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The first time he killed someone - honest to god and with intent in his heart, he didn’t use the infliction that marked him dangerous in the first place.
Henry Leggett - mercenary for hire, had not been on the radar for Waller or whoever she worked for until he broke into S.T.A.R. labs and armed himself with some new tech. Kill a few people on your own dime, sure, but this was just bad for business.
Henry wore a pair of gauntlets on his arms, blood dripping from where the connection met his skin, his veins standing out blue all the way to his elbows. He shattered a wall with a red blast, laughing in manic ecstasy. Abner was reminded of the prototypes of his own cuffs, and the painful testing that refined them.
Robert’s voice blared in his ear: “-you read? Answer me, Krill!”
He tried to swallow, but his throat was too dry. How had he wound up so far from the rest? He leant back against the building, hoping he wouldn’t be spotted.
“Yeah… Yeah,” he panted out. He could hear Robert sighing in his earpiece.
“You need to take him down, Krill.”
“What?”
“Kill him. He’s too much of a threat.”
He peeked around the corner and saw the side of the face they had all been given in the mission report. Not his mother. Not an excuse. Robert should be here, he was raised to kill, wasn't he? Abner wasn’t a fucking murder machine.
“I- I can’t…”
He looked back out at this man, and thought desperately for something else to do.
“You can. Abner, you can do this.”
And then there was a scuffle sounding further up on Abner’s side of the street. A very small hand was clawing through the rubble, catching Henry’s attention. A woman ran from the other side of the road, her child’s name on her tongue and-
A bright red blast landed her on the ground.
Henry continued walking like nothing had happened. Robert was speaking in Abner’s ear but he couldn’t hear him. The distance was closing between him and Henry, and he only had a split second to think: What was he going to do now?
Then a blankness came over his mind, like a limb falling asleep. When he was aware again, Henry was beneath him, face now unrecognizable. There was a brick in Abner’s hand and he was laughing. He was laughing but he couldn't remember the joke.
There was a hand on his shoulder and he wheeled around to find Cleo- Robert and Rick and Nanaue stood close behind, all of them looking uncomfortable. There was a spray of blood on Cleo’s cheek, and he panicked at the thought that she was hurt. He moved forward but was halted by the firm grip of Harley’s hand on his shoulder. She was glaring at him like she’d never done, and he shrunk away.
“Harley?”
She relaxed, and then took hold of both his shoulders, rubbing him up and down. Finally, she smiled back at him.
“It’s alright, Polky. You just… reminded me of someone for a minute there.”
He wasn’t sure what she meant. He heard a thud and looked to see that the brick had finally fallen from his hand. His hand was shaking, the beginnings of a cramp setting in. He looked back at Henry, and what was left of him, but couldn’t summon the joy from before.
He did the right thing, right?
Robert was rubbing his hand through his hair, looking thoroughly done.
“I.. I took him down,” Abner said, quite lamely.
After a silent pause, Rick stepped forward and patted him on the back, guiding him into the group.
“Yeah, yeah you did, buddy.”