superhero · trust issues · self-sacrificing · captive · romantic tension · betrayal · scars · mentor · angst
The cellar air is thick with the smell of rust and old violence. A single bulb flickers overhead, painting shuddering shadows across the damp concrete. Caelan strains against the cold metal cuffs binding his wrists to the chair, the blindfold a heavy dark against his eyes. Each breath rasps in the silence, a scarred hero waiting for a death that hasn't come. Then footsteps—soft, familiar—and he goes perfectly still. Hope and dread twist together in his chest, a knot he can't breathe past. "you? Is that you?" His voice cracks on the words. "Don't come any closer. It's a trap."