Shade: Unbound

Finn walked up the steps and through the entrance to the school building, invisibly probing with his sensory power to scan the place top to bottom. Save the people, as he couldn’t use his power on them.

However, he could still infer where they were some of the time. Arbitrary though it may have been, the objects people carried could be detected by his power. They just couldn’t be considered clothing, or part of a person, or however his power decided what he was and wasn’t able to affect. For example, if an individual a few blocks away was wearing gloves, those gloves would not be apparent to his senses. But if they were carrying an object like, say, a phone, then his power could reach it. Here at school, he put that into practice, locating the hundreds of students by the items on their person.

Finn navigated the halls of the school with a precision only his unique power could afford him. He effortlessly sidestepped a pair of students loitering near their lockers, their phones lighting up his mental map like small beacons. Ahead, a teacher's briefcase and the rattling keys in her hand signaled her presence long before he would have otherwise noticed her rounding the corner.

He'd gotten used to this peculiar way of seeing the world, where the inanimate told the story of the animate. He couldn't detect the warm breath of the person or the subtle shift of their muscles under clothing, but the clattering of a backpack full of books, the swing of a keychain, or the slight jingle of loose change was more than enough to sketch out the school’s daily rhythm.

Granted, that didn’t account for everyone. Some people, he was only vaguely aware of because they didn’t carry any such items, instead having to rely on the discoloration left by their shadows in order to infer where they were. This was even less reliable of a method for distinguishing a person from an object, as some shadows were so distorted or stationary that it was impossible for him to tell the difference.

Though he had to admit he hadn’t explored this facet of his power to the best of his ability. A limited degree of interaction with energy, Aiden had called it. Such as the light shining on a material surface, changing its perceived color. Finn didn’t understand the distinction between that and the ‘color’ of the base composition of a given material. When a certain color of light, say, a red one, shone on something, he would be able to identify that color, and how the surface looked despite the base matter itself never changing. How did his power decide what color something was? Could it truly be conceptual, like Aiden had speculated?

The only other feat he’d been able to accomplish with this technique, if he could call it that, was to dampen flames. He had already done so when Ignis started that fire during their fight. At the time, when he realized they were within his capability to affect, he had figured that he would simply blacken them so as to stop the heat from spreading. But it had been far more effective than anticipated. And the vantablack coloration over such a wide range had strained his power more than anything ever had before.

Gaining insight as to his limitations was difficult, he concluded. Especially when his power was so enigmatic. Every time Finn thought he had a grasp on it, something new and unexpected would happen, throwing him off balance. It was frustrating, like trying to piece together a puzzle without all the pieces—or with pieces that kept changing shape. Still, he had come to terms with it, knowing that understanding would come with time and practice. He just needed to keep pushing the boundaries, little by little.

His senses alerted him to a shadow moving through the crowd of students, deftly avoiding its surrounding obstacles without slowing its pace. It wove all the way through the crowd behind him until he turned to see who it was.

“Ines,” he said.

The girl he was addressing wore her dark hair in a ponytail, as usual. She wasn’t wearing a backpack or holding a phone, but he didn’t know if that was unusual, as he hadn’t ever paid that any special attention before now. Upon seeing him, her eyes widened and she smiled.

“Finn, hey! So nice of you to greet me,” she said, walking up to him.

“…Right.”

She brushed him off with a grin. “Oh, relax! We’re just chatting like we always do. So, what’s been going on with you?”

“I’ve been fine,” was all he offered. And normally, that would be the end of their talk for him, but now he wanted to know something. “You’re good friends with Casey, aren’t you?”

“The best! Why? Need me to play wingwoman some more?”

“No. I assume you’ve known her for long?”

“As long as I can remember. The two of us? We go way back. In diapers together and everything. You’d have to search far to find someone who knows Casey better than I do,” she said, her voice taking on a fond note.

He gave her a sidelong glance. “You must have spent a lot of time around her family, then.”

“Well yeah. I know them pretty well too.”

“Interesting.”

“Who’s interesting?” asked another voice from the side. Finn didn’t have to turn his head to know who it was, having recognized her bag already.

“Casey!” Ines exclaimed. “Finn was just wondering how long I’ve known you because he misses you so much.”

“Was he, now?” Casey said, arms crossed and giving him a meaningful stare.

Finn met her gaze, and immediately began to think about the possibility of her obliterating his secret identity at any moment. There was no turning back, and they both knew it. Had he made the right choice? Could she be trusted to keep that information to herself, or was she simply waiting to reveal it? And if she wasn’t, she might be the weakest link in the chain. If someone else found out about his new affiliation and wanted to pursue the face behind the mask, she might be the first to crack under pressure.

Or not.

He exhaled. “It looked like she was part of your inner circle, so I asked.”

Ines put a hand on his shoulder. “You can be, too, Finn. Just let me help you, and you can continue staring lovingly at each other all you want.”

They both shot her unamused looks.

“No need to help him. Finn’s a natural charmer, just give him some time,” said a fourth participant in this ridiculous social interaction.

Jack stepped up beside Finn with a smile, and one moment of eye contact was enough to convey a thousand words. He knew what was going on here, and he was pushing Finn along.

The banter continued after that, but Finn’s thoughts were still occupied by his friend. Gridlock was scheduled to receive instruction starting today. There weren’t many things he could do or say that would help with tonight’s training. And unlike before, he wouldn’t be there to oversee what was happening. Not to mention Jack would most likely unmask, seeing as the rest of the team had already done so.

Either way, he didn’t have long to worry about it, because their next mission was coming up soon.

*******

Landing well away from the ledge of another apartment complex, Lyra straightened her legs and began to wait. It wasn’t uncommon for this to be one of their meeting spots. Whether it was out of habit or just because it seemed more practical, they never just met up at their destination rather than linking up somewhere else before going together.

It had been getting easier, but now, she was nervous again. While Finn had given his typical “it’s fine” response when she asked if it was okay that she had chosen to unmask, she still felt she had overstepped a boundary. She hadn’t intended to force him to reveal his face; she was just so tired after fighting Nar that she hardly thought about it until it was too late.

And now she was waiting for her friend again so they could learn the outline of their next mission. So it was no surprise when she heard him coming well before he was in her field of vision. And once he was, she could hardly even tell that she was there; the sound of his grappling hook gave him away, obviously, but if she didn’t have super hearing, he could have easily escaped her notice.

If she hadn’t been specifically looking for him, she was sure he would have. The colors of his gadget and costume were blending in near-perfectly with the night, and his movements were more efficient than ever. He was close to mastering camouflage, she thought.

She would have been lying if she said she wasn’t impressed by the sudden leap of progress Finn had made against Nar. Really, she was impressed by a lot of things Finn did, but yesterday had been particularly noteworthy. He would probably blow most professional gymnasts out of the water, and she didn’t even know if she fully understood the significance of his improvement. There was probably more to it that went over her head.

The hook reeled in one more time, and her partner leaped onto the roof. “Are you ready?” he asked.

She nodded, and Finn wasted no time before turning to shoot his hook again and swing to another building. She was used to this behavior by now, and it wasn’t like they couldn’t talk on the way.

“Hey, um,” she began.

Finn just looked at her to acknowledge he had heard. He didn’t miss a step even while running with his head turned.

Lyra hesitated for a moment, trying to find the right words. "I just wanted to say... I’m sorry, again, about the whole unmasking thing. I didn’t mean to put you on the spot like that."

Finn refocused on his path, leaping smoothly between buildings. “Don’t worry about it,” he said, his tone flat but not unkind. “It was my decision to reveal myself, not yours.”

“Yeah, but…”

“But nothing. I know how exactly much of a risk I took by showing them my face. It’s too late to change my mind and too soon to regret it. I was planning to do something similar regardless. None of it was your fault. It would be pathetic of me to blame you for choosing to be open,” he countered. Then after a pause, he added, “And don’t think I don’t understand why you did it.”

Now it was her turn to pause. He’d known why she did it? Why had she… oh gosh. That was so embarrassing. She was so desperate for affection that she’d jumped at the first opportunity to try and forge new connections, and he knew it. She felt her face heating up as she realized she’d been seen through. She needed to say something else, quickly.

“Okay, I think you’re right. Maybe I was just… curious.”

She could imagine Finn’s raised eyebrow. “Curious?”

“Mhm, I just wanted to know why you did it, I guess. Taking your mask off, I mean,” she said. Wow, that sounded dumb. She re-apologized for something she’d already been forgiven for because she couldn’t communicate like a normal human being.

Her awkwardness hung in the air for a moment as she struggled to recover from her own words. Finn didn’t immediately respond, navigating the rooftops with a fluid grace that seemed almost second nature to him. The silence wasn’t uncomfortable, but it wasn’t exactly reassuring either. Lyra wanted to kick herself for fumbling the conversation, but there was no taking it back now.

“I already knew all of them from my civilian life,” he said eventually. “I didn’t interact with them often, and I can’t take it back, but that familiarity influenced my thought process.”

Lyra blinked. “Really? That makes sense.”

She nodded to herself, not sure if Finn noticed the gesture. There was more to it than she had initially been aware of. He wasn’t doing these things impulsively at all, was he? All his decisions were well thought-out. He always had a reason, a plan, even if he didn’t share it. Maybe especially when he didn’t share it. Could she emulate that behavior?

These thoughts are pointless. Embrace me and observe your true nature.

She frowned. Of course. When the voice in her head reared its ugly head again, she could do nothing except bite her lip in muted frustration and ignore it, like basically every other time it happened. Was it getting more insistent?

Lyra shook off those thoughts, knowing they wouldn’t help her here. They had arrived, and they were going to be receiving the necessary information on their next mission from their benefactor, Cyrus Wardell.

Time to see what they were getting involved with this time.