed with someone wearing Leviathan's suit. Sentinel got his ass completely kicked, barely escaping with his life. It took a week of healing before he could even put his own suit back on, but during that time he looked into Leviathan. Walter Crawford was still locked up, at least according to everything he could find without directly hacking into the prison's security feeds. Leviathan's gear was supposed to be locked up as well, seized and maintained in a warehouse where other evidence went. It was no coincidence; that had been Leviathan's suit and gear. The only other thing he knew to do was finally face his anxiety head on and ask his former best friend if he knew anything himself.
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So, there he stood. Outside the old diner they used to always meet in. As a teenager Gio faced down hardened criminals, murderers, drug dealers, weapon smugglers, and bank robbers. As an adult, he went up against several superpowered people, fending them off without any powers of his own. He'd shown bravery and prowess, spat in the face of death time and time again, and yet he was too scared to open a door. Walk in and face the wrath of a scorned friend. But it wasn't the anger he was terrified of seeing on Tate, no. It was the disappointment, the disgust, and the betrayal on his face. All things he never thought he'd see from his closest friend, but all things he had deserved for his actions. Capitani was supposed to be arrogant and sure of himself. Never second guessing his actions as he led his teammates to a victory, but Gio? Gio could never keep his façade up around Tate. It didn't matter how confident he tried to seem, it was always Tate that could see right through it. He had been able to read Gio better than Gio could read himself. Years had passed but that probably hadn't changed.
With a deep breath in to try and steel his nerves, Gio opened the door. The bell above the door was small, but loud enough to draw some attention towards the opening door. He didn't even have to look around for Tate since he always sat in the same spot at the same booth. With his back to the door drowning out the rest of the world. Gio had reached out to Tate through Tana’s social media and asked for this meeting. He knew that if Tate wasn't going to be there then they wouldn't have responded. The walk to the table was worse than opening the door. He was probably staring holes into the back of that shaggy black haired head. He looked away as he finally stepped up beside him, not looking back until he was fully sat down. It was one way of dealing with his nerves — continuing to avoid it. Though when he finally looked he was faced with the inevitable, a half rested and yet somehow still awake Tate.
Tate looked unamused, probably annoyed he was missing out on much needed sleep. Gio certainly looked like he was ready to hop up and sprint away as quickly as possible. The two of them were clearly not wanting to be there, but as soon as Tate looked over Gio his eye twitched. A subtle thing so few people noticed, but it was never a good thing. It meant something had just run through his mind that was highly negative, and Gio couldn't help it as the word slipped from his mouth. Having to quickly look away again from the intense gaze of those light honey-brown eyes.
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"What?" Half a nervous chuckle came with it, but it caused Tate's expression to change. He readjusted, raising his eyebrows and shaking his head. Another telling thing Tate always did before he blew up.
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"It's just funny." But Tate's tone said otherwise. He didn't find anything about this situation funny. "You decided to pick the place where you first fucked everything up for us to talk."
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The heavy hitter. Finally laid out on the table in front of them and left there for Gio to choose what to do with it. He had a few options, but there was only one that was the best. It could still get him punched, anything he said could get him punched at this point, but Tate deserved this talk more than anyone. This had been the exact spot Gio had originally ruined their entire friendship. After blowing Tate off when they were both still in high school to go hang out with his now-ex girlfriend, Gio invited Tate right to that very booth under the pretense of it being an apology. Rather, instead of an apology, he asked Tate for relationship advice. It had been a test, because Gio had realized that Tate had feelings for him. That test had blown everything up, as Tate had admitted his feelings and then said that he’d have been fine with them continuing to be friends… but Gio wasn’t. He didn’t feel like it was fair that his best friend should have the pain of unrequited love forever on his mind and heavy on his heart. Gio wished that he’d never invited Tate to the diner that day.
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"I never properly apologized to you for that and I'm sorry." Gio started with his apology. Tate shrugged immediately, looking away from his former best friend.
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"Nah, man, it's whatever. We were kids back then, it's been years." Tate interrupted Gio. Now it was Gio's turn to look unamused. It had been a few years, sure, but it still mattered.
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"It's not "whatever", Tay. I betrayed your trust and our friendship for a quick night of fun with a girl that broke my heart. I lied to you because I was too afraid of telling you the truth. It was wrong. We were young, I was immature and stupid. None of that is an excuse for what I did. I deserved to lose you and her, I'll never say I didn't." Gio had grown in the last three years. He knew he would continue to do that, but this was the way to do so. Take accountability, accept the consequences, and move on.
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It clearly surprised Tate, everything Gio said. He looked back at his former friend and with a slow nod let out a sigh. "You always did have a way with words." Tate tried to stop the small smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth, but it was too late. Gio had already caught it. It was nice to know Tate still had a soft spot for Gio. "But, and this is a big one, there's no fucking way you only called me here for an apology. Still not dumb, Giovanni."
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"You're right, I have a few motives. The apology was just a start. I... uh, I saw the news. About Walter." Gio's hand immediately went to the back of his own neck, rubbing at the base of his skull. Tate's small smile fell. Even the air between them grew stiffer, thicker. He was upset, as this was a sensitive topic.
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"Yeah." The word came out overly scorned. Tate crossed his arms and scowled for a moment. "That piece of shit was boasting to us about the dream life he would give us, then was going out and making the streets too dangerous for any of us to walk." He curled up his lip in disgust before going back to venting. "Can you believe that shit? He promised Ky a big house with a yard for animals and then on the same day went out and ordered a gun deal close to our apartment. Ky almost got hurt because they saw it happen. Eleven years old and not a clue it was dad's operation the entire time that could have gotten them killed just for trying to walk to the bus for school. I couldn't bring myself to tell all of them everything, other than Tana. All mom and the rest know is that he got arrested again." Tate looked away from Gio again, mumbling to himself. "And good fucking riddance, I hope he rots in there."
He was beyond nervous to bring up the next topic to the fuming guy across the booth from him. Growing up it took a lot to cause Tate to blow up, but he was clearly on a short fuse over this so he could pop at any second. Who wouldn't be angry? It was just another betrayal in his life, but this time by his own father. Gio empathized with Tate, while Walter wasn't his own father he'd been like one to Gio as a kid.
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Gio thought about how exactly to phrase his next questions and statements. Tip-toeing was better for this sensitive topic. "Do you remember when I told you about that... program... I was involved in? With the dojo and Isaiah?" He'd never fully told Tate about what Isaiah did, nor had he ever told him about their secret identity. Though, Tate had suspected things from the beginning about the "program" that Gio was involved in. With Tate's nod, Gio continued. "Well, I kind of took over Isaiah's spot. He still runs the dojo, but I'm doing the crime watch now. There's, uh, how do I even say this?" He took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Someone's using Leviathan's gear." His voice lowered immensely and he learned forward, making sure Tate could hear him. "I know it's not Walter, he's still locked up and this person is hitting spots in The Grove like Chinatown and Clear Heights, and the Upper North Side seems to be where he runs back to each time. Walter's gear was stored around Point Prophet Park, but I can't pinpoint where. Whoever this is, they found it or already knew where it was."
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Tate was listening intently. The scowl remained on his face, but his eyebrows raised as he learned there was someone who'd taken Walter's gear. Gio didn't know it, but the last thing Tate wanted or needed was another Leviathan. It'd taken him ten weeks to fully recover from absorbing the energy from the reactor and crashing into the channel with Walter. That fight had taken it out of him, he gave up Spitfire entirely to his little sister after that day. Tate was as convinced as Tana that if he kept up with the getting blown up, hit by cars, thrown through buildings, and falling hundreds of feet that he was going to die. Especially if he didn't let himself properly heal each time. Absorbing enough energy to overload him always hurt him. It took too much out of him. And yet, Tate felt partially responsible for this new wannabe Leviathan.
"I was just wondering if you knew anything at all, maybe you know some of Walter's associates. They pretty much all went underground after he got busted, but this could be someone trying to start things back up."
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"There's someone, but I don't know how involved she is." Tate scooted out of the booth, standing up and shoving his hands into his jacket pockets. Gio followed action, but when he stood up he let out a small, pained grunt. "What happened, you get clobbered during football practice or something?" It partially shocked Gio that Tate knew he was still playing football, even in college. That proved that he’d been keeping up with the man in some capacity, though the paparazzi that New Elysium City’s “most eligible bachelor” attracted certainly made that an easy feat. Gio’s face was plastered everywhere some days.
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"Not exactly." Gio rubbed at his sore leg, hoping he wouldn't limp too badly. "As far as Coach is concerned, I have a stomach virus and can't get outta bed."
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Tate stifled a small scoff, covering it up with a cough. He looked away as he tried to hide a brief smile, something about Gio lying to his college coach during scouting season just made him want to fall on the floor laughing. Sure, Gio had lied to Tate over something insignificant and stupid, but this wasn't like Gio at all. Tate would have teased him about it, but they weren't back to that level yet. It would take time for Tate to even feel like he could fully trust his former best friend again. It would take time for him to even decide if he wanted to keep in touch with Gio. That was something that the older man of the two respected.
Looking back at the booth before he turned to leave, Tate started to feel nostalgic. It'd been a few years since they sat in that very booth together and Gus, the owner, had gotten excited when Tate said he was meeting Gio there. Tate had been working at that diner since he was in high school, and Gus had become part of his family. In high school, though, that had been Gio and Tate’s booth. Too many late night talks to count had happened there over completely melted ice cream and ice cold fries. They probably single handedly kept that little diner afloat for a whole year, coming in everyday or every other day after school. It had been a study hall, an easel, a sound studio, and even a therapy table. Strangely, that booth was probably the very foundation of their friendship. It was why Gus had even put up a special placard that said the booth was reserved for Tate and Giovanni.
Out onto the street, Tate felt comfortable enough to talk about everything he knew. "This woman, her name's Carrie, she's closer to our age. She's the only name Walter ever mentioned to me, I think he took her under his wing." Tate rolled his eyes, but continued, "last time Walter went to South Korea he took her with him. We had to stop by her apartment because he left something there that he brought back from halmi for me. I don't know if she still lives there, but if she does I can just say that Walter wanted me to check on her." He shrugged. He was trying to stay calm while discussing this. "She could even be the one doing this, I don't know. But I'm not letting you go alone."
They continued their walk in quiet contemplation. Both sides were warring away with themselves. Gio was having an internal debate over if this was a good idea at all or not. Getting Tate involved in his life as Sentinel also meant him finding out that Isaiah had been the original Sentinel. He didn't even know if he should tell Tate, as it could lead to him getting mad again. The other side held Tate, having an intense argument with himself over if he should come clean to Gio about everything. Wouldn't it be better to tell him he had been Spitfire and had taken Walter down? Though exposing that risked Gio finding out about Tana, and it wasn't Tate's place to tell anyone about his sister's secret identity.
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Finally arriving at the brownstone apartment building, Gio knew he needed to at least tell Tate something. Before they even got to the front door, Gio reached out and caught the hem of Tate's jacket.
"Listen, there's something else I need to tell you. The reason I'm so sore is because a week ago I ran into this person." Gio sighed, waiting for Tate to get mad at him. "They kicked my ass. More than that, really. I'm lucky to be alive right now." He knew it always pissed Tate off to even remotely imply that he couldn't handle himself. "If Carrie is involved, I don't want you getting hurt." Gio meant that. Tate had been his person, at one point. He still cared so deeply for Tate, despite their years apart or how they ended things. Tate may have screamed at Gio to figure himself out, and that may have eaten at Gio until recently, but in truth he owed Tate so much for that. The man was finally beginning to figure himself out after so many years of masking and pretending to be someone he wasn’t.
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Tate looked down at Gio's hand that was holding his jacket. He raised a single brow as he looked back up at Gio and with a smirk said, "I kicked your ass back in school, didn't I? Don't worry about me." The toothy grin was enough to convince Gio, so he let go of the jacket hem. He certainly didn’t have to remind Gio of their last fight, though. Tate had kicked more than just his ass that day.
Both walked into the apartment building, with Tate leading the way. They went up four flights of stairs and to the door of a corner apartment. The whole building was older, but nice. It was obviously well maintained. Gio followed behind Tate until he stopped, knocking on the door of apartment 4E. He knocked loud enough for it to be heard, waiting a few moments before knocking again. "Carrie, you home? It's Tate." He called before he knocked one last time. When neither of them heard anything from within, Gio thought they would just leave. Coming back and staking the place out alone would be better than getting someone else involved. That's what Gio thought, at least.
Quickly pulling out a tension wrench and a hook lock pick from his jacket pocket, Tate looked over his shoulder before getting to work on the door. Gio's nerves spiked at the sight. The two of them getting caught breaking into a place wasn't what either needed at the moment. However, Tate jimmied the lock open very fast, which was perhaps a bit unsettling to Gio. He held the door for Gio, motioning extravagantly for him to enter and following close behind him. Tate shut the door quietly, locking it back.
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"What the hell was that?" Gio spoke barely above a whisper, pointing at the lockpicking tools in Tate's hand.
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"You think my dad's gonna be a master criminal and total scumbag without me picking up a few of his tricks?" Tate put the tools back into his jacket pocket, shrugging. “He taught me how to break into places when I was five, dude.”
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It was a fair point, so Gio dropped it. Now they were officially breaking and entering. They needed to look around and see if they could find anything as quickly as possible. Gio had no idea where to start, as the apartment itself was rather large and empty. Someone lived there, but it was so neat. Gio wouldn't have suspected a criminal to live there. He'd seen a few lairs in his years of doing this, but what he was currently standing in definitely wasn't an evil lair.
The pair split up, looking for any signs of Walter or Leviathan. Gio had no idea what to look for other than tech that was clearly from Leviathan's gear. Tate, on the other hand, was skimming through everything. He knew exactly what Walter did, what he had spent years hiding, and if Carrie was running things for him now then she'd have extensive records. Everything he pulled out and looked through he put back, trying not to misplace too many things. The last thing they needed was Carrie getting tipped off if she really was playing dress up as Leviathan.
The sitting room, dining room, kitchen, and what seemed like an office space were all clean and vastly organized. There wasn't a computer or laptop, but space for one. Both men noted how smart that seemed to be, but it was Gio that opened the cracked door to a bedroom. What he found inside was indicative of someone flipping the whole room. Clothes, papers, and even glass were all over the floor. A dresser was dumped, left lying on the floor with all the drawers yanked out of it. Even the mattress was flipped up against the wall. Someone had been there already, looking for something just like they were. In fact, as Gio went to look over his shoulder to get Tate's attention, the assumed perpetrator of the tossed room quietly opened the master bathroom door. Gio had no idea — he assumed he and Tate were alone in the apartment. The person was dressed head to toe in black, heavy combat gear covering their torso and limbs. It was their heavy boots stepping on some glass that brought Gio's attention back around to them, he barely had time to react as the person lunged at him.
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"Oh, fuck!" Came out of Gio's mouth as he dodged to the left in the tight hallway. He blocked their left hook to his face, hitting their right hand away as they tried to grapple him. The tight space was working to Gio's injured advantage, he didn't have to adjust his footing much to keep a defensive posture. He grappled the person's arm as they tried to elbow him, barely dodging down when they swung around with their other hand and put their fist through the wall.
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"Heads up, asshole!" Tate shouted from the other end of the hallway, pitching a vase straight into the head of the masked intruder. Gio used the distraction to his advantage, ducking under their arm and getting away from them. He grabbed the back of Tate's jacket and went to run for the front door, but they were cut off by it being kicked in and revealing the person wearing Leviathan's suit.
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It was obviously Walter's. It had the mask damage from Tana punching him in the face, and it had the chest damage from Tate ripping the reactor from it. The right glowing eye lens was cracked diagonally, which came from the explosion of the reactor and Tate's own energy output. They even had the damn electric whip that Walter had used, hooked to their side on the belt. The only thing off about them was they weren't the same height as Walter. Slightly shorter, even smaller than Tate, and it indicated to him that this was a woman or a very short man.
Either way, both of these people had seen both Tate and Gio's faces. Gio was at less risk of his identity as Sentinel being exposed since he could spin it that he was just good at martial arts, but Tate? The only way he saw out of this was using his powers. If this was someone that knew him like Carrie, she could easily expose Tate. She may not know he was Spitfire, but people would know he had abilities. What were his other options though? Gio was injured because of this person, and Tate and Tana had been the only two capable of taking Leviathan down at the time.
There wasn't much time to think this through as Leviathan blocked off the door and the person in the hallway pulled out a gun. Tate just reacted, switching positions with Gio and taking three bullets. Two to his arm he brought up to protect his face and one to his chest. The steel lockpicking tools were his savior as the bullets ricocheted off his steel skin. He’d not have been able to grab anything else in time to use his substance mimicry. Gio was in a twilight zone, he'd been yanked around and heard a gun go off in close proximity to him. He was sure both he and Tate were dead, but looking over to see the gun pointed at them and neither of them hitting the ground caused him to get yanked back to reality. He let go of Tate's jacket and went straight towards Leviathan. The armed intruder clearly realized that shooting at Tate was pointless, so they took aim at Gio. Tate acted the best he could as a shield, taking another bullet before grabbing the gun and covering the muzzle with his palm. The person fired again and the bullet hit Tate's steel hand. Both Gio and Tate punched their targets at the same time. Tate fought to get the gun away by slamming the armed person into the closest wall. Gio hit Leviathan in the face, feeling the skin on his knuckles split immediately behind the force of hitting the graphene mask. It didn't even phase Leviathan, causing them to retaliate against Gio immediately.
The two of them needed to switch foes to be evenly matched, but Tate was too busy wrestling for a gun by trying to put someone through a wall. Gio nearly went through a window as he was knocked away from Leviathan, but he popped right back up. Leviathan chuckled, that usual monotonous and distorted voice. It sounded exactly like Walter's. Clearly amused by Gio's futile attempts to fight back, Leviathan pulled their whip out and let the electricity start up. Tate, by this point, finally wrenched the gun away from the other armed intruder. He put their head through the wall. Sheetrock crumbled all over his jacket sleeve as he pulled his arm out of the hole he'd created. Gio barely dodged the arcing electricity of the whip as it was cracked towards him, rolling away and getting back to his feet. Leviathan made a quick decision, turning on their heel and cracking the whip at Tate next. He slid to the side, dodging but continuing on his path straight towards Leviathan. He swung in an uppercut, hitting the person in the mask directly in the chin and sending them stumbling backwards. They stayed on their feet, but lost their footing momentarily. Gio saw it as an opening.
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"I don't know who the fuck you are-" Tate started, walking towards them. Gio grappled them, but quickly received the back of that hard mask slammed into his face. "But how fucking DARE YOU!" Tate grabbed the whip, hanging onto it so they couldn't try to use it on Gio again. He gritted his teeth as he absorbed the electricity coming from it. "You don't get to put on that asshole's mask and pretend to be him."
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Tate yanked the whip away and tossed it to the side, grabbing onto the shoulder of the person as a way of holding them in place. He held his other hand just out from their face, palm open, as he let the energy pool there in a giant blue ball. He cocked his head to one side with a sneer on his face. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't fry your fucking brain right now. Make it a good one."
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"I-I-.. I was only doing what he told me to do!" Leviathan started to plead. The voice was still a bit monotonous and robotic, but hands came up as they went for the mask and hit the release on it. "He said he could try to get out on reasonable doubt. I thought it was a good plan!" As the mask came off a clear, feminine voice came from under it. She pulled it off her head entirely, revealing a buzzed head and terrified eyes.
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"You thought wrong, Carrie." Tate growled out, not lowering his hand. If anything, more energy began to spark from it. "I'll bury him under that prison if I have to, along with you."
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"I swear, kid, if I-.. if I had known that you were the one I woulda told him no! He said this would get Spitfire's attention!" Carrie shook her head as she nervously looked at Tate's hand.
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"Now you fucking know!" Tate yelled, starting to move his hand towards her face.
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Gio caught his arm, glaring hard at him. The two locked eyes and Gio could see sparks go off in Tate's pupils. "I won't let you kill her." His tone was firm and rigid, he wouldn't move on this stance. Not only did Gio have a shitload to process, with new information that his former best friend not only had powers but was also Spitfire, but he refused to let a life be taken. If he could prevent it, he would. Although his words clearly only upset Tate worse. Gio watched as his face morphed from anger to hurt and straight back into anger. Gio thinking he would actually kill someone was a new level of betrayal.
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"What?" Tate yanked his arm away from Gio, stepping back from him and Carrie. He dropped his palm, but energy was still sparking from his hand. In the distance sirens could be heard, getting closer with each second. "You actually think... you think I would kill her?" Tate scoffed, shaking his head. "After all this time, you still find every way possible to fuck up each chance I give you. Over and over again, you open your mouth and piss away every chance!" Tate balled his hand into a fist as blue energy completely enveloped it.
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As the sirens continued to get closer, the only thing Gio wanted was for Tate to leave. He could keep both the unconscious person with their head still in the wall and Carrie contained. He could make up a story to cover his ass. "You did threaten to fry her brain, what the hell am I supposed to think?!" Gio hadn't meant to yell, but that's exactly what he did. It only caused Tate's entire arm to become surrounded by blue energy. Gio went to say something else, but Carrie used him being distracted to grab him. She pulled a knife out and held the blade to Gio's throat, using him as a shield against Tate. "Whoa, hey-" he started, but Carrie interrupted him.
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"Shut the fuck up! Shut up, playboy. You're gonna come with me and ensure I get the fuck outta here." She started walking backwards with him back to the bedroom, heading for the fire escape. "Just keep your distance, sparkle fingers, and I won't slit his throat."
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"Lady, I think you picked the wrong hostage. He'll blast us both into another dimension." Gio swallowed hard, nearly tripping as she continued to yank him. Tate glared at both of them, taking a few steps towards Carrie.
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"Nu-uh! Stay right where the fuck you are!" She pressed the blade of the knife roughly to Gio's throat, bringing blood. Just the sight of that caused Tate's rage to spike.
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He couldn't stop the anger as it bubbled out. Feeling hot all over, he felt the same sensation he'd experienced when he absorbed the reactor's energy. The same blue glow that was coming from his hand slowly started to cover his entire body. It looked like the glow was coming from inside of him. His shirt couldn't even hide the light. Energy bounced out from his hands as his eyes started to shine a blinding bright blue. Carrie's hand went slack for a moment as she stared in awe and fear at Tate, the knife strayed away from Gio's throat and he reached up to push her hand away from him, ducking away just as a bright arc of blue energy shot over him and hit Carrie in the center of the exo suit. Right in her stomach, with enough force for her to go flying back into the bedroom and crashing into a wall. She let out a pained grunt, but didn't get back up. The sirens were right outside the building now. Gio ran towards Tate, grabbing his glowing wrist and tugging him in the direction of the front door.
The pair made it out and up two more flights of stairs, exiting the building onto the roof. Below they could see two police cars, with more on the way down the street. Gio barely made it across to the next building's roof. Tate was the only thing that saved him from falling to his death. They exited down the fire escape of that building, and turned down an alleyway to avoid the street where the police were. Once they were a block away, Gio stopped and let out a sigh. His adrenaline had worn off, he was feeling all the pain from that fight and the one with Carrie a week prior.
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"So you really did go easy on me back in school, huh?" Gio let out a curt laugh, finding the nearest bench and sitting on it. "Dude, you could have ended me."
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There was a tense silence as Gio sat there alone and Tate stood just a few feet away. Finally, Tate chuckled and sat down beside Gio. Not even short of breath, without a scratch on him, and with a crooked grin Tate added, "I still could, asshole."
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Later that night on the news was a breaking story about how Leviathan had returned, but there was someone else behind the mask. Gio asked a police contact about Carrie, who confirmed that she was cooperating and had already flipped on Walter and her other armed partner. It was a relief for everyone. It gave Gio time to sit and process what the hell had happened that day. Just as he was starting to relax and finally ready to let his mind go crazy, his phone pinged. Picking it up he noticed an unfamiliar number had texted him.
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"Nice moves today, crime watch. Maybe we could make a good team one day. By the way, change your fucking number. I can’t believe you still have the same one from high school, idiot. – Tay"
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What a day, right? But at least two of our heroes have reconnected, and started to set the foundation for what will lead to an epic team! With a rising villain slain before she got the chance to make it big. This only brings more questions for our heroes to answer, however. Remember how Tate decided to retire from the whole hero gig? Yeah, things can just never be that easy…
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