Another old writing warm-up, starring even more of my OCs.

~~~

Ella's gaze hardened. "No. No way."

Aliyah laughed, a joyless and forced sound. "I wasn't asking for your permission," Crossing her arms defensively, she added quickly, "You're not my brother."

A look that Aliyah couldn't quite identify flashed across the blonde's face as she reeled back from the barbed statement before Ella took control over her features once more. "Well, I may not be Flynt, but I know that he will kill me if I just let you go off playing superhero and something happens to you! In case you've forgotten already, your brother was kind of trained for things like assassination, he could and would totally do it."

"Then I won't let anything happen it me," Aliyah shrugged. "Easy peasy."

"Do you think Flynt just allowed something to happen to him?" Ella shot back, moving towards the younger girl offensively. "Look, your brother got himself wrapped up in all kinds of trouble without him even realizing it, and he had training with that-" Grabbing the metal buckle that Aliyah had tightened around her wrist like a bracelet, Ella wrinkled her nose, like the transformation causing object disgusted her. "Thing. Do you honestly think that you can just dive in, without any real idea of how the suit works or what abilities it gives or what kind of people are just dying to get their hands on your pretty little charm, and come out perfectly fine?" Ella scoffed, letting go of the buckle and watching it snap back into place. "I thought you were smarter than this, Aliyah."

"What am I supposed to do then, Ella?" Aliyah demanded, dark eyes searching Ella's pale ones as the young woman turned away, fuming in silence. "Just sit around waiting for my brother to come back, alive and well or sent home in multiple boxes? I can't just do nothing, I-I have to do something!"

"Then do something else than prancing over rooftops with that thing!" Ella exclaimed, motioning to the tall buildings outside the window. "That's what started this whole mess in the first place!" Sighing, the older girl shook her head dejectedly. "You're a smart girl, really smart. There's a million other things you could be doing to help find your brother than using that thing."

"But this is the best way to find him!" Aliyah argued, stepping closer to where Ella stood at the window. "This gave me my first clue to finding Flynt! This led me to you!"

Turning around slowly, Ella lifted her head, a small, sad smile gracing her sharp features. "And I'm glad I finally got to meet you, after all this time, after hearing so much about you from your brother," she said, reaching out to Aliyah to brush a stray strand of her wild hair out of her face. "But after watching what path that thing led Flynt down, I don't want to see you doing the same thing. I know Flynt wouldn't want you to do the same thing."

Letting out a low, bitter chuckle, Aliyah replied, "Well, he didn't ask me when he started doing whatever it was he believed he was doing. He didn't even tell me about all of this. But this is my choice, and I choose to do the best thing to help my brother."

Ella was quiet for a moment, studying Aliyah's determined expression, seeing so many similarities between the unbiological siblings in her mind's eye. Finally, she sighed, throwing up her hands in defeat. "Fine, whatever, I can see when I'm fighting a lost cause."

Her body relaxing with the loss of tension she didn't even know was there, Aliyah grinned up at the blonde girl. "Thank you for understanding-"

"But-" Ella wagged a finger in Aliyah's face, a semi-teasing glint in her eyes. "Don't you dare think that this doesn't mean that I'm going to help in every possible way I can. You are to report to me every time you go out suited up, before and afterwards. If you need anything, and I mean anything, you come to me. I can get you information, get my finger on the vein of local gossip about anyone, and I can go undercover anytime, anywhere." She smirked. "I'm not an actress for nothing, you know."

"Of course," Aliyah agreed. "I expected nothing less from you, Ella."

Tisking, Ella sized the younger girl up before a mournful look crossed her face. "Gaw, you shouldn't be involved in this," Musing softly, Ella pressed her lips together regretfully. "At thirteen you should be falling in love with all the wrong people, not here dealing with this."

"Well, you shouldn't have to be dealing with this either." Aliyah challenged quietly.

"Well, at least I'm not as young as you." Ella countered. "You're practically still in diapers."

"You're only three years older than me."

"I'm seventeen, actually."

"...Oh."

Ella laughed, this time a bittersweet sound. Aliyah smiled as she watched her. "But really Ella, I can handle this. I can handle anything if it means finding Flynt and bringing him home."

Nodding slowly, Ella glanced at the clock on her bedside table. "It's late," she commented. "Go home, get some sleep."

"Okay."

Together, the two girls pushed up the window, and Aliyah stepped onto the small balcony. Pulling the buckle and letting it go in one swift motion, a pale light encircled the young girl before disappearing in a flash, revealing Aliyah to be dressed in a black and gray suit, mask covering her mouth and nose and a hood over her head.

Nodding respectfully, Aliyah's voice spoke quietly, a strange waiver in it due to the mask. "Good night, Ella."

"Good night, Aliyah." Ella whispered, and with that, the vigilante jumped off, disappearing into the night and into the big city.

Into the unknown.