Chapter 20 part 1

Matias

Weeks passed, then it was a month, then it was almost two.

At first Matias was pretty occupied with at least one questioning a day. However, things had slowed down and now he having them once a week. And that wasn't even a guarantee.

He had initially hated the interviews. He felt like he was asked the same questions over and over again. And then, when it was a new question, he would panic about what to say.

Eventually though, he started to appreciate them. It was ungodly boring in the prison with basically nobody else around. The only thing he could do was twiddle his thumbs and wait for Officer Hinton to show up.

That and think about Samuel, but he had been doing his best to avoid that. It made him feel sick with worry, almost like he was going to puke.

During the many questioning he had, all of which were with Officer Hinton and Officer Hinton alone, he felt he had cleared his name. Mostly, at least.

He had explained to them how he didn't kill those pedestrians first, then that gangs took advantage of his being the 'villain' and blamed their bullshit on him, and he even told the officer how poor he used to be. He explained how he did steal from that woman, but it was only because he was desperate. He strictly avoided all the drug talk though. Who knows what would happen if they found out why this all started.

There was even an entire questioning, maybe the 7th or 8th one, dedicated to asking him all about his powers.

Of course he just answered "I don't know" to most of them, but it was the truth.

That one was cut short though, once the officer realized he had the same amount of information that Matias did.

Much more recently he told the officer everything he knew about the new villain.

He explained how he took no part in working with her and every time he was 'seen working with her' it was complete bullshit. He then went on to elaborate, because he apparently wasn't clear enough the first time, on how he didn't know why she was doing anything.

The officer was clearly trying to help, but Matias couldn't help but be annoyed at some of the questions.

He'd ask what Matias knew about the new villain, Matias would say "nothing", he'd ask why she was attacking the city, Matias would say "I don't know", he'd ask where she might be now, and once again, Matias would say "I'm not sure".

It was an endless cycle of the officer asking questions that Matias couldn't answer.

However, Matias did tell them something vital. Probably the only helpful thing he could say about the villain.

It was Meera.

Matias didn't know too much about Meera, but he knew enough. He knew she was 19, her full name was Meera Yadav Kaur, and he knew she worked at the coffee shop on Greenlake.

He knew other small details too, like how she was about 5'7, Indian, had brown eyes, always had her nails done, etc, but he didn't mention that to the officer. He hadn't even thought about all of that until after the questioning anyways.

Now, it had been three days since he was last questioned. Which also meant that he hadn't seen Officer Hinton since then.

It wasn't that he minded whether he saw the officer or not, but Officer Hinton was his only way of checking up on Samuel.

The man was busy everyday, going back and forth between the hospital and the prison to check on Samuel and question Matias.

Now, who knows what could've happened to Samuel in the last couple of days.

In reality Matias knew Samuel was probably okay, but the lack of certainty scared him. Hell, it terrified him.

He was stuck on his rock hard bed, in the tiny room, staring at the brick walls, and worrying himself sick about Samuel.

That was until he heard a heavy door shut nearby. He had gotten fairly used to the sound— considering he heard it multiple times a day— but he still jumped when he heard it.

Following the sound of the door was footsteps. They walked at a steady pace, if not a bit slow, until they were just outside the cell.

When the person causing the steps walked into Matias's line of view he felt his heart jump.

He pulled himself off the bed and practically ran up to the bars, gripping them so tight his knuckles turned white.

"Is he okay?" Matias asked, much louder than intended "where the hell have you been?"

Officer Hinton's eyes widened and his mouth opened a bit.

"You haven't been here in three days, something must have happened" Matias continued, talking at light speed.

Sure, the officer hadn't been questioning him as much, but he's at least been showing up. How was Matias meant to feel when he just disappeared?

"Calm down, everything is fine" the officer said gently.

Matias always got a bit irritated when people told him to calm down, as if he were a ticking time bomb, but he took a deep breath anyways.

"I apologize for my absence, I should've at least had someone tell you I'd be gone" Officer Hinton continued.

The two stood silently for a moment, Matias not bothering to respond, until Officer Hinton suddenly pulled a key out of his pocket.

He unlocked the cell, opening it wide for Matias to get out.

Matias stepped out, but stayed close to the cell as the officer closed it. Once it was shut Matias held out his wrists.

The officers had trusted him enough to take off the handcuffs while in his cell, but he wasn't supposed to leave without them.

The officer glanced at Matias's wrists before immediately turning and walking toward the room where they did questioning.

"I don't think that will be necessary" the explained.

Matias truly didn't know if that were good or bad, but he just continued on walking behind the officer. He knew thinking too hard about it would only give him worries and a headache.

When they got to the room they each walked in and sat down, closing the door behind them.

This routine had become normal, he knew exactly what to do. It was nice to get out of his cramped cell, but having to talk about him being the villain all the time was awful.

"I don't believe I have any questions for you, but you should know about a few things" Officer Hinton spoke up.

He didn't have his note pad or that yellow folder. They were both nowhere to be seen. Matias glanced into the corner of the room. The camera was off.

"What is this all about" Matias asked slowly.

The officer also glanced back at the camera, but he clearly already knew it was off.

"This is simply me informing you of everything that will happen from here on out, there is no need to take more precautions than necessary" he explained, though Matias was still a bit skeptical.

Matias nodded, trying not to let the officer see how nervous he still was.

"First things first" Officer Hinton began, "there will be a trial regarding your alleged crimes"

Matias felt the pit in his stomach grow. Of course there'd be a god damned trial.

"We don't have a set date yet, but it will be whenever everyone is ready" he continued explaining, his voice annoyingly calm.

"Who is everyone?" Matias butted in.

It might've been a stupid question, but Matias didn't care. Surely he wasn't talking about only the judge and officer being ready, right?

"Well for starters, you will need to be ready" Officer Hinton began.

Matias scowled, but didn't say anything.

"And then we need to have all the officers who have dealt with you directly to give a statement. And then we need the hero"

Matias paused. His breathing hitched in his throat and his eyes widened, unblinking.

He was getting to see Samuel.

"However" Officer Hinton interrupted.

"However?" Matias repeated back to him.

The officer nodded.

"However, the hero was recently let out of the hospital— only with checkups every few days of course— and.."

Matias saw something in the officers face shift. He couldn't tell what it was, but it made him more nervous than what he thought was possible.

"And?" Matias asked eagerly.

His heart sped up and he could feel himself shaking all around. His leg was bouncing under the table accompanied by his fingers tapping at the same rate.

The officer stayed silent, seeming to look for his next words.

"What the hell happened?" Matias demanded.

He stood up quickly, his chair falling back behind him. His palms slammed on the table so hard he thought he might've cracked it for a second.

"Is he okay?" Matias pleaded, the mood shifting.

All his anger turned into worry as he felt his knees shake under his weight.

The officer rose to his feet. One of his hands lifted up, trying to ease Matias's nerves. The other, however, landed securely on his waist. Right where his gun was stored.

Matias felt himself flinch back ever so slightly. It's not like Officer Hinton actually pulled out his gun, but the motion of it was enough; the gesture of what cops were willing to do to people like him.

His eyes were glued the the officers gun, paying close enough attention that he saw his finger twitch.

"Just calm down, everything is fine" the officer desperately comforted, all to no avail.

"Fine?" Matias laughed dryly, "I don't know what your definition of fine is, but this" he gestured to the officers stance, hand still on gun "is not fine"

The two looked at each other for another moment. Matias felt stupid. He felt so fucking stupid. Why would he think that a police officer would give a single shit about him? The cops don't care. They just pretend to care to get answers.

"Is the hero okay?" He demanded more than asked.

Officer Hinton looked at him with a swirl of different emotions in his eyes.

Matias saw the officers hand lower from his gun, clearly trying to put Matias at ease, but it did damn near nothing.

"What happened to him?" Matias demanded once more.

The officer remained silent for another few seconds.

"You need to sit down. You are not in charge here" he finally spoke up, an assertive expression coming over his face.

"Really?!" Matias shouted, "you really think you have any fucking control right now?"

Officer Hinton glared at Matias, disappointment in his eyes. It wasn't only that though, he looked angry. And he looked betrayed. He looked like he wanted nothing more than to throw the villain back in a cell and watch him rot there.

"Sit down" he tried once more.

Matias took a breath, lowering his voice.

"So help me god, I will blow this entire fucking prison to the ground if you don't tell me where the hero is right fucking now" he asserted through gritted teeth.

He could practically feel his veins popping out of his head as his anger only got worse and worse. It was a feeling he thought he'd never have to feel again. It was a feeling he hated with all his soul.

"You can't do that" the officer stated. He wasn't asking Matias not to do it, that was very clear. He was doubting that Matias even had the power to do it.

"You want to find out?" Matias spat.

The officer looked at him skeptically for a long moment before grabbing his chair and lowering himself onto it.

"Sit" he said once more "I'll tell you what happened"

Matias wasn't sure what he should do, but he knew he wanted to find out what happened to Samuel. He needed to know what happened to Samuel.

And so he grabbed his chair up off the floor, set it back upright, and sat down.

He stayed scooted away from the table, distancing himself. He did, however, lean in attentively, waiting for the officer to continue.

"To be honest, we aren't absolutely sure what happened. We do, however, know that some of the new villains powers were seen right where the hero had left to" the officer paused, as if waiting for approval.

Matias felt his teeth chatter together and his lungs start aching for air, even when he took deep breaths. He felt his leg bounce underneath the table over-aggressively, and his eye even twitched a few times.

It took everything he had, but Matias remained seated.

"How do you know it was the new villain? I mean what if Sa.. the hero.. is just at his house?" He spoke quickly, trying to think of any way the reality he was given wasn't true.

"He don't have any footage of a fight, but there is evidence" Officer Hinton went on.

Matias looked at him with wide— frustratingly watery— eyes, waiting for him to go on. All the silence was driving Matias mad.

"The sightings of the new villains powers were in an alley right off of Greenlake, which you already know is a popularly attacked spot"

The officer looked at Matias for some kind of gesture to continue, but was met with nothing.

"In that same spot we found the area to be a wreck." He took a breath, "and we also found some blood"

Matias felt his heart beat faster, which he didn't even know was possible, and his body start to twitch even more.

"We tested the blood, two different samples from two different places, and found two separate people" he hesitated, for what seemed like the thousandth time.

"Get on with it" Matias demanded eagerly. He couldn't handle the anticipation.

"One matched the woman you said was the new villain, Meera Yadav Kaur. The other, however, matched a man I believe you're familiar with." He went on.

Out from the pocket came a photo with information written on it.

It was a old-looking passport photo of Samuel.

On the card it had a bulleted list with lots of Samuels information on it.

•Samuel Mitch Reed •Unemployed •25 years of age •born 9/26/1998 •unmarried •father of one (Ellie Rose Reed) •Profile: brown hair, brown eyes, 6'0

Matias's eyes unfocused as he finished reading all the information on the card, even though he already knew it all. Aside from his middle name at least.

"I'm sure you know as well as I do who this is" Officer Hinton said in a factly tone.

Matias stayed silent for a long moment. His eyes refused to leave the picture in front of him.

The officer sighed, pulling his hand away from Samuels picture and leaving it in the middle of the table.

"Let me be honest" he began "you and the hero each have been oddly friendly to one another recently. You two are even worried for each other."

Matias looked at him skeptically, but didn't interrupt.

"So excuse me if I assume you know who the hero really is, but can you look me in the eyes and tell me I'm wrong? Can you tell me, truthfully, that you weren't already aware that this man is the hero?" The officer questioned rather aggressively.

Matias didn't trust his voice enough to talk, but he knew the officer was right. As much as it burnt to admit it, he couldn't deny that he was only telling the truth; saying what was on his mind.

He nodded, his eyes still gazing over at the picture of Samuel.

"Alright then" Officer Hinton sighed, ending the argument.

The two sat in silence, dwelling in the situation they had created.

Minutes passed before Matias finally pulled his eyes away from the photo of Samuel. He had briefly stopped thinking, only observing the photo, which must've been taken years ago.

"I need to get out of here" Matias stated with no emotion in his voice.

The officer looked back at him skeptically, but gave no response.

"I can help him if I can just get out of here" he repeated, sounding more desperate.

"I can't let you just leave the prison. It would send everyone into a havoc" the officer finally replied, crushing all of Matias's hopes.

But he persisted anyways.

"Do you think it's safer to just let Meera roam around? Do you think people would be any less scared by the hero being fucking gone?" He hissed.

Officer Hinton opened his mouth to speak, but stopped himself.

Matias stared at the officer, waiting for his response. He waited for a minute, then two, and then three, but he still waited. He needed to help Samuel. He had to.

Finally, Officer Hinton took a deep breath and began to speak.

"I will see what I can do" he paused "but don't he surprised if you can't leave"

It took everything Matias had to keep himself seated. He wanted to jump up and down and scream and laugh and cry, but he didn't. Instead, he nodded and took a deep breath.

"Alright then" the officer said before standing up.

"I will be sure to update you more often, though be aware everything's been slow recently" he stated.

Matias stood, following the officer to the door.

"Of course"

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I think this makes up for the last chapter being a bit boring. let me know what you think