I Don't Want To Be A Hero

Chapter 17 Fight To Win

The next morning finally came.

It didn't feel like morning.

Davina surfaced from darkness slowly, as if dragging herself up through thick water. Her eyelids fluttered, heavy and sore, and when they finally cracked open she was immediately stabbed by the harsh white lights above her. She winced, turning her head away, but the brightness wasn't what made her stomach twist.

The feeling was still there.

The fear.

The regret.

The echo of helplessness clinging to her ribs like frost.

Even awake, she could still see it—her mind replaying the nightmare in flashes. Her mother's scream. Stephan's body hitting the floor. Lucifer's grin. The gun. The blood. The loop. The loop. The loop.

Her breath hitched.

That was when she realized her wrists wouldn't move.

Straps.

Thick ones.

Buckled tight.

Her pulse spiked, panic clawing up her throat—until the door swung open.

Lizzy rushed in, her face pale, her eyes rimmed red. "Vi…" Her voice cracked on the nickname.

Davina swallowed hard. "Why am I tied down?"

Lizzy stepped closer, hands trembling at her sides. "We did it so you didn't hurt yourself," she said softly. "You were… thrashing. Screaming. We couldn't get through to you."

Davina stared at the ceiling, jaw clenched. "I saw it," she whispered. "I relived it." Her voice broke. "Over and over and over and over and over again."

Tears welled, spilling hot down her temples.

"But the only part I didn't relive," she said, her tone sharpening, "was the moment I fought back. The moment I gave that son of a b***h his scar."

Lizzy froze. Davina's eyes had changed—darkened, shadowed, burning with something fierce and dangerous. Not fear. Not grief.

Resolve.

"Can you untie me, please?" Davina asked.

Lizzy hesitated, searching her face for any sign she wasn't ready. But Davina held her gaze steady—too steady. Finally, Lizzy nodded and unbuckled the restraints one by one.

The moment her arms were free, Davina pushed herself upright. Her muscles trembled, but she ignored it. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood, swaying only once before she forced herself forward.

She walked out of the room without looking back.

"Davina!" Ben nearly dropped the tablet in his hands. He hurried toward her. "You're up already? Are you sure you should be—"

"I'm fine," she cut in, her voice flat but steady. "You were able to neutralize the gas, right?"

Leeann stepped forward, rubbing her forehead. "Not exactly. I neutralized what was still in your bloodstream. But anything the toxin already triggered… that's not something we can undo."

Davina nodded once, jaw tightening. "Have you contacted hospitals? They need to know at least that much."

"Not yet," Ben admitted. "We weren't even sure it would work on you."

Davina scanned the room—Ben, Leeann, Lizzy, Theo lingering in the doorway. All of them exhausted. All of them waiting for her to be okay before they moved.

"Has anyone been out since last night?" she asked.

Silence.

No one met her eyes.

Davina exhaled sharply. "We are heroes, people. All of us. Just because one of us is out of commission doesn't mean all of us need to be."

Her voice grew stronger with each word, the fire in her chest burning away the last of the fear.

"Fearme is still out there causing who knows what kind of chaos. And we are this city's only hope."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out her small nanite device, the metal glinting under the lights.

"So let's stop sitting around," she said, her voice low and commanding, "and get our asses to work."

Davina stood at the head of the table, arms crossed, still wearing the same clothes she'd collapsed in the night before. She hadn't bothered to change. Her eyes were sharp but shadowed, the exhaustion clinging to her like a second skin.

Ben, Theo, and Lizzy gathered around her while Sebastian and Leeann hovered near the monitors, prepping the tech they'd run from the mansion.

"Alright," Davina said, tapping the table. "Fearme's gas is airborne, fast‑acting, and unpredictable. We're not going out there blind again."

Theo nodded. "So we bring gas masks."

Ben frowned. "We still don't know where she is."

Sebastian spun in his chair. "Actually… we do." He tapped a screen, pulling up a map of the city. "She's been triggering small fear‑bursts around the industrial district. Testing her range. Testing reactions."

Lizzy's jaw tightened. "She's planning something bigger."

"Exactly," Davina said. "So we hit her before she hits the city."

Theo cracked his knuckles. "What's the plan?"

Davina took a breath. "Simple. I go in first. She wants me — she made that pretty damn clear. You two flank from the sides. Lizzy, you keep the air around us moving so the gas doesn't settle. Theo, you burn off whatever you can. Ben, you stay back and coordinate with Sebastian and Leeann."

Ben opened his mouth to argue, but Davina cut him off with a look.

"I'm not sitting this out," she said. "Not after what she did."

Ben swallowed but nodded.

Lizzy handed out the masks — sleek, black, reinforced. "These should hold. Should."

Theo raised a brow. "Comforting."

Davina clipped hers to her belt. "Let's move."

The industrial district was a graveyard of rust and shadows.

Fog clung to the ground, swirling around their boots as they approached the abandoned warehouse Sebastian had pinpointed. The air felt wrong — too still, too cold.

"Movement inside," Sebastian said through the coms. "Be careful."

Davina signaled the others. Masks on.

They slipped inside.

The warehouse was dim, lit only by flickering overhead lamps. Chemical barrels lined the walls. A faint purple haze drifted near the ceiling.

"Stay low," Davina whispered.

They moved in formation — Davina forward, Lizzy and Theo flanking.

Then a voice echoed through the space.

"Well, well… the little bird survived."

Fearme stepped out from behind a stack of crates, her coat flowing like smoke, her mask gleaming. She held a small canister in her hand, fingers poised over the trigger.

Davina didn't hesitate — she lunged.

Fearme dodged easily, tossing the canister into the air. It burst, releasing a cloud of violet gas.

"Fireman!" Davina shouted.

Theo thrust his arms outward, sending a small but powerful fire ball that burnt out the gas, but not fast enough. A tendril of it curled downward, brushing Theo's arm.

Theo staggered, flames sputtering. "No—no—no—"

It was than they realized that it could also be absorbed through the skin. This had to end and it has to end now!

His eyes widened, pupils dilating. "Siren, get back! I can't—"

Davina grabbed his shoulders. "Fire! Look at me. You're here. You're safe. Breathe."

He trembled, fighting the hallucination clawing at his mind.

Lizzy somehow used her water ability to keep the air moving, as sweat dripped down her temple.

Fearme laughed. "You can't save them all, Siren."

Davina turned, fury blazing. "Watch me."

She sprinted forward, dodging another burst of gas. Fearme swung a metal pipe at her, but Davina ducked, sweeping Fearme's legs out from under her. The villain hit the ground hard, but rolled away, throwing a handful of powder that exploded into more gas.

"Aqua, push it back!" Davina yelled.

"I'm trying!"

Theo finally steadied, flames reigniting around his fists. "I've got you covered!" He blasted a controlled burst of fire upward, burning away the lingering haze.

Fearme hissed. "Persistent little pests."

Davina charged again — this time catching Fearme's wrist mid‑swing. She twisted, forcing the villain to drop her last canister. It clattered across the floor.

Fearme snarled and tried to claw at Davina's mask, but Davina slammed her against a pillar, pinning her arm.

"Speed," Davina said through gritted teeth, "now."

From the coms, Ben's voice came steady. "Deploying."

A small drone zipped through a broken window, guided remotely by Sebastian. It hovered beside Davina, releasing a pair of reinforced cuffs.

Davina snapped them onto Fearme's wrists.

The moment they locked, a faint blue pulse rippled across the metal.

Fearme gasped — her body stiffening as her powers shut down.

"No—no, you can't—"

Davina leaned in close. "You're done."

Fearme collapsed to her knees, powerless.

Theo exhaled shakily. Lizzy lowered her arms, exhausted.

Sebastian's voice crackled through the coms. "Target secured?"

Davina looked down at Fearme, her chest rising and falling with adrenaline.

"Target secured," she said. "Let's bring her in."

TO BE CONTINUED