Under the downtown neon lights

[arkbound]

Who: Dominic and Eiridan
Universe: Superheroes AU
What: A rescue
Warning: None


It was obvious to Dominic that he was walking into a trap. 

It was too clear where the civilian was and which way he was supposed to go to get them out. There were monsters, yes, but they seemed to move at timed intervals and even if Dominic didn't know how the villains had managed that, he knew that it couldn't be trusted at all. If he wasn't careful he'd end up captured or killed, right along with the person he was supposed to be rescuing.

Superheroes associated with the Covenant of St George generally had their powers in one of five different categories, depending on what method had worked to get them their powers in the first place. How strong a superhero was depended on how much they trained and some innate criteria that even the Covenant, for all their efforts, hadn't been able to figure out. Dominic had access to electricity, and he was one of the best on the Covenant's roster. He drew his power about himself, charging up the air around him an instant before he started to move, and he didn't stop moving until he'd disarmed most of the weapons that had been set up. They'd been expecting someone with different powers maybe, Dominic thought.

Trap or not, though, Dominic had to rescue the civilian, couldn't turn his back on them. That was what his duty was all about.

He kept his electricity crackling around him for a moment longer while he surveyed the situation, and then he moved again. This time he went after those monsters. It was only for the sake of expediency that he stunned them rather than killed, they were monsters and the world would undoubtedly be better off with less of them, but Dominic's powers lent themselves easier to this.

His last blow collided with the jaw of a creature to drive it away from the civilian - who looked rather less panicked than Dominic had expected - the monster had been near.

Dominic dropped his power only an instant before he extended his hand to the civilian, and his hair was a tousled mess. "We have to go," he said. He'd give the civilian a second or two to take his hand, but they didn't have more than that for him to decide.

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[handsofahealer]

The civilian looked up, wide and wild-eyed. He was a slim, feminine man with fine golden hair and wide, dark blue eyes. His throat worked as he swallowed, shuddering a little, skirting away from the fallen creature.

"God, you've saved me, you've saved me."He said, his voice hushed and thick with emotion. He reached out, to that extended hand, clasping it. "Thank you, thank you." His hand grasped Dominic's.

And then, tightened with a lean sinewy strength. The man smiled, all terror gone, his eyes hard and sharp, so utterly unlike how they appeared moments before. No longer prey, but predator.

His other hand moved. quicker than lightning and snapped a slim silver band around Dominic's wrist. Immediately, the strange electric charge that had surrounded them vanished as Dominic was utterly cut off from his power.

[arkbound]

Dominic was entirely prepared to say that he was just doing his job. Such thanks wasn't necessary, this was what the Covenant was there for. He didn't have a chance to vocalize the thought before the situation changed dramatically.

Dominic's eyes widened and he tried to jerk back, to get his hand up and pry at the silver band.

"What are you doing? Let me go!" He reached for his powers even though he knew better, and it was still jarring to find nothing there. "You'll regret this."

[handsofahealer]

The man's eyes glowed, bright and strangely redolent with power. All the potential that had sparked about Dominic, now was about this man, who stood straighter, his grip tightening about Dominic's wrist.

"I won't regret a single thing." He said. And slowly his magic unfurled, enemy of the covenant, a true, rare magician. One hand sketched in the air, quick precise movements. It was like cutting into the very fabric of reality, the world around them peeling away, revealing nothing but darkness. A black that could not be penetrated, utter and all encompassing. There was no penetrating the dark, no light that could escape it.

"You're coming with me." And with that, the mage pulled Dominic, to drag him into that abyss after him.

[arkbound]

Dominic couldn't deny being frightened. A magicians of this sort of power could loom large in the Covenant's nightmares, and there was nothing to find comfort in with the current situation. Certainly not the darkness, which seemed like it would swallow him whole, would never let him out again.

Dominic's feet dragged against the ground to little effect, but he had the notion that it would be better to force them to kill him with his fighting than to be captured and subjected to who knew what.

He was no more than human now, less powerful than he would have been if he'd never had powers because he could feel the aching gap where they belonged. Still, they would have no cooperation from him. "You're human," Dominic said. "There's no reason to align yourself with these things when you're better than them."

[handsofahealer]

Eiridan's hand was already sunk into darkness, but at the other man's response, his head snapped around, a snarl rippling across his face. "Better? So I can be like your dammned Covenant, murdering innocents, leaving fucking children to pick up the pieces?" His voice had a raw, emotional edge to it, and it was clear that it wasn't just a theoretical situation he was referring to.

"So come on solider," There was a nasty emphasis on the descriptor, "With me into the darkness." And he dragged the young man in after him.

[arkbound]

Dominic's heart beat a rapid pace but it was clear that there could be no reasoning with this man, that he was every bit as unreasonable as Dominic had been taught by the Covenant to expect. If Dominic had only known, he never would have tried to rescue him. He supposed that that was the point.

His mouth snapped shut as they entered the darkness, entirely uncertain what it meant and what would happen now.