“Mason? Are you still there?”
The person in question remembered he’d dialed someone and lifted his phone to his ear.
“Yeah. I’m here.”
“You need to come in.”
He frowned but eased up after thinking about it. “Nothing on Lamplighter?”
“No. Last we saw him was near the center. But that was more than a week ago. Did you hear what I said?”
“Yes, and I get it. What I’m confused about is what kind of protection you think you can give me.”
Stan Edgar’s words still reverberated in his skull despite turning the TV’s volume down. The things they claimed there were going to give him, well, the last one was absolutely useless. Who gave a crap about The Seven?
The first two though…
Even though it all felt like a lure to bait him out of hiding so Homelander could laser him in half, he didn’t believe Vought would employ such obvious means to get rid of him. Especially not now, not when it wouldn’t change anything.
Still, he didn’t trust them in the slightest and rather believed they were up to something. Something they thought could benefit them in the long run. Or maybe they were being genuine. Miracles did happen.
He sighed, pretty loudly, at how jumbled everything seemed. That’s why he wanted to take the C.I.A. on their offer.
It didn’t matter if they actually had something that could keep Homelander out or him off Vought’s or anyone’s radar. Taking advantage of them to lie low, relax and think about what next couldn’t be bad.
Besides, he wanted to meet the spooks face to face.
“Hello? Are you still there?” He asked.
Rayner seemed to have infinite patience. “Yeah. Are you going to let us help you?”
“Sure. Text me the location.”
“Wha—Wait, you’ll be there?”
“That’s why I asked.”
“You have a habit of running and hiding.”
“Only when I’m being chased. Am I being chased?”
“...No.”
“I wouldn’t believe that lie if the devil himself told it to me.”
“The address has been sent.”
“Yeah, I see it. It’s pretty far from here.”
“It’s a precautionary measure. Vought has—”
“I know. I’ll be there in thirty.”
“I really hope you take us up on our offer. Vought and their supes… you have no idea the lengths they’ll go to.”
Her haunted tone made him narrow his eyes. Either she was a good actress or she’d really seen some shit. The hint of fear in her tone made him lean towards the latter.
‘Is she afraid for me?’ He wondered and quickly threw away that outrageous thought. ‘That can’t be right.’
Since they weren’t friends or even acquaintances and the call had served its purpose, he ended it abruptly and focused back on the silent apartment.
He found himself on the end of Lexi’s complicated and forlorn stare.
“You’re leaving.”
“Yes. Sorry.” The last part he added upon recalling her vulnerable state.
“Oh…”
He had nothing to say to that, so he stepped around the couch and went for his jacket.
“Who were you talking to? It sounded pretty important.”
“It was. It’s about the Compound V. I really need to go.”
He threw on the jacket and Lexi stood up, maneuvering around the couch to him as though he’d run if she didn’t hurry. Her haste bled away to hesitation when she stood in front of him, her hands rising and shaking with uncertainty.
He himself felt something when she drew closer and locked eyes with him. The hands he used to straighten his jacket slowed down and became just as uncertain as hers.
They both felt the pull as the seconds stretched by, Lexi finally finding purchase on his jacket with her hands and tiptoeing on her feet.
Mason didn’t know why this was happening or why he suddenly felt so strongly about leaving her by her lonesome. It didn’t stop him from leaning down and meeting her lips with his own, nor did it stop his hands from resting on her hips.
It started slow, unsure, but like two people initially dying of thirst stumbling upon an oasis, they grew energetic and passionate, soon reaching the point where they drank in each other with wild abandon.
Lexi, via her death grip on his jacket, pulled him into her, hoping faintly that he’d change his mind and stay.
Mason on the other hand, realised he might not make his appointment if this went on. His whole body wanted to stay and get more of this, but his self control won out in the end.
He stopped the kiss with much difficulty, pulling back and going forth multiple times before finally, he could see Lexi’s face properly.
“Please.” She said in a low-spirited tone. “Don’t go.”
His hands came off her hips and wrapped around hers. “I have to. Besides, if we continue…”
“What? Something amazing’s gonna happen?”
He huffed. “Yes—”
“Then stay! Can’t whatever you’re going to do wait?”
Every horny cell in my body(which was all of them) screamed “yes,” but something entirely different came out of my mouth.
“No. It can’t. But tell you what, part of the reason I’m on the fence about… this is how little we know of each other. We met this morning—”
She tried to interject but he stopped her.
“Let’s give it a few more hours. If you still feel the way you do, it won’t make a difference when we meet up later.”
He leaned and breathed into her ear. “Think about all that buildup.”
His heat sense picked up exactly what he expected as he reeled back and pushed down the urge to nibble her ear. Another round of kissing ensued but it ended up being much shorter than the last one.
“Take this…” He handed her a burner phone. “I’ll text you so we can keep in touch.”
“Mason…” She accepted the phone, her earlier excitement dwindling. “Should I be worried?”
“No. But I don’t trust Vought or their supes to not try something.”
“You think they’ll come after me?”
“Unlikely. But you never know. That’s why I’m giving you this. I’ll text you once I’m settled. Do you trust me?”
No answer, just hesitation and slight guilt over said hesitation.
“Good. That’s the right attitude.”
“I—”
“You don’t have to explain or apologize. It’d be pretty fucking weird if you said yes with your full chest.” He said and checked the time on his watch. “I have to go or I won’t make it in time.”
She nodded and let go of his jacket. “Be careful.”
He simply nodded and left the apartment, shutting the door behind him.
Finally alone with her own thoughts, thoughts that only went away when he was around, Lexi clutched the burner phone tightly and beat back every urge telling her to turn on the screen and contact him.
She’d already embarrassed herself enough, what with throwing herself at a man she just met. Granted, she’d already invited him into her home and bared the ugliness in her soul to him, so her nakedness didn’t seem like much in comparison.
Thankfully, he hadn’t judged or taken advantage of her even once. Not even in the passive aggressive way that bled through the actions of people trying hard not to let their true colors show.
He’d been brusque and upfront with her, even commenting on her smell and lady parts of all things, all without an ounce of judgement and lust. Though she had enough self-awareness to know that may be her ingrained “give beautiful people a pass for creepiness” bias showing.
Whatever the case, even the one thing she expected him to hint at wanting to know more about, he showed no interest in. How she ended up on the roof—the sequence of events that led to that decision—it’s as if it didn't cross his mind at all during their discussions.
He probably wanted her to tell him when she felt comfortable doing so, and it endeared her to him all the more. The fact that he’d gone through something similar his whole life practically sealed the deal for her.
Though the way he spoke about in the past tense fed her curiosity too. All the more reason to hold on to him tight. Sure, she may be older than him, but it was only a five year difference.
Factor in maturity level and they were almost the same age—mentally. All of this made him a perfect catch, and
the best option for her right now.
If she was going to go do the slow march toward her impending demise, she hoped to do it with him. At least, other than this temporary escape from what promised to be good time, he hadn’t really displayed any distaste for her clinginess.
A small, logical corner of her mind screamed that going ahead with this, with him, was ill advised. Because everything that had transpired so far read like the novel of a horny teenager writing a fanfic of Twilight.
Newsflash, she didn’t care.
Finding out there was no chance in hell you’d live past 40 would do that to you. So who cared if Mason happened to be the personification of every deranged psychopath/creep/stalker who somehow gets the girl with no repercussions in the end?
He cleaned her apartment, cooked her food and made her life slightly less sucky. She would mind living with that for the rest of her limited days. And if he was indeed packing the kind of heat his build and those overly horny books suggested, it would be even better.
Though its effects barely lasted, very few things apart from drugs and alcohol beat away sadness like a proper and thorough romp in the sheets.
Almost as if her thoughts were aligned with the universe, the screen of the burner phone lit up with a text notification. A smile bloomed on her face, something that hadn’t happened in a long time.
.
.
.
.
That kiss… Mason didn’t want to say it wasn’t supposed to happen. Because it felt too damn good and it made him want more of it and what normally came after.
This strong reaction made him look deeper into himself to find out why. Why did he want to accept this unknown, suicidal woman’s advances with arms wide open?
The answer that had been hanging at the edge of his consciousness when his attraction to Lexi intensified—after she pleaded with him to stay—finally availed itself; he was lonely.
The gross oversimplification made him grunt in displeasure, but he kept it as the overarching reason.
Apart from getting a crash course to the kind of world he had stepped into, one thing that kept popping up while he went about was how utterly alone he was.
He missed his sister dearly and would give all this up just to see her again. Even if it was only for a minute. Same for his girlfriend, Rochelle.
They were more like friends with benefits and pretty lowkey about it, but they’d had some fun times that he looked back fondly on. The only reason their relationship went nowhere was because he couldn’t get over himself.
How did you love someone properly when you didn’t love yourself, like, at all?
He didn’t need to contend with those self deletion and deprecating feelings anymore, and that was the problem. Something about seeing Lexi, cleaning her apartment, and chatting with her had brought his general happiness level back to a baseline.
This would be his normal he guessed, if he had never been born with the predisposition and then suffered that head injury. Or maybe life would’ve found a way and beaten him down to that point, like Lexi.
All this to say, since he was no longer burdened by the thoughts he’d lived with his whole life, his mind became free to latch on to any possible solutions to his loneliness problem. And not just latch on but actually manifest the desire in him to go and get said solutions, when in the past, nothing of the sort would ever happen.
This… eagerness to fill the void would’ve seen slow progress with a well… a woman in a normal mental state. Whatever sent Lexi to the roof had broken down her walls significantly. She did not fear death or anything as much.
High up in the clouds, Mason cooled his jets and angled them so he could slow down and properly examine the sudden epiphany that had struck him. He shook his head, chuckled and resumed flight, trusting the clouds to hide him from sight.
He saw himself in her. There was a time, not really long ago, when he’d been exactly like that; having little regard for his own life and safety. Now the sudden attraction to her and the kiss made more sense.
The attraction wasn’t sudden at all like he imagined. It’d been building the whole time, from when he met her on the roof and got a look at her. She was pretty hot, something that also helped.
But it was her approaching him with those sad eyes and asking him to stay that tipped him over the edge.
He didn’t just want comfort or someone to fill up in the void in his heart, he wanted to be needed. He wanted someone to rely on him, just like Maya after the incident at her college.
Why? Because it felt nice to be needed. To be someone’s hero, a person they could turn to when they had nowhere else to turn. It was one thing that made living even more worthwhile, as he came to discover, much more than training or keeping himself active.
As it turned out, people without crippling depression experienced the same thing.
All these thoughts and conclusions made Mason doubly glad he’d pushed back whatever was going to happen. If he hadn’t sorted out his mind regarding the whole thing, he would’ve felt guilty for taking advantage of a woman’s vulnerability.
Sure, it sounded a bit patronizing, and he knew this. He also knew Lexi was a grown woman with a pretty good head on her shoulders, and she was capable of assessing her own situation and making her own decisions.
From their lengthy conversation during the interview, she’d shown the wealth of her knowledge and wisdom. Her behaviour up to the kiss told him he wasn’t dealing with someone who hadn’t thought about what they were doing or was simply going through the motions.
Just like him, she knew exactly what she wanted by “throwing” herself at him. This was even without them stating it outright.
If evening came and things went according to plan, he was not going to refuse her a second time. Screw his hang ups.