"And sent. How do I look?" Jake asked as he pressed the phone back to his ear and took it off of speakerphone. The living room behind him stayed quiet, not even a creek in the dusty old house. His red mask was dangling from his left thumb.

"You have the cutest smile," Hannah told him. Her voice was somehow louder than necessary and faraway. She must have been holding the phone up to look at the photo. "Your cheeks are doing that thing I love."

"What thing is that?" He pressed his fingers to his cheek to feel out what she could have possibly meant. Was it the dimple? A blush? The photo was two days old at that point even if he'd told her it was from that morning. He and Warren had spent two days doing actual research on an article he'd pitched to Natalie. He'd packed them both extra shirts to add to the illusion of taking photos on different days.

The article would be real enough. Jake had cobbled together a story about how the growing hero presence was affecting underprivileged kids. Natalie hadn't been surprised to know he viewed the entire thing negatively and Jake hadn't had trouble putting everything together. He was almost proud of the level of deception he'd accomplished this time.

"If I tell you, you might stop doing it and then what will I have to look forward to about your face?" Hannah joked. A stifled yawn crackled over the phone. "It looks cold. You're keeping warm, right?"

"Babe, it's cold everywhere." They were both silent for a minute and Jake sighed through his teeth. "Yes, I'm keeping warm." He tugged at the long sleeves of his coat and tucked the cape-like end over his crossed legs. For an old two bedroom cabin it was surprisingly well insulated. He'd been told the safehouse was well maintained and sitting there now hearing the wind outside he fully believed it.

"Good good," Hannah mumbled around another yawn. It had been her first full day back at the hospital and it had left her drained despite the extra breaks. "I miss you."

"Just two more days and I'll be back," he assured her. Jake twitched the thick curtain away from the window to look out. Nothing had moved, not that he could fully tell with the wind throwing everything around. At the very least there were no suspicious shadows lurking around. He pulled the curtain back in place and settled into the seat he'd pulled up the window.

The others were sleeping soundly throughout the area. Cassandra Voss was in the smaller bedroom with two of her own guards. Three more were in the second bedroom and another two had been sent to brave the night air in the car so they'd be ready to move at a moment's notice. In a few minutes, Jake would pull Knightmare from the couch so they could switch places. They'd kept each other within sight at all times but especially when they had to sleep. There was never a safe time to lower your guard when a secret identity was on the line.

"Two days is like forever away. I'm so close to picking up extra shifts at the hospital to make up for the emptiness," Hannah whined.

"You're starting to sound like Claudia," he pointed out.

"She says hi by the way," she told him over protests from the woman in question. Hannah had sent him her fair share of photos after the first night. Most had a blurry bit of Claudia ducking out of frame in the background. She'd been a rock in keeping Hannah from overworking herself. No one could get Hannah to behave like she could.

Jake stretched his legs out in front of him, hearing the joints creak and feeling the muscles protest. Guard duty was not in his normal line of work. He often told people he had never won any sort of game that involved any amount of staying still. The shaky photos he'd taken when he thought he might start his own news outlet had been another clear sign he lacked patience.

"She's been hanging out practically every day but I keep waiting for her mystery boyfriend to come steal her away," she said the last part in a whisper. "She tried to hide it but I know there was a little black heart in the text bubble."

"Really?" Jake even surprised himself with the enthusiasm in his question. Something about being away on what he'd been told was a dangerous expedition made him long for normal gossip. Besides, he liked Claudia well enough to care about her life and happiness.

"Really," Hannah confirmed. "Don't worry, I'll investigate and get back to you."

"Take notes. I'll look them over when I get back and we can figure out a conclusion together," Jake suggested. At this point he'd watch paint dry with her as long as they could be alone together.

Hannah laughed and he heard her shirt rustle as she moved the phone between shoulders. "You should hurry back then before my untrained eye misses something."

"Oh yes, your keen eye," he laughed. Static crackled loudly over the phone and he switched it to the other side. The thin his quickly grew to a roar that made his ears ring. "Hannah?"

"No...just...and the... yeah..." she said.

Jake stood, trying to reestablish a stronger signal. No matter what corner he tried the static grew louder until he was forced to hang up entirely. He pressed the mask back to his face and moved the curtains aside again. Nothing moved outside, the stillness was like a blanket smothering his senses. In any horror movie, this would be the point where someone went outside because it was 'too quiet'.

Hijack slid his phone into an inner pocket and slid out a small tablet. The screen lit up with an image of outside and a small drone flew by the window. He'd hooked it to the outer wall of the cabin when they first arrived earlier in the day. The golf ball sized red disk gained height fast, the image on the screen whirring at a dizzying speed.

The green of night vision overtook the screen and he saw the movement from the edge of the trees. Light glinted off of their gun barrels. Hijack counted four and directed the drone to the other side of the cabin. The last thing they needed was to be completely surrounded.

"How many?" Knightmare asked from the couch. He had pulled on his boots and the familiar purple glow had begun to shine from his sword. The fog spilled from it in waves headed straight for the door. It stopped just before the gap by the floor.

"Four coming for the door, I think I see cars in the distance," Hijack answered. He'd started fumbling through his pockets with one hand while he continued to move the drone with the other. Each pocket was specially designed to hold everything he needed, but just then he was regretting he hadn't found a way to make a pocket sized bulletproof vest. None of the capes in Merifield felt the need to carry anything like guns. Even the police wore them more as accessories.

Out in the backroads between Merifield and Southside there were no capes to keep the peace so the regular people fell back on whatever they could get their hands on. Hijack felt a twinge of fear and shoved it down. "I wish we'd never taken this job," he groaned.

"Little late for that. You go wake the others, I'll keep them distracted until you're in the car," Knightmare told him. The fog darted under the door like a cat that had been released from its crate after a vet visit.

Hijack kept the tablet in his hand as he headed for the back rooms. He woke the guys in the larger room first and heard them making preparations to leave. A gun greeted him when he opened the second door. "Just me, we need to move." The men in the room jumped to their feet and the one nearest to the bed shook the sleeping figure laying there.

Cassandra Voss slowly pulled herself free of the tangle of blankets and pushed her thick brown hair from her face. One look around at the tense men and she sighed. "Time to go?" she asked around a yawn.

"Definitely. Grab your things and keep close to me," Hijack ordered her. He kept his eyes on the screen and only looked up when she tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow. She'd been doing this since they'd met as if they were some old couple on a date. He'd protested the first few times but quickly realized it was the easiest way to keep her close.

The sealed briefcase handcuffed to her wrist was the real reason he needed to keep her close. It was a strange cliche to use but Hijack couldn't argue that it had kept the diamond safe so far. Her father had subtly implied that its safety took precedence over his daughter's life. He didn't have plans to lose either but a surge of defiance had warred with him to find a way to lose the diamond and save the girl. Stupid plans like that wouldn't get him paid though.

The front door crashed open and the first few intruders screamed at the terrors that paraded across that eyes. Their deepest fears had been pulled from the back of their minds in personal hellish movies to play behind their closed eyelids. Knightmare's sword slashed at the few who stepped over their companions and they were blasted back by the force he'd shot their way.

Hijack checked his tablet again and began herding Cassandra towards the side door. Bullets whizzed by their head and he ducked, forcing her with them. "Front door's out of the question. Get her around into a car and get going."

"I thought you were keeping watch," Cassandra hissed. The briefcase was pressed tightly to her chest like a shield. One thin scratch marred the front.

"I was. There's only so much I can see in the dark," Hijack snapped. A guard fell, hand clamped around his middle. No one stopped to help and they finally burst outside with Knightmare just behind them.

"There's dozens of them and you didn't see?" She clutched his arm tighter as they ran for the car.

"They didn't exactly announce themselves!" Hijack grabbed her by the waist and swung her around to his other side in time to avoid the man making a grab for her. His fingers grazed her arm and Hijack's foot connected with the center of his chest. He fell back with a grunt and they never paused in their running.

Cassandra steadied herself and dove into the backseat of the nearest car. Knightmare was right behind her and he shut the door after a nod from Hijack. The others hurried to the other doors but most of the fire was trained on the drivers' side doors. The distant sound of approaching cars was growing louder.

Hijack clucked his boots, sending himself jetting into the air. He was grateful for the silence the altitude provided. The fog around his mind lifted as his focus returned. Below, he counted three of the Raven guards dead on the ground, another two pinned by the cars. The back door of one car was open, a man hanging out.

Hijack pulled two metal discs from his belt and dropped them parallel to each other on the side of the car between Cassandra and the men he assumed were from The Grim Brotherhood. An arc of electricity formed between the two and blasted out towards them, knocking them back into their car. The Ravens finally managed to crawl into their cars and he heard engines start.

A sigh of relief welled up in his chest and Hiajack's shoulders began to relax. He angled his boots to slowly lower himself back to the ground where Knightmare had the car door open and waiting for him. Just as the boots turned off, a pain ripped through his side, taking his breath away.