Seek {Superhero AU} - Ending 1

35: Family Line, II

A/N: I wonder why this track has come up again? It wouldn't possibly be a symbol, omen, or anything else meaningful, right? Right??

I fully expect song meaning analyses in the comment sections. If I don't see English-degree-level essays about what the song is here to signify, I'm going to kill off Nico di Angelo and make Will date Luke instead

PS: Buckle your seatbelts. And please consider not murdering me.

WPOV

Track: Family Line, Conan Gray

Nico leads me down the long halls of cells, and my heart pounds with anticipation. I'm trying to figure out who the Viper is—I mean, there's just not that many people it can be. Especially now that we know that they didn't just get lucky with the bookshelf. Nico says they really know me—and that's bad because that means I should have seen this coming.

My palms are sweaty. I don't know if I'm really ready to face this. I mean, if it's someone I care about, that doesn't change everything that's happened—all the threats on Nico's life. Invading my home!

"Almost there," Nico says, and we turn one last corner and—

I see her grabbing the bars of a cell, her forehead leaning against the door as she cries.

I think I'm going to be sick.

Nico had been right. The Viper is my mother—why didn't Hazel say that? And, I mean, fuck! I don't want this to be true.

My mother is a killer, and she might have done something good by helping Hazel, but she also told Nico he had to die tonight—that's not excusable. It's not okay, none of this is okay, and how the fuck am I supposed to be okay after this?

The moment I saw her, I froze, and I haven't moved an inch yet. I feel like an idiot. Nico had tried to tell me—tried to warn me about my mother. What is it that my mother is always saying about me? I never see the bad in people. Maybe what she was trying to say was that I couldn't see the bad in her. The whole reason I became Sunburst in the first place was so that I could make things easier for her—I could make her proud. Every moment, I've tried doing what she would be proud of. She's made me into the person I am today—and so if she's evil, then what does that make me?

"You were right, Nico," I say, and my voice comes out weak, and I'm barely holding myself together. "You told me it was my mother, and I didn't listen. I didn't think—I mean, who would ever think—?" At this point, my voice breaks completely, and I cover my mouth with one hand to try to hide a sob. When I pull myself together enough to talk, all I can manage to say is, "You're my mother. If you're evil, everything I know about right and wrong—and, I mean, what do I do after this? Where did you think I would live when you got caught?"

My mother is still crying quietly. "I didn't think—Will, honey, I love you so much; I never want you to think I ever meant to hurt you with any of this—"

"I defended you," I say, and it's not quite a whisper, but it's soft and afraid. "Mom, Nico could have found his sister sooner had I believed him, but I said—I told him you would never—how could you—?"

I know I'm not making any sense, but my emotions are a mess inside of me. I can't decide whether I'm angry or sad or just terrified, so instead I switch between the three, jumping from one emotion to the next with reckless abandon. Nico's hand is on my shoulder, and he rubs slow circles into my skin, silent and unsure of himself.

And then I remember what he said: I want you to know that I'm still getting my revenge even if it's your mother.

I tear myself out of his arms, stumbling toward my mother's cell. "Nico, you can't kill her. I know you said you wanted revenge, but—I mean, Nico, please—"