Tuesday Snippet: “Shades of Grey”

Haven’t had a lot of time to write, but I’m steadily working on it.

This is a Work in Progress. It is an original work, raw first draft with all it’s errors and mistakes. But it’s mine, all mine, so don’t post this anywhere!

He’d kissed her. That was his last memory of Eclipse, before she’d run into the dark void that threatened the swallow the city.

“No! It’s loco, Eclipse. You’ll be killed,” he repeated, shouting above the roar as everything around them was being sucked towards the void like a vacuum. He held tightly to her arm, as if he could physically restrain her from going. Beneath the transparent films, her doe brow eyes were calm and unwavering.

“Target, I need to get this device in there. Signal said it’s frequency will close our little black hole.”

“She’s not positive it’ll even work, but you’ll be sucked in either way! I won’t let you!”

“It will work,” she said firmly, willing him to believe it. “My life is a small price for the whole of Capital City.”

“The cost is too high!”

“We got into this knowing what it could mean. We live in the moment, from day to day, because it might be our last. You need to let me go.” She was right, he knew she was right, and he damned her for it anyway. He reached back for the hidden fastener that attached his mask to his suit, undid it, and pulled the mask off.

They’d worked together for a long time, but he had never revealed his face, never crossed that line, and neither had she. They were teammates, partners, even friends, but their work starkly refused to consider the idea of anything more.

He kissed her, hard enough to bruise, his two-day stubble scratching her face. Her lips were warm, and she tasted of sweat and dirt and blood and…something sweet and earthy. For a long moment, the void, the vacuum, and the flying debris didn’t matter. Nothing mattered.

She broke away from him and, without even looking at him, turned and ran full-out for the dark maelstrom.
Five months later, Target could still taste that kiss if he thought about it. He tried not to, but when he was here, standing in her shadow, he couldn’t help it. He looked up at the granite statue of Eclipse, one hand outstretched as if reaching for someone. Capital City had built it as a memorial for their vigilante hero, and it stood in stark defiance of the federal law banning super-powered activity. A great law, Target mused bitterly, as it did little to curb supervillain activity, who barely noticed one more law to ignore.