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Agent Ace Chapter 12 || HARLEY -1-

Rating: Teen + Word Count: 4,388 Content Warnings: Reader discretion is advised. Click here for a list of potential warnings; numbers #4* and #4*** both apply. Summary: After a heartfelt moment in the city, Harley and Jade return home, unaware of the danger that awaits them there.

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June 25 9:00 P.M. Manalis House

Jade pulled into Harley’s driveway, parking behind Ahren’s car. The headlights illuminated the front yard, which, aside from a single potted rose on the front porch, was barren and overrun with weeds. Melissa rarely had time to do any yard work.

“Are you sure it’s alright for me to come inside?” Jade asked. She studied the house through her window, resting one hand on the steering wheel. “Ahren sounded pretty frazzled over the phone. I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

“You could never,” Harley replied as she unbuckled her seatbelt. “Besides, it could be fun! The house has been so gloomy lately. We could use your sunny disposition.”

“Well… alright.” Jade shut off the car, and the headlights died away. “What the heck?”

“That’s the spirit!” Harley grinned and shoved open the door. “I hope you like slapjack. Ahren’s terrible, and since Mom’s still not here, I might actually win.”

“I’ve never played.” Jade picked up the can of spray paint from the backseat and gave it a playful rattle. “Though I have been told that I am a beast at cribbage.”

Harley laughed. She’d played cribbage with Jade enough times to know that she’d never stand a chance.

They stepped out to a hazy purple sky and the thick scent of rain. While the rest of the city never seemed to sleep, time almost stopped under the dimly-lit streets of Stahlfeld. Peace and quiet had always been Melissa’s preference, and after everything their family had been through, Harley couldn’t say she blamed her.

Thunder rumbled faintly overhead as they walked up to the porch. Harley knocked twice on the front door, and it creaked ajar at her touch.

“Um, okay.” She peered around the edge of the door, though she saw nothing through the darkness. “Why isn’t it locked?”

“Maybe Ahren forgot?” Jade said.

Harley nodded uncertainly, doing her best to ignore the tight feeling in her chest. “Ahren? We’re here!”

She pushed the door open all the way and entered to an uncanny silence. Every light was off, shrouding the hallway and living room in shadow. Goosebumps prickled on her arms as soft footsteps padded behind her, even though she knew it was only Jade.

“Harley Manalis.”

The low voice lingered in her ear, chilling her from the inside out. She froze.

That’s not Ahren.

Light pulsed in the corner of her eye as the living room lamp flicked on. She flinched as Jade grabbed her arm with a gasp.

Ahren sat on a chair in the middle of the room, his face pale with anxiety, clutching one mangled, bloody arm to his chest. Behind him, a woman in black leather lounged on the couch, with her wedged combat boots propped up on the armrest. White-blonde hair spilled over her shoulders, and slivers of light bounced across the walls as she twirled a silver dagger in one hand. She turned her head slowly, and Harley’s breath hitched as her blue eyes pierced through her like shards of ice.

A vigilante. Harley had never met one, but somehow, she was certain.

The vigilante tilted her head to the side. “You shouldn’t have brought her along.”

Without warning, Jade released her arm. Harley watched in horror as she flew back down the hallway, as if something invisible had struck her in the gut. She yelped as the curve of her back connected with the wall, pinning her in place.

“Jade!” Harley started to move, but faltered as cold steel pressed against her throat. Her stomach dropped as she looked down to the dagger hovering in midair, the blade kissing her skin.

“Stand down,” the vigilante warned. “Not one move.”

Her heartbeat flew into a frenzy as slow footsteps thudded behind her. Jade lay rigid against the wall, fixing Harley with a wide, fearful gaze. Harley stared back, helpless and unable to speak.

The vigilante paced in a circle around Harley, stopping to face her. She held a flat, outstretched hand in Jade’s direction, while the other sat poised beneath the dagger, close enough to caress the hilt. A light hum emanated from her fingertips.

“You can decide to come with me,” the vigilante said, her voice deadly soft as the dagger edged closer to Harley, “or I’ll make the decision for you.”

“Let her go!” Ahren yelled.

The vigilante snapped her head towards Ahren, and the dagger spun to face him like a compass needle. “Silence. Don’t make me regret sparing you.”

Harley held her breath, transfixed by the floating dagger. This woman could control the dagger while holding Jade in place—without putting a finger on either. But how? Some sort of magic trick, or an optical illusion?

No. Technology. That had to be the solution—at least, it was more plausible than magic. But when did the world advance to accommodate telekinesis?

Jade let out a low cough. Harley watched from the corner of her eye as she extended her arm out in front of her, the can of spray paint trembling in her hand.

As her gaze met Harley’s, she dipped her chin into a tiny nod.

Harley furrowed her brow. “Wha—”

She broke off as the vigilante’s gaze returned to bore through her skull. Her face was inches away, so close that Harley could make out a freckle below her right eye.

“Say that again.” Her voice was sharp and no louder than a whisper.

Jade tossed the can into the air. As it sailed towards Harley, an impulse clicked inside of her, sending her into forward drive. Without breaking her gaze, she grabbed the can above her head and rammed it into the vigilante’s face.

Her arms bounced back from the recoil as the vigilante staggered back soundlessly, holding her face in her hands. Behind her, Jade collapsed off the wall with a gasp. The dagger dropped out of the air, and Harley lunged forward to catch it clumsily before it hit the floor.

Gripping it tightly, she backed into the living room, jumping as Ahren’s hand grasped her shoulder from behind. The vigilante stood up straight, staring balefully in their direction as she reached over her shoulder. With a metallic clang, she unsheathed a broad, gleaming knife the length of Harley’s forearm and leveled it in front of her.

Oh, shit.

“Get back,” Ahren muttered.

Harley clenched her teeth, her legs shaking as she lifted the dagger higher. The vigilante’s lip curled into a snarl.

With a high-pitched battle cry, Jade sprang onto the vigilante’s back, latching her arms around her neck. The vigilante spun and thrashed as Jade locked one arm and reached forward with the other, grabbing the hilt of the blade.

The vigilante took Jade by the arms and wrestled her free. She flipped her off her back and slammed her down on top of the dining room table. The knife slipped out of Jade’s fingers, pausing in midair, before soaring back to the vigilante’s hand.

Blood pumping in her ears, Harley shoved Ahren aside and lunged toward them. “Hey!”

She drove the dagger as deep as she could into her back. The vigilante crumpled to her knees with a guttural scream of shock. At the same time, Harley cried out and staggered back, hands shaking in front of her.

What did I… how did I—

She flinched as a pair of hands landed on her shoulders, which spun her around until she was staring up at Jade’s round, panicked eyes.

“Jade!” she gasped, heart hammering inside her chest. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine!” Jade replied breathlessly as she took Harley’s wrists in her hands. “But we—”

“We need to go!” Ahren yelled from behind them. “Now!”

Jade nodded, releasing Harley to follow after Ahren as he disappeared through the front door. Harley only made it a few steps after them before a hand roughly grabbed the collar of her shirt and yanked her back. Her gut dropped, and her heels dug into the carpet as she reeled backwards and bent over the table.

Her mind froze as the vigilante’s palm struck her in the chest, looming above her with a gleaming, rabid gaze. Her hair fell in front of her face, the long strands brushing across Harley’s cheeks.

Harley huffed, pain sparking through her jaw as she clamped it shut. Adrenaline surged through her body, and a cry exploded from her mouth as she kicked her leg out with as much force as she could summon. Her foot slammed into the vigilante’s gut, knocking her away without a sound.

Harley threw her head forward and pushed off of the table. As she started her dash back towards the threshold, the door shut with a bang. The vigilante rose to her feet, with one hand reaching towards Harley.

Shit, shit, shit!

Harley’s footsteps thudded against the wooden floor as she ran back the way she came, aiming for the staircase—her next closest escape.

The stairs shook as the vigilante climbed after her. An end table with a porcelain vase sat at the top of the landing; Harley upended it, sending them both tumbling down the stairs. She barely heard the wooden crash and the shattering of the vase as she crossed the landing into her room, slamming the door and locking it shut behind her.

She’d bought herself some time, but now she’d cornered herself. She had to act fast.

As the vigilante’s footsteps grew louder, Harley shoved a bookcase in front of the door to barricade it. A second later, the walls shook as the vigilante slammed into the door repeatedly with all of her weight. The bookcase wobbled with each impact, books spilling off the shelves as it threatened to tip forward.

Harley turned away and surveyed the room, her eyes falling on her suitcase that lay half-unpacked on the floor. Nestled on top of a pile of clothes was the headphones and Uncle Kit’s communication orb. Without a second thought, she snatched them both up; there wasn’t time to take anything else.

Setting the headphones around her neck, she looked to the window. If she could get it open, she could crawl out onto the roof. But she was on the second story—it would be a long drop to the driveway, and there was nothing in here that she could use as a rope.

A loud crack sounded from behind her. Her time was up.

Her next best bet was to hide.

Dropping to her knees, Harley rolled under the bed. The wood bed frame nearly suffocated her as darkness fell over her like a blanket. She clutched the orb to her chest, holding still while dust tickled her nose.

The banging on the door stopped. From the spot under the bed, Harley saw the bottom of the bookcase shift along the floor, clunking back into its place against the wall.

The door, now open by a sliver, swung open wide.

Harley held her breath as the vigilante entered the room. The carpet softened each step she took, but every vibration ran through Harley’s body like a shudder.

The vigilante stopped in the middle of the room. Harley couldn’t see anything above her boots, but she could imagine her eyes scanning the room, like a cat stalking a mouse.

“I know you’re here.” Her voice was low, but clear. “What are you afraid of?”

Harley’s pulse skipped a beat as the vigilante took slow steps across the room, away from the bed and towards the closet. As silently as she could, Harley rolled over onto her stomach and inched over to the edge of the bed. The tip of the vigilante’s dagger became visible, wickedly sharp and slick with blood from when Harley stabbed her.

“We can help each other.” She spoke again, almost in a monotone. “Everyone else is a liability. Understand?”

In a flash, she ripped open the closet door. Fabric rippled inside before the room fell silent again. Harley squeezed out from beneath the bed and crawled over to her dresser a couple of feet away, crouching beneath it just as the vigilante turned back towards the bed. She clicked her tongue and flipped the dagger around threateningly.

“No use hiding.” She took one step towards the bed, then another. “Show yourself, before I find you first.”

Harley pressed her back against the dresser, craning her neck towards the vigilante. One more step, and she had an opening.

“Harley.” The vigilante came into view. “It’s time to be a hero.”

Harley sprang out at her from behind the dresser, reaching for the dagger. She let out a cry as the vigilante grasped her by the scruff of her neck and threw her down to the ground. Her cheek stung against the carpet, and as she lifted her head, the tip of the blade met her nose.

“Up.”

Shakily, Harley returned to her feet, holding the orb close to her body as the vigilante positioned the dagger beneath her chin. A thin trail of blood trickled down the center of the vigilante’s face, dripping off the tip of her nose.

But the gash that Harley gave her had begun to glow a brilliant blue.

Harley’s lips parted as she let out a quivering breath. “Wh-Who are you?”

The vigilante’s frown deepened. Without a word, she lifted up Harley’s chin with the dagger, forcing her to meet her stare. Harley’s heartbeat thumped against the orb.

“Shut your mouth,” the vigilante said, her voice deadly quiet. “And no sudden moves.”

At first, Harley couldn’t bring herself to disobey. Her mind raced while she was frozen in place.

I can’t go with her. I have to get out of here. I have to do something!

With a surge of strength and conviction, she turned and chucked the orb at the window. The glass pane shattered on impact, sending a shower of shards in every direction. Harley shoved the vigilante’s arm away and leaped on top of the bed. Broken glass grazed her skin as the extra momentum from the mattress sent her through the window and onto the roof.

The orb soared over the roof in slow motion. Harley dove for it with outstretched arms. As she snatched it narrowly out of the air, her foot slipped on a roof tile and she lost balance, tipping over off the edge of the roof.

A bellow of thunder rang out in the sky, mocking her.

Raindrops pelted her face as the driveway raced up to meet her. Her throat tightened as she held back a scream, and every muscle in her body tensed for the impact.

She squeezed her eyes shut. A second passed. And then another. Three seconds, four seconds.

Why hadn’t she hit the cold pavement?

Harley pried her eyes open to find herself hovering a foot off the ground, before her body dropped out of the air with a soft thud. She sat back upright on the rain-speckled driveway just in time to see the vigilante jump off the roof and float down—almost angelically—to land in front of Harley. Wind lashed through her hair as the rain mixed with blood, streaking across her face in rivulets.

The dagger glinted dully as she flipped the blade to point at Harley and held it up high.

“N-No.” Harley’s voice cracked as she scrambled away from her. “Please, no—!”

Bright light flooded Harley’s vision. She blinked and it was gone, replaced by the screeching of tires as a moving wall slammed into the vigilante.

Harley watched in shock as she crumpled over the slick black hood of a cargo van, bouncing off the windshield before rolling off into a heap on the driveway. The dagger clattered down in front of her, blood staining the pavement as the rain washed the blade clean.

She gawked up at the van as the tinted passenger window rolled down. A strange man sat in the driver’s seat, his gaze transfixed in horror at the windshield, but Jade’s hands were on the wheel, half sitting in his lap.

“Get in!” she screamed.

After the initial second of shock, Harley seized the dagger and ran towards the van. She threw open the door and crawled up onto the seat.

“Shut the door, quickly!” The driver demanded, his voice high with stress.

Harley shot backwards, her arm almost dragging her out the open window. The dagger sailed around to the front of the truck, to the vigilante’s trembling hand.

The driver let out a shout, grabbing the wheel. “Damn! Hold on!”

He slammed his foot on the gas, and the van screeched down the driveway. Harley fell back inside, pulling the door shut behind her. Her stomach did a loop as the van pivoted around before speeding off down the road.

Breathing heavily, Harley peeled herself off the door and grabbed the center console for balance. “Who are you?” she asked the driver.

He shot her a glance from behind Jade’s head before turning back towards the road with a rigid posture. “I’ll answer that in a minute,” he panted. “But for now, I need you both to get in the back!”

Harley nodded. “O-Okay.”

Jade took her hand as they climbed off the seats and entered the doorway behind them. The back of the van was windowless and dim, lit by a long line of string lights hanging above them from wall to wall. A half-deflated air mattress lay tucked in the corner, mostly buried beneath a pile of threadbare blankets.

Sitting atop the mattress was Ahren, who seemed occupied in wrapping up his injured arm with scraps of fabric he ripped from the blankets. He looked up, and his face fell in relief. “Harley, you made it! I wasn’t sure we’d be able to get you out of there.”

Harley’s knees buckled as she took a step forward. Jade caught her just before she fell, and the two of them collapsed next to Ahren on top of the mattress.

“Harley!” Jade’s arms wrapped around her tightly, holding her so close that Harley could feel her pulse racing against her own. “Did she hurt you? Please tell me you’re okay.”

Harley gasped for air, clinging to Jade as her body shook violently with each breath she took. She leaned back with her head on Jade’s chest as her hold around her grew tighter.

“I-I-I...” She swallowed as her eyes grew blurry with tears. “I—”

Jade shushed her gently, resting her head on top of Harley’s. Harley shut her eyes and curled her fingers around Jade’s arms, sinking into the warmth of her embrace.

Her breath hitched again. She stretched her legs out in front of her, working to relax her muscles.

Breathe, Harley. Breathe in, breathe out.

Slowly, she peeled her eyes back open. The string lights clattered softly above her as they swung back and forth with the movement of the van. For several minutes, she stared up at them, too dazed to move or think. The heavy pattering of raindrops on the roof filled the van as Harley struggled to slow her breathing back into a steady rhythm.

“Harley.” After what felt like an hour, Jade finally spoke in a shaky whisper. “That was her. The one who broke into my apartment.”

Harley’s voice was hoarse, scratching her throat as she asked, “Are you sure?”

“Positive,” Jade replied. “As soon as I saw her face, I remembered.”

Harley nodded stiffly, reaching up to wipe the tear tracks from her cheeks. How the hell did we make it out of there alive?

Victor Kylmenko’s lifeless face loomed in her vision—the Guardian that died the morning of Sophia’s call. That vigilante had killed him. There was no questioning that now.

But why had she spared Harley?

“She’s not working alone.”

Harley sat up and turned to Ahren, who looked back at her with a face full of guilt.

“What did you say?” she asked.

He turned his head to face the opposite wall without a response. Curious and confused, Harley followed his gaze to see a makeshift bulletin board sprawling along the wall of the van, overcrowded with papers and webs of yarn.

“Woah,” Jade said, releasing Harley from her grip. “What is that?”

Harley made her way back to her feet, approaching the wall with careful steps. A map of the city lay spread out in the center of the wall, marked with scribbles and notes that were impossible to decipher. Colorful, holographic cards had been taped all over the map, each one featuring art bearing the likeness of a Guardian.

With a jolt, Harley recognized the cards. They belonged to Heroes of Glory, a popular strategy-based game where players pitted the elite Guardians against each other to find out who would win in a fight. It had been Sophia’s favorite game as a kid, and Harley used to play occasionally with Jade and Max during lunch and study hall.

The cards were taped to the corresponding districts of the Guardians on the card—Equinox of Blumoore, in her signature yellow and purple leather jacket, arms crossed as she smirked from behind red visors. The Falconeer of Lexdon with his swarm of birds of prey circling overhead. Barracuda of Skyline brandishing his famous spear, the hooked tip glittering in the light. Seraph of Aylor Square, her gaze skyward as she spread her mechanical wings in a ray of celestial light.

One Guardian in particular caught her eye—Maverick of Kinghaven, who Jade and Max had once dubbed ‘Space Cowboy.’ He tipped back his wide-brimmed hat with a wink, pointing the smoking barrel of a sniper rifle at Harley. The artist had clearly meant for this pose to be cheeky, but seeing it now had a much different vibe.

Maverick had been Sophia’s handler when she joined the Guard. He’d trained her as a sharpshooter and sniper, and Harley knew Sophia admired him. His card was also valuable in the game, with a unique ability written in a small script along the bottom of the card.

Double Agent: Discard a Guardian of your choice from your hand and draw a new card from the top of the deck.

Something about that ability, coupled with the fact that Maverick’s picture was present in this van at all, filled Harley with dread.

Don’t trust the Watch.

With a sinking weight in her gut, Harley turned away from the map to read the other papers on the wall. After skimming over files of medical jargon and more notes that were just as illegible as before, she found a collection of photographs. Sketches, IDs, mugshots, candid portraits—most were low resolution, and the subjects hard to make out, but the clearest ones had some familiar faces. Jade and Victor, Max and Sophia. Even Harley herself.

Immediately, she snatched the photos off the wall and knelt down next to Jade, spreading them on top of the mattress. “Jade, look at this!”

Ahren began to interject. “Harley, what—”

“It’s Max!” Jade held his picture up to the light, and then grabbed another. “And the murdered Guardian, too. It’s like this guy is collecting evidence for their cases.”

“Not just any case,” Harley murmured. “Sophia’s case.”

Ahren cleared his throat. “I can explain.”

Harley looked up with a frown. “Ahren, what’s going on?”

“The Watch hasn’t been able to contact Sophia for days now,” Ahren said, fiddling nervously with a thread hanging loose off the wraps on his arm. “And the lack of concern on their end was suspicious. So… I may or may not have hired a private investigator to find her.”

Harley blinked. “Private investigator?”

“Detective August Bracken.” Ahren smiled wryly. “He has the best reputation in the city.”

“Better than the Watch?” Jade asked. “Or has the market for detectives been booming lately?”

Ahren shrugged. “Let’s just say he was desperate for work, and I’m desperate for answers. Plus, he showed up when I alerted him to an emergency at the house, so I have no reason to complain.”

So, that’s why he was waiting for us outside. “What do we know so far?” Harley asked.

Ahren picked up one of the photographs, staring down at it grimly. “Max’s case is one piece to a puzzle August has been trying to solve for years. The Watch may have been in on it, and Sophia had no idea what she signed up for.”

Harley’s blood froze at the mention of the Watch. She buried her face in her arms as the thought that had plagued her for days now came surging back at full force.

This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening. This—

“The Watch is behind this?” Jade’s voice sounded far away. “How?”

Ahren sighed. “Look, there’s a lot I don’t know. I don’t know what they’re hiding, and I don’t even know if they can be trusted. But what I do know—what August knows—is that they’re connected to a bigger issue. All of this is.”

Harley lifted her head. “And what’s that?”

Ahren passed her the photo in his hand. “Vigilantes.”

Harley squinted at it in the dim light. The image itself was dark, and details were hard to make out, but it looked like a full-face metal mask, expressionless except for the empty eye sockets. Upon closer inspection, she noticed a spot of ink had bled through the image, and she flipped it over to see a crude drawing of a black-and-white diamond, accompanied by a single word, this time written clearly.

Pluto.

But Harley barely noticed it. Somehow, she felt inexplicably drawn to the diamond. She knew she’d seen it before. But where?

Jade peered over her shoulder, furrowing her brow. “What’s that mean?”

Ahren took another deep breath. “It means the vigilantes have started working together.”

To be continued...

⬗ NEXT CHAPTER COMING SOON ⬗

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I reserve all rights to the contents of this post. Any similarities to real-life people, places, or events are purely coincidental. Attempts to use or reproduce my work without my consent will not be tolerated. I share my work on this Tumblr account, on AO3 under the same name, and on Wattpad under the username @ persephonehale. If you read this story anywhere else or under any other name, please notify me immediately, as I am unaware of and did not consent to its distribution to any other platforms. Thank you!

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