ã€ŠI Fell For My Nemesisã€‹


 Chapter 1 - Were Totally Villains

    Avery West lived for the weekend and not for the reason you might think. She didn''t hate her job at all¡ªin fact, she loved it. What she loved more was her weekly meetup with her crush. It was the only time she was able to see him.

    If things were different she would doll herself up and try to catch his attention. Unfortunately, they weren''t. He didn''t know what she looked like or even what she sounded like.

    That may make it seem like he didn''t know she existed but nothing could be further from the truth. They interacted plenty. One of her favorite things about him was his witty banter. When she got home she tended to rey it in her head and squeal as she hugged her pillow and kicked the air.

    He truly was perfect in every way imaginable except for one tiny problem.

    The sensors in Avery''s suit went off detecting a threat and she instinctively shot her arm out to stop the projectile aiming for her head. Which just so happened to be her crush''s ankle.

    She held him in mid-air for a moment and smiled even though he couldn''t see her do it. "Fancy seeing you here, Fly Boy."

    "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me Fly Boy?!" he asked in frustration as he tried to break her grip. The suit made her ten times stronger than the average professional weightlifter but he was strong enough that he could usually take her in a fight.

    "Well, you can fly and you''re a boy. Why not?"

    "Because it sounds stupid. How would you like it if I called you Super-suit Man?"

    Averyughed. It would be a major misnomer but she didn''t care. Her father was the one who chose his viin name not her. She simply took up the mantle after he died to continue his mission.

    And that was the tiny problem between the two of them that wasn''t so tiny after all. She was the viin Nox and her crush was the hero Mercury. By the very nature of their titles any rtionship was impossible but she couldn''t help her feelings.

    He was handsome¡ªat least what she could see was¡ªon top of being kind, smart, funny, and good with children and animals. Because of the mask he wore she could only see his chiseled jaw, wavy dark brown hair, and hazel eyes that were a beautiful mixture of green and gold. He had a great build too and he would still be taller than her if she was wearing heels, which was a real aplishment since she was 5''10".

    Mercury managed to free himself and began fighting her in earnest. Avery had to do her best to fend him off while not dropping the precious cargo she was carrying under one arm.

    "What are you stealing this time?" he asked as he tried to grab it.

    He was fast but she was faster thanks to the suit''s capabilities. "Now why would I go and tell you something like that? I''m not one of those obnoxious superviins who goes rambling about their ns left and right."

    "Unfortunately. Those guys are easier to deal with. You''re the most difficult viin I deal with, you know that?"

    Avery grinned at him. That was quite apliment. It meant he thought she was clever. It wasn''t an inurate assessment either; most of the time when they went up against each other she managed to get away with whatever she was stealing. On the rare asions she didn''t she still made her escape. He hadn''t sessfully caught her and turned her over to the police once.

    "I''m ttered! As fun as this has been, I really do need to get going now. See you next week since you always seem to know how to find me," she said before pushing a button on her suit that would shoot a cloud of ck pepper into his face.

    Mercury momentarily lost his bearings because he had to stop to sneeze and cursed about it getting in his eyes. She felt sorry for him but she didn''t have time to stand around and chat today. The contents of the box needed to be delivered urgently.

    "Be sure to rinse your eyes out with clean water!" Avery called over her shoulder as she broke through a window and jumped through it.

    She couldn''t fly like he could but she was able to make veryrge jumps. Bouncing from building to building to find a safe ce tond had taken a lot of practice but she had it down after doing this for nearly three years.

    Sometimes it was hard to believe that her father had been gone that long. She still missed him every day.

    He had been a nanotechnology expert and built this suit with the help of his partner and best friend Horatio Cruz. Horatio passed away in the same orchestrated ident her father did and his son had taken up his spot as tech support the same way Avery had be Nox. He was who she was on her way to see right now.

    She nimblynded on the fire escape of his apartment building and pushed the button that would make the suit retract back into the smartwatch on her wrist. She shook out her long, stick-straight white hair after taking off her hair tie and knocked on the window.

    "Hey, Angelo," Avery said cheerfully, still in a good mood from her run-in with Mercury.

    Her friend rolled his eyes. "Let me guess¡­you saw your super boy again. Did you at least get the goods?"

    Angelo was aware of her hopeless crush on the hero and thought she was ridiculous. She hadn''t told him on purpose; he had figured it out on his own after knowing her since they were toddlers. She always reacted the same way when she liked someone.

    "What do you take me for?" she scoffed as she held out the box. "So do you know where to send all of this or not?"

    He threw her words back at her. "What do you take me for? I already have the list pulled up. Are you ready to go make some viinous deliveries?"

    "I think of myself as more of a Robin Hood than a viin."

    "We''re trying to dismantle the world as we know it. We''re totally viins even if we have good intentions."

    Angelo had a point. Their enemy was Hunsacher Inc., a conglomerate that basically ruled the country. They managed to hide it well using dummy corporations and whatnot but the same man was behind the helm of everything. Tugging strings to make himself richer and more powerful at the expense of others.

    Hunsacher Inc. controlled everything from food production to medicine. Which was exactly what Avery had stolen tonight. And in muchrger quantities than this single box.

    Her appearance at the warehouse had been a decoy to distract Mercury. Drones her father and Horatio created did most of the dirty work for her, sneaking the rest out to a delivery truck that Angelo''s cousin Jorge had on standby.

    "Maybe so but someone has to take Hunsacher down a peg. Who better than us?"

    They were a small team that consistedrgely of Hunsacher employees who were horrified by the truth and wanted to put an end to Nn Hunsacher''s reign of terror. Like her and Angelo''s fathers had been. Recruitment was difficult but Angelo could hack anything so if there was someone who had it out for Hunsacher he knew how to find them.

    Her phone buzzed and she smiled when she saw the text. "Jorge says he''s hanging out at a truck stop waiting for me to show up and start distribution."

    "I just sent the list to you. Be warned, there are a lot more names than usual. I don''t think you''ll be able to give them as much as you didst time. Prices are skyrocketing; it''s obscene how many people can''t afford medicine that keeps them alive," Angelo said in disgust.

    Avery let out a sad sigh. It certainly was. Especially since the medicine in question was so cheap to make. There was absolutely no reason to hike up the prices. That was true evil; not what she and her band of anti-Hunsacher renegades were doing.

 Chapter 2 - The Insulin Fairy

    Avery''s suit was ck and allowed her to blend into the night as she leapt from building to building on her way to meet Jorge. When she arrived she made sure the coast was clear before retracting the suit and walked over to him with a smile.

    "Hey, Jorge. Ready to rock?" she asked.

    "What I''m ready for is to sleep this off when the night is over. Last time we were up until 4 AM," heined. "This whole process is tooplicated."

    That was undeniable. Since big trucks had limits on New York City roads they had to take a bunch of little trips traveling back and forth using a much smaller car while leaving the semi at the truck stop as a home base.

    Driving back and forth, especially with traffic, took ages. At least Jorge had a great taste in music. They usually rocked out while they went to help keep them awake.

    "I''ll bring you cream puffs after work on Monday," Avery promised as she patted him on the shoulder.

    He cracked a smile. "That''s something to look forward to at least. Let''s go."

    It ended up being an even longer night than usual. The list covered people in all five of the boroughs and that involved an awful lot of driving. Her suit sped up the process a bit if there were deliveries to be made in the same area. And often there were. Poor neighborhoods tended to have greater need.

    The list Angelo gave her to work off of consisted of diabetics who recently lost their insurance or were in debt and couldn''t pay for their insulin. Even with insurance the price was ridiculous. Why? Because Hunsacher was behind most of the health insurancepanies.

    It was terrifying how much they controlled. People atrge didn''t know because Nn Hunsacher went to great pains to keep the extent of his empire hidden.

    Avery hated the man with every fiber of her being but unfortunately there wasn''t anything she could do about him currently. She didn''t believe in killing and neither had her father. Besides, if he died one of his underlings would simply take his ce. That wouldn''t fix the problem.

    He had no such qualms, which was how her father and Horatio died after trying to fight things the noble way in addition to behind the scenes. That hadn''t worked so their sessors worked solely in the dark. The legal system favored people with money so doing this "the right way" wouldn''t work.

    So many suits had been filed against Hunsacher''s various holdings over the years and not one of them stuck. Sometimes they got fined but what was a measly fine to a trillion-dor corporation?

    Avery did her best not to get caught on deliveries. It wouldn''t do for a viin to be seen doing something good even though that was the whole point of their mission. Helping people Hunsacher was suppressing while trying to figure out how to dismantle it.

    Sometimes it couldn''t be helped but the people were always so grateful they agreed to keep her secret. They undeniably needed the insulin and couldn''t pay for it so why would they rat her out? She was saving lives by doing this.

    On one of herst deliveries of the night¡ªcould it really be considered night if it was past 6 AM?¡ªshe got busted trying to leave through an open window by a little boy who couldn''t be more than six years old. His face lit up when he saw the box.

    "Are you the Insulin Fairy?" he asked innocently.

    Avery barely stopped herself fromughing. That was so cute! "Yeah. I''m the Insulin Fairy. You can''t tell anyone you saw me though, okay?"

    "Can I at least tell my mom? She''s the one that told me about you. She said it was our secret and that we needed to pray for you every night because you''re our hero. She''ll be really excited if she knew I saw you."

    Her heart warmed at further proof that her efforts were appreciated. This family consisted of a single mother with three children, including one with diabetes. She had to choose between feeding her kids, paying rent, and getting the insulin her son desperately needed.

    Avery couldn''t help with the first two problems but she could help with the third. And she did. She stole insulin from different ces every month and they had been on her list for nearly a year now.

    "Go ahead. But no one else! Like your mom said, it''s a secret."

    The boy nodded earnestly. "Thanks, Insulin Fairy."

    With her work done she slipped back out the window. The sun wasing up so they needed to finish this quickly.

    Two deliveriester, Avery and Jorge parted ways and she barely had energy to shower before pulling the ckout curtains closed and flopping into bed. She was so exhausted she fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

    Her sleep schedule was wrecked every weekend but that didn''t change the fact that she had to go back to work on Tuesday. Since the bakery she worked at was open seven days a week she had Sundays and Mondays off. Not knowing how long they would take she always nned her heists for Saturday nights so it wouldn''t interfere with her job.

    She was a cake decorator by trade and didn''t have the resources necessary to be a viin full-time. Her father may have paid off the apartment she had been raised in before he died but she had other bills.

    Everyone in theirwork both in and out of New York¡ªthey had operatives in most major cities in the country¡ªhad day jobs and tried taking down Hunsacher in their free time. Angelo was a software developer. Jorge was a trucker. They all had bills to pay too.

    When Avery woke up she saw she had three missed texts from her best friend and bakery coworker Vanessa La Fontaine and groaned. She always wanted to hang out on Sundays since it was one of her days off as well and if Avery said no too often it would be suspicious. She really didn''t want to go anywhere this time though.

    ''I''m kind of dead. Are you cool withing over and watching chick flicks?''

    Vanessa responded immediately. ''I can never say no to chick flicks! I''ll even bring over the good cheddar voring to put on the popcorn''

    ''You''re an angel''

    ''I know'' her friend replied with a smug face emoji.

    Avery groaned and rolled out of bed. It was nearly 4 PM. Being in her pajamas after saying she felt dead wouldn''t be too weird but she didn''t want Vanessa to know she barely woke up.

    She heated up some leftovers and ravenously devoured them before brushing her teeth and looking through her movie collection to see if there was anything specific she was in the mood for. Though there were always streaming service movies too.

    She loved sweet, fluffy romances but at the same time they depressed her because that was never going to happen with Mercury or whoever he was when he wasn''t in costume. They were on opposite sides of thew and he thought she was her father.

    Those two had been nemeses for about a year and a half before he died. She took up the mantle using the same suit and same voice changer so it was a reasonable assumption to make.

 Chapter 3 - The Woman Behind The Suit

    Avery didn''t develop a crush on Mercury until about nine months ago but obviously she knew him before then. Somehow he always managed to find her when she was breaking in or out of a ce.

    Her father hadined about him more than once so she had been curious about the infamous hero the first time she met him. She hadn''t given him much thought at all because he was merely an obstacle in her path at the time.

    But seeing someone pretty much every week for over a year makes you take note of them. Nox wasn''t the only viin he fought and he did more than simply fight viins. He did a lot of other do-gooder stuff too that she saw on the news or in videos his fans posted online.

    Avery knew he was a genuinely nice person who believed he was doing the right thing so she couldn''t hate him even if his constant disruptions and asional foiling of her heists were annoying. She didn''t have a beef with him personally so she did her best not to hurt him when they fought.

    All those little things she saw in Mercury piled up but didn''t result in a crush until the day he saved her from nearly being assaulted by a creep that had apparently been stalking her and waiting for his chance to find her alone in the alley behind the bakery. She tried fighting back as best she could but she was nothing without the suit.

    It gave her increased speed, strength, and reflexes. Without it she was simply an ordinary woman who knew basic fight moves.

    If Avery wasn''t so freaked out that she would lose this very important fight for her own safety she would have been able to appreciate the irony that she same person who regrly beat actual superpowered hero Mercury was losing to amon thug. She may have been thinking of him in passing but she didn''t expect him to show up.

    In the blink of an eye her attacker was screaming like a little girl about being dangled upside down and she heard a rather familiar, surprisingly angry voice from above. "You know, I hate creeps like you the most."

    "Let me go!" her attacker screeched.

    "I will but not yet. You deserve to be upside down for a while," Mercury said in disdain before looking down at Avery. "Do you mind calling 911 for me? We need to get this creep in cuffs and for someone to take your statement in case you want to press charges. Do you?"

    She blinked up at him in a daze for a moment. The sun shone on him in a way that made him look like he had a halo.

    When she came to her senses she took out her phone. "Yeah. He shouldn''t get away scot free. He''s been casing me out for a while; I''ve seen him around before. This was definitely premeditated."

    Mercury mumbled something under his breath but didn''t answer when she asked him if he could repeat what he said. Instead he smiled reassuringly at her. "Don''t worry. He won''t bother you again. Are you okay? Did he hurt you anywhere?"

    "I''ll let you know when the adrenaline wears off."

    He surprised her byughing. "That''s fair. Most of the time I don''t even know I''ve been hurt until that happens."

    Avery had been stunned. She had never heard himugh before. It was a niceugh; the kind that made you want tough along with it. Then she chastised herself for being stupid. Why would heugh around her? He was actively trying to throw her in jail!

    She stood there kind of stupidly in shock for a moment before making the call and stayed quiet until they arrived. Mercury kept her attacker upside down until the police came and unceremoniously dumped him on the ground. He groaned miserably, suffering from the blood rushing to his head, and didn''t even protest when they put him in handcuffs.

    She had to exin what happened, give her statement, and let them know she wanted to press charges. It took so long that her boss came out to see what was happening and was horrified, telling her to go home and rest rather thane back to work.

    Avery would have protested that she was fine if not for the fact that she probably looked really out of it based on the reactions of everyone present. They seemed to think she was in shock.

    Maybe she was but it wasn''t from being attacked. It was from the jarring experience of seeing someone she normally brawled with on Saturday nights in a different context. They had never interacted without her being in the suit before and it was a totally weird experience.

    Mercury was treating her like he would any other victim without knowing the truth. If he did he wouldn''t be nearly so gentle.

    "Has the adrenaline worn off yet?" he asked her as the police drove away.

    Avery let out a sort of strangledugh. "Yeah. I''m a little sore where he grabbed me but I should be fine."

    That was what she said but when she tried taking a step back toward the bakery to grab her purse and go home her knees buckled and she pitched forward. Maybe that took more out of her than she thought.

    Mercury caught and steadied her very carefully with concern shining in his eyes. "I don''t think you''re in any condition to go off on your own. Do you mind if I take you home? If I fly us we can get there quickly."

    While it would be terrible for her nemesis to find out where she lived he wasn''t aware of her identity. She didn''t have to tell him which apartment either. Her building had dozens and she lived on one of the higher floors where it was a bit safer. He was right that she probably wouldn''t make it home on her own any time soon and she didn''t want to bother Angelo. He would freak out on her.

    "Thanks. I''d appreciate that," Avery admitted.

    She opened the door and Vanessa brought her purse over, giving her a look that they would definitely talk about thister. Mercury was very polite, being sure to ask her if it was okay to pick her up and when. He ended up carrying her princess style and flew her home in less than ten minutes.

    Her heart raced the entire time she was in the air and she wasn''t sure if it was because she was flying or because she was being held this closely by a man. A man she had noticed smelled really nice while she was burying her face in his neck so she didn''t have to look down.

    Jumping from building to building wearing an indestructible super suit was entirely different than flying while holding onto someone else. If he dropped her she was dead!

    When they arrived at her building she staggered and he made sure she was alright before letting go of her. He frowned at her in concern. "Are you sure you''re going to be alright? You seem shaky. Wait here! I''ll be right back with something for you."

    Bewildered, Avery was rooted to the spot. What was he going to get?

    She got her answer a few minutester when he came back with a hot dog obviously purchased from a street vendor. "Here. You need something to regain your strength. You aren''t a vegetarian, are you?"

    "No," she said as she epted the hot dog in confusion. It had ketchup, mustard, and onions on it. Exactly the way she liked it. "But why are you doing this for me?"

    Mercury shrugged. "You had a rough day. Why not?"

    "You don''t even know me."

    "That doesn''t matter. Everyone deserves niceness when they''re having a hard time. Anyway, eat that and take it easy for the rest of the day. I need to get going. Bye, Avery!" he called before flying away.

    He knew her name. That was a stupid thing to acknowledge because obviously he had been there as she filed the police report. She supposed she hadn''t expected him to remember. He probably wouldn''t a few days from now considering all the people he saved. But for one brief moment he knew who she was. Avery West. The woman behind the suit.

    That stuck with her long after they parted ways and after a few more encounters with him on Saturday nights she realized she liked him. Which was the worst thing that could have possibly happened. Unfortunately, you can''t control your feelings.

 Chapter 4 - Villains Were The Real Problem

    Vanessa knew about Avery''s crush but thought it was a case of being starstruck because he saved her. That she loved him the way people loved celebrities they had never met. She didn''t know about her friend''s double life.

    When she arrived she snapped Avery out of her thoughts and made a rather dramatic entrance. "Aves! The cheddar popcorn beckons. Where''s the biggest bowl you have?"

    In terms of looks the two friends were total opposites but they had so much else inmon that they practically shared a brain. People frequently thought they were rted despite Vanessa having creamy brown skin, ck eyes, and a mass of dark curls and Avery being an albino.

    She was as pale as could be and had violet eyes. Even her eyshes were white so mascara was a must. So was drawing on her eyebrows because otherwise it looked like she didn''t have any.

    Right now in her pajamas without her face made up she looked even whiter than usual. No one got to see her like this but Vanessa and Angelo but that was only because he had known her so long he already knew every embarrassing thing about her.

    "It''s on the counter already. I knew you''d want it," Avery replied with a yawn.

    "Sweet. I''ll get on the popcorn situation stat. Have you picked a movie yet?" Vanessa asked.

    "Yeah. I was thinking we could watch that one where the rival bookstore owners have the online friendship and fall in love. Sound good to you?"

    "That one''s fun! They have great chemistry. Witty banter is a totally necessary part of any rtionship, which is probably why none of mine work out. Sometimes I wonder if men even have brains."

    Averyughed. Having someone else understand the importance of witty banter was nice. There was a reason the two of them got along so well.

    "Right?!"

    There was one man she knew that had the witty banter part down. But knowing it was impossible made her movie choice downright masochistic. She was immersing herself in longing for something that could never be.

    She shook those depressing thoughts free. Now wasn''t the time for that. She was here and was going to enjoy making moviementary and stuffing herself on cheddar popcorn with her best friend.

    She and Vanessa met in culinary school despite having different specialties and ended up hired at the same bakery entirely by chance. They didn''t be close until after they found themselves working together every day and both regretted their missed chance to have a school buddy.

    There was no use regretting it now. They had been best friends ever since. Avery told her everything¡­except about the fact that she was Nox.

    She knew she couldn''t¡ªthe more people that knew about her secret identity the more danger she would be in¡ªbut it killed her a little more inside each time she couldn''t tell Vanessa something.

    "Cheddar popcorning at you right now!" Vanessa announced cheerfully as she plopped down next to Avery so forcefully that some spilled out of the bowl onto her pajama pants.

    She cracked a smile. "Literally."

    "My bad. Once we''ve polished this off we should paint our nails. Something pretty that will distract from the cheese dust stains."

    It was hard to stay in a bad mood with Vanessa around. She had a way of making Averyugh in any situation. She was able to push her concerns about her pitiful love life and the fact that she was keeping secrets to the back of her mind.

    "Sounds great. Thanks, Ness."

    "I''ve got your back, girl! Everyone has dead days. We can go out some other time," Vanessa reassured her.

    Avery hugged arge blue owl plushy to her chest and felt herself rx. No matter how tired she got because of her missions she still loved the weekends. Especially when she got to spend them with people she cared about.

    ===

    Christian ter hated weekends. It was when the viins seemed to be at their most active though he still had hero duties to attend to during the week as well. It felt like that was all he did sometimes.

    He hadn''t meant to be a hero but it was hard not to when you had superpowers. From the moment he was born he unconsciously began floating. That really freaked out his parents and the medical staff in the room. His mother had to swear them to secrecy because she didn''t want them to take him away to be experimented on.

    She put weighted clothes and ankle weights on him to keep him grounded but as he learned to work around that and keep moving it made him significantly stronger than the average person. He was fast too.

    On top of all of that he had a sixth sense about certain things. Such as if someone was in danger or where there might be trouble. Following those feelings had been what resulted in bing a hero entirely by ident. It certainly wasn''t what he had envisioned doing with his life.

    Christian didn''t get paid for it either. When he wasn''t running himself ragged helping the people of New York City and fighting viins he bored himself to death as a patent attorney.

    Being a hero and going tow school at the same time was not an option. He got into the hero business in high school and keeping up with his studies in college while simultaneously managing a hero schedule nearly killed him.

    He purposely only applied tow schools in areas where viins didn''t run rampant and ended up going to one in Idaho. Literally nothing happened in Idaho.

    But New York was in his blood and his parents and younger brother¡ªblessedly born without superpowers¡ªlived there so he came back and found a job there once he was done. Liam now lived in his spare bedroom in order to get cheap rent.

    The two of them didn''t always get along since his brother could not fathom why he would bother putting so much time and effort into something that wasn''t even paying him. He had always been jealous about being born without superpowers too. Unfortunately, because of Christian''s busy schedule Liam was his only real friend.

    Given the chance he would dly change ces with his brother. He didn''t want to be a hero but he couldn''t morally leave people to fend for themselves when he knew they were in danger. So he kept doing it anyway.

    That being said, he did get a certain sense of fulfilment saving people. It was viins that were the real problem. Some were more difficult to deal with than others.

    Skulker was the least problematic of all the viins he dealt with because his motivations were both simple and stupid. Justst week he attacked multiple branches of a fast-food chain because they supposedly didn''t give enough condiment packets at the drive thru. That was about as petty and meaningless as it got.

    Janus was obsessed with kidnapping people and making them choose between two equally horrendous choices for his own sick amusement and set up borate schemes to do so. He was the sort that would set the world on fire if it would ease his boredom.

    Christian had all of the viins he dealt with regrly figured out except for one. Nox. The one he had been fighting the longest.

    Nox was strong, smart, and had no discernible motives. Everything he did was about infiltration. Sneak in and steal something here. Sneak in and destroy something there. And he rarely hit the same ce twice, which made it difficult to see any sort of pattern.

    Unlike most of the other viins, his entire body was covered in some sort of ck metal that seemed capable of doing virtually anything. Christian didn''t know what Nox''s superpowers were. If he even had any. It was entirely possible the suit was what made him unstoppable thus far.

    Nox only seemed to operate on Saturday nights, which made him think he had some sort of job that didn''t allow for nighttime maneuvers for most of the week, but that didn''t narrow things down at all. Sometimes he wondered if he would ever catch the guy.

    Most viins didn''t manage to rampage for more than a couple of years before someone got them thrown in jail at least on a temporary basis. Nox''s streak was impressive in a terrible sort of way.

    Christian felt rather discouraged after yet another run-in with him, especially since he had to go rinse his eyes out and flew directly into the wall as he tried to make his way home. That hurt.

    When he got home his eyes were red and he had a scrape across his forehead. Liam looked up from his phone on the couch and frowned. "What happened to you?"

    "Nox decided it would be a good idea to temporarily blind me with ck pepper to make his escape tonight. Then I flew into a wall because I couldn''t see," he said grimly.

    His unsympathetic brother cracked up so hard he fell off the couch. "I''m sorry but that''s hrious! And so old school. I thought this was the guy with the high-tech super suit. Why would he do something like that?"

    "No idea. But he got away and I don''t even know what he stole. He hits pharmaceutical warehouses somewhat often but I have no idea what he''s trying to do. Is he trying to poison someone? Create some sort of new mind-controlling drug by breaking down existing substances? I''ve seen both of those things happen before with other viins!

    "He doesn''t give anything about himself or his ns away. I''ve been fighting him for more than four years now and I don''t know a thing about him except that he has an rming variety of escape ns."

    Christian finished his speech wearily and flopped down on the other couch. He was so sick of this. Was saving people even worth it when there was always someone else in need of help? It never ended. It was likeundry or dishes in that way. There would always be more to do.

 Chapter 5 - The Purple-Eyed Girl

    One of the few enjoyments in Christian''s life was going to the bakery on the first floor of the building he worked in. He had a serious sweet tooth and flying burned A LOT of calories. He went there during his lunch break every weekday.

    Admittedly, he didn''t only go there for the food though it was delicious. The real reason he kept going back was because of one of the girls that worked there.

    He didn''t know her name at first. He saw her sitting at a table in the corner of the room closest to the employee entrance and the first thing that struck him was how white she was. White hair,pletely white uniform from her hat to her shoes, white skin. The only bit of color on her was her violet eyes.

    Christian had never seen eyes like that before. Or hair like that on a person under eighty.

    She looked young and full of vitality considering how much she talked with her hands while showing what appeared to be cake decoration options to the person across from her. She had a rather expressive face too.

    He was curious about her but didn''t see her again for another few weeks when she happened to be manning the counter as he bought his lunch. She smiled sunnily at him and tucked a loose strand of white hair behind her ear. She wasn''t wearing her usual uniform now. The pants and shoes were the same but she had on a white t-shirt with the bakery''s logo on it and no cap.

    "Hi there! Wee to Carmine''s. What can I get for you today?" she asked.

    Christian momentarily forgot how to speak once his eyes locked on her purple ones. They were mesmerizing.

    When he finally remembered how to be a normal human being he dropped his gaze in humiliation. He had been standing there for over a minute at that point. "¡­I''ll have a croissant, two cream puffs, and two chocte-covered strawberries."

    She didn''t seem fazed by his spacing out. Probably because there wasn''t anyone behind him in line. "You got it! That''ll be $17.82."

    He paid, took his food, and fled back to his table in shame. That was over a year ago. If not for the fact that he did like the food he never would havee back to avoid any further awkward encounters.

    The purple-eyed girl didn''t work the counter often so he was able to rx. He discovered over time hanging out there and listening to people talk that her name was Avery and she was a cake artist here and did popr decorating videos that were posted on the bakery''s social media pages.

    Christian decided to check those out one night after a particrly rough fight with Nox and found both the visuals and choice of music soothing. He ended up subscribing to the page so he would get a notification when a new video was up.

    That was the beginning of the end for him. Before long he had a full-blown crush on the girl without ever having a proper conversation with her.

    So when he felt that someone was in danger in the alley behind his building he straight up abandoned his work by locking his office door and flying out the window to see what was happening. He would have stopped the creep assaulting someone anyway but when he noticed that distinctive white hair he saw red.

    Avery had fought back hard and seemed physically shaken but not in hysterics. She managed to retain her sense of humor, which he previously knew nothing about. He was impressed.

    Christian may have taken slight advantage of the situation but he would have made sure she got home safe anyway. The hot dog was because he was worried about her specifically.

    After that his curiosity about her grew but since she was usually behind the scenes he didn''t get a chance to talk to her again until an idea struck him. Liam''s birthday wasing up so why shouldn''t he spare their mother the task of making him a cake this year and use this as an opportunity to talk to her?

    He ended up booking the consultation to order a custom cake but once he had her attention he had no idea what to do with it. He didn''t know anything about cakes aside from the fact that they were delicious.

    Avery''s eyes lit up as she introduced herself. It was clear she loved custom cake consultations.

    "So, tell me what you''re looking for! Wedding cake? Anniversary cake? Baby shower cake? Birthday cake?"

    "It would be hard to do any of the others considering how single I am," Christian said dryly. "I''m here for a birthday cake for my brother. My mom didn''t want to make him one this year because she''s busy and Ie here a lot so I figured doing it this way was a good bet."

    That wasn''t entirely true. He offered first and then she said that would be nice because she had been busytely. But little white lies never hurt anyone as long as they were a one-time deal.

    Avery barely managed to remain professional and hold back herughter at his firstment. She cleared her throat to refocus. "Okay then! What does your brother like? Are you looking for something made with buttercream only? A drip cake? Covered in fondant?"

    Christian barely understood what she was talking about because of all of the decorating videos he had watched. "A drip cake would be good."

    "That''s a good starting point! What do you want on top? Do you want the words ''happy birthday'' anywhere with your brother''s name on it or would he prefer the top to be covered in candies or chocte-covered strawberries?"

    "Probably both knowing him. He''s a chocoholic."

    Avery smiled and flipped through the binder she brought out. "Would something like this work? I could potentially write the ''happy birthday'' bit in front of the cake on the cardboard."

    Christian''s mouth watered at the sight. That cake looked amazing. "Yeah! That would be great. His name is Liam, by the way."

    "L-i-a-m?" she asked for rification. "I always double check to be safe. Thest thing someone needs on their birthday is for their name to be spelled wrong. I got a birthday card from a ssmate one year where they added an extra ''e'' in my name. Totally killed the mood."

    He found himself smiling at the way she said that. It was almost conspiratorial. He had a feeling she was a fun person to be around. Goodness knows he could use more fun in his life.

    At least he had introduced himself properly to her now and could say hi if she ended up running the counter again. It was better than nothing. Buying this (rather expensive) custom cake had been worth it. And Liam did love it; he didn''t want their mother to go back to making his cake next year, which she wasn''t too pleased about.

    After that Christian said hi and made small talk with Avery every time he saw her, which wasn''t often enough, but he still went to the bakery every workday in the hopes of seeing her.

    Honestly, it was a bit pathetic how sad his life was that this girl he wasn''t even friends with was the highlight of it. Yet here he was, aimlessly drifting on as usual burning himself out between unfulfilling work and dealing with viins in the hopes that he would get one small glimpse of her to motivate him to keep going.

 Chapter 6 - Crashing

    "Kill me, Ness," Avery moaned as she looked at the fat stack of cake orders in front of her.

    Marianne, the bakery owner, had taken on way too many orders at once. She opened the shop a few years ago and ran everything with only her and her brother who ran the counter. As the business took off and became more popr she was able to hire a few more people but there weren''t nearly enough for this sort of rush.

    She developed new recipes and made things like cookies. Vanessa did breads. Avery did cakes. Marianne''s brother Marcus worked the counter and handled the financials.

    Since they were all human and needed breaks everyone got two days off a week and left other people to cover their duties while they were gone. Danny, a teenage part-timer, helped with this issue as well by working the counter for a few hours twice a week after school and on Saturdays.

    Marianne had some cake decorating expertise but she was self-taught and wanted a professional once her business picked up. Unfortunately, because of the poprity of the decorating videos business had picked up even moretely.

    Pretty soon she was going to need to hire a second cake person but for now it was all on Avery. Who had so many cakes to do she might have tendonitis by the time she was done.

    Vanessa looked over the cake orders sympathetically. "Yikes. Hang in there, Aves. I''d offer to help but I suck at decorating. I can''t even get the frosting to be even on a cupcake. I''m one with the yeast."

    She could do amazing things with bread or puff pastry but when it came to frosting or fondant she was hopeless. Her help would be more of a hindrance than anything and she knew it.

    "Thanks anyway," Avery sighed.

    What a thing toe back to right after the weekend. She had been so tired after socializing while running on empty on Sunday that she spent most of Monday sleeping too and Angelo had to track her down at her apartment to make sure she was alive since she didn''t answer her phone after he got off work.

    He wanted to talk about their ns for the uing Saturday. Why couldn''t that wait a few more days? She was still recovering from thest one!

    She always knew her friend had no mercy though. He had been frighteningly efficient ever since they were kids. He didn''t believe in the concept of rest and it was totally unfair because out of everyone in their little group his job was the least taxing.

    They had a few insider spies that reported to them, which was how they kept operating this long, but the people doing the actual dirty work were Avery and asionally Jorge. He didn''t have a suit so he was only involved in deliveries. Recon the spies couldn''t pull off, vandalism, theft, and so on was all her job.

    Pulling most of the weight sucked especially since Angelo was unsympathetic as ever. He should try being the one in the suit sometime and see how he liked it! That ought to shut him up.

    Annoyed as she was, she wouldn''t do that for two reasons. First, the suit took practice getting used to. He would likely get himself caught then their whole operation would be a bust. Second, being in the suit was the only time she could see Mercury. She wasn''t about to give that up!

    No, putting Angelo in the suit wasn''t an option. But it was nice to daydream.

    He may drive her crazy sometimes but with her dad gone he was all the family she had left. Even if they weren''t technically rted they had been raised like cousins and treated each other as such.

    Her mom had been out of the picture for as long as she could remember. She had hardly any memories of the woman that chose her career over her daughter and walked out without ever looking back before Avery was in kindergarten.

    Her dad never remarried but he did have a few different girlfriends over the years. In the end he gave up on that and said she was the only girl he needed.

    They had been close. Horatio was a single father too after his wife died of cancer when Angelo was in upper elementary school so they stuck together. As a result so did their kids. Even now when all they really had inmon was a goal to destroy Hunsacher. They were very different people and likely wouldn''t have gotten along at all if they hadn''t known each other their whole lives.

    Avery continued drowning in these thoughts as she baked. There were a whole lot of rounds and squares to get made and cooled before the decorating process could even begin. She spent most of the day on that and was beyond ready to crash when her shift ended.

    Crashing was exactly what she did if not in the way she was hoping for. Not watching where she was going because of how tired she was, she tripped and fell down the stairs.

    There were plenty of people in the way so she hit a few on the way down. They must have softened her fall because she wasn''t dead. She might very well die of embarrassment though because she had bashed heads with the person shended on and was now bleeding on them.

    She immediately covered her nose with her hand and thickly said, "I''m so sorry!"

    The man who dazedly blinked up at her was familiar and seemed surprised to see her once he got his bearings. "Avery?"

    "Christian! Oh geez, this is even worse because I know you. I mean, I''d feel bad fornding on someone I didn''t know too but¡ªoh, never mind. I''m making things worse so I''ll shut up now."

    "You''re bleeding!" Christian blurted in horror as if he only just noticed it.

    She was bleeding a lot. In the time she had been holding her hand up to her nose it had already begun running out of it and down her arm. She may be a viin but she wasn''t good with blood so the sight made her a bit woozy.

    "Yeah," Avery said faintly. "Just a heads up, I might pass out. Don''t worry¡ªit happens a lot."

    "Why wouldn''t I worry if it happens a lot?!"

    "I''m not good with blood. Which sucks because I''m going to have to get it off of this white uniform when I get home and be reminded of it all over again."

    "You really need to sort out your priorities. Focus on not fainting first, okay? Laundry cer," Christian told her firmly.

    "Right."

    "Is it okay if I pick you up? I want to take you to sit down somewhere you''re less likely to get trampled on and try to get the bleeding to stop. If you''re notfortable with that and would rather walk on your own¡ª"

    Avery sighed. "It''s fine. I''m less likely to faint if I don''t have to walk."

    He scooped her up as if she weighed nothing and she was about to die of mortification because she had definitely bled on him already and this might make it worse. She also had the incongruous thought that his arms were seriously muscr.

    You wouldn''t guess that by looking at him since they weren''t obvious under his suit. His suit that she bled on. She had no idea how expensive it was or if bloodstains even came off suits. Kill her now.

    She had seen a few apology cakes in her day that were oddly specific. Maybe she could make him one that said ''Sorry I fell on you and had a nosebleed on your suit''. Not that it would fix anything unless he had a really great sense of humor. She had no idea what his was like because they never had never talked for more than five minutes at a time.

 Chapter 7 - Way To Overshare

    Christian set Avery down on a bench that someone generously vacated after seeing she was bleeding and he pulled a pack of tissues out of his briefcase. He handed her one and told her to pinch her nose and lean forward with the hand that wasn''t covered with blood. She was curious why that hand until he grabbed the bloody one and began wiping it off with another tissue.

    What was he doing?! Didn''t he know how gross that was? She could do it herself! Eventually. Probably not until she blood dried since she was too preupied with stopping the flow. But still!

    The tissues weren''t working entirely on their own and a kind passerby with a diaper bag gave them a few baby wipes and a sympathetic smile. She was grateful for that because she felt slightly less gross now. It didn''t change the fact that she had blood on the front of her uniform or smeared under her nose but she couldn''t get to that as long as she was holding a tissue to it.

    This was so mortifying. And she had to do it in front of a guy she saw semi-regrly too. She knew he came to the bakery every day even if she didn''t always get to talk to him.

    He must work nearby. He wouldn''t be so religious abouting on weekdays around lunchtime if he didn''t. Knowing this did not help with her mortification at all. Thest thing she wanted was for her coworkers other than Vanessa to hear about this.

    "I''m so sorry," Avery mumbled miserably.

    Christian brushed her off. "Not a big deal. Things happen, Avery. Truthfully, I''m d I broke your fall. You could have gotten seriously hurt otherwise."

    "But I smashed my nose directly into your head! Didn''t that hurt?"

    "A little. I''ve taken much worse hits though; believe me. I have a hard head so don''t worry about me. Are you still bleeding? You should check by changing the tissue. That''s what I do when I get bloody noses."

    He was being ridiculously nice about this. Anyone else in his shoes wouldn''t be nearly so understanding.

    Avery checked and sure enough her nose began to drip again. She sighed and reced the tissue. "Still bleeding. You don''t have to stay here with me; I''m sure you have somewhere more important to be. Now that the blood is off my hand I''m not at risk for fainting anymore."

    Christian shook his head. "I''m not leaving until I''m sure you''re okay."

    A rather generous offer considering how much she inconvenienced him and how stupid she must look. "Don''t you have anything better to do?"

    "What, like listen to my brother argue with the people he''s ying video games with into his headset? Trust me, I''m not missing anything important. Do you have someone you can call toe get you? I don''t know if you should be on the subway by yourself after getting dizzy like that."

    This was the first time Avery had someone she didn''t know well worry about her like this discounting Mercury. That was sort of his job though since he was a hero. This guy was¡­what did he do, anyway? She had never asked.

    "Maybe?" she hedged. "I could ask."

    Angelo should be off work by now but she had no idea if he was home or not. He had a car but usually took the subway to work and saved it for emergencies and errands that required trunk space.

    She couldn''t exactly text while pinching her nose shut so she called him. "Are you busy now?" she asked without preface.

    "Depends on what you want. Why?" Angelo replied suspiciously.

    "So I may or may not have fallen down the subway stairs and got a really bad bloody nose. You know how I am with blood so I almost fainted. Is it at all possible for you toe get me?"

    He mumbled curses in Spanish about how stupid she was. "How can you jump from building to building with no problems and trip down a perfectly normal set of stairs?!"

    "Because I''m tired. I guess I still haven''t recovered from this weekend. So can youe get me or not? I need to know so I can get on the next train if you aren''ting. If you''re too busy¡ª"

    "I''m never too busy for you if it''s important. Hang tight. Are you at the station closest to your work?"

    "Yeah. Thanks, Angelo. I appreciate it."

    "Whatever. See you in a bit," Angelo said before hanging up without saying goodbye.

    Avery sighed and put her phone back in her pocket before looking over at Christian. "Someone''sing for me. You can go now. Thanks for waiting with me this long. I think I''ll be okay."

    "You look really pale though," he said with a frown. "I don''t think you should be left alone. I can wait until your ridees."

    She couldn''t help it. Being used of looking pale was too much when she was already this high strung so she burst outughing. "Christian, I''m an albino! Of course I look pale!"

    "That isn''t what I meant! You look paler than usual. mmy. The word I should have used is mmy. I didn''t know you were actually an albino though. Sorry. That''s probably rude to say."

    Avery didn''t mind. She had gotten thements a million times before.

    "I have Hermansky-Puk syndrome. It''s a type of albinism that can include other problems such as bleeding disorders and vision issues. That''s why my stupid bloody nose won''t stop. My blood doesn''t clot properly."

    Christian''s frown grew deeper. "Do you need to go to the hospital or something?"

    His concern was kind of cute. He clearly didn''t know anyone with clotting issues. She managed to stifle herughter this time. "Not for a bloody nose. I''ll be fine as long as I rest when I get home and drink plenty of water. Don''t worry; this has happened dozens of times before and I''m clearly fine."

    "If you''re sure¡­how far away is the personing to get you?"

    "Hard to tell with traffic but if I had to guesstimate I''d have to say about thirty minutes. Sorry you''re stuck with me that long. I''m sure your brother''s video game arguments would be more fun than this."

    Christian snorted. "They really wouldn''t. While we''re stuck here we should talk about something to pass the time. Any ideas?"

    Now that he mentioned it¡­ "What do you do for a living? I wondered before but it never came up."

    "Oh. I''m a patent attorney. Super boring stuff; you probably don''t want to hear about it. Even I get bored of it. My firm is in the same building as your bakery about forty floors up. It''s kind of crazy how many different types of businesses can fit into one skyscraper, isn''t it?"

    No kidding. Patentw was worlds apart from baking.

    Was he seriously awyer? He didn''t look that old. Asking t out was rude but she might be able to guess if she knew how long he had worked there.

    "Seriously. How long have you been there?" Avery asked. "I''ve been at the bakery for about two years now. Before that I worked in a grocery store bakery section, which vastly underutilized my skills."

    Christian smiled. "Having seen your cakes that''s definitely true. I''ve been there for about five years now. It was my first job out ofw school and I didn''t see a reason to leave it because I prefer to avoid courtroom drama. Contracts are so much easier¡­and duller."

    Five years straight out ofw school would make him about thirty. Four or so years older than her.

    "Courtroom drama, huh? Is it better or worse than what you see on TV?"

    "Honestly, it depends. I saw some pretty wild stuff when I was inw school but that mostly involved divorce cases. Familyw is messy. I would take contracts over that any day of the week. So how did you end up as a cake decorator? I''ve never met another one personally," he said.

    Avery let out a small, nostalgicugh. "Kind of a funny story, actually. I was raised by a single dad and he was a horrible baker. Had to buy my birthday cakes and his own every year. When I was about eight I decided to give it a shot myself and the results were unsurprisingly horrible.

    "Because I was determined to have a pretty cake like my friends'' moms made for them without getting it from the store I practiced for any somewhat special asion you could think of. When I was eleven he signed me up for a cake decorating ss and it was all downhill from there. I went to culinary school and specialized in cakes."

    "I''m sure your dad appreciates all the effort you put in so he doesn''t have to buy himself birthday cakes anymore," Christian said without realizing he was twisting the knife.

    A wry smile appeared on her face. "He did. He was really proud of me for graduating and getting that dinky grocery store job. I wish he could have seen where I ended up. Carmine''s Bakery owes its reputationrgely to me."

    The blood drained from his face. "I''m so sorry, Avery. I didn''t know."

    "It''s okay. My dad might not be here anymore but he''s with me in spirit." And in the smartwatch she never took off her wrist. She would carry on his legacy no matter the cost and do what he couldn''t.

    Avery exhaled heavily before replying in a light tone. "Geez, way to overshare. My medical history, my dad¡­you heard all sorts of things you didn''t want to today."

    Christian shook his head. "Don''t apologize for that. I''ve enjoyed talking to you though I do regret that you had to get injured for it to happen. Fall on me anytime¡­actually, forget that. That sounds totally weird. You know what I mean though!"

    She cracked a smile. She did know what he meant. "Yeah. No worries."

 Chapter 8 - Protective

    Avery was still extremely embarrassed about this whole thing as she sat there with her continuously bleeding nose but Christian was a valiantpanion and didn''t let her sit there in an awkward silence and stew in it. He did his best to keep her distracted by talking about random things and despite her mortification she could appreciate the effort.

    He was surprisingly funny too. She hadn''t expected that from him since he seemed kind of dull the only other times they talked.

    Even so, she had never been so relieved to see Angelo when he showed up. Worry was written all over his face when he saw how mmy and covered in blood she was despite her cleaned-up arm. If he had seen that his reaction would have been much worse.

    He had always been protective of her when things like this happened because she ended up in the emergency room a few times needing stitches for small cuts as a kid but it had gotten worse since they lost their fathers. He wasn''t terribly concerned about her in the suit because he knew it was basically indestructible but out on her own she was unfortunately rather fragile and he knew it.

    When he was stressed he tended to ramble in Spanish. Having grown up with the Cruzes, Avery knew what he was saying but Christian looked rather confused.

    "What happened to you, white girl? You look even whiter than usual! How much blood did you lose this time?! And who''s this guy with you?"

    For as long as she could remember he had called her G¨¹era as a semi-affectionate nickname. It was Mexican-Spanish ng for white girl because she was an albino. Thest time he called her by name was at her father''s funeral when he was expressing his condolences.

    The nickname stuck because everyone in the extended Cruz n ended up calling her that too. She was used to it at this point. It wasn''t offensive to her; she knew she was the literal embodiment of the color white.

    Avery sighed and replied in Spanish as well. "More than I should have for a nosebleed. I''m fine though. He''s the guy I knocked heads with when I fell but don''t get mad at him because I would have gotten hurt a lot worse if I hit the ground instead of him. He softened my fall."

    Angelo rolled his eyes at this before looking up at Christian and speaking English. "Thanks for sticking with her until I got here. I''ll take her off your hands. Can you walk, G¨¹era, or do I need to give you a piggyback ride?"

    "I can walk." She stood up and immediately began swaying. Okay, maybe she couldn''t walk. "¡­actually, I think I''ll take you up on that after all."

    He sighed heavily and she could practically hear his innerints about carrying her because of how heavy she was. She was three inches taller than him but was positive he weighed more.

    "The things I do for you. Hop on," Angelo said as he crouched down for her to climb on his back.

    Avery''s humiliation couldn''t possibly get any worse. She climbed on miserably and tried her best not to look pathetic. "Thanks again for helping me, Christian. See you around."

    He had been watching the two of them in concern this whole time without saying a word. "Any time. I hope you feel better soon."

    Angelo took the esctor rather than braving the stairs with her on his back and with great difficulty and many Spanish swear words under his breath they made it to his car. She felt bad that he had to carry her such a long way since the parking structure wasn''t very close to the station.

    "Sorry for burdening you."

    He scoffed. "What''s new? I''ve helped you so many times now it''s a given. Honestly though! How can one of the most sessful viins in this city be such a damsel in distress at the same time?"

    "Because I don''t have superpowers? Duh," Avery deadpanned.

    "Whatever. I''m d you''re okay. Did you know that guy though? Because it''s totally weird a random stranger would stay with you that long."

    "Sort of. He''s a frequent customer at Carmine''s and he ordered a custom cake from me once for his brother''s birthday. We usually say hi when we see each other but that''s about it. I''m as surprised as you are. I guess he''s the do-gooder type. He seemed pretty worried when he saw me bleeding."

    "Huh. Are you sure he isn''t interested in you? Because no guy I can think of would waste so much time on a woman for no reason."

    "¡­didn''t you just waste about an hour of your day and most of your stamina helping me?" Avery asked wryly.

    Angelo let out a single sharp bark of augh. "That''s different! You''re family. I would do the same for any of my cousins. I wouldn''t have done that for someone I hardly knew; I have better things to do."

    "He could just be a nicer person than you."

    "Okay, wow. Way to thank the guy that carried you several blocks."

    Guilt pricked her. "Which I do appreciate. All I meant was that I think he was being genuinely helpful with no ulterior motives."

    "Whatever. But if he asks you outter I have full rights to say ''I told you so.'' If your nose isn''t bleeding anymore you should eat. I got you a sandwich and water bottle to help with your wooziness," Angelo said gruffly as he tilted his head toward the backseat.

    Avery turned around and saw the bag sitting there from her favorite sandwich chain and felt affection flood through her. "You''re the best!"

    "Yeah, well, it''s a good thing you know it."

    "It would be hard not to since you never let me forget it."

    She checked and was relieved to find her nose had stopped bleeding so she dug into her sandwich with gusto on the ride back to her apartment. It took a while because of traffic. When she got there Angelo saw her all the way up and waited around for her to take her makeup off, get changed into her pajamas, and lie down on the couch.

    "You''re not getting up until you stop being dizzy," he said firmly.

    Avery sighed. "Okay. Are you nning on staying here until that happens?"

    "Yes because traffic will probably be a little less terrible by then. Don''t mind me. Pretend I''m not here."

    That was easy enough to do considering the fact that all he did was sit in her dad''s old recliner and mess around on his phone while she watched TV. They both sat there quietly doing their own thing for about two hours before Angelo finally left. His parting shot was to avoid taking the stairs for a while.

    She rolled her eyes but knew he was saying it because he cared. He wouldn''t have made sure she was okay if he didn''t. Like he said earlier, they were family. She knew he would always have her back even if he didin about it.

 Chapter 9 - Apology Cake

    Avery felt less guilty about taking up Angelo''s time than she did about taking up Christian''s. He didn''t know her so he really wasn''t responsible for her well-being. And she had potentially ruined his suit.

    Mortified as she was, part of her never wanted to see him again but knew that wouldn''t happen because they worked in the same building. She really should do something to thank him/apologize. Maybe she could make him an apology cake after all.

    That would have to wait until tomorrow. She could buy the ingredients on her way home and pick up a spare bakery box at work.

    In the meantime she needed to cheer herself up post injury/embarrassment. Time to watch some Mercuryption videos. Those never failed. The first one she saw was aption of every time he saved a cat in a tree or a dog about to run into the street and get hit by a car. That happened surprisingly often.

    He was so good with them too, always baby-talking them to get them to calm down afterwards and petting them before handing them off to their owners. He was such a good guy!

    Avery wished she didn''t have to wait until Saturday to see him again. This week was an infiltration mission they had been prepping for ages. She needed to destroy aputer mainframe they were reliably told didn''t have any backups because of the top-secret information on it.

    Sneaking in there wouldn''t be easy but it needed to be done. It would significantly slow down Hunsacher''s ns and that was exactly what their band of renegades needed. Failing this one wasn''t an option.

    She had to be prepared for any contingency¡­especially regarding Mercury. He couldn''t thwart her on this one. Security would be tightened afterward or backups would be created. They would never get another shot at crippling their enemy to the same extent so it absolutely had to be done.

    She hated when she had to give him minor injuries in order to get away but if she got caught everything her father and Horatio gave their lives for would be meaningless. It wasn''t personal.

    Avery wished she could exin that to him but it wasn''t like it mattered. He didn''t know she was the one in the suit. He probably didn''t remember saving someone named Avery West at all. She was one of a million nameless, meaningless rescues.

    How horrified would he be if he found out he saved his archnemesis once? Not that it would ever happen. Her tracks were covered too well.

    Connecting a "man" he had been fighting (and losing to) for years to a helpless woman who couldn''t fully fend off a would-be rapist on her own would be impossible. It was for the best that he didn''t know the truth but it also meant he would never understand she was flirting with him every time they met.

    Oh well. Viins weren''t supposed to get close to anyone that might be let in on their secret anyway. It was part of why Angelo imed he didn''t have a girlfriend.

    Avery knew the real reason though. He was too picky. He wanted someone noticeably shorter than him and that ruled out a significant part of the female poption. That wasn''t his only criteria either¡ªshe had been forced to listen to the entire list of what he wanted in a woman before and she wasn''t impressed. He could be incredibly shallow sometimes. Fitting of a viin.

    Jorge had a girlfriend but she knew he was a trucker and had odd hours already. Because of that his role in their schemes wasn''t suspicious in the slightest.

    Even if Avery wasn''t in love with her nemesis she knew dating wasn''t a real option for her because of the way her weekends worked. Anyone who spent enough time with her would know something was up if she was never free on her days off.

    They probably wouldn''t jump straight to her being a viin though. More likely than not they would think she was cheating. Ironic considering how loyal a person she actually was.

    It was better not to get involved. At least not until Hunsacher was brought to its metaphorical knees or she found someone willing to join the fight with her. Like that would ever happen. She couldn''t even talk about this stuff.

    Angelo was in charge of recruitment for a reason. He monitored things people put online and was able to sift out those who had a genuine grudge against Hunsacher. She couldn''t do anything like that so talking about it at all was a major risk she wasn''t willing to take.

    Avery sighed and closed her eyes. Thinking about all of this was pointless. She was never going to be able to date the person she wanted so why bother?

    ===

    Christian had panicked when he saw Avery get hurt and worried even more when he found out she had issues with blood clotting. She seemed pretty s¨¦ about it despite how weak she looked.

    Needing to be carried out of the subway station even after so much time sitting down wasn''t a good sign. And he couldn''t deny he wondered who it was that did the carrying. They looked absolutely nothing alike but that didn''t necessarily mean anything. That guy still could have been a rtive of some sort. He desperately tried to convince himself of that because he didn''t want to be jealous.

    He didn''t know a thing about Avery aside from where she worked until they had that conversation and she got embarrassed about oversharing. He didn''t mind at all¡ªhe had wanted to know more about her. He wanted to know everything. But a good ce to start would be whether or not she had a boyfriend.

    She may be the least boring thing in his highly repetitive life but he wanted to cut things off at the source if she was taken. If she wasn''t now that they had talked a bit more he might be able to move forward.

    He didn''t expect a real rtionship; that would be difficult considering he was a hero and had almost no free time. But it was nice to dream.

    At the very least he would like to spend more time with her. She was a lot more interesting to talk to than he had anticipated. Now that he had learned a little more about her his curiosity had only grown.

    Christian wanted to ask if she was feeling better the next day but he didn''t see her when he went to the bakery at lunchtime. Disappointment threatened to swallow him. He shouldn''t have been surprised; he didn''t see her most days. But he had been worried about her and wanted to see if she was okay.

    He got his answer in the most bizarre way the following day. He was sitting in his office working on some paperwork after lunch when the front desk buzzed him.

    "Christian, you have a delivery."

    "I didn''t order anything," he said in confusion.

    Cheryl, the secretary, wasn''t fazed by this. "Someone must have ordered it for you then. Come out and get it before I eat it for you."

    Before she ate it for him? Someone brought him food? He didn''t know who would do that or why. Curiosity drove him from the paperwork he was finally getting into the groove for and he headed out front.

    Christian''s delivery was in a white bakery box with Carmine''s logo on it. He might not know who it was from but if it was from there he knew it would be delicious. He eagerly took it back to his office and opened the box to see what it was.

    Heughed out loud when he saw it, knowing who sent it instantly. It was a red drip cake with white cursive letters on top that read ''Sorry I fell on you and bled on your suit'' with a frowny face.

    Avery''s sense of humor was even better than he originally thought. He had never seen something so hrious in his entire life.

    It took him a solid ten minutes to collect himself and he got back to his paperwork with a permanent grin on his face. He was still full from lunch but he would take advantage of this undoubtedly delicious cake as soon as he got home. There was no explicit rule about not having cake for dinner.

 Chapter 10 - So Ask Her Out, Stupid

    When Christian finally got home he took a picture so he would never forget how his crush gave him a beautiful (albeit ridiculous) apology cake before slicing it. Liam, who hade into the kitchen to get a drink, saw it and squinted to read what it said.

    "''Sorry I fell on you and bled on your suit''? What sort of cake is this?!"

    "An apology cake. She didn''t need to apologize though; it wasn''t her fault," he said with a fond smile on his face.

    "¡­what happened exactly?"

    "Two days ago someone I know fell down the stairs at the subway station and knocked heads with me so she got a bloody nose. She got really woozy so I stayed with her until someone could pick her up."

    Liam shook his head in disbelief. "Always in hero mode, aren''t you?"

    "Force of habit."

    He eyed his brother more skeptically after a moment. "No, that''s not it. You''re too happy about this cake for it to be just anyone. You like this girl, don''t you? Is she the one that made my birthday cake?!"

    Christian had no idea how he came to that conclusion but he wasn''t wrong. There was no hiding anything from Liam.

    "¡­yeah. So?"

    "So ask her out, stupid. She must like you at least a little to go to the effort of making you an entire cake. You could use a social life more than anyone else I know. Ask her out, retire from hero life, and start giving Mom grandchildren so she''ll get off my back about settling down."

    Their mother hadn''t given Christian too much grief since she was too proud of him for being both awyer and a hero. She mentioned it maybe once or twice a year on holidays but that was it.

    "She''s been bothering you about that?"

    Liam rolled his eyes. "You really are clueless. I''m twenty-four, didn''t go to college, manage an electronics store, and mooch off my brother for cheap rent while saving up for my own ce. She bothers me about a lot of things."

    "There''s nothing wrong with managing a store. You''re on track to be a general manager eventually," Christian said supportively. He meant it too.

    "Tell that to Mom."

    "I will."

    "Thanks. Really though, ask her out. Don''t beme and go looking for fights all weekend for once. Can I have some of this? You aren''t going to be able to eat a whole cake by yourself."

    Heughed. Of course his brother was trying to get cake out of him by pretending to be supportive. He had already been nning to share. He wanted to make sure the cake was fully enjoyed before it went stale.

    "Go for it."

    Liam grinned at him. "Sometimes you''re not that bad, Chris."

    "Gee, thanks," he deadpanned, making his brotherugh too. Much as they might not see eye to eye they were still friends. That was more than a lot of siblings could say.

    "So what''s this girl''s deal, anyway? She obviously works in a bakery."

    "I''m not telling you unless you promise not to tell Mom. I don''t want her breathing down my neck about grandchildren either."

    Liam sighed. "You take all the fun out of everything! But fine. My lips are sealed."

    "Her name is Avery and she works in the bakery on the first floor of the building I work in. She''s beautiful, funny, and the only thing in my life that isn''t boring and predictable. Are you happy?"

    "¡­you seriously call fighting viins boring and predictable?"

    "Yes. The only one that isn''t is Nox but that makes him all the more exhausting," Christian said with a sigh.

    "Well, you doin about him the most. Seriously though, Chris. Get a life outside of viins, will you? If she''s that interesting ask her out and be done with it already. Mooning over her from a distance won''t aplish anything. You''re thirty; don''t be a baby," Liam scolded.

    "You really think I can get a girlfriend as a hero though?"

    "Getting one won''t be as much of a problem as keeping one. But it doesn''t hurt to try at the very least. It''s not like she would know you''re Mercury either. No one would ever guess awyer would be a hero. Especially since you wear fake sses."

    Keeping a girlfriend would definitely be a problem. There was the whole issue of his secret identity on top of the fact that weekends were when viins seemed to be most active.

    "But if I do ask her out and it goes badly it''ll be super awkward whenever we run into each other," Christian pointed out.

    Liam huffed. "Don''t be a chicken! Ask this girl out or I will just to annoy you."

    He scowled at his brother. There was a good chance that wasn''t an empty threat knowing Liam. He was going to have to go through with it no matter how terribly inexperienced with these sorts of things he was.

    "Fine. I''ll do it the next time I see her. I need to thank her for the cake, anyway."

    "Good. This is amazing cake, by the way. I hope she does end up bing your girlfriend so I can have more of it in my life," Liam said before taking another bite.

    It WAS amazing cake. Red velvet with cream cheese frosting, matching the vibe the decorations had going on of being red and white. Christian didn''t know when he would have the chance to thank Avery for it since he didn''t see her every day.

    He was in luck though. She happened to be working the counter the next day. She seemed a bit sheepish when she saw him and he realized she was probably embarrassed about sending the cake since she had done it without showing her face.

    "Hey, Christian. What can I get you today?"

    "Just a croissant. I still have plenty of cake left at home. I have to say, I''ve never received an apology cake before. It was kind of amazing," he said with a smile.

    Avery seemed relieved. "Oh yeah?"

    "Definitely. I''m going to demand all future apologies from people be made to me in cake form. I can''t remember thest time Iughed that hard so thank you for that. You really didn''t need to apologize though; I know it was an ident. I''m d you seem to be feeling better."

    "It wasn''t that big of a deal. Stuff like that happens all the time. Well, not all the time but I am used to it by now. Anyway, your total is $2.07."

    Christian inserted his credit card into the chip reader and she cheerfully handed him his receipt and the bagged croissant. Their interaction was about to end and he still hadn''t done what he meant to do. He was afraid that Liam would follow through on his threat.

    "Um¡­do you maybe want to go to dinner after work on sometime this week?" he asked quickly after mustering up all of his courage.

    Avery blinked at him in surprise. "Like a date?"

    "It doesn''t have to be if you don''t want that! I would like to spend more time with you though. You''re really cool, Avery. Sorry if that''s weird. Actually, it''s totally weird. I''m going to go now."

    Christian lost his nerve so fast that if Liam was here he wouldugh at him without mercy for about five minutes. He was such an idiot. He saved women all the time without breaking a sweat; why couldn''t he talk to one in a normal context?

    "Hang on!" she called after him as the next customer approached. "Wait a minute and don''t go anywhere."

    He immediately froze in his tracks and didn''t move until she was done handling a few transactions with people that showed up out of nowhere and formed a line. She beckoned him over and he walked back robotically.

    Avery tilted her head and regarded him curiously. "Angelo said you only helped me because you were interested in me. Is that true?"

    "No!" Christian blurted. "Of course not. I would have helped you even if you were a perfect stranger because you were hurt. But uh¡­is Angelo the guy that picked you up? I''m really sorry that I didn''t check to see if you had a boyfriend first."

    She snorted. "He''s definitely not my boyfriend. He''s more like my cousin since we were raised together."

    Relief flooded through him. He wasn''t her boyfriend. That didn''t necessarily mean she didn''t have one though. "¡­and you''re not seeing anyone else?"

    "Nope. The real mystery is why you want to ask me out after I humiliated myself beyond redemption in front of you. Care to borate for me? Because I have to admit I''m really confused."

    "You didn''t humiliate yourself beyond redemption! I really enjoyed talking to you. I always do."

    Avery raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. I''ll bite. I don''t have any ns this Friday if you don''t."

    Technically speaking, Christian didn''t but he would most likely have to ignore several distress calls via his sixth sense in order to go to dinner with her. That might make things difficult but he would deal with it if it meant he got to have some fun for once.

    "I''m free! What kind of food do you like?"

    "I see more customersing outside the window. I''m going to give you my number now so we can talk about thister. Are you ready?" she asked.

    He scrambled to get out his phone and create a new contact. "Ready."

    "347-281-5569. Text meter so I''ll have yours."

 Chapter 11 - I Knew You Werent Completely Hopeless Deep Down!

    Christian saved the contact and couldn''t believe that actually worked. It had been years since he had been on any dates because his hero work took up so much of his free time postw school.

    Avery waved goodbye to him as he dazedly made his way out the door. He had a bit of a hard time concentrating on work after that but he muddled through as best he could.

    When he got home Liam looked up at him expectantly. "So did you talk to her?"

    "Yes. We''re going out on Friday," he said in disbelief.

    "I knew you weren''tpletely hopeless deep down! Just make sure you don''t bore her to death on the date and you''ll be golden."

    Unfortunately, that was a very real concern. He had no idea what Avery liked or what she would find interesting. At the very least he needed to take her somewhere decent so if worse came to worst she would enjoy the food.

    Christian wasn''t good at this. Handling viins was worlds apart from handling women.

    He finally got a text back from her to let him know she had his number. ''Got it! Where should we go and when? I''ll need time to get out of my uniform at the very least''

    ''I can make a reservation for seven. Will that give you enough time?''

    ''Let''s do 7:30 to be safe''

    ''7:30 works. What kind of food do you like?'' he asked.

    Her reply was dismaying. ''I''m cool with pretty much anything. Surprise me''

    Christian wasn''t good ating up with things like this on his own! That didn''t narrow things down at all. He was going to have to check around and see what ces were good but not too much for a first date that would take a reservation with two days'' notice.

    He sighed. This was stressing him out much more than the viins usually did, excluding Nox. That guy was more stressful but only by a hair.

    ===

    When Friday rolled around Christian was a nervous wreck. It had been such a long time since he went out with anyone that he was desperate not to screw this up. He wasn''t sure he had panicked this much on his first date in high school.

    He didn''t want to wear a full-on suit to a restaurant that didn''t have a formal dress code so he wore dark wash jeans and a blue button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He made sure to put on cologne too but was careful not to overdo it so Avery wouldn''t choke by standing near him.

    "Chris, you''re making ME antsy. Chill," Liam said in annoyance as he paced around the living room.

    "But what if she doesn''t like me anymore after going out with me?" he fretted.

    "Then you''ll die."

    Christian scowled at him. "Seriously?"

    "Just keeping it real. Honestly, you''re not that bad when you manage to rx so calm down and get out of here before you work yourself up into a frenzy. Do some loop-de-loops or something to work your nerves off."

    That actually wasn''t a bad idea. He went out on the fire escape and carefully made sure no one was watching before climbing up the stairs to the roof. Once he was up there he was certain no one would be able to see him.

    He shot into the air and did five loop-de-loops to blow off steam before going back down and making sure he hadn''t messed up his hair too much. Liam saw what he was doing and told him to quit fussing because it looked better that way. His brother might be between girlfriends now but he undeniably had more experience with women. Christian kept his hair mussed.

    He had a car though he didn''t use it tomute. He needed to use it to go pick up Avery. He already knew where her building was because of the time he flew her home but she didn''t know that so he had to ask for her address to deflect suspicion.

    As far as she was aware he didn''t even know herst name. He had learned it when she filed that police report. Avery West. Her name suited her though he couldn''t quite say how.

    Sufficiently destressed, Christian drove the fifteen blocks or so it took to get to her apartment building from his. They both lived in Queens but that shouldn''t have been too surprising since they both worked there as well.

    He texted her to let her know he was downstairs, figuring she wouldn''t want someone she hardly knew to have her apartment number. She came down about five minutester looking very springy in a lc belted dress, white ts, and a light wash jean jacket. His heart skipped a beat. He had never seen her in anything but her work uniform before and she was stunning.

    When she climbed into the passenger seat she smiled at him and it took every ounce of his willpower not to melt into a puddle of goo. "Hey, Christian! How was your day?"

    "It was fine," he got out with great effort. "What about you?"

    "Someone slipped on some spilled water and ruined a cake I was working on right after I finished it. Been a while since that''s happened. My boss was NOT happy. I had to redo the whole thing but at least the client isn''t picking it up until tomorrow."

    Christian pulled a sympathetic face. "Oof. Does that happen often?"

    "Thankfully, no. Thest time was over a year ago now. We all got chewed out about wiping up spills but no one is sure who actually did it. The culprit may have been too afraid to fess up," Avery said with a slightugh. "My money is on our part-timer. Poor kid."

    "Your job sounds a lot more interesting than mine."

    "Interesting is a matter of perspective. I know nothing about contracts so they might be interesting to me for a while. But anything can get repetitive if it''s done often enough. That''s why I keep trying toe up with new cake designs for the binder."

    Christian was intrigued. "Oh yeah? Are you working on anything right now?"

    "Nothing special, just some piping techniques I don''t normally use. I''m trying to get Marianne¡ªthat''s my boss¡ªto let me do mirror zes too. Those are so pretty but they aren''t exactly meant to be written on so¡­" she trailed off with a shrug.

    "I don''t think I''ve ever seen one of those before."

    Avery''s eyes lit up. "Oh, I''ll have to show you pictures once we get there! They''re mesmerizing. I like watching mirror ze pouring videos. I guess I can''t fully escape work even when I''m home."

    Her enthusiasm was adorable. Christian couldn''t help but smile at it. "Sounds good to me."

    They continued chatting idly about work all the way to the restaurant and once they were seated and their drink orders had been taken she pulled out her phone and held it out for him to see across the table. She was right. Mirror zes did look cool.

    "I would totally buy one of those," he told her.

    "Right?! You should tell Marianne that¡­but I''m not sure how it woulde up. She works the counter sometimes so you''ve probably met her."

    "Probably. How many people work at Carmine''s anyway?"

    Avery grimaced. "Not enough. Including me there are four full-timers and that part-timer I mentioned. We have a serious need for another cake decorator before I get carpal tunnel. My friend Vanessa who works there too says she would help if she wasn''t so bad with frosting. Her specialty is breads and pastries."

    "I''m sure they''ll hire someone to help eventually," Christian said reassuringly.

    "If the custom cake orders keep piling up they''re going to have to. Not to brag, but I''m somewhat famous."

    "I know; I''ve seen your videos. Honestly, what you do is amazing. I can''t imagine having that kind of fine motor control. You have insanely nice handwriting while using a piping bag."

    She seemed pleased by thepliment. "Thanks! Let me tell you, it took A LOT of practice."

    The server came by with their drinks then and halted the conversation as he took their orders. They got an appetizer to split and she seemed to appreciate that. This was going much better than he thought it would so far. All he needed to do was make sure it stayed that way.

 Chapter 12 - Im No Hero

    Christian had unwittingly jinxed himself. Right as he was about to ask Avery more about herself his sixth sense tingled.

    Normally when it started he was able to feel the general direction it wasing from then followed it from there because the feeling got stronger the closer he got before stopping entirely once he found it. If he ignored it, it would go away after a few minutes.

    People were constantly in danger of something or other so he was bombarded with the signals all day. It was hard to exin but there were varying degrees depending on severity and distance. He was usually able to ignore the little or far away ones since he had to while he was working.

    The bigger the signal the more likely it was that a viin was involved. This one was definitely a viin running amok.

    He couldn''t run out in the middle of a date though! Especially not with someone he liked as much as Avery. Some other hero could handle it this time; he wasn''t the only one though he wasn''t aware of any others that could fly.

    "Christian? You okay there?" Avery asked and he realized he had been spacing out.

    "Yeah, I''m fine. Sorry. What were you saying?"

    "I was asking where you went to school."

    "I went to NYU for my undergrad and to the University of Idaho forw school. Super random, I know. It was a nice change of pace for a while though since literally nothing happens there," Christian admitted. "Too boring to stay in permanently though. I''m a New Yorker through and through."

    Averyughed. "I know literally nothing about Idaho except that they grow potatoes. I stayed here for culinary school so I could take advantage of living at home but I wouldn''t have wanted to go anywhere else, anyway."

    His internal rm went off again and he felt a vein bulge in his forehead. Why couldn''t people solve their own problems for five minutes?!

    "Makes sense," he said as calmly as he could. "Did you ever want to do anything else?"

    "Nah. What about you? What made you interested inw school?" she asked.

    Way back when he was a starry-eyed idealist that wanted to make the world a better ce his dream had been to fight for justice. Then he realized that he hated being in courtrooms and couldn''t withstand the stress of having his arguments ripped to shreds all the time.

    He was still a purveyor of justice in different ways. He helped people patent their ideas and sue people who stole their work or ideas without authorization. His clients got their justice if nothing else. You know, and the whole hero thing.

    "Young idealist me wanted to fight for justice," Christian said dryly. "It isn''t always so simple though. If I didn''t hate being in court so much I probably would have tried to be a judge."

    Avery smiled. "Nothing wrong with wanting to avoid confrontation. And you are still helping people in a way. Not all noble causes are shy."

    He appreciated her perspective. She was right too. There were plenty of good people quietly plodding along making a difference in the world no matter how small. He had seen it time and time again.

    "Thanks," he told her right as another internal rm went off.

    Christian was getting really frustrated. He was trying to enjoy himself here! He did so much for this city and its people; couldn''t he do something that made him happy for once without being interrupted?

    It happened another six times throughout their meal and he wanted to scream. That wasn''t the worst of it though. Thest one became so incredibly persistent that he knew something was going down nearby. What he didn''t expect was for the entire table in front of him to be decimated by a fireball without warning.

    People began screaming and running away in horror as Inferno, a viin he normally didn''t fight because he didn''t have water or ice powers, began cackling madly and attacking every table in the ce that had a couple sitting at it. Oh, why now?! Even his luck usually wasn''t this bad!

    Christian grabbed Avery by the hand and pulled her toward the girl''s bathroom as quickly as he could before shoving her inside and hissing, "Stay here! I''m going to get help."

    She didn''t make a single peep of protest. With that taken care of, at least on a temporary basis, he went into the men''s room to change. He needed to hold Inferno off until someone better equipped to fight him came along.

    He always kept his costume on under his clothes to be safe but he hadn''t expected to need it tonight. At least it was cool, breathable fabric that was specifically invented with heroes in mind. At this point he hardly noticed it was there.

    It was primarily yellow with a swirling cloud insignia on the chest and a red mask, cuffs, and longpression socks. He quickly hid his outer clothes and fake sses in the air vent with the intention toe back for themter. He preferred using rooftops since people were much less likely to go up there but in a pinch it would do.

    Christian didn''t get mad terribly easily but he was livid that his date had been interrupted. Fat chance Avery would want to go out with him again after getting attacked by a viin!

    "Inferno, you really picked the wrong night to mess with me!" he yelled as he flew around from the outside of the building after escaping through the window. Coming out of the bathroom would have been too suspicious.

    Inferno looked at him in vague surprise. "Mercury? What are you doing here? I would have expected Delta or Frostine."

    "¡­I happened to be in the area. What are you trying to aplish here?"

    "I had a bad date at this establishment. If I can''t have a good time why should anyone else?"

    Ugh, what a terrible motive! But honestly, Christian had seen worse. Skulker''s escapades came to mind. Of all the restaurants to attack though why did it have to be this one? He knew he should have gone with the Indian ce across town.

    He was about to retort how stupid that was when an unexpected figure appeared on his left. What on earth was Nox doing here?! He never operated on Fridays! He had never hit a restaurant either.

    What was going on? Had this unlikely duo decided to tag team to ruin his night?

    Some viins did have partnerships, as did some heroes, but he had never heard of Nox working with anyone. Or getting involved in anything where there were a lot of witnesses. Most people didn''t even know he existed.

    Christian was immediately on the defensive, ready to fight them both when Noxughed. "I''m not here for you, believe it or not. Funny running into you though. I thought our date night was tomorrow."

    A shudder ran down his spine. He knew the viin was messing with him but it was still beyond creepy to have their weekly run-ins referred to in such a way.

    Inferno looked between the two of them in confusion as he continued shooting fireballs. "Who''s this, Mercury? Your new sidekick?"

    "Absolutely not!" he said with a scowl. "I don''t even know what he''s doing here."

    "Helping you out, my ungrateful friend!" Nox said cheerfully.

    He flipped through the air and wrapped his legs around Inferno''s neck to m him to the ground. The fiery viin groaned and tried attacking his opponent with fireballs but his suit was impervious to me.

    "We all have bad dates, Inferno. Doesn''t mean you should destroy a perfectly good restaurant or anyone else''s good time. That''s too petty," Nox said as he pinned him and shot some sort of wire out of his wrists that bound the other viin.

    Infernoy there groaning in defeat. "Who are you? Some new hero? I''ve never heard of someone with your powers."

    "I''m no hero. Simply a bystander who doesn''t like ying with fire."

    Christian waspletely baffled. That was pretty darn heroic for a viin. That didn''t change anything though. One opponent was down but he had one left. He flew toward Nox, who blocked his kick.

    "This is how you repay me for preventing you from getting a fireball to the face? You wound me, Mercury!"

    "What are you even doing here? Why did you do that? You''re both on the same side!"

    "The same side? Not even close. I don''t wreak havoc for the fun of it. And here I thought you knew me by now! I happened to be in the area and didn''t want to see my favorite hero get torched," Nox said.

    "Don''t make me use my getaway n on you now. Then I''ll have toe up with something before tomorrow. Shouldn''t you be evacuating people rather than focusing on me since I''m not here to cause trouble?"

 Chapter 13 - The Strangest Date He Had Ever Been On

    As much as Christian hated it the viin had a point. He hadn''t done anything wrong this time. That didn''t change the fact that he hadmitted all sorts of crimes and needed to be brought to justice though. If he managed to catch Nox now he could prevent whatever was nned for tomorrow.

    None of Inferno''s fireballs had made it as far as the bathroom but the fire was spreading. Who knows how long it would take before the fire department, Delta, or Frostine got here?

    Most people had run out screaming already but there were a few trapped by the mes. So which was it? Let a viin he knew would strike again go or take care of the people that were already here, including the woman he liked?

    He continued fighting Nox as he deliberated before deciding with great regret. In this case the lesser of two evils was taking care of people that were actively in danger.

    Rather than giving the viin the satisfaction of saying anything, he began rounding up the stragglers in both the dining area and the kitchen since they were currently at the greatest risk. He could get to Avery and anyone else hiding in the bathroom next.

    "Good choice! Feel free to take credit for this one; I''m not interested. See you tomorrow!" Nox''s voice trailed off as he vanished into the night.

    Frustration bubbled up inside Christian at letting his nemesis get away but there was nothing he could do about that now. He flew people out two at a time and managed to help nearly a dozen before he got to Avery.

    She was in the bathroom trying tofort a girl no older than ten who had been separated from her parents. "It''s okay. Mercury''s here; nothing bad is going to happen to you. He''lle get us out any minute."

    His heart warmed when he heard that. She believed in him.

    But that was beside the point. He needed to get them out of here as quickly as possible. "Are you two the only ones in here?"

    Avery looked up at him with a dazzling smile. "Yeah. See, what did I tell you?"

    The girl seemed a bit starstruck. "Wow! A real hero! You were right, Avery! Are you going to fly us out?"

    "Yes. For the sake of time, I''m going to need to take both of you at once so I''m afraid it won''t be veryfortable," Christian apologized. "Hold tight."

    He flew them out, dodging the mes as he went, and set them down safely across the street with the rest of the people who had fled the restaurant. There hadn''t been anyone else in the bathroom when he was there but he should double check to be safe.

    By the time he came back out Delta had finally arrived. His costume was reminiscent of silver fish scales and he created/controlled water the same way Inferno did fire.

    He had beaten the fire department but not by much. The sirens could be hearding up the street.

    Delta began doing damage control and addressed Christian without looking at him. "Mercury, did you take down Inferno all by yourself? I wouldn''t have expected that since you don''t have a single scorch mark on you."

    Taking credit on behalf of someone else didn''t sit well with him so he didn''t follow Nox''s instructionspletely. He could omit part of the truth here.

    "No, I had help from an unexpected source. What took you so long?"

    "I was out in Long Ind. Excuse me for not being able to fly."

    Delta could get around quickly by using water to propel himself but it resulted in a lot of bystanders getting wet and still wasn''t as fast as flying. Christian supposed he couldn''t me the guy too much. He was just upset this night had not gone the way he wanted.

    "Whatever. Now that the fire''s under control I''ll get Inferno to the cops. I''m pretty sure I saw them outside dealing with crowd control," he said and the water hero nodded.

    He picked Inferno up by his bindings and dragged him out one-handed, depositing him in front of a police car. "Here. I don''t know who he really is but he caused a lot of property damage and some people may have been hurt. That''s only tonight; he probably has enough counts of arson to put him in prison for life."

    There were specific measures that could be taken for viins with powers in jail to make them less dangerous. Materials a room could be lined with that nullified them. Powered viins may be harder to catch than tech-based ones most of the time but at least there were measures in ce for when they were. Nox was a rare exception to that rule.

    Christian wasing to realize that he was an exception to most rules of viiny. He was still baffled that the man got involved in taking down another of his kind.

    Wasn''t there some sort of creed preventing viins from encroaching on each other''s schemes? He had never heard of one viin taking down another before. He didn''t have time to ponder it though because he needed to get his clothes back and return to Avery.

    "Excuse me, Mercury?" her familiar voice called hesitantly from behind him.

    He slowly turned around and saw her worriedly biting her lip. "When you were getting people out did you happen to see a guy with brown hair and sses wearing a blue shirt? I haven''t seen him out here yet."

    Christian''s heart stuttered. She was worried about him! That was bad though. He didn''t want her to be stressed out because of his prolonged, unexined absence.

    "No but I''m sure he''ll turn up," he told her with his best attempt at a reassuring smile.

    "Thanks."

    He flew around the block to divert suspicion so he could sneak back in through the bathroom window and get his clothes out of the vent. Checking to be sure the coast was clear, he went back out to where Avery was anxiously awaiting him.

    He had most likely blown it with her by making her worry. He had to y it cool even as his heart sunk.

    "Avery! There you are. I couldn''t find you for a while because this crowd is nuts. I''ll never understand why people like goggling at disasters. Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"

    She shook her head. "No, I''m fine. You?"

    "I''m fine too. I''m really sorry about this¡­I wouldpletely understand if you wanted to go home and never see me again after this," Christian sighed.

    "It''s not like this was your fault unless you personally invited Inferno here."

    "Of course I didn''t!"

    "Then we''re good. Want to get some ice cream or something? I''m still hungry because I didn''t get to finish my food," Avery said casually.

    He blinked at her in shock. "You serious?"

    "Yep. Unless you''re too freaked out by what happened and want to go home. Because I''d totally understand if you were."

    Christian was more surprised she wasn''t. She had been uncontrobly shaky thest time he saved her but right now she was as cool as a cucumber. This didn''t make sense. Weren''t viins a lot scarier than unpowered assants?

    "I''m not¡­but I''m a bit surprised you''re okay with all of this. People don''t run into viins every day."

    Avery shrugged. "I guess it''s because Mercury was here. Did you see him?"

    Boy, did he. He answered rather ironically. "Yeah. Did he get you out?"

    A slight smile yed around the corners of her lips. "He did. Once I saw him I knew everything was going to be fine. He is a hero, after all."

    In a way, that was the highestpliment she could give him. And he couldn''t even thank her for it. A subject change was in order before his emotions overwhelmed him and he did something stupid like hug her without warning.

    "Makes sense. Heroes are good at that. I think I saw an ice cream ce a few blocks from here on our way in. Do you mind walking there?" Christian asked.

    "Not at all," Avery said before moving to his side so they could walk together.

    This was by far the strangest date he had ever been on but he wasn''tining since it didn''t seem like she was mad at him. He could process all the weirdness with Noxter. For now he wanted to enjoy himself like anyone else would on a Friday night now that the viin mess was behind him.

 Chapter 14 - If She Didnt Know Any Better...

    Avery reluctantly conceded that Angelo was right (to her friend''s great delight and smugness) after Christian asked her out. She had absolutely no idea why he would be interested in her considering their limited and embarrassing interactions but she didn''t have anything better to do so she said yes.

    When he came to pick her up she was struck by the thought that his hair looked the same way Mercury''s did. Windblown from flying.

    Then she chastised herself for being stupid because purposefully messy hair was popr these days. She supposed she simply missed him and was looking forward to tomorrow. She shouldn''t be thinking about another man while on a date though. That was bad manners.

    Perhaps she should have been more self-conscious after the whole bloody nose incident but Christian had been genuinely amused by her apology cake¡ªshe could tell¡ªand that put her at ease. He was a good listener overall and easy to talk to even if she did catch him spacing out a few times.

    It was strange. If she didn''t know any better she would say he was hearing something no one else could and doing his best to ignore it and keep his focus on her.

    When Inferno attacked she hadn''t been expecting it in the slightest and froze in panic wondering what on earth she was supposed to do in this situation. She technically had the ability to take him down but she couldn''t put the suit on with this many people watching.

    Christian ended up fixing the problem for her by grabbing her and shoving her into the bathroom to hide. She had no idea what he thought he was doing¡ªwas he nning on hiding in the men''s room?¡ªbut it gave her the opportunity to get involved. She may be a viin but she wouldn''t stand by and watch people get hurt when she could stop it.

    Not many people knew of Nox anyway because most of her missions were covert. Anyone that saw her would probably think she was some new hero.

    Avery didn''t expect to run into Mercury in the restaurant. He seemed offended that Inferno though she was his sidekick and she had to y her very real hurt off as a joke. She shouldn''t be hurt by that; they were nemeses. Of course he would be offended by the thought of being affiliated with her.

    That sort of dampened her spirits. She had been so excited when she first saw him too.

    Hurt as she may be she didn''t want him to get injured. His specialties were strength, speed, and agility. That wouldn''t exactly work against a fire viin. He had probably been hesitating when she arrived because he couldn''t figure out how to take Inferno down without hurting himself badly.

    Avery took that problem into ount and took Inferno down in no time at all. She needed to get back to hiding in the bathroom where Christian left her. If he sent Mercury in to look for her and she wasn''t there that would be incredibly suspicious.

    And how did the man she loved repay her for her generosity? By beginning to fight her.

    Ooh, she didn''t have time for this! Since she really didn''t want to hurt him twice in the space of two days she ended up appealing to his hero''s sensibilities by bringing up the bystanders.

    It was a gamble; she had no idea if it would work. But ultimately his do-gooder personality worked against him and he let her go to focus on the people that needed to be evacuated from the building.

    Avery knew he was one of the good ones. He weighed catching someone who constantly gave him trouble over several other lives and chose thetter. She expected no less from him.

    She told him to take all the credit because even though she wasn''t very well known if anyone knew that Nox had been involved in taking down Inferno that could cause trouble for herter. She didn''t want any further run-ins with other viins to potentially mess with her ns to take down Hunsacher.

    Once that was taken care of she snuck back into the bathroom and realized there were sobsing from one of the stalls. She hadn''t noticed anyone in here before but it might have been because they were scared out of their wits and hadn''t wanted toe out.

    "Hello? Is anyone in here?" Avery asked. "My name''s Avery. I''m not going to hurt you."

    The door opened and a girl about eight years old at a nce cautiously peeked out through the crack. When she saw it was a harmless looking woman wearing a wrinkled dress (side effect of wearing one under the suit) she opened the door all the way.

    "I heard lots of yelling and scary noises out there. What''s happening? Where are my mom and dad?"

    Avery felt sorry for her. She put a hand on the girl''s shoulder to reassure her. "There''s a fire in the restaurant but I''m sure your parents have already been evacuated. It''s okay. Mercury''s here; nothing bad is going to happen to you. He''lle get us out any minute."

    She had seen him begin the evacuations already and had no doubt he was on his way. He was always dependable in a pinch as long as you weren''t on the other side of thew. Like she usually was.

    As if he knew she was talking about him, Mercury made an appearance in the doorway. "Are you two the only ones in here?"

    Avery had already pushed her earlier bruised feelings aside so she smiled warmly at him. It was nice being able to do so without the helmet on. He never knew how often she sent smiles his way during their fights.

    "Yeah. See, what did I tell you?" she asked the girl.

    She was visibly excited at the sight of Mercury. "Wow! A real hero! You were right, Avery! Are you going to fly us out?"

    "Yes. For the sake of time, I''m going to need to take both of you at once so I''m afraid it won''t be veryfortable. Hold tight." He was always so polite about this! Other heroes she saw on television weren''t nearly so considerate.

    He flew them out and set them down safely across the street before flying back inside to check for stragglers. Avery was sure to stay with the girl¡ªshe never caught her name¡ªuntil she was reunited with her extremely worried parents.

    "Oh, Lily! I was so worried about you but they wouldn''t let us go back in the building. Are you okay?" her mother fretted.

    Lily nodded. "I''m fine, Mom. Avery found me and stayed with me until Mercury got there."

    The woman turned to Avery with tears in her eyes and briefly let go of her daughter to sp her hands. "Thank you so much for helping my baby! Is there anything I can do to repay you?"

    She shook her head. "Don''t worry about it; I was happy to help. I do need to find someone though so if you''ll excuse me¡­"

    "Of course! I won''t keep you."

    Scanning the crowd, Avery saw a lot of people¡ªpolice officers, curious bystanders, victims of the attack, Mercury talking to another hero¡ªbut no Christian. Where was he? Had he not managed to get out in time?

    That didn''t seem right. Delta, a water hero she was vaguely familiar with because of the news, was putting out the fire and Mercury was depositing Inferno in front of the police. That must mean that everyone made it out of the building already.

    What happened to him after he shoved her in the bathroom? Why would he do that anyway? She hadn''t thought much of it at the time because she had been desperate to find a ce to put on her suit but it was a strange thing to do.

    She had never sought her crush out first¡ªhe always came to her both as Nox and the two times he rescued her¡ªso she was hesitant about doing this. But she needed to know if he had seen Christian.

    "Excuse me, Mercury?" Avery asked hesitantly. "When you were getting people out did you happen to see a guy with brown hair and sses wearing a blue shirt? I haven''t seen him out here yet."

    "No but I''m sure he''ll turn up," Mercury said with a reassuring smile that made her heart skip a beat.

    If he hadn''t seen him did that mean he got out on his own? Did he seriously chuck her in the bathroom and leave her there?! That seemed out of character considering how solicitous he had been when she had something as simple as a bloody nose.

    "Thanks," she said to be polite even though the information wasn''t helpful.

    Without another word he flew away. He probably had better things to do than stand around talking to a random bystander he didn''t know.

    Avery didn''t have time to be concerned about that. She was too confused and simultaneously worried about her date. She may not have any feelings for him but he was a good person and if he got hurt she would feel bad since he was only at this restaurant tonight because of her.

 Chapter 15 - Wild Speculations

    Christian''s voice sounded from across the street and Avery saw him emerge from the alley by the restaurant. How had he gotten there?!

    "Avery! There you are. I couldn''t find you for a while because this crowd is nuts. I''ll never understand why people like goggling at disasters. Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" he fretted.

    "No, I''m fine. You?"

    "I''m fine too. I''m really sorry about this¡­I wouldpletely understand if you wanted to go home and never see me again after this," he said miserably.

    There was the Christian she knew. Why did he feel the need to apologize though? Was it for abandoning her in the bathroom? "It''s not like this was your fault unless you personally invited Inferno here."

    "Of course I didn''t!"

    "Then we''re good. Want to get some ice cream or something? I''m still hungry because I didn''t get to finish my food," Avery said.

    She also needed sugar after her ordeal. She was conflicted about her run-in with Mercury and had been stressed about her date potentially being hurt. Ice cream would make her feel better.

    "You serious?" Christian asked in disbelief.

    "Yep. Unless you''re too freaked out by what happened and want to go home. Because I''d totally understand if you were."

    "I''m not¡­but I''m a bit surprised you''re okay with all of this. People don''t run into viins every day."

    Oops. Fighting Inferno was the least stressful part of this whole thing because she knew her suit would protect her. A normal girl would probably be more freaked out. She jumped on the first excuse she could think of.

    "I guess it''s because Mercury was here. Did you see him?"

    Christian epted her answer easily enough to her great relief. "Yeah. Did he get you out?"

    She smiled at the memory of being in his arms for the second time even if he had been holding her awkwardly to make room for Lily. "He did. Once I saw him I knew everything was going to be fine. He is a hero, after all."

    "Makes sense. Heroes are good at that. I think I saw an ice cream ce a few blocks from here on our way in. Do you mind walking there?"

    "Not at all."

    Avery began walking by his side and since he was quiet on the way there she had time to think. What was he doing in that alley? She had used it earlier because the bathroom windows led out there but the only other exit that led there was from the kitchen. Why would he go in there?

    Christian may have been hiding in the other bathroom but wouldn''t Mercury have gotten him out then? Why would he climb out the window himself ande out through the alley?

    Those windows were pretty high up and not veryrge. It couldn''t have been easy to squeeze through. She barely managed to do it even with her suit on. So why would he do something like that? It didn''t make any sense. Unless¡­

    Avery scrutinized the man walking next to her. He had the same general build and coloring as Mercury. His hair was messier than it had been earlier too, as if it had be more windblown.

    He wore sses but that was easy enough to fake. And there were always contacts; that was what she wore most of the time because sses slipped off her face when she was decorating too easily. That didn''t necessarily mean anything.

    Their voices were different but wouldn''t it make more sense to purposely change his voice if he had an alter ego? That was what her dad did and she had stuck with it.

    She hadn''t seen them both in the same ce at the same time. Christian disappeared before Mercury showed up and appeared again after he supposedly flew away. Theoretically, it was possible he had appeared from the alley because he had done the same sort of costume change she did in there.

    Was Avery crazy? Was she trying to twist the facts to fit her theory rather than the other way around? The odds of knowing Mercury in his secret identity were incredibly slim considering how huge this city was.

    Plus it waspletely insane. If she was right that meant her crush also had a crush on her and neither of them were aware of it!

    It wasn''t like she could ask him either. She was going to have to keep her wild spections to herself. She already knew that dating Mercury was impossible because they were on two different sides of thew. He said as much himself tonight, lumping her in with Inferno who was nothing like her.

    She was an anti-hero on a mission. She didn''t do stupid, petty things that would hurt people in the process. She never hurt anyone unless she had a very good reason to and even then she was sure to make it minor.

    Avery knew dating Mercury was impossible¡­which meant dating Christian was impossible if he truly was Mercury. But what if he wasn''t?

    She didn''t know he was for sure and he would never tell her. If she rationalized this the right way she could have the best of both worlds. Potentially dating who she wanted without him knowing she was Nox. He would never be able to guess who she was because he thought she was a man and the suit left no identifying features aside from her height.

    Could she do that morally? She had pined after him for months and he already liked her. The only reason she shouldn''t take advantage of the situation was that she would feel bad for lying to him and fighting him. But she already felt bad about those things so what difference would it make?

    Since he was most likely a hero he wouldn''t notice her absences and be suspicious of them because he would be busy then too. Like tonight when a viin crashed their date and his conscience dictated he get involved the same way hers had.

    Hadn''t that been her main argument against dating someone period? All things considering, he might be her perfect match.

    They both cared about making the world a better ce even if they had very different ways of going about it. He was handsome, funny, and easy to talk to. Why shouldn''t she go for it?

    Avery had no concrete proof he was Mercury, anyway. She could treat this like she would treat anyone else that potentially wanted to date her. Being a viin and being in a rtionship weren''t mutually exclusive; Jorge and his girlfriend proved that.

    "What do you want, Avery?" Christian asked, shaking her out of her reverie. She hadn''t realized they had arrived.

    She examined the menu before pping her hands together under her chin. "I''m torn between rocky road and cookies and cream."

    "There are these things called double scoops, you know. You don''t have to choose."

    Ah, he was an angel! She ended up getting one scoop of each on a cake cone while he got two scoops of cookie dough ice cream on a sugar cone. They took their bounty to a two-person table and as she absentmindedly licked her ice cream she scrutinized him further.

    Chiseled jaw¡­hazel eyes¡­the same color of hair. He totally was Mercury, wasn''t he? How had she not seen it before? It must have been because the different voice thing threw her off.

    Though it may have also been the fact that he was a patentwyer of all things. What hero had time forw school? Though he had said he went to Idaho because it was more peaceful. Ack of crime to stop would give him plenty of time to study.

    "Uh¡­Avery? Why are you staring at me?" Christian asked.

    Avery couldn''t be honest so she smiled and decided to tease him. She had always excelled at teasing him as a hero. "Because you''re so handsome."

    Based on the look on his face she was fairly certain she broke him. She couldn''t muffle herughter. That was too cute! And here she used to think he was boring. That was about as far from the truth as possible.

    "Really?" he squeaked before clearing his throat. "Actually, when I first picked you up I thought you looked beautiful. Light purple is your color. I didn''t say anything because I thought it might be weird."

    Mercury thought she was beautiful!! Avery was internally screaming but she didn''t let it show. "Thanks! That''s good to hear because it''s my favorite."

    Her nails were currently painted the same shade. She rotated through a variety of pastels but she loved this shade of lc the most. She was running low because of how often she used it and needed to restock soon.

    Christian busied himself with his rapidly melting ice cream and she smiled to herself as she got back to her own. He flustered easily, didn''t he? That was pretty funny considering how he stared viins down without showing an ounce of fear. Then again, she was much more fearless as Nox than she was as Avery. It must be the confidence of anonymity.

 Chapter 16 - What? Its A Good Thing!

    As Avery finished her ice cream Christian broke his silence and met her eyes for the first time in a while. "Um¡­I know this was probably the worst date you''ve ever been on but do you maybe want to try again another day? I doubt we would get interrupted by a viin twice."

    Sheughed. "This isn''t even close to the worst date I''ve ever been on. It would take a lot more than a viin to beat out this one I went on my first year of culinary school."

    "Well now I''m curious as to what could possibly be worse."

    "Some of my ssmates and I decided to go on a group date. Everyone had to bring their own date and since I didn''t have anyone to ask I tried a dating site. The guy not only looked nothing like his picture but lied about his age. He was clearly over thirty while I was eighteen and had this awfulbover¡­

    "Anyway, as if that wasn''t bad enough he wouldn''t even speak to me unless it was to answer direct questions. Even the worst dates at least reciprocate small talk questions, don''t they? He couldn''t be bothered.

    "We were mini golfing and split into two groups of four. Since he would not talk to me at all my ssmate and her date took pity on me and included me in their conversation. Then afterward when we went to get ice cream the guy didn''t even sit near me.

    "It was the most horrendously awkward two hours of my life, made worse by the fact that my ssmates teased me about picking such a dud for ages. And at the end of it the guy had the nerve to say he had fun and we should do it again sometime. I still don''t know what fantasnd he was living in," Avery finished with a disbelieving shake of her head.

    This had been painless inparison. She had actually been enjoying herself until Inferno struck and that hadn''t been Christian''s fault so she couldn''t me him for it.

    He squinted at her in confusion. "¡­you really think that''s worse than being attacked by a viin?"

    "Yes because it was the one dark spot to an otherwise good date. Nothing could have salvaged that disaster. Nothing," Avery said with a shudder.

    She may have learned more than she wanted to about her crush today but that might end up working out in her favor if she was careful. All in all she would consider the night a sess despite the fact that he unknowingly insulted her earlier.

    Christian cracked a smile. "So can I take that as a yes to trying again?"

    "Yes, you can."

    "Great! What do Mondays look like for you?"

    "I have Mondays off so my only ns at the moment are to sleep in and watch TV. If you want to do something after work I''m down," Avery told him.

    "I''ll text you so we can set something up. Now that our ice cream is done do you want to go home or should we walk around for a while? I''m cool with whatever as long as you are."

    If Christian truly was Mercury he probably had other people to fight tonight. She didn''t want her time with him to end though. She wanted to figure him out. She knew he was a good person with a solid sense of humor but not much more than that.

    She was already being selfish by allowing him to take her out again knowing they were enemies. She shouldn''t venture further into real viin territory by keeping him from saving other people.

    "I''m getting kind of tired. I''ll take a raincheck on that walk," Avery said with a smile.

    They walked back to his car chatting about random things she couldn''t fully keep track of because she was starting to feel a faint stirring of guilt. Getting involved was a bad idea but she couldn''t stop herself. Maybe she was more of a viin than she thought she was.

    ===

    Avery had a hard time concentrating at work the next day. Her head was full of thoughts of Christian, Mercury, her duplicity, and the fact that she would most likely see him again tonight. This on top of worrying about her more-important-than-usual mission.

    Vanessa noticed and called her out on it. "Girl, what''s with you? Did you have a wild night on your date?"

    "You could say that," she snorted. "It got crashed by that viin Inferno and I was rescued by Mercury for the second time while hiding in a bathroom."

    That was the extremely condensed version of it. It hardly took any of her conflicted feelings into ount. At the very least her best friend should understand that she was spacey because Mercury had been involved.

    As expected, Vanessa''s eyes widened and she stopped kneading the dough she was working on. "Aves! You seriously ran into your celebrity crush when you were on a date? Did that ruin everything? What happened? Did Mercury manage to stop Inferno? I need details!"

    She was the one who stopped Inferno but she couldn''t say that so she had to lie. "He did. And no, it didn''t ruin anything. My date and I went out for ice cream afterward and set up another date for Monday."

    "¡­you were seriously so interested in this guy that even Mercury couldn''t distract you from him? Who is he? All you said was that he''s a customer here."

    "His name is Christian and he''s awyer who works upstairs."

    Vanessa was skeptical of this. "You were more interested in awyer in the face of your hero crush that you''re so obsessed with that you''ve watched every video of him on the inte at least twelve times and participate in multiple online fan clubs?"

    Avery blushed. She never should have left her phone out when she was scrolling through one once and stopped to go to the bathroom. Her best friend saw and asked her about it afterwards.

    It was worse than that. She was the admin of one of those fan clubs.

    What else was she supposed to do when she was interested in a public figure that had no idea she existed despite the fact that they interacted regrly? She had to get her fix somehow since she wasn''t ever able to talk to him for more than a few minutes once a week or less.

    Yesterday changed everything. Apparently, Mercury did know she existed and returned her feelings. If she did end up dating Christian more seriously she would have to quit all those fan pages because if he found out it she would never be able to show her face in front of him again.

    "Come on, Ness, I had to be a good date! It''s not like I would ever have a chance with Mercury anyway," Avery lied.

    Vanessa still wasn''t convinced. "In all the time I''ve known you you''ve never been interested in anyone but that hero. What sort of Adonis is this guy to make you willing to give him a chance?"

    The hero in question. She couldn''t say that though for a variety of reasons.

    "He''s a really nice person and has a good sense of humor."

    Avery ended up telling her the subway falling story from the beginning to when he thanked her for the cake and asked her out. She hadn''t mentioned that previously when she said she had a date on Friday.

    Her friend let out a low whistle at the end of her exnation. "Well, that makes more sense. Is he cute?"

    "Cute? He''s gorgeous! He alwayses in for lunch around noon on weekdays so you can see for yourselfe Monday."

    "Hmm. I''ll keep that in mind. What does he look like? So I''ll know it''s him."

    "He has dark brown hair, hazel eyes, and wears sses. He''s tall too. Probably about 6''5" if I had to guess," Avery said with a shrug.

    Vanessaughed. "Of course you''d be interested in him; he''s nice, funny, and noticeably taller than you! That''s a rarebination. Good for you finding someone that isn''t a celebrity to crush on."

    He was though. At least she was pretty sure he was. What happened yesterday involved too many coincidences to ignore. She would be very surprised if Christian didn''t turn out to be Mercury after what she had seen.

    "Thanks, Ness," she said dryly.

    "What? It''s a good thing!" Vanessa protested. "Anyway, keep me posted on any new developments. I expect to hear all about your second date on Tuesday."

    "You got it."

    Avery was less concerned with her second date at the moment than she was about tonight. Everything was going to go okay¡­wasn''t it?

 Chapter 17 - Dance Of Destruction

    Avery''s window of opportunity to strike Hunsacher''s top secretputer was much smaller than she would like it to be. She was going to have to use the suit to damage the security protocol tech enough to get in there, which would surely set off some sort of rm.

    Security would be called and she would have to take them down without seriously injuring them, destroy the entireputer system beyond repair by inserting a virus Angelo had developed, then smash the ce up to cover her bases. All before the cops, Mercury, or any other hero arrived.

    During her time as a viin she had never run into any other heroes during her heists. She was so stealthy that none of them ever noticed her.

    She had always wondered how he managed to find her every time¡­but after seeing how distracted Christian was on their date she had a suspicion about some sort of internal viin radar. She had no idea how it worked though.

    Avery was keyed up about her heist through most of work and afterward. She barely managed to eat dinner but forced herself to because she would need her strength to be at peak performance.

    She couldn''t strike until after the sun waspletely down and everyone but the night guards had left the building. That gave her plenty of time to sit at home and stew in her worry.

    When it was finally time to go she took a deep breath to calm herself before tapping the watch to activate the suit. The nanobots rushed over her body in the familiar sensation that used to make her shudder out of instinct because it tickled. It was show time.

    Bouncing from building to building made Averyugh in exhration most of the time but right now she was too nervous to enjoy it. She had to get in without breaking any windows to lengthen the amount of time she had to get where she needed to go, which would involve being very, very sneakying in from the roof.

    She was used to these sorts of things but couldn''t help but be nervous because of how high the stakes were this time. They had been trying to get the intel to carry out this operation for months and it would seriously set Hunsacher back.

    The insider who had gotten them this information would surely be targeted and killed for their trouble. Even once they had the information they couldn''t execute the n until Angelo arranged a new, untraceable identity for the informant and their family in a country where Hunsacher had less power.

    All their bases were covered. The rest was up to Avery now.

    Unfortunately, she got caught by a night guard and had to knock him out and tie him up in a closet so he couldn''t raise the rm. Twice. In two different closets. Should she leave a note or something telling someone to go look for them before she left?

    She didn''t want them to get stuck in there for days because they were trying to do their jobs. Even if they were working for evil incorporated.

    After what seemed like hours Avery finally made it to the front of the room the informant told her about. It was protected by a fingerprint and retinal scan operated scanner rather than a simple ID badge one. They didn''t want anyone that wasn''t supposed to be there getting in. Too bad for them.

    She figured she had maybe ten minutes tops to get this done. The virus was supposed to be the quick-download kind that took less than five minutes but then she would have to destroy all theputers for good measure.

    The virus was to get rid of the data and theputer smashing was to prevent them from having anywhere to store new things any time soon. This mission to cripple Hunsacher''s operations was twofold.

    Their subsidiaries keeping the country afloat would be able to carry on as usual but whatever malicious thing they were nning that involved this top-secretputer hardly anyone had ess to wouldn''t. That was what mattered.

    Avery took a moment to steel herself for whatever happened next before she destroyed the panel and the door slid open. The rm immediately began ring and she winced at how loud it was before quickly locating the nearest USB port and inserting the memory stick with the virus on it.

    Five minutes. She couldn''t begin destroying theputers until the virus was fully on it. But of course, the rm brought every security guard in the building up to see what was going on. She had to knock all of them out and tie them up for good measure.

    Doing so was child''s y¡ªthey were ordinary people going up against a high-tech super suit¡ªbut she did feel bad. They would have seriously wicked headaches when they woke up.

    She heaved a sigh of relief when she saw the virus had downloadedpletely and the data was unrecoverable. She stuck the memory stick back in apartment of her suit so she wouldn''t leave any concrete evidence behind. Time to get smashing!

    Avery wasn''t a violent person by nature but she was used to vandalism by this point. She let out hefty battle cries as she kicked, punched, or otherwise destroyed the equipment. It entertained her at the very least.

    She was only halfway done with her rampage when the suit gave her a danger alert iing from behind. She instinctively whipped around and grabbed the closest object¡ªwhich happened to be Mercury''s wrist¡ªbefore flipping him over her shoulder and into theputer.

    Huh. Killing two birds with one stone. She momentarily stunned him and caused further damage to her target.

    She had fought him enough times by now to know that this wouldn''t seriously hurt him. Otherwise she would have felt really guilty about mming him into a solid object. It might not have caused any critical damage but it probably still ached.

    "It seems seeing me yesterday wasn''t enough for you," Avery said lightly.

    She had expected it since he always managed to show up when she was in the middle of something but seeing him again so soon after basically figuring out his secret identity felt weird. She wasn''t entirely sure how she was supposed to act around him but had to do her best to keep up her usual persona.

    Mercury didn''t seem amused. He recovered and immediately flew towards her to attack. She ended up spinning him around and mming him into another part of theputer. He had interrupted her too soon so she needed to be efficient.

    "Seeing you period is too much for me," he replied tly. "What are you trying to aplish here, Nox?"

    Averyughed. He was saying this to the girl he liked enough to set up a second date with and had no idea. "Awwe on, I thought we had a connection!"

    To dodge his next attack she had to do a backflip andnded rather hard on another piece of theputer. Excellent. More destruction. Should she use this to her advantage and dance around him crunching equipment beneath her feet as she went?

    That would be more effective than using him as a human hammer. She would feel less guilty about it too. Dance of destruction it was! She flipped over his head to dodge a punch andnded on top of something else with a satisfying crunch.

    "You didn''t answer the question," Mercury said, ignoring herment.

    "Why would I go and do something like that? You would never understand my reasons," Avery replied. "I''m more interested in why you happened to be at the restaurant I was at yesterday."

    She truly didn''t think he would understand since he was a proponent ofw and order¡ªhe was awyer for crying out loud!¡ªbut she needed to raze this room entirely. Stalling him as she continued to make a mess of things was necessary before she could make her escape.

    Nothing could be salvageable. So why not tease him a bit in the process? It was always fun seeing his reactions.

    To her great delight, she saw his ears turn pink. He was blushing!

    "For once we happen to agree. What were you doing there?" Mercury demanded as he trieding for her again. She took the opportunity to toss him off of her and continue destroying things.

    Avery grinned under her helmet before telling the truth. "Me? I happened to be enjoying a rather lovely meal before my table went up in mes. Most uncivilized. Inferno got what he hading to him. Honestly! If you hate being single that much drown your sorrows in Ben and Jerry''s or forever alone memes rather than ruining everyone else''s good time."

    "¡­you were seriously out eating dinner like a normal person on a Friday night?"

    "Excuse you, I''m as normal as theye!"

    "I seriously doubt that," he said as he managed to catch her by surprise and get a hit in. That would have really hurt if she wasn''t wearing the suit. "Inferno was only attacking tables with couples sitting at them. Don''t tell me you were on a date."

    "Oh?" Avery teased. "And here I thought you simply happened to be nearby when pandemonium broke loose. To know that you would have had to be on a date inside the restaurant yourself when he struck."

    "I seriously have the same taste in restaurants as my archnemesis?!"

    "Aww, am I really your archnemesis? I''m ttered! If it makes you feel any better, you''re mine too."

 Chapter 18 - Are You Completely Crazy?!

    Avery quickly surveyed the room and saw that her work was just about done. All that was left now was one final torching of the ce. There weren''t any windows in this room to make her escape out of. Unfortunately, she was going to have to blow it up. Based on the security measures she had seen in ce already the st should be mostly contained by the walls of this room but there were some security guards in the doorway and hall that could get hurt in the process.

    "Can you do me a solid?" Avery asked as she pulled out and began arming the small but powerful bomb she had brought with her. "Get the security guards in the hallway out of here. I''m about to blow this room up."

    "Are youpletely crazy?!" Mercury gasped as he tried to shake off being thrown across the room again.

    "It won''t affect the structural integrity of the building, don''t worry. This room is practically a bunker. It will contain the st."

    He bit his lip, clearly trying to decide whether or not he should risk attempting to take the bomb from her and identally setting it off. He cursed before flying out of the room to go save them.

    "Don''t forget the guys I locked up in the closets! There are two of them but I can''t remember which ones so be sure to check all of them," Avery called after him.

    No longer having to worry about blowing up her crush sheunched the bomb behind her as she stood in the doorway, careful to be sure itnded exactly in the center of the room so it would get everything. The second itnded she ran for her life.

    The building shook slightly but as predicted the room took the force of the st and nothing else. Whatever Hunsacher had on there must have been extremely important to them to have that degree of protection. Even if the skyscraper fell that bunker would have been intact so they would have been able to recover the data if not theputer itself.

    That was impossible now. Suckers.

    Riding high on her sess, Averyughed in exhration as she leapt from building to building on her way home. She did it. She actually did it!

    As soon as she was safely back in her apartment she giddily texted Angelo. ''Mission aplished'' with a peace sign emoji.

    He called her rather than texting her back and his voice was eager. "You destroyed the whole thing?"

    "Everyst bit of it. It will take them ages to get back what they lost! Am I amazing or am I amazing? Because I managed to get in and out of there in less than an hour and nobody got seriously hurt."

    She could practically hear him rolling his eyes but at least he did admit it. "You''re amazing. Great job, G¨¹era! This will seriously set them back and give us more time toe up with a n to take them down permanently. We couldn''t have done it without you."

    Avery immediately sobered. No. They couldn''t have done it without her dad. He created the suit for the sole purpose of taking Hunsacher down and they were now closer than ever because of it.

    "We couldn''t have done it without my dad," she said quietly.

    Angelo''s voice grew wistful. "Tio Levi was an unsung genius. But he wanted to take down Hunsacher more than anything and we''re going to be able to do that with his tech. He would be proud of you."

    "Thanks, Angelo."

    "I mean it. It might take a while to figure out our next n of attack¡­aside from medicine deliveries like usual you should be able to take a break for a while. Don''t be too upset about not seeing your big fat crush for a while."

    And just like that the moment was broken. He had a way of making anything less serious.

    Avery snorted. That wouldn''t be a problem anyway since she would be seeing him on Monday. She might have actually be upset about this if she hadn''t figured out that his secret identity had feelings for hers.

    "Not an issue. I take it you and the other brains of the operation need toe up with the n? Since I''m merely the muscle."

    "I wouldn''t say ''merely'' but you and I both know you don''t think things through very well especially when emotions are involved," Angelo said gently (at least gently for him since almost everything that came out of his mouth was brash).

    He wasn''t wrong. If she didn''t have a problem with that she wouldn''t be trying to date her archnemesis knowingly. She wasn''t offended by his statement.

    "Do what you must. I''ll enjoy a bit of time off in the meantime," Avery replied. "Is there anything else you need me for or can I go watch TV now? I was stressed about it all day and now I''m dead beat."

    "By all means, watch TV. But since you didn''t end up staying out toote on this one¡­are you going to do anything with Vanessa tomorrow?" Angelo asked.

    That caught her attention. "Why do you ask?"

    "I was wondering if I coulde along if you are."

    "Angelo Cruz, are you interested in my best friend?!" she cried in disbelief.

    His tone was offended. "Hey, I thought I was your best friend!"

    "Answer the question."

    "I wouldn''t say ''interested'' per se¡ªat least not to the extent you''re interested in the goody-two-shoes¡ªbut she is cool. I don''t have any ns tomorrow so I may as well hang out with my best friend who apparently doesn''t consider me her best friend."

    Avery rolled her eyes at his dramatics. "Angelo, we''re family. That automatically puts you on the level of best friend. She''s my nonfamily best friend."

    "Whatever. Can I tag along or not?" Angelo huffed.

    "I''ll ask."

    "Thank you. Text me when she gets back to you."

    He hung up without saying goodbye, which was normal for him, and she sighed. Time to text Vanessa she supposed. It would be nice to do something while she had energy for once. That didn''t happen often because she was usually exhausted on Sundays.

    She hit up her friend asking if she wanted to do anything the next day but before she put her phone down she hesitated. Should she try nailing down her ns with Christian right now too?

    Avery had no idea if he was still out fighting crime; he might not be able to answer his phone. She shot him a text before she forgot figuring he could get to it whenever he saw it.

    Seeing him tonight wasn''t as fun as it usually was. Probably because she was so stressed about aplishing the mission properly. That was done now though so she could focus on spending time with him as Avery instead of Nox.

    Wasn''t it about time she did something for herself? She had been trying to carry out her father''s work ever since she lost him and it had been taxing both physically and emotionally.

    She tried to stay lighthearted and let any negative emotions continue to drive her forward in her ns to expose Hunsacher and make it crumble to dust. Most of the time it worked but she still had bad days.

    Why shouldn''t she have some fun? Since he was as busy on weekends as she was there was little chance of her secret being exposed. Especially since she was the only person alive who could operate the watch. Her father programmed her fingerprint, voice print, and retinal scan into the suit as a failsafe in case anything happened to him. Neither of them had expected that to happen so soon.

    Avery got the watch from the coroner when she identified the body and it hadn''t left her wrist since aside from sleeping, swimming, and showering. He left this mission to her and she wouldn''t let him down¡­but she shouldn''t let herself down either.

    She was twenty-six. Other people her age had social lives that consisted of more than a coworker and a childhood friend. Her being a viin shouldn''t preclude her from having a little fun.

    A viin and a hero would never work out long-term but considering someone as wonderful as Christian was still single he most likely hadn''t dated anyone because of his secondary upation keeping him busy. He probably wouldn''t want anything serious anyway. She would be fine!

 Chapter 19 - What Were The Odds?

    Christian spent most of Saturday dealing with household chores/errands he finally had time for, saving people from generic idents, and fighting viins. He was so busy he hardly had time to think about what happened the night before.

    He was thrilled that Avery still wanted to go out with him again after that disaster but he was more preupied with wondering what on earth Nox had been doing at that restaurant, let alone why he decided to help. He took down Inferno like it was nothing! That viin had been on a rampage for over a year and no one managed to catch him until one of his own decided to get involved.

    All of his questions came flooding back when he actually ran into the man again so soon. Especially when he discovered that they had both been on dates at the same restaurant at the same time.

    New York City was a big ce. Millions of people lived in Queens and there was no guarantee Nox actually lived in the area to go to a restaurant.

    But honestly! What were the odds they would be in the same ce at the same time? Had Christian seen his face and not realized it? There had been so many people at the restaurant and he wasn''t the type to take notice of strangers.

    His focus had been entirely on trying to ignore his sixth sense so he could be an attentive listener with Avery. More likely than not he had seen the man inside the suit and wouldn''t be able to ce him in a lineup. He didn''t have words to describe how frustrating that was!

    Nox was more of a mystery than ever. His decision to stop Inferno made Christian realize a few things he hadn''t taken much note of before once they were shoved in his face again after his second run-in with the viin in two days.

    He never killed anyone. He went out of his way to warn his nemesis about the guards in the hall and the ones tied up in closets that Christian spent ten minutes tracking down because of the sheer number of closets in the building. On top of that he ounted for the structural integrity of the room not taking the building down and was sure to say so.

    Why would a viin do that? It was oddly considerate.

    Admittedly, Nox wasn''t like the other viins Christian encountered regrly. He didn''t disclose his motives at all, didn''t pull any shy stunts, and didn''t seriously injure people.

    Tonight had driven home the fact that he seemed to be actively trying not to hurt anyone. But why? He was a viin! He stole things andmitted vandalism and arson on a regr basis though the bomb was new.

    Christian really didn''t get that guy. And he hated it. Unpredictability made viins so much harder to deal with.

    What was Nox after? This was perhaps the biggest stunt he ever pulled and all he did was break into Hunsacher Inc. headquarters and destroy a single room filled with machines. There had to be some sort of reason behind it¡ªviins always had reasons even if they were usually stupid and petty¡ªespecially since some degree of research must have gone into it.

    He knew the room would be able to withstand a bomb. He couldn''t have been as confident as he was that the structural integrity of the building wouldn''t be affected as he was if he didn''t know that beforehand and n on it.

    Why? What was the point ofpletely destroying a single room in a major corporation?

    Christian was in a bad mood from hisck of answers and having to exin everything that happened to the police before rushing off to deal with two other viins before he was able to make it home and crash. He was so exhausted that he barely had the energy to shower but he felt gross after flying around all night.

    He didn''t see the text from Avery until the following morning. She wanted to know what the n was for tomorrow night.

    After what happenedst time he was afraid to try a restaurant again though logically speaking it was highly unlikely the same thing would happen twice in such a short period of time. He settled on a caf¨¦ instead since it would take less time to sit and eat. Then they could walk around like she said they should take a raincheck on.

    It would be a worknight for both of them so they shouldn''t do anything too strenuous. Hopefully she wouldn''t get sick of him after going on a proper, uninterrupted date. He was afraid she would realize how boring he was.

    Avery didn''t seem boring at all. She was perhaps the most interesting person he had ever met.

    The only thing he had going for him was his face. She had said she was staring at him because he was handsome. He had been so startled by that he hadn''t quite known how to respond but that was definitely good news for him!

    Christian did his best to let that happy thought sustain him through several more viin fights, a family dinner where Liam was in a worse mood than usual on Sunday, and the same dull, repetitive paperwork as always on Monday. When he finally saw her again he instantly felt his spirits lift.

    Her hair was down aside from a small braid looping around the back of her head and she was wearing a pink blouse with beading on the neckline under a tan jacket and light wash skinny jeans. Her lipstick was almost the exact same shade as her shirt and he found himself staring at her lips for a moment before chastising himself for even daring to think of kissing her this soon.

    Avery smiled warmly at him and that only drew further attention to her lips. "Hey, Christian!"

    He gulped and tried to calm his racing heart so he could return her smile. "Hey. What have you been up to today?"

    "Watching YouTube mostly. I haven''t been very productive but I think I earned it after the crazy week I had. How was work?"

    Right, she had mentioned having too many cake orders at once when they were out on Friday. She probably spent all weekend doing nothing trying to recover before preparing herself for another round.

    "The same as usual. Nothing exciting," Christian told her.

    They drove to a caf¨¦ that wasn''t too far from a park they could walk around in. He got a sandwich while she got soup. They focused more on the food than chatting once they had it but he didn''t mind. They had already talked a lot on the drive over about what else Avery got up to over the weekend.

    Apparently she went bowling with her friends. The way she told it, her two closest friends kept butting heads over who was actually her best friend and ended up getting verypetitive in the game as a result.

    She rolled her eyes and called them ridiculous but he could tell how much she cared about them. He was slightly jealous. What would it take for him to be someone she cared about too?

    He wondered about that the entire time he ate and was feeling pretty hopeless because he was certain he liked her a lot more than she liked him considering she seemed surprised when he asked her out in the first ce. They might be on a date now but there was no guarantee there would be another since this was sort of a do-over of the first one that Inferno ruined.

    Christian had no idea what was going through her head. He wanted to though.

    He was even more confused when as soon as they were done eating and made it over to the park she held her hand out expectantly. As if she wanted him to hold it. He hesitantlyced his fingers through hers trying to gauge if that was what she had been going for.

    It seemed that he guessed correctly because she shot him a brilliant, satisfied smile that left him reeling for a moment. Okay then. She wanted to hold hands. That was a good sign, wasn''t it?

 Chapter 20 - Make Yourself At Home

    As they walked around the park and talked about all sorts of random things Christian noticed that Avery seemed rather happy. Sheughed a lot¡ªdid she think he was funny?¡ªand radiated a general air of contentment and rxation.

    He was d she was enjoying herself because he was too but at the same time he was very, very confused. Had she suddenly decided she liked him because of one terrible, thwarted date?

    She wasn''t like this before. She hadn''t been rude or seemed overtly disinterested or anything but the vibe was different somehow.

    Christian was certain she hadn''t been interested before he asked her out considering how surprised she seemed. Her reaction made him think she agreed on a whim rather than because she had any real desire to go out with him. Yet now she was acting extremely interested and he wasn''t sure why.

    Not that he wasining! Interested was great!

    He had to ignore a few internal rms while they walked but, putting that annoyance aside, he was having so much fun talking to her that hepletely lost track of time. It seemed that she did too because before they knew it the park was closing.

    He hadn''t expected things to go this well. What was he supposed to do now? He supposed he should ask her out again but definitely wanted to avoid a weekend date if possible. This one had been much more peaceful.

    "Are you free after work on Thursday?" Christian asked hopefully right before he dropped her off.

    Avery looked up at him and nodded. "Yeah. Rather than going out to eat do you want toe over to my ce? We could watch a movie or something and I could cook. I may have specialized in dessert but I did go to culinary school, you know."

    Was she seriously offering him a home-cooked meal after two dates? He wasn''t about to turn that down but he couldn''t deny being surprised.

    "That sounds great!"

    "Cool," she said with a satisfied smile. "Feel free to text me before then though."

    Avery leaned over and kissed his cheek before getting out of the car, turning and waving before vanishing inside her building. As a result Christian was left sitting there staring at the door for several minutes until someone honked at him.

    When he got home he was still in a bit of a daze and Liam immediately noticed something was up from his ce on the couch. He squinted at him. "¡­what''s with you?"

    "I think my crush likes me back," he said faintly.

    "For real? I told you things would work out if you went for it! Congrattions on bing less of a loser. What''s her name again? Amy? How many dates have you been on now?"

    "Avery. And this was only the second but I''m amazed she even wanted it considering what happened on the first¡­we set up another one and she told me to text her before then. And she initiated handholding and kissed my cheek before she left," Christian told him.

    "I''m really confused though because this kind of came out of nowhere. Especially since things really didn''t go that well on Friday with the whole Inferno thing. I assume you saw that on the news."

    "Yeah. I didn''t realize that was while you were on your date though. What exactly happened?" Liam asked with a raised eyebrow.

    "One minute we''re talking, the next our table is on fire. She froze in panic and I had to grab her arm and shove her into the bathroom to hide so I could go change. Considering I just left her there and she couldn''t find me when she got out she probably thought I ditched her, which makes this even more perplexing.

    "I don''t think she held it against me because she wanted to go get ice cream right after instead of going home, which would have been totally understandable considering she went through a traumatic event, and she was cool as a cucumber. Then she called me handsome when I caught her staring at me. It''s be progressively more confusing from there."

    "I don''t know what to tell you, Chris. You''re thirty and can''t read women''s signals. She probably liked you already and that''s why she''s acting like this. People don''t change their minds as quickly as you flip a switch."

    He had a point. Still, that wasn''t the impression Avery gave off before they were in the ice cream shop.

    "Even if she does like me, what am I supposed to do? I can''t keep my identity a secret from her forever if she bes my girlfriend!" Christian protested.

    His brother shrugged. "You can if she''s busy enough on weekends. Or you could tell a version of the truth and say you have a second ''on call'' sort of job. She might buy that. Whatever you do, don''t tell her the truth. If you ever break up and she''s feeling petty about it she could ruin your life."

    "Thanks for that."

    "Just making sure you''re aware of reality. You can date but you have to be careful, as I''m sure you already know."

    Christian sighed. He did already know that. It was arge part of why he didn''t think things were able to get serious between them. All he had wanted was the chance to get to know her better and enjoy her fresh perspective brightening his boring life.

    If she really liked him it might not be so easy to y things off as being busy all the time. He didn''t want to lie to her but he couldn''t tell the truth either.

    He still hadn''t figured out what to do by the time Thursday rolled around. He barely had time to go home and change into jeans and a less formal shirt before he went right back out and headed over to her ce.

    They had texted random thoughts about their days in between their dates and that bit of interaction with her was tantalizing. It made him want more and amped up how much he was looking forward to seeing her again in person.

    When Christian arrived at her apartment he immediately noticed this looked more like a family home than a ce where a woman in her twenties lived alone. He couldn''t help but wonder if she had grown up here especially because of the pictures of her with an older blonde man starting from the time she was a toddler ced strategically throughout the living room. That must be herte father.

    Avery was in the middle of saut¨¦ing some vegetables when he arrived and she briefly smiled at him before getting back to her task. "Go ahead and make yourself at home. I''m a bit busy at the moment."

    "Do you need me to help with anything?"

    "Now that you mention it, I could use some help setting the table. The dishes are in the cupboards to my right and the silverware is in the drawer beneath."

    Christian did as she asked before rather awkwardly sitting on the couch. "¡­are you sure you don''t need help with anything else?"

    "Nope, I''m good! Thanks though," she said oblivious to his plight.

    He wasn''t used to sitting around being unhelpful. It went against his nature. But he wasn''t much of a cook and if he tried hanging out in the kitchen he knew he would only get in her way.

    About fifteen minutester she served up some sort of chicken dish that was absolutely delicious. He was sure to tell her so and she seemed pleased. Of course a chef would enjoy having her foodplimented. He would have to keep that in mind in case she cooked for him again.

    Why was he thinking like that? He wasn''t supposed to get into a rtionship that was doomed to fail because of his need to keep his identity a secret!

    Christian cursed himself internally and wondered why he was even here. He wanted to be happy and deserved to have a good time as much as anyone else but would it truly be fair dragging an innocent girl into his world?

 Chapter 21 - That Wasnt What I Was Asking

    After dinner Avery cheerfully began offering movie suggestions based on the kind Christian said he usually watched on theirst date. They settled on one and about ten minutester she had curled up with her head on his shoulder.

    He couldn''t deny he was enjoying it but he was perplexed. And knew he shouldn''t be enjoying it because getting involved if she was more invested than he was would make him feel awful.

    He should really draw some sort of boundaries and make his intentions clear but at the same time he wanted the closeness. It was all rather conflicting.

    The only hang-up he had here was the fact that he was a superhero and he knew he couldn''t be a good boyfriend and keep his secret at the same time. Should he use that dumb excuse Liam came up with? She seemed to be a fairly tolerant person considering she hadn''t been mad about their disaster of a date. She might be cool with it.

    But what about long-term? Settling down was impossible for Christian as long as his secret identity was a factor. Getting involved with someone he really liked knowing it wouldn''t go anywhere would hurt him too.

    Oh, why had he let Liam goad him into asking her out in the first ce? This wasn''t going to end well for either of them.

    As much as he was enjoying this he needed to do the right thing and let her know where he stood. He waited until the movie was done to broach the subject because she seemed pretty into it and he didn''t want to spoil her mood earlier than necessary.

    Avery lifted her head off his shoulder, stretched, and smiled at him. "I don''t think we have time for another one but we could y a game or something. I have a bunch."

    "Avery¡­I''m really sorry about this but I should go," he said miserably.

    "Oh, do you have something else you have to do tonight?"

    She wasn''t getting it. He really didn''t want to exin it either but he had to get the words out before she got more invested in something that wasn''t going to be able to happen. It wouldn''t be fair to her.

    "No, that isn''t it. I''m not quite sure how to say this but I can''t get involved with anyone long-term. I really, really like you but it wouldn''t be fair to get your hopes up without being able to make any promises. I''m so sorry."

    To his surprise, Averyughed. "Who said I expected any promises? I''m here living in the moment and thoroughly enjoying myself. The future can be worried aboutter."

    Christian frowned. She really didn''t care? He needed to try and talk her out of this.

    "Are you sure? Because I have a second ''on call'' job and am busy most weekends. You wouldn''t like getting canceled on or ying second fiddle to what I have going on, would you? I''m really not good boyfriend material."

    "What a coincidence! I''m not good girlfriend material either. Doesn''t that make us perfectly matched?" she asked cheerfully.

    He was pretty sure that wasn''t how that worked. And how exactly was she not good girlfriend material? She was beautiful, understanding, and flexible. Was she saying that to try and make him feel better?

    Christian raised an eyebrow. "How would YOU not be good girlfriend material?"

    Avery shrugged. "I can''tmit long-term either. So wouldn''t that make me the best possible person to date?"

    The offer in front of him was tempting. Almost too tempting to resist. How was he supposed to do the right thing here when she was willing to give him exactly what he wanted no questions asked?

    "It wouldn''t be fair to either of us though," he said quietly.

    "Who cares about fair? Life isn''t fair. The world isn''t fair. So shouldn''t we take a chance at being happy even if it is temporary? Life is fleeting and I want to live mine without regrets."

    Her words carried extra weight because she had lost both of her parents at different points. She was used to losing people but that didn''t prevent her from wanting to continue living as if the possibility didn''t matter. Who was he to argue with that?

    Christian had been wavering anyway. He didn''t need further persuasion to do what he already wanted to. If she was willing to risk getting hurt he would have to be too. Putting an expiration date before something even started was pointless because no one ever had any idea how long it wouldst.

    His circumstance might be unusual but didn''t he deserve to be happy too? If Avery was okay with the uncertainty and wanted to be with him regardless¡­

    Why would she be okay with that though? What did she see in him that made her think it was worth it? He needed to know before he could make a decision one way or the other. Awkward as it may be to ask.

    "What is it exactly that you like about me to be willing to do this?" Christian asked hesitantly.

    Avery moved closer and his breath caught in his throat because of the soft expression on her face. "What''s not to like? You''re kind, funny, and considerate. Talking to you is always the highlight of my day."

    Talking to her was the highlight of his day too whenever he saw her and had been for a long time now. If he ignored the potential problems there was no real reason for that to stop. They both liked each other and weren''t going into this blind.

    Why shouldn''t he do something for himself for once? He had spent most of his life selflessly serving others without expecting anything in return. The one time he wanted something it happened to be a rather selfish wish but as long as she was willing and aware of the situation as she could be without outing himself as Mercury it should be fine.

    "What about me?" Avery asked suddenly.

    Christian had been lost in thought and didn''t understand the question. "Huh?"

    "What do you like about me? You asked and I told you so it''s only fair you do the same thing."

    Ah. How to answer this? Originally, he was interested in her because of her rather unique appearance and how lively she waspared to his dull existence. But now that he had talked to her more he could appreciate her sense of humor and enthusiasm more fully. That had only made him fall harder.

    "I''ve never met anyone else as interesting as you," he said truthfully. "Talking to you is the highlight of my day too."

    Avery let out a smallugh. "Interesting how?"

    Christian was embarrassed to admit how shallow he was but he didn''t want to lie. "Well, the first thing that caught my attention was your eyes. I had never seen that color before. But you also seemed really into the cake consultation you were doing, talking with your hands a lot, and I was intrigued.

    "I ended up watching your cake decoration videos not long after and saw how much passion you poured into that. I''m a pretty boring person so I guess it was a case of opposites attract. I enjoy your enthusiasm."

    "I don''t think you''re boring."

    "Thanks."

    He wasn''t sure what else to say to that. Or what he was supposed to do now that their potential issue had been squared away.

    Avery had no such hesitation. She blinked at him with those beautiful violet eyes before leaning in closer than before. "So now that we''ve established there isn''t a problem here what do you want to do?"

    Christian couldn''t think because of how close her face was to his and the way her eyes were bewitching him. Rather than saying what he wanted he ended up doing itpletely out of instinct. The temptation to kiss her was too strong and he lost his head for a moment.

    He realized what he was doing and that he hadn''t asked for permission almost immediately and tried to pull away but she wasn''t having it. Her arms snaked around his neck as she continued the kiss. What little remained of his rationality vanished after that. He was drowning in Avery West.

    When they finally broke apart sheughed breathlessly. "That wasn''t what I was asking but I think I like that answer better."

    Christian smiled a bit sheepishly. "Sorry. What were you asking?"

    "My original question before you tried to brush me off. If you wanted to watch another movie or y games."

    Oops. Truthfully, he wanted to keep kissing her. He didn''t think he would be able to focus on anything else right now. Would that be too terrible to admit? Especially since they hadn''t established anything in terms of whether or not this was going to be a rtionship.

    They both admitted they couldn''tmit long term but that didn''t mean they couldn''tmit for the time being. He would feel like a terrible person if he kept kissing her without putting abel on it.

 Chapter 22 - Wow, Thanks

    "Um, can you tell me something first? What are we?" Christian asked stupidly.

    Avery grinned at him with a mischievous sparkle in her eye. "Well, I don''t know what I am but you''re mine now. If that wasn''t your end goal you shouldn''t have kissed me like that."

    His heart thumped unevenly. Hers now. He really shouldn''t but he liked the sound of that. He would dly be hers for as long as he could get away with it. He hoped that was able tost as long as possible.

    "¡­that''s fair. Sorry about that. I kind of lost my head."

    "Don''t you dare apologize!" she insisted.

    "Sorry. I mean!¡ªokay, I won''t apologize anymore," Christian said wishing he could bury his head in the sand like an ostrich.

    Avery shrugged this off but a momentter her eyes widened and she pped the couch next to her as if she thought of something important. "I don''t even know yourst name! If you''re going to date me that''s fairly vital information to have. Mine''s West."

    He already knew that but she didn''t know he knew. This was going to be confusing, wasn''t it? "It''s ter. Are you on social media at all? If you are I''ll add you."

    "Yep. Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Tumblr. I follow a lot of cake decoration pages."

    Of course she did. He had heard of Pinterest and Tumblr but didn''t know what exactly they entailed. All he had was Facebook and Instagram in order to stay in limited contact with people from college.

    Christian found her pages easily enough and added her. She epted the requests right next to him and a momentter he got a notification saying that she had changed her status to ''in a rtionship'' and tagged him.

    They hadn''t used the words outright but she had essentiallyid im to him already and he had decided to go along with it. He epted the tag and she smiled in satisfaction.

    "There. Now that''s settled so do you want to y Battleship or something? It''s been ages since I''ve yed because Vanessa and Angelo don''t like that they always lose to me," Avery said casually.

    He didn''t want to push his luck asking if they could resume what they were doing before since they had been official for less than two minutes so he agreed. There would be plenty of time to kiss moreter since he was her boyfriend now.

    Christian sincerely hoped he hadn''t just made the biggest mistake of his life getting involved with someone he knew he would have to leave someday. He was already under her spell and could see that getting much worse based on his limited experience with her. She was special like that.

    ===

    Christian was much nobler and more self-sacrificing than Avery was considering he tried to back away knowing he was a hero and couldn''t be in a normal rtionship. She supposed that was why he was a hero and she was a viin.

    She barely managed to keep her cool when she finally wore him down into agreement and he kissed her so thoroughly she nearly forgot her name. Her calm was a lie. After she was sure he was no longer on the same floor as her apartment she squealed at top volume.

    Ahhhhhhhhh! She was actually Mercury''s girlfriend!!

    In all of the times she had fantasized about the impossible she never would have imagined how amazing a kisser he would be. Her previous boyfriends paled inparison.

    Avery knew this wouldn''tst as well as he did unless she miraculously managed to take down Hunsacher in the next couple of years and could put Nox behind her forever. That still didn''t factor in his side of the equation. He didn''t know she was already aware of his secret identity. If she wasn''t a viin this wouldn''t be an issue.

    But she was. If she wasn''t she wouldn''t shamelessly date her archnemesis.

    She had been so happy and rxed thriving off of simply being around him this past week. Happy and rxed feelings weren''t a regr part of her life since her father''s death. She had been a normal person before that¡­albeit one with a viin for a father.

    Levi West had been a good person though. If he hadn''t been he wouldn''t care about a tyrant taking over the country or helping the oppressed. It was caring about the fates of other people that got him killed.

    Avery had a bit of his altruism but she was also fueled by revenge. She was more selfish than he was too but she couldn''t be bothered by that now. She had alreadye this far.

    She was trying to save the world, albeit illegally. Didn''t she deserve to have a tiny bit of happiness too?

    Her phone rang and she saw it was Angelo. She pushed the ept button and immediately had to hold the phone away from her ear because he was yelling into it in rapid fire Spanish.

    "AVERY WEST WHY DIDN''T YOU TELL ME YOU GOT A BOYFRIEND?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW DANGEROUS THIS IS? IT COULD JEOPARDIZE OUR MISSION! I KNOW YOU THINK WITH YOUR HEART MORE THAN YOUR HEAD BUT YOU NEED TO BE SMARTER THAN THIS."

    Avery should have expected a lecture. He didn''t give Jorge a hard time about having a girlfriend considering his role was much less visible than hers and he had an excuse for being gone frequently. But she wasn''t in danger of getting caught.

    "Rx, Angelo! He works weekends; he''ll never suspect a thing," she said soothingly.

    He did, slightly. She knew that was what he was primarily worried about. "Is this the subway guy? He''s the only person I know you''ve been out with recently."

    "Yeah."

    "Once again, I told you he liked you! The real question is why you got into a rtionship with him so quickly when you''re hung up on your hero. That doesn''t sound like you, G¨¹era. You''re too obsessive to switch tacks like this."

    "Wow, thanks," Avery deadpanned.

    "You know it''s true! What made you change your mind, anyway? No wait¡ªdon''t tell me. It''s because you secretly like being a damsel in distress and want to be saved all the time and this guy helped you out once just like Mercury did," Angelo mused. "And here I thought you were embarrassed about the whole bloody nose thing."

    She couldn''t tell the truth but she definitely had to refute that. She did NOT like being a damsel in distress. She didn''t like Mercury because he saved her; she liked him because she already knew a bunch of good things about him and then he bought her a hot dog when he didn''t have to do that. It was the extra act of kindness that got to her rather than the save itself.

    In hindsight it made sense. Christian must have already liked her and wanted to do something to make her feel better. He was a rather helpful person by nature.

    "That wasn''t it!" Avery protested with a scowl.

    Angelo didn''t seem convinced. "Oh? What was it then? What amazing thing did he do that made you stop liking Hero Boy?"

    She had to jump on the first thing she could. He wasn''t aware of the apology cake thing but he did know she had a weird sense of humor that few people could appreciate. It wasn''t so unreasonable she would like him if he understood that part of her.

    "I felt bad about bleeding all over him so I made him an apology cake and he thought it was hrious. I became curious about him after that so when he asked me out I had no reason to say no. We''ve talked a lot since then and he''s really cool. I figured it makes more sense to take the person that likes me that I''m allowed to be with than continue pining after someone who doesn''t know I exist," she lied.

    She could practically hear Angelo rolling his eyes. "It''s about time! Good for you. You know, aside from the potential topletely ruin everything we''ve worked for. At least you''ve started epting reality a little. Having a crush on your archnemesis really was too ridiculous."

    Oh boy would he flip if he knew the truth! Dating her archnemesis was even worse. But nobody knew it but her and she was only 99% positive her theory was correct. The 1% margin of error was what she was desperately clinging to as an excuse.

    "As you''ve pointed out many times. Do you have anything else to say or can I go now?" Avery asked.

    The longer she talked about this the more likely it was she would unintentionally give herself away. She didn''t even want to think about what his reaction would be if she found out exactly who her new boyfriend was.

    "No. I suppose I''ll have to meet him at some point though. Officially. Since I only saw him for like a minutest time I wasn''t able to form much of an impression," Angelo replied nonchntly.

    "We did only just start dating. Having him meet you this early wouldn''t make sense but I''m sure it will happen eventually."

    Avery wasn''t looking forward to that. Christian would have to make something up on the spot about what his ''on call'' weekend work was if Angelo asked. Plus there was a good chance he would try to embarrass her on purpose. That was simply the way her friend was.

    She agreed absently to get him off her back and ended the call before sighing and flopping backward on the couch. She really hoped that this wouldn''t backfire horribly on her. All she wanted to do was have a little fun with the guy she liked. Dating was hard when you had a secret double life.

 Chapter 23 - Always Thinking The Worst Of Me, Arent You?

    Avery''s life fell into a pattern over the next few weeks. On weeknights after work she would spend time with Christian. Sometimes they went out, sometimes they stayed in, but there was always a lot ofughing, talking, and kissing involved.

    On weekends she would hang out with Angelo, Vanessa, or both and do her best to keep herself entertained now that she had nothing else to do. She watched too many YouTube videos to keep track of, tried to teach herself how to do nail art using online tutorials, and deep-cleaned every inch of her apartment.

    She was getting rather bored. Exhausting as her old weekend schedule was it was better than having too much time to do nothing.

    When it was time to make her monthly insulin deliveries she was actually excited about it. She had ns to do nothing but sleep on Sunday and that would keep her from needing to find ways to entertain herself.

    Avery almost never hit the same medical warehouse twice in order to divert suspicion. Thankfully, there were a lot of them in New York. They were all owned by Hunsacher though it didn''t appear that way to the public. No one¡ªespecially not Christian¡ªwould be able to make that particr connection.

    As much as she enjoyed spending time with her boyfriend, now that she had experienced what it was like to do so as herself rather than as Nox she far preferred that. With any luck she wouldn''t run into him tonight at all.

    She didn''t want to fight him but she would if she had to. Those people needed their insulin more than she didn''t want to cause minor injury to her boyfriend.

    Honestly, it was kind of amazing no one had ever managed to catch onto her pattern enough to stop her yet. Even if they were all different warehouses they were under the same umbre. You would think one of the higher ups at Hunsacher would have noticed by now.

    Avery was vaguely curious if Nn Hunsacher had managed to connect all the mishaps in his various subsidiaries across the country yet. At the very least he had to know someone was out to get him after thatputer room was bombed.

    The other incidents could be written off as random but that was such a specific, high security target. He would have to bepletely stupid and that wasn''t likely in a man who had taken over the United States of America from the shadows. He probably did know but wasn''t able to retaliate because he didn''t know who was out to get him.

    She was always careful not to be seen. Angelo took care of security cameras for her by hacking into them and turning them away. Her suit had never been caught on film.

    Countless security guards had seen her and so had Mercury but it wasn''t like they reported to Nn Hunsacher directly. The suit was the only thing that might give her away but that was only if they figured out it was made up of nanotech.

    That might make him think about the nanotechnologist he had killed off. The chance was slim because Nox had been atrge since before her father''s death and she both looked and sounded the same as he did. Her absentee mother was a tall woman so she had grown to be the same height as him give or take an inch.

    Avery tried her best to shake those thoughts free. She didn''t need to psych herself out right now. This was a standard heist and she had a lot of people counting on her.

    As usual, Jorge was controlling the drones and she was in a different part of the warehouse to deflect suspicion. All she had to do was hang around until the drones were done with their work and she got the go ahead to make her dramatic exit if anyone (namely Mercury) showed up.

    She always went somewhere else for a while before rendezvousing with Jorgeter to be safe. Sometimes she went to get the list from Angelo personally, other times she hung out on rooftops. Really it depended on her mood.

    Tonight she was leaning toward getting herself ate-night snack. She had already been warned this list was even longer than thest and she would need to replenish her stamina before staying up and jumping around all night. The real question was what she should get. She fiddled with a bit of loose tape on the box she was holding and mentally went over her options before she got the all clear from Jorge.

    A text from him rolled across the inside of her helmet lens. ''I''m heading out now. Give it about five minutes for me to get far enough away that I''m not near the warehouse before you leave''

    She sighed. Five minutes huh? Then she could break a window and leave as always. She may as well cause trouble on her way out. She couldn''t do it on the way in because then rms would go off and Jorge wouldn''t be able to get everything they needed in time.

    Still no sign of Mercury. Avery wondered if he wasn''ting this time. How did whatever crime radar he seemed to possess work, anyway?

    It was for the best. She hadn''t wanted to run into him tonight and potentially trip herself up. She hadn''t seen him as Nox since they officially got together and she didn''t want to, though she knew it would happen eventually. They were nemeses. Run-ins were inevitable, especially since he always seemed to know when and where she would be.

    Her five minutes were up so she broke a window on her way out and began leaping from building to building trying to get to the part of town that had a pho shop with hours befitting ate-night snacker.

    Avery''s suit set off a danger alert when she was midair and she let out a rather undignified yelp as she scrambled to keep hold of the box and do a backflip over her boyfriend. Shended rather awkwardly on the side of another building and tried to remain calm despite her racing heart. That was close!

    "I thought you weren''t going to show up tonight," she said lightly.

    Mercury scowled. "Unfortunately, you''re not the only viin out having fun tonight. I got held up. What''s in the box and where did you get it?"

    "I''d be willing to y twenty questions with you if you could catch me."

    Avery was improvising at this point. She needed to keep him distracted while she thought of an escape n. Out in the open air like this he was at more of an advantage than she was. This was why she was careful to orchestrate their fights in enclosed spaces.

    "I''m really not in the mood to y games with you, Nox," he replied in a hard voice as he tried going for the box.

    She moved aside at thest second so he went crashing through the window of the building she was leaning against. Ouch. Should she see if he was okay or make her escape? In the split second she took to try and decide he was able to recover ande for her again.

    She used the building as a springboard and tried to get away but he zipped around in front of her. Her danger alert went off again but this time she wasn''t fast enough to get out of the way and simultaneously hold onto the box.

    It slipped out of her grip and began falling toward the ground many stories below. This was where Mercury had the advantage. He could fly; all she could do was try to aim her falls as best she could before she found something else to bounce off of. This happened in the middle of open air so there was nothing she could do. He got to the box.

    "Gotcha!" he cried triumphantly. "What''s so important that you had to steal this, huh?"

    He peeled back the tape with one hand and pulled out a small bottle before she had the chance to bounce off of anything and try to steal it back. He had already read thebel by the time she was able to snatch it and protectively smooth the tape back over it. She kicked him in the stomach in the process to get him to loosen his grip on the bottle since every drop of insulin was precious to the people she delivered to.

    Mercury clutched his stomach with one hand and winced, looking both bewildered and in pain. "What on earth are you doing stealing insulin? Are you trying to make some sort of biological weapon?"

    Avery''s heart was racing. She needed to get out of here before anything worse happened. She had barely managed to get the box back!

    This wasn''t going to work again. Next month she was going to leave all the insulin-snatching to Jorge and steal something unimportant so it didn''t matter if it broke or Mercury managed to steal it away. This was too risky.

    "Always thinking the worst of me, aren''t you? Maybe I''m diabetic," she deadpanned.

    "¡­are you?"

    "No. But at the very least the thought should have urred to you."

    Mercury sighed. "Then is someone you know diabetic?"

    "I''m afraid I don''t have time to chat. I have other things to do tonight that don''t involve you taking this from me," Avery said as she leapt into the air again.

    Unfortunately, he managed to stop her mid-air again and they grappled for the box. She was beginning to get frustrated. He didn''t even know where she had gotten this from; it wasn''t like he would be able to return it!

 Chapter 24 - Im Really Sorry About This

    Avery didn''t want to hurt her boyfriend but it looked like she was going to have to in order to get away without exining her n. Which she couldn''t do because that sort of carelessness was how viins got caught. He would be on the lookout for her stealing insulin again if he knew what she was doing was a regr urrence.

    If her ns remained a secret Mercury might assume she had a one-time purpose for it. She really hoped that was the case. She didn''t want to shut down her insulin delivery system.

    "I''m really sorry about this," Avery mumbled as she finally managed to gain the upper hand by climbing on top of him, grabbing the box, and using him as a springboard instead of a building to make her next jump.

    The force was powerful enough to throw him backwards and make him break through another window on the opposite side of the street. She didn''t stop to see if he was okay this time and jumped right into an alley, retracting the suit as soon as she made sure no one was around. She was going to have to take a taxi to that pho ce from here and out to the meeting spot with Jorge to be safe.

    She was already worn out from her encounter with her boyfriend and potentially letting a crucial piece of information slip by ident. And she had been so careful all this time!

    Unfortunately, she was going to have to tell Angelo what happened so he could find a warehouse outside of New York City next month to be safe. Mercury would be much less likely to look for her across the river in New Jersey.

    Avery ate her pho in a bad mood and because she couldn''t jump around on her way to meet Jorge she didn''t get there until nearly midnight. He wasn''t happy about that either because they had a lot of deliveries to make.

    "What held you up, G¨¹era?! I thought I would be waiting here all night," heined.

    "I''m so sorry; Mercury was tailing me so I had to get out of the suit and take a taxi. Let''s get cracking so we can hopefully get home before sunrise."

    Angelo had already texted her the list so they got to work as quickly as they could, making sure to load the car up to max capacity while Jorge was still able to see out of the rear window. Unfortunately, they still had to take several trips.

    They didn''t manage to finish by 6 AM and both groaned when they saw the suning up. There was way too much left to get it done before people would be waking up and see them. They were going to have to go out again tonight.

    "You owe me big time for this," Jorge said wearily. "I expect a full cake from you."

    Avery yawned. "I''ll get it to you Monday night, alright? What vor do you want? Any specific decorations?"

    "I''ll text you. I''m too tired to think right now."

    That was totally fair. She could barely think at the moment either. When she got home it was a miracle she didn''t slip and fall in the shower but she felt disgusting and needed to be clean before she fell asleep.

    When she crashed she didn''t wake up until 3:30 PM and needed to save her energy forter so she straight up kept her phone on airne mode. If anyone had an emergency they were going to need to go to someone else. She wasn''t taking anything from anybody today and would rx until she needed to head out and meet with Jorge to finish the deliveries.

    Avery needed some time to herself once in a while. That didn''t mean she didn''t love Vanessa because she did.

    She didn''t turn airne mode off until she needed to text Jorge about the time and ce to meet. Since all that was left was one carful of insulin boxes at this point he decided toe get her so they could go from there. That was fine but she also had a flood of messages from Vanessa and even a few from Christian.

    Oops. Maybe she shouldn''t have kept her phone off all day.

    She sent a generic apology to Vanessa saying she was sleeping all day because she was sick but that she should be better by Tuesday. When she got to his messages she winced. He wanted to know if she was able to hang out because his usual ns had been canceled.

    Avery knew what his ''usual ns'' were. If they got canceled it meant he was hurt. Was that her fault? Using him as a springboard may have been too much for his body to take.

    She triedforting herself with the fact that he wouldn''t have wanted to hang out if he waspletely incapacitated. It didn''t help much. She was worried about whatever injury he sustained but it wasn''t like she could ask him about it because she wouldn''t be able to exin how she knew he was hurt.

    She couldn''t use the same excuse she used on Vanessa because he would most likely think she was contagious and not want toe over tomorrow. She couldn''t let that happen because she needed to see how bad his injury was for herself.

    Her text to him read, ''Sorry, I just saw this. My phone died and I was busy with other things so I didn''t even notice''

    Christian replied immediately. ''No worries. What were you doing?''

    ''I was out with a friend'' It was partially true. She had been out with Jorge until early this morning. She sent a follow-up text. ''What about you?''

    ''Driving Liam crazy because he''s used to having the apartment to himself on the weekends. I think he felt a bit sorry for me though because he invited me to y video games with him''

    Definitely injured. Avery had heard many stories about Christian''s brother at this point and knew they weren''t exactly best friends. It would take a lot for Liam to feel sorry enough for him to willingly spend time with him.

    ''Hopefully he didn''t mock you too much''

    ''Define too much'' he replied.

    She cracked a smile. It couldn''t be too bad for him to be joking about it. She supposed she would have to see for herself tomorrow. Maybe she could try to make up for it somehow considering she was the one that hurt him in the first ce even if it had been an ident.

    Avery didn''t get the chance to respond because she got a text from Jorge telling her he had arrived. He didn''t seem terribly happy about this, especially since he was supposed to have tonight off so he could hang out with his girlfriend.

    He hadn''t gotten around to texting her about what sort of cake he wanted so she asked him about it then and that kept them upied for a good part of the drive. He wanted a Mexican chocte cake with cinnamon in it with chocte frosting and the words ''I love you Maribel'' written on it surrounded by rosettes.

    Maribel was his girlfriend. It seemed that she wasn''t happy about not being able to see him tonight too and he was trying to cate her.

    She thought that was sweet. Considering her profession it would be a bit redundant for her boyfriend to send her a cake but that didn''t change the fact that it was a romantic gesture. Christian had bought her a flower from a street vendor when they were out and about once but that was the only romancing she had been on the receiving end of since before her father died.

    They hadn''t been dating for long though. There was more time for romantic gesturester.

    Avery told herself to focus once they arrived at the first apartment building they needed to drop insulin off in. Thankfully, they managed to get everything done before 1 AM this time. Her sleep schedule was wrecked but if she wanted to be able to wake up for work on Tuesday she needed to go to sleep as soon as she got home.

    The next morning she woke up at ten and decided to get started on that cake once she had eaten breakfast. She would need the ingredients for it though so she got dressed and headed to the store to get a few things she was missing such as powdered sugar.

    She bought a generic bakery box too since she didn''t work today and couldn''t borrow one. It was the kind with a clear film window on the top rather than solid with the bakery''s logo but they were both white.

    When it was done Avery texted Jorge toe get it when he could since he had a car and she didn''t. He didn''t text her back, most likely because he was working. That wasn''t a problem; he would see it eventually.

 Chapter 25 - Im Very Lucky

    Avery was in the middle of making dinner when Christian arrived. When she saw him covered in little cuts and with his arm in a short cast her guilt multiplied by ten.

    "What happened to you?!"

    The disbelief was at least somewhat real because she hadn''t realized how hard she identally chucked him into the building by using him as aunch point. He didn''t have any other internal injuries, did he?!

    "I got into a car ident," he lied. "I''m really fine¡ªit''s mostly bruising and soreness¡ªbut I did break my wrist and got a bunch of little cuts from flying ss."

    "I''m so, so sorry," Avery saidmely, knowing it wouldn''t make up for anything.

    His unknowing sacrifice resulted in everyone getting the insulin they needed so it had definitely been worth it but that didn''t change how bad she felt about it. She led him to the couch and fussed over him until the kitchen timer went off and she had to go take thesagna out and toss the sd while it set.

    When she called him over to the table he noticed the cake box on the counter and squinted at it. "Who is Maribel and why did you make a cake telling her you love her?"

    Avery snorted. "Maribel is my friend''s girlfriend. I owed him a favor so I said I''d make him a cake and he told me what to put on it."

    "Right, that makes more sense. I guess I''m a little out of it."

    Guilt flooded through her yet again. He was probably more hurt than he was letting on yet he still wanted toe over here instead of going home after work. He was still in his work clothes though he had taken off his tie and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt to be morefortable.

    Christian came over after work so often it might be a good idea for her to suggest keeping morefortable clothes here to change into so he didn''t have to go back and forth if he didn''t want to hang around wearing a suit all night. That wouldn''t be too weird, would it?

    Avery offered the suggestion once they were at the table and he nodded his agreement that it was a good idea, unable to speak since his mouth was full ofsagna. She was d she did something right. She may as well try to minimize his difort as much as possible considering she was the reason he had a broken arm.

    She let him pick what to do after dinner and he wanted to cuddle and watch a specific movie. She didn''t mind at all and took extra care to be gentle with him because of how sore he was.

    The doorbell rang about halfway through and she sighed. That had to be Jorge.

    "I think my friend is here to get his cake. Hang on," she said as she stood up to get the door.

    "Sup, G¨¹era?" he asked with a nod once she opened it.

    "Not much. Hanging out with my boyfriend. Thanks foring over to get the cake even though I owe you. I was afraid of it getting messed up on the subway."

    Jorge noticed Christian sitting on the couch and peered at him with interest. "So this is the fabled boyfriend, huh? I saw on Facebook but wasn''t sure I could believe it because I thought you and Angelo would die single."

    Avery scowled at him. "Angelo very well might with how picky he is. Come say hi."

    "Right, sorry. Sup, G¨¹era''s boyfriend? I''m Jorge."

    Christian had already turned around to see themotion when they were talking about him and he gave Jorge a friendly smile. "Christian. Nice to meet you."

    "Yeah, you too. Angelo is gonna be so mad I met you first! Anyway, thanks for the cake. See you in a few weeks," Jorge said as he took the bakery box and waved behind him as he left.

    Avery locked the door behind her before settling back on the couch where her boyfriend put an arm around her shoulders. He regarded her curiously. "Why do your friends call you G¨¹era? What does it mean?"

    "It''s ng for ''white girl.'' Because I''m an albino. It''s done affectionately though; they aren''t insulting me. They rarely call me anything else. Angelo started it when we were kids so now his whole family refers to me that way too. Jorge''s his cousin."

    "Huh. Do you have any other nicknames?"

    "Aves. My dad and other best friend call me that. I''m cool with anything really. What about you? Do you have any nicknames?"

    "My family calls me Chris and I''m used to it but prefer my full name," Christian said with a shrug. "Chris is too casual for my personality so it would be weird if anyone else called me that."

    Avery raised an eyebrow. He was always calling himself boring one way or another, wasn''t he? He was the least boring person she knew and not only because he was usually out flying around in a mask.

    "Are your family members casual people then?" she asked.

    He let out a sharpugh. "Sometimes too much so. You''ll understand if you ever meet Liam."

    She supposed she would. He already sounded like an overly casual person based on what little she had heard of him. She hoped she got the chance. They were still in the early stages of their rtionship so it was too soon to meet family members. Who knew if they would be together by the time that would be a normal thing to do?

    Avery wanted to believe they would. That this wouldn''t have toe to an end. Guilt about injuring him aside, she had been so happy with Christian. Happier than she thought was possible after her father''s death.

    In a perfect world she would be able to hold onto that happiness forever but the world was far from perfect. It was broken and she was trying to fix it as best she could, which was why they were on opposing sides. He maintained thew even if thew was wrong.

    She snapped herself out of her mncholy thoughts to respond. "My dad was fairly casual too. So was my uncle Horatio¡ªAngelo''s dad."

    "You mentioned before that the two of you were raised together. Was Horatio your dad''s best friend?" Christian asked.

    "Yeah. My mom left when I was little to pursue her career and didn''t stay in contact. Horatio''s wife died of cancer when I was in elementary school. They were two single dads doing their best to raise us without female influence. Since my dad didn''t have any other family the Cruz n sort of adopted us."

    "That''s good. That they sort of adopted you, I mean."

    Avery smiled fondly. "I''m very lucky. They feed me well on holidays and, as you already saw, Angelo has my back no matter what. He drives me crazy a lot of the time but he''s all I''ve got now that my dad is gone."

    Christian didn''t say that she also had him but she understood why. It was because their arrangement was always meant to be temporary and he didn''t want to draw attention to that and ruin the mood.

    "Sounds like Liam," hemented, which made herugh.

    "I guess that''s a male family member thing. How much older are you than him anyway?"

    "Six years. Apparently my mom wasn''t sure whether or not she wanted to have another kid because I was a bit of a handful. By the time she made up her mind there was quite an age gap."

    Avery barely managed to hold back a snort. A bit of a handful, huh? She could see having a child with the ability to fly being a struggle for a first-time mother. Especially if he couldn''t control it when he was little and ended up floating away half the time unintentionally.

    It would be hard to keep that from people. Superpowers did exist but they were rare. Not everyone that had them became a hero or viin either. Some powered people wanted to live their lives in peace.

    She was d she hadn''t been born with powers. Even without a mom she had a normal, happy childhood because she had the best dad in the world. It wasn''t until he became obsessed with stopping Hunsacher that things took a turn for the worse.

    "My mom didn''t want kids in the first ce. Thought I only got in the way, which was why she left me with my dad. She''s a politician and is married to another politician these days¡­or so I heard."

    Her mother thought that Levi and Avery dragged her down so she left and found someone who better suited her needs. Someone who already had children from a previous marriage and didn''t expect her to produce any more. She was a congresswoman and as a public figure there was a decent amount of information about her on the inte. That was the only reason Avery knew these things; they hadn''t been in contact since she left.

 Chapter 26 - I Am Such A Third Wheel Right Now

    Christian looked at her with genuine sadness in his eyes and Avery realized she may have been too flippant. Oops.

    She was quick to blow it off. "It''s fine, really! I had a great childhood. My dad was the best so I hardly noticed she was gone. I didn''t need someone like her in my life anyway."

    "It''s good you feel that way," he said in an unfathomable tone before tightening his hold on her. He kissed the side of her face before dropping the subject and turning the movie back on, clearly still bothered by what she said.

    Avery really didn''t care about her mother though. Why would she after more than twenty years? That woman could do whatever she wanted as long as she didn''t cause her any trouble, which was unlikely considering a scandal could ruin a politician.

    Nobody knew she had abandoned a young daughter to start over somewhere else. She took great pains to hide it.

    If people knew the child she left behind had be a viin of all things her career would bepletely ruined. But Avery wasn''t petty enough to ruin her own life to take her mother down with her. Let her have what she wanted far, far away from her.

    Unfortunately, the things Avery wanted weren''t so easily attainable. She and her band of renegades were trying to topple this entire country''s infrastructure to give the power back to the people instead of to a single corporation and the evil man at the top who only cared about money.

    As much as she didn''t want to think it would take that long this might be her life''s work. She could very easily spend the rest of her days avoiding any real connection with others in order to keep her secret.

    That wasn''t what she wanted but she wouldn''t let her father and the suffering people of this country down. Even if she had to die miserably at least she would die a martyr.

    Avery didn''t want to die though. She wanted to live long enough to see the fruits of herbors.

    And if she was being perfectly honest with herself¡­when this was all over¡ªif it ever truly was over¡ªshe wanted to have a normal life and family. Given the chance, she would be a much better mother than her own had been. The kind Angelo had before she died.

    She bit back a sigh. Thinking about all of this was pointless, especially while cuddling with her boyfriend. All it would do was make her wish for the impossible more than she already did.

    This was temporary. She had known that from the start.

    Avery had to force herself to live in the moment because nothing about the future was promised. She learned that the hard way after losing her dad. So she quit thinking about useless things and snuggled closer to the man she loved.

    ===

    Since Christian was out ofmission for the next 6-8 weeks until his cast was off his weekends were suddenly free. So were Avery''s since Angelo and the scientists/businessmen working with them wereing up with their next n of attack. She didn''t have anything to do until her next insulin run.

    So they spend every second of their free time together. She felt like she got to know him pretty well despite the fact that he didn''t reveal his secret.

    The more she got to know about him, the harder she fell. He truly was a wonderful person. More than ever she didn''t want her time with him to end. She wanted to keep him in her life on a permanent basis.

    Avery couldn''t help but wonder if he wanted the same thing, especially when they got more involved in each other''s lives than simply spending all their time together. He joined her on a double date with Vanessa (who thought he was perfect for her best friend) and she ended up meeting Liam.

    It was a bit of an ident. They were caught in a terrible surprise rainstorm without an umbre and werepletely soaked while closer to his part of town than hers. They went to his apartment to dry off and wait it out.

    Liam was on the couch and didn''t even look up from his phone when they came in. "What are you doing back this early? It''s like you don''t even live here anymore now that you got yourself a girlfriend. Not that I''mining."

    Christian sighed. "Whose apartment is this exactly?"

    "Yours. I''m just saying."

    "Well, be polite. You''re ''just saying'' things in front of Avery."

    Liam''s phone fell out of his hands in shock as he gaped up at them. "Why are you both soaked?!"

    "I didn''t know it was going to rain today. Can she borrow some of your clothes while hers dry? She''s closer to your height than mine," Christian said tiredly, clearly not expecting his brother''s cooperation.

    "Yes, on one condition."

    "¡­which is?"

    "I want a cake. Both of the ones I''ve had that she made were out of this world delicious," Liam replied as he practically salivated at the thought.

    Avery couldn''t help butugh. That was the highestpliment she could receive as a baker. "Sure thing. Do you mind if I practice some new decorating techniques on it?"

    "Not at all. What matters to me is the taste."

    As she suspected. This would give her an opportunity to do something she wasn''t allowed to do at work yet to get more practice before presenting her ideas to Marianne. In a way he was doing her a favor.

    "You can discuss caketer," Christian said crossly. "Get the clothes before she catches a cold."

    Liam heaved himself off the couch reluctantly. "Yeah, yeah, I''m going."

    He came back with a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt advertising a video game that ended up fitting Avery perfectly fine. Their two-inch height difference didn''t affect anything. When Christian came out of his room wearing something simr (though his t-shirt was in white) he handed her a towel for her hair.

    She appreciated that because there was no point having a dry shirt if her hair dripped all over it. She put it up in a towel turban and sat down on the couch.

    Liam hadn''t picked his phone back up because he was eyeing her with interest. "So how did you end up interested in this stick in the mud of all people? You''re way too pretty for him."

    Averyughed as Christian smacked him upside the back of the head before sitting down next to her and putting his non-cast arm around her shoulders. He was very lucky his cast was the waterproof kind because otherwise he might be in trouble.

    "He''s nice and has a great sense of humor. Why wouldn''t I be?" she asked.

    "¡­he has a sense of humor?"

    "Liam, don''t make me smack you again," Christian said warningly, making Avery try very hard to muffle herughter.

    He immediately backtracked and changed his line of questioning. "So do you have any cute friends you could set me up with? I''ll go out with anybody once."

    "Potentially but only if she''s interested."

    Vanessa would also go out with anybody once and she wasn''t seeing anyone in an official capacity. She would probably be up for it. Avery would have to ask her when she saw her at work next.

    "Are you talking about Vanessa?" Christian asked.

    She nodded with a wry smile. "Who else am I close enough with to set up on a date?"

    Liam looked back and forth between the two of them curiously. "Who''s Vanessa?"

    "My best friend."

    "I thought she and Angelo regrly duked it out for that title," Christian said with a lightugh.

    "They do. I suppose I should have said ''one of my best friends.''"

    "¡­I am such a third wheel right now," Liam muttered under his breath. "Never thought I''d live to see the day."

    Despite his best efforts to hide it Avery heard him and barely managed to hold back a snort. This guy was everything she expected him to be based on the stories she had heard. Now that she had met him she realized her boyfriend hadn''t exaggerated at all.

    Christian was visibly annoyed and she realized he must have heard it too so she wisely changed the subject. "So what cake vor do you want?"

    That immediately dissipated the tension in the room as they amiably began chatting about different options. Once that was decided on Liam let the two of them y video games with him until their clothes were out of the dryer and they could head back to Avery''s ce.

    She felt like they reached a milestone of sorts even if she had met her boyfriend''s brother unintentionally. Maybe this rtionship was destined for longer than she thought it was. Her hopes and dreams might not bepletely pointless after all¡­or this was simply going to make things worse when the inevitable breakup came. Honestly, she couldn''t tell.

 Chapter 27 - Thats Impressive

    Christian had been struggling since he broke his arm. First of all, he beat himself up over that whole mess and letting Nox get away right after he finally got the first clue into what the viin was up to. The insulin was truly perplexing¡­unless he knew a diabetic in need. But that wasn''t exactly prime viin behavior.

    Then again, neither was the stunt he pulled with Inferno. He still hadn''t figured out why Nox did that. Was it because he was feeling petty about his date being ruined or what?

    As if the confusion over what Nox was doing wasn''t bad enough Christian had broken something for the first time since he was a much more fragile child. Two somethings, technically. His arm and a rib. He didn''t tell Avery about the rib though because he didn''t want her to worry¡­and couldn''t take the time off work.

    He healed faster than the average person but it wasn''t instantaneous. He was out ofmission from hero work for the foreseeable future and that was more frustrating than he could put into words.

    His stupid sixth sense was going off like an insistent rm first thing in the morning when all you wanted to do was sleep. He literally couldn''t do anything about it right now!

    The one good thing about being incapacitated was being about to spend more time with his girlfriend but that brought its own set of problems. It got him thinking about what things might be like if he could be with her forever, which he knew wouldn''t be able to happen as long as he was Mercury.

    Realistically speaking, he knew he couldn''t be a hero forever. Nobody heard of middle-aged or elderly heroes. New ones cropped up all the time to take the ces of their predecessors so that wasn''t an issue. His sixth sense was.

    How was he ever supposed to retire if it felt like the whole world was screaming at him all the time?! Because the more time he spent with Avery the better retirement was looking.

    Christian couldn''t settle down and be a hero at the same time. It wouldn''t work. The risks were too great. Even if he was able to trust someone with his secret identity whoever was with him and any potential children would be in danger if a viin ever found out about them.

    His parents and Liam were already potential targets if he got caught. He couldn''t add to that list¡­though technically he had simply by virtue of agreeing to be in a rtionship. He had done a lot of rationalizing to get to where he was now because he selfishly wanted to be with the woman he loved.

    He was in over his head here. Avery hadpletely taken over his life while he was recovering and he didn''t want that to change.

    Things were getting more serious than he intended them to. Especially after she met Liam because his parents found out and wanted to meet her too. That would make things way too official.

    If his mother liked her¡ªand why wouldn''t she?¡ªshe would never let Christian hear the end of it if he broke up with her for some noble, heroic reason. She was already giving him grief for "hiding" his girlfriend from her.

    "Mom, we''ve only been dating a couple of months. I don''t want to pressure her," he said patiently as the four ters sat around a table at a restaurant to celebrate his father''s birthday.

    "What''s so pressuring about going to dinner with people who live in the same city?" Nancy ter demanded. "It would be different if we lived out of state and visiting us required travel time. All we want is to meet her in a casual setting. She''s all you ever talk about anymore so I want to meet the woman who captured my baby''s heart."

    Liam radiated an undeniable air of smugness at not being the son with the rtional target on his back for once. Christian red at him and wished he could fly away never to be seen again.

    That traitor had to go and make things worse for him too. "That''s the understatement of the century. Chris has been mooning over her for ages. He literally bought my birthday cake solely to have the chance to talk to her since she''s the one that made it."

    Nancy''s eyes watered with great emotion. "Oh, honey! You finally fell in love!"

    He shot his brother a look indicating that he would be dead if they weren''t in public right now. "It''s not a big deal, Mom."

    "Yes, it is! I thought it would never happen. You haven''t had a girlfriend sincew school and then she seemed like more of an afterthought than anything. This girl seems like The One!"

    "There can''t be a ''The One'' for me and you know it!"

    "Why not?" Brian ter asked, speaking up for the first time since his wife began interrogating their older son. "Plenty of people in your situation have families. Your circumstances don''t preclude you from that, especially when you retire."

    As if it was a given thing Christian could retire! He would go insane ignoring all of the distress calls.

    "Daaaaaad. Don''t gang up on me!" heined.

    Liam grinned at their father. "By all means, keep ganging up on him. It''s about time he had to deal with it."

    "¡­you guys are the worst."

    The worst when it came to giving people a hard time but the best when it came to wearing people down. In the end his mother always got what she wanted. At least Avery didn''t seem too bothered at the prospect of meeting his parents. Her onlyment was that he should meet Angelo too if they were going to do this.

    Christian knew he was important to her and therefore the emotional equivalent of him taking her to meet his parents. It was only fair but he couldn''t help but be nervous because based on what she said he was notoriously overprotective.

    Meeting each other''s families purposely was definitely going more into serious rtionship territory. They hadn''t been together long but it was more about the quality of time than the quantity. They were spending all of their free time together, anyway.

    He felt like he knew her better than anyone outside of his family and vice versa¡­even if he couldn''t tell her the truth about being Mercury. She knew virtually everything else there was to know about him.

    Avery was the type to identally overshare so he knew more about her than he thought he would in a short period of time. It only spiraled from there as she grew to trust him more.

    She talked about everything from childhood exploits to her issues associated with her albinism, such as how she was at increased risk for skin cancer and had to reapply sunscreen constantly when outside and wear sunhats and sunsses since her eyes were light sensitive.

    Christian felt like he had a solid understanding of who she was as a person at this point. Creative, independent, a bit stubborn, and soft-hearted. She cried over sad/happy/cute stories about perfect strangers on the inte.

    She was a good person. Perhaps the best person he had ever met, including other heroes.

    Nobody was perfect but Avery was pretty darn close. As he watched her easily interact with his parents at the dinner they set up and manage to handle his mother''s overbearing nature perfectly he thought about how well she fit into his life. As if she was meant to be there.

    He loved her. More than he ever thought he was capable of loving anyone. So not telling her the truth about his identity threatened to crush him.

    At the end of the night when he was dropping her back home she shook her head andughed. "Your parents are funny. I can see where you get your sense of humor from."

    Christian was a bit embarrassed but his parents hadn''t been too mortifying. Yet. They probably didn''t want to scare her off considering he had never been seriously interested in anyone. The few previous girlfriends he had in high school and college came onto him first and he went along with it until it became clear that they were ipatible.

    That wasn''t his problem with Avery. It was that they were toopatible. If he wasn''t Mercury¡­he would want to marry her. Which was nuts considering they really hadn''t been dating that long. But when you know, you know.

    "I''m sorry if they overwhelmed you," he saidmely.

    "Nah, they''re cool," she reassured him. "How long have they been together? They were surprisingly in sync."

    "Forty years though they''ve only been married for thirty-four. They were high school sweethearts and didn''t get married until they were done with college."

    "That''s impressive. My parents didn''tst five."

    Christian knew she was simply a blunt person by now. She didn''t want pity; she was making a statement of fact and nothing more. It was best to ept what she said and move on as if it waspletely normal.

    "Yep. They''re aiming to beat out my grandparents, who were married for sixty-seven years before my grandpa passed away. I think they''ll do it too," he said.

    Barring any unforeseen idents. Heaven forbid.

 Chapter 28 - Underestimated

    Talking about the lengths of rtionships made Christian''s chest feel tight because he knew there was an expiration date on his own even though he wanted it tost forever. How much longer would he get to enjoy this?

    The thought continued to bother him over the next few weeks. And of course, being the unsympathetic brother he often was, Liam had to bring it up one Saturday night when Avery had other ns.

    It was the first time they had gone a whole day without seeing each other in weeks¡ªthe sole perk of having broken bones and not being able to do hero work¡ªso he was already in a bad mood. The reminder of his situation made things worse.

    "Pretty sure Mom is mentally nning your wedding," Liam snickered from his ce on the couch as he yed a game on his Nintendo Switch.

    "She probably is," Christian said grimly. "Avery told me she reached out about going shopping together one of these days. She''s always wanted a daughter and is devastated every time you break up with one of your girlfriends. The same thing is going to happen again so she shouldn''t get her hopes up."

    "It doesn''t have to though. You''re allowed to not be noble and self-sacrificing for more than five minutes, you know. Marry her, retire from heroism, and be the boringwyer you are full-time."

    "Liam, you know why I can''t do that."

    "You can''t y hero forever and you could do a lot worse than settling down with someone crazy about you who can handle Mom and Dad and makes delicious cakes. What''s really stopping you?" his brother asked point nk.

    Christian sighed. "I can''t turn my stupid sixth sense off. It''s been driving me crazy the whole time I''ve been in my cast. If I can''t handle it for a month how am I supposed to handle it forever?"

    "Try talking to one of those power suppressant people from the billboards."

    "But then I wouldn''t be able to fly anymore! That would feel wrong. It''s a part of me; I can''t give that up."

    "Then quit being a baby about it. Maybe you could meditate or do yoga or whatever. Like I said, talk to the power suppressant people. They have client confidentiality like doctors orwyers so they can''t rat on you if you go in for a consultation. Maybe it is possible to only turn the sixth sense off," Liam suggested. "I don''t know. Go live your life for once; someone will rece you sooner orter."

    "Gee, thanks."

    "Seriously though, Chris. You shouldn''t leave Avery hanging forever. She deserves better than that."

    Christian knew that. It was why he hadn''t wanted to get involved with her in the first ce but she insisted, saying she wasn''t looking for anything long-term either.

    Two months couldn''t be considered long-term by any stretch of the imagination but based on the way she looked at him she was every bit as enamored of him as he was of her. His leaving would hurt her and he didn''t want that.

    He couldn''t think about retiring this soon though. Maybe if he and Avery had been together for a while and she seemed to have changed her mind about not wanting anything long-term he could look into it.

    "Yeah, yeah," Christian muttered.

    Liam went back to his video game silently but smugly. He knew he had won this round by at least getting his brother to think about it.

    And he did. He thought about it a lot right until he got his cast off and his broken rib had mostly healed. By that point he was itching to get back into the fray, as much as he hated dealing with viins, because he wanted his stupid sixth sense to shut off once in a while.

    He didn''t like leaving Avery though. He had gotten used to seeing her all weekend. He had been spoiled by his vacation from reality but that was over now. The real world was waiting for him.

    On his first night back in the field Christian ended up tag-teaming with Frostine to take down a group of low-ss newbie viins clearly involved in their first ever scheme. When he arrived she raised an eyebrow and spoke in her usual cool, emotionless way.

    "I thought you were dead."

    "I was incapacitated for a while but I''m alright now. What do you need me to do?" he asked.

    "You''re faster than I am so round them up. Once they''re cornered I can freeze their feet to the ground until the police arrive," she said without so much as looking at him.

    Christian did as Frostine asked and the fight ended in less than fifteen minutes. These wannabe viins really were too pitiful. They had to stand around waiting for the police to show up for a while and she finally regarded him with cold gray eyes behind a sparkling white mask.

    "Incapacitated how? I''ve never heard of anyone taking you down in any meaningful way before."

    He sighed. That''s because no one had ever managed to do it before Nox. He was embarrassed to admit it but he had no real reason to lie to his colleague. "Someone very strong with the ability to jump long distance used me as a springboard mid-air and I crashed through a building andnded on my wrist though one of my ribs wasn''t doing too hot either."

    Frostine didn''t bat an eye at his exnation. "I have never heard of someone with such powers."

    "I don''t think anyone has heard of him. He isn''t like the rest of these idiots; he''s more of a cat burr than anything. Calls himself Nox. He''s been active longer than any other viin I''ve ever known of and hasn''t been caught. He''s stronger and faster than I am."

    "Clearly, or you would not have been incapacitated. What was he stealing when you fought him?"

    "Insulin, of all things. I asked if he was making a bioweapon or something¡ªanother thing about this guy is that he never monologues about his ns¡ªand he blew me off by saying maybe he was diabetic. I never found out what he was using it for because he got away."

    "Have you ever seen anything else he was stealing?" Frostine asked as her eyes narrowed slightly. She was thinking over what he said.

    Christian shook his head. "No. He strikes various warehouses and businesses all over the city and either steals something small or destroys things. No shy ckmail graffiti exining why he did it or including threats. Just destruction.

    "He never hurts anybody either. In fact, a while back when he blew up a room with a bomb he told me to make sure I got the security guards he knocked out away from the st. Somehow he knew that room was made like a bomb shelter and taking it out wouldn''t take the whole building down with it. Said so himself.

    "I really don''t get him¡­he isn''t like the other viins. Their motives are easy to pick apart even if they are ridiculous and they never manage to rampage for long without getting caught. I''ve been fighting him for more than four years now."

    Frostine mulled this over. "Intriguing. He may believe he is doing the right thing and is slowly but methodically working toward some long-term goal. A stealth mission best done from the shadows rather than by garnering public attention. I wonder if there is some sort of link between his attacks that you aren''t seeing."

    Christian frowned. Like what? They were allpletely unconnected¡­though now that he thought about it, at least once a month Nox hit some sort of medical supplies warehouse.

    Was he always stealing insulin? Why would he do that? Diabetics needed that to live! Oh. Diabetics needed that to live. Frostine said he might believe he was doing the right thing. Was he stealing it to give it away to people who needed it but couldn''t afford it? There had been a lot of hype recently about soaring insulin prices.

    "Do you think he thinks of himself as some sort of Robin Hood?" he asked.

    "I would say that is likely though that would not exin the destruction. That may be but one part of his n. People''s motivations are far more multifaceted than the buffoons we tend to fight would lead you to believe," Frostine said wisely.

    She sounded like she knew a lot about human nature. Maybe her secret identity was a psychologist.

    Christian may have underestimated Nox all this time. He had seemed fairly frantic about getting the box back from him after it was opened and the contents were revealed. Normally, he was cool as a cucumber about everything, which made sense considering the suit he wore appeared to make him indestructible.

    Freaking out about the insulin meant it was important to him. That he cared deeply about whatever purpose he had for it. If it was to give it to poor diabetics¡­he was more of an antihero than a viin.

    That would make a lot of sense considering what happened at the restaurant with Inferno. If he thought he was doing the right thing by stealing and destroying with a specific n in mind it was entirely possible he jumped into the fray because he wasn''t sure any other heroes would show up and wanted to take Inferno down before any innocent people got hurt.

    Christian didn''t like this. His entire worldview had been turned on its head. The man he had been trying to stop for so long might not bepletely evil after all!

    It didn''t change the fact that what he was doing was illegal or that his ultimate n was most likely nefarious but if he wasn''t all bad this posed a problem. How was he supposed to fight someone trying to keep diabetics alive?

    Every other week there were stories on the news about people dying because they rationed their insulin after being unable to afford it even with insurance. People were holding protests over it in major cities across the country. New York City wasn''t one of them. Was it because of Nox''s efforts?

    Impossible. He only stole small boxes. There was no way he could provide insulin to that many people. If he was doing this to help it had to be for someone specific. Someone close to him.

    Christian turned back to Frostine hoping to run more by her but the police had arrived and she was busy talking to them. He didn''t have time to wait around to chat anyway; another distress signal wasing from a different part of town.

 Chapter 29 - Just Wondering Why You Like Me

    Having been able to satisfy the demands of his stupid sixth sense for a couple of weeks in a row Christian felt that he would be able to spend an evening properly ignoring them without seeming too distracted. He agreed to go bowling with Avery and Angelo, which he knew was amon activity for the two of them.

    She had already taken him to do it alone once while his cast was on since he had broken his left wrist and he bowled with his right. He was reminded forcefully of how rusty he was but he had been able to practice a little.

    He didn''t want to embarrass himself too much in front of his girlfriend''s best friend. This meeting was nerve-wracking enough already.

    Christian had seen pictures of Angelo before, both recent and from his and Avery''s childhood since they had been raised as cousins. He was a stocky Hispanic man a bit shorter than her with close cropped hair and well-maintained stubble who frequently had a mischievous sparkle in his eyes and a wide grin.

    In person he wasn''t nearly as smiley but that might be because he was skeptical of his best friend''s boyfriend. He regarded Christian through narrowed eyes. "Hey, Subway Guy. You being good to my girl?"

    Avery rolled her eyes at him. "Quit trying to act intimidating; it doesn''t suit you."

    "Is that a crack at my height? Because we can''t all be giants like you!"

    "You always interpret myments so personally."

    "Because they are personal! Aw, forget it. I''m Angelo Cruz, as I''m sure you know. G¨¹era here hasn''t told me nearly as much about you as she should have."

    Christian smiled at him, unintimidated now that his tough guy act had faltered slightly. He had to remind himself that Angelo was only doing this because he cared about Avery as her only remaining family.

    "Christian ter. It''s nice to finally meet you," he said as he reached out to shake the other man''s hand.

    Avery scooted them along to go rent shoes and pay for a few games after that so Angelo wasn''t able to resume his interrogation until the game had begun and she went first. She rather impressively managed to get a strike right away.

    "So, I hear you''re awyer and have a side gig on weekends. What would awyer possibly need a side gig for?" he asked suspiciously.

    "It isn''t paid," Christian exined, using the same exnation he gave Avery. "It''s volunteer work but it''s important to me so I can''t give it up. I''ve been doing it since high school."

    "Oh, yeah? What sort of volunteer work keeps you too busy to hang out with your girlfriend?"

    He was spared from answering because it was his turn. When he came back Avery was deep in conversation with him about a funny story involving Vanessa at work. It seemed she had purposely changed the subject to help him out. Bless her.

    This pattern continued throughout the first game, which Christian did rather poorly inparison to the others. It was in as day they were regr bowlers while he was a novice. At least he only got two gutter balls; it had been worsest time since it had been so many years since he bowled.

    He thought everything was going rtively well until Angelo took advantage of Avery going to the bathroom to pounce. "What are your intentions with Avery?"

    This was a problem because he didn''t have any. At least not any he could own up to. How was he supposed to exin the permanently up-in-the-air circumstances they had agreed upon before getting into the rtionship?

    "To take things as theye," Christian said diplomatically.

    Angelo pursed his lips. "Did she tell you she can''tmit long-term?"

    "She did."

    He found the question odd. Had she talked about why she couldn''t do that sort of thing with her surrogate cousin? He supposed the two of them were close¡­

    "Look, I have nothing against you on a personal level but she has ns. Goals. Things she can''t do if she''s tied down permanently. So as long as you keep making her happy for now but understand this won''tst forever we''re cool. You''re a lot better than shest person she liked; I can tell you that much. Completely hopeless! The guy was a superhero; he didn''t even know she existed!"

    Christian may as well have been struck by lightning with how shocked he was. That whole speech was a lot to take in but thest part was what got to him most. Which one was it?! He probably knew them! He was on at least passing terms with all the heroes in the area.

    "Which one?!"

    Angelo realized he said something bad and immediately began to panic. "Crap, I shouldn''t have said that. Don''t you dare tell her; she''ll kill me!"

    "I won''t if you tell me which one," he promised in as calm a voice as he could muster.

    "Mercury. You know, the guy in the yellow suit who can fly? It was the most ridiculous thing; I was actually relieved when she switched her focus to you. Like I said, we''re cool as long as you don''t mess with her long-term ns."

    Christian was too stunned to care that he sort of had Angelo''s approval. Avery had a crush on him before she switched to having a crush on him?!

    He hadn''t even begun to process that when she came back and looked back and forth between the two of them suspiciously. "¡­did you guys talk about anything weird when I was gone?"

    "No," they said simultaneously.

    She didn''t seem to buy it but went to take her turn anyway. His mind was still racing. Avery liked him as Mercury before she liked him as Christian. Why? Because he saved her that one time? Was it nothing more than a case of hero worship?

    If that was the case it probably wouldn''t be too difficult for her to change her mind andtch onto someone else but why would she do that? Because he had shown interest in her first or because he had sort of saved her in the subway? Did she have a thing for people saving her or what?

    Christian was baffled. Truly baffled. The only person that had ever confused him more than his girlfriend was at the moment was Nox.

    Avery may have switched the focus of her affection after realizing that she would never get to date a superhero, even if said superhero unknowingly returned her feelings. Would she have done it to the first person who came along no matter what or did she somehow sense they were the same person and gave off simr vibes?

    That didn''t seem possible; especially considering he had only met her once as Mercury before they went out. He tried thinking back on that night. She had smiled at him rather brightly when he showed up to save her and the other girl in the bathroom¡­

    She had smiled at him as himself in the same way when they went to get ice cream though. She was a smiley person; that didn''t mean anything. But she had been worried about him when he was supposedly missing, going as far as asking him where he was.

    Oh, this was so confusing! Would she have asked the guy she was crushing on about her date with that degree of concern if she hadn''t switched who she liked already?

    Christian wasn''t able to wrap his head around it by the end of their time hanging out with Angelo. He forgot about it for a little while when they got back to Avery''s ce because she distracted him by parking herself on hisp and passionately kissing him. By the time they were lying in bed with her snuggled up against his chest he was thinking about it again and was more confused than before.

    He tried convincing himself it didn''t matter. That no matter what she liked him so this wasn''t a problem, confusing as it was. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done because she didn''t know they were the same person. How had she ended up falling for him twice under two suchpletely different circumstances?!

    "What are you thinking about?" Avery asked sleepily as she craned her neck to gaze up at him.

    "You."

    It was hard to put everything he was thinking and feeling into words, especially since he couldn''t tell her who he was. That was the simplest way he could exin it.

    She nted a kiss on his neck and snuggled closer. "Mm, what about me?"

    "Just wondering why you like me," Christian understated.

    "Like I''ve told you before, you''re kind, funny, and I love talking to you. Of all the people I spend time with you''re my favorite."

    That wasn''t what confused him. He knew that was why she liked his secret identity. But why did she like Mercury? All he did was save her from a creep and buy her a hot dog! Had anything about that encounter been funny to her?

 Chapter 30 - Hang In There

    Christian supposed he had hung the perpetrator upside down for too long but he was angry! At the guy but also at himself after finding out he had been stalking Avery for a while. He had been at the bakery every day and hadn''t noticed. Would hanging a criminal upside down really be considered funny though?

    She hadughed once or twice but it was vaguely hysterical, like she was in shock. It was a lot different than her usualugh.

    Whatever crush she may or may not have had on Mercury boiled down to hero worship. That was all it could be based on one chance encounter. She liked Christian because they had actually interacted.

    This was fine. He was fine.

    "Christian?" Avery prompted. "You okay there?"

    Right. He hadn''t responded to what she said. "Sorry, lost in thought. I guess it''s still a bit hard to believe that someone as amazing as you likes me."

    "If either of us is amazing it''s definitely you. But I''m too tired to debate with you right now so just hold me for a while."

    That was a request Christian wasn''t about to refuse. He kissed her hair and gently rubbed her arm. He was able to put the issue of her past crush on Mercury on the back burner because the other bit of information he needed to process came to mind.

    Angelo seemed to know something he didn''t about why Avery couldn''tmit long-term. She had mentioned she was fine with living in the moment and wasn''t good girlfriend material anyway when they established their rtionship but he sort of thought she was saying that for his benefit.

    Why exactly were her goals so ipatible with a long-term rtionship? Did she want to be a traveling cake artist or something? She loved New York!

    This wouldn''t be an issue at all if he didn''t retire any time soon. But if he did¡­he didn''t want to do it for any reason other than to be with her properly. How was he supposed to do that if she truly couldn''tmit long-term?

    Christian took a deep breath and reminded himself that short-term and living in the moment was what he specifically asked for. There was no use worrying about that now. In this moment he was holding the woman he loved in his arms. That was what mattered. Right?

    ===

    Avery knew Angelo must have said something weird to Christian because of how out of it he was for the rest of the night but her friend refused to own up to it. When he wanted to keep his mouth shut no force on earth could drag it out of him. She was rather annoyed but there was nothing she could do.

    Her boyfriend went back to normal the next day so whatever it was couldn''t have been too bad. She did her best to put it behind her. Worrying about something no one would ever tell her the truth about was pointless.

    She had other things to worry about. Like Angelo''s n for what to do next. All he told her was that he would most likely send her across the country to execute a mission at a Hunsacher factory in California. She said she would do whatever but that he would have to spring for the ne ticket and give her enough warning that she could get time off from work.

    The real problem with this n would being up with a viable excuse for being out of town that both Vanessa and Christian wouldn''t see through. Marianne was one thing¡ªshe didn''t know enough about Avery''s personal life to care what she wanted time off for¡ªbut the people she was close to were another.

    They knew she didn''t have any family left so saying she was visiting rtives was out. Who went across the country by themselves for absolutely no reason? Most people took vacations with friends, family, or significant others.

    If she said she went with Angelo they would expect pictures she wouldn''t be able to get. Honestly, it might be better to do this without getting time off work at all. She could pretend to be busy for a weekend and leave right after work on a Saturday. The idea had merit.

    In the meantime all she could do was wait. She watched what felt like every single cake/cupcake/cookie decoration video on the inte, did the most intricate nail art design she could think of, and even went shopping with Nancy ter in a single weekend since she had nothing to do with Christian busy and no current missions in New York.

    That had been surprisingly fun. She had been needing some new fall clothes for the uing season. She would only be able to get away with wearing shorts and t-shirts for so much longer.

    Nancy didn''t have a daughter and Avery didn''t have a mother so it sort of bnced out. Her dad had never been terribly interested in when she needed to go clothes shopping but was supportive anyway and had her do a mock fashion show trying on all the clothes she bought for the new school year once she was done so he could take pictures.

    Being surrounded by men all her childhood she developed her fashion sense with the help of friends from school when she was younger and magazines and websites once she was older. Her fashion Pinterest board was divided neatly into sections such as dresses, shoes, essories, and outfits.

    Nancy seemed to like her style and offered validmentary as she was trying things on. Normally she only got that sort of input from Vanessa.

    When she finally heard back from Angelo about the n she was horrified. The factory she was supposed to hit was a sweatshop manned by refugees who fled from a war-torn country. What a case of out of the frying pan into the fire!

    His n involved getting everyone out of the scanty amodations Hunsacher provided in exchange for theirbor and away to a refugee camp being run by an actual humanitarian organization in another state. They needed Avery to get in and sneak everyone out quietly to the other members of their anti-Hunsacher band and then destroy everything without getting hurt.

    Unfortunately, there was no direct flight to the airport in the part of California she needed to go to. Including theyover she was going to be in transit for about nine hours after getting off an eight-hour shift.

    With any luck she would be able to sleep on the ne. She wasn''t looking forward to this at all.

    Avery wasn''t going to be able to see Christian before she left either. He was always so busy on weekends that she usually didn''t see him from Friday morning (he usually stayed over Thursday nights) until Monday night after work unless she happened to be working the counter when he came into Carmine''s.

    She was sure to get the most out of her time with him before he left, though he didn''t know she was going anywhere. Hopefully no one would but Angelo.

    They talked, cuddled, yed games, and made love as usual. She couldn''t help but wonder how long this was going tost. Helping people and causing minor annoyances to Hunsacher was one thing but actually taking them down was another since they basically owned the legal system. She could easily be stuck doing this for the rest of her life and Christian would realize something was up eventually.

    Right now Avery could get away with it because he was always busy on the weekends with his hero stuff. If he ever quit she would be in trouble. And he very well might one of these days; he wasn''t getting any younger.

    If that time came and he wanted to settle down with her¡­would she be able to make herself say no? The risk of getting caught when married was incredibly high.

    Her heart twisted at the thought. She would love to marry him if her huge, terrible secret wasn''t hanging over her head. But it was. If he ever found out she was Nox she was toast. Not only would he turn her in to the authorities, he would dump her. She honestly wasn''t sure which would hurt more.

    "You feeling alright? You''ve been clinging to me in your sleep more than usual," Christian pointed out with a yawn first thing Friday morning.

    Avery knew he was merely pointing out a fact rather than being bothered because he had said more than once that he thought her sleep clinging was cute. She hadn''t realized it got worse when she was stressed though.

    "Just tired, I guess. I have a long couple of days ahead of me."

    The worst part was that she wouldn''t even get to rest before having to go back to work. The raid was nned for Sunday night and she flew back home early Monday morning. She might have time for a short nap before Christian came over after work like usual but she also might not. It depended on whether or not there were any travel dys.

    She had never been to California before and it was totallyme she was going to the middle of nowhere with nothing fun to do in order to trash a factory. She hoped the high of saving people in need made up for how miserable the whole experience would be.

    "Hang in there," he said sympathetically before rolling over slightly to nt a sweet kiss on her lips.

    Avery sighed and allowed herself to soak up his affection until her snoozed rm went off again. They both hauled themselves out of bed and got ready to go before heading to the subway station together since they started work at about the same time.

    They chatted on the train the way they always did on mornings like this and Christian caressed her cheek and kissed her goodbye before heading to the elevator. Just like that he was gone and she wouldn''t see him again until Monday provided her mission was sessful. She really hoped it was. She wanted it to be over with already.

 Chapter 31 - You Are A Ghost!

    Avery hated having her sleep schedule messed up. She hated sleeping on nes. She hated how airports jacked up the prices on food. Most of all, she hated the fact that she had to do this in the first ce instead of being a normal woman in her twenties.

    These people needed her though so she endured it. When she arrived at the Fresno airport she was dead on her feet and stumbled out into the pickup area where someone was holding up a sign with her name on it.

    "Are you Regina Carlsbad?" she asked wearily.

    The older woman in question smiled. "Yes, I am. Why don''t we go get your luggage and take it out to the car? You''ll be staying in my spare room tonight."

    Avery was grateful for that because she couldn''t afford a hotel room on a cake decorator''s sry. She was lucky Angelo was willing to buy her ne tickets because he made more than her.

    Regina could sense she wasn''t in the mood for small talk based on the dark undereye circles standing out against her pale skin so she simply hummed or sang along to the radio. When they arrived Avery took her fastest shower yet to get the grossness from traveling all night off her and slept until the following evening.

    Upon waking up she was ravenous and wolfed down the food she was offered as she listened to a recap of the n that involved more details than Angelo gave her. It made sense, as Regina was the unofficial leader of the California faction of their group.

    "We need to wait until after the sun goespletely down, which unfortunately isn''t until nearly ten these days. We know where they''re keeping the refugees and you have to speak to them in their nativenguage so they''ll understand," she exined.

    "Angelo mentioned he programmed a trantion app into your suit''s voice modtor. Use that tomunicate with them and get them out to the vans we''ll have waiting on the other side of the security fence. We need your suit''s jumping ability and superstrength to get them out."

    Avery swallowed and cleared her throat before responding. "I understand. How long do you want me to wait to destroy the ce after you leave? You''ll need some sort of head start."

    Regina nodded seriously. "We need to be far enough away they won''t be able to find us. I know it''s an imposition¡­but could you give us forty-five minutes?"''

    She bit back a sigh. She was going to be SO BORED during those forty-five minutes. Maybe she should ask Angelo if there was a way to get videos to y on the inside of her helmet lens.

    "That''s fine. Whatever you guys need."

    Several people from different parts of California hade up (or down, respectively) for the weekend to help with this and drive their own rented bus. Part of the reason this mission had taken so long to put together was getting the resources and manpower necessary for it in addition to finding the intel. Bus rentals were not cheap.

    Avery texted Angelo asking about the video thing and he said it should be possible if he sent the videos over text message but he wanted to practice now to be sure it worked. Her heart overflowed with appreciation for him.

    She activated the suit and they had to try a few different options before he got it to work. She would have to watch them with the volume turned off but that was fine. Most of the time she watched videos with no volume on her phone anyway.

    ''You''re an angel and I love you'' she sent him.

    ''Is that some sort of pun on my name?''

    ''Not an intentional one''

    ''Sure it wasn''t. Good luck tonight, G¨¹era. I don''t care howte/early it is here when you''re done¡ªyou better text me so I know you made it out in one piece''

    Avery smiled. Of course he would say that now but when the time came he would not be happy if she woke him up. Better to do that than deal with his wrath when she got back though. He would be mad either way but not following his instructions would be worse.

    She sent him a thumbs up emoji in response and sighed. She still had hours to go before it was time to leave and Regina seemed to be busy. She would have to entertain herself. At least her host had shown her how to operate the TV before she headed into her room.

    She watched a few short, sappy chick flicks before it was time to go. She hitched a ride out there in Regina''s bus and when they arrived in the literal middle of nowhere she noticed there were a few other buses scattered around in the dark far enough away from the factory that they couldn''t be caught on security cameras. She was going to have a bit of running to do getting people out. Lovely.

    Avery had to knock out/tie up a couple of night guards on her way into the refugee quarters and was sure to turn on her trantion app before she addressed the first tired person she saw that sat up on their bunk. The conditions here were unbelievable; if the fire marshal got wind of how many people were packed into this small a space they would have a conniption.

    "Hello, I am here to help you," she said, surprised when her Nox voice came out in anguage she had never heard before.

    She would have to use simple words so the app wouldn''t end up gargling what she was trying to say too much. She knew how unreliable these things could be.

    "Help us with what?" the man asked tiredly.

    Avery was surprised she understood him. She could hear what he was saying in his ownnguage but subtitles were scrolling across her helmet lens in English. So that was how the reverse trantion worked. Nifty!

    "Hunsacher told you that you would have homes, food, and jobs here but they lied, didn''t they? You are all stuck here working yourselves to death and barely surviving."

    "Yes. And?"

    "I have somewhere better for you to go. There will be more space and you won''t have to work in these conditions," she told him.

    The man eyed her with great skepticism. "How do I know you are not like them?"

    "Because I seek to destroy them and all those who oppress others. You all deserve to live a life of freedom and dignity. I know you have been lied to before but I have no reason to lie to you. My friends and I are trying to get you out of here without any other motives."

    "How can I trust a man in a mask? Show me your face and I may reconsider."

    Avery had nothing to lose. These people didn''t know who she was and she was never going to see them again. She wouldn''t tell them her name. They couldn''t connect one pale girl in California to Nox in New York.

    "I do not speak yournguage. In order for us to understand each other I need to wear the helmet. I can take it off but only for a moment," she told him before retracting the helmet and keeping the rest of the suit on.

    His eyes widened and he said something she couldn''t understand so she had to put the helmet back on and ask him to repeat that. He did as he pointed at her. "You are a ghost!"

    Avery let out a tinyugh. It was nothing she hadn''t heard before. "Yes but a helpful ghost. Will you trust me now?"

    "I¡­yes, I will trust the ghost and her friends. I will wake up the others."

    That took a while but he woke up everyone in that particr room and had her exin the situation to them. They all trusted the man''s words and allowed her to take one person under each arm and get them out of there and out to the buses.

    It was incredibly slow going because there were a lot of rooms to cover and she had to repeat the same thing over and over. Some were willing to listen faster than others but eventually they all agreed to it because theirrades had. Nobody wanted to be left behind because they had established a sense ofmunity with each other.

    Humanity could be beautiful like that. Even in the worst of situations people wanted to stick together and look out for each other.

    Avery managed to get them all out and onto the buses before heading back to the warehouse. She knocked out and tied up the rest of the guards knowing she would need to get them a safe distance away before she blew up the ce.

    Once that was taken care of she kicked back in the foreman''sfortable spinning desk chair and watched those videos Angelo sent. Maybe this wouldn''t be so bad after all. As long as she was able to keep her tired eyes open, anyway. Maybe she should take advantage of this ce''s coffeemaker while she was here.

 Chapter 32 - This Was A Huge Deal!

    Avery got a text from Regina saying she was good to go and grabbed the night guards two at a time, triple checking to make sure she got all of them out, before beginning to nt bombs in key ces. She was going to blow this all sky high so it was a good thing the factory was in the literal middle of nowhere.

    Angelo had studied st radii and told her all about them when he first got into bomb-making. She knew how far away she needed to put those security guards so they wouldn''t get hurt.

    She also knew she was going to have to absolutely book it when she set up those timers so she could get to where they were before the bombs went off. This was the scary part.

    As soon as thest one was set she ran for her life and flinched when she heard the explosion go off. The helmet helped muffle the sound but barely. She untied the bewildered guards watching the smoking remains of the factory in the distance.

    "Go on and call the fire department to put this out before it spreads to any nearby grass or trees, yeah?" Avery suggested.

    "¡­sure. Why did you get us out?" one of them dared to ask.

    "Because you didn''t deserve to die for trying to make a living even if you were working for a monster. Better luck on your next jobs. See ya!"

    She sprinted off into the night and disappeared because her suit made darkness the perfect cover. It was arge part of why she always struck at night. The other reason was that less people were around so it was easier to pull things off without people getting pulled into it. Minimizing coteral damage was important.

    The factory was about an hour and a half from Regina''s ce by car and she did NOT want to have to run that entire way. The suit may make her faster but she was still doing the running.

    Avery used a cheat that she had never used before on an actual mission. She discovered this function of the suit entirely by ident while messing around with it one day in the early days of her being Nox.

    She made the suit pop out wheels under her feet to double her speed. She was a blur zooming down the side of the highway until she saw a semi-truck going the direction she was headed. She leapt on top of it andy down to look up at the limited stars out in the California countryside with a sigh. Hitching a ride was much better.

    She didn''t get back to Regina''s untilte and her host had left a spare key under the mat for her to let herself in since she wouldn''t be back anytime soon. She was driving a bus over the Oregon border taking turns with one of the other bus drivers since it was a long trip.

    Honestly, Avery was a bit surprised the woman trusted her not to do anything to her house while she was gone. If she was any less altruistic she could have robbed this ce blind.

    Regina trusted them because she was one of the first to join in their mission even if it was only over encrypted email at first. She knew they were doing good things to help people. Why would someone who cared about the working ss steal from them?

    She only stole from Nn Hunsacher, the literal trillionaire. That sort of wealth hoarding shouldn''t even be legal. The very thought of him sitting on more money than he could ever spend while people died because of his overly inted medicine prices made her sick to her stomach.

    As promised, she sent a text to Angelo to let him know her part of the n was taken care of and the rest was on their Californiarades. He didn''t respond but she hadn''t expected him to. It waste.

    Avery got a few hours of sleep before her rm mercilessly woke her up so she could call for an Uber and quickly eat something and pack her limited things before it arrived. She got to the airport with just enough time to get through security and board her ne, falling asleep again before liftoff.

    She had to wake up for theyover but as soon as she was on the second ne she fell asleep again. She was so out of it she barely managed to stumble off the ne and make it to where Angelo was waiting to pick her up, having told him her ETA in advance.

    "¡­did you get any sleep at all this weekend?" he asked with a frown when he saw the state of her.

    "I''ve been sleeping on and off all day and it still hasn''t been enough," Avery moaned miserably. "The worst part is that to avoid suspicion Christian ising over in less than an hour like usual and I''m totally dead."

    "Then use him as a pillow and go back to sleep. Pretend you''re sick and call out from work tomorrow if you must. You look terrible."

    "Thanks, Angelo."

    "Just being honest."

    Avery probably felt worse than she looked. She had a splitting headache and her legs hurt from all that running/roller skating before she managed to hitch rides on a few different trucks. She still had to skate thest several miles anyway because no one was going the exact way she needed to go.

    He dropped her off at her apartment, told her to get more sleep, and she quickly put her suitcase and everything in it away before Christian arrived so he wouldn''t suspect anything. She was finishing up as the doorbell rang. She made it by the skin of her teeth!

    He smiled at her like everything was normal for a split second before it dropped. "What happened to you?"

    "I''ve joined the ranks of the undead," Avery said in a spooky voice as she curled her hands into ws, trying to y it all off as a joke so he wouldn''t ask too many questions.

    It worked. He chuckled, "Must have been quite a weekend. Why don''t we order some pizza? My treat. We can watch a couple of movies or something too; that doesn''t require much effort."

    "I love you," she replied fervently. Christian stiffened and she realized what she said, immediately trying to backtrack. "Not like that! I meant it like ''thank you'' because I was so relieved and appreciative of your offer to let me rx."

    "Oh. So you don''t actually love me."

    That wasn''t true! She hadn''t meant to say it¡ªit was the sort of ''I love you'' she gave to Angelo or Vanessa all the time when she appreciated something they did¡ªbut she did love him. So much. Too much considering all she was keeping from him.

    "I didn''t say that. I just¡­didn''t mean for it to pop out the way it did. I do love you. Sorry," Avery said quietly.

    Christian frowned at her. "Why would you apologize for that?"

    "Because you didn''t want anything serious. Telling someone you love them is serious."

    "I know that''s what I said but don''t apologize. I¡­I love you too."

    She blinked at him in surprise. Obviously, she knew he cared about her but she hadn''t anticipated that. He insisted on keeping things casual since he was a hero and had a lot of the same things to worry about that she did even if they were on opposite sides of thew.

    This was a problem. A big one. Monumental. Possibly even the biggest problem she ever faced. Yet she couldn''t stop herself from beaming and throwing her arms around his neck so she could kiss him.

    Christian loved her. This was a huge deal! Avery could think about the ramificationster. Right now she needed to bask in the glow of a beautiful moment.

    They kissed for several minutes before he went to go order the pizza. Meat lover''s¡ªthe way both of them liked it. When that was done he joined her on the couch to start a movie. She managed to stay awake until the pizza arrived but once she was full she became too sleepy to resist conking out in his arms as the little spoon.

    She felt so warm and safe wrapped in his arms that she didn''t wake up until he gently shook her saying he needed to go. She was wide awake then and groaned when she saw the clock.

    There was no way she would be in a good enough condition to go to work tomorrow at this rate. She ended up taking Angelo''s advice and preemptively called in sick so she could fix her messed up sleep schedule.

    Avery never wanted to do anything like that again. She sincerely hoped she wouldn''t have to but she was the one and only Nox. Would it have been so terrible for her dad to make multiple copies of his tech? That would have made their work a lot more efficient! She was only one person.

 Chapter 33 - What Kind Of Question Is That?!

    Avery took time to take care of herself on Tuesday and was back to normal the day after. Vanessa and her other coworkers were concerned but she blew it off by saying it was a simple case of food poisoning. That neversted long.

    She let things get back to normal and felt herself rxing. She wasn''t going to have to do a crazy "business trip" like that again any time soon.

    Summer passed into fall in a haze of cake decorating, insulin deliveries, and Christian bing an even more vital part of her life. After they admitted they loved each other (but honestly, she already knew because of how he treated her) things changed.

    He started staying at her apartment every weeknight and only went back to his ce on weekends. If they were a normal couple they would have moved in together by now but they both needed their own ce in order to keep their secrets. He didn''t realize she already knew his so he was concerned about that getting out.

    Avery wasn''t about to tell him. She would have to exin how she jumped from "Christian is missing during a hero fight" to "Christian is a hero" and that wouldn''t end well for her.

    She had pursued him because she already had a major crush on his alter ego and she wouldn''t be able to talk her way out of that one. As far as he knew they only met twice.

    The more time went on the less sure she was that she was going to be able to carry on like this. He would get suspicious eventually¡­but she couldn''t bring herself to break things off first. She loved him. And if she wasn''t Nox she would dly spend the rest of her life with him.

    Unfortunately, she was. She probably would be for a very, very long time in order to fulfil her father''sst wish.

    Being a viin didn''t mesh well with being a woman in love. This had been a stupid idea to begin with but she had always been rash when it came to matters of the heart. She hade this far so she had to see it through to the bitter end.

    Avery thought about all of this as she stood in a very long line at the store. It was like every person in Queens decided to do their shopping here tonight. All she needed was some ice cream to drown her sorrows in as she watched TV! She had half a mind to give up and go home but then she would have wasted her time for nothing. She stubbornly remained in line.

    While she waited she pulled out her phone and got on the inte. The first page to pop up was a news site as always. Normally she ignored it but this time the word ''Mercury'' caught her attention. She clicked on it and saw there was a video of someone reporting live on a situation.

    Feeling oddly uneasy, Avery watched the video with closed captioning on so she wouldn''t disturb the other people in the store. The reporter stood on the ground and was in a small box in the corner of the video. The rest consisted of Mercury fighting a viin up in the air who seemed to be able to jump like she did.

    ''¡­Mercury continues to fight Circus Freak despite having what appears to be a knife sticking out of his chest. It''s amazing he hasn''t gone into shock yet¡­''

    That reckless idiot! What did he think he was doing?! Worry flooded through her and she immediately abandoned her ce in line to run out and stop him, heedless of exposing herself. The only thought in her head was getting him to the hospital.

    Avery knew the general part of town he was in because ofndmarks in the video and rushed there as soon as she found a safe ce to activate the suit. It was clear how much he was struggling and she saw red.

    How dare this viin hurt her man right in front of her?! She was not going to get away with that!

    Circus Freak noticed Avery''s presence before Mercury did and tried throwing knives at her too but they bounced right off the suit as she furiously dove for the other viin. She mmed her into the side of the building making the outside crack slightly from the force.

    "What makes you think you can hurt what''s mine, huh?" Avery snarled.

    A flicker of bewilderment shed across what little was visible of the other woman''s face. "Who are you?"

    "The one who''s going to make you regret messing with Mercury!"

    Circus Freak was agile and had the ability to soar through the air like a trapeze artist but she wasn''t as strong as Avery. They were about even in terms of speed and flexibility but she wasn''t able to get out from the stronger woman''s grasp. This fight was over before it truly began.

    She was tied up and tossed roughly over Avery''s shoulder in less than a minute. She turned around to see what was happening with her boyfriend and he was staring at her in a daze.

    "Nox. What are you doing?" he asked weakly. "You have no reason to be here."

    It would certainly seem that way from his perspective but couldn''t he give her a thank you or something? "Saving your ungrateful butt."

    "Why¡ª"

    Mercury could barely get the word out because he lost consciousness and began falling out of the sky. No, no, no, no, no! This could not be happening! He must have finally gone into shock at the worst possible time.

    Avery growled in frustration andunched herself downward to catch him. She had to be careful not to aggravate his wound as she grabbed him and that was rather difficult to do. She barely managed not to crash to the ground under the force of the unexpected weight while already carrying someone.

    She ended up crushing the roof of someone''s car and they leaned out the window to curse at her. That didn''t matter right now; saving the man she loved did.

    She roughly dropped Circus Freak on top of the car and leapt off toward the nearest hospital ignoring the questions of all the bystanders with a racing heart. He was going to be fine. He had to be fine! She had to have made it in time because she couldn''t afford to lose anyone else like this.

    "Help him!" Avery begged as she arrived in the ER startling everyone present.

    To be fair, she was wearing a ck super suit thatpletely covered her and had a scary viin voice while holding a well-known hero in her arms. They had probably never seen anything like this before.

    "Um¡­do you know anything about the patient and the nature of his injury? Age, medical history, blood type?" the woman asked as some nurses whisked him away on a gurney.

    "He got stabbed; isn''t that obvious?! He fainted and fell right out of the air. I barely managed to catch him in time!" Avery replied in a voice bubbling up with hysteria.

    Of course she knew about the patient! But if she told them those things it would be a dead giveaway to who she was! She needed to save him¡­was there a way to do it without exposing herself?

    She was still frantically trying to think of what to say when the woman behind the desk got a call. She took it and listened to whatever the person on the other end was saying before nodding grimly and looking back up at Avery.

    "The man you brought in needs a blood transfusion and has a rare blood type we don''t have on hand. Are you a rtive?"

    Her heart sunk. She was not¡­but she knew where to find someone who was. Screw her secret identity. Christian''s life was far more important than that. She was going to save him no matter what!

    "No but I know where to find one. I''ll be back in about fifteen minutes," she said with determination, sprinting out the door before the woman could stop her.

    It was a Friday night; Liam would be ying video games with his usual raiding party right now like he always did. He should be at Christian''s apartment. All she was going to have to do was break in and grab him without giving any exnation.

    It took her about five minutes to bounce her way to his ce. The window by the fire escape was left unlocked, likely because he didn''t want to make his brother get up for him when he flew back in. That worked out in her favor.

    "Close the window, will you? It''s drafty," Liamined from his ce on the couch.

    He didn''t even look up until Avery yanked off his headset and threw him over her shoulder. "Chris, what are you¡ªyou''re not Chris! Who are you and what are you doing here?!"

    "Do you have the same blood type as your brother?" she asked urgently as she began hopping from building to building.

    "What kind of question is that?!"

    "Just answer it! His life depends on it!"

    "¡­you''re serious, aren''t you? I do. What happened to him? Did he get hurt?" Liam fretted.

    Avery was relieved he was focused on the fact that his brother was hurt more than the fact that he had been kidnapped by someone in a viin getup who knew Christian''s identity. She didn''t know how long that wouldst though.

    "He got stabbed and needs a blood transfusion. That''s all they told me."

    Liam cursed before going uncharacteristically quiet the rest of the way to the hospital. As much as they might bicker, he did care about his brother.

 Chapter 34 - I Might Have Been Wrong About Him

    Avery ended up making it back in less than fifteen minutes and deposited Liam in front of the woman at the desk. "Here. A family member with the same blood type. He can help you now."

    She turned to leave but Liam called after her. "Hang on a minute! Who are you? How did you know Chris was hurt or where to find me?"

    Avery let out a wryugh. This was the beginning of the end, wasn''t it? That didn''t matter though. All that did was that Christian was going to get the help he needed. He would have the same questions when he woke up and if he thought hard enough he would find the answers.

    "He can tell you when he wakes up."

    She rushed out the door ignoring his protests not to leave and made her way home, deactivating the suit before bursting into tears. She curled up in a ball and sobbed as the implications of what she had done hit.

    Christian would have died falling at that height; there was no one else around who could have caught him. She knew she had saved his life but in the process she had probably lost him, anyway.

    If he figured it out she was Nox¡­there would be no way exining her way out of this one. Everything she, her father, Horatio, Angelo, and so many others worked for would be ruined. To make things worse, the man she loved enough to ruin her life for was going to hate her.

    Avery rocked back and forth in her little ball sobbing about what a mess her life had be and how stupid she had been to think she could ever be with the man she loved until she waspletely out of tears. Nothing could fix this. All she could do now was wait for the fallout and try to pick up the pieces of her shattered life.

    ===

    When Christian woke up he was groggy and unaware of his surroundings. It took several blinks for his eyes to focus enough to realize he was in a hospital and Liam was sitting in a chair next to his bed tapping his foot anxiously.

    That snapped him to attention. Liam should not be here.

    He didn''t have ID on him when he went out to do his hero duties so it wasn''t like anyone from the hospital would be able to try and call his family. They wouldn''t even know who his family was!

    "Liam," he croaked. "How did you get here?"

    His brother immediately swiveled his head and relief flooded his face. "Chris, you''re awake! You''ve been unconscious for half a day after your surgery."

    Surgery. He remembered now; he had been hit by a flying knife Circus Freak threw hard enough to lodge itself in his chest. It was a miracle he was alive right now! He couldn''t quite remember what happened after that¡­

    "How did you get here?" Christian repeated.

    Liam frowned as he thought back on it. "It was kind of weird, actually. Do any of your hero buddies know who you are? Because one of them broke into our ce and kidnapped me before asking if I had the same blood type as you. That was when he exined you got stabbed and needed a blood transfusion."

    Nobody knew his secret identity aside from his immediate family and that was only because they were aware of his powers and would have figured it out on their own anyway. How would they have known to look for Liam, let alone where to find him?

    "They shouldn''t," he said with a wince. "Who was it? Delta? Red Dynamo? MultiMan?"

    "He didn''t give a name¡­but he waspletely covered by a ck suit and his voice sounded kind of robotic."

    Christian shot up in shock before immediately sinking back against the pillows because it hurt too much. It was alling back to him. The piece of the puzzle he had forgotten. Nox. His archnemesis, who had shown up and rather possessively attacked Circus Freak for hurting him.

    What did he say? Something like ''how dare you touch what''s mine''? As if no other viins were allowed to hurt him because that was his job.

    Nox must have been the one to catch him when he passed out but that raised all sorts of questions. They could be split into two main categories: how and why. For example, how did Nox know where to find Liam? And why on earth would he bother?

    "¡­you okay, Chris?" his brother asked nervously.

    "No," Christian moaned. It was over. It was all over. If Nox knew his secret identity nothing was safe. "That was Nox! The viin I told you about."

    Liam''s eyes nearly popped out of his head. "What?! Why would he save you then? And if he knew who you were all this time why didn''t he ever try to do anything to you before now? Do you think he figured it out after you got hurt?"

    He hadn''t considered that. It would make more sense than if Nox knew who he was beforehand. If his mask had been taken off to admit him to the hospital then Nox could have seen his face.

    That raised additional questions though. Did Nox know him in real life? Or did he have some sort of high-tech facial recognition software imbedded in his helmet?

    Christian had wondered more than once if the viin had hacking capabilities because of the way he conducted his heists. There was never any video footage left behind ording to the authorities. That suit seemed like it could do practically anything so it honestly wouldn''t surprise him.

    Technology scanning his face and revealing personal information about him made more sense than the idea of Nox knowing him. Because most people that knew him didn''t know where he lived.

    "He must have," Christian mused. "That suit is crazy high-tech; I''ve never seen anything like it. It wouldn''t surprise me if it had some sort of facial recognition capabilities."

    "That would make sense¡­but if he''s your nemesis why would he bother to save you?" Liam asked.

    That was the million-dor question, wasn''t it? Why would Nox bother to save him? He didn''t have any qualms about punting him into a building with his feet and breaking his arm before. Though he wouldn''t have known that would be the result he had still done something potentially harmful.

    "Why indeed," he said dryly.

    A momentter his conversation with Frostine came back to him. About how Nox might be more of an antihero than a viin and believed he was doing the right thing.

    He never gravely injured anyone and purposely went out of his way to make sure those guards didn''t get hurt in the explosion. He got involved in that mess at the restaurant despite totally being able to get away with hiding in in sight as a civilian and waiting for someone else to handle it. He clearly had some sense of morals.

    Christian was pretty out of it by the time Nox intervened in his fight with Circus Freak but he had noticed there was real anger in his voice as he took the other viin down. He had always teased his nemesis mercilessly but the possessiveness was surprising.

    Did Nox think they were friends somehow? Was that why he acted like that every time they ran into each other?

    That was absurd considering they were enemies but it would exin why the man would bother jumping in to save his life when he had absolutely no reason to out himself. No one else in this city knew who Nox was.

    People were definitely going to take notice of him now since he had gotten involved in the middle of a fight between a hero and another viin. More likely than not they would assume he was some new hero. There would be an awful lot of spection in theing weeks, especially if he made another appearance any time soon.

    He hadn''t been as activetely. Only showing up once a month at various medical warehouses.

    If Nox truly had been stealing nothing but insulin this entire time he probably did it on a monthly basis for a reason. Perhaps to y Robin Hood like Frostine suggested.

    "I might have been wrong about him," Christian mumbled.

    "What?" Liam asked in confusion.

    "Nox. I may have had his motivations wrong this whole time. I thought since he was a viin that he was like the rest of them but what if he''s different?"

    "You better hope he is. Otherwise he might out you as Mercury and your whole life will be ruined."

    Christian had been trying not to think about that part. Thest person on earth he wanted his secret to be exposed to now knew the truth. Who he was. Where he lived. Who his brother was. He didn''t have words to describe how bad this was!

 Chapter 35 - Im Sorry

    "I''m doomed," Christian moaned. "Life as I know it is over."

    Liam pped a hand on his shoulder. "Cheer up, Chris! You never know. That Nox guy seemed genuinely worried about you so I thought he was a fellow hero until you set me straight. It is pretty weird that someone youin about all the time would bother to save your life so maybe he likes you! If he does he wouldn''t tell anyone your secret."

    Whose side was he on here? He kept flip flopping tossing out ideas! "¡­which do you think is actually the case? Be honest."

    "If I had to guess I would say scenario two. He didn''t say much but I got the impression he was fairly desperate to save you. Didn''t waste any time at all. What on earth did you do to make a viin like you that much?"

    "I have absolutely no idea."

    Did Nox truly think they had some bizarre form of friendship because they kept running into each other? Was all of that teasing meant to be friendly rather than mocking?

    Christian wouldn''t know unless he asked. And that wasn''t going to happen for quite some time at this rate since he would beid up for months. Again. He really should retire already before he got himself killed.

    His powers really weren''t that impressive in terms of versatility. He could fly and had a sixth sense about trouble. He was stronger and faster than the average person but that was only because he had been unintentionally weightlifting since he was an infant since his mother didn''t want him to float away. He didn''t have supernatural strength or speed.

    The reminder of his mother made him panic. "Do Mom and Dad know I''m in the hospital?!"

    "Nope. Neither does Avery. You''re in for a world of hurt," Liam said lightly.

    Christian would have pped his hand to his forehead if he had the strength to move his arm. He hadn''t thought of his girlfriend at all. He had been too busy freaking out about his secret identity being exposed to his worst enemy. Who may or may not be as much of a threat as he thought.

    "Ugh, what am I going to tell her?"

    His parents would see the news sooner orter and understand he had been hurt doing his secondary job¡ªthey were very proud of his heroism¡ªbut he couldn''t exactly tell Avery he got stabbed by a viin. That would be a dead giveaway.

    Liam shrugged. "Say you got mugged or something. This is New York; she''ll probably believe it."

    "That''s actually a really good idea," Christian said in surprise.

    "Don''t be too shocked. I do have those sometimes, you know. I can tell Mom and Dad for you if you want. I''m sure they''lle storming the hospital looking for you as soon as they find out, which is why I haven''t told them yet."

    He forced himself not tough because that would really hurt. His brother was right. They would storm the hospital¡­and so would Avery.

    "I may as well get it over with. Let them all know I''m in the hospital, would you?" Christian requested.

    Liam looked at him like he was stupid. "I don''t know Avery''s number."

    "I''ll give it to you."

    He would definitely still be in the hospitale Monday and didn''t want her to freak out when he didn''t show up and she was unable to contact him since he didn''t have his phone. She would probably be upset if he put off telling her until then, anyway.

    Thirty minutester his parents were there and fussing over him. Liam rolled his eyes but looked secretly relieved that Christian was okay. He felt a rare upsurge of affection for his brother.

    "Chris, who brought you here? Were you able to thank them?" Brian asked after fifteen minutes of parental fretting.

    "Someone I know," he said wryly. "I haven''t had the chance yet."

    Christian had absolutely no idea what he would say to Nox when he inevitably saw him again. He had too many questions. The guy was a master of evasion and hardly answered anything he was asked so there was a good chance he wouldn''t be honest regardless.

    His father was distracted from his line of questioning because Avery arrived. She seemed to be even more of a wreck than his mother and her violet eyes swam with tears as she unashamedly leaned over to kiss him.

    She stroked his face with one hand and tightly gripped the hand that wasn''t hooked up to an IV with the other as she drank in the sight of him. It was as if she had forgotten anyone else was in the room.

    "How are you feeling?" she asked tenderly.

    Christian wasn''t sure he had ever been looked at so intensely in his entire life. "I''ve felt better."

    Avery let out a strangled sort ofugh before holding his hand against her cheek. "I''m sure you have. Are you going to be okay though?"

    "He''ll be fine; the doctor said he''ll be out of here in less than a week," Liam scoffed. "There''s no need for that sort of PDA. My mission here is aplished so I''m heading home. Next time Ie by I''ll bring your phone so you don''t go crazy in here, Chris."

    He had to stop himself fromughing again. Now that the danger had passed his brother was back to his usual self. He did care even if he wasn''t typically inclined to show it in conventional ways.

    "I appreciate it."

    Liam left with a wave to his family members and Christian was suddenly very grateful Avery arrived when she did. If she came any earlier his parents would have been talking about things she couldn''t overhear. At least all that was out of the way now.

    His parents promised to be back to visit and bring him some things to keep him entertained before tactfully heading out to give the two of them some privacy. They seemed to sense that his girlfriend had taken his injury even harder than they had, which was really saying something with how much they fussed.

    As soon as they were gone she bent over so her forehead was on the bed next to him and shook with the force of her sobs. She barely managed to choke out what she wanted to say.

    "I was so scared!"

    Christian wanted to smack his brother. What terrible way had he worded things when he sent that text to Avery to make her this upset? Now he had to soothe her and he had never been very good at that, though his way of dealing with victims was far better than ice queen Frostine''s.

    "Hey, it''s okay! I''m fine. This was a one-time deal; I have no ns to get stabbed again," he told her.

    He meant it. Getting stabbed was awful. Why did that stupid viin have to be a knife expert? He had gone thirty years without getting stabbed until he ran into her and nearly half of them had involved fighting criminals.

    Avery let out another strangledugh. "No one ns to get stabbed, Christian."

    She had a point. He wasn''t quite sure how to respond. No one nned to get stabbed¡­but the likelihood was increased in his line of work.

    Two major injuries in the space of a single year! One of them was even life-threatening. He was losing his touch. At this rate it might be better to look more seriously into retirement before the next one was fatal.

    Seeing his family upset was hard enough but they knew that if he died it would have been for a noble cause. Avery would have been left to mourn him never knowing what really happened.

    Christian knew she loved him but seeing how upset she was drove the point home harder than ever before. As much as they may both im they weren''t interested in permanency¡­he didn''t think she would be able to handle losing him.

    Could he really prioritize a side career destined to end sooner orter anyway over someone he loved more than anything who felt the same way? Would it be worth it?

    Looking at her paler than usual tear-stained face he wasn''t sure he could do it. He had time to think while he wasid up and could potentially get in touch with one of those power suppressor people to see what his options were. If it was possible to turn off his sixth sense but not flying he would do it in a heartbeat at this point.

    "I''m sorry," Christian saidmely.

    Avery blinked at him in astonishment. "Why are you apologizing for getting stabbed?!"

    "Because I scared you."

    "You didn''t scare me; you terrified me. You need to be more careful!"

    "I know. Sorry."

    "Again with the apologies. You''re here, you''re alive, and you''re with me. That''s more than I could possibly ask for. So quit apologizing, okay?" she asked with a tiny smile on her face.

    "Okay," Christian said seriously. "But can youe here for a second? I want to kiss you again and I''m kind of stuck."

    Avery''sugh was more genuine this time and she leaned forward to give him what he wanted. As he had hoped, his ploy to cheer her up had worked. Plus he truly had wanted to kiss her. She had been looking at him so lovingly even as she was scolding him. That sort of expression was impossible to resist.

 Chapter 36 - One More Question

    Christian''s week in the hospital wasn''t truly terrible because he had so many visitors and he spent most of the time people weren''t there sleeping because he was exhausted and the tiniest movement hurt. He was told to take it easy and had a doctor''s note excusing him from work for another two weeks.

    Used to being busy, he didn''t know how to cope with the endless days of nothingness. He had no idea how Liam did it when he was between jobs.

    Avery came over to his ce after work every day to take care of him since he wasn''t supposed to move around too much (and it hurt). She did that every day of the week he got out of the hospital except Saturday when she had ns with Angelo she couldn''t skip out on.

    He was bored out of his mind so his thoughts wandered back to the issue of Nox. Who hadn''t said anything about his identity yet. It had been two weeks since the viin''s perplexing heroics and there hadn''t been a peep about who Mercury might be online.

    Christian knew he wasn''t supposed to be up and about but he desperately needed answers. He couldn''t retire if he wasn''t positive this wouldn''te back to bite himter.

    He wouldn''t fight anybody; all he wanted to do was fly around and see if he could locate Nox since he only operated on random Saturdays now instead of every week. He could do this every week until he found him.

    Flying was about as strenuous as walking was to him. He didn''t have to wear his costume, which needed recing because of the blood and the stab hole. All he needed to do was wear his mask and no one would know who he was.

    Tonight was his lucky night. He managed to find Nox less than an hour into his search. The viin was leaning casually against a wall tapping his fingers on his arm and humming to himself as if he was waiting for something. When he saw Christian approach he was immediately on the defensive.

    "You idiot! What are you doing here so soon after surgery? You can''t fight!" Nox protested. "Don''t make me knock you out and drag you back to the hospital because I will."

    He held his hands up innocently. "I''m not here to fight. I¡­I wanted to thank you, though I am confused about your motives. Can we talk?"

    "What is there to talk about? I saved your life and now you''re throwing it away by flying around like everything is fine. Go home, Mercury. I don''t have anything to say to you and even if I did you wouldn''t believe me."

    Christian supposed he deserved that. He had lumped Nox in with the other viins he knew but after much thought he realized that was a mistake. This one was different than the others.

    "How did you know to find my brother to donate blood for my transfusion?" he continued as if Nox hadn''t shot him down.

    "I''m omniscient," the viin said tly as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Look, if you''re worried about your secret identity getting out I''m not going to tell anyone."

    "How am I supposed to believe that? You have my life in your hands!"

    "I already had your life in my hands and chose to save it. Is that not enough for you to believe I''m not out to get you? I have no beef with you aside from the fact that you get in my way when I''m trying to do things. You''re a good person; you don''t deserve to go out like that."

    Christian blinked at him in disbelief. His archnemesis didn''t have anything against him and thought he was a good person? Had his wild theory that Nox thought they were friends been correct?!

    "You, the viin, think I, the hero, am a good person. Seriously?"

    Nox shrugged. "Yeah. You do what you think is right and I do what I think is right. Heroism and viiny isrgely a manner of perspective."

    That certainly sounded in line with what a Robin Hood type would think. Frostine''s spection was seeming more and more likely. He couldn''t deny his curiosity about the viin''s ns were was driving him crazy more than usual.

    "What is your perspective then? I''m honestly curious," Christian told him. "I want to understand. I''ve seen the way you work¡ªyou never hurt anybody if you can help it and you do things you don''t have to like stop Inferno and save my life. What makes you tick, Nox? I''ve been wondering for ages."

    Nox let out a lightugh. "I''m ttered. But how do I know this isn''t some ploy to get my n out of me and turn that information over to the cops?"

    "You don''t, though I swear it isn''t. I want to understand why someone who values life would be a viin. Most of the bozos I deal with don''t care who they hurt as long as they get what they want."

    "Because the world is broken and innocent people get exploited by thew every day."

    Not the answer he was expecting but he shouldn''t have been surprised. That would exin the insulin thing but he had to ask to be sure.

    "So the insulin¡ª?"

    "What do you think someone like me would do with insulin?" Nox deflected.

    Christian would have thought poison or a bioweapon before but now that he was actually talking to the guy in a rational manner¡­ "I think you stole it to give it to someone who needed it."

    "Look at you finally thinking the best of others! I''m so proud."

    That wasn''t exactly a yes but it wasn''t exactly a no either. He already knew Nox was a master evader when it came to answering questions. It was amazing he was even bothering to stand around talking to him right now.

    "¡­you do realize that by taking insulin and giving it to someone you''re preventing it from going to someone else, right?" Christian dared to ask.

    Nox let out a bitterugh. "You think there''s a supply and demand issue with insulin? There''s enough to go around for everyone. Cheaply. Insanely cheaply. Charging that much for it is literally murder."

    He couldn''t deny the other man had a point. There were so many stories of people rationing their insulin and dying because they couldn''t afford it. Hiking the prices was, in a way, murder. That didn''t make stealing the right thing to do though.

    "You''re still stealing."

    "I know but I don''t care. I sleep well at night knowing people are alive right now because I stuck it to the man," Nox said proudly.

    Christian wouldn''t be able to dissuade him so he switched tacks. "Who do you know that''s diabetic?"

    "No one. At least not personally."

    "Then how did you know who to give it to that one time?"

    "I told you, I''m omniscient."

    He sighed. This was getting nowhere. "You''re a hacker, aren''t you? That has to be how you knew who I was. What all do you know, anyway?"

    Nox''sugh was much more genuine this time. "I know everything there is to know about you, Christian ter. I have to say, I wouldn''t have expected awyer to bother bing a hero but it exins why we''re on opposite sides despite both wanting the world to be a better ce. You''re part of a corrupt system."

    "¡­that''s really creepy, Nox."

    "I never said I wasn''t creepy! Really though, I''m not going to share my treasure trove of information on you with anyone. Cross my heart and hope to die. So can you go home now before you keel over?"

    Christian frowned. He wanted to believe that everything Nox said tonight was sincere but he was a viin. This could all be an borate act to get him to let his guard down.

    "You''re stealing insulin again, aren''t you?" he asked to stall for time while he figured out whether or not this guy was on the level.

    "And if I was? You can''t stop me in your condition. You can''t even stop me on a good day," Nox said in an infuriatingly matter-of-fact way. He wasn''t wrong either, which made things worse.

    "Is that really all you do? Then what''s the vandalism for?"

    "I think you''ve used up your question quota. I don''t have to exin my motivation to you when all you would do is dismiss it. Go home before I drag you there and make your brother lock you up."

    Christian narrowed his eyes. "You''re bluffing. Don''t you have insulin to steal? You don''t have time to do that."

    "Don''t underestimate how much I want to knock you out and tie you to your bed so you can''t do stupid things like this anymore. It''s really sad when your archnemesis has to y nursemaid for you," Nox said as he finally uncrossed his arms and moved forward in a vaguely threatening way. "Are you going home or am I going to make you, Fly Boy?"

    He really couldn''t fight in his condition and his intentions foring out here tonight had been to get answers. As much as it pained him to be aiding and abetting a viin he could let it go this once.

    "I''ll go if you answer one more question."

    "Alright, shoot."

    "Did you save me because you think of me as a friend? After thinking about it I''ve started to wonder if all your mocking was malicious or if it was meant to be friendly teasing."

    Nox burst outughing harder than he had all night. "You''re hrious! You''re wrong on both counts though."

    Christian was confused. "What were you doing then?"

    "Flirting."

 Chapter 37 - Noxs Motivation

    Christian gaped at his nemesis. Flirting?! Nox had to be messing with him right now. There was absolutely no way all of that was flirting.

    Saving the person you were actively working against was wild enough; flirting involved some degree of attraction. There was no way this weird guy liked him like that. That was so messed up he was getting the heebie jeebies just thinking about it!

    "You were what?!" he screeched.

    Nox cracked up so hard he doubled over. He wrapped one arm around his stomach and pointed the other at Christian gleefully. "Your face! Hahahaha! I really had you going for a minute there, didn''t I?"

    "Were you seriously teasing me again?!"

    "Duh. Who ever heard of a viin having a crush on their hero?"

    He frowned. "I''m not ''your'' hero."

    "Yes, you are! If you weren''t I wouldn''t have bothered saving you. I was in the middle of something when I saw that news report, you know. I never did end up getting what I went out for because I was too busy making sure you didn''t wind up dead," Nox said with a casual wave of his hand.

    Christian recalled how he seemed genuinely angry and possessive when Circus Freak hurt him. His hero indeed.

    Though that had worked out for him rmingly well he was still uneasy that his nemesis had formed any degree of attachment to him. While not as evil as he originally anticipated, Nox was bad news.

    He might not be so off about the ''my hero'' thing anyway. Christian was the only one capable of tracking this guy down because of his sixth sense. Otherwise he was too sneaky to get on anyone else''s radar. He didn''t deal with any other heroes.

    If Christian truly did retire because of this incident how was he supposed to rest easy knowing no one else would be able to stop this guy? Or that someone with some sort of weird attachment to him wouldn''t leave his secret identity alone once he didn''t have a hero to mess with anymore?

    He sighed. "Does this mean you aren''t going to leave me alone if I retire?"

    Nox tilted his head slightly, as if curious. "You''re really going to retire? You have some sense after all!"

    "Answer the question, Nox."

    "I thought we established you already used up all of your questions."

    "I think I get another one since you nearly gave me a heart attack by joking about flirting earlier," Christian said dryly.

    Nox chuckled. "Fair enough. How about a deal? I let you do your thing if you let me do mine. You already know I''m not hurting anybody."

    As much as it pained him he supposed that was as good an offer as he was going to get. His nemesis had the upper hand as always. "This would be a lot fairer if I also knew who you were."

    "As if life is ever fair."

    Christian couldn''t argue with that. Sometimes it seemed like life was nothing but unfair. "Can you at least tell me why you destroy things? I get the insulin stealing to a point but why blow things up?"

    "To cause trouble for my real enemy until I can figure out how to stop him permanently. You might be a nuisance but, like I said before, I have no beef with you. Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire as much as I might not like it. Believe it or not, I''m a peaceful person by nature."

    That was hard to believe¡­but he supposed there was the fact that he went out of his way to make sure no one was seriously injured as he did what he felt he needed to do. He wasn''t like those viins who wreaked destruction heedless of who got hurt and never had been.

    "Who is your real enemy?" Christian asked curiously.

    "I can''t tell you that but I can say he''s probably the most powerful man in the country even if no one else realizes it. He takes advantage of the broken system like it was built for him specifically. I hate people like him more than anyone else," Nox said in a hard voice.

    "But I''ve said too much already. Are we good? Can you go home now? I still have things to do tonight and you should really get back in bed before you keel over. There''s no point in saving you if you kill yourself."

    The most powerful man in the country? Wouldn''t that be the president? Christian couldn''t let treason slide!

    Then again, Nox did say ''even if no one else realizes it''. So it probably wasn''t anyone too obvious. Although¡­wasn''t the first big, targeted attack he ever pulled off at Hunsacher Inc.''s main headquarters?

    Nn Hunsacher did run arge conglomerate but saying he was the most powerful man in the country was a bit of a stretch. There were plenty of other people like him out there.

    "Is your enemy Nn Hunsacher?" Christian blurted before he could stop himself.

    Nox let out a heavy sigh. "We''re done here. If you even think about warning him there''s someone out to get him I''ll rat you out and ruin your retirement. I know a huge secret of yours, you know a huge secret of mine. We''re even now so we can part ways with nothing owed. That''s the only thanks I want for saving your life."

    He guessed right! What did Nn Hunsacher ever do to this guy to cause that much of a grudge?

    But he really couldn''t do anything about it with the threat of his secret identity being exposed over his head. He had been the one to suggest they even the ying field by exchanging secrets.

    Though Christian hated being ckmailed and hated the idea of being in cahoots with anyone doing something illegal he couldn''t deny he felt less backed into a corner now. Nox had more on him but he could still do something to mess up the viin''s ns. Having any degree of power in a situation where he previously felt powerless was better than nothing.

    "Done," he said reluctantly. "I won''t say ''good luck with your ns'' or anything like that."

    Noxughed. "I didn''t expect you to. Letting me carry on is good enough. Have a good life, Mercury. It was fun while itsted. I''ll never find anyone else like you."

    He thought their nemesis rtionship was fun? Christian knew this guy was a wacko. "You''re being creepy again."

    "Force of habit, I guess. Seriously though, take care of yourself."

    "I can''t say the same. Goodbye, Nox. I sincerely hope I never see you again."

    As he flew away he could hear Noxughing hysterically but was too tired to wonder why. He already knew there was something off about that guy that nothing could fix. He hoped he hadn''t made the biggest mistake of his life by agreeing to keep his mouth shut.

    Nox''s grudge against Nn Hunsacher seemed legitimate based on the way he was talking earlier but with his abilities he could totally take over the world if he wanted. Letting him go like that killed Christian but there was nothing he could do about it.

    He had been wondering about Nox''s motivation for years so now that he had some small idea of what he was after he couldn''t stop himself from doing inte research on his former foe''s true enemy when he got home. There were so many articles that going through all of them would be impossible but he had the wry thought that he finally found something to keep him busy while he wasid up.

    Christian discovered a fair amount of negative publicity about Hunsacher Inc. mixed in with the informational or promotional stuff. They had won severalwsuits filed against them by various people including former employees¡­and lost several others.

    Reading through those articles he got the sense that Hunsacher had some pretty skeezy business practices but no one could prove it because they had the bestwyers money could buy. When it was provable they paid the fine and got off scot-free. There were plenty of businesses like that out there though. Why would Nox target this one specifically?

    Another article caught his attention about one of Hunsacher''s factories that got bombed in California. That was definitely Nox''s MO but what would he be doing all the way across the country?

    Or did he have aplices? He might not be the only one with a serious grudge against Nn Hunsacher.

    Christian sighed. The more he read the less he understood.

    Hunsacher certainly did seem to get out of punishment for wronging people more often than not but wasn''t nearly as powerful as Nox imed¡­unless he had more information than the public did. Either that or he was a conspiracy theorist.

    He didn''t know the guy well enough to be able to tell one way or the other. But he probably did think he was doing the right thing, whatever he was trying to aplish.

 Chapter 38 - He Would Leave Her

    Whatever Nox was up to wasn''t Christian''s business anymore. All he was doing by looking into Hunsacher a bit was satiating his own curiosity. He needed to retire in peace and focus on what mattered to him.

    Putting his confusion out of mind was difficult but he needed to think about something else. Like getting in contact with a power suppressor¡­and testing the waters with Avery to see if she was okay with moving forward in their rtionship. Going back and forth between apartments was silly when there was nothing to hide anymore.

    He felt a weight lift off his chest at the thought of not having to worry about secrets for the first time in years. If Mercury disappeared off the face of the earth he could ignore that chapter of his life and think about the future instead of simply living in the moment.

    The following morning Christian went to a power suppressor firm and exined his problem. "I want to know if it''s possible to turn off one power while keeping another."

    The man behind the desk folded his hands under his chin thoughtfully. "That depends entirely on whether or not the two powers are the same general type. Physical powers such as superstrength are one. Brain-based powers such as telekinesis are another.

    "We offer various medications dedicated to turning off specific power types so I''m afraid if they''re the same it wouldn''t work. Could you tell me exactly what your powers are? Everything is confidential, I assure you."

    Relief flooded through him. It seemed like this could actually work!

    "Flying and a sixth sense about danger that acts somewhat like a homing beacon. Those would count as two different power types, wouldn''t they?" he asked eagerly.

    The man nodded. "Indeed. I assume you want the sixth sense turned off but want to keep the flight? Retirement could be rather difficult if you''re constantly trying to ignore distress calls. Ipletely understand."

    "Yes."

    "That shouldn''t be difficult. It will take a few weeks for the drugs to kick in but as long as you keep taking them like you would any other medication the sixth sense should remain suppressed."

    "I''ll take it," Christian said firmly.

    The man smiled and pulled out some paperwork for him to sign. "Excellent! It''s a pleasure doing business with you."

    It was as simple as that. He walked out with a box containing a month''s supply of power suppressors and a subscription to continue receiving them in the mail. He was actually doing this!

    Christian had devoted nearly half of his life to hero work. It was high time he started living for himself. All the things he thought were impossible for him weren''t out of reach now that he wouldn''t have that rm ring in his head constantly.

    Unfinished business or not, this was something to be happy about. He had a future and that future was bright.

    ===

    Avery had been drowning in misery from the moment she dropped Christian off at the hospital until Liam texted her to let her know he had been hurt. Her misery turned to confusion. Had he really not figured it out?

    When she arrived she didn''t see anything but relief to see her on his face. He truly hadn''t made the connection. Was she in love with an idiot?

    Apparently so because two weeks passed and he let her take care of him like everything was normal. Not that she wasining! This was the best thing that could have happened. He was alive, safe, and didn''t know the truth so she could continue staying with him!

    She was in an excellent mood as she waited around a warehouse for the drones to get everything out to Jorge''s truck for her monthly delivery. Until her idiot boyfriend showed up looking for her.

    Avery panicked because she didn''t want to hurt him but she also didn''t want to give herself away. If he wanted to talk he might want answers to questions she couldn''t give him.

    Mercury (though he was wearing lounge clothes he was still wearing his mask) seemed surprised when she said she saved him because she thought he was a good person who didn''t deserve to die. It was a small part of the truth but she had thought he was a good person even before she had a crush on him.

    He was surprisingly understanding and non-usatory as they continued to talk. Like he actually wanted to know why she did what she did. She hadn''t expected that from him because of how he seemed determined to think the worst of her when she was in her viin persona.

    Talking about it, albeit in a very limited way because she couldn''t give away all of her ns in case this was a trap, was kind of nice. She had never been able to talk to anyone about this before aside from Angelo.

    Avery couldn''t help teasing him though. He had always been so easy to tease and it was a good way to deflect from what she really didn''t want to talk about.

    She cracked up when he called her out on it because he had her motivationspletely wrong. She decided to be honest knowing he wouldn''t believe it and told him she had been flirting with him.

    Mercury totally panicked and sheughed even harder. From his perspective she was not only his archnemesis but a guy. That would be a weird thing for him to hear. The look on his face was priceless!

    It was within Avery''s best interest to y it off so she did and he immediately dismissed the idea even though it was the truth. She had been flirting with him.

    When she flippantly referred to him as ''her hero'' and he denied it he had no idea how wrong he was. She was reflecting on the irony when he surprised her with his next question.

    "Does this mean you aren''t going to leave me alone if I retire?"

    She had no idea he was thinking about retiring. It made sense though; he wasn''t getting any younger. She also had the heady notion he was doing it for her¡­without realizing that she couldn''t settle down with him permanently.

    Her heart ached at the implications but she continued with the conversation and their usual banter as if nothing was wrong. If she ignored Avery''s side of the equation her nemesis retiring would make things much easier for Nox.

    She tried striking a deal with him so that both of their secrets would be safe and inadvertently ended up revealing way more than she meant to. She was tempted to burst into hystericalughter at the fact that he was smart enough to figure out who her enemy was with such little context but hadn''t been able to realize that his girlfriend was the one in the suit.

    Avery finally lost it when he left and said he sincerely hoped he never saw her again because the irony was too much. He would be seeing her again tomorrow night and wouldn''t even know.

    Jorge noticed her weird mood the rest of the night as they were making deliveries but was wise enough not to call her out on it. She had a lot to think about and was wrapped up in her own head as they drove around.

    Thankfully, she was worn out enough by the time they were done that she was able to turn her fevered brain off and get some sleep. She was going to need to be well-rested in order to act normally in front of Christian when she saw him again.

    He was in a much better mood than she was when she went over to his ce to make dinner on Sunday night. Why was that?

    Yesterday had to be every bit as perplexing to him as it was to her, though for very different reasons. What was he being so cheerful about? Did he think things between them were resolved after their little chat? He had seemed plenty anxious throughout the conversation.

    Avery got her answer after they had eaten and Liam fled to his room to avoid what he terms as ''the biggest mushfest on earth.'' The two of them were sort of cuddling on the couch (they couldn''t do too much with Christian''s injury) when he sprang the worst question of her life on her out of the blue.

    "Do you think we should move in together? We''re at each other''s ces all the time, anyway. It would save a lot ofmuting."

    If she was innocent she would have said yes in a heartbeat. But she wasn''t. He was nning on retiring and even if he wasn''t he wouldn''t be busy on weekends for the foreseeable future. She could easily be exposed.

    Oh, she wanted to though! Was there a way to work around this? Could she push her luck? She had gotten away with her monthly insulin runst night because she imed she was with Angelo but that would be a lot harder to pull off if they were living in the same space.

    Christian would notice she was missing. He would likely assume she was cheating on him rather than that she was Nox but what if he did put it together?

    He would leave her; she knew he would. That was always the end they were destined for but she didn''t want it to happen like that. She would rather end things on a high note than have thempletely shatter.

 Chapter 39 - Selfish

    Avery wasn''t the only person at risk here. Angelo and Jorge were pretty obvious aplices if you put a little thought into it.

    She didn''t think Christian would expose her and risk exposing himself at the same time now that he knew Nox was aware of his identity but she didn''t want to ckmail him as herself. Doing itst night as someone else had been hard enough.

    She needed toe up with an excuse that seemed usible without making it seem like she didn''t want to get serious with him (even though she didn''t). It took her a minute but she found a straw to grasp at.

    "I can''t sell my apartment. It''s where I grew up and I have so many memories with my dad there," Avery protested.

    "Why would you have to? You said the mortgage is already paid off, didn''t you? Keep paying the property taxes and you''ll be fine. You''ll even be saving money by using way less utilities," Christian said with a shrug. "You can move in here and I''ll finally have an excuse to kick out Liam."

    She couldn''t help but snort at thatst part. "You do realize it''s your apartment. You can kick him out any time without an excuse."

    "Yes but then I''d feel bad about it. This way he''s likely to volunteer to leave on his own."

    "So you''re using me?"

    Avery had only been teasing but Christian replied very seriously. "No. That would be a perk but I just want to be with you all the time. I''m sorry. I know I was the one that didn''t want anything long-term but things are different now. There''s nothing holding me back anymore."

    Her heart sunk. She knew it! He was retiring and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her now that he didn''t have to worry about hero work getting in the way.

    "Christian, I love you so much but I¡­I still have things to do. I''m not as busy as you used to be but I have certainmitments I need to see through to the end. I can''t be what you want me to be," she said sadly.

    "I don''t want you to be anything but yourself! Whatever you have to do I''ll support you in it. There''s no reason you shouldn''t be able to do what you want while being with me."

    Avery could think of a verypelling one but couldn''t say it. He didn''t know the truth about her. If he did he wouldn''t make such an offer. "¡­do you promise you won''t interfere if I have overnight trips out of town every so often? They aren''t terribly frequent but they are important to me."

    Going out of town made more sense than staying out until 6 AM. She could potentially crash at her ce since they wouldn''t be using it and pretend she got back in town after she woke up. She couldn''t believe she was even contemting this when it was such a bad idea!

    Christian nodded vehemently. "That''s fine! As long as you tell me in advance so I don''t have to worry about you vanishing on me. Do what you need to do. I don''t want to limit you in any way. I just want to stay with you."

    Ah, he was too good. Too understanding. Too much of a hero for someone mired in revenge like her even if she was trying to make the world a better ce at the same time.

    He was also too wonderful to give up. Avery''s selfishness had gotten worse the longer she had been with him. The temptation to do what she wanted without considering the bigger picture was too much to bear.

    "Alright," she told him with her heart hammering in her ears. "You should probably give Liam some warning though."

    Christian smiled and kissed the top of her head. "I will. You need time to pack, anyway."

    Just like that it was settled and Avery screamed internally. What had she just agreed to?! This was a horrible, horrible idea that would surely ruin her life because nothing this good could possiblyst in her situation. Yet here she was.

    She was still freaking out when she went back to work and Vanessa noticed. There was no getting anything past her, aside from the fact that her best friend was a viin.

    "What''s with you? Your hands are shaking. If you aren''t careful you''re going to screw up your piping and Marianne will be on your case."

    Avery sighed heavily. "Christian asked me to move in with him and I said yes."

    "Aves, that''s huge! But why do you seem upset?" Vanessa asked with a frown. "Do you not want to?"

    "Of course I want to! But I''m worried that he''ll see things about me that he doesn''t like."

    He certainly wouldn''t like finding out he was in love with his archnemesis. Though she supposed at this point she should say former archnemesis since he was in the process of retiring and wouldn''t be fighting her anymore.

    Vanessa scoffed. "What could he possibly see about YOU that he wouldn''t like? The man is nuts about you. I honestly wouldn''t be surprised if this invite to move in was a precursor to a proposal."

    That''s exactly what Avery was worried about! Though she supposed if she could handle living with him that being married wouldn''t be that much different¡­though he might ask more questions about where she went and what she was doing.

    Up until now they had respected each other''s privacy about their separate activities under the guise that their rtionship wasn''t that serious despite spending as much time as they possibly could together and sharing everything about themselves that wasn''t tied up in their respective secrets. They were much closer emotionally than most people trying to keep each other at a distance.

    "We have different political views," she said half-truthfully.

    They weren''t actually that different aside from the fact that she was a radical who acted on her desire to change the corruption in the world. He worked to help people within the broken system while she tried to abolish the system altogether.

    Vanessa looked at her like she was stupid. "Then don''t talk politics. Goodness knows I learned to keep my mouth shut about politics around certain people because I get too riled up and want to smack them."

    Avery cracked a smile. She knew exactly who her friend was talking about and could imagine her following through on that desire rather easily.

    Unfortunately, this difference in opinion wouldn''t be solved so easily if Christian found out about it. He would never be able to ept what she did in her quest to destroy Hunsacher and give the country back to its people instead of one man at the top of the food chain.

    "I don''t know, Ness; this is a pretty big one. I don''t think he would forgive me if he knew how I really felt about things," she confessed.

    Vanessa rolled her eyes. "I seriously doubt that but if you''re that concerned don''t tell him. Don''t let go of such a catch for no reason if you really love him. And I know you do because you talk about him more than you talk about cakes these days."

    Avery blushed. She hadn''t realized she was gushing that much.

    She should have known talking to her best friend about this wouldn''t be helpful. The only person who would understand her situation was Angelo and he would bepletely against it. She didn''t want a vicious lecture in Spanish that she would barely be able to keep up with so she was going to have to keep it from him as long as she could.

    "I do but I can''t afford to lose him and I''m afraid getting closer will make that happen," she said quietly.

    Vanessa looked at her sympathetically hearing the genuine distress in her voice. "Everyone takes that risk when they put themselves out there. You''ve already gotten this far. Don''t let your fears stop you from a chance at happiness."

    If only it was that simple. Avery had been doing her best to ignore everything she should be worried about in this situation so she could enjoy being with Christian as long as she had him all this time but she was in far too deep. Happiness wasn''t possible for her unless he never found out about her being Nox.

    The longer they were together and the longer the n to take Hunsacher down the more likely she was to be exposed. She couldn''t quit now though.

    Selfish as she had been to get involved with the man she loved it would be far more selfish to abandon this country for the sake of what she wanted. The needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few.

    Technically, Avery could hand the suit off to someone else but her dad had left it to her. He had trusted her to do this and no one else. Who did she know that believed in their cause and wouldn''t abuse the suit, anyway? She couldn''t think of anyone off the top of her head since Angelo and Jorge weren''t suited to fieldwork.

    "Yeah. Sure," she said absently to get her friend off her back.

    There was no real solution here. She was going to have to continue on as she had been and hope for the best.

 Chapter 40 - Everything Is Under Control

    As if stressing out about moving in with her boyfriend wasn''t enough for Avery to worry about Nox had been getting attention on the news. Everyone was specting about the "new hero" who saved Mercury and wondering why he hadn''t made another appearance since then.

    Everyone was wondering what happened to Mercury too. Christian hadn''te forward to make any statements about his retirement but he was obviously serious about it since he wanted her to move in.

    Knowing him, he was more the type to want to fade into obscurity than go out with a lot of fanfare. He probably thought his job was done so there was no reason to keep pushing himself and possibly wind up dead. After all, he wasn''t getting any younger.

    Things were different for Avery. She had a mission she had to fulfil. One that couldn''t be taken on by the next new hero who showed up.

    There would always be new heroes. New viins trying to abolish the corrupt world order because no one else would do it? Not so much. She couldn''t let her dad or this country down.

    Or Angelo. Who blew up her phone the moment he saw a spective article about the "new hero" with a picture of her in the suit online. Honestly, she was surprised this didn''te to his attention sooner with how inte-savvy he was. He must have been busy.

    He yelled into the phone in rapid-fire Spanish the moment she picked up and she had to hold the phone away from her ear to avoid going deaf. "AVERY WEST, HOW DARE YOU GET CAUGHT ON CAMERA FOR SUCH AN INSIGNIFICANT REASON?! WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU THINKING?"

    "I was thinking I couldn''t let someone innocent die," Avery snapped back.

    Angelo didn''t know that Christian was Mercury. He thought she had risked her cover for no reason.

    "Innocent? He''s a hero and you''re a viin! The least you could do is act like it. I know you had a big fat crush on him but that''s no excuse, G¨¹era! You''re dating someone else now so there was absolutely no reason to stick your neck out like that!"

    If only he knew. Avery couldn''t let the man she loved die. He would have if she hadn''t intervened but she couldn''t exin that to him. It wasn''t her ce to tell his secret identity and she would get yelled at more. That was thest thing she needed to deal with right now on top of everything else.

    "He''s a good person, Angelo," she said firmly. "Isn''t the whole reason we got into this to help people? He''s sort of my friend even if he doesn''t think of me that way so I couldn''t just let him die!"

    "Your friend?!"

    "Yeah. You know the witty banter was my favorite part of interacting with him. But he''s retiring; he said so himself. We don''t have to worry about him anymore."

    At least not in a heroic capacity. From a live-in boyfriend capacity, however¡­

    "When did you find this out?!" Angelo demanded.

    Shoot. Avery forgot she hadn''t told him about thatst confrontation either because she hadn''t mentioned she knew Mercury''s secret identity for a fact now. Was there a way to get out of this without telling the truth?

    "He was curious why I saved his life and came after me when he wasn''t in great shape. We had a little chat and I sort of ckmailed him into leaving me alone and letting me carry on with my ns since he owes me for saving him. It really couldn''t have gone any better," she said as casually as she could muster.

    Angelo let out a heavy sigh. "Why do you do these things to yourself? Honestly! What exactly did he say?"

    "He acknowledged that I''m not as bad as he thought I was and decided not to give me a hard time anymore or hand me over to any other heroes. The only reason he was able to find me was because of a sort of sixth sense he had. As long as no one else has that sort of power we''re golden."

    "Not as bad as he thought?"

    "Yep! Isn''t that nice of him?" Avery asked cheerfully, trying to get away from the sticky subject of her potentially knowing Mercury''s secret identity.

    Angelo made a skeptical noise. "Almost too nice. Though I suppose you did save his life. He isn''t suspicious of you, is he? I mean, it''s not like you know the guy. You just took him to the hospital, right?"

    "Don''t be ridiculous! How could I possibly know Mercury? The world isn''t small enough for that."

    Avery knew she was a convincing liar but considering how well Angelo knew her she might still be in danger. He had always been able to see through her better than most. That was one of the problems with growing up together with someone.

    "So what are you going to do about this publicity?" Angelo asked with a resigned sigh.

    Relief flooded through her. The subject was closed. For now.

    "Nothing I can do, really. Though I''m thinking I''m going to have to be a bit sneakier with the monthly insulin runs. You know I only get all shy because I''m trying to lead anyone off of Jorge''s tail since he has the majority of the goods."

    "And for the benefit of your hero."

    Avery sniffed. She hadn''t cared about that since she met Christian officially, okay? "Whatever. My point is this shouldn''t set us back too much. Most of what we do is from the shadows, anyway."

    "Still¡­you need to be careful, G¨¹era. We can''t afford for you to get caught. If people know you''re a viin instead of a hero you''re going to get a new Mercury. Maybe even one who can actually beat you half of the time. That would majorly set us back."

    She couldn''t deny he had a point. There might be a hero out there with both super strength and agility. No one could rece her nemesis in her heart but it was entirely possible that someone could physically take his ce as the person trying to stop her from what she was doing. She did need to be careful.

    "I''ll take that under advisement. Don''t worry about me, Angelo. I know what I''m doing."

    "You, the hothead, know what you''re doing?" Angelo asked doubtfully. "No one else would do something as stupid as save the life of their archnemesis."

    "It wasn''t stupid! He owes me and he knows it. I can cash in a favor any time."

    "¡­you know how to find him?"

    Avery cursed herself for her slipup. "Vaguely."

    "Are you telling me you know his secret identity?! You would have had to have seen his face at the hospital, right? Who is he? Some random guy, right? You said you didn''t know him," Angelo said suspiciously.

    "Some random guy whose name I happen to know. I told you I ckmailed him. Everything is under control. Isn''t it a good thing to have someone like that owe us a favor?"

    "I guess. At least he doesn''t know yours. Wait¡­don''t tell me he knows yours!"

    "He doesn''t! He doesn''t have a clue who I am. Still thinks I''m a guy. We''re perfectly safe on that front," Avery reassured him.

    Angelo sighed. "That''s something, I suppose. You have an edge up on him. We could definitely cash that sort of favor someday. I am curious though¡­did the man behind the mask meet your expectations, Lover Girl?"

    Boy, did he! But she could never admit that.

    "Christian is better looking," she deadpanned. "I didn''t like him for his face, anyway, since I never saw all of it until recently."

    "Of course you would think that," Angelo said and she could just tell he was shaking his head at her.

    "What can I say? My boyfriend is a handsome man."

    "He isn''t suspicious of you, is he?"

    "Not in the slightest. I told you everything is under control. Can''t you just be happy for me, Angelo? I haven''t been able to rx like this since before our dads died," Avery confessed in a quiet, vulnerable voice.

    She wished her best friend could be happier for her. He had jumped down her throat when he found out she was dating someone. It was only going to get worse when he discovered she had moved in with him. The longer she could put off that ufortable conversation the better.

    "We aren''t supposed to rx, G¨¹era," Angelo said in what he probably meant to be a gentle tone. "We have work to do."

    "And I''m doing it! I just¡­want to do other things at the same time, okay? This won''t get in the way of our ns. We''re going to take down Hunsacher and make the world a better ce for the little people like you and me.

    "This job goes better if I''m less stressed and Christian makes me less stressed. Maribel hasn''t affected things for Jorge and he won''t affect them for me. You''re making a mountain out of a molehill like always."

 Chapter 41 - Who Said She Couldnt Have It All?

    Christian made Avery less stressed overall. The whole secret identity juggling thing was plenty stressful but she wasn''t about to admit to that. Not when it would be putting a nail in her own coffin.

    "Jorge''s cover is more secure than yours and his role is less important," Angelo reminded her. "If Christian ever prevents you from doing your job you have to break up with him."

    "I will! I told you not to worry about it. I know where my priorities lie."

    She had been taking things one day at a time trying to make everything work out. Endless justifications had gotten her to where she was but she did ultimately know what her priorities were. She was the daughter of a viin and had taken up his mantle. She was going to see his mission through to the end.

    It was going to break her heart if she had to leave Christian. She was going to have to do everything in her power to make sure that didn''t happen.

    Who said she couldn''t have it all? Didn''t she deserve to be happy too when she was trying to make the world a better ce? Why weren''t antiheroes allowed to have their own happy endings?

    Avery''s revenge had been rooted in the past and for years she had been living in the present trying to get through the day but she had to think about the future too. Christian was her future. The one she had thought she could never have because of the way things were. She was determined to have it no matter how long it took to get there.

    He didn''t have to know who she was. If he hadn''t figured it out after she saved his life he never would.

    The problem from here on out would be preventing him from getting suspicious of her absences when she was on Nox missions. As long as they were only doing insulin runs it would be once a month but what about when they found another lead?

    Angelo was getting closer to cracking what had been on that sh drive all the time. Once he and the brains of the operation figured out what to do about it she would be a lot busier.

    "Whatever you say. Anyway, hang tight. You''ll get your next non-insulin assignment soon enough. There''s some seriously messed up research on that sh drive and it''s going to take someone better with chemistry than me to figure it all out. I need to get in contact with one of our chem guys in another state to help me crack it.

    "In the meantime keep doing what you''re doing, I guess. And let me know when you''re nning on hanging out with Vanessa next. We should double. If anyone can help me rx enough to crack this she can."

    Angelo hung up and Avery shook her head in disbelief. He really liked Vanessa, didn''t he? She wondered if her friend had any idea.

    He would never act on it though. Not while their n was still at stake. He wasn''t like Avery, as he kept reminding her. He was the rational one between the two of them. He would never find himself in a situation like the one she currently found herself trapped in.

    With a sigh she put down her phone and resumed packing. She was supposed to have everything ready this weekend to go to Christian''s apartment. He had given Liam his notice and he was reluctantly moving back in with his parents until he found somewhere else to go. Supposedly, he was simultaneously grumbling about being banished and d that his brother was finally "getting a move on."

    Avery tried telling herself everything would be fine. She and Christian had basically been living together already. The only difference would be on the weekends and she wasn''t even busy every weekend. She wouldn''t have to go on an insulin run for another few weeks at least.

    "I''m fine," she said aloud as if it would help her believe it more. It didn''t but she had to try.

    ===

    Things didn''t change much at first. Avery went to work with Christian most days as she had been doing once he was sufficiently recovered from being stabbed enough to go back to Vanessa too, on the off chance she said something.

    It was nice going home to him every day and not having to worry about Liam potentially interrupting them. Though he did show up one day after work when he found out she was testing a new cake decorating technique because he wanted some. She couldn''t begrudge him that.

    The first insulin heist without Mercury tailing her went off without a hitch too. She used the excuse that she had an out-of-town thing and Christian epted it easily. She was able to crash in her apartment like usual before heading back to his ce.

    No, their ce. She needed to start thinking of it that way, especially since he had allowed her to have some decoration input. His style was minimalist to say the least and he wanted her to spice things up for him.

    Avery decided to take on the rather ambitious project of painting the living room by herself since Christian was still recovering but ultimately she caved and enlisted help. Vanessa may not be much of painter but she was easy to bribe. As was Liam. Between the three of them things were done in less than a day.

    They had painted the walls a soothing greenish gray that went well with a lot of the new decorations they had picked up. She had always wanted to do something like this but felt like she couldn''t mess with the sacred walls of her childhood home since it was all she had left of her dad other than the suit. Painting Christian''s apartment was a nicepromise.

    She wanted to work her way through painting the entire apartment but they had time. Once Christian was feeling better it would be a lot easier to do those smaller rooms with just the two of them.

    He seemed a lot more rxed after a few weeks had passed. If she had to guess it was abination of beginning to properly recover and not having to deal with hero work anymore. She was willing to bet he had gotten power suppressors or something that would prevent his sixth sense from giving him a hard time. He wasn''t nearly as distractable these days as he used to be.

    Christian was SO happy. Avery wanted to bask in that same sort of happiness but it was difficult with her duties hanging over her head.

    Was this really going to be okay? Was she going to be able to pull this off long-term? What was she supposed to do when Angelo found out the next part of Hunsacher''s ns and she had to jump back into the fray?

    Pulling off another California-type trip was going to be a lot more difficult living with someone else. Especially if Christian happened to see the news and connected her trip to Nox''s MO.

    Avery desperately hoped that wouldn''t happen. She knew she was treading on thin ice here.

    All she wanted was to carry on the way things were going. Was that so much to ask? She had averted one disaster; averting another shouldn''t be too difficult. She was being paranoid. That was all this was.

    He hadn''t figured out who she was when she saved his life and hadn''t done anything to stop her from going after Hunsacher despite knowing her target either. That had been done very reluctantly though. He hadn''t wanted to let that go but had to since she knew his secret identity.

    Christian would never forgive her if he found out the truth and not only because of the ckmail. Avery was so mired in lies when it came to him that she didn''t know where to begin unraveling them.

    She had approached him with less-than-ster intentions. She never would have agreed to go out with him again if she hadn''t suspected he was Mercury.

    Back then she hadn''t realized the extent of his sense of humor and thought he was boring. It was finding out he was the guy she had been helplessly crushing on that piqued her interest. Now she couldn''t imagine life without him but that was her destined end if he found out the truth.

    Avery couldn''t think like that! Everything was going to work out. Christian loved her. As long as he loved her and believed in her he would never connect her to Nox. Who he rather ironically hated.

    It seemed she had yed her part as his nemesis too well. He hadn''t been the slightest bit suspicious when she saved his life.

    Wasn''t it less of a stretch for Nox to be omniscient than it was for it to be someone he knew well? She would never understand how that man''s mind worked.

 Chapter 42 - Worth Waiting For

    Christian was living the dream. He never knew things could be so peaceful!

    His sixth sense had been a near-constant rm in his head for most of his life and now it was gone. Completely gone! It was still hard to believe he had gotten rid of that annoyance without having to lose flying.

    He was able to keep the power that truly mattered to him, the woman he loved was slowly but surely leaving her mark on his apartment, and he was perfectly content with the world once he had recovered enough to move around normally post stabbing.

    Christian had backed away from the world of heroes entirely. He wished he could have left a message for some of the heroes who knew him well letting them know he was okay but he was low-key nervous about what Nox would do if the man caught him in costume again. Showing up randomly at his apartment to chew him out seemed like the worst case scenario.

    What would he do if a viin showed up looking for him while Avery was here? He would never be able to exin his way out of that!

    He could never let her find out about his former alter ego. It would be too awkward considering she used to have a crush on him. That was one secret he intended to take to his grave.

    Heroes typically didn''t tell people who they used to be. They tended to slip away into obscurity, exactly like he was already doing. There was no reason for him to tell her even if they did get married eventually.

    Christian had been thinking about that more and more oftentely. Liam and his parents had been teasing him about settling down even before he retired but now that he had their "hints" were getting rather pointed. He knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Avery but she still had things to do.

    What those things were¡­he had no idea. She never told him why she wasn''t good girlfriend material using specifics. Only that she had things she wanted to do.

    Angelo said the same thing. He would be insufferable if Christian tried to take things to the next level, wouldn''t he? He had noticed that she hadn''t told her cousin of sorts that she had moved in with him. Vanessa had visited here but he hadn''t.

    That didn''t bode well to him. Why was she hiding that from someone she was so close to? Because he would give her a hard time about their rtionship the way he had that day in the bowling alley when she was in the bathroom?

    Christian wished he understood Avery better. He knew all of her daily habits¡­what foods she liked¡­the sort of person she was¡­but he didn''t know what was important to her. Wasn''t that something he should know as her boyfriend? He really needed to ask her about it.

    He knew she valued her career but didn''t think that had anything to do with why she didn''t want to settle down. They worked in the same building. He didn''t see any roadblocks to her being a cake decorator and being with him unless she nned to move but she would never do that with how attached she was to her childhood home.

    He pondered all of this when he was supposed to be going over paperwork. It was easier for his mind to wander now than it had been when his sixth sense was distracting him all the time for some reason. Why was that?

    At the end of his shift he went downstairs to meet up with Avery as usual. She was chatting with Vanessa as they both wore their Carmine''s uniforms in the lobby of the building and she smiled at him with her heart in her eyes and waved when she saw him.

    "Hey, Christian! How was your day?"

    "Could have been better. What about yours?"

    "Oh, it was fine. I got a new custom cake order that will be a real challenge and I''m looking forward to it," Avery said with sparkling violet eyes.

    She took his free hand, said goodbye to Vanessa, then cheerfully borated on the cake design premise in further detail as he had known she would. She could never quite keep her enthusiasm reigned in when she had a receptive audience.

    This particr cake order was meant to be a sculpture shaped like a life-sized person and she had never done anything like it before despite watching countless videos of other people doing simr things. She was both excited and nervous about how it would go and had a lot to say about it most of the way home.

    When she finally stopped for breath Christian decided to try and segue into what he had been thinking about earlier. "Do you see yourself doing more things like this in the future?"

    "That would be awesome! You knowttice work is my specialty but I could totally get into making cake sculptures more. I already do some out of cereal treats and modeling chocte but those are mostly toppers at this point."

    "Is Marianne nning on taking more orders like this or will you have to go somewhere else?"

    Avery let out a smallugh. "Marianne wouldn''t survive without me. And I wouldn''t survive without Ness so I''m sticking with her unless I can convince her to go solo with me one of these days. Why do you ask?"

    "I was just curious what your long-term ns were. You don''t talk about them much. Do you want to open your own bakery someday?"

    "Honestly, that seems like a huge hassle to me. I think I''d be happy staying where I am as long as I get to have more creative freedom. I''ve done some mirror ze pouring videos for the channeltely on my own time and people have ordered them since. I think she''s finally starting to see things more my way."

    That didn''t exactly answer Christian''s question. He didn''t understand why she didn''t feel ready to settle down if she was satisfied with her job and had no intention of changing it any time soon.

    "I''m d you managed to convince her. Your talents aren''t being put to their full potential."

    Avery smiled. "I think so too. I''d like to focus more on new cake art while having someone else take over my basic portfolio for custom cakes but hiring someone or not is on her. Things have been pretty busytely so that''s my hope."

    "She''s going to have to sooner orter," Christian predicted. "Is that really all you want though?"

    She tilted her head at him curiously. "Yeah. I''m fairly easily satisfied. Why so many questions today?"

    "I guess I''ve been thinking about the future a lottely."

    "Oh."

    He wasn''t sure whether that was a good oh or a bad oh. It was hard to read that sort of thing. He looked at her seriously. "I take it you haven''t been."

    "I have," Avery admitted in a heavy tone. "But I shouldn''t. I''m really trying to take things one day at a time as best I can. That''s how I''ve always gotten by since my dad died. It''s kind of hard to picture a future without him in it."

    Now it was Christian''s turn to say "oh." He hadn''t realized that still weighed on her so heavily all this time though obviously he knew she and her had had been close. The signs of a person unwilling or unable to move on were all there. Why hadn''t he seen it?

    "I''m sorry," he addedmely. "That must be hard."

    She sighed and looked down at their entwined hands. "It is. I can''t really think about the future much when I''m too worried about my world copsing on me the way it did before. Losing my dad destroyed my life as I knew it.

    "He was my best friend and everything changed once he was gone. All the things that mattered to me¡­all of my hopes and dreams¡­they kind of got put on the back burner. I suppose I''m still trying to figure out where all of that leaves me even after he''s been gone this long. Isn''t that sad?"

    "I''ve heard that grief works differently for everyone. I''m not sure what to tell you since I''ve never experienced such a loss but I want you to know that I''ll be there for you while you figure it out¡­if you''re interested," Christian told her sincerely.

    Avery looked up at him with an oddly heartbroken air about her despite the fact that she was smiling. "That''s an offer I can''t refuse. Thanks, Christian. I hope I do manage to figure things out one way or another. I don''t want to leave you hanging forever since you''ve been thinking about the futuretely."

    "You''re worth waiting for. As long as I get to be with you in the meantime I''m fine."

    "Is that right? What do you want out of the future then?"

    "Nothing too fancy. All I really want is for you to keep decorating and redecorating our apartment indefinitely and to know you''ll be there to cuddle with me at the end of a long day of paperwork no matter what. I wouldn''t mind a couple of kids someday either. I''ve always liked them. You''re more important though so if that''s not something you want¡ª"

 Chapter 43 - Its Not A Terrible Idea Then?

    Christian was quick to backtrack when he saw the look on Avery''s face but she shook her head. The same general air about her as before was back. The one that didn''t make sense.

    "I always thought it would be nice to raise my kids with Angelo''s like we were raised together. But considering he can''t even get a girlfriend I''m starting to think that''s a pipe dream. Maybe I''ll have better luck with Ness."

    Relief flooded through him. "It''s not a terrible idea then?"

    "Not at all. I just¡­don''t know if that sort of thing is possible for me any time soon. You know I have things I need to do. I''m not sure how long they''ll take but they need to be taken care of before I think about starting a family," Avery said tiredly.

    She had alluded to something like this before without going into specifics. When he asked her to move in with him she said she had things to do and that she couldn''t be what he wanted her to be.

    He supposed she did have to go out of town every so often. That would make it difficult to be a mother. He didn''t mind! He could wait until she finished whatever obligation she had. All he wanted was to be with her in the meantime and know she was never going anywhere.

    Most people didn''t have kids right when they got married anyway. His parents had waited nearly five years before they had him.

    "I don''t care what you have to do or how long it takes," Christian insisted. "I just want to be with you. You make me happier than I thought anything ever could, Avery."

    Avery smiled brightly at him but her eyes were almost unbearably sad. "I feel the same way about you. If I had things my way we would be together forever. That would be the most wonderful thing in the world."

    That was all the invitation he needed. She loved him and she wanted to be with him on a permanent basis. Why shouldn''t he propose? He had waited long enough to settle down and live a normal life. If they both wanted to be together so badly there was no reason they shouldn''t be even if they did have to put off kids.

    Christian thought that part of her hesitation might be a fear of losing her family again. Her dad had been the only biological rtive she had after her mom left.

    He wanted to prove to her that he wasn''t going to go anywhere. Ever. That she could depend on him. He couldn''t think of a better way to do that than by bing her family sooner rather thanter.

    That conversation got the wheels in his head turning. If he was going to pull this off he would need to talk to Vanessa. She would know what sort of ring her best friend would want, wouldn''t she? Women tended to talk to each other about these sorts of things.

    When would he get the chance to talk to her on her own though? Usually, he only saw her when Avery was around. He didn''t have her number either.

    It turned out Christian was in luck because Vanessa was behind the counter the next day when he went down to Carmine''s for lunch. She smiled at him. "Hey, Lover Boy! Tough luck running into me instead of Avery. She was behind the counter less than twenty minutes ago."

    "Actually, I was hoping to have the chance to talk to you."

    Her face went ck with surprise. "For real? What do you want to talk to me for?"

    Christian lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper in case Avery could somehow overhear from the back. "I figured a woman''s best friend is the person to ask about ring ideas."

    Vanessa nearly squealed but managed to p her hand over her mouth before any noise came out. "Christian! A little warning would have been nice! This is a top secret operation that can''t be carried out here. Give me your number and I''ll text youter to hook you up."

    "Sorry!"

    "Don''t apologize. I''ve been waiting for this! I''m going to have so much fun as the maid of honor."

    She took down his number then resumed speaking at normal volume to conduct the rest of his transaction as if they hadn''t done anything suspicious at all. She shot him a wink on his way out the door and he tried not to die of mortification. There was nothing wrong with asking your girlfriend''s best friend for proposal help.

    The problem would be more with her other best friend. The one that didn''t support their rtionship because Avery had things to do. As long as he let her do them he didn''t see what the problem was. She did say that Angelo was overprotective though.

    Christian had wondered more than once if some of that overprotectiveness might stem from Angelo having some sort of feelings for her but he had been watching those two every time he saw them interact and didn''t see infatuation on either side. They seemed more like siblings than anything.

    Not having support from her brother figure was less than ideal but what was he supposed to do? If he talked to Angelo about this beforehand he might ruin the surprise.

    He was going to have to talk to him afterward. One way or another they needed to clear this up because if he knew Avery she wouldn''t be satisfied unless Angelo was the one to walk her down the aisle.

    It was important that Christian did this right. Being with Avery was important but her happiness was even more so. He didn''t want her halfheartedly. He wanted her all in. She shined so brightly when she dove headfirst into things.

    Later that night when she was deeply absorbed in cake decorating videos online he texted Vanessa about ring ideas and she had a lot of advice to offer. Everything from how Avery wanted a purple stone rather than a diamond because that was her favorite color to how she liked halos of little diamonds but didn''t want a traditional shape for the main stone. His head spun as he tried to make sense of it all.

    It took a bit of searching but he managed to find something online that fit the rather unique specifications Vanessa hadid out. The amethyst in the center was shaped like a triangle and had a halo of diamond chips with more on the tinum band itself.

    Christian ordered it for in-store pick up. He would have to take care of that on his own this weekend when Avery was out of town again.

    The ring was only one part of the proposal though. What could he do that would make Avery feel special? Something that would make her happy but wouldn''t make itpletely obvious what he was trying to do beforehand.

    She was a creative person. He could do something rted to that but what? Creativity had never exactly been his strong suit.

    This was clearly a case of opposites attract. Avery was everything he wasn''t. At least she seemed to enjoy his stable, predictable nature (old hero work aside) and thought he was funny. Otherwise he would have nothing to offer her. She had chosen to be with him despite everything she had going on and all of her reservations about the future. He wasn''t about to let her down.

    With how much she loved cake decorating videos he thought he might have an idea. He would have to time things just right but he should be able to pull it off. All he had to do was convince some romantic cake decorator to help him out.

    Where was Christian supposed to find one of those? Let alone one that would guarantee Avery would watch the video. He was going to have to send a lot of private messages to those cake pages she followed, wasn''t he? He would do it to make her happy but it might take some time.

    No matter. He wasn''t in a rush. They had been together less than a year but he knew she was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. When you know, you know.

    He had known there was something special about her before he even knew her name. So many months of hopeless pining and the perfect woman for him was right in front of him all the time. He really owed Liam for giving him the shot of motivation he needed to ask her out.

    Avery had changed his life. Given him something to hope for beyond making it through another week of fighting viins and endlessly helping people. The time hade for Christian to live for himself.

    Not only himself though. For her. He would do anything to make the woman he loved happy. He wanted to bring her the same sort of peace and contentment that being with her brought him. He only hoped he was up for the task.

 Chapter 44 - Are You Kidding Me?!

    Angelo Cruz had been a simple man before his father''s murder. Computers and family were all he cared about. He had gotten both of those things from his father.

    Horatio Cruz had learned how to speak Java, Python, and C++ before he learned to speak English. He knew how important technology was bing in the world and wanted to be sure he never missed out despiteing from humble origins.

    He studied hard, got into a good college, and met Levi West. They were both poor boys from New York who had an interest in technology and making the world a better ce for the disadvantaged after getting schrships to MIT. They always had each other''s backs and were thrilled to be recruited by the samepany when they graduated with their masters'' degrees.

    Everything was good in those days. They raised their children together and both of them had happy childhoods. Angelo couldn''t have asked for a better father. He hardly felt his mother''s absence at all with how much effort Horatio and Levi put into being there for them despite how busy they were as rising stars at Hunsacher.

    Computers and family. Angelo had seen how his father managed to bnce both and wanted to be the exact same way when he grew up.

    Unfortunately, that had to happen all too soon. He had only been twenty-four, still working on his master''s degree inputer science when his father had been ripped away from him. His and Avery''s both.

    He suddenly found himself thrust into a role he had never been prepared for and had to deal with his own grief and an inconsble best friend to boot. Computers and family. He was using both to try and take down the man who murdered two of the people he loved and admired most.

    His skills as a hacker were indispensable in continuing to build up theirwork of anti-Hunsacher renegades and finding missions for Avery toplete. He took advantage of his cousin Jorge, the only one old enough to justify involving in this mess, to help with insulin distribution and the woman he thought of as his own sister because he needed her father''s tech.

    Means to justify the end. He had never been able to deny her anything she truly wanted even if they had always bickered. But this time he was worried.

    Avery''s role was more important than his. She was both the face and the muscle of their revolution so sometimes he had to be hard on her. Especially when it seemed like her head was off in the clouds.

    First, she had stupidly had a crush on the hero that constantly tried to foil their ns. Then she had to go and get into a serious rtionship with awyer of all people! How could she get involved with awyer when they actively broke thew all the time?!

    Angelo didn''t know what he was supposed to do about that girl. She had always been so fragile even though she put on a brave face. Hermansky-Puk syndrome was no joke. She had increased risk factors for a lot of things and frequently got injured until she was put inside an indestructible super suit.

    She was impulsive too. He had been watching out for her for as long as he could remember though back in the day it was for much less serious matters.

    He worried about her constantly even if he was afraid to show exactly how much. He believed in Levi''s tech¡­it was Avery herself that was the problem. He didn''t want to let her know how concerned he was about the things she was doing knowing how she tended to be because she would get all mushy on him.

    Mushy wasn''t his style. He had to be the strong one. Always had been but more so than ever after their fathers died.

    Angelo had to protect Avery. She was the person he loved most in this world now that his parents were both dead and buried. There was nothing he wouldn''t do for her¡­even if it meant knocking some sense into her thick white skull.

    He hadn''t been happy when he saw her on the news saving Mercury of all people. How stupid could she get?! But she had the perfect excuses thought up, as she often did. She had always been a smooth talker able to get herself out of any sort of trouble.

    It didn''t stop him from worrying about her though. One of these days she was going tond herself in serious hot water she couldn''t talk her way out of. What was she going to do then?

    His stupid, lovable G¨¹era. Nothing but trouble as always. The worthwhile kind of trouble though.

    Angelo got a notification from Instagram while he was in the middle of decrypting more of the files he had gotten from the secret room in Hunsacher headquarters. As expected, it was a picture Avery posted. She and her boyfriend had apparently gone out of town today specifically to pick apples.

    She was beaming for all she was worth and he was gazing at her as if she was the most beautiful woman in the world as he stood with his arms around her. Such a mushy picture.

    His biggest issue with the guy was that Christian ter was obnoxiously in love with Avery. The kind of love that led to 2.5 kids and a white picket fence. That would never work the way they operated.

    Wasn''t it better not to get involved with someone when you knew things weren''t going to work out? She was so impulsive and lovestruck that she couldn''t see what the problem was when it was staring her right in the face!

    Christian was the sort of guy Angelo would want for his best friend if things were different but they weren''t. The two of them were viins and that wouldn''t change until Nn Hunsacher and his evil conglomerate had been brought to its knees.

    Who knows how long that would take? Their revenge might be a lifelong mission. How could Avery let herself be distracted like this? She had always thought more with her heart than with her head.

    Not Angelo. He used to be more easygoing but he had been more practical than that ridiculous girl whose head was up in the clouds 24/7.

    He knew she had taken all of this hard. She was a softy. Revenge didn''t suit her the way it hade to suit him. If she got too invested in her boyfriend he was afraid she would give up on the whole thing and everything they worked for¡ªeverything their fathers died for¡ªwould be for naught.

    She needed to grow more of a backbone. To ept the broken world as it was instead of thinking it could be better as long as the system was being controlled by the corrupt. Small moments of happiness were nothing in the face of mass oppression. She needed to get those stars out of her eyes and wake up! The world needed her clear-headed!

    Angelo sighed. He wished things weren''t like this. That his daydreamer of a best friend had been able to stay young and carefree. That she was allowed to fall in love.

    But they weren''t. Things were what they were and Avery needed to ept that. None of them could ever form real attachments as long as they were involved in this business. They were trying to overthrow the country! There was no room for love in that!

    He ''liked'' the picture solely because he liked everything she posted whether he personally agreed with the sentiment or not and set his phone down to get back to work. He shouldn''t have let himself be distracted.

    Angelo was no chemist but he had seen enough of the research on this sh drive to realize that something seriously bad was going on at Hunsacher. Something no one was supposed to know about. Something people had died to keep secret¡­possibly including his father and Levi.

    He got a message from one of his chemist contacts and was so startled he swore loudly in Spanish and threw his phone up in the air, barely managing to catch it before it crashed onto the desk and cracked the screen again. "Are you kidding me?!"

    Mind control. The chemistry notes had to do with literal brainwashing done with the right sort of chemicals. They could turn the whole country into their sheep without so much as the ability to resist with this!

    Angelo''s heart raced. They had the only copy, didn''t they? Something so vtile¡­so illegal¡­there was a good reason it had been so well-protected in that room Avery broke into.

    They had stolen it and smashed theputers but he had no doubt that Nn Hunsacher was getting whoever had been involved to try and recreate those notes from scratch. The people of this country¡ªif not the world¡ªwere in very real danger.

 Chapter 45 - Not If I Kill Him First

    Angelo messaged back the chemist furiously, asking specific questions about the hows, whys, and what the timeframe for implementing something like this might be. It didn''t paint a very pretty picture. If Hunsacher managed to get all of his research back any time soon this could all be rolled out sessfully nationwide in a couple of years.

    He cursed and hit his keyboard. No! They didn''t have that kind of time!

    What was he supposed to do? He was a hacker not a chemist. Not a political mastermind. Certainly not a miracle worker but he would need to be one in order to sessfully shut down Hunsacher Inc. before they were able to put this horrible n into action.

    "G¨¹era, you better answer your phone," Angelo muttered fervently as he called her, typing away at top speed to inform the rest of theirwork exactly what had been discovered.

    They were going to need to work together in order to figure something out. This was a muchrger scale than even the sweatshop had been! How were they even going to formte a n? All he could think of was taking out the scientists listed on the research but they tried to avoid killing people.

    They could have families. They could be working for Hunsacher unknowingly or against their will. Killing them wasn''t an option but they had to be stopped at all costs. How were they going to pull THAT off?

    "Angelo?" Avery asked sleepily. "What is it?"

    He checked the clock and realized it was nearly midnight. She must have posted that picture right before trying to go to bed. But this was an emergency!

    "The data from that sh drive you got. I figured out what''s on it," Angelo said urgently in Spanish.

    He heard the sheets rustling as Avery sat up in shock. "What is it?"

    "Mind control!" He called Nn Hunsacher all sorts of terrible names before continuing. "That monster figured it out! We took the only copy of his research but it''s only a matter of time before he uses the same people to recreate it."

    "You have GOT to be kidding me," she moaned, also in Spanish.

    "I wish I was. I''m talking to ourwork right now trying toe up with a n but be aware you''re going to have to do some extraction missions in the near future involving those scientists. I''m not sure where we''re going to put them but they can''t keep doing what they''re doing. The stakes are too high."

    A sleepy voice could be heard from through the phone. "Avery? What is it? Come back to bed."

    "It''s Angelo and it''s kind of important," Avery told her boyfriend apologetically in English before switching back to Spanish. "Give me the information in the morning. I''m going to need to get the time off at work ande up with a n to get all of this done. Send whoever I need to coordinate with my way and I''ll make it happen."

    It was nice to know that she could see the pressing nature of this matter instead of sumbing to the urge to be lovey-dovey for once. At least she hadn''t lost her sensespletely.

    "I''ll keep you posted. I''ll probably be up working on this most of the night but I should have the beginnings of a n for you by morning. Get some sleep. You''re going to need it."

    "You know, you could have just told me this in the morning," Avery muttered before hanging up on him.

    Angelo scowled. So what? He was freaking out so she should be freaking out too. They were partners, weren''t they? He couldn''t sit on that sort of information alone. She needed to know even if she wasn''t an idea girl.

    He got back to work but wasn''t able to confer with people for too long because of varying time zones and people needing sleep. Unfortunately for him, sleep was out of the question.

    Continuing to dig was all he could do at this point. And while digging he discovered something very interesting. Something that might turn the tide of this entire war in their favor.

    A wicked grin crossed his face as he read further. Leah Hunsacher might be their ticket to defeat their foe. He would have to tread carefully¡ªvery carefully¡ªbut having her as an ally was too fortuitous an opportunity to pass up.

    He carefullyposed an encrypted email five times to make sure he got his sentiment across correctly before sending it. He didn''t receive an answer since it was the middle of the night but that was fine. Getting one by morning would be good enough for him.

    Angelo continued digging to have everything prepared before meeting with her (since his email had been asking for a meeting) and he pulled an all-nighter to make sure he had everything taken care of. He was too wired to sleep and clicked on her reply eagerly. She had agreed to meet!

    He knew he would be able to hook her. One does not simply divorce the most powerful man on earth. Nn Hunsacher wanted her dead so she couldn''t be subpoenaed to testify against him when the divorce finalized. He didn''t care about her or her children from a previous marriage. Promising to protect them would make any mother agree to cooperate.

    Well, any mother aside from Avery''s. That woman was a real piece of work.

    But Leah Hunsacher wasn''t that sort of woman ording to all of the articles about her and her own social media pages constantly posting pictures of cute things they did. She was the kind of mother who would do anything for her children. Exactly the kind of person their side needed.

    Angelo wasn''t the most diplomatic person in the world but he knew how to appeal to people. He knew exactly what to say when he arrived for their appointment over coffee in a hole in the wall ce so obscure it didn''t have security cameras.

    "You''re out to get my estranged husband," Leah said simply when she sat down across from him.

    "Yes."

    "You realize he''s going to kill you."

    "Not if I kill him first," Angelo said seriously. "And I will. But not before I dismantle everything he''s tried to build by exploiting other people."

    Leah looked at him skeptically. "You said you knew about¡­that room. Were you the one who destroyed it? That''s the only reason I agreed to meet with you. If you were you might actually be able to help me."

    "Yes and we also managed to get the people behind the intel safely on their way to a new life out of his clutches. Put out feelers on the inte and I''ll always find you if you have dirt on Nn Hunsacher."

    "¡­how many people are behind you?"

    "Quite a few. But we could always use more. Especially someone like you. I know you''re living in fear while trying to make your escape. We can get you out and give you somewhere safe to be in the meantime if you help us take him down," Angelo said seriously.

    "Can you protect my children? He''s trying to take them¡­turn them against me and use them as tools so I won''t testify against him," Leah said in a voice reeking of desperation. "I''m afraid we won''tst the week with him trying to find us."

    "I know of somewhere off the grid for you to go. Help us and we''ll protect all of you and get you out of the country without him being any the wiser."

    "I don''t have any other choice, do I? If you did destroy that room you''re my only hope."

    "We''ll keep you safe, ma''am. You''re going to need to trust me though and find a way to avoid using your credit or debit cards and being seen by any security cameras without being thoroughly disguised. I''m talking hiding the shape of your face, your eyes, your hair, everything. He has people everywhere. I can put the security footage of you and your children in your hotel room on a loop. That should buy you some time but I don''t know how much."

    "I''ll take whatever I can get."

    "Good. Meet me at this address once you have your disguises in ce and I''ll take you to the safe house," Angelo told her as he wrote down another hole in the wall ce he knewcked security cameras.

    Leah nodded sharply and thanked him before hurrying out of the caf¨¦, looking over her shoulder. That was the look of a cornered rat. A cornered rat who had just joined their side.

    He knew his email would be effective. She was searching through the depths of the inte talking about how she was afraid of her husband and what he would do to her. Tracking down her IP address and email ount linked to the anonymous post had been child''s y.

    Angelo knew she was aware of what her husband was up to and that was why she wanted out. Reading between the lines, she was afraid of having the brainwashing chemicals used on her children to keep her in line.

    Despicable. Hunsacher truly had no mercy.

 Chapter 46 - Potentially Game-Changing

    Leah had overheard about the contents of the room after her husband went on a rampage the night it was destroyed. That was why she was afraid. She had tried to file for divorce and was afraid of getting killed before it was granted.

    Angelo needed her so he would keep her safe. No one would ever connect a high profile woman like Leah Hunsacher to a nobody cake decorator like Avery. She had the space for a woman and two children at her apartment. She hardly used it anymore based on how often she seemed to spend the night at her boyfriend''s.

    As long as they got there without being followed there was no way anyone would find them there. Avery, Angelo, or Jorge could drop by with food and supplies since they were known to hang around there. The neighbors wouldn''t be suspicious in the slightest.

    He texted Avery the n in code saying ''special delivery heading to your apartmentter, make sure your boyfriend isn''t around.'' She might not guess it was people right away but she would know it was rted to their revenge.

    She wasn''t as stupid as he often berated her for. She was actually quite clever and good on her feet most of the time. He wasn''t worried about her blowing this for them.

    Angelo sighed and headed out to do what he needed to involving Jorge and some of his t¨ªas in preparation to have Leah and her children stay at Avery''s. They were going to need food and he doubted his friend had much on hand if she wasn''t staying there often these days.

    His t¨ªas were always good for feeding a crowd. Most of the time they handed things over without asking questions. They were reliable like that, wanting to feed everybody. He felt an upsurge of affection for them.

    This was all going to work out. Once Leah and her family were safely situated at Avery''s ce they would be able to start working more seriously on a long-term n to overthrow him. Who knew how to take him down better than his soon-to-be-ex-wife?

    ===

    Avery was both furious that Angelo had called her sote just to freak her out and horrified by what Hunsacher was trying to do. Mind control? Really?!

    When she hung up the phone she let off every Spanish curse she knew before sinking back down against the pillows. She was really lucky that Christian only spoke English. He couldn''t tell what had been said, only that it had been bad.

    He was looking at her in utmost concern propped up on his elbow. "Are you okay?"

    "Bad news from Angelo. Why it couldn''t have waited until morning¡­" Avery muttered. "I''m probably going to have to go meet up with him for a while tomorrow. It''s kind of a personal thing so I need to go alone. Sorry. I know we have ns. I''ll do my best to work around them but I kind of have to go when he''s free."

    Christian wrapped his arms around herfortingly. "Hey, it''s okay! I get it. Rx. If we have to reschedule we reschedule. Really not a big deal. Come here, I''ve got you."

    She sank into his embrace feeling like she should cry but she was too frustrated for the tears to evene out. Mind control. What on earth were a handful of renegades supposed to do about something as big as mind control?

    Avery had a hard time falling asleep even though her boyfriend was out less than ten minutes into their snuggle session. Stupid Angelo. Could this really not have waited until morning? Why did he always have to drop bombs on her heedless of the time?

    At least she didn''t have work the next day. Christian did so hopefully she would be able to get this done while he was at work but she had to work around Angelo''s schedule. She didn''t know if this was big enough for him to take a sick day or not but she wanted to get whatever it was he wanted to meet for out of the way as quickly as possible.

    She got a text from him around 9 AM talking about a special delivery and knew she needed to head to her old apartment. Whatever he was up to would definitely be going down there.

    When she arrived she was shocked to find a woman and two children she had never seen before in her life sitting in her living room as Angelo and Jorge set up a variety of dishes clearly cooked by their t¨ªas in the fridge.

    "Uh¡­what''s going on here?" Avery asked with a raised eyebrow.

    "G¨¹era! Good, you made it. I have to head to work now so you should take over helping Angelo," Jorge said in relief. "I barely had time to get these over here. When you drive for a living everybody suddenly wants you to be their delivery boy."

    He pped her shoulder on the way out and left without any further exnation. She was still waiting for one and red at her best friend until he gave one to her.

    "This is Leah and her children Zack and Sydney," Angelo said unhelpfully.

    "And?"

    "And they need somewhere safe and off the radar to stay for a while. It''s not like you''re even using this ce most nights anyway."

    Avery crossed her arms over her chest. She didn''t have a problem helping out someone in need but volunteering her apartment without so much as consulting her didn''t seem like his style. There had to be more to this than met the eye.

    "Angelo. You can''t just show up at my apartment with three people in tow without giving me a proper exnation," she said severely. "Tell me who they are and why they''re here."

    "Well¡­" he hedged.

    "Angelo, it''s alright," Leah spoke up quietly.

    Her hands were in herp and she looked rather refined if nervous. It was then that Avery realized she was wearing some rather expensive clothes from a brand she had seen from a distance while shopping with Nancy a while back.

    Why would Angelo go so far for a rich person and her children? He hated rich people! And he couldn''t possibly be interested in her¡­she had to be at least a decade older than them.

    Leah suggested that the kids watch a movie and Angelo helped them put it on before they all congregated in Avery''s room where it was unlikely they would be overheard. She rather ashamedly looked down at her hands before speaking in the same subdued voice as before.

    "I''m trying to get a divorce from my husband before he kills me. Angelo said you could help hide us. I''m terribly sorry to impose but I don''t have a lot of options right now and need to stay off the radar. He''s a very powerful man with a lot of connections. If I went any of my usual ces he would find me."

    Avery''s eyes nearly popped out of her head as the implications set in. "You''re Leah HUNSACHER?!"

    "Unfortunately. Marrying Nn was a terrible mistake¡­I see that now¡­but he wasn''t always like this. He wanted to present himself to the world as a family man so marrying a widow like me with a good family background was the perfect way to do it," Leah said bitterly.

    "Whenever he didn''t need to pretend for the cameras he was hardly involved with us at all. I was able to use his name and his money but now I realize it came at such a terrible cost¡­I overheard something I shouldn''t have and now he''s out to get me.

    "He''ll find a way to make my murder look like an ident sooner orter. It''s only a matter of time. I didn''t know where to go or who to turn to so I was very lucky that Angelo found me."

    Avery couldn''t believe this. Angelo found such a willing, potentially game-changing new coconspirator mere hours after they were concerned all was lost. What sort of madman was he?

    Nn Hunsacher''s estranged wife walked directly into their hands and wanted to cooperate in return for being protected. This couldpletely change everything. Their ns could be elerated by years because of this!

    Angelo had a rather smug expression on his face when she nced his way. Of course he did. What he had done was a huge step for theirwork.

    "What did you overhear?" Avery asked gently.

    Leah looked up at her with weariness written all over her face. "It was a few months ago. He was yelling at someone on the phone about security and how ''that room'' was supposed to be imprable. He was mostly concerned about the secrets behind mind control getting out.

    "I couldn''t believe what I was hearing so I forced myself to stay quiet and keep listening. He was talking about chemicalpounds, a specificboratory, and some of the people involved. I already told all of this to Angelo and he''s trying to figure out who they all are and where theboratory is. If you can destroy that room you can destroy thatb as well, can''t you?"

    If they destroyed theb where the research was being conducted that would buy them time. Especially if they managed to kidnap all of the scientists involved at the same time. It was a tall order though since Avery was the only one capable of doing fieldwork. She might have backup from people like with the factory explosion but it wouldn''t be the same.

    "Yes," she said with grim determination.

    No matter how difficult it was or what all the n entailed she was going to have to pull it off. This was their only chance to stop Nn Hunsacher before the situation got so much worse.

 Chapter 47 - Suit Yourself

    Avery wasn''t an idea person. She left that to Angelo and hiswork of Hunsacher spies. Most of the people working high enough up at thepany to be useful to them were very smart. Scientists, engineers, and the like.

    That wasn''t her thing. She was the muscle all because her dad happened to leave the nanotech to her.

    She could provide Leah and her children a ce to stay but until the n wasplete there wasn''t much else she could do. She did what she was told and put her trust in the people who were better ating up with ns than she was. That was how this venture had always worked.

    It was rather maddening, really. A lot of the time it made her feel helpless. Being told where to go and what to do without knowing what the oue would be was frustrating, especially since there didn''t seem to be a real end in sight.

    That would change with Leah on board, wouldn''t it? She was a valuable ally. Exactly how valuable would remain to be seen but if Angelo was putting in this much effort for her he had to have high hopes. He never did anything without a reason. He was too logical to be swayed by emotions.

    Avery wanted to believe that this would be a good thing. That it would all end much sooner than expected so she could live happily ever after with Christian like she so desperately wanted.

    He had been talking about the future more often since she moved in with him and she wanted it so badly it hurt. But she couldn''tmit knowing that she still needed to save the world. It was so hard being a woman in love when she had a mission toplete!

    Angelo wanted her to keep her eyes on the prize but that had be progressively more difficult the longer she spent being mostly normal. Going out once a month instead of once a week had sort of pushed that part of her life to the back burner while her more dormant social life took the front seat for the first time in years.

    She knew better than anyone that she had things holding her back but she wanted to move forward so badly! To actually live instead of simply survive another day in a state of constant alertness.

    How wonderful would it be to retire like Christian had and focus on things that mattered to her before her world had been turned upside down? She could hardly remember who that girl had been but he was helping her with that.

    Love. Happiness. A peaceful life. All things she thought she would have when she was younger.

    Her dad bing Nox had been stressful but she knew it was important to him. He seemed indestructible as the suit to her; even though they had safeguards in ce she never would have imagined having to use them.

    Her dad had been healthy. Young too. He was only in his forties when he was killed. He still had a whole lot of life left to live and Nn Hunsacher took that from him and Horatio.

    Avery had to put her dreams on hold indefinitely. Angelo became much harder and closed himself off as he threw his heart and soul into the business of revenge. Why? Why did it have to be up to them? She knew the broken world wouldn''t fix itself on its own but why did they have to be the ones to give everything up in order to make it happen?

    They used to be normal people. She had been a simple cake artist working at a grocery store bakery. He had been a grad student. Both of them were so young and thought the worldy at their feet.

    She wished things were still that easy. That she hadn''t seen how desperately the world needed her and her dad''s tech. It would be irresponsible to walk away but responsibility had never exactly been her strong suit.

    Lately Avery had been wondering why her dad passed on his tech to her of all people. He trusted her because she was his daughter but was that really enough? It was such an enormous burden she had to bear and she was growing weary of it.

    She wanted to be happy. Her dad would have wanted her to be happy too, wouldn''t he?

    He hadn''t expected this to happen. Her taking over for him was supposed to be nothing more than a failsafe. She was sure he wouldn''t have wanted her to throw away a chance at real happiness for the mission but at the same time she knew how much changing the world mattered to him.

    Questions like these were pointless. She would never get to ask him. All they did was make her head hurt.

    She shouldn''t be thinking about stuff like this right now while she was in the middle of a conversation. Though Angelo had pretty much taken over it at this point so it didn''t matter that she wasn''t talking.

    Avery was tired. She wanted to go home and rest if she wasn''t needed further here.

    "Do you need me for anything else?" she asked.

    Angelo looked at her in surprise. "You barely got here though."

    "That doesn''t answer my question, Angelo. You know I''m not a ns person. Tell me what to do, as always. I have errands to run."

    "We were going toe up with a rotating schedule to bring by food and supplies. I can text you about it once I work things out with Jorge. I set up top-notch inte security in your apartment ages ago but I''m going to encrypt all of Leah''smunications just to be safe. She can help us n things without having to leave the apartment until we can get her somewhere safe."

    "Sounds good. Text me when you need me toe by with food and I will. I assume you''re going to be too busy to double with us anytime soon and that you''ll contact me once you need me to do something," Avery said dryly.

    Angelo may like Vanessa but he would never put anybody above the mission. That was one of the main differences between the two of them.

    She knew the mission was important but was losing heart. She wanted it to be over and done with so she could live her life. If Leah Hunsacher could help them pull that off that would be great.

    Having this taken care of meant she would be able to move forward the way she wanted to. She didn''t want to pin all of her hopes on this but it was difficult not to considering how much she wanted this to be over.

    Avery had been radicalized by seeing how much of the world was hurting because of the selfish actions of the few but it was hard to keep that fire burning when she would rather experience some sweet peace with the man she loved. She wanted to make a difference and she wanted to help people but not at the expense of her own future.

    It had all be so twisted. How had she let things get this far?

    Angelo eyed her shrewdly, possibly guessing what she was thinking, but didn''t call her out on it. "Alright. Suit yourself. I''ll text youter."

    Avery thanked Leah for her cooperation and promised she would be safe there before saying her goodbyes and heading out. She didn''t want to deal with this. She didn''t want to deal with any of this!

    Hiding three people from one of the most powerful men on earth would not be easy. They would have to follow Angelo''s instructions to the letter. She only hoped that Leah Hunsacher was up to the task. Keeping anything secret when kids were involved was a major gamble.

    At least all of her streaming services were logged in on the TV. That and her dad''s stash of board and card games ought to keep them busy enough for a little while even if they couldn''t go outside. Maybe she could bring them some toyster too.

    Leah''s kids were nine-year-old twins. What did nine-year-olds like? She could only think of what Angelo''s little cousins were into. He and Jorge were a lot older than the rest of their generation because there was a huge age gap between their parents and the rest of the t¨ªas. It certainly made family reunions interesting. The next oldest after Angelo was only seventeen and he refused to get a minor involved in what they were up to.

    Avery continued wondering throughout her errands and her rather pointless attempts to rx afterward. She had too much on her mind.

    "Do you know what nine-year-olds like?" she asked Christian the moment he walked through the door at the end of the day.

    He nced at her in surprise. "Uh¡­no? I don''t have any nieces or nephews."

    "Right, I knew that. I want to do something nice for these kids I know that are having a hard time but I''m drawing a nk. The only thing I can think of that kids that age like are LEGOs but not all of them do. They''re a girl and a boy and I have no idea what their interests are so I wanted to get something generic."

    "You could get a board game or something."

 Chapter 48 - In Over Her Head

    Avery supposed she could. She needed to think of good age-appropriate games that she didn''t already have back at her ce.

    "I guess that works. Or I could just ask their mom what they like."

    "Who are these kids, anyway?" Christian asked as he loosened his tie. "I thought the only kids you knew were Angelo''s cousins. Do they belong to some new friend of yours?"

    "She''s not exactly my friend¡­she''s someone Angelo and I are helping out. It''s what he called me aboutst night. This person we know is hiding from her abusive husband while she''s trying to get a divorce."

    It was close enough to the truth. Having a feasible excuse for why she wasing and going to drop off food randomly would be better than just disappearing on him for no reason.

    "That''s terrible!" he eximed.

    "Yeah. Her kids are probably stressed, which is why I wanted to get something for them," Avery sighed. "It''s a bad situation all around."

    "You have a big heart, Avery. I''m sure you''ll find the right present for them."

    Did she though? Did she really? Because she felt like if she did have a big heart she never would have gotten involved with him knowing it was a bad idea in the first ce. She could never regret being with him but she had dealt with an awful lot of headaches sinceing up with the bright idea to date her archnemesis.

    Avery''s heart was so conflicted and confused that she didn''t know what she was supposed to do. She was in this deep¡­all she could do was keep moving forward as best she could and pray Christian never found out the truth.

    "Does the mom have awyer?" he asked suddenly.

    "Probably but I doubt it will make much difference. Her husband is a big shot and has ess to the bestwyers money can buy."

    Christian grimaced. "That always makes things difficult. I''ll never understand thewyers who defend people they know are scum but don''t care because of the money."

    Despite Avery''s frustration she wanted to smile. He really did care about justice even if they went about it in very different ways. He might work within a corrupt system but at least he didn''t support all of it.

    "Neither will I. This woman''s husband is a real piece of work. We''re concerned about her safety while the divorce proceedings go through so we''re helping her hide."

    She didn''t know if the divorce would even be able to go through. Hunsacher wouldn''t want that to happen so they might have to get Leah and the kids out of the country without getting it finalized. It would prevent her from being able to have a legal marriage again but that was a small issue in the grand scheme of things.

    "I hate people like that," Christian muttered. "Is she going to be okay? Is there anything I can do?"

    Angelo would kill Avery if he knew she had mentioned this even in generics. It was better to keep him uninvolved.

    "Angelo has things covered. I appreciate the offer though. I might be kind of busytely since I''ll need to bring things to the safe house a few times a week but I thought I should let you know."

    "Thanks for keeping me in the loop," he said as he bent down to kiss her cheek.

    Christian went to go change out of his work clothes and Avery heaved a sigh of relief. Another half-truth sessfully danced around. How much longer was she going to have to pull stuff like this off? It was getting harder and harder to deal with.

    Avery didn''t want to think about it anymore. She wanted to savor being with her boyfriend while she had the chance. Who knew how much longer this happiness wouldst?

    Each day she had with Christian was more than she ever thought she would get. She had to take full advantage of every one.

    She wished she had cherished her time with her dad more. It was toote for that now. One day he was here and the next he was gone. At least he knew how much she loved him. She didn''t have regrets about that.

    Losing someone to death and losing them because of her own stupidity were two very different things. Her dad would still be with her if not for Nn Hunsacher. If Christian found out the truth he would leave her and nevere back even though he would still be out there somehow. And she would have no one to me but herself.

    The truth hung over her head like an anvil in a cartoon. Every day she felt more secure in her act because she had managed to get away with it for this long but what about when it inevitably fell? What would she do then?

    Such thoughts wouldn''t stop guing her throughout the week as she went about her day to day activities. She found a board game for Zack and Sydney and brought it over when it was her turn to deliver food. It didn''t look suspicious to be bringing groceries to her own apartment so no one would ever guess.

    Leah was appreciative of both the food and the game. Avery hadn''t interacted with her much but it was hard to imagine a woman like that being married to a monster like Nn Hunsacher. She had said it was a mistake but still¡­

    People could get in over their heads. She knew that better than anybody. She was in over her head right now with stupid daydreams of a future that would be impossible as long as a secret tyrant was in charge of this country. Thinking about it was depressing her, honestly.

    By the end of work Saturday she was so worn out that all she wanted to do was watch cake decorating videos. There was a new one from one of her favorite pages that dropped less than an hour ago and as she began watching it she couldn''t help but sigh. It was a cake shaped like a ring box with a gorgeous amethyst engagement ring in side of it.

    Could she do something like that? The sugar work on the stone was incredible. She would have to experiment with candy making. Liam would likely storm the apartment the moment she did.

    Avery had experience with making choctes but not much with making melted sugar decorations. Maybe giving that a try would help her destress with everything that was going ontely. Goodness knows she could use it.

    As the video continued she saw the cake take full shape and the artist piped the words "Will you marry me, Avery?" on it. It was as if the universe was mocking her! What were the odds that someone would propose to a person who shared her name using one of her favorite cake artists when she desperately wished she could marry Christian but knew it was a terrible idea?

    She nearly dropped her phone from shock when she looked away and saw her boyfriend kneeling in front of her with a ring box and ring identical to the one from the cake video. He smiled at her a bit nervously.

    It was him! He was proposing to her! All she could do was stare at him helplessly as tears filled her eyes. How was she supposed to say no?

    Avery wanted to marry him more than anything. She had alreadye this far¡­

    Getting married wasn''t really that different than moving in with him had been, was it? She would have to hide the same things. And with Leah involved she might not have to be Nox for too much longer. But if she did say yes Angelo was going to kill her.

    She couldn''t think about that right now. All of the reasons to say no were right at the forefront of her mind but she couldn''t make herself do it. Not when Christian was looking at her like that.

    Unable to say either yes or no Avery could only nod and hold out her hand for him to slide the ring on her finger. Then she hugged him tightly before he could even get up and sobbed into his neck because of how overwhelmed she was.

    She wanted to marry him. She wanted to marry him so much! What was she supposed to do in that situation? How could she turn him down even if this was the worst idea she ever had?

    With so much potential to backfire on her she really should have said no. She shouldn''t have let herself get swept along. She never should have decided to pursue him knowing he was Mercury in the first ce!

    Dating anyone as a viin would have been a bad idea but her archnemesis? Even if he was retired he still held a grudge. He specifically said he hoped they never saw each other again when theyst parted as their alter egos. The irony wasn''t lost on her.

 Chapter 49 - Nobody Agrees On Everything

    Avery needed to pull herself together before Christian realized something was wrong. Why couldn''t she stop crying?

    "Are you okay?" he asked in concern after she had been crying for about five minutes.

    "I''m fine," she said automatically before using her readymade excuse. "Special asions are hard without my dad, that''s all. Don''t worry about me."

    She would probably get emotional about that on a separate asion as the wedding got closer. Her dad should have been there to see her get married. She felt cheated that he wouldn''t be able to because of the selfishness of Nn Hunsacher.

    Christian hugged her tighter. "Toote for that. I know it''s hard for you not having him here¡­why don''t you take me to meet him officially? I really should meet my future father-inw sooner orter."

    Avery actually smiled. He was so cute. It had been a while since she hadst been to her dad''s grave anyway. She was pretty sure thest time was on the third anniversary of his death. She and Angelo had gone together since his parents weren''t buried far from her dad.

    "I think he would like that."

    She wished her dad could have met Christian for real. Outside of a hero context. He used toin about Mercury all the time. Despite never being able to beat Nox he had still been a nuisance to watch out for.

    Things would have been different if they weren''t nemeses. She was sure he would have appreciated Christian''s kindness and sense of humor on top of how happy he made his daughter.

    Her dad would have liked him if the situation was different. Ironically, he was the reason they met in the first ce. Taking his position as Nox was what started all of this. Christian knew who she was but things likely wouldn''t have progressed the way they did if they met solely through Carmine''s because he had seemed so boring at first.

    He wasn''t boring at all. He was simply shy. You didn''t see that in his hero persona. The mask must have lent him extra courage.

    That or he was bolder with people he didn''t like than those he did. That would make sense too considering how much he disliked Nox and was determined to think the worst of "him."

    He would be furious if he knew he had married his archnemesis. Absolutely furious.

    Avery shook those thoughts free. No! She was not allowed to think about that right now. This was a happy asion and she was trying to make herself stop crying not make things worse. She could deal with the fallout of her raging thoughtster when she was alone.

    "We should go tomorrow," Christian said, reminding her of what they had been talking about.

    "Right. We can do that. And uh¡­I need to tell Ness. And Angelo," she said while trying not to cringe at the very thought. "You should call your parents while I do that. Did they know you were nning to propose?"

    "Are you kidding? They''ve been hounding me about it for ages."

    Avery couldn''t quite stifle herughter. She knew Nancy and Brian liked her but hadn''t realized they wanted her as a daughter-inw so badly. She supposed she should have since Nancy kept wanting to go shopping together. She didn''t have any daughters so Avery was the next best thing. She didn''t have a mother so that worked out well.

    She was willing to bet Vanessa, Nancy, and Angelo''s t¨ªas would all want to be involved in the wedding nning process. When should they do this? She didn''t know about Christian but she didn''t have all that many people she cared about inviting.

    The Cruzes, her coworkers, and a few people from culinary school and high school ought to cover it. She didn''t need anything too fancy.

    Christian didn''t really have friends (how could he with how busy he had been as Mercury?) so there was a solid chance he only cared about inviting family and a handful of other people he knew too. She would need to ask him.

    "Do you want to have a big wedding?"

    He shook his head in horror. "Absolutely not! All I care about is marrying you."

    "Oh, good. Because I was wondering when we should do this. I think we should be able to pull everything off in the next few months. We could have a winter wedding. There are never any special asions in January aside from the new year so that would be as good a time for an anniversary as any."

    Christian smiled at her. "Works for me. We should go make those calls now."

    Right. The calls. Avery was dreading calling Angelo with every fiber of her being but it had to be done. If he found out through Facebook he would be furious.

    He was going to be furious either way but she would rather not hurt his feelings in the process. He was one of her closest friends and while it might be too much to ask for him to be happy for her she didn''t want to upset him more than necessary.

    First, she sent Vanessa a picture of the ring with the caption ''I''m sure you had something to do with this so thank you''. Her best friend called her almost immediately after and squealed into the phone.

    "I knew he was doing it soon but didn''t know it was today! How did he propose? The ring looks gorgeous!"

    Avery couldn''t help but smile at her enthusiasm. Vanessa was a true blue friend. At least one person was happy for her. Hopefully, that would make up for Angelo''s undoubtedly negative reaction. She wanted to be excited about this. It was worth being excited for! (Additional stressors aside.)

    "It is, isn''t it? You know me so well."

    "I hope you have my back for when I have a serious boyfriend. I do NOT want to be wearing something I hate for the rest of my life, thank you very much," Vanessa said in a tone that made Averyugh.

    "What are best friends for?"

    "So how did he do it? He didn''t exactly give me any details; he just wanted to know what kind of ring you would like."

    "It was really sweet, actually. You know I''m obsessed with cake decorating videos. He somehow got one of my favorite cake artists to make a video of making a cake of my ring in a ring box with ''will you marry me, Avery?'' on it. I nearly fell off the couch when I realized he was kneeling in front of me with the same ring."

    "That was the perfect proposal for you! Major points to your man for that. Did you see thising at all? Have you two talked about getting married before?"

    "Not specifically¡­but we did have a talk about the future a few weeks ago and I guess that inspired him."

    Avery hadn''t been expecting Christian to act so soon. Talking vaguely about the future she wasn''t even sure she could have had been meant to be done in a distant, far-off sort of way. She did know he was retiring for her though so she supposed she should have seen iting.

    "What sort of talk about the future leads to a proposal? I mean, I sort of saw iting when he asked you to move in but I didn''t expect it to be this soon either," Vanessa said.

    "It was about things we wanted out of life."

    What Avery wanted and what Christian wanted weren''t that different provided her mission as Nox didn''t get in the way. She did want to live peacefully and have a family with him someday. She just¡­didn''t know if that was in the cards for her because of the weight of her secrets.

    Secrets¡­responsibility¡­revenge¡­they had a lot working against them. And all she wanted was to be a normal woman in love.

    "Aha. So I guess the political views weren''t as much of an issue as you thought?" Vanessa prompted.

    "¡­I''m just going to have to not bring them up," Avery saidmely.

    Her secret should be safe. It WOULD be safe once everything with Nn Hunsacher was out of the way. Angelo seemed hopeful that Leah would be able to speed that up. Avery had tried not to bank on that before and get her hopes up but now she clung to that like a lifeline.

    "He is a perfect catch in basically every other way. Nobody agrees on everything!" Vanessa said with a smallugh.

    No, nobody agreed on everything. But their fundamental difference of opinion and the fact that she had been lying to him about almost everything would destroy their rtionship. Avery was sure of it.

    She didn''t want that to happen so she was going to have to take this one to her grave. The sooner they got the mind control issue taken care of the better. She wanted it out of the way so she didn''t have to worry about it anymore.

 Chapter 50 - Thats What I Thought

    Avery changed the subject and she and Vanessa chatted about wedding ns for a while. She was stalling to avoid talking to Angelo and she knew it but she couldn''t put it off forever. This might not end well over phone call so she decided to go to his ce. It was only a dozen blocks from here.

    Christian was still on the phone with his mother and nodded his understanding when she mouthed that she was going to meet with Angelo. He would probably be stuck there for a while.

    She pushed through her exhaustion despite not wanting to leave the apartment again for the rest of the day when she got home. This was something that needed to be handled in person.

    He wasn''t sentimental like she was. He had sold the apartment he grew up in after his father''s death, unable to handle being surrounded by memories all the time. His current building was a bit closer to his work and he had a second bedroom used solely for hisputer equipment.

    Avery rang his bell and he answered wearing a headset and looking exhausted. "What are you doing here, G¨¹era? Haven''t you ever heard of calling ahead?"

    "This can''t wait."

    Angelo saw she was serious and frowned before letting her in and taking off the headset. "What''s up?"

    "You can''t yell at me. This is important to me so I need to get it all out, okay?"

    "¡­what did you do?"

    He didn''t even have to ask the question because a momentter he zeroed in on the ring and yelped, pointing at it usingly. She sighed and began speaking quickly to get it all out before he could lecture her.

    "Yes, I got engaged. No, it won''t affect our mission. Christian knows I have things going on and has no intention of stopping me. We''ve lived together for months and there haven''t been any issues. There aren''t going to be any. You know how careful I am. Marrying him won''t be any different than the way things are now.

    "I know you think he''s nothing but a distraction but he makes me happy, Angelo, and I haven''t been happy since our dads died. I don''t do as much for the cause as you do anyway so it''s not like I''ll have time constraints. Mostly I sit around waiting for the next mission and I don''t want to wait to start the rest of my life because of it.

    "The goal was always to end this so people could live happily. We count in that number too and I want to start nning for my future now. He asked and I couldn''t say no. Call me weak, call me crazy, call me stupid but you won''t stop me. I''m getting married whether you like it or not," Avery finished defiantly with tears in her eyes.

    Angelo took a very deep breath, looking like he was about to burst a blood vessel. He gestured wildly with his hands several times while he was unable to speak. It seemed he was still trying to find words to tell her how dumb she was.

    "Are you insane?!" he exploded after a few minutes of trying. "There are a million reasons this is a bad idea! What are you thinking?!"

    "I''m thinking I never wanted to be a viin in the first ce, Angelo! I never wanted ANY of this. I''m a cake artist! My head is full of sugar, as you always like to say, and I was never cut out for all of this sneaking around and being a freedom fighter," Avery sobbed as the dam broke.

    "Nobody ever asked me what I wanted. My dad programmed the suit to my biometrics as ast resort that was never supposed to happen. I did it because I felt like I had to but I''m not good at this! I''m not good at the lies or the pressure or the fighting.

    "I''m a peaceful person by nature. I don''t even like killing bugs and I have to knock people out on a regr basis! I might even have to kill before this is all over and the thought horrifies me.

    "For three years I''ve lived solely for the mission. Everything else in my life was incidental. I was wasting time between weekends only to do it all over again! I tried to find enjoyment in it as best I could but I wasn''t happy!

    "I''m going to see this through to the end but I need to do things for me too. I need to live for myself instead of only revenge. Can you at least try to understand that? Please? FOR FIVE MINUTES CAN YOU THINK ABOUT HOW HARD THIS HAS BEEN FOR ME?"

    Angelo looked taken aback. Avery rarely cried and rarely yelled at him either despite their frequent bickering.

    "You''ve hated this so much?" he asked nkly.

    "Of course I have! Do you have any idea how exhausting it is jumping around all night doing insulin deliveries? And that''s my favorite part of this thankless job because of the people we''re able to help.

    "I hate not being able to live my life. I hate living in fear. I hate being on-call and having to drop everything at any time when you guys need the muscle to jump into the fray. The uncertainty, the secrecy, how it never seems to end.

    "I''ve done my best not toin even to myself. I tried to find enjoyment where I could because that''s the kind of person I am. Otherwise the depression and anger from losing our dads would have crushed me.

    "So let me be happy, okay? Spare me the lecture for once in your life. I know what I''m doing. I guarantee I''ve thought about all of the possibilities more than you have and I''m prepared to bear any potential consequences. Just¡­let me have this," Avery sniffled.

    Angelo was still staring at her. "Why didn''t you say anything?"

    "Would you have listened?"

    "I¡­"

    "That''s what I thought. Anyway, I don''t expect you to congratte me. But if you try and talk me out of it I''ll never forgive you. Ever. That''s all I had to say. Get back to whatever it was you were doing. Goodnight."

    Avery stormed out the front door before she lost her resolve. Not letting Angelo get a word in edgewise was the best choice even though she was tempted to cry again.

    If things were different her best friend would be happy for her. But they weren''t and at this rate she wasn''t even sure he woulde to her wedding. He was probably really angry at her right now and only bothering not to chase after her so he didn''t say something that would ruin decades of friendship.

    She headed home in a huff. All of that had been building up for a very, very long time. Her resentment at being given this role she never wanted. At meeting the perfect man at the worst possible time. At the whole world being stacked against her.

    No mom. No dad. Now possibly no more Angelo for anything other than missions. This seriously sucked.

    But Christian was waiting for her when she arrived and looked at her anxiously before giving her a hug. "Hey, how did it go?"

    "Not sure, honestly. I kind of gave him my spiel then left before he could argue. I really wasn''t in the mood. Do you have that cake anywhere? Because cake sounds amazing right now."

    "Yeah, it''s in our room. I picked it up earlier while you were at work. I''ll go get it."

    He sweetly kissed her lips before going to fetch the cake. It was delicious and the sugar helped her feel slightly better. She could deal with the fallout of everythingter. Right now she was celebrating being engaged with her fianc¨¦ eating a cake made by one of her favorite cake artists. Everything was fine.

    "We need to book a photographer so we can make our announcements," Avery said, remembering something she had talked about with Vanessa. "The sooner the better."

    "Do you want to look that up when we''re done with the cake?" Christian asked.

    "Yeah. We have a lot to do. I need to talk to your mom and set up some sort of nning group chat. I want everything to be nice. Do you know who you want to be groomsmen? For bridesmaids the only people I can really think of are Vanessa, Jorge''s girlfriend Maribel, and Marianne. So that leaves you to find three people as well."

    "There''s Liam. As for the other two I can probably convince a couple of guys I knew inw school. That shouldn''t be a problem."

    "Great!"

    Avery wanted to focus on nning. On what she could control instead of what she couldn''t. Angelo likely wouldn''t be speaking to her for anything other than letting her know about missions for quite some time and she didn''t want to think about that.

 Chapter 51 - Why Was He So Convinced?

    Christian hated when Avery was upset. She came back tired from her visit with Angelo and after speaking of it briefly shepletely changed the subject and dove headfirst into wedding nning mode. She clearly didn''t want to talk about it.

    What was his deal, anyway? Why was he so against her getting married?

    Previously, he had said that the two of them were cool as long as Christian didn''t distract her from her goals. He had no intention of doing that so why was the man acting like this?

    He didn''t understand it and was afraid to keep pressing Avery. She seemed like she might crumble away despite putting on a brave front when they went to the cemetery. Her eyes were sad but she acted like this was a perfectly normal way to meet.

    "Dad, this is my fianc¨¦ Christian. Christian, this is my dad," she introduced as she gestured to the grave.

    Levi West was only forty-seven when he died. His epitaph read "Beloved Father and Uncle" and he felt his insides twist. That had to have been Angelo''s inclusion. He hated that he had gotten between Avery and the only family she had left. Maybe if he just talked to Angelo he could make him see sense.

    Christian had seen countless pictures of Avery''s dad. He was a smiley blonde man with blue eyes and was about as tall as she was. She must have gotten her height from her mom.

    It was strange to think of someone he had seen so many pictures of and heard so many stories about lying in the cold ground beneath him. He hadn''t had any experience with death. Was that the sort of thing people could get used to?

    Avery sure seemed used to it. She sat down in front of the grave and began talking to the headstone as if her dad could hear her. He sat beside her and followed suit because it seemed like the right thing to do.

    "I used toe here a lot more," she said after a while. "I was so used to telling him everything that it was only natural. Then I got busy and only came on his birthday and the anniversary of his death. I need to be a better daughter."

    "You''re a great daughter!" Christian protested.

    He had never met one more devoted to her father''s memory. She hadn''t changed a thing about where Levi had lived and talked about him with fondness whenever he came up. He knew she was trying to make him proud.

    Avery let out a weary sigh. "Sometimes I wonder. I wish I knew what he actually wanted me to do. If I could just talk to him one more time¡­"

    Christian reached out and squeezed her hand. "I''m sure he''s proud of you, Avery."

    "Thanks."

    The unsettled air about her remained the rest of the time they were at the grave and he wished he could help her. When they got home she ended up doing a three way video call with his mom and Vanessa to n things and he was left wondering what he should do.

    She was in wedding nning mode for over a week and did nothing else aside from go to that safe house where the abused wife was hiding out with groceries twice. It seemed that receiving the schedule for when to do that was the only contact she''d had with Angelo and it seemed to be contributing to her need to dive into distractions.

    He couldn''t take much more of this. He was going to have to talk to the man himself.

    He got the address from Vanessa since he didn''t want Avery to know what he was doing in case it didn''t end well. He showed up on a Saturday afternoon while she was at work and fervently hoped Angelo was there.

    His eyes narrowed when he answered the door. "You. What are you doing here? Don''t tell me Avery sent you."

    "She doesn''t know I''m here. Can we talk?" Christian pleaded.

    "We don''t have anything to talk about. I told you getting seriously involved with her was a bad idea and you didn''t listen to me. Now she''s pissed and leaving me on read."

    He didn''t remember that conversation exactly because what came after it was so shocking. Angelo had asked him what his intentions were and he said to take things as they came, which had been his intentions at the time.

    Then he brought up how she couldn''tmit long term and said he had nothing against Christian personally but that she had things she couldn''t do if she was tied down on a permanent basis. He said they were cool as long as he understood their rtionship wouldn''tst forever and that liking him was a lot better than liking Mercury without understanding the horrible irony.

    Angelo had been cool with him all this time even if they weren''t particrly close. Avery had been convinced he wouldn''t be if he knew things were getting more serious and it seemed that she had been right.

    The real question was why. Christian''s intentions had changed with his circumstances but hers hadn''t. She was still in whatever situation she thought had made her "not girlfriend material" but loved him enough to ept his proposal regardless.

    A situation he knew nothing about but Angelo clearly did. He didn''t want to pry into Avery''s business but he wanted to know why her surrogate brother was so convinced he would ruin things.

    "Look, we both love Avery. This is hurting her. I don''t know what goals or ns she has long-term but I don''t care as long as she stays with me. I''m not going to interfere," Christian told him seriously. "So can you get over whatever hang-up you have about her being tied down already? She''s been really upset this past week because the two of you aren''t talking."

    Angelo scoffed. "Not going to interfere? Even if it''s something you don''t agree with?"

    What could Avery possibly do that he wouldn''t agree with? He knew she was the loyal type. She didn''t do drugs and hardly drank because she was concerned about her health. She didn''t gamble and he believed she wouldn''t cheat on him.

    Christian didn''t think she was capable of doing anything truly bad. What else was there for him not to agree with?

    "No," he said loyally. "I love Avery and I''ll support her no matter what."

    "Oh? What if she turns out to be different than you expected? What if there are exceptions to your ''no matter what''? Who''s going to have to deal with the fallout if you end up disappointed? Me. And I''d really rather not," Angelo said with distaste.

    How lowly did he think of his best friend? Avery could never disappoint Christian to that extent! She was a wonderful person.

    "I would never," he hissed, offended. "You don''t know me but at the very least you know her and that''s a serious insult to someone you supposedly care about. Avery is the best person I know and I won''t stand for that sort of disrespect. You''re so concerned about me hurting her but the one who''s hurting her right now is you. You might want to reevaluate your priorities."

    "You don''t know anything about us. Don''t act all high and mighty making bold ims that will fall throughter," Angelo spat back as his hands clenched into fists.

    Christian couldn''t believe his nerve. Insulting Avery like that then acting like he was the bad guy here! What was Angelo''s problem?

    "We''ll see about that. If you don''t believe in her she doesn''t need you," he said before turning on his heel and leaving. He had meant to deal with this peacefully but he really couldn''t stand that guy right now!

    He felt terrible after he left. It was entirely possible he just made things worse and that was thest thing he wanted to do. He was an idiot. But he couldn''t just stand there and have Angelo doubt Avery''s lovability like that. Why was he so convinced? Was it solely because he had seen all of her ws over the years and had some misguided sense of brotherly overprotection?

    Then what was the deal with the things he thought Avery couldn''t do while being held down by someone else? She was almost twenty-seven; plenty of people got married at that time of life.

    He didn''t understand what was going on but he was angry. Angrier than he had been since he got stabbed by Circus Freak and had thatst conversation with Nox.

    Christian would demand that Avery just tell him already if not for the fact that he knew it wouldn''t be fair. He had secrets he would be keeping from her for the rest of his life. And she wasn''t the type of person who would do anything horrible. She had a strong sense of justice and wanted the world to be a better ce.

    He was stuck. This was a small trifle if it meant being with the woman he loved but it was still frustrating. He didn''t want her to be unhappy during the wedding nning process either. He wanted their wedding day to be the happiest day of her life and that wouldn''t happen if that stubborn idiot Angelo wasn''t there. What was he supposed to do about that?

 Chapter 52 - A Whole Army Of Noxes

    Angelo huffed as he shut the door after Christian left. That moron didn''t know what he was talking about. Sure, he talked a good game, but he thought Avery was a normal person. Not a viin. He would never ept her as she was if he knew the truth.

    That foolish girl had to go and give her stupidly tender heart away to do-gooders all the time. First that hero. Then awyer.

    She was ying a dangerous game and she knew it. That was why she didn''t want Angelo to try and talk her out of it. She had already thought of everything and tried to justify it away like an idiot.

    "You are the one hurting her right now though," Jorge piped up from his ce on the couch. "Amigo wasn''t wrong about that."

    Ugh. It was bad enough that Christian had to show up when he was over. Now he had to take his side? He should know better than anyone that Avery getting married was an incredibly dumb idea!

    "Not you too," Angelo moaned.

    "I''m not saying you have to be happy about it. I''m just saying you need to let G¨¹era do her thing if you don''t want to lose her forever. She''s a stubborn one and a woman in love. That''s a dangerousbination. She''ll hold a grudge," Jorge said wisely.

    That she would. She might be a peaceful person by nature but he knew she meant it when she said she wouldn''t forgive him if he tried to talk her out of it.

    That whole speech about how miserable she had been throughout the duration of their n came out of nowhere. She had been perfectly fine until her fianc¨¦ came along, hadn''t she? Though it was possible it had been building up for a long time. Or that Angelo was blind and didn''t see what was right in front of him because he hadn''t wanted to.

    Had Avery truly been suffering that long and putting on a brave face for him because he kept pushing her? He knew he could be gruff but it was only because he cared about their mission so much.

    They had always had the sort of rtionship that involved a lot of teasing and giving each other a hard time. When had she gotten so sensitive?

    "What am I supposed to do? I can''t watch her self-destruct!" Angelo protested.

    Jorge shrugged before looking at him seriously. "You don''t know for sure that things will go south. If everything goes ording to n he''ll never find out and we''ll all be regr citizens again within the next year."

    "That''s leaving an awful lot to chance!"

    "So what? Life is a gamble, Angelo. G¨¹era''s a big girl. It''s her call whether she takes a chance or not."

    "Jorge, you traitor," Angelo muttered. "How am I supposed to argue with that?"

    "You''re not. So will you make up with her already? The two of you have never gone this long without talking. It''s unnatural. Let her be happy for now without worrying about her being miserableter. We don''t know for sure that she will be but she''s definitely miserable now if her fianc¨¦ got all up in arms about it," Jorge said matter-of-factly.

    "¡­that is a point in his favor. But if he believes in her this much it''s going to be worse if he does find out."

    "Why not take things as theye? That seems to be what G¨¹era''s doing. Follow her lead."

    "She''s going to get hurt."

    "Only if she gets caught. Nobody has busted her so far and she''s been at this for three and a half years. Have a little faith in her, will you? She is your best friend."

    Angelo sighed. Avery WAS his best friend. His family. He could never miss her wedding even if he didn''t agree with what she was doing. Jorge was right that he needed to end this cold war but that didn''t mean he had to like it.

    What would he even say? She already knew why he thought this was a bad idea and that he didn''t support what she was doing. Apologies were kind of useless when they wouldn''t change anything.

    Whatever he said now wouldn''t change what had been said. Or how he felt. Avery would know his feelings on the matter even if he tried to make things up to her.

    How could he make things up to her? She knew he didn''t support her marrying someone who would have been perfect for her if things were different. Christian kept up with her weird sense of humor and practically worshipped the ground she walked on. He was in for a rude awakening one of these days.

    She WAS wonderful in her own way but she was also ready to tear the world down to build a new one. Awyer wouldn''t like that. People who work for/around thew tend to support it.

    Avery might be a pain at times but she was one of the best people he knew. That goody-two-shoes fianc¨¦ of hers wouldn''t be able to properly appreciate what he had if he found out the truth. He would turn on her in a heartbeat.

    Angelo knew this but he also knew he needed to apologize no matter how pointless it was. "What would I even say?"

    "That you trust her judgment and that you''re happy for her. It''s the right thing to say even if you don''t mean it," Jorge said wisely.

    He didn''t trust her judgment. That was the problem. The truly sad part of all of this was that he would be happy for her if the situation was different. Things were far too unstable right now. It was not the time to go falling in love and living happily ever after!

    "¡­you''re a lot smarter than I give you credit for," he muttered.

    His cousinughed. "Thanks, Angelo! That might be the nicest thing you ever said to me."

    "Oh, shut up."

    Angelo couldn''t talk to Avery right now because she was working. He had an idea that might get through to her. She did find apology cakes funny so why not call one in for her to do? She would see it and know it was from him as soon as she saw the order form.

    He called the bakery and asked if it was possible to get a rush on a basic cake with a message on it by the end of the day. Thankfully, it was early enough and they didn''t have any other big orders going on. He didn''t want to wait this one out a moment longer than necessary. Their fight had dragged out long enough.

    Angelo knew most of the people at the bakery by now but he didn''t recognize the voice of the person on the phone. Must be the part-timer.

    He made his order and said he would be over to pick it up around 4:45 PM. All he had to do now was wait. Jorge had been hanging out here since Maribel was having a spa day with her girlfriends and had nothing better to do. He had been trying to help Angeloe up with a n using various bits and pieces of the information he had gotten both from that sh drive and from Leah Hunsacher when Christian showed up.

    They got back to it once the drama was out of the way and the cake order was taken care of. They would need Avery to execute this n so getting back on her good side was important.

    With much difficulty they had narrowed down theboratory where the mind control experiments were being conducted to three ces. Avery was going to have to destroy all of them and around the same time kidnap all the scientists involved and move their families to safe locations so Hunsacher couldn''t hurt them in retaliation.

    This would require an awful lot of capital. That was where Leah came in. She was going to wirelessly transfer money to an untraceable offshore ount and that was how they were going to pay for this whole venture.

    The problem was that they were still working out logistics for such a massive undertaking. They would need to utilize as much of theirwork as possible to pull this off. Avery couldn''t do it alone even if she was going to have to handle the destruction and some of the kidnapping.

    She was only one person, albeit one in a super suit. She couldn''t be in multiple ces at once.

    They really needed to find a way to replicate Levi''s tech but it was one of a kind. They could use a whole army of Noxes. They would be able to topple Husacher''s empire in less than a day with that kind of power and a well-executed n.

    The problem was that none of them were nanotechnologists and he had been the world''s best. Angelo had taken over his father''s role as tech support because he actually knewputers. Avery got saddled with the job of the muscle because the suit responded to her rather than because she knew anything about operating it. There had been a lot of trial and error in the early days with the suit.

 Chapter 53 - Im Always Careful

    Angelo just didn''t know how to feasibly make this n work with only one super suit. The people in theirwork weren''t anything special. For the most part they were scientists. Good minds but no amazing physical specimens among them who would be able to help pull off a kidnapping. If they were going to do this they might have to involve mercenaries but he would prefer to avoid that. He didn''t want to leave a trail that Hunsacher might be able to follow.

    To go down that route he would need to n everything perfectly where it was all anonymous and there was absolutely no way they could be tracked from it. The mercenaries couldn''t know anything about the people involved or where they ended up either in case Hunsacher did find out and tried to buy them out.

    It was a delicate process. ounting for every possible contingency was hard. That was why this stupid n was taking so long in the first ce.

    Angelo had been consulting with . All the people they had gathered up to work against Hunsacher across the entire country. This was not the sort of thing any one person coulde up with alone.

    To scatter the scientists and their families sufficiently they would need to set them up in safe houses near various renegades from theirwork. Putting them all in one ce was too risky. He was trying to work out the logistics of who would go where since there were a dozen biochemists implicated on the sh drive.

    He nned to hole up one in California, where they had quite a few people, one in Washington, one in rural Wyoming because no one would look for them there, one in Florida, and one in Montana but was still working out the rest. Finding safe houses wasn''t as easy as it seemed.

    They had to be close enough that people from thework could bring supplies but far enough from civilization that no one would get suspicious and go poking around. He also had to make sure that they were in dead zones that no one could track that didn''t have inte ess to outsiders but did have security footage he could monitor. Setting all of this up would take time even with all of the people on their side.

    Angelo''s guess was a couple of months at least. He wasn''t sure they had that kind of time. Who knows what Hunsacher''s scientists could recreate by then?

    And what if the situation changed? What if he caught onto them and put safeguards into y before they could act and they missed their chance? Ideally, this would be done in the next few weeks but setting that up seemed just about impossible unless they all worked on it 24/7.

    Leah had offered to do as much as she could since she wasn''t working but the rest of them had jobs. Many had families. They couldn''t devote their all to making this happen.

    His frustration was at an all-time high. What would his father do in this situation? Would he be able to pull things off faster?

    Having Jorge here helped a little. He was a good sounding board if nothing else and was reading over Angelo''s shoulder so he knew what ideas the others involved were tossing around. But he had to leave all too soon because Maribel was done at the spa and wanted to hang out.

    He shot his cousin a re on the way out. There were more important things in life than dating! Why was everyone he worked with giving into sentimentality when they had a job to do?!

    Angelo hadn''t been happy about Jorge dating but hadn''t given him as hard a time as he gave Avery because he was just the getaway driver. Maribel didn''t suspect a thing because he often had odd hours as a trucker.

    They had only needed him for their insulin delivery system thus far. If they ever needed his truck for anything else it wouldn''t be too suspicious for him to disappear for a while on a supposedly longer route than usual because his cover was airtight.

    It wasn''t like that with Avery. She was a cake decorator. Disappearing all the time was suspicious in and of itself.

    Plus she was absolutely vital to their cause. They wouldn''t be able to do any of this without her. She was more visible, went into action more often, and was at a higher risk of getting caught.

    Angelo huffed in annoyance. They were over here acting like dating was more important than freeing the world. They really needed to sort out their priorities.

    Jorge had been dating Maribel since about six months after he started helping them out. Angelo had no doubt that he would be attending another wedding in the next couple of years. Whenever she wasn''t with her girlfriends and he wasn''t on the road she was stered to his side. They went to all of each other''s family events and everything.

    Hang on, did this mean Avery wasn''t going toe around for holidays anymore? The Wests had always tagged along with the Cruzes. He couldn''t remember a time she hadn''t been there making a racket along with everyone else.

    Would she be spending all of them with the ters now since the Cruzes weren''t "officially" family? Or would they switch off?

    That was one part of this mess that was so normal and mundane he hadn''t bothered to consider it. He was too busy worrying about the secret identity part of it all to think about regr things that happened when people got married. Losing Avery in such a way would be weird. Wrong, even.

    Angelo sighed and drummed his fingers on his keyboard. Romance was overrated. Sure, he had dated around before all of this happened but he didn''t have time for that nonsense now.

    Avery was fairly convinced he liked Vanessa at this point and maybe he did but that didn''t matter because he couldn''t act on it. So what if he thought she was beautiful and enjoyed being around her? She wouldn''t help him change the world so she was a distraction.

    His best friend should take a page out of his book. If Vanessa was still single when this was all over maybe he could try to make a move but he didn''t want to rock the boat. He saw her a lot because of Avery. If that went south things would be awkward forever.

    He would rather have some sort of contact with her than not so it was probably for the best that his side gig didn''t allow him to date. Thinking about this was pointless! It wouldn''t help him figure out a n so he needed to push it out of his head. Hisck of love life while everyone around him was stupidly pairing off didn''t matter right now.

    Angelo continued diligently trying to work things out for hours until it was time for him to go pick up that cake. He had made some headway but not nearly enough and would have to get right back to it after this.

    If Avery didn''t forgive him he didn''t know what he would do. It had been hard enough concentrating with her mad at him the past week.

    When he arrived it was fifteen minutes to closing and a white figure stood with her arms crossed behind the register when he arrived. "''Sorry for doubting your judgment and giving you a hard time. I swear I''m actually happy for you''? Seriously?"

    "You can send apology cakes but I can''t?" Angelo asked a bit defensively.

    "You literally had me make my own apology cake."

    "Yeah, but you got paid for it."

    "What are you even going to do with this? I still have cake at home so I can''t take it!" Avery said, trying to keep scowling but clearly fighting a smile.

    Angelo was relieved. If she was trying not to smile it probably meant she found it funny. It was always easier to make her cheer up when she was amused. Most of their arguments growing up had ended due toughter.

    "I can give part of it to Jorge. I''m sure he and Maribel will happily eat it on your behalf."

    "And that won''t be embarrassing at all for you?" Avery asked with a raised eyebrow. "Considering what''s written on the cake."

    "No, because he''s the one who talked some sense into me. I''m not willing to lose you over this, G¨¹era. You''re family. It''s my job to have your back even if I don''t agree with what you''re doing."

    "Are you really happy for me or did you just say that so I''d stop being mad at you?"

    "More urately, I would be happy for you if the timing was better. Christian is the kind of guy I always hoped you would end up with," Angelo admitted reluctantly.

    Avery''s eyebrows nearly shot off her face. "Really?"

    "Yeah. He came banging down my door earlier because I upset you and got insulted on your behalf. He''s crazy about you and you deserve nothing less. Just¡­be careful, okay? Please. I don''t want to see this backfire on you."

    "I''m always careful, Angelo."

    "You need to be more careful than usual! If you''re going to do this you have to be the most careful person that ever lived. Then when it''s all over you can have what you want and ride off into the sunset dramatically or whatever it is people living in fairy tales do."

 Chapter 54 - You Know I Love You, Right?

    Avery actually snorted. "You''re ridiculous, you know that?"

    "So you tell me. Uh¡­does this mean I''m forgiven?" Angelo asked a bit nervously.

    She gave him a small smile and punched his arm from over the counter. "You did something you think is stupid in order to make me feel better. I''ll forgive you on one condition."

    "What?"

    He didn''t mean to make the desperation in his voice so obvious but this had been the longest they had ever gone without talking. He would do anything to prevent that from happening again. ANYTHING.

    "You have to walk me down the aisle since my dad can''t," Avery said resolutely. "Withoutining."

    Angelo was insulted. "I was already going to do that! I''m all you''ve got left so I have to represent. You really think I would miss your wedding?!"

    "I don''t know what I was supposed to think, Angelo."

    Ah, he had really screwed things up, hadn''t he? Her tone was cool and her violet eyes were steelier than he had ever seen them. He had an awful lot of making things up to her in the future and he wasn''t looking forward to it.

    He had known apologizing wouldn''t fix the underlying issue! But what would? At this point the only thing he could think of was taking down Nn Hunsacher so it didn''t matter that she wanted to drown in all of that mushy stuff. Unfortunately, there wasn''t anything he could do to speed things up.

    Angelo sighed. "I would have gotten over it eventually. I would never miss something so big, especially since your dad isn''t here to do it. When is it happening, anyway?"

    "The second Saturday of January," Avery said. "I''m still trying to figure out colors but I''ll tell you what kind of suit to get and provide the tie myself. If you set up any missions in January I''ll kill you. Got that?"

    "¡­got it."

    He wanted everything to be done long before then. With any luck they would have made their next move before the end of November. That should buy them enough time to figure out how to take Hunsacher down permanently without him being able to retaliate with mind control.

    "Is there anything else I need to do?" Angelo asked.

    She shook her head. "Not that I can think of at the moment. Go do whatever super important thing you were doing before bothering toe here. Your total is $60."

    He nearly eximed about how expensive it was before remembering that she was kind of a big shot in the cake world. This cake had hardly anything on it; he had said to do whatever the most basic thing was with the words on it but that was still a lot for cake!

    His family had been seriously taking advantage of her. She brought such expensive cakes to various events for free! He had no idea they cost this much. He didn''t even want to think about what the damage would be for something with more decoration on it. It had to be astronomically high.

    "I''ll text you when I have anything," Angelo promised after inserting his card into the chip reader."

    "Alright."

    "Hey, G¨¹era?" he asked hesitantly before he turned to go.

    "Yeah?"

    "You know I love you, right? More than anyone."

    A real smile appeared on her face for the first time this entire conversation. "Duh. And for the record I love you too. Even if you do worry too much."

    "Someone has to since you don''t worry enough," Angelo countered. "See you."

    He left the bakery feeling much lighter. He was going to have some undoubtedly delicious cake and refocus as soon as he got home. Now there was yet another reason to get this stupid n set up as quickly as possible. His best friend was counting on him.

    It was impossible to get behind what she was doing as long as she had to be Nox. The simple solution was to eliminate that need so she could live the rest of her life in peace with nothing more to worry about than what new cake decoration technique to try out next. That was all he could do for the person he cared about most.

    ===

    Christian was still frustrated when Avery came home. He had gone out to fix things and if anything made them worse. He felt like he should apologize for getting involved but was surprised when she floated through the door in an excellent mood.

    She kissed him so deeply his knees went weak before she even changed out of her uniform. What was with THAT reaction?!

    "Thank you for defending me," she said when she finally came up for air, beaming at him.

    "He told you?!"

    "He apologized too. I don''t know what you did but it worked!"

    Had it really? Who knew. Christian hadn''t expected that oue after what happened at all. He tried thinking back on exactly what had been said. All he really remembered was thinking that Angelo was a stubborn idiot who didn''t know what he was talking about¡­and that he really wished he knew what was actually going on to make him that way.

    "Did he change his mind then?" he asked doubtfully.

    Avery let out a small sigh. "No, but I didn''t expect him to. I understand his reasons. Don''t resent him too much, okay? He''s trying to look out for me in his own way."

    Christian couldn''t let it go so easily. "But why? Why is he acting like that? He seems to think I''m going to drop you like a hot potato without provocation! Why would he think something so horrible?"

    "¡­he''s overprotective."

    That seemed like a lot more than overprotectiveness to him. Angelo had mentioned something about him being the one to pick up the pieces when things fell apart and not wanting to have to deal with that. Like it was an established fact that their marriage wouldn''t work out.

    What made him so confident? Why was he so convinced that Christian and Avery weren''t going to work out?

    "Avery, that wasn''t like any sort of overprotectiveness I''ve ever heard of."

    She let out a much heavier sigh this time and rubbed her forehead. "I know. You really wouldn''t get it though. I''m sorry. What matters is that he apologized and he isn''t going to give either of us a hard time from here on out. Can you ept that?"

    Could he? He knew that he was thest person who should be lecturing anyone on keeping secrets but he didn''t think that he would be able to be okay with this without having some sort of resolution.

    He needed to understand why Angelo thought that way. If he understood that he would be able to move past it.

    "I can if you tell me why he acted so convinced I would abandon you," Christian said stoutly.

    Avery ran a hand through her hair in agitation. "He''s kind of an idiot. He''s concerned about differing political views because he''s seen people break up over elections before. We''re both the sort of ''left wing liberal hippies'' that ring wingers like to give people a hard time about."

    He stared at her nkly. "That''s seriously it?"

    "Yep. I told you he was an idiot. He thinks I''m rushing things because we haven''t known each other very long and that stuff like that woulde between us in the future."

    "I don''t care what your political views are!"

    "I told you it wasn''t a problem. He''s just overprotective. Keeps sending me links for articles like ''crucial conversations to have before you get married'' like he knows anything about rtionships," Avery snorted.

    No wonder she had left him on read. Christian couldn''t believe Angelo was freaking out over something so stupid. It made sense though. He had said something about how he didn''t know her very well and would change his mind once he got to know her better.

    "His problem is with the timing not you," she continued. "When he apologized he said he always hoped I found someone like you."

    "Someone like me?"

    "Someone crazy about me. His words not mine."

    Christan actuallyughed. This whole thing was so ridiculous! "Well, he''s not wrong."

    Avery grinned at him. "I know." A momentter she grew more serious. "Can you try not to give him a hard time about this? He knows what he did wrong and I know his reasons behind it. I''ve forgiven him so you should too."

    The issue at hand may have been stupid but the reasons behind it that he could guess weren''t. They had grown up together. Angelo thought of Avery as his little sister. With both of their dads gone he felt like he had to protect her from ever getting hurt.

    Christian wanted to stay mad but he really couldn''t fault the guy for that. They had both been through a lot. He could reserve judgment and let bygones be bygones unless something like this happened again.

    Avery was looking at him rather pleadingly and he couldn''t say no to her either. He was going to have to let this one go. There was an exnation for it, albeit one so stupid he didn''t know where to begin. Politics? Seriously?

    He always tried to stay out of things like that because all it ever did was make people argue. Thew was far from perfect but it prevented this country from dissolving intoplete chaos. Having gone tow school he knew better than most how much needed to be fixed.

 Chapter 55 - Flying

    Christian would describe himself as a moderate leaning left. He didn''t agree with a lot of the things happening in this country but wasn''t the type to attend protests. He wondered if Avery and Angelo were. Even so it wouldn''t matter. There was nothing illegal about peaceful protesting; it was in the Constitution.

    "Are you guys protestors or something? Is that why he acted like that?" he asked.

    His fianc¨¦e sighed. "You''re still not letting it go, are you?"

    "Just give me a minute to process this. It''s possibly the stupidest thing I''ve ever heard. I love you; I don''t care what politics you''re affiliated with!"

    "I know."

    "Why does he have to be like this?!"

    Avery sat on the arm of the couch and kicked her feet, looking straight ahead. "Here''s the thing about Angelo. Two things matter to him:puters and family. He''s a huge tech geek but even that doesn''tpare to how much he worries about his own. Even if he doesn''t always show it in the right way.

    "He''s gruff and opinionated but once he''s in your corner you''re set for life. A ride-or-die kind of friend. I can''t tell you how many times he''s looked out for me over the years. He''s an indispensable part of my life so even when I know he''s being ridiculous I still love him.

    "He says I don''t worry enough and I say he worries too much so we sort of bnce each other out. It''s how we''ve always worked. He was there for me when my mom left, I was there for him when his mom died, and we were there for each other when our dads died. He might be prickly and difficult to deal with at times but at the end of the day he''s all I''ve got."

    "You do mean aside from me, right?" Christian couldn''t help but ask.

    Avery snorted. "Of course aside from you! You know what I meant. Come on, Christian, you have an annoying brother! You should know how to deal with stuff like this."

    That was a fair point. Liam was a lot worse than Angelo was most of the time. He had been supportive of this rtionship though because he wanted a ''domestic goddess'' to marry into the family to keep taking advantage of her cakes.

    "I don''t even have a response for that. You nailed me." A thought urred to him a momentter that never had before and he brought it up for rification. "The way you said when your dads died. It happened around the same time?"

    Christian had known that Angelo''s father was dead but Avery never said anything about how or when it had happened. He only knew at all because she referred to Horatio in the past tense.

    Her hands clenched on the armrest she was sitting on. "They died in the same car ident."

    Oh. Oh no. He hadn''t known that. How had he not known that? He didn''t even know Levi West died in a car ident because she never brought it up!

    "I''m so sorry, Avery. I didn''t know," Christian saidmely.

    Avery shook her head. "It''s not your fault. You can''t know what I don''t tell you. I just¡­don''t like talking about it. That was such a horrible day. One minute everything was normal and the next two of the three most important people in my life were gone. You can''t imagine what that''s like."

    No, he couldn''t. She had been so young too. Too young for that kind of loss. Yet she was still one of the brightest people he knew.

    Christian walked over and moved her from the armrest onto hisp so he could hold her tightly. He might not understand her pain but he could be there for her. She wasn''t alone.

    "I''m sorry you had to go through that. I wish I could have been there for you when it happened."

    When they died he was back fromw school and working at his current firm. She wasn''t at the bakery yet though so he don''t know how else he would have been able to meet her. He might not have been able to help get her through the worst thing that ever happened to her but he was determined to be there for her from here on out.

    Avery let out a small, sharpugh. "Don''t worry about it, Christian. I still miss them terribly and I always will but I''m okay. I have things to look forward to now that I didn''t then when it felt like the world had been pulled out from under me."

    Christian hugged her tighter. She was talking about him, wasn''t she? Their future.

    It was amazing she was willing to give it a shot considering how hesitant she had been aboutmitting before. He wouldn''t let her down!

    "I''m d you see things that way. You DO have a lot to look forward to. I''ll make sure of it," he promised.

    Avery snuggled closer to him. "You''re sweet."

    "I mean it."

    "I know you do."

    They cuddled until she fell asleep but Christian was still wide awake thinking. He might not have known her nearly as long as Angelo had but he would be there for her from here on out. He would do his best to keep her smiling.

    His anger had calmed down by the time Avery woke up and realized she was still in her uniform. She immediately went to shower and change while he made dinner. She had been upset earlier so he didn''t want her to have to worry about that. He had been on his own long enough that he knew how to cook even if he hadn''t had much time for it back when he was a hero. Mostly he had lived off of takeout while flying around. A LOT of takeout.

    The part Christian truly missed about being Mercury was having the excuse to fly around everywhere. He hadn''t flown in weeks and was itching to feel the wind on his face again.

    He had never wanted to be a hero but felt like he didn''t have much of a choice between his sixth sense and having superpowers. Having something yelling at him constantly to jump into the fray was hard to ignore.

    Viins had been terrible to deal with but there had been times he took genuine satisfaction out of helping people. That had been what got him through the day before he met Avery.

    Retirement suited him much better, missing being able to fly more aside. He would much rather be here making dinner for his fianc¨¦e than chasing down some rogue viin.

    That being said, he was antsy. He wanted to get out his frustration from the whole mess with Angelo earlier so when dinner was done and Avery was asleep for the night he went out onto the fire escape.

    He couldn''t just fly around as himself but he could do it in his Mercury mask and regr clothes. He had done it thest time he confronted Nox and hadn''t gotten caught. This would be fine! The only thing he had going on tomorrow was engagement pictures and that wasn''t untilter in the day. It didn''t matter if he slept in.

    Christian missed flying. He wanted to see the familiar lights of the city at night and blow off some steam so he fixed his mask on and headed out in the same sort ofzy clothes he had thest time he did this.

    He had to fly asionally or it felt wrong. Usually, he just went onto the roof and did some loop-de-loops where no one could see him but he needed more than that right now. So off he went looking like Mercury but in sweats and a long-sleeved Yankees t-shirt he had been given as a gift because he saved someone who worked for the teamst year.

    He didn''t have the time or patience for watching organized sports but his dad was a big fan. Liam preferred ying video games. He only participated in their family''s annual Super Bowl party because of the food.

    Christian hadn''t even been able to attend one of those since he was in high school because he was busy fighting viins on the weekends though he did watch when he was inw school for the same reason. There was no turning down chips, dip, and buffalo wings even if he didn''t understand the appeal of the sport.

    It was strange flying around like this after so long. Familiar yet not. The lights and sounds hadn''t changed but it still felt too quiet without his sixth sense being activated.

    He had nowhere to go. No one to stop. No destination in mind at all.

    He simply wanted to experience the sensation of flying again. Truly flying, not just floating around the apartment when Avery wasn''t home. Flying freely. That was what he hadn''t been willing to give up.

    Christian sighed in relief as he felt the embrace of the wind. He had never quite been able to exin this feeling to Liam when he asked. He used to lift him up and fly him around when they were kids until their horrified mother made them stop.

    Liam had never flown more than a few feet above the ground where no one outside of their family could see. It was different.

    He wasn''t sure how long he flew around before he settled on top of one of New York City''s many bridges and let his feet dangle off the ledge. He had needed that. All of his frustration had blown away with the wind.

 Chapter 56 - Tell Frostine She Was Right

    Christian felt a lot better as he sat and kicked his feet. It was cold up here but he was used to it. Windchill was no joke. You developed a resistance the more you flew around, especially when you were working against the wind.

    If he could fly around in the middle of the night in January he could handle anything. This was nothing byparison.

    There were a lot of things he had handled that normal people couldn''t. That was the problem with being different. Separate. Never fully rting to anyone else.

    Superpowers were generally kept secret. People with minor ones often lived their whole lives without drawing attention to them. People with major ones usually became heroes or viins and had to keep them from others for the sake of their secret identities.

    Christian knew plenty of heroes that he had interacted with in his long heroic career but he couldn''t honestly say he was friends with a single one of them. They didn''t have time to hang out as heroes and couldn''t share who they were behind the masks. The asional hello and an unspoken agreement to help each other out when possible was the best they could manage.

    Delta, Frostine, Red Dynamo, MultiMan. All heroes he had worked with more than once over the years who probably wondered what happened to him after he went off the radar.

    He sighed. He interacted with them more than he did his college friends sinceing back to New York. Going off of that, they should be the ones in the wedding party rather than Trevor and Eric. But he didn''t even know who they were.

    He wished he could tell them he was doing well but if he wanted to track them down he would have to go looking for viin fights. He couldn''t risk that. It was the whole reason he had bothered fading into obscurity in the first ce after he got stabbed.

    While he was recovering there was a lot of spection online about whether or not Mercury had died after getting attacked by Circus Freak. He couldn''tment and say he hadn''t because then people would wonder how a random person knew that. It was easier to stay out of it altogether.

    Christian''s train of thought was derailed by a ssh several stories high that would have been impossible to miss from where he was sitting. He didn''t get wet but still felt the force of ocean moving that much water against its will.

    What had fallen over? He hadn''t seen that part.

    He really couldn''t be seen out here or Nox would follow through on his threat but he couldn''t help but investigate from a distance. Close enough to see a small silvery figure shoot out of the water and miraculously calm the raging waves, which had apparently been caused by a bomb going off.

    Christian was torn. The situation looked like it was pretty much taken care of. He shouldn''t get involved but he did want to talk to Delta and let him know he was alive.

    He hovered there awkwardly for several minutes until the decision was made for him. Delta used his water jet propulsion to make it up onto the part of the bridge he had been sitting on before everything happened. He flew back over and sat near him.

    "Mercury! You''re alive!" he cried with a grin. "I did wonder."

    "¡­sorry about that. I was recovering and wasn''t exactly up for holding a press conference."

    "I bet. Getting stabbed is no joke. It''s happened to me more than once over the years. Sometimes I seriously envy Granite. Having impervious skin must be so convenient!"

    Granite was a hero with the power to turn his skin to rock at will. He was great at both offense and defense but not the most agile. He tended to fight viins with sturdier power types in hand-to-handbat.

    Christianughed and shook his head. "Ah, power envy. I''m sure he wishes he could get around the way we do."

    Delta rolled his eyes. "Whatever. So did you officially retire then? I haven''t heard a peep about you since the whole Circus Freak thing. I mean, I can totally understand why you would want to after what happened."

    "Yeah. I had a fairlypelling reason to back away so I didn''t see the point anymore. Heroism is a young person''s game. I was at it for too long and was ready to move on."

    "It happens to everyone eventually. People who don''t retire are the ones who end up dead. You''re doing the smart thing. Does that fairlypelling reason happen to involve ady?"

    Christianughed again. There was no reason not to tell him. People got married every day; it wouldn''t give anything away.

    "Bingo. I''m getting married."

    "Congrats! I''ll have to tell the others. It''s nice to know there are happy endings waiting for us once we don''t have to deal with viins anymore. What''s she like? She must be something special to tempt the great Mercury away from the hero life," Delta guessed.

    A soft smile appeared on Christian''s face at the thought of Avery. "She is. I had a crush on her for ages in my secret identity and was too afraid to act until we interacted more and I got pushed into asking her out.

    "I didn''t think it would go anywhere but I was already wanting to retire even before I got hurt. It was pretty obvious from the beginning that she could never be a short-term fling. Retiring was the obvious choice once that happened and the rest is history."

    "Aww, good for you! I have a hard time imagining you chickening out about asking out a girl though."

    "¡­haven''t you ever heard of a mild-mannered alter ego?"

    Delta let out a small, disbelievingugh. "You? The golden boy? No way!"

    "I''m the kind of person who blends into the background. Always have been. It''s a very handy trait when you''re a hero. I''ve done my time so now I n to use it to fade into obscurity and live out my life with the woman I love as the boring, average guy I always was under the mask.

    "Honestly, I wasn''t nning oning out here today. I''m done with heroism. I just¡­missed flying. The mask was a precaution but it''s a good thing I wore it since I ran into you," Christian said sheepishly.

    "Yeah, if I saw a random flying person that kind of would have been a dead giveaway. There aren''t any other flight heroes in this city. Oh! While I have you¡­what was the deal with that new hero who saved you? Everybody''s been dying to know but he never made an appearance again."

    Christian grimaced. Of course Nox had to be brought up.

    He couldn''t give the man away and say he was a viin because then people would go searching for him. He had promised not to interfere in whatever he was doing involving Nn Hunsacher in exchange for keeping his secret identity safe.

    "He''s not a hero. I think he was a Good Samaritan that didn''t want me to die," he said vaguely.

    Delta''s eyes nearly popped out of his head. "That''s some Good Samaritan! How do you know he''s not a hero?"

    "¡­I know him. He only saved me because I''m me."

    "You know him? Like personally?!"

    "Not personally, personally. It''s hard to exin. But you can tell Frostine she was right the next time you see her. I''m sure she''ll appreciate that," Christian said wryly.

    She had been spot-on about how Nox saw himself as a Robin Hood. That people''s motivations could be much moreplex than the typical viin''s tended to make you believe. He had nearly forgotten about that.

    "Right about what?" Delta asked in confusion.

    "What we talked about thest time we saw each other. She''ll remember."

    "Great. Thest thing that woman needs is a further ego boost. I''ll pass on the message though. If it''s hard to exin you don''t have to tell me¡­but it''s not like a viin adopted you as a pet or anything. That would be too ridiculous!"

    Christian''s stomach twisted. That was exactly what happened. Nox thought of him as a friend and didn''t want him to die. imed ownership of him as ''his hero'' because he was the only one who interfered with his ns. Saved his life because he thought he was a good person even though they were on opposite sides.

    He choked out augh. "Definitely!"

    Thankfully, Delta bought it. "I suppose some mysteries are never meant to be solved. At least I can pass on the word that you''re alive and retired. People will believe iting from me. I''m sure a lot of your fans are devastated by your absence."

    Fans. It was strange to think of having them but he knew they existed. He had identallye across a fan page for Mercury once and had been stunned by the number of peoplementing on videoptions of him doing basic hero tasks. He could not fathom why people would care about something like that. He didn''t do what he did for praise.

 Chapter 57 - How Do I Look?

    "¡­thanks," Christian saidmely.

    "I''ll pass on your message to Frostine too! I see her a lot since our powers are so simr. Take care of yourself, Mercury. And congrattions in advance. Whoever your fianc¨¦e is, she''s a lucky woman to end up with a dependable guy like you," Delta said with a smile.

    He smiled back genuinely. No, they hadn''t been friends in a traditional sense, but they had a good run knowing each other. He thought Delta was dependable too.

    "I appreciate it. Take care of yourself, Delta."

    "Oh, I will! Frostine will make sure of it whether I like it or not. She has my back whenever she''s around¡­even if she does give me a hard time for it afterward. Who knows? Maybe I''ll join you in retirement sooner orter. I feel like I still have a few good years left in me. I don''t have a reason to quit like you do either but a guy can hope! Have a good life, Mercury!"

    Delta jumped off the bridge and used water to slow his fall on the way down, making a ssh in the ocean below before propelling himself to his next task. Heroes never rested.

    Christian hoped he had a good life too. That all of the heroes he knew did. That they lived long enough to retire and take it easy.

    Being a hero was rough. Having a spotlight constantly shining on you and having to keep up your hero persona whenever you had the mask on no matter how tired or injured you were¡­dealing with viins¡­dealing with crazy fans¡­

    There was no money in it. A lot of the time it felt thankless though there were always people who did appreciate you. They were what made it feel worthwhile but all of the other headaches didn''t quite make up for it. At least not for him. It had been obligation more than anything.

    Christian had only one obligation now. The one to Avery and their future family.

    He was going to make her happy. Doing that would make him happy. They could both put their pasts behind them and be happy together.

    She had dealt with a lot of heartache. He had dealt with a lot of other people''s crap. Together they had found sce in each other and he thought that was beautiful. He wouldn''t trade her for anything in the world.

    When Christian arrived home he took his mask off before looking around to be sure Avery didn''t see him entering through the window. He checked on her and she was fast asleep in bed where he had left her. He went to go shower and when he was done he wrapped his arms around her from behind and sighed contentedly.

    Life had gotten so much better than he ever thought it would be for him. His mundane, repetitive existence had changed into something warm and bright.

    He felt warm all over the next day as he watched Avery scramble around putting on makeup and doing her hair for the engagement pictures. She was so cute.

    He loved her bare face but she never showed it in public. The first time he had seen it was after he had stayed the night at her ce and she washed it off before going to bed. Her eyebrows and eyshes were as white as her hair and she was self-conscious about them but he had thought she looked beautiful and told her so. Then a tinge of pink colored her cheeks.

    Avery thought she looked weird without makeup on but he thought she looked an other-worldly sort of gorgeous. Like an angel. She would always be the most beautiful woman in the world to him no matter what she was wearing.

    For the pictures she had picked out their outfits. She was wearing a cream colored sweater with blue jeans and tan boots while he was supposed to wear a green and blue nnel shirt with his.

    They were taking their pictures in a park surrounded by fall leaves and she wanted to look autumn-y. Her words.

    Christian sat back and let her do what she wanted. Posing for pictures was such a small thing but she was so excited about it. She had already pored over announcement ideas with Vanessa and his mom and hade up with a list of people to send them to.

    Once the pictures were in all they had to do was pick their favorite one to put on the announcement and send it off. He was certain that would be easier said than done but that didn''t matter to him. Trying to decide would allow him to spend more time with Avery when she was excited. He always enjoyed that.

    She was a master of makeup. She exined to him once as he watched her apply it curiously. How she needed to do things a certain way so it looked more natural.

    Foundation in her pale shade was incredibly hard toe by and she did a ridiculous amount of trial and error when she was a teenager before finding something that worked. She had to be very careful with her blush so it wasn''t too much but still made her look a bit more lively. She also couldn''t make her eyebrows or eyshes too dark so she used an eyebrow pencil meant for blondes and light brown mascara instead of ck. She tended to stick to light, subtle eyeshadows as well.

    When she told him all of this she shuddered at the horror of the pictures file that existed from back when she was still practicing. Her dad had wanted to document it because he thought it was cute and she thought she looked like a clown.

    Christian was dying to see those pictures but he knew Avery would never show him. He even offered to show some embarrassing ones from when he was a kid in exchange and she still refused.

    He wondered if Angelo had seen them. It seemed more likely that he had seen some of those early makeup attempts in person. Maybe he could ask sometime. Most siblings liked to embarrass each other; he should be willing to cooperate under the right circumstances.

    Avery finished her makeup and beamed radiantly. Christian was fairly certain he forgot to breathe for a moment.

    "How do I look?"

    "Stunning," he said honestly.

    That made her smile wider. "Picture worthy then?"

    "Absolutely. Are you ready?"

    "Yep! Let''s go," she said as she grabbed her purse.

    They were driving instead of taking the subway because she didn''t want to risk messing up her hair and makeup. He couldn''t me her with how long it had taken. She didn''t always do a full face of makeup before leaving the house. On workdays she typically stuck to her eyebrows and eyshes alone so that took a lot less time.

    When they arrived at the park it wasn''t hard to find the photographer. They had to drive outside of the city if they wanted to avoid having people in the background. That was the problem with New York. There weren''t many people there to begin with and she was the only one with a camera bag. She gged them down and set to work immediately talking to Avery about certain areas of the park she thought would look nice and the types of poses she wanted them to do.

    Christian listened to what she said and followed her lead. When the photographer told him to rearrange his hands or turn his head he did it without question.

    His face hurt after smiling so much about halfway through their session but he couldn''t stop. And not only because he wasn''t allowed to. Avery was having so much fun with this that he couldn''t help but smile at her enthusiasm.

    Most of them were supposed to look nice but they did some silly ones too. He thought his favorite might be from when he was already giving her a piggyback ride for a different picture and she had the idea of both of them being overly dramatic and gesturing off into the distance while pulling dramatic faces.

    She cracked up so hard by the silliness of it that she had to lean forward onto his shoulder and that made himugh too. The photographer got a shot of that as well.

    The photographer emailed them the engagement photos less than a weekter and he loved those two back to back shots so much he printed them out and stuck them in a two-fold picture frame in his office.

    Looking at how happy Avery was and how much they were having helped him get through an awful lot of long, boring days after that. The time before the wedding was ticking far too slowly in a haze of color schemes, looking at venues, and figuring out where to go on their honeymoon.

    That might be what Christian was looking forward to most about all of this. Since it would be in January they wanted to go somewhere warm even if it did mean Avery had to wear a gallon of sunblock.

 Chapter 58 - Youve Told Me This Six Times

    Avery hadn''t expected Angelo to bend first. He was stubborn and he had already given her such a hard time about Christian ever since they started dating that for a while there she had truly believed he wasn''t going toe to her wedding.

    Then he had to go and apologize to her in a way she knew she would find funny. It was impossible to stay mad at him because he knew all of her weaknesses. Curse him!

    Coming up with a lie to cate her fianc¨¦ on the spot was the truly difficult part about this. She decided to use a more borate version of the excuse she had given Vanessa when she was debating about moving in.

    Thankfully, he seemed to buy it. Sometimes she seriously questioned Christian''s thought processes when it came to reaching conclusions or believing excuses. She was lucky he was so dense though. Otherwise he would have figured her out when she saved his life.

    He questioned the stupidity of Angelo''s supposed reason but not what Avery was saying. He really did believe in her, didn''t he?

    The thought hurt. Here he was thinking she was a good person when he actually disliked her. At least part of her. A part of her he could never ept. So what if he loved the rest of her when he hated Nox?

    Avery wouldn''t say Nox was the "real her" or anything like that. Most of what Christian saw was the "real her." Talkative, artistic, a weird sense of humor. But Nox was undeniably a part of her. The part that wanted the world to be a fair ce and burned with rage for her father, Horatio, and all of the other lives that had been ruined by Nn Hunsacher.

    The version of her that Christian knew was who she had been before losing them, to an extent. But she could never fully be that person again. Things had changed.

    As much as she wanted to live peacefully she knew she wouldn''t be able to rest easy knowing she had abandoned people who needed her. She had to see this through. She wanted to see this through too. She just didn''t want to lose the man she loved in the process.

    Her emotions about the whole thing were a tangled web. She didn''t resent her role as Nox 100% even if it hadn''t been what she wanted. The main problem was that it conflicted with her love life.

    Avery wanted to finish this. She simply didn''t want to put the rest of her life on hold and lose the happiness she had managed to find since her world fell apart in order to do it.

    She didn''t care what Angelo thought. Christian¡ªbless his heart¡ªwas too dense to figure out her secret. If he hadn''t done it by now he never would. Staying careful like she had been should be sufficient. Especially since Leah was onboard now and their ns had elerated.

    With any luck this would all be done in the next year or two then she would never have to worry again. Her father and Horatio would be avenged, the country would be back in the hands of the people, and she would be able to start a family with the man she loved.

    Avery tried to focus on that part of the equation rather than what might go wrong in theing weeks as the wedding nning continued. The problem was that it wasn''t the only nning happening.

    Angelo and the rest of theirwork had been working tirelessly and had finallye up with a n. She hadn''t seen him since the day he apologized because he had been too busy but he had checked in with her over text periodically.

    Normally, he didn''t go AWOL for so long. Even Vanessa noticed it was weird that she didn''t see him for a while.

    Sometimes she wondered what was going on with those two. Ever since Angelo kind of admitted he liked her Avery had been watching their interactions. She could see it from his side (his gruff style of caring for people was obvious when you looked for it) but not from Vanessa''s.

    She was still lost in a sea of bad first dates or good first dates that ended up ghosting her afterward. She had asked Avery more than once to hook her up with one of Christian''s friends but Christian didn''t really have them. Otherwise, she would in a heartbeat. Even if her other best friend did like her.

    She wanted both of them to be happy but she wouldn''t support Angelo over Vanessa despite knowing him longer. She knew better than anyone what he was like. If he wasn''t willing to make an effort he didn''t deserve someone as wonderful as Vanessa.

    Avery knew he didn''t have the time or energy to spare. He had been pouring his heart and soul into being the man behind the curtain for their operation. There was no room for anything else.

    Vanessa deserved to be a priority not an afterthought. Unless Angelo was able to do that she wouldn''t support it.

    She doubted that would be happening any time soon considering how invested he was in thetest mission to take down Hunsacher. She went to meet with him in person under the premise of having wedding nning to do so Christian wouldn''t be suspicious. Supposedly, she was meeting with Angelo''s t¨ªas right now to go over catering options. That would be harder to disprove than meeting with Vanessa, who Christian saw regrly and might ask about.

    This meeting was about setting everything up. It was easier to go over in person than via phone so she found herself sprawled across Angelo''s couch listening to him go on about the n.

    Angelo noticed her bored expression and scowled at her. "Can you at least pretend to listen to me? This is really important, G¨¹era!"

    "I am listening," Avery insisted. "Who said I can''t befortable and listen at the same time?"

    "Oh, yeah? Then what did I just say?"

    "You just said that the mercenaries will handle the kidnappings done from the scientists'' homes but I''ll have to handle it if any of them are at theb. That shouldn''t be an issue since we''re striking in the middle of the night but you want me to be prepared in case of an emergency because we can''t mess this one up."

    Angelo''s scowl deepened. He knew he was wrong but didn''t want to admit it. "Whatever. You also realize the window for all of this is extremely tight? You have to hit all threeboratories in a single night or Nn Hunsacher will put protective measures in ce for the others."

    Avery rolled her eyes. He had already said that multiple times. She knew exactly how tight her windows of opportunity were. Made more difficult by the fact that theboratories were all in different states.

    Massachusetts, Florida, and Pennsylvania. Thankfully, one of their people was a pilot and could get her there without any official manifests having the name Avery West on it.

    It would take less than two hours to fly from Boston to Phdelphia and less than three to get her from there to Jacksonville. Still, things would be tight. All of the destruction needed to happen after most people would be in bed. With any luck Hunsacher wouldn''t find out about it until morning.

    If he did they had a backup n to get the mercenaries to help with destruction too. They would be in the area since at least half of the scientists they were going after lived near thosebs.

    The power of money was truly astounding. The people Leah had hired were trained in infiltration. Their help would be indispensable if it came down to it. Either way they wouldn''t be able to pull off the kidnappings without them.

    "You''ve told me this six times. I know the n backward and forward. I''m not new to missions like this," Avery reminded him.

    "Yeah, but this one is more important than the others! A lot is left to chance like the travel time issue. Oh, why doesn''t teleportation exist? That would be so convenient!" Angelomented.

    She examined him more closely. He looked like he was unraveling. The dark circles under his eyes were at an all-time high. Had he even been getting any sleeptely or had he been skipping out to work on the n?

    "Angelo. It will be fine. You''ve ounted for every possible detail. Why don''t you take a nap? You seriously need one."

    "A nap? What am I, three?"

    "You''re never too old for naps. Especially with how little sleep you''ve clearly been getting. Take it easy. We''ll get this over and done with in the wee hours of the morning on Sunday as nned and then we''ll have some breathing room for a while before we make our next move. Okay?"

    Angelo sighed heavily before flopping down onto the couch next to her. "Okay. We just can''t screw this up."

    "And we won''t! How could we with so many brilliant minds working together to make it happen? Everything is going to be fine. We''ll get this over with and then the next thing we''ll have to worry about is helping the t¨ªas in the kitchen on Thanksgiving."

    "¡­you''re actuallying to our Thanksgiving?"

    Avery frowned at him. "Why wouldn''t I? Thanksgiving wouldn''t be Thanksgiving without tamales or chile con queso and I''m not about to get that at the ters''."

    Angelo narrowed his eyes at her. "And your fianc¨¦ is okay with that?"

    "Yeah. We already talked about it. Thanksgiving with my family, Christmas Eve with his, Christmas Day with mine, New Year''s Eve with his. Then we''re set until Easter when ites to holidays."

    "Look at you nning ahead! I didn''t think you had it in you."

    "Shut up," Avery said as she mock shoved him. "Holidays are important. Of course I nned ahead."

 Chapter 59 - Cielito Lindo

    Avery had to n ahead like a normal woman in love who was merging families with someone else. It was what was keeping her going right now.

    Talking about wedding ns with Nancy, Vanessa, and the t¨ªas. Making holiday ns with someone else for the first time since she had never dated anybody seriously enough for that before. Acting like she wasn''t Nox and didn''t have anything else going on even though she did.

    She had this ratherrge-scale, super important mission looming over her but once that was done all she would have until after the wedding was her usual insulin runs. She could handle that!

    "You really are just trying to live your life, aren''t you?" Angelo asked suddenly after several minutes of silence.

    Avery red at him. "What, did you think I was purposely trying to mess up our ns?"

    "No! But I guess it just sort of hit me that you''re really trying to move on after what happened."

    "That''s what normal people do when they lose people they love, Angelo. Most people don''t be viins and try to get revenge. The n was always to move on once this was done. It just¡­elerated because I met Christian early, that''s all."

    Timing. The timing of all of this was insane. Avery and Christian had been dancing around each other for years and some of that time they were both crushing on each other without even realizing it.

    What if she had met himter? What if they met when he had retired and she had taken down Hunsacher and they never knew about each other''s secret identities?

    That would have saved her a lot of stress but she couldn''t think like that. There was no guarantee they would have ended up together any other way. Things happened the way they happened and there was no way around it. She had to work with what she had.

    Angelo leaned his head against the back of the couch and wouldn''t look at her. "I can''t even think that far out."

    "I know. You''re a man of action capable of one task at a time. You''ve always been like that," Avery said with a sad smile. "But I hope that once this is all over you''ll be able to find your own happiness."

    "I don''t know if that''s possible for me."

    "I believe in you even if you don''t. You''ll figure it out someday. But first I''d rmend starting with taking better care of yourself. You can''t see a better tomorrow if you die today from sleep deprivation, you know."

    Angelo chuckled. "Don''t be a motivational speaker. It doesn''t suit you."

    Avery stuck her tongue out at him before changing the subject. "So is there anything else you need me for or are you finally going to get some sleep? I can tuck you in if necessary."

    "That would be so weird!"

    "You didn''tin when I sang you lubies in Spanish after your mom died because your dad sounded like a rooster that was being strangled."

    "That was one time because I was sick! I was too old for it then and I''m too old for it now."

    Angelo''s mom died when he was nine. A couple of monthster the flu swept through the school and he got it pretty bad. He broke down sobbing because he felt terrible and wished his mom was there to sing to him and make him albondigas soup.

    Horatio did his best with the soup but couldn''t do anything about the singing because Angelo only cried harder when he tried. Avery, who had recently recovered from the same bout of flu, overheard Horatio talking to her dad and offered to do it herself. She had heard Elena Cruz singing "Cielito Lindo" so many times over the years that she had it memorized.

    She went over to the Cruzes'' apartment and held Angelo''s hand while she sang. He mumbled to himself in Spanish, somehow thinking it was his mother under the hazy influence of his fever, and fell asleep.

    He had been mortified and defensive when he found out that hadn''t been a dream but she was d she had been able to help her friend out if only briefly. She knew what it was like to miss having your mom around even if she couldn''t remember much about her at that point in time.

    Avery didn''t think there was anything embarrassing about letting someone take care of you when you were having a hard time. Her friend would keel over if he didn''t get some sleep sooner orter. If nothing else teasing him would inspire him to do as she said.

    "De Sierra Morena, Cielito lindo, vienen bajando, Un par de ojitos negros, Cielito lindo, de contrabando¡ª" she began but Angelo shoved her off the couch.

    "Alright! I''ll get some sleep! Get out of here. Don''t you have better things to do than bother me? Go n your wedding."

    Avery grinned. Her n had been a sess. "I''ll leave once I see you''re in bed and all of your electronics are off. Not on sleep mode. Off. Then you won''t have to deal with me again until Sunday."

    Angelo grumbled about it but did as she said. She watched as he did so then climbed into bed. "Happy now?"

    "Very."

    She softly sang the chorus of the song on her way out and he threw a squeezy stress ball at her but missed. "I am not a child, Avery West!"

    Ooh, the full name treatment! She knew she had gotten his goat. He was the one who had to take care of everybody. He hated being taken care of himself. Honestly, it was ridiculous.

    "Better take care of yourself like an adult then," Avery said cheekily as she left the apartment.

    She heard him curse her before the door shut and sheughed. Messing with him made her feel better about what she had to do. She really wasn''t looking forward to this weekend. She had already warned Christian that she would be gone Sunday afternoon until he was at work on Monday so at least her bases were covered there.

    The worst part would be all of the traveling back and forth. She wasn''t sure she would be able to sleep on all of those flights. She would have to crash once she got home and pray she was awake by the time he got back from work.

    All of thatte night traveling for the mission in California had really messed her up. She could only hope she fared better this time.

    When she arrived home Christian nced up at her from his ce on the couch reading a book. "How did it go?"

    "As well as it could have. They''re prepared to handle all of the food except for the cake."

    Avery had already talked about this with the t¨ªas on a separate asion. They were very excited she was getting married despite not having met Christian yet. That was how the holiday ns originally got set so far in advance. They wanted to meet him sooner rather thanter.

    "When are we doing the cake consultation again?" he asked.

    "Sunday before I leave."

    If Avery had to travel all night at least she wanted to get sufficiently sugared up beforehand. Cake samples ought to help sustain her.

    "Ah, right. What else still needs to be done? It''s hard to keep track of everything," Christian said apologetically. "I know the dress stuff isn''t my domain but if there''s anything else you need me to do let me know, okay?"

    She did still need to go dress shopping. It was hard to find a time where everyone whose input she cared about was able to be there but she needed to get that done sooner rather thanter too. She would have to coordinate all of that after she got back. She didn''t have the energy to deal with it now.

    What else was there? The invitations were sent, the registries were up, the honeymoon was booked, the colors had been chosen, the venue was taken care of¡­

    "I think you might be good for a while. I''ll let you know."

    "Great!"

    Avery smiled and got out her phone to watch videos as she cozied up next to him. She didn''t mind taking some time to rx after dealing with the extensive debriefing earlier. Taking some quiet time being near the one she loved seemed like the perfect pick-me-up.

    nning a wedding and saving the world at the same time was a lot to juggle! It was a miracle she hadn''t lost her mind yet.

    One day at a time. She had to take this one day at a time until it was over. That was all she could do. It wasn''t as if she had any better ideas. As long as she made it through this crazy week she would be able to breathe for a while. That would be nice.

 Chapter 60 - This Was Too Easy

    Avery got through the rest of the week by sheer force of will. Before she knew it she was at a small airfield about to be taken to Massachusetts. Theboratory was in a city called Brockton less than an hour out of Boston but it was easier to simply think of it as going to Boston from a logistical standpoint.

    The pilot was one of their contacts from Montana whose brother happened to be a flight instructor. He had gotten a pilot''s license as a hobby and was able to borrow the ne that way.

    "Hi, Jared," Avery greeted, still in a decent mood because of the cake earlier.

    He was a middle-aged man with graying brown hair andugh lines who smiled easily at her. "Hey, Avery. Nice to finally meet you. I''ve heard a lot about your exploits and it''s a privilege to be able to see you in action."

    She blushed. She hadn''t realized there were people in thework who were fans of her work. Regina from California hadn''t been like this and she was the only other person she had interacted with directly. Angelo was the one talking to them all the time, plotting.

    "¡­thanks. And thank you for taking so much time to do this. Are you going to be able to get the sleep you need between flights?"

    "Don''t worry about me! If I could handle driving to work in the morning after dealing with crying triplets all night I can handle one night of flying getting by on catnaps. I made sure to get plenty of rest before I flew here too and I''m holing up in a hotel down in Florida once we''re done before dropping you off."

    Jared seemed confident so she was going to have to believe him. He chatted with her once the n took off about his four children and asked her about herself. This was a much different experience than the one she had with Regina where they only spoke when necessary.

    Avery didn''t mind too much yet. She wasn''t tired. But if he tried this sort of thing at 3 AM when she needed to sleep between attacks he would have another thinging.

    He asked her about her life too and she ended up telling him about her job as a cake artist and her uing wedding. He didn''t seem scandalized at all (unlike Angelo) and asked her the sort of excited questions people were supposed to ask when they found out you were getting married.

    She felt herself rxing as they made their way to Massachusetts. The way the conversation was flowing the time passed seemingly in an instant. Once theynded they got some dinner and cannolis (she had heard a lot about Boston cannolis) since they didn''t need to be in Brockton untilte. They were delicious. Even better than Vanessa''s, which was really saying something. Her cannolis were fantastic.

    After dinner Jared, who had never been this far east, wanted to go sightseeing and she had time to kill so off they went. She had never been here before either.

    They traded off taking pictures of each other in front of things though they both knew they wouldn''t be able to tell their families about thister. She was going to have to save these pictures to herputer then delete them off her phone so Christian wouldn''t see them by ident.

    She was supposedly in upstate New York right now. He couldn''t know she was near anywhere connected to the destruction of Hunsacher because he might get suspicious about her being Nox.

    Jared''s wife and kids didn''t know anything about his involvement with their group. His brother didn''t either. He thought the ne was being borrowed for recreational use and that he was going on a solo trip to rx for a while.

    Officially, he was in California for a few days soaking up some time alone in the mountains. He was big on camping while his wife was not so this wasn''t suspicious in the slightest.

    Avery was willing to bet a whole lot of lies were happening within theirwork tonight. Too many to keep track of. What they were doing couldn''t exactly be advertised. The more people that knew about it, the more likely it was that they would be exposed.

    They carried on sightseeing until about 9 PM when they needed to try and nap for a couple of hours before striking at midnight. They couldn''t do it too early because then people might be awake to see things.

    The mercenaries were all going to kidnap and scientists and their families at midnight across various states so if news of the firstb being destroyed made it to Nn Hunsacher he wouldn''t be able to contact them about it. After that it was all on Avery and Jared unless additional forces were required to take down thebs. The mercenaries in those areas would be on standby just in case.

    Jared, who knew it was dangerous to get used to sleeping sitting up considering his position, had padded the aisle andid down in it to sleep. He set his phone volume to high and told her to call him when she was on her way back. She didn''t see the point in trying to sleep since she needed to head to Brockton in less than two hours on her own so she sat around and watched videos on her phone until it was time to go.

    She left him there and put on the suit, running toward the freeway before jumping on a semitruck heading in the right direction. The GPS in her helmet was on so she knew where to go. Angleo had sent her the coordinates around 10:30.

    Get in, destroy things, get out. Leave nothing behind after corrupting theirputer systems. It was like abination of the time she hit Hunsacher HQ and that sweatshop.

    She didn''t need to wait around for forty-five minutes this time to make sure people had enough time to escape. The goal was to do it as quickly as possible and move to the next target. Honestly? It was too easy.

    The guards didn''t even see hering. She corrupted the data, had Angelo do his hacking bit so she wasn''t spotted on the video feed, and got all the guards out before blowing the ce out in a controlled st that wouldn''t affect nearby buildings too much.

    The whole thing took her less than thirty minutes. Before she knew it she was back on the freeway heading to the ne.

    "First one down," she said in speech-to-text for Angelo''s sake before calling Jared. He answered on the fourth ring and had the ne ready for her when she arrived. They were off to Pennsylvania without anyone being the wiser.

    Everything had been nned out so extensively that there weren''t any problems in theb just outside of Phdelphia either. Once theynded they were in and out in under an hour.

    This was too easy. Why was this too easy? Did having Leah Hunsacher on their side truly make that much of a difference?

    By the time Avery left the destroyedb in Jacksonville she was both bored and exhausted. Angelo congratted her for a job well-done and told her to get some sleep, which she did on the second bed in Jared''s hotel room. They would both be sleeping for about six hours before he flew her back to New York and he would spend another night there before going home.

    She crashed on the bed, utterly spent. That had been both simple and routine despite the number of stops but she was so tired even with sleeping every time they flew from ce to ce.

    Destroying things and making sure guards didn''t get hurt was perfectly normal for her. This hadn''t felt much different than her usual stunts aside from flying to multiple states in a single night. She never wanted to do something like that again. She didn''t know how much sleep she would get before going home and having to work on Tuesday like nothing had happened.

    There was a reason she always did her insulin runs on Saturday nights instead of Sundays. She needed all of Sunday and Monday to recover before going back to her usual life.

    Jared seemed just as exhausted as she did when they woke up again but assured her he would be fine to fly. And he was. They made it back to New York around 4 PM on Monday. She barely had time to make it back to her apartment before Christian would be getting home and was still super groggy.

    She was lying rather miserably on the couch when he finally came home and wanted to know how her trip went. She didn''t have the energy to say anything aside from "it was fine" and buried her face in his chest when he embraced her, barely able to stand.

    Last night had involved an awful lot of running and jumping and since she was running on broken-up sleep she waspletely drained. He held her up with a frown.

    "What happened to you?"

    "Too much activity. I just want to sleeeeep."

    Christian let out a smallugh at her whininess and rubbed her back. "Let me get changed out of my suit then you can sleep on me. When did you get back?"

    "Less than two hours ago."

    "No wonder you''re tired! Do you want pizza? You can nap until ites."

    That sounded wonderful. Avery nodded and let go of him. When he came back a couple of minutester she flopped onto him on the couch and let him hold her. She was out almost instantly and woke up to eat three slices of pizza.

    It was SO tempting to fall asleep again afterward but she needed to fix her sleep schedule for work in the morning so she forced herself to stay awake by ying board games until the time she and Christian normally went to bed. He was rather diligent in his efforts to keep her engaged, able to tell what she was trying to do, and she loved him all the more for it.

 Chapter 61 - Furious

    Angelo wasn''t known for being merciful but this time he decided to be nice and let Avery rest by taking over her food deliveries to Leah. She didn''t see the woman for two weeks.

    In that time she had gotten a rather vague update from Angelo that all of the scientists and their families were being taken care of but didn''t get details until she was chatting with Leah, who knew much more about it than she did. The perks of being the one in charge of the money, she supposed.

    "If I know anything about Nn he''s very angry right now," she confided in a low voice as she watched her children y with the kic sand Avery had brought from the living room. "Especially since there isn''t anything that can be done about it.

    "Angelo was very thorough. There hasn''t been so much as a peep in the news about what happened. Nobody connected three randombs being destroyed in one night in different states at all but I bet he knows there''s someone gunning for him.

    "Not knowing who will drive him crazy. That might make him sloppy, which will be our best chance to take him down for good. At this point it''s only a matter of time. Especially since we''re already working on our next n."

    What a callous way to talk about your husband! Though Avery couldn''t me her. What little she knew of Leah''s marriage did not sound happy.

    She didn''t even want to think about the next n. At least they wouldn''t be as rushed and she wouldn''t have to worry about it until after the month of January was over. Angelo had promised.

    "He won''t be able to retaliate," she said confidently. "You''re right about that. You can''t retaliate when you don''t even know who you''re up against. All he can do is try to put up more security measures. But even the best security can be broken into with enough nning and manpower."

    "Speaking of manpower, you were amazing! I can''t believe you destroyed all three of thosebs back to back by yourself," Leah said in awe.

    Avery shrugged. "It was no big deal."

    "It was though! I could never do what you do."

    "It''s more my dad''s suit than me. I''m just the pilot. Anybody could do it with a little practice. I''m just the one the biometrics are programmed to. You give me far too much credit."

    "And you give your far too little," Leah insisted. "Every time you go out you''re putting yourself on the line forplete strangers. Just because you think it''s the right thing to do! There''s a heart of gold underneath that suit and it''s all you."

    Avery thought she might cry. People didn''t tell her things like that very often. Was this what it felt like to be a hero instead of a viin? The only other people who appreciated what she was doing where the insulin delivery recipients and she hardly ever ran into them. Most of what she did was thankless.

    Thankless and degrading. The man she loved thought she was a bad person for doing it. That hurt more than she could say.

    "You better quit while you''re ahead so I don''t cry," Avery told her.

    rm shed across Leah''s face. "I''m sorry! Did I say something wrong? I appreciate everything you have done for me, especially letting me stay at your apartment and¡ª"

    "You said something right. It''s me who''s wrong."

    Leah seemed confused by this. "How are you wrong? What you''re doing is technically illegal but people like Nn need to be stopped. If you won''t do it who will? Did someone say something to you? Because you can''t listen to them!"

    Avery wished she could. That her convictions would be enough to counteract what Christian thought. She had tried her best to push off any negativity from him because he didn''t know or understand what she was up to. It had worked for a while but the closer they got to the wedding she became more terrified of losing him if he found out the truth.

    The worst part of all of this was that she couldn''t talk to a single person about it. No one else knew both her and his secret identities. Angelo might actually kill her if he knew she was nning on marrying Mercury.

    "I''m fine," she said in a way she hoped she was reassuring. "Just being down on myself. Don''t worry about it, Leah. I shouldn''t have said anything."

    "¡­are you sure?" the older woman askedpassionately.

    Avery gave her a brave attempt at a smile. "Yeah."

    Leah sped her hands suddenly and whispered, "It''s okay if you''re not. You''re allowed to have a hard time, you know. Goodness knows I am. I''m trying to be grateful I''m alive but it''s warring with the part of me that hates being locked up with my children and never getting a break. The homeschooling andck of exercise other than Just Dance is driving me crazy!"

    She couldn''t help but let out augh. She couldn''t even imagine being stuck in a stranger''s apartment after losing her lifestyle and being on the run. Leah had an rmingly good attitude about the whole thing.

    "I''m so sorry! Do you want me to bring you guys more to do?"

    "It''s alright. The best thing you can do for me is destroy Nn so we can step foot outside again. Just keep doing what you''re doing."

    Avery nodded, a lump in her throat. There were a lot of people depending on her. She couldn''t be down on herself just because Christian¡ªwho didn''t have all the facts¡ªwould never support her if he knew.

    "I will. I promise. I''m going to make it so the three of you see the light of day again."

    She had to do this for a lot of people. Those who had died. Those who wanted to live. Nn Hunsacher and his cronies had destroyed a lot of lives. There was no bringing back what was lost but things could be made better for those who were left behind.

    Freedom. Real freedom. Freedom to live without being controlled from the shadows. Freedom to not have to choose between going into debt or getting medical treatment.

    This was why Avery did what she did. She couldn''t lose sight of that and be selfish. If it came down to the wire¡­if she had to choose between being Nox and being with Christian¡­she was going to have to break her own heart and choose the former. Her convictions may have been shakentely but this reminder of why she did what she did had helped strengthen her resolve.

    Of course, she fervently hoped it didn''te to that. That she could fulfil her mission and live happily with him for the rest of her life.

    She owed it to her dad to see his wishes fulfilled but didn''t she also owe it to him to be happy? She was sure that was what he had wanted for her. He had loved her so much!

    Avery sighed. This sort of thinking never got her anywhere. She should just take Leah''spliment for what it was and keep moving forward. No need to get overly emotional about anything else in the process.

    ===

    Nn Hunsacher very angry about what was going on. Furious, in fact. He had realized someone was out to get him as soon as the secret room containing the mind control files had been destroyed. The problem was that he didn''t know who had done it.

    The amount of infiltration required to pull that off was mind-boggling. When he went looking for the only people who could have been involved to interrogate them he realized that a few had gone missing. Vanished off the face of the earth. He was up against someone truly formidable if even he, with all of his resources, couldn''t find them.

    Controlling a country from behind the scenes took a lot of work. He had so much to oversee that it wasn''t possible to notice patterns before then.

    After it happened he looked into who might have done this¡­who had been causing trouble in other business interests of his¡­but there was too much to sort through. That was the problem with owning virtually everything.

    How was he supposed to find any sort of pattern when he owned everything from healthcare to agriculture to the national power grid? Too much happened in all of those sectors on a daily basis!

    He tried to focus his search in New York after that at the very least because that was where the room had been. He had people wading through all of his holdings there and wasn''t able to find anything conclusive before another very simr bombing happened in a factory all the way across the country in California.

    No evidence left behind. Nobody saw iting. No video proof. Just like the first time. It was the exact same MO.

    The guards from both ces (before they were fired and cklisted from all Hunsacher Inc.panies) said they were spared from the st by someone in a ck suit with a robotic male voice but the details were hazy. The same person had to be involved!

    But where were they? <em>Who</em> were they?

 Chapter 62 - The Cruzes

    Nn had a lot of enemies. He had expected that being on top of the world. He had always gotten what he wanted in the end though. The only true thorn in his side was this mystery man in the ck suit.

    So when he found out they struck again in three separateboratories on the same night he was apoplectic with rage. How?! How many of them were there?

    New York. California. Massachusetts. Pennsylvania. Florida. Did the man in the suit live in any of these ces or somewhere else entirely? How many people did he have behind him? He had to have informants but how many? And how many ck-suited men were running around trying to destroy everything he was working for?

    A horrible realization washed over him. His enemies were joining forces. Handling them alone was child''s y but in numbers¡­especially when he wasn''t sure howrge they were¡­

    Nn could feel his enemies closing in on him. It had all started with the secret room being destroyed. The bombing of the factory, that fool Leah filing for divorce then disappearing before he could find a way to make her death look like an ident, and the loss of the mind controlboratory in Pennsylvania had all happened in a matter of months.

    He was certain the man in the suit was behind all of it. Leah started acting strangely after losing the mind control data. She must have overheard him on the phone that day. This was entirely the suited man''s fault!

    He needed to get rid of her but how could he when the only contact he was getting was through herwyer? Either he didn''t know where she was or wouldn''t tell. The former seemed more likely considering he dug into the man''smunications and found nothing from her that wasn''t encrypted beyond belief.

    Who was Nn dealing with here? The man in the suit had superhuman abilities but it was impossible to tell if it was due to tech or superpowers. He was also either a proficient hacker or had one close by handling things for him.

    He had other hackers trying to work on this but nothing worked. The encryptions and IP address bouncing were airtight.

    Whoever he was working against may very well be the best hacker in the world. An army of lesser hackers wouldn''t be able to take him down. Everyone who tried had their entire systems fried by viruses.

    The man in the suit was impossible to track because of this hacker. So was Leah. And Nn had no way of finding out who either of those annoyances were!

    No leads. No information. His people were still digging through all of the incidents that had happened at his holdings from workce problems to theft in New York City alone and now he had four other states to contend with. This was going to take too long!

    Whoever they were, they knew about the mind control project. That had been their goal from the beginning. They knew about it and wanted to stop it so badly that they had kidnapped or killed all of the scientists on the project. They managed to track down everyst one, which meant they had to have stolen the data from the secret room instead of simply destroying it.

    What was their goal? Stopping the mind control project or stealing it?

    Nn didn''t know their motivations. That was impossible without knowing who they were and how deep theirwork of his enemies ran.

    At times like this he wished he didn''t HAVE so many enemies in the first ce. It would make it a lot easier to narrow down suspects when things like this happened. As it was he didn''t even know where to start.

    He had killed a lot of people either directly or indirectly. Casualties were inevitable in his line of work. He had wronged too many insignificant people to possibly wade through them all and he hadn''t cared until some of them turned out of be significant after all.

    Now he needed to find the culprits before they destroyed everything he had worked toward all his life. It had taken decades to reach this point both in terms of power and avable technology and he wasn''t about to let anyone take it from him! He would tear the world apart if he had to in order to find and kill them.

    ===

    Avery was able to rx once the big mission was behind her. She only had a few insulin runs to do before she was married and could take a whole, glorious month off. She was nning on doing a double delivery in December to make up for her absence.

    She focused on finishing up wedding nning as much as she could aside fromst minute details and enjoying the holidays. Angelo was already working on the next battle n but that didn''t involve her.

    He had rxed a little too. To the point that he had once again rejoined thend of the living and was sleeping properly and asionally leaving his apartment for something other than work or delivering food to Leah and her kids.

    Angelo, Vanessa, Avery, and Christian had all gone to a Halloween party together and had a lot of fun. It was nice spending time with all of the people she loved most at once.

    Things after that were kind of a blur until Thanksgiving, which she had genuinely been looking forward to. The only members of the Cruz n Christian had met before then were Angelo and Jorge.

    There were a lot of them. Horatio and Elena were only able to have one child but he had three younger sisters and all of them had multiple children. Felisa, Jorge''s mom, had three. Beatriz had two. Domenica had four. Beatriz and Domenica''s kids were all under the age of ten so it certainly made family gatherings lively.

    Avery and Christian arrived at Domenica''s house early to help with the cooking and Angelo and Jorge were already there helping to keep the little kids out of the way. Rather loud yells in Spanish could be heard through the door and she was willing to bet they were ying some sort of game.

    Domenica''s six-year-old son Hector saw them first and he grinned toothlessly at them before eximing, "Mom! White girl is here with some guy!"

    Avery reached out to ruffle his hair. "This is my fianc¨¦, Christian. He doesn''t speak Spanish though."

    He switched to English immediately. "What''s a fianc¨¦?"

    "It means I''m going to marry him. You already agreed to be the ring bearer, remember?"

    "Oh, yeah! Mam¨¢ said I was gonna be in your wedding. And Sofia is too, right? She gets to throw flowers or something and she''s real excited about it."

    Sofia was Beatriz''s eight-year-old daughter and she insisted on being the flower girl opposed to either of her younger female cousins who could have done it because she had always wanted to be one. Avery wasn''t about to crush her little dreams.

    Christian didn''t have any young kids in his family. All of his cousins were older than him so the roles of ringbearer and flower girl fell to her side. Neither of which she shared a blood tie with but she had been around since both of them were born so they felt like her cousins as much as Angelo''s.

    "Yeah," Avery said with a smile. "Is your mom in the kitchen?"

    "Uh huh! With the rest of the t¨ªas. They''re waiting for you," Hector informed her before returning to the living room where it looked like an extravagant game of Twister with multiple mats was taking ce.

    A few of the kids waved and chorused "h, G¨¹era" when she passed and she waved back on her way to the kitchen. She would have to introduce Christian to themter.

    "Who was that?" he whispered.

    "Domenica''s son. You''ll meet her in a minute," she whispered back.

    The t¨ªas spotted them as soon as they appeared in the doorway. Felisa''s eyes lit up and she rushed over to give her a bone-crushing hug. "G¨¹era! My beautiful girl! You finally brought your fianc¨¦ around!"

    Averyughed. "Yep, as promised. This is Christian, everyone."

    They all tried to introduce themselves to him first and Felisa hushed the rest with a look. She had that power as the oldest sibling still alive.

    "It''s so nice to finally meet you, Christian! I''m Felisa Trujillo. I heard you''ve met my oldest, Jorge?"

    Christian nodded. "I have when he was picking up a cake Avery made for his girlfriend."

    "Ay, that boy! Shamelessly taking advantage of family!"

    "It was my idea, T¨ªa. He wasn''t taking advantage of me. I owed him a favor, that''s all," Avery insisted. "And Maribel was so happy with it. You know I love to bake so it wasn''t a big deal."

    Felisa shook her head but epted it and introduced the rest of her sisters. "I''m sure our husbands are around here somewhere. Probably off examining Rodrigo''s power tools and hiding from the noise."

    "Wouldn''t surprise me at all," Beatriz said with augh. "They do love their power tools."

    "Alright! Let''s get to work. We can get to know Christian better as we get going on the food. Are you any good in the kitchen?" Domenica asked.

    "Not as good as Avery but I''m decent. Tell me what to do and I can probably do it," he told her.

    "Good boy! Rodrigo can''t cook to save his life. You got yourself a catch, G¨¹era!"

    Avery grinned at her. "Oh, I know."

 Chapter 63 - Holidays

    The t¨ªas quizzed Christian about his life, job, and family. He managed to hide the whole former superhero thing very well. Though to be fair he had been at it for half of his life. He had a lot of practice.

    He handled all of their questions like a champ. And round two from the kids once they were satisfied most of the cooking was done so they needed less hands in the kitchen. And round three when their husbands emerged from the workshop below the apartment. Rodrigo owned a carpentry business, hence the power tools.

    He seemed genuinely at ease here among the people Avery had imed as her family and she was relieved. His own family was much smaller and quieter but he fit into the chaos well.

    When the food was finally ready the adults (consisting of Jorge on up) sat down at the kitchen table while the kids set up around a folding table in the living room. Jorge''s seventeen-year-old brother Mateo was NOT happy about this. Having an extra adult here meant he had to sit at the kiddie table because there wasn''t enough space.

    "Uh¡­why is Mateo ring daggers at me?" Christian asked, feeling the stare on his back.

    Averyughed. "Don''t take it personally. He would be mad at anyone that banished him back to the kiddie table. He finds adult conversation much more interesting."

    "Cado! Everybody quiet! We need to say our prayers then we can eat," Felisa said to silence the noise preventing them all from eating faster. Holding hands and saying prayers of thanksgiving beforehand was very important to her.

    Normally, they did them in Spanish but they did them in English for Christian''s benefit. Avery was sure he appreciated that. And that he would want to pick up some Spanish in order to survive future family gatherings with the Cruzes. There was always some mixture of Spanglish going on if nothing else.

    She dug in happily when the prayers ended and moaned in appreciation. There was nothing like a Mexican-American Thanksgiving. There were traditional dishes like turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing but there was also tamales, chile con queso, menudo, pumpkin empanadas, and more. The amount of food was almost iprehensible but it didn''tst long with this many people.

    They did pies too but that was mostly Avery''s domain. They had brought several she prepared in advance yesterday. They also had capirotada, which was a Mexican bread pudding, as dessert.

    The Cruzes hadn''t cared about pie much before the Wests began joining their celebrations. But Levi loved his pies and insisted that it wasn''t Thanksgiving without them so he brought the vors he liked every year and people always ate them.

    Once Avery got into baking she started making the pies herself after a bit of trial and error. She had been the pie person ever since. She left the capirotada to Beatriz. Her recipe was to die for.

    Thanksgiving with the Cruzes involved an awful lot of sitting around talking between courses so the food had time to settle. Usually, she did one te of American food and one te of Mexican food with the third being a mixture of whatever she wanted seconds of. Then she didn''t eat anymore until it was time for dessert.

    Angelo, whose eyes were always bigger than his stomach, made the mistake of eating too many torti chips with the chile con queso absentmindedly while talking and had such a horrible stomachache that he had to lie down on the floor.

    Beatriz''s husband Alejandroughed at him. "Every year! Honestly, Angelo, when will you learn?"

    "Never. Chile con queso is my fatal weakness," he groaned, making everyone at the tableugh. "If I die here know that it''s your fault, T¨ªa Felisa."

    Felisa rolled her eyes. "There are much worse ways to go than my chile con queso. Be a good boy and I''ll send you home with whatever''s left so you can enjoy it when you aren''t in agony."

    "Felisa!" her husband Miguel cried. "Don''t give away all the good leftovers!"

    "Why not? I can make more. Let me take care of mi sobrino."

    "You have so many sobrinos; you don''t have to give food to all of them."

    "I''m not. I''m giving food to the one who has no one to cook for him. There is plenty of chile con queso to go around."

    "Gracias, T¨ªa," Angelo said appreciatively before groaning again.

    Avery grinned at him. "You really are hopeless, Angelo."

    "I don''t want to hear that from you. Who goes into aa after the piese out every year because she wants one piece of everything plus capirotada? Because it''s not me!"

    "Thanksgivinges but once a year," Christian said with a shrug. "I do that too."

    Angelo sighed. "Of course you do. Take her side to mess with me; everyone does."

    Averyughed. He wasn''t wrong. Vanessa did that and so did Jorge a good chunk of the time. He made it too easy for everyone else because of his reactions. Messing with someone who overreacted to it was more fun than messing with someone who didn''t. He could be so dramatic.

    She wasn''tughing anymore once the pies came out though. Angelo had been right, curse him. She took the smallest amounts she could of each type of pie but still ended up joining him on the floor.

    "¡­not a word."

    "I don''t even have to say anything because I''ve already won," Angelo gloated.

    Christian, who looked perfectly fine after four tes of food and trying every type of dessert, looked down at them in concern. "You guys okay?"

    "Are you superhuman? You ate even more than we did!"

    Avery was tempted tough but didn''t because it might make her throw up. He was superhuman but Angelo didn''t know that. He was probably used to eating a lot back when he was a hero to keep up with all the calories he was burning off.

    Christian simply shrugged and she couldn''t hold back theughter this time. Then she winced because that had been a terrible idea.

    They hung around a few hours longer ying games (once they recovered) and Maribel joined then after a while. She had eaten with her family but came here for dessert and some of Felisa''s tamales.

    "They''re better than my mom''s but she''ll kill me if she hears me say that," she said with a conspiratorial wink as she cuddled up against Jorge.

    "Yeah, can''t have you dying. Jorge would be such a crybaby about it," Mateo piped up, prompting Jorge to smack him.

    Avery sighed contentedly as they continued to bicker. She had needed this. Being around people she cared about, enjoying good food, and realizing how well Christian fit into aspects of her life she hadn''t given much thought to before.

    All of the kids had epted him wholly by the end of the night because of the way he interacted with them when they were ying games. She had known he was good with kids because of the video clips she had seen but it was different than seeing it in person. And thinking about how he would be with any children they might have someday.

    That would have to wait until everything with Hunsacher was said and done for sure¡­she didn''t even know if it would be possible. But it was nice to dream.

    Christian fit into her family just as well on Christmas Day. And Avery already knew she feltfortable with the ters. She saw them a lot more since the two of them began dating more seriously and at this point they got together for dinner a few times a month.

    She had a nice Christmas Eve and New Year''s Eve with them even if Liam did go nuts with the party horns at midnight. He crammed a whopping six of them into his mouth at once and managed to blow into all of them simultaneously.

    Brian got so annoyed he pped his son on the back and made him spit all of them out from the force. Nancy was ready and snatched them all up and threw them out before Liam recovered his bearings.

    Those two were the perfect team after being together for so long. Avery couldn''t help but wonder if she and Christian would ever be like that or if the weight of their dual secrets would prevent them from reaching that level. The thought made her sad so she did her best to banish it from her mind.

    It was hard to though. They weren''t a team at all. They had been nemeses until very recently and that only ended because he retired.

    How could they be a team as Christian and Avery when they had been on opposite sides as Mercury and Nox? Was it even possible? They talked about the future but mostly just took things one day at a time rather than actively working together toward goals unless you counted their wedding as a goal. They had both worked to make that happen.

 Chapter 64 - Ive Never Seen A Man So In Love

    Avery knew she was justifying things. At this point she had to be the Queen of Justification. She and Christian weren''t a normal couple. They were only pretending to be.

    Both of them had secrets they never intended to share. Though in her case, she already knew his through observation and deduction. He didn''t know that and he never could because he would want to know how she knew.

    How was she supposed to exin that she figured it out after their first date because of all the time she had spent studying him as a viin in love with her hero? Even if she didn''t factor the viin part of it into things she would seem like a super creepy stalker fan. Not happening.

    She didn''t want the weight of the secrets between them to be an issue. She wanted them to be a proper team but she didn''t have much experience with healthy marriages since her parents were divorced and Horatio had been widowed so young. For most of her childhood Beatriz and Domenica hadn''t been married and she only saw Felisa and Miguel a few times a year.

    Avery had gotten a little more involved in the Cruz n after her dad died but she knew she was an outsider they took pity on. Her primary contact with them (aside from Angelo and Jorge) was on social media when holidays or other fiestas weren''t going on.

    They weren''t hers. Angelo was simply letting her borrow them so she wouldn''t be alone.

    She appreciated that more than she could say but it was different than having her own family. Being weed into the fold of the ter family was different too. They would only be hers as long as she was with Christian.

    She had plenty of family and people to love her but they were all through someone else. Anyone connected to her alone was long gone.

    The only way she would ever have more than borrowed family was if she had kids. Which wasn''t a possibility any time soon because of the secrets between her and her future husband that could destroy everything. She knew it wasn''t a good idea so she had gotten a birth control prescription as soon as she and Christian started dating more seriously.

    Avery wanted nothing more than to have a real family again with him but that wasn''t an option right now. She had too many other things to worry about. Like getting through the month of January without any incidents.

    Her wedding was a week away and everything was taken care of aside from herst dress fitting and the bachelorette party. The former was happening currently. She had gone with Vanessa since they both had Sundays off and right now a consultant was walking around her with a critical eye.

    "Have you lost weight?"

    "¡­possibly," Avery confessed.

    She had been very stressed the past few weeks and despite all of the holiday goodies she had overindulged on in November and December she had been busy and didn''t have much of an appetite. She burned off a lot of calories doing that double insulin run a few weeks ago too.

    "I''ll have to take it in a little but that can be done by the end of the day. Come back tomorrow morning and it will be ready for you," the consultant reassured her.

    Vanessa shook her head in disbelieving jealousy as soon as the consultant left. "What kind of crazy person loses weight over the holidays instead of gains it? I''m so jealous. I''ve been exercising like crazy so I don''t look terrible in my bridesmaid dress."

    Averyughed. "You could never look terrible in anything, Ness."

    The bridesmaid dresses were one-shouldervender chiffon floor-length gowns with a waistband separating the bodice and skirt. Her other wedding color was pastel blue and the groomsmen would be wearing ties and pocket squares that matched. So would Angelo since he was a part of the wedding party by walking her down the aisle.

    Sofia and Hector had their ownvender and pastel blue outfits respectively as flower girl and ringbearer and Nancy and Brian had matched the theme as well for the sake of family pictures. Everyone else could wear what they wanted.

    "Whatever. I just wish I had managed to find myself a date. It''s kind of toote now," Vanessamented.

    "There''s always Angelo," Avery joked. "He''ll be there anyway so I''m sure he''d be willing to dance with you if you asked."

    "¡­can he even dance?"

    "I forgot you haven''t met most of his family. They love to party. He kind of had to learn how to dance at a young age. But if you''d rather hope one of Christian''s groomsmen dances with you I can put in a good word. I haven''t met them yet but they''re flying in for the bachelor party in a few days."

    Vanessa mulled this over. "Hmm. Embarrass myself with an out of towner or potentially fall madly in love with them only for them to leave or dance with aputer geek I would have to see can dance to believe it. I''ll have to think about it."

    Averyughed again. "Your call. I was just offering suggestions. And hey, there''s always Liam."

    "That guy?! No offense, but your brother-inw-to-be is something else."

    "None taken. Even Christian would agree with that."

    Vanessa had gone on a double date with Liam, Avery, and Christian once and he had made quite an impression on her. If Avery knew her best friend she clearly thought Liam was a total clown but was too polite to say so.

    Honestly, it was a fair assessment. If Liam wanted to get himself a date in the future he might not want to double with Christian. He spent a good chunk of the time harassing him as usual. The temptation must have been too much to resist. Brothers would be brothers no matter what.

    "I''m sure he would agree with that more than most," Vanessa snorted. "Even my brother isn''t THAT bad."

    Her brother was three years older than her and lived in Rochester with most of her family. She had been the big city dreamer who wanted toe here for culinary school then never left. She imed this was for the best since he lived to annoy her.

    "Big talk," Avery said with a raised eyebrow, trying to stifle anotherugh.

    Liam really wasn''t so terrible. He kept things interesting. And it was nice to get constantpliments about her food when he came around.

    "What can I say? I know annoying when I see it. Christian''s mom must be a saint. And it seems like she really likes you so that''s good, right? I''ve heard a lot of mother-inw horror stories."

    So had Avery. But Nancy adored her. They filled a sort of void for each other since onecked a mother and the othercked a daughter. All of the ters liked her but Nancy probably did the most. Having a mother figure around was unfamiliar since she went most of her life without one but she couldn''t deny it was growing on her.

    Avery smiled. "Yeah. Nancy is the best."

    "I can only hope I get such a great mother-inw someday. My sister''s is atrocious," Vanessa said with a shudder.

    She had heard the stories. Poor thing had it rough, especially since her mother-inw lived less than an hour away and she had to interact with her on a regr basis. She must really love her husband to be able to put up with that.

    "¡­I don''t think it get much worse than your sister''s. The bar for beating that out is very low."

    "True. So do you feel ready to get married?"

    The question hit Avery hard. She wasn''t sure. This had never been in her ns until she felt cornered. It wasn''t supposed toe this far but since it had she needed to see it through to the potentially bitter end.

    "As ready as I can be," she hedged. "I know Christian loves me but I still don''t want to end up like my dad."

    Left behind by the one they loved. In Levi''s case, it was because of the selfish ambitions of his wife. In Avery''s, it would happen if her fianc¨¦ found out she was his nemesis and had approached him knowing that. It was her biggest fear.

    She wasn''t afraid of death or injury. As long as the suit was activated she was safe. She feared losing people because she had already lost too many.

    Vanessa hugged her tightly. "You won''t! He''s nuts about you! I''ve never seen a man so in love."

    That was the problem. Christian loved her but only the pretty part. The part she had let him see. He would feel all the more betrayed for it if he found out the truth but she was in too deep now to do anything about it but pray her horrible secret was never discovered and that she could learn to live with her conscience.

    Avery had known this was a bad idea from the start. Agreeing to go out on a second date because she was fairly sure he was Mercury but couldn''t prove it had been mental gymnastics on her part. Being almost positive of who he was but justifying it as dating just anyone because she hadn''t been 100% sure was peak viin territory. She never would have anticipated it going this far though. Now she was stuck.

    Afraid to move forward but unable to go back. She let herself get swept along by the insanity and now she was actually about to marry someone who both loved and hated her without even realizing it.

 Chapter 65 - Thats Illegal

    "That sort of fear never fully leaves kids with divorced parents," Avery saidmely.

    Vanessa huffed. "Your mom is trash and someone ought to tell her so. Even better, someone ought to ruin her political career by bringing up the fact that she walked out on her kid and never looked back. That would set her right."

    "Who would believe it, Ness? I don''t want to get involved in her drama."

    She really didn''t. Her mother was so insignificant in her life that she hardly ever thought about the woman. Things like this had only been popping up in her headtely because she was stressed about getting married. She was sure her dad hadn''t thought he would get left behind when it happened to him but she was already expecting it because of the whole Nox thing.

    "You don''t have to! Let me do it. I''ll handle anything she tries to pull," Vanessa said fiercely. "It''s not fair that you¡ªthe best girl in the world¡ªare feeling like this right before the biggest day of your life because of that selfish witch."

    Avery smiled despite herself. It was nice being defended like this even if her best friend didn''t know the whole story.

    "I appreciate your loyalty but that really isn''t necessary."

    "I''m dead serious! We don''t even have to say who you are so no one can bother you. Just cast doubt on her character," Vanessa continued. "At the very least I can ckmail her."

    "¡­that''s illegal."

    "Not actually ckmail her! Just make her feel guilty by bringing up what a terrible mother she is for not even knowing her own daughter is getting married. She deserves to suffer more than you''re suffering right now."

    Her best friend loyally cursed out her mother for her until Avery''s worries had surprisingly melted away. That was a better distraction than she thought it would be.

    Avery hugged her again. "You made me feel better already. Let it go, Ness. I don''t need her. I have people like you."

    Vanessa looked rather touched by that. "Aww, Aves! I love you."

    "I love you too."

    She did. She really did. With friends like Vanessa and Angelo did it really matter that she didn''t have any proper family left? There were people who would always have her back even if the world fell apart on her.

    Would Vanessa ept her if she knew the truth? She had just joked about ckmailing someone but that didn''t necessarily mean she would actually condone any illegal activities.

    Avery supposed it didn''t matter. She would never find out either. The only people who knew her secret were a part of theirwork. And that was how it had to stay in order for them to aplish heir mission and stay safe. The more people who knew a secret, the more likely it was to get out.

    ===

    Christian was looking forward to having the wedding festivities out of the way. He could tell that Avery was having a hard time and thought things might get better once the stress of that event was out of the way and they could focus on rxing in Costa Rica.

    Vanessa had reached out to him after the final dress fitting and didn''t use specifics but said Avery could use some reassurance. He was pretty sure he knew what that meant. Her parents. The main reason she had been against the idea of getting serious in the first ce despite being in love with him and wanting to stay together was because of how many people she had lost, wasn''t it? They had talked about that before.

    She acted like everything was fine and stayed bright and cheery but there was a certain way her eyes clouded over when she thought he wasn''t paying attention. What could he do to help when she wouldn''t talk to him?

    Christian had gone to his parents for the best marriage advice they could give him and they told him about the importance ofmunication. How was that supposed to work when he was a retired superhero and could never tell her about that or his powers without putting her in danger?!

    "Mom, you know I can''t tell her about being Mercury!" he protested.

    Nancy looked at him and sighed. "Why not? It isn''t as if you''re actively fighting viins. What does it matter if she knows? You''re retired. And you''re going to have to tell her if any of your kids end up having superpowers."

    There wasn''t much known about the gics of superpowers. It was thought that it was an extremely rare recessive gene where both parents had to at least be carriers in order for a baby to have powers but there was no way to confirm it since people with powers weren''t volunteering to be part of research studies.

    "The chances of that happening are so small¡ª"

    "That''s what I thought because neither your father nor I have any powers but we have you. Wouldn''t it be better to just tell her?" Nancy argued.

    Christian sighed. "I can''t."

    Avery used to have a crush on Mercury. It would be opening a can of worms unnecessarily. That was one conversation he did NOT want to have. He could tell her everything else about his life. Just not that one no-longer-significant detail.

    "Your situation is¡­unique¡­to say the least so I think an exception can be made for the time being but that''s it," Nancy said reluctantly. "Other than that you need to have openmunication with Avery if you want things to work. Talk to her and work things out together. You two versus the problem rather than versus each other."

    "For better or for worse, right?" he asked wryly, quoting the traditional wedding vow.

    "Exactly! Whatever happens you''re in it together and have to act like it. You and your spouse are a team."

    A team. Had he and Avery ever felt like a team? He wasn''t sure. They were going to have to figure it out though because staying with her no matter what was the most important thing in the world to him.

    That thought was what gave him the courage to talk to her about whatever had been on her mind. He might regret itter but he needed to know if she was experiencing cold feet or felt like they were rushing things too much. He hadn''t wanted to be too hasty¡­he was just excited about spending his life with her.

    "Avery, are you really okay with getting married?" he asked as they sat in the living room two days before the wedding.

    Her head snapped up in astonishment. "You''re asking me this now?!"

    "You''ve seemed offtely! I just want to make sure you''re actually alright with things before we do this. I don''t want you to be stressed and I thought it might get better once this was all over but what if that isn''t it?"

    Avery sighed. "I am stressed. What bride isn''t?"

    "Is that really all it is? You can talk to me. I have your back no matter what. Even if we do have to push things back for the sake of your sanity."

    She shook her head vehemently. "No. That would make things worse. You''re right. It will get better once this is all over. I just have a lot on my mind and I''m missing my dad too. He should be here for this."

    Christian moved over and set a handfortingly on top of her thigh. "He should. I''m sorry he''s not."

    "Yeah. Me too."

    "So you''re missing your dad and stressed about the wedding. Is that all? Is there anything else I can do? I want you to be happy, Avery. If there''s anything bothering you¡ªanything at all¡ªI''d prefer you tell me. Even if I can''t do anything about the problem I can still be there for you."

    Avery smiled softly at his earnestness and closed her eyes as she leaned against his shoulder. "I don''t need anything else. Just you. Though I can''t deny that the thought of having this all over with and being in Costa Rica sounds wonderful."

    Christian put an arm around her and pulled her closer before kissing the top of her head. "Okay. As long as you promise you''re okay with all of this I can let it go."

    "What''s not to be okay with? I want to be with you, Christian. More than anything."

    "So do I. I just don''t want you to be stressed in order for that to happen. If being with me stresses you out¡ª"

    "It has nothing to do with that!" Avery insisted, twisting around to look up at him earnestly. "Being with you makes me HAPPY. I never thought I would find that in any meaningful capacity after my dad died but I did. You''re the best part of my life!"

    Christian could tell she meant it. "Okay. I was only checking. You''re the best part of my life too. Have been since before we even really knew each other."

    "You''re a sap, you know that?"

    "That''s what Liam says but I tend to take his words with a grain of salt."

    Averyughed, as he had hoped she would. "Fair. Seriously though, don''t worry about me. I''m going to be the happiest woman in the world once the wedding is done and I have you all to myself."

    He kissed her then smiled as he caressed her cheek. "Good."

 Chapter 66 - Bachelor Party

    Christian felt better after their little talk. Avery''s stress didn''t seem to significantly go down but she was in an excellent mood during the rehearsal dinnerughing and talking with everyone around the table.

    She kissed him goodbye at the end so they could each go to their respective bachelor/bachelorette parties. Apparently, she and her bridesmaids would be going to a nail salon Maribel worked at and getting discounts before spending the night at Vanessa''s watching girly movies and ying party games.

    With any luck that would help her rx too. He doubted anything happening at his party would be rxing in the slightest since Liam was the one in charge of it.

    There weren''t many people who were going since he never really had that many friends to begin with. Kind of hard to when he was so busy with hero stuff. The only peopleing were Liam, Trevor and Eric, his cousins Kyle and Andrew, and Angelo and Jorge.

    Thest two were onlying because his cousin Kristin wanted to get to know Avery and be a part of her party. She was open to it and thought that her cousins of sorts should go to his as well.

    So here they were. Christian was as boring a person as his brother always imed. He had no desire to do traditional bachelor party things and sternly told Liam that if he tried to pull anything he would he dangled upside downter.

    That was a very real threat that had been followed through on more than once in their childhood so he obeyed. They were going to do an escape room then would be hanging around ying board games. He didn''t want any alcohol involved so nobody was a hungover mess in the morning for the wedding.

    They were having a morning wedding with a luncheon then heading to the airport for an evening flight. They would be on the ne pretty much all night but he thought it was better not to waste a day of travel time for their trip and Avery agreed.

    When the parties split ways Liam pped his hands together. "Alright! Who here doesn''t know each other yet?"

    A few people nced around before Trevor spoke up. "I only know you and Eric."

    "Then this is a perfect time for introductions. We have me, brother of the groom and best man. Our cousins Kyle and Andrew. Law school friends Trevor and Eric. Cousins of the bride Angelo and Jorge. Andst but certainly not least the man of the hour!"

    Liam emphasized his words by cing a stic crown on top of Christian''s head. "You''re not allowed to take this off, by the way. Official rules."

    "¡­whose rules are these?"

    "Mine as the party organizer! We''re going to be going to the escape room first but does anyone have any questions?"

    Angelo looked at him like he was stupid. "You didn''t tell us your name."

    Liam blinked. "Oh. Right. I heard about you guys from Christian but we''ve never officially been introduced. Avery tells stories all the time too so I feel like I know you even though I don''t. I''m Liam!"

    Angelo and Jorge exchanged a look. "What kind of stories?"

    "Only the best ones."

    "That''s exactly what I''m concerned about."

    Jorge pped a hand on his cousin''s shoulder in sympathy and that ended that conversation. They all headed to the escape room chattering excitedly on the subway, where Christian felt like an idiot for wearing the crown but didn''t want to face his brother''s wrath. He had already been bummed enough about not doing traditional bachelor party activities.

    The escape room was fun, ridiculous crown-wearing aside, and Christian thought he should do things like this more often. He had been to an escape room exactly once before on Liam''s birthday a few years ago and enjoyed it.

    There were a lot of things he could do now that he didn''t have hero work hanging over his head. Making more male friends was one of them.

    The only people he had been hanging out with since retiring were Avery''s friends since he didn''t have any of his own. At least not any that he was in contact with on more than social media.

    Christian should really find some guys he liked hanging out with. The problem was that he didn''t even begin to know where to look. He had so little free time for most of his life that now that he had more he tended to read as a default whenever he wasn''t doing something with his fianc¨¦e.

    Reading and watching movies and TV shows he hadn''t had time for before. That was pretty much it. He truly was as boring as Liam imed.

    Honestly, he didn''t mind not having his own friends much. He never had them before so why would it matter now? But he couldn''t deny that doing activities like this were fun. Did he need his own friends for that though or could he just use Avery''s?

    He preferred spending most of his time with her. When she did her own thing he didn''t need to be entertained by others. A good book had sufficed up until this point. What more did someone as antisocial as him need?

    It was funny how that worked. Christian was so used to having a public persona but he really wasn''t all that social. Never had been. He would have been a total shut-in duringw school if not for a few of his ssmates (Trevor and Eric included) taking pity on him and going out to do stuff when schoolwork got to be too much.

    Used to being busy, he went along with it. It wasn''t like he had anything better to do.

    He was always getting pulled along by someone. He even asked Avery out because Liam pressured him to. Then got into a rtionship because she talked him into it when he felt like he couldn''t due to his hero duties.

    He was SO grateful she did though. He would have missed out on the best thing in his life if she hadn''t done that. If she hadn''t pushed just a little he would have remained stupidly noble and single even though the person he liked had liked him back.

    And now they were getting married tomorrow and starting the rest of their lives together in a more official capacity. That was crazy to think about! So much had changed in less than a year.

    Christian was here surrounded by some of the only people he had any real connection with celebrating his uing marriage to the love of his life. He looked over at Liam squinting at a clue trying to work it out until Angelo peeked over his shoulder and told him what to do.

    Come to think of it, he had solved almost half of the clues all by himself. Avery frequently called him an idiot but that seemed to be how things were between the two of them. She admitted begrudgingly to him once that he was actually quite brilliant. Apparently, he held a master''s degree inputer science and had a high-paying software development job for a rising techpany.

    He seemed to be enjoying himself despiteing here reluctantly. Avery must have made him¡­or Jorge. Or somebination of the two.

    Angelo had never apologized to him for what happened. The two of them had only interacted a handful of times since their argument and they both chose to act like nothing had happened rather than hash it out again.

    It wasn''t like they had been on the best terms before. They were two people who happened to share a favorite person so they showed each other the basic sort of friendlinessmon for acquaintances. He hoped that it wasn''t always like that though.

    Christian wanted Angelo to ept the fact that he intended to stay with Avery for the rest of their lives. He didn''t want to feel like an acquaintance of someone so important to the woman he loved.

    They managed to solve the puzzle and get out in less than half of the allotted time thanksrgely to Angelo. Trevor and Eric were impressed and asked him a whole bunch of get-to-know-you questions on the subway ride to Liam''s new apartment currently being shared with three other guys. They had all cleared out or decided to hide in their rooms for the night knowing he was nning a little party.

    The first thing Liam did was pull a dramatic face. "My fine gentleman, before we get started we are duty-bound to embarrass Christian the night before his special day. I want everyone''s most embarrassing stories about him. Angelo and Jorge can do it for Avery since they know her better."

    Christian groaned, his cousinsughed, and Trevor and Eric looked thoughtful. He should have known putting Liam in charge of things would be a terrible idea. Maybe he did need more friends after all.

 Chapter 67 - Im Just Looking Out For My Girl

    "I would like to start," Liam continued with a wicked grin. "By reminiscing about our colorful childhood and the many, many times Christian held me upside down without our mother''s knowledge because he was bigger than me and there was nothing I could do about it."

    More than half of the people in the room looked at Christian questioningly. Angelo narrowed his eyes, seemingly determined to see the worst in him and that he wasn''t worthy of Avery.

    Christian let out an exasperated noise. "Liam, more than half the time you ASKED me to do it."

    Kyle and Andrew both burst outughing. "That sounds about right. Don''t act like you''re a victim, Liam, it doesn''t suit you. You were the one giving Chris a hard time, not the other way around."

    "You guys! Do you have any idea how hard it is toe with embarrassing stories about such a nd goody-two-shoes?" Liam protested.

    "I wouldn''t put it quite that harshly but I can''t reallye up with anything embarrassing either," Trevor admitted. "Christian was always so cool andposed in school. Can you think of anything, Eric?"

    "All I''ve got is the time he sat there nk-faced shoveling in the chips and dip when the Ravens scored a touchdown during one of our Super Bowl parties like he didn''t know or care what had happened but that isn''t exactly embarrassing," Eric said apologetically.

    "I forgot about that! He could seriously eat. We used to say he should be on those eatingpetitions because he never seemed to get so much as a stomachache."

    "He''s still like that," Jorge said with augh. "You should have seen him on Thanksgiving. Angelo and G¨¹era were lying on the floor in agony and he ate more than both of them and acted like he barely had a snack."

    If this was their idea of embarrassing him it wasn''t so bad. He wasn''t self-conscious about how much he ate. Inw school he flew around empty fields a lot in the middle of the night where no one but the cows could see him since he missed being able to do that as Mercury back home.

    These days he was much more reasonable with his eating habits. Thanksgiving had been a special asion and he had flown it off once Avery was asleep.

    "G¨¹era?" Kyle asked in confusion. "Who''s that?"

    "Oh, it''s Avery. We''ve all called her that for as long as I can remember. It''s habit. Means ''white girl'' because she''s so white," Jorge exined.

    "Ah, that makes more sense. She is pretty pale. Is she actually albino?"

    "Yeah. You should see her in the sun. Turns the color of a bell pepper no matter how much sunscreen she puts on. If she''s out and about in daylight she usually brings a parasol. It was the weirdest thing the first time I saw it."

    Angelo snorted. "You should have seen her when she was younger. Her dad had her wear long sleeves and pants in the middle of summer and this ridiculous umbre hat."

    "No way! Do you have pictures?" Jorge asked eagerly.

    "Somewhere."

    Eric was confused. "Why so much stuff just to go in the sun?"

    "Avery has a higher risk for skin cancer," Christian exined. "Her dad was just being careful."

    "Didn''t you say you were going to Costa Rica for your honeymoon?"

    "She wanted to go somewhere warm. As long as she takes her usual precautions she should be fine. She''s never been to any beaches outside of New York City so she wanted to give it a shot."

    "She does enjoy swimming for someone who is supposed to limit her sun exposure," Angelo said with a shrug.

    Christian and Avery hadn''t had the chance to go swimming together before since he was recovering from getting stabbed during the hottest part of the year and wasn''t supposed to swim but he knew she had gone with Vanessa a few times. She told him how she always got a lot of stares at the pool or beach because she had to wear a full-body swimsuit to get the most coverage from the sun.

    "Guess that means you won''t be able to see her in a bikini then," Andrew said with augh.

    Christian and Angelo were on the same page for once. They told him to shut up at the exact same time. He thought he detected the slightest hint of approval in the other man''s eyes but he might have imagined it because he was back to normal a momentter.

    Liam smacked Andrew upside the back of the head before clearing his throat. "Anyway, I guess embarrassing Christian is a bust since he''s too much of a straight arrow so let''s y Cards Against Humanity. I have an expansion pack for it that I''ve been dying to try out and I''m prepared to destroy all of you."

    And destroy all of them he did. Either he was very lucky or his sense of humor actually appealed to people for once. Christian''s cards only got picked when Angelo and Jorge were up, funnily enough. He wondered if it was because his sense of humor was so simr to Avery''s.

    They yed various games for a few hours after that until Liam kicked everyone out demanding they get some sleep so Avery didn''t kill him, or worse, not let him have any of her baked goods on an indefinite basis.

    Christian was finally able to take off the stupid crown as he left the apartment and tossed it in the nearest trash can. His brother had gotten pictures to lord over himter and there was no need to hold onto it a moment longer. He lived to give people a hard time.

    Liam had put together a pretty decent bachelor party though. Christian had been shooed out too quickly to have the chance to thank him properly. He would have to do it in the morning.

    Everyone split off to their respective hotels or apartments with a lot of back pping and congrattions going around until he somehow found himself alone with Angelo since they were heading toward the same part of town. He wondered if he should say something but wasn''t sure if he should.

    He ended up taking the easy, diplomatic route. "Thanks foring."

    "It wasn''t so bad. And I hadn''t been to an escape room since college so that was fun," Angelo said with a shrug.

    "You were really good at it."

    "Figuring things out is what I do."

    Ugh, this was so awkward. Kill him! Christian didn''t want to deal with a heavy silence either though so he was stuck trying to keep a conversation going until he reached his station.

    "Thank you," Angelo said suddenly. "For defending G¨¹era back there."

    "...that''s my job."

    Christian didn''t know where he was going with this. He didn''t want anybody thinking anything perverted about Avery so it had been natural to say something about the bikiniment.

    Angelo spoke gruffly. "I''m used to it being mine. Ever since I could walk and she crawled after me I heard ''watch out for Avery'' constantly. So that''s what I did. That''s what I''ve always done. I don''t have anything against you personally."

    Was this an apology of sorts? He hadn''t been expecting that.

    "Avery said you think I''ll ditch her because of differing political beliefs," Christian said, trying to keep his tone neutral.

    Rather than responding to his statement directly, Angelo asked a question. "Have you ever had someone you wanted to protect? Someone you would do absolutely anything for? Because she''s it for me.

    "I never had siblings but I had this little white ball of enthusiasm trailing after me who took in everything with a sense of wide-eyed wonder and was constantly getting herself hurt trying to keep up. She bruised too easily and bled too long and had to be protected more than everyone else out in the sun but that didn''t stop her.

    "So I learned how to take care of that fragile, stubborn little girl as best I could. It''s what I''ve always done. I can''t let anything happen to her even if it''s as simple as having her stupid, sentimental heart broken because she jumps into things without thinking of the consequences. That''s all I''m doing. It really has nothing to do with you. I''m just looking out for my girl."

    Christian didn''t know how to reply to that. What he was saying definitely tied in with Avery''s overprotective exnation and how he had always been that way.

    It felt personal though. Like Angelo didn''t think he loved Avery enough or was the kind of person who would abandon his wife. That wasn''t who he was at all! There wasn''t anything in the world that could make him leave her behind.

    "It sure feels like it has to do with me. I''m not going to leave her, Angelo. Ever," he said firmly.

    "That''s what you say now. I really don''t want to argue with you because you make G¨¹era happy but know this. If you hurt her I won''t let you off. Keep making her happy and you and me will be good."

    Christian sighed. "Someday I''m going to prove you wrong. And when that happens I want a proper apology instead of whatever this was."

    "Honestly? I''d be shocked. But if that did happen you''d get all the apologies you want. See you tomorrow," Angelo said, noticing what Christian hadn''t. They were pulling up at his stop.

    He tried not to be insulted by that. At least one of his fianc¨¦e''s best friends liked him. He would prove Angelo wrong someday. He was absolutely determined to get that smug jerk to admit he had been paranoid.

 Chapter 68 - Youre A Miracle Worker

    Christian had a hard time falling asleep that night. Part of it was that it felt wrong not having Avery here (he never did sleep as well on the nights she was gone) and part of it was being overloaded with thoughts about the future.

    The wedding was being held at eleven but he didn''t need to leave for a few hours so he ended up going to breakfast with Trevor and Eric, who he hadn''t seen in years before they flew out here. Catching up with them specifically helped the time pass before he needed to get ready.

    Trevor had gotten married to his girlfriend about a year after finishingw school and now had two children and Eric was thinking about proposing to his girlfriend since they had been together for four years. Heughed that he was a slowpokepared to Christian, who had met Avery less than a year ago.

    "How did you meet her, anyway?" Eric asked.

    "Her bakery is on the first floor of the building I work in. I thought she was pretty so I ordered a cake from her for Liam''s birthday and that got us on a semi-friendly basis. Nothing happened for months though until she fell down the stairs andnded on me in the subway.

    "She got a pretty bad nosebleed so I stayed with her until Angelo came to pick her up. She made me this amazing apology cake even though she didn''t need to and I ended up asking her out. The rest is history," Christian said with a shrug.

    They bothughed and grinned at him. Andrew leaned his head on one hand and said, "That whole story was a rollercoaster. Not what I would have expected."

    "I''ve learned to expect the unexpected with Avery. She really knows how to shake things up and that''s exactly what I need."

    "I can tell. You''ve always been a pretty chill go-with-the-flow kind of guy and you seem more animated with her. I''m happy for you," Eric said as he pped him on the shoulder. "We should all go get ready now though if we don''t want to bete."

    Their little group disbanded and Christian headed home to put on his suit and tie and do his hair nicely for the pictures. He put on a suit and tie every morning before going to the office but this was different. He was doing it to get married to the woman he loved more than anything in the world.

    He hurried to get ready and saw that he had a text from Avery that said "see you soon" with a heart emoji. He smiled and sent her a heart back before hurrying to his car.

    When he arrived at the venue his parents and Liam were already there. He saw Vanessa briefly too heading to the brides'' room so Avery must be here as well. His stomach flipped at the thought. This was really happening!

    Christian went to go stand with them and he finally had a minute to talk to his brother. "Hey, Liam. Thanks for yesterday. stic crown aside, you did a good job with the party nning. I had fun."

    Liam looked both surprised and pleased by thepliment. He decided to be flippant about it rather than show he was moved. "Look at you having fun with something! I''m so proud."

    "Can you just ept my thanks like a normal person?"

    "Right. You''re wee."

    Christian nced out at the crowd and saw people filing in. His heart began to race and he could really use some loop-de-loops right now but a) had nowhere to do them and b) couldn''t mess up his hair or outfit.

    The rest of the groomsmen arrived and the florist came around pinning boutonnieres on all of them,st minute checks were done, and before he knew it the music was ying indicating it was time for everything to start. His erratic heartbeat only grew worse.

    The officiant went down the aisle first then he was up like they had practiced. He forced himself to walk and not float despite his nerves.

    Trevor and Marianne came down together next. Then Eric and Maribel. Liam and Vanessa. Hector the ringbearer. Sofia the flower girl, who was so into it she was skipping.

    Christian''s heart leapt to his throat when he saw Avery with her arm in Angelo''s at the top of the aisle. She was unearthly beautiful in a ballgown-style dress with ace bodice and her white hair in an borate updo.

    She beamed when she caught sight of him and he felt tearse to his eyes against his will. Beautiful. She was so beautiful and she was about to be his forever. He felt like his smile might split his face as they slowly and purposefully approached.

    When they arrived at the front Angelo squeezed Avery''s hands and gave her a jerky nod before handing her off to Christian. Her violet eyes sparkled as she turned to him and his heart momentarily stopped.

    He hardly paid attention to a word the officiant was saying because his attention was solely on his wife-to-be but he tuned in when it was nearly time to say I do. "¡­for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, til death do you part?" the officiant asked him.

    "I do," Christian said firmly.

    He didn''t want Avery to have a hard time anymore. He had promised to be there for her as she figured things out and that was exactly what he nned to do. Secrets or no secrets he would have her back whatever happened.

    The officiant asked her the same question and she said "I do" with tears shining in her eyes. They exchanged rings and when the officiant said he could kiss the bride he didn''t need to be told twice and neither did she. She threw her arms around his neck before kissing him and he couldn''t even process all of the cheers and catcalls. His head was entirely full of her.

    ===

    Avery''s bachelorette party was much needed to help her rx. Getting her nails paintedvender whileughing with her friends and Christian''s cousin Kristin (who was surprisingly goodpany), ying silly party games Vanessa had put together, and watching some of her favorite chick flicks while enjoying home spa treatments was exactly what the doctor ordered.

    She was sleeping over at Vanessa''s so her best friend could help her get ready for her big day and was so nervous and unable to sleep they had to watch another movie after everyone else left. It was sote she was out cold before the credits were over.

    The following morning she woke up to the smell of crepes being prepared and felt her mouth water. Crepes were one of Vanessa''s specialties.

    "Someone''s going all out," shemented.

    "I have to spoil my best girl on her big day! What toppings do you want?"

    "Whipped cream and berries, please."

    "You got it."

    Vanessa served them up and Avery gave her a big hug. "You''re amazing. Thanks, Ness."

    "Any time! I want to do your hair and makeup here once you''re done eating and you can change once we get to the venue. You''re going to knock Christian''s socks off by the time I''m done with you."

    Averyughed. That sounded more like a threat than anything. "Is that so?"

    "You bet!" The doorbell rang and Vanessa got up to get it. "That must be Maribel. She''s going to do your hair since I don''t know much about working with your texture and she''s a professional. She''s going to do your makeup too with the palette we got from that consultation we went to a while back. I already have it set up in my bathroom."

    She certainly came prepared, didn''t she? Avery had won a free raffle for brides-to-be involving a wedding makeup consultation and she invited her bridesmaids to attend with her a couple of months ago.

    Marianne was savvy to these things because her mom had been a consultant for this makeup brand before and she knew all of their sales tricks. They didn''t pay a cent but still got free samples because of her expertise, which was great.

    "I''ve got you, G¨¹era," Maribel reassured Avery as she sat her down. "You''re going to look like an angel by the time I''m done with you."

    And she did. Avery could hardly recognize herself in the mirror. Maribel''s makeup skills were truly impressive. She looked much more feminine than usual and managed to have a more dramatic makeup look without it being too excessive for her skin tone.

    "You''re a miracle worker," she said in awe.

    "I try. Come on, we need to get to the venue! Everyone has to be waiting for us by now."

    Avery was practically shoved out the door and barely managed to grab her wedding dress and shoes on the way out. She was currently wearing a button-up shirt, jeans, and boots so she could change easily without messing up Maribel''s masterpiece. The others were already in their dresses with their hair and makeup done.

    When they arrived she changed and had people fussing over her constantly. Nancy, the t¨ªas, the florist, the photographer, the bridesmaids. She hardly had room to breathe.

 Chapter 69 - She Had Done It!

    Avery was rather overwhelmed as people fussed over her. She had been the recipient of so many hugs and felt trapped. She was beginning to panic. What was she even doing? She couldn''t marry her former archnemesis!

    Before she knew it she was ushered to the area where people where the bridal party was gathering. The panic was swelling into a crescendo until she felt someone''s hands on her shoulders.

    "G¨¹era! Quit spacing out! We''re almost up unless you changed your mind. Because if you did I can totally get us out of here," Angelo said seriously.

    That brought her back to earth. No, she hadn''t changed her mind. She had made her decision and she had to stick to it no matter what happenedter. Even if her heart did get broken and everything was ruined she wanted to enjoy being happy now.

    "I''m fine. I was just¡­swarmed in there," Avery repliedmely.

    Angelo sighed and muttered to himself in Spanish before poking her cheek. "Well, snap out of it. Once you''re in there I doubt your fianc¨¦ is going to let go of you so he can handle the swarms on your behalf."

    Right. Her fianc¨¦. The whole reason she was here. Angelo was right; Christian would have her back once she was with him.

    All she had to do was get through the ceremony and then she could focus on rxing with him in Costa Rica. Everything was going to be fine. She needed to breathe and get through this. Everyone here meant well. They were here because they loved her and weren''t trying to smother her. This mental block she had about getting married was her problem.

    Avery had agreed to this. She said yes when Christian asked her to marry him so whatever happened next was on her.

    "I''m snapped out of it. Thanks, Angelo."

    "Come on, I think that''s our cue," he said when he noticed the music changing to the bridal march.

    She took a deep breath and linked her arm through his. She tried not to think of the insanity she was going forward with or the fact that her dad was supposed to be here instead of Angelo. She tried not to think of anything at all.

    It wasn''t hard once they were at the top of the aisle and she saw Christian grinning at her for all he was worth. She couldn''t help but return it. He was why she was putting herself through this. She loved him and she wanted to be with him so she had charged straight ahead, screwing any potential consequences.

    He gave her hope for a future that wasn''t filled with revenge. One that had peaceful moments,ughter, and a whole lot of love. The kind of future she thought was out of reach forever when her dad died.

    Avery would fight for that future. Getting married felt riskier than all of her Nox missionsbined but here she was. Fighting for it.

    She felt a lot better once her hands were being squeezed by the man she loved. As Angelo predicted, he didn''t let go of her so she didn''t feel quite so overwhelmed by all of the attention.

    They went to take pictures and even once it was time to include family in the shots his hand remained around her waist. They did pictures with his immediate family first then his aunts, uncles, and cousins who came joined in.

    After that it was time for the pictures on her side. She didn''t have any immediate family unless she counted Angelo. She hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should even bother with those sorts of pictures, but he clinched it for her bying over and making an Avery sandwich by standing on her other side and putting his arm around her back too.

    The photographer took a few pictures like that before the entire Cruz n piled into the shot. Earlier she had been too overwhelmed to notice it but they had all worn her wedding colors just like Christian''s family.

    Avery was tempted to cry as she felt affection for them overwhelm her. Her family that wasn''t her family hade through without her even asking them to.

    She was emotional through the bridal party pictures and ended up eating her feelings a bit once they made it to the luncheon part of the wedding. She had felt so loved today. Being taken care of by Vanessa and Maribel in the morning¡­Angelo standing in for her dad walking down the aisle and in the pictures¡­what the Cruzes did¡­the way Christian had been looking at her the entire time.

    It would be a miracle if she wasn''t bawling by the end of this. And she wasn''t much of a crier!

    Getting injured as a kid wasn''t enough to make her cry. She knew how to soldier on. Thest time she had cried was the first anniversary of her dad''s death. Maybe happy tears were different than sad ones.

    The best man/maid of honor speeches were up while everyone was still seated. Avery was a little worried about Liam''s but it was a lot more sentimental than she had expected.

    "My brother Chris is the straightest arrow you''ll ever meet. Sometimes it drives me crazy but he''s always been there for me when I needed him. He''s a little too uptight but he''s the most dependable person I''ve ever met.

    "I like to give him a hard time about things but really it''s because he''s so good at everything he does. He''s smart and hard-working and willing to lend a hand to anyone who needs it even if it inconveniences him. I''m actually really proud of him though this is the only time I''ll admit it.

    "Chris, I''m really d you found someone who makes you happy. As far as I''ve seen, Avery is perfect for you because she gets you to lighten up. I''m looking forward to having her as a part of our family. She''s lucky to have you and so am I," Liam finished.

    Christian looked incredibly moved and got up to wrap his brother in a bear hug. He grunted and mumbled that his ribs were being crushed.

    Averyughed at that but the real danger of tears was when Vanessa did her speech. It wasn''t much longer than Liam''s but she had to try very hard not to ruin her makeup throughout it.

    "Avery is my best friend. We met in culinary school but didn''t interact much until we both got jobs at Carmine''s Bakery around the same time. That was when we realized we practically shared a brain.

    "Having her around has brought so much moreughter into my life and I''m so grateful for that. Being alone in the big city is hard and she''s been there for me more times than I can count in the past few years. She is the literal light of my life since she''s a bit blinding when the light shines on her a certain way when she''s wearing her uniform under the kitchen lights."

    Avery snorted and that momentarily helped her stem her tears. A few other peopleughed as well.

    Vanessa continued. "I was so happy when I found out Avery was seeing someone who made her so happy. I always hoped she would find a guy who could dazzle her with witty banter like in those movies we like and that''s exactly what happened.

    "I''ve been able to spend a lot of time with the two of them and can say with confidence that they are absolutely perfect for each other. Christian, I''m sure you''re aware of this but you''re married to the best girl in the world. So take care of her for me. I love you, Aves."

    "Ness!" Avery wailed, unable to take it anymore.

    As everyone else pped she hugged her best friend tightly and wished more than anything that Vanessa could find someone who made her happy too. That was when the tears finally overflowed and she had to have her best friend do a makeup check when they broke apart.

    Vanessa was crying too andughing at the same time. "I didn''t see you needing waterproof makeup. My bad."

    Avery rolled her eyes. "Whatever. And I love you too."

    After the emotional part got out of the way it was time for the bouquet and garter tosses. They were caught by an ecstatic Maribel (the rest of the Cruzes gave Jorge such a hard time after that) and a nonplussed Kyle.

    Then it was time for the first dance and Avery was in Christian''s arms and couldn''t think about poor Jorge getting ribbed anymore because this was the first time they had done this. They had never gone dancing before and he didn''t seem to know what he was doing but she didn''t care.

    She had done it! She had actually married the man she loved! In this moment nothing else could possibly matter.

 Chapter 70 - Honeymoon

    The ylist they had prepared consisted mostly of English songs with some Spanish ones mixed in because Avery did love her fiesta music. When those ones came on she danced around like crazy with the Cruzes and Christian did his best to follow along.

    She caught Vanessa and Angelo dancing together more than once but was so caught up in everything else that she couldn''t give it much thought. She was giddy with happiness now that much of her stress was over.

    She had done it. She was Christian''s wife. Why wouldn''t she be giddy about that?

    She danced around with the people she loved and had a wonderful time, not leaving the dancefloor at all until it was time to cut the cake. He very carefully fed her a bite of their shared piece and she did the same before grinning mischievously at him. She got some frosting on her finger and swiped it onto his nose. He was momentarily surprised butughed when she kissed it off.

    Once the cake was eaten aside from the top tier (which they were saving to take home) they migrated back to the dancefloor for a while longer before they needed to go home, get changed, and head to the airport. A slow song came on and Angelo tapped Christian on the shoulder.

    "Do you mind? I need to do my job as a proper stand-in for her dad and dance with her once."

    "Not at all," he said as he let go and went to go talk to one of his uncles.

    Angelo was admittedly a better dancer than Christian so they moved around the floor more as the song progressed. He didn''t say anything for the first minute or so but then he cleared his throat.

    "You looked really happy today. The timing sucks but if you''re happy I''m happy. And I''m sure that T¨ªo Levi is happy for you too," he said gruffly.

    Avery smiled fondly at him. She was d he put aside his reservations on the matter and supported her even if it was done reluctantly. It meant a lot to her. It wouldn''t have been right to have anyone else walk her down the aisle since her dad was gone.

    "Thanks, Angelo. It means a lot to me that you were here as a stand-in today."

    "Duh. I could never do anything less," Angelo sniffed.

    "I love you."

    "I love you too. So don''t lose this. Okay, Avery? Just¡­stay happy."

    He meant serious business when he used her real name. He truly wanted her to live a good life with Christian after their revenge wasplete. Watching out for her as always.

    Avery hugged him. After today she was pretty sure she would be hugged out for a while but she couldn''t help it. She was so grateful for all of the people here celebrating her happiness with her.

    "I will. You can count on it."

    The song ended and Christian was waiting to take her back. Angelo pped a hand on her shoulder and nodded his acknowledgement at Christian before leaving.

    They danced a few more songs together before it was time to go. Everyone sent them off cheering and they headed back to the apartment to change into morefortable clothes for the ne, drop off the cake, and grab their luggage.

    Avery took all of the pins out of her hair and it tumbled around her shoulders in a wavy mess she was too tired to care about. They double checked to make sure they had everything and headed to the airport, eating dinner there once they made it through security.

    She was exhausted. All of that dancing must have gotten to her.

    "You okay?" Christian asked with a smile.

    "I think I danced myself out. And hugged myself out. And socialized myself out. Basically I''m just out," she sighed before leaning her head against his shoulder.

    He reached up to pet her hair. "I''ve got you. You can sleep on me on the ne."

    Avery hated sleeping on nes. She had done far too much of thattely. The flight was about five hours long without any stops and Costa Rica was two hours behind New York so they would be getting therete. She could sleep when she arrived but she would probably want to at least nap on the ne with how tired she was.

    Which was exactly what she did. She slept for most of the flight, woke up long enough to disembark and check into the hotel, then was too tired to do anything else.

    "Christian, will you be mad if I just want to go to bed?"

    He let out a smallugh. "You look like you''re about to keel over. We have the whole week here. Take a shower and go to sleep."

    "I love you," Avery said fervently before doing as he said.

    She was asleep before he finished his shower and didn''t notice him gathering her up in his arms and kissing the back of her neck with a contented sigh. She did wake up more tangled up with him than usual though and smiled. He was so cute when he was asleep. How did she get this lucky?

    In her wildest dreams she never would have imagined herself staring at Mercury in bed on their honeymoon back when she had a hopeless crush she thought would never go anywhere. Now here she was.

    Avery stared at him until he opened his eyes and blinked at her sleepily. "Whatcha doing?"

    "Staring at my handsome husband."

    Christian smiled serenely at her before pulling her closer and kissing her in response. All of the love she had in her heart poured out as they made up for what they had missedst night by going to bed when they arrived.

    He helped her put on an obscene amount of sunscreen everywhere that wasn''t covered by her yellow maxi dress covered in white flowers so they could have breakfast outside where there was an ocean view. She also wore sunsses and a sunhat and he smiled and said she looked gorgeous.

    Ah, Avery still wasn''t used to this sort of ttery. All her life she had been teased for being albino but the way Christian looked at her made her feel like the most beautiful, normal woman in the world.

    The same appliedter in the day after they had eaten and walked hand-in-hand on the beach for a while and decided to go swimming. He thought she looked amazing in her turquoise and pink wetsuit with patterns on the arms and knees too.

    Everyone ALWAYS gave her a hard time about the wetsuit. It was the only one she had been able to find that wasn''t ck but it still stood out too much.

    Christian didn''t care. He was too happy to be swimming out in the ocean with her even if she did look like a dork between her wetsuit and prized shade goggles to protect her sensitive eyes.

    Avery had regr sunsses to wear over her contacts and prescription ones for when she knew she would be out in the sun all day and didn''t want to bother with contacts. Primarily she wore her sses at home rather than in public because they made it difficult to do things.

    He was the other way around, frequently forgetting to put his sses on at home. She noticed that after moving in with him and suspected the sses were nothing but a cover to help him with his secret identity.

    Wasn''t that a huge hassle? sses were so annoying!

    Her husband was certainlymitted to keeping his secret identity safe. She would give him that.

    Avery wasn''t allowed to think about things like that right now though. She was on her honeymoon and needed to give all of her attention to her husband in the moment rather than anything that could be worried about at home.

    So that was what she did. They went to the beach every day and enjoyed being outside and exploring San Jose together.

    She had never gone on a proper vacation before (her escapades as Nox did NOT count) and was having the time of her life seeing and experiencing so many new things. She had so much fun that she didn''t want to go back at all.

    Could they stay here forever? Where they didn''t have responsibilities or secret identities or anything but their love for each other. Where she could almost believe she was normal.

    Avery didn''t want to leave. She didn''t want to go back to New York and have only a week more of uninterrupted newlywed bliss before Angelo needed her head in the game again. She needed more time to be a woman in love without worrying about it all being ripped away from her. Was that so much to ask?

    "What are you thinking about?" Christian asked.

    They were lying on the beach at night on a nket looking up at the stars. His fingers were interlocked with hers and reminded her of how much she loved being near him.

    "How much I don''t want to go home," she admitted.

    Christianughed, not realizing the weight behind her words. "Yeah, I''m not looking forward to getting back to work either. We should go somewhere else in the spring once a bit of vacation time has built up. What do you think?"

    Making long-term ns didn''t exactly work with her situation but it was nice to dream. "We''ll have to see. Lots of people get married in the spring. I might be in demand."

    "Ah, I didn''t think about that. We have plenty of time to go on vacations though. Tell me where you want to go and I''ll make it happen."

    Avery wished it was that simple. But she couldn''t exin herself so she simply said she would have to think about it and did her best to focus on her husband and the stars.. Anything else could wait untilter.

 Chapter 71 - Valentines Day

    "Later" came much sooner than Avery wanted. As promised, Angelo didn''t bother her with anything rted to the mission in January. But he saw February 1st as fair game since he had been sitting on something he and theirwork had been working on for weeks.

    "Leah helped us," he confided. "She''s been indispensable. But some of the scientists we''re holding have been trying to make deals too. They''re scared and want Hunsacher taken down, knowing they''ll be dead the moment they''re released from the safe houses. This could really be it, G¨¹era! We still have a lot to do but we''re closer than we''ve ever been."

    Avery wished she could share his enthusiasm. His n involved a lot more Nox than she had hoped for. Missions every weekend like before they had destroyed the room.

    How was she supposed to pull that off as a newlywed? She couldn''t exactly say "hey, Christian, you know I love you but I can''t ever hang out on weekends anymore" without him asking questions she couldn''t answer.

    "Angelo¡­does all of this really have to be done by me?" she asked desperately. "Can''t we use mercenaries for some of it? I''m never going to be able to get away with sneaking out this much."

    "You should have thought of that before you got married," Angelo replied.

    She huffed. Of course he was going to be difficult about this. He hadn''t wanted her to get married in the first ce.

    "I can bring your personal missions down to twice a month aside from insulin runs but that''s all I can do. And most of them will involve traveling. Unfortunately, we need you. If we had another suit it would be different."

    Avery wanted to scream. Of course it would be different if they had another suit! She squashed down her frustration because this wasn''t his fault. She had been the one to try and settle down before their business was done, like he had said. It was her problem and she knew it.

    "Fine. But not on Valentine''s Day. I have ns."

    "So do I, believe it or not. I wouldn''t do that to you. Are you going to be able toe up with an excuse so your husband doesn''t get suspicious or do you need me to do it for you?" Angelo asked.

    Avery sighed and rubbed her forehead. "No, I''ll think of something. He said he would support me so I just have to make it seem feasible. Or when possible do things in the middle of the night only if it isn''t going to take more than a few hours. I''ll figure it out."

    "If you''re sure. I don''t want you to get in trouble."

    She was already in trouble. Sneaking around more after getting married hadn''t been what she wanted but she knew it would happen. She had to find a way to make it work.

    "Just tell me what you need me to do and I''ll do it. I have to go. Christian will be home soon."

    "I''ll send you the details for Saturday night. Good luck," Angelo said.

    The call ended and Avery sighed again. This time she could say she needed to do more this month since she had taken time off for the wedding but what about next month? How was she going to exin herself if this kept happening month after month?

    She didn''t want to think about that. She should be focusing on what to get Christian for their first ever Valentine''s Day together. That was a more pressing issue than whatever might happen in March onward.

    ===

    Angelo felt sorry for Avery. He really did. She should be enjoying time with her husband right now but she did what she was told despite being exhausted.

    She knew what she was getting into though. It was her own fault so he couldn''t feel TOO sorry for her. Still, the situation sucked. He wished things were different for his best friend who was at her happiest when she was with the one she loved.

    She had been absolutely radiant on her wedding day once she got over feeling crowded before the ceremony started. She actually cried happy tears during the speeches, which wasn''t like her.

    Being there and seeing her so blissful was torture because he knew it could end in an instant if her husband found out who she really was. Watching them dance with her heart in her eyes was especially difficult. He needed a distraction and ended up finding it in Vanessa, who was also sitting somewhat glumly on the side.

    "What''s with you?" Angelo asked.

    "All of the other guys here are in rtionships or married and I really wanted to dance instead of just sitting here. Help me, Angelo Cruz. You''re my only hope," Vanessa said dramatically.

    He couldn''t help butugh at the Star Wars reference despite being slightly offended that he was herst resort. "You''re so desperate you came to me?"

    "Well, it sounds terrible when you put it that way."

    Angelo shook his head with a slight smile on his face. He had an idea. "On one condition. Favor for a favor. I function as your wedding date so you can dance to your heart''s content and you go out with me on Valentine''s Day so I feel like less of a single loser."

    Now it was Vanessa''s turn tough. "I feel like I''m benefitting more from this than you since I have the same problem regarding Valentine''s Day. I''ll bite though. Any ns are better than no ns."

    "My thoughts exactly."

    Angelo stood and offered her his hand. She took it and let him lead her onto the dance floor. They spent the rest of the night dancing aside from when he felt obligated to dance with Avery. She had understood why he wanted to do it and let him go without any fuss, going to get another slice of cake while she waited.

    Vanessa served as an excellent distraction so he didn''t worry about his best friend too much or get emotional that she was married off. When they were younger he always expected it to happen but not like this.

    They were in the middle of trying to get revenge. Who had time for sentimentality amid all of that?

    It was why Angelo never tried to get himself a girlfriend despite going on asional dates. He knew he couldn''tmit himself to anyone until after Nn Hunsacher was destroyed. So why had he gone and stupidly asked out a woman he would be interested in under different circumstances for VALENTINE''S DAY? That was as mushy and sentimental as it got!

    He framed it in such a way that it seemed casual and that was how he had to keep it. He enjoyed Vanessa''spany so he couldn''t screw up and make things awkward. This was simply a pity meeting between two friends who had nothing better to do.

    That was what he told himself yet he still showed up with flowers the day of. And she had raspberry chocte puffs for him.

    "I made these for myself but there were way too many," Vanessa exined as she exchanged a te of them for the flowers when he showed up at her apartment. "I always experiment with new pastries around holidays."

    Angelo knew this was true because he had been on the receiving end of them many times. It made him feel slightly less stupid about bringing her flowers. She seemed happy about them rather than weirded out so that was a relief. She delicately sniffed them before hunting down a vase.

    Once they were settled on her kitchen table she grabbed her coat and followed him out the door. They were going to eat at a Cajun restaurant nearby because that was Vanessa''s favorite. Her family had moved to upstate New York from Louisiana when she was little because of her dad''s job and they still missed the food.

    She looked stunning in a red dress and matching lipstick and despite himself his heart skipped a beat. She had never dressed up like this in front of him before.

    He was grateful he thought to wear a button-down shirt and cks. It was Valentine''s Day, after all. Everyone else would be looking nice so they should too. It didn''t mean anything. They were both just ying their part.

    When they settled in at the restaurant Vanessa smiled and leaned forward on one hand. "So. What have you been up totely? I haven''t seen you since the wedding."

    It was true that their only point of contact was Avery. Since she had been busy between enjoying her brief time off and the greater number of missions since the beginning of February the three of them hadn''t gotten together in a while. He supposed he should say the four of them since Christian was always there now too.

    Angelo had been quite busy. While she was off gallivanting with her new husband he, Leah, and the scientists willing to work with someone anonymous (he had to protect himself in case they wanted to double cross him) had been hard at work.. He couldn''t exactly say that though.

 Chapter 72 - Why Cant It Be Both?

    "I''ve been doing some projects outside of work," Angelo said vaguely. "Nothing exciting. I''ve been holed up on myputer mostly. What about you?"

    Vanessaughed. "Always working, aren''t you? Not that I have any room to talk. I spend all day baking and when I get home I do the same thing half the time. The other half I''m watching TV or drawing. Or drawing while watching TV if it''s a fairly mindless show."

    He knew she liked to draw because she had a separate Instagram ount for her digital art that he followed after she posted about it on her main one. She was quite talented but her true love was pastry so she hadn''t gone into it as a career. She asionally opened hermissions and did requests until she needed a break but that was the extent of it.

    "Been drawing anything interesting?" Angelo asked.

    "I did amission the other day for some fan art and was so curious after looking it up that I ended up watching it," Vanessa admitted with a sheepish look on her face. "It''s an animated kids show but it''s surprisingly addictive. I binged all three seasons that are fully out on Netflix. The fourth is airing currently but I have no way to watch it so I''m going to have to wait."

    "What is it?"

    "I''d rather you not know the full depths of my shame. If I tell you you''re going to look it up."

    Well, she wasn''t wrong. "Fair enough. What about your baking? Any new recipes that have worked out well that you''re nning on pitching to Marianne?"

    "Actually, yeah. She recently got into the macaron craze and has been experimenting with vors left and right. I decided to try some too in my free time and they are a LOT harder to make pretty than you would think.

    "I''ve been doing basic vors out of curiosity but once I get them down I can join her in her quest toe up with the best ones. Do you have any ideas? She''s already tried at least fifteen but they''re all straightforward fruity or flowery vors."

    Angelo didn''t know much about macarons. Weren''t they those colorful little French cookies?

    "Uh¡­I don''t really know anything about French cookies. All I can think of are Mexican vors but I don''t know how well that would work."

    Vanessa made a thoughtful expression. "Hmm¡­maybe something cinnamony? Cinnamon goes well with a lot of things. I''ll have to see what I can do once I get the hang of the shell a little better. Or I could just suggest it to her straight out."

    "You could always try to imitate a churro."

    "Ooh! That could be delicious! Man, it''s been ages since I''ve had a churro. I think thest time was at Coney Ind a few summers ago. Maybe I should try making those on my own. They sound really good."

    T¨ªa Felisa had an amazing churro recipe. Great, now Angelo wanted them too!

    "Now I''m craving churros," he moaned.

    Vanessaughed at his plight. "We could always go get some after this. I''m sure you know the best ces around here that sell them."

    That he did. He had to get his fix somehow when his t¨ªas weren''t willing or able to make them for him.

    "Sounds good to me. There''s this great ce only a few blocks from here."

    "Excellent!"

    The conversation ended then because the waiter came to take their orders and afterward the subject changed to the wedding. Angelo felt himself rxing the way he often did when Vanessa was around. When they weren''t bickering, that is.

    That wasn''tpletely unpleasant though. He liked a good debate now and then. Otherwise things would be too boring.

    He was having a good time on this date that wasn''t a date until Vanessa brought up the wedding on the way to the churro ce. "Avery looked absolutely beautiful, didn''t she? I''ve never seen her so happy. She and Christian are perfect for each other, don''t you think?"

    Thankfully, she didn''t know about the feud between Angelo and Avery on the subject of her marriage. This subject was touchy enough as is. He needed to act like a best friend was supposed to act. Supportive.

    "It''s been a long time since I''ve seen her like that," he confessed. "I''m d she found someone who adores her."

    That much was true. It was everything else that was the problem.

    "He certainly does. I''ve never seen someone so devoted. He looks at her like he never wants to look away. Where can I find someone like that?" Vanessa joked.

    Angelo felt slightly ufortable. She was a beautiful woman. Finding that shouldn''t be hard. Sooner orter someone was going to snap her up and then he would probably never see her again unless Avery was having some sort of big group date. He didn''t like the thought of that at all.

    "Are the men you''ve been seeing blind?" he asked scornfully.

    Vanessa''s eyes widened. "What''s that supposed to mean? Are you trying to insult them orpliment me?"

    "Both, I guess."

    "You have a strange way of trying to make someone feel better but I''ll take it. Thanks."

    "There''s no need to thank me for that," Angelo said, scratching the back of his neck. He probably shouldn''t have said anything but he couldn''t regret it with how she was smiling at him right now.

    "Yes, there is! Avery says you have impossibly high standards and you basically just said I''m pretty."

    He internally cursed her. How could she throw him under the bus like that?! It must have been before she had a suspicion he liked Vanessa. She wouldn''t have said such a thing afterward.

    "So what if I did? It''s the truth. You''re the most beautiful person I know."

    Angelo froze when he realized what he said and so did Vanessa. She looked at him in utter disbelief. "Are you for real?!"

    "I wouldn''t say something like that just because! Ah, forget it. Let''s just get those churros."

    They continued their walk in silence but he noticed Vanessa scrutinizing him the entire way and felt distinctly self-conscious. He was an idiot. How could he have said something so mushy out loud? This wasn''t supposed to be a real date!

    They got their churros and he shoveled his in as quickly as possible in the hopes that he could forget his mortification. Sugar fixed everything ording to Avery. It was practically her motto.

    Vanessa ate hers more slowly and when she was done she looked at Angelo the same way she had on the walk here. "Why did you ask me out today?"

    "Because it was a better alternative than sitting in front of myputer screen?"

    "Why me though?"

    "Better someone I know than some crazy stranger from the inte."

    Angelo could tell what she was trying to do. She wanted to trap him and get him to admit he liked her. He would never do that in a million years. Not with the high likelihood of it making things awkward between them forever.

    "Come on, I can''t be the only woman you know," Vanessa insisted.

    "Only one I know who isn''t in a rtionship or from work. It''s never a good idea to date someone at the office," he said evasively.

    "I''m serious, Angelo! We''ve doubled with Avery and Christian before but that''s only because it was the easy thing to do, right? Is that why you asked me out tonight? Because you wanted a date and I was the most convenient option?"

    It would be so easy to say yes. He should say yes and put this behind him. To keep things between them a simple matter of both being best friends with the same person. But it was really hard to force the lie out when she was looking at him so expectantly. Why did she have to look at him like that with those big brown eyes?

    "What do you think?" Angelo countered.

    "I don''t know what to think, honestly," Vanessa said in frustration. "All this time I thought you only put up with me because of Avery but then you danced with me for over an hour, brought me flowers, and said I''m the most beautiful person you know."

    "I never put up with you!"

    Being around Vanessa had never been a chore. Even in the beginning when he didn''t know her very well she was easy to be around because she had such a simr sense of humor to Avery.

    "What do you mean you never put up with me? You argue with me all the time!" she cried.

    "What can I say? You''re fun to debate with. You get really into it and it''s funny," Angelo said with a shrug. "That doesn''t mean I put up with you. I put up with my little cousins half the time but never you."

    Vanessa narrowed her eyes at him. "So when you hang out with Avery and me is it for her sake or mine?"

    "Why can''t it be for both? You were her friend first but you''re my friend too."

    "Friends usually don''t call each other beautiful, Angelo."

    "Says the one who called Avery beautiful less than thirty minutes ago," he scoffed without meeting her eyes.. Eye contact now would ruin his nonchnt act.

 Chapter 73 - My Advice? Dont

    "That''s different! We''re both women. Women call each other beautiful all the time! I''ve never once heard you call anyone beautiful other than me. Even Avery," Vanessa said, unwilling to let this go.

    Angelo rolled his eyes. "Yeah, because that would be gross. Do guys normally go around calling their sisters beautiful?"

    "But you do think she''s pretty, don''t you?"

    "It''s not like I think she''s ugly but she''s definitely not my type. What''s with this weird line of questioning? You can''t possibly think I''d be interested in someone I was raised with."

    "No, but I''m starting to think you''re interested in me even if you won''t admit it," Vanessa said as she eyed him shrewdly.

    Angelo began to panic. Had she seriously seen through him because of one little slipup? He couldn''t go there. Even if he wasn''t currently trying to overthrow the secret dictator of this country. If he screwed things up there would be no going back to how it was.

    He liked the way things were. They werefortable. Normal. What he was used to. Messing with it was a terrible idea even without factoring in the muchrger problem at hand.

    If he said the wrong thing here he would never be able to undo it. He gave her a pleading nce.

    "Don''t go there, Vanessa. Please."

    Vanessa put her hands on her hips. "Why not?"

    "Because it doesn''t matter one way or the other. If you''ll excuse me, I''m going home. Thanks foring out with me tonight. I''ll see you the next time Avery wants to get together," Angelo said firmly.

    "Hey, wait! Angelo!" She struggled to keep up with him in her high heels. "Slow down! Why wouldn''t it matter?"

    "I''m done talking. Go home."

    "I''m not. You can''t just drop a bomb on me and walk away. How long have you liked me? Why didn''t you ever say anything? Can you at least tell me that much?"

    Angelo turned to look at her when she managed to catch his wrist. He wanted to shake her off and run for it but that would make things even more awkwardter. He couldn''t bear for things to be awkwardter, which was why he tried to shut her down before they reached this point.

    "I told you it doesn''t matter. You''re beautiful, funny, and easy to talk to. You can have anyone you want so why do you care whether I like you or not? You certainly don''t like me," he said, frustration tinting his tone because he wanted to go home and get back to what mattered.

    He shouldn''t have done this in the first ce. He wasn''t like Avery or Jorge. His heart was full of nothing but revenge.

    "I never said that."

    Vanessa''s words stopped him cold. "What?!"

    "I had a lot of fun at the wedding. I always have fun when you''re around. I can see myself liking you."

    That was thest thing Angelo wanted to hear. He finally mustered the courage to pull his hand away. "My advice? Don''t. Goodnight, Vanessa."

    He did his best to disappear into the crowd properly this time and wished he had the suit''s super jumping abilities. It would be nice to jump away from his problems. But since he couldn''t do that he had to make the long, cold walk back to his apartment.

    He sighed in relief and leaned his head against the door once he arrived. Safe. He was safe here. Home was where hisputer was. If that couldn''t make him feel better nothing could.

    Angelo got back to work on their ns as soon as he had changed into a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. This was where he belonged.

    He couldn''t allow himself to end up like Avery. Absolutely not!

    She was more than stressed enough for both of them about all of this stuff. He didn''t need to go there. Things might be awkward for a while but it was better than making it worseter. This was fine. He hadn''tpletely burned that bridge.

    Tonight had been a mistake. They never saw each other alone so she probably wouldn''t dare bring it up in front of Avery and Christian the next time they met. He should be safe.

    Angelo had too much to do to deal with any drama like that. Too much nning¡­and too many other emotions he was trying his best to ignore. The anniversary of his father''s and Levi''s deaths wasing up and he wasn''t ready to deal with that. Four years. How had it almost been four years?

    He had been the brains behind Avery''s brawn all that time and they were so close¡ªSO CLOSE¡ªto aplishing their goal was it wasn''t enough. No matter how feverishly he worked it didn''t feel like enough.

    Messaging. Researching. nning. Encrypting. Decrypting. Meeting with Leah. Meeting with the others. Typing, typing, typing.

    Angelo''s typing speed was an impressive 167 words per minute. That came in handy for both programming and hacking. It had been a lifesaver in college and it even more vital now when he had so much to do in order to take Hunsacher down.

    He didn''t want to pass another anniversary without pulling it off. He HAD to get it done within five years of their deaths. He absolutely had to. Failing his father more than he already had wasn''t an option.

    He couldn''t keep letting him down. Horatio and Levi had both deserved better.

    Angelo had been genuinely angry that he had to fill Levi''s shoes at Avery''s wedding. He shouldn''t have had to do that. Levi should have been there to do it himself but he couldn''t because Hunsacher killed him. He didn''t get to walk her down the aisle or do a father/daughter dance or see how happy she had been but he should have!

    His anger hadn''t subsided one bit in the years since their deaths. He would never forget that phone call he got from the hospital or how when he arrived Avery was sobbing so hard she could hardly speak when she gripped his shoulders and told him they were dead.

    He had already lost his mother. Why did the universe have to take and take and take?

    He never got the answer to that question but he was determined that Nn Hunsacher would never take anyone else''s family away again. He was capable of doing that much.

    Finding the best targets to hit in order to cripple him were child''s y. He had managed to locate a few of his bank ounts too and drained them, breaking up the money and donating them to thousands of legitimate charities, Kickstarters, and GoFundMes for people he thought needed it. That brought him genuine pleasure.

    Angelo could only imagine how furious he was. Banks only insured certain amounts of cash. If more than that was stolen you were out of luck.

    Hunsacher had so much money that most of his ounts seemed to go over this limit by a wide margin. That made it too easy to take advantage of. It was impossible to resist that sort of temptation.

    Was it genuinely hurting Hunsacher? Probably not. But at the very least it had to be driving him up the wall.

    People got sloppy when they were upset. That was why he kept his emotions securely locked away. He couldn''t afford to be sloppy. He couldn''t afford to make a single mistake.

    That would put a lot of people in danger. Himself and Avery, Leah and her kids, theirwork, the kidnapped scientists. He wouldn''t allow Hunsacher to touch a single one of them so he always had to be at the top of his game.

    Distractions weren''t allowed. Angelo had to devote everything he had to this.

    He told himself he could rx when it was done¡­but what would be left of him at that point? He had devoted himself to this cause for nearly four years.

    Before he had to spend all of his free time hacking into things he had enjoyed video games. He couldn''t remember thest time he had a chance to y one. He was so busy trying to save the world from Nn Hunsacher that he barely had time to eat, sleep, and go to work.

    He needed to finish this for all of them. For everyone that monster hurt. Video games and dating would have to wait.

    Angelo felt bad about running out on Vanessa but not bad enough to dwell on it. He had things to do. So many that he was lost in them less than thirty minutes after arriving home.

    This was fine. He was fine. As long as he kept working he<em>would</em> destroy Nn Hunsacher. He wanted to be the one to kill him personally and didn''t care what he had to do in order to make that happen.

    Avery didn''t like thinking of them as viins because she never hurt anybody. She might be branded one by the world but she had a good heart. Not Angelo. His heart had been filled with murder from the moment he lost his father. She wanted him dead too but didn''t want to be the one to do it. That was fine by him.. He wouldn''t be satisfied until he saw the life leave those smug eyes.

 Chapter 74 - What Good Would That Do?

    As expected, Avery didn''t have any issues with excuses in February because she had taken time off the month before. The problem was March. The month of the anniversary of her dad''s death.

    The high from the wonderful Valentine''s Day she spent with her husband wasn''t enough to keep her spirits up for long with that looming over her. Four years. How had it been four whole years without him? Four years since she had gotten a hug from him. Four years since she had seen him smile. Four years since she had be Nox to fulfil hisst wish.

    Christian noticed there was something off about her. How could he not when they were living together? This was the fourth weekend in a row she had something going on and she had been tired and almost depressed about it all.

    "Avery¡­I really don''t want to pry but something is off about you. Can you talk to me about it? I can''t help if I don''t know what''s going on. You''ve been so busy I''ve hardly seen you and when I do you seem miserable," he said as she flopped down exhaustedly on her way in after yet another mission.

    Thankfully, she had an excuse ready. "I''m sorry I''ve been busy. I told you before we even moved in together that there were things I have to do. They''ve just¡­piled uptely. And I seem miserable because the anniversary of my dad''s death is in three days."

    Christian was horrified. "I''m so sorry; Ipletely forgot!"

    "I didn''t expect you to remember something you only saw once months ago. Angelo and I usually go together and his family joinster. Then we all get together for dinner and share our memories."

    "I see. Why didn''t you tell me this earlier?"

    "It slipped my mind. Sorry. Guess all the busyness is getting to me," Avery said sheepishly.

    She really should have told him about the anniversary sooner. She just didn''t want to think about it more than necessary. It was already on her mind near-constantly as she ran around doing Nox stuff more than usual.

    Christian sighed and put an arm around her shoulders. "You really need to be better about telling me things, Avery."

    "¡­I know."

    Avery truly did know that but she also knew there were things she could never tell them. The lies were only piling higher. She could only hope that the reason behind them would end soon before he either caught on or thought she was having an affair or something equally ridiculous.

    She knewmunication was important in a rtionship because of all of the advice out there but also couldn''t do anything about it. She was stuck.

    At least Christian let things go for the time being after finding out about one of the reasons behind her behavior ofte. He was very supportive in the days leading up to the anniversary and the day of.

    They went to the cemetery together and Avery crouched down in front of her dad''s grave, reaching out to trace the letters of his name on the headstone. A lump formed in her throat. "Hi, Dad."

    There was so much she wished she could tell him. Her conflicted feelings from thest time she came here with Christian had intensified.

    Her dad loved her more than anything. She knew that. So why was she angry at him for leaving this all to her? Why was she so confused about his motives? He had been a good person who wanted to make the world a better ce and stop a horrible man.

    But he also put a lot of pressure on his daughter. Why had he done it? Because she happened to catch himing through the window in the suit one time and he didn''t want to bother bringing anyone else in on the secret? Or because he actually wanted her to finish what he started specifically?

    Avery didn''t know which would be worse. All of this happening by chance or her dad wanting to get her involved from the beginning.

    She had been a normal girl then. One free to do whatever she wanted rather than being bogged down with the heavy responsibility of saving the country from someone no one else perceived as a threat.

    She was so angry! Angry that Hunsacher killed the only parent she had. Angry that her dad left all of this to her. Angry that she couldn''t be honest with the man she loved. And her anger couldn''tpare to Angelo''s. Sometimes she wondered if her best friend would tear the corrupt world down with his bare hands given the chance.

    Speaking of Angelo¡­where was he? He was usually here by now.

    Avery nced a few rows over to where the Cruz grave was and saw him kneeling in front of it and pounding the ground. Yep. Definitely angrier than she was.

    He didn''t seem to resent the job his father left him as much as she did hers if he even did at all. He was too furious with Hunsacher for taking his dad after the universe had already taken his mom.

    Honestly, she was tempted to pound the ground too. To scream "why did you leave all of this to me?" as she let out all of her rage about the stress that had been guing her since Christian came into her life because of the job he left her in charge of.

    But Avery couldn''t do that because her husband was herefortingly hugging her from behind. He didn''t know anything about her pain but he still wanted to help without knowing it was impossible.

    How could he help when the reminder of his love was part of the problem? And he would never know.

    She couldn''t say anything. She could only stare at the headstone as she stewed in her tortured thoughts. She had to keep her true thoughts to herself because she had an audience. If she wanted to yell her frustrations at the headstone it would have to be when she came alone.

    "I want to go talk to Angelo," Avery said after sitting there for an indeterminate amount of time. "Before the rest of the family gets here."

    Christian nodded. "Alright. Do you want me toe with you?"

    "He seems upset and I don''t think he''d appreciate having someone he doesn''t know that well see him break down. I should do this one on my own. I shouldn''t be gone too long."

    She squeezed his hands and gave him her best attempt at a reassuring smile before heading over to where Angelo was still hunched over on the ground. She set down the flowers she had brought for Horatio beforeying aforting hand on Angelo''s shoulder and speaking to him in Spanish.

    "I''m angry too. Go on and let out all of your frustration before everyone else gets here. They wouldn''t understand."

    Well, Jorge might. He knew what they were up to and why. But the rest of his aunts, uncles, and cousins weren''t aware of the things they got up to in the name of revenge and helping others.

    "No one understands," Angelo spat. "My family is sad but they think it was a normal car ident. That it couldn''t have been prevented. They don''t understand that Papi and T¨ªo Levi were STOLEN from us. And for what? The sake of keeping dirt they had on Nn Hunsacher secret? They had to die for such an insignificant reason!"

    "I know," Avery said quietly.

    She had thought all of these things herself many times. She knew exactly how he was feeling right now.

    Cheated. They had both been cheated of having their fathers with them longer when they had already lost their mothers. They had both been thrust into roles they had never signed up for because they felt like they had to. They had both sworn not to let Nn Hunsacher do the same thing to anybody else.

    Avery hugged him tightly as she sat down next to him. "I know, Angelo. Let it all out. I''ve got you."

    "I can''t! If I do that there''s noing back."

    "So what? No one will me you for that today. You don''t have to be strong all the time. How about this? We both scream at the same time."

    Angelo looked at her nkly. "What good would that do?"

    "I''ve heard it''s cathartic. I could use a good scream right now too so let''s go for it."

    "¡­won''t your husband hear?"

    "If he asks me about it I''ll say it was your idea," Avery deadpanned.

    He red at her but acquiesced. "Fine. Let''s scream then. I don''t think it will do anything but since you insist¡­"

    Avery let go of him and counted down from three on her fingers before they both let out their most frustrated screams, startling some nearby pigeons. She didn''t know about him but she felt a bit better after doing that even though her throat hurt now. In fact, she was tempted to do that again.

    "That actually helped.. I''m going to keep going," she said before going off on a long rant in Spanish, yelling and shaking her fist at the sky.

 Chapter 75 - When All Of This Was Over

    Everything Avery had been thinking for weeks poured out of her until she felt empty. No rage. No sadness. Just¡­nothingness. She would rather feel that than the cocktail of emotions that had been guing her so she leaned back on her hands and sighed in relief.

    Angelo saw the difference it made in the way she was carrying herself and shrugged before doing the exact same thing. His rant was primarily focused at Hunsacher rather than his dad but he was also angry that he had to lose both of his parents and didn''t even know who he was anymore.

    Avery''s heart went out to him. She hadn''t realized he was having somewhat of an identity crisis.

    She could rte. She certainly didn''t feel like the same person she had been before all of this started. Grief and revenge could do that to you.

    "Do you feel any better now?" she asked him.

    Angelo let out a smallugh. "A little. I can''t believe that actually worked. Pretty sure your husband thinks we''re crazy now though. Not that I care but you have a lot of exining to do."

    Avery turned her head and saw Christian watching them anxiously. From the distance he was at he probably hadn''t been able to hear much of what they said but he would have heard the screams for sure. She was going to have to use Angelo as an excuse.

    "Eh, I''ll deal with it. You going to be okay?"

    "Yeah. I''lle pay my respects to T¨ªo Levi now," he said as he got off the ground and offered her a hand to help her up.

    They walked back over to Christian together and he tactfully didn''t say anything about what he had seen or heard. "Hey, Angelo. I''m sorry for your loss."

    "Thanks," he said crisply before setting down the flowers he had brought for Levi''s grave. He sighed and rubbed the top of the headstone before murmuring, "I wish you were here, T¨ªo."

    Avery did too. She wished both of them were here and that she and Angelo would have been able to live their lives as normal people in their twenties. Unfortunately, her wish was futile. There was no bringing back the dead.

    "Where''s everyone else?" she asked, trying to shake those thoughts free.

    Angelo squinted toward the parking lot. "I think I see them over there. Better prepare yourself for the bombardment of sympathy and make room for all of their flowers."

    Avery snorted. They did always bring a lot of stuff with them when they came. They all considered her dad as one of them so they went all out for him just like they did for their actual brother.

    Sure enough, she was swarmed by people hugging her and her dad''s grave became so decorated you would think his death had been recent. The Cruz n didn''t stay at the graves long because they didn''t want the food to get cold so they paid their respects and ushered everyone to Domenica''s ce since it was the biggest. They usually held parties there.

    The food helped Avery nearly as much as the scream had. She had thought she wouldn''t have any appetite but the delicious smells got to her.

    Everyone went around telling stories about Horatio, Levi, or both and Christian sat silently yet supportively by her side with his hand in hers. If only he knew that he was listening to memories about his original nemesis.

    "I never met Levi but I can tell he was a great man by the way Avery talks about him," he said when everyone else around the table had contributed their memories. "Horatio too."

    Avery nearly snorted. He had met him. Many, many times. Her dad used toin about Mercury a lot after she caught him sneaking in through the window and exined what he was doing and why. That happened less than a month into his endeavor so she had about eight months'' worth ofints to go off of before she met the man in question.

    Her dad and husband had disliked each other at best because they kept causing problems for each other. And Christian would never know.

    He never met Horatio but he had been tech support for Levi the same way Angelo was for her. He was just as much as part of Nox''s exploits. A nameless extension of Nox.

    Only she could appreciate the irony in that statement. Angelo didn''t know he had been Mercury so he epted it at face value the way everyone else around the table did. She had to hold back herughter alone.

    One of these days the irony was going to kill her. Her life was such a mess!

    When they got home after the dinner was over Christian looked over at her expectantly and Avery felt a pit form in her stomach. He was going to ask about what happened earlier, wasn''t he?

    "So what was with the screaming at the cemetery?"

    She had been dead on. At least she had an exnation ready. "Angelo needed an outlet to get out his feelings so I suggested we both scream at the same time. Have you ever heard of the five stages of grief? Anger is one of them. They don''t go in any particr order and you can go back and forth between them any number of times.

    "He was angry and needed to blow off steam and honestly so was I. I feel a lot better now but I realize that probably looked really weird. Sorry if I freaked you out. I didn''t mean to. I was just trying to process things and help my best friend at the same time."

    Christian nodded as he mulled this over. "So you''re angry that you didn''t get enough time with your dad."

    Among other things. "Yeah."

    "I''m sorry. You should have been able to have that."

    Yes, she should have. More time with him and not having the weight of his goals on her shoulders. That just about summed up herplicated feelings about his murder.

    "We both should have. Me and Angelo," Avery said in a hard voice. "But we didn''t and now we have to deal with the fallout. There''s nothing we can do about it so sometimes we just have to scream."

    Christian hugged her and rubbed her backfortingly. "Scream all you need to."

    "I think I got it all out earlier but thanks. Most of the time I''m fine but sometimes the anger just hits me out of nowhere all over again. Today was just one of those days. Don''t worry about me too much. I''m going to be fine."

    Even as she said them Avery didn''t believe her own words. Would she ever truly be fine? She didn''t think such a thing was possible until Nn Hunsacher had been brought to his knees.

    Angelo definitely wouldn''t be fine until then. She worried about him sometimes. More than usual after seeing her usually stoic friend break down earlier today. After all this time he was finally cracking under the pressure. What had been the trigger?

    "Are you sure?" Christian asked. "If you need anything¡ª"

    "I don''t. I already have you," Avery said with a small smile in his direction.

    As long as she had him she would be fine. She needed to make sure she bnced all of the other stuff going on properly so she wouldn''t lose him.

    She couldn''t bear to lose Christian too when she had already lost so much. There were so few people left that she cared about on a personal level. Each one was precious to her. She couldn''t afford to lose any of them but especially not her husband.

    She just needed to handle things more efficiently. Have better excuses. Sneak out more in the middle of the night so he didn''t notice she was gone. As long as she stayed on top of her Nox duties perfectly she would be able to stay with him and enjoy the life they were trying to build together.

    Avery had to fight for that future. She couldn''t let anyone¡ªespecially not Nn Hunsacher¡ªtake it from her. Not when he had taken her father and uncle in one go.

    Someday¡­when all of this was over¡­she wanted to have a normal life. One involving kids and possibly even pets. She didn''t know what Christian''s opinion was but she always thought it might be nice to get abination of cats and dogs. She hadn''t been able to when she was younger because her dad had been allergic and these days she had so much else on her te she couldn''t think about taking care of anything else.

    Thoughts of a better future were all that kept her going right now. She couldn''t lose out on that. On having a family again. One that was truly hers instead of borrowed.

    Avery had a lot of work to do but she was determined to see it through to the end. She had to be on top of her game as both a wife and Nox if she wanted to make that happen. No faltering allowed. Not when she was closer to the finish line than she had ever been before.

    Even if she was conflicted about all of this she had to see it through to the end.. She owed her dad that much.

 Chapter 76 - An Awful Lot Like Noxs Handiwork

    Avery had a harder time sticking to her guns working around Easter and the sheer number of missions Angelo had her going on in April. They went to the Cruzes since theirst holiday had been spent with the ters but they ended up having dinner with them the following Sunday when she was exhausted and running on two hours of sleep.

    "Are you alright, Avery? You seem worn out," Nancy said with a frown.

    "I haven''t been feeling very welltely," she said half-truthfully. She never felt well when she wasn''t properly rested.

    "You need to take better care of yourself. It''s no good if you run yourself ragged. That doesn''t help anybody, let alone you. What sort of not feeling well is it? Do you need to go to the doctor?"

    "No, I''m just tired and achy. Don''t worry about me."

    "Tired and achy? Could you possibly be pregnant?" Nancy asked, a hint of excitement in her voice.

    "Mom!" Christian protested. "We''ve only been married for a few months! Don''t start on the grandchildren thing yet. Please. We''re not ready for that."

    Avery appreciated him standing up for her as she blushed. "Definitely not pregnant. Just overworked. Things have been really busytely. We want to spend more time alone together first before we even think about that."

    "Lay off her, Nancy," Brian said, waving his fork around. "I know you want grandkids but let them do things at their own pace."

    She appreciated that too. What she did not appreciate was how gleeful Liam was trying and failing to stifle hisughter. She supposed he thought it was funny because if his mother''s attention was on getting grandchildren it wasn''t on him getting a girlfriend.

    The subject blessedly changed after that but Avery was more exhausted than before when they left the ters. Christian could tell exactly what it was about and was incredibly apologetic.

    "I''m so sorry about my mom."

    "Don''t worry about it. I can''t me her for being excited," she said wearily.

    "She has wanted grandkids for a really long time but it still isn''t fair to put pressure on you. I know you''re busy and still figuring things out. We can wait to have kids until that happens so don''t worry about it."

    "Is that really what you want?"

    "You already know what I want. I want to have a family with you but I knew you weren''t ready before we got married. Ignore my mom, okay? When we have kids is our business. But I have to ask¡­do you know how long you''re going to be this busy?" Christian asked.

    Avery sighed. "Unfortunately, no. I don''t really have control over what''s going on. I just do what I''m told."

    "Hang on, what? I thought whatever it was you were doing was your idea!"

    "I never said that. I said I had obligations. I have to see them through to the end but I''m not the one calling the shots so I have no idea how long it''s going to take. I''m sorry I''ve been busytely but I''m kind of on call."

    "On call for what? What on earth are you involved in that takes up this much time?" Christian demanded. "Why do you feel obligated to keep doing things for other people at your own detriment?"

    Avery should have expected questions like this. Honestly, it was surprising he didn''t ask them sooner. He had been letting her do her thing up until now but it seemed he had reached his limit. It was a good thing she had prepared for this. Otherwise she might be in real trouble.

    "You know how I help out that family hiding from the mom''s abusive estranged husband? It''s like that but on arger scale. It''s all very secretive to protect the people we''re hiding so I can''t talk about it much but work with an organization that''s kind of like a women''s shelter but operates on arger scale.

    "It''s very important to me so I can''t give it up until I reach a certain milestone of people helped but I don''t know how long that will take. Can you understand that? I''m just trying to make a difference."

    Christian narrowed his eyes at her. "Why can''t I help you with that?"

    "I told you, it''s very secretive. Run by women for women. There aren''t any men involved at all because it would make the people we''re helping ufortable. So just¡­let me be busy, okay? It will be over eventually but for now I go where the leader tells me to go when she needs it. Alright?"

    "Okay! There''s no need to get so defensive about it. I just want to help you because you seem stressed."

    Avery could tell that he was stressed by the way he said that and her heart twisted but there was nothing she could do. She couldn''t tell him the truth.

    "I know. I can handle it though. I''ve handled much worse."

    Christian sighed. "Maybe so but you shouldn''t have to, Avery. Think about that the next time whoever''s in charge asks too much of you. I''m going to go take a walk. See youter."

    She felt terrible that he was so upset he needed to leave to cool down but again there was nothing she could do. She was stuck until the whole mess with Hunsacher was over and done with. They were closer than they had ever been but the mission still seemed to stretch endlessly in front of them. Would they ever be done? Or would she spend the rest of her life spreading herself too thin and avoiding answering questions about when they would have kids?

    ===

    Christian was frustrated enough that he needed to go flying. Avery was always putting other people before herself and as someone who had been there he knew what that could do to you. Sooner orter she was going to snap.

    Angelo''s concern about their political differences made more sense now. She was majorly involved in some sort of nonprofit and was putting it first while trying to juggle her rtionship with him. Had been for months. They were married but she felt further away from him now than she had before when they were just living together.

    Probably because her excursions were less frequent then. What had changed? Why were they expecting more from her now?

    Christian knew Avery loved him but that was about all he knew at this point. Whatever she was doing she wasn''t cheating on him. He was sure of that much. But he hated that she couldn''t talk about what was stressing her out.

    He felt like the world''s biggest hypocrite because of the weight of his own secrets. Everybody had things they couldn''t tell anyone else but it was a special kind of aggravating being on both sides of the equation at the same time. He wished there was something he could do but there wasn''t so he ended up flying around doing loop-de-loops for a while until he cleared his head.

    He needed a better distraction than solely that because his frustration was backe morning when Avery was little more than a zombie on their way to work but it came from an unexpected source. He was scrolling on his phone during his lunch break and happened to see a rather blurry shot of someone leaping through the air that couldn''t be anyone but Nox.

    The article was specting about the "new hero" who saved Mercury (Delta had kept his word and let everyone know he was still alive) and why he behaved so mysteriously. It must have been a slow news day to bring this back up since it happened months ago.

    But it did get Christian thinking. He had so much else going on since retiring that hepletely forgot about Nox.

    The man had kept his word. Not a peep had gotten out about Mercury''s secret identity so he had kept up his side of the deal. What had he been up to all this time aside from most likely continuing to steal insulin?

    He couldn''t look up what Nox was doing directly since no one knew about him but he could look up what was going on with Nn Hunsacher. There was a lot to wade through but he discovered two things of note. His wife had filed for divorce and there had been several bombings of Hunsacherbs in different states in the same night.

    That sounded an awful lot like Nox''s handiwork. But how on earth would he have hit multiple ces separated by so many miles in so little time?

    Nox may im to be omniscient but there was only so much a single person could do. Either there was more than one Nox running around or he''d had help. Christian''s money was on thetter though he always seemed to work alone when they fought each other every week.

    Who was working with Nox? Other enemies of Nn Hunsacher''s?

 Chapter 77 - Unfinished Business

    Christian didn''t know what Nox''s ultimate goal was. Only that he was after Nn Hunsacher for some reason or other and his motives weren''t always sinister. He never hurt anybody and went as far as getting insulin to diabetics in need every month.

    He imed that Hunsacher was the most powerful man in the country even if nobody else knew about it. Christian had brushed it off as nothing more than a conspiracy theory but he had to wonder if Nox knew more than he was letting on. If there was more to Hunsacher than met the eye.

    Would a whole gang of conspiracy theorists really focus on taking down one man without having some sort of proof? As far as he knew, those types were paranoid and typically didn''t band together.

    He wished he understood what the deal was with Nox and Nn Hunsacher. But some mysteries could never be solved.

    At least it functioned as a somewhat sufficient distraction for about a week while he tried to keep doing research in his free time and see if he could figure out a connection. He felt like he was missing too many pieces of the puzzle.

    It would be nice to have some sort of sounding board for this but the only one he could think of was Liam. Who probably wouldn''t be helpful in the slightest.

    Still, he found himself inviting his brother over when Avery was gone overnight yet again because he needed to talk about this with someone before he went insane. He was pretty sure Liam only came because there happened to be cupcakes she made lying around.

    "Why are you even worrying about this?" he asked once Christian finished telling him. "Nox has been keeping his end of the bargain. I don''t think he''s going to do anything to you at this point."

    "I''m not worried about me! I''m worried about what he might be nning. I get the feeling it''s a whole lot bigger than simply stealing insulin and causing trouble for Nn Hunsacher. He has to have allies, Liam! How many people are in on this?"

    Liam frowned. "You thought he might be a hacker. What if he isn''t but someone working with him is?"

    Christian''s eyes widened. He hadn''t even thought of that! "Do you think someone else might know about my secret identity then?!"

    "Hard to tell. Even if there is someone else they haven''t said anything either."

    That was true. It had been more than half a year since he retired. If someone else did know they weren''t telling either because he had been holding up his end of the bargain not to interfere with whatever Nox was up to.

    "Fair point. Like I said, that isn''t what I''m worried about right now. He''s been more active blowing things up. I read articles about all of that and apparently some of the scientists that worked at thosebs and their families have gone missing. The timing couldn''t be coincidental," Christian insisted.

    Liam frowned and swallowed another bite of cupcake. "That''s weird. I didn''t think kidnapping was Nox''s style. Haven''t you always said he steals things or does vandalism?"

    "Yeah. I couldn''t see the connection for the longest time but knowing he''s after a specific person I''m willing to bet it all connects back to Nn Hunsacher. He did say the man had more reach than people thought. There could be a lot more Nox is doing topanies supposedly owned by Hunsacher that doesn''t end up in the news and I have no way of knowing because he isn''t my problem anymore."

    "Even you admit he isn''t your problem anymore so why do you care?"

    "Unfinished business drives me crazy. I fought him for more than three years and never figured him out. Then he had to go and ckmail me. Why wouldn''t I care?"

    Liam licked some frosting off his fingers and sighed. "I really don''t think it matters, Chris. Shouldn''t you be focusing more on your wife than your old nemesis? Where is she, anyway? I haven''t seen her since Mom gave her a hard time about grandkids."

    Christian groaned. He hadn''t wanted to think about all of the stuff going on with Avery. That was why he let himself get sucked back into whatever what going on with Nox. He didn''t want to admit he might be having marital problems so soon to his brother. He would never let it go.

    "She''s out with some friends. I can''t believe Mom did that."

    "Oh, I can! And I doubt she''s going to stop either. I get not wanting to have kids right away but you can''t reason with a woman who wants grandchildren. Mom really needs to get a hobby."

    She better stop! Avery was stressed enough as is. Christian might have to talk to her one-on-one to make sure nothing like this happened again.

    "Why is she like this?"

    "I think grandchildren help older womenmand a certain amount of respect in their social circles. That and she hates being an empty nester. You''d think she''d be used to it by now since it''s been so long since I graduated," Liam said with a shrug.

    "You''re just d she''s on the grandchild train instead of the girlfriend one," Christian replied bitterly.

    "You bet! I''ve been waiting for this. Now I''m free to do as I please without being lectured half as much. The only way I''m getting a girlfriend is if she''s a gamer too. I''m done dating high maintenance women who only ever want to go out when it''s so much better inside."

    "Good luck with that."

    "You never know! There''s this one girl I''ve been teaming up with in Call of Duty who lives in Long Ind and is pretty cool."

    Christian raised an eyebrow. "You sure you aren''t being catfished?"

    Liam looked incredibly offended and threw his cupcake wrapper at him. "Positive! I''ve heard her voice tons of times. You can''t really catfish people when chatting into a headset."

    "Have you ever seen a picture of this gamer girl?"

    "Yes. We''re friends on Facebook and I follow her on Instagram too. Her profiles on both check out. Why do you always have to doubt me?"

    "Because you finding a gamer girlfriend seems too good to be true," Christian pointed out logically. "So when are you going to meet Gabrie in person? How long have you been teaming up?"

    Liam rolled his eyes. "Ugh, you sound like Mom! Not apliment. We''ve only been teaming up for two weeks. I''m sure we''ll meet eventually."

    "Good for you."

    "Hey, we can''t all meet people in person! You''re one of the lucky ones."

    "You''d be able to meet people in person if you went out more," Christian pointed out. "But I did get lucky."

    "Seriously! Avery turned my stick-in-the-mud superhero brother into an actual guy. That takes real talent. I''m d you have her even if I do question her taste," Liam said right before he got smacked. He red and stuck his tongue out before getting another cupcake.

    There was absolutely nothing wrong with Avery''s taste in men. She was happy with Christian, okay? It was external factors that were currently making her unhappy.

    If he had to guess she had bitten off more than she could chew but felt obligated to see it through to the end. She certainly seemed frazzled these days and refused to talk about it because of the nature of her volunteer work.

    He just wanted her to be happy. To figure things out and be at peace. Was that so much to ask?

    The woman he loved was having a hard time and it seemed like there was nothing he could do about it. There were few things he hated more than feeling helpless and he was feeling that on two different fronts right now. Avery and Nox.

    There wasn''t anything he could do about either one of them and it was killing him. His hero days were over because he wanted them to be but the unfinished business with his archnemesis had reared its ugly head again right when he was having issues at home.

    Why had he bothered looking into this when he knew it wouldn''t end well? As much as he might not want to admit it, Liam was right that he shouldn''t care. That part of his life was behind him.

    But his life right now wasn''t going the way he wanted it to either. What kind of man was he if he couldn''t help his struggling wife? And why did she have to be so closed off when she was having a hard time? She rarely let him know how she was feeling and kept it hidden behind a smile.

    Nothing he did was working.. He had thought he would be okay with anything as long as he was able to stay by her side but herbined busyness and unwillingness to let him in was seriously trying his patience. What was going on inside his wife''s head?

 Chapter 78 - You Seriously Expect Me To Believe That?

    Avery was getting closer and closer to her breaking point. It had been stupid to let herself get caught on camera. If she had noticed earlier Angelo would have been able to do something about it. Unfortunately, neither of them caught onto what happened until it had already circted widely around the inte and the damage had been done.

    She was supposed to keep a low profile. No one knew who she was but what if Hunsacher had seen it and connected that blurry picture to reports of the person who kept blowing up his buildings?

    She had been chewed out for that, Christian kept nagging her about taking better care of herself, and the whole grandchildren thing was stressing her out too even though Nancy hadn''t said anything after that one time. She was probably still thinking about it.

    That was NOT an option right now¡ªor possibly ever at the rate things were going¡ªand thinking about the future she wanted but wasn''t sure she could have only served to drive her crazier. She was getting sloppy as she had feared.

    Being stressed about that didn''t help her any. The more stressed she got the more likely she was going to screw up again.

    Avery couldn''t do that. She needed to staypletely under the radar. She straight up had to cancel a mission on Angelo because she was so stressed she caught a nasty virus and was knocked t for two weeks.

    Christian gave her an even harder time about not taking care of herself after that though he diligently yed nursemaid until he caught her virus. His body was in better shape than hers though so he recovered in less than a week. He wasn''t falling apart like she was.

    She held onto her sanity by a thread. How much longer would she be able to push herself like this?

    She wasn''t sure but when she started throwing up again less than a month after recovering from her illness she was seriously annoyed. She went back to the doctor for a note because she was out of sick days and was horrified when they smilingly told her she was pregnant.

    "I''m what?!" she screeched.

    The doctor raised an eyebrow. "Is that a problem?"

    "Yeah, that''s a problem! I was on birth control! How did this happen?"

    "What kind of birth control do you use?"

    "The pills."

    "And have you been taking them regrly?"

    Avery moaned when it hit her. When she was sick she forgot to renew her prescription on time. There was a two-day window when this could have happened once she was better. How had she managed to mess up something so important?

    "I''m an idiot. I missed two days because I didn''t refill it in time. This is what I get for not being on top of things once," shemented.

    The doctor frowned. "Avery¡­are you going to want to terminate this pregnancy?"

    The answer should have been an unequivocal yes. The timing was absolutely horrible and she might miscarry anyway having to jump around and fight the way she did. Wouldn''t it be better to get that out of the way?

    This was no time to be pregnant! She hadn''t stopped Hunsacher yet and Christian absolutely would not let her run free the way he had been if he knew she was pregnant with his child.

    But the baby hadn''t done anything wrong. She didn''t want to be like her own mother, who had abandoned her for the sake of her career. Could she really kill her own child on purpose just because it chose to arrive at an inconvenient time? There were so many other things weighing on her conscience already!

    "I don''t know," she said in anguish, burying her face in her hands.

    What was she supposed to do? She couldn''t even talk to anyone about this because they wouldn''t understand or they would purposely push her toward one decision or the other.

    Vanessa wouldn''t be able to fathom why a married woman would want to get rid of a child. Angelo would want her to do it immediately since he hadn''t even wanted her to get married. Christian would obviously want her to keep it and raise it together like they talked about doing someday.

    Someday being the operative word. It wasn''t supposed to happen this soon when she was in the middle of trying to overthrow a shadow tyrant!

    "You don''t have to decide right now¡­but you do need to decide soon. The sooner it''s done the better for your body," the doctor said sympathetically. "I want you to think about your options ande back to see me in a week."

    A week? She had to stew in all of this for a whole week?

    Avery nodded numbly and headed out. A week. She couldn''t talk to anyone and had to decide on her own in such a short amount of time. How could she possibly make a decision like that so quickly?

    The worst part of this was that she had to act like everything was normal both at home and on the mission front. She was supposed to do another mission inside Hunsacher headquarters this weekend and she didn''t know how she could possibly do it knowing what she did now.

    But since she couldn''t talk to anyone about it she had to carry on. Carrying on was all she could do.

    She was pretending to be out of town overnight like on her insulin runs so she would have the chance to sleep it off but all of that jumping around made her nervous. She tried to be as careful as she could since she hadn''t made a decision one way or the other yet.

    Avery''s job tonight was nting a virus on Nn Hunsacher''s officeputer that would give Angelo full ess to all of the information stored on it, including more banking information.

    They were trying to cripple him financially so he would be forced to break up some of his monopolies. The other ounts they had used were ones Leah knew about and that was the only reason they had been able to ess them. But had a lot more than just those out there.

    This was an important mission. One only Avery could do.

    She couldn''t lose focus just because she had a monumentallyrge decision to make on her own. She needed to see this through. Once it was over she could go back to worrying.

    The office suddenly filled with smoke and she frantically looked around for the filtration button in the disy but she had never had to use it before so she couldn''t remember where to find it. She was out cold before she managed to locate it and men in gas masks entered the office to drag her away.

    When Avery woke up she was disoriented for a moment and tried to move her hands before realizing they were shackled with thick metal cuffs. Too thick to break through from the angle she was at.

    She cursed. They got her! Four years of being Nox and she had to get caught now?!

    What was she supposed to do? She couldn''t break free and there wasn''t anyone she could call for either. Nobody she knew of could break her out of shackles like this. She didn''t have anyone with superstrength orser vision on speed dial.

    The only hero she knew personally who owed her a favor was her husband. Could she really call him in the middle of the night as Nox and expect him toe even if she did use her knowledge of his secret identity as leverage? It wasn''t like Angelo could do anything to help her if she called him.

    Avery cursed. This sucked. Completely and totally sucked. Her phone was hooked up to the suit and calling as herself wasn''t an option.

    She would have to temporarily block her number to call him but the chances of him answering an unknown number in the middle of the night were practically zero. And modify the voice changing feature of her suit temporarily so it worked internally rather than just externally.

    She cursed again. If this didn''t work she was going to have to try Angelo though she doubted he would be able to get her out of this. If she didn''te home when she was supposed to tomorrow she would be in even bigger trouble with Christian.

    Setting up for the call was simple enough. Getting him to answer and actually cooperate was the real gamble.

    It was about 11 PM now. Would he even be awake?

    Christian didn''t answer on the first try. Or the second. By the third Avery was about to give up when he answered at thest possible second and snapped, "What? Who is this? Why are you calling sote?"

    "Mercury, I need help," Avery admitted. "I did save your life so can you get me out of this one?"

    "Nox?!"

    "Yeah. I don''t have anyone else to call. I''m currently being held captive and can''t get out of the shackles. I need you toe and break them for me. I know you don''t have superstrength but I''m sure you can figure something out."

    Christian made a disbelieving noise. "Why on earth would I help you?!"

    "Because you''re only alive right now because of me?"

    "That doesn''t mean I have to help you! I''m RETIRED. And I don''t save viins. Find somebody else."

    Avery''s frustration mounted. This stubborn idiot wouldn''t be so quick to say no if he knew who was asking but she wasn''t about to risk her secret identity for this. She had toe up with another tactic. Appeal to his humanity somehow.

    She took a deep breath before blurting out part of the terrible truth. "I''m pregnant! I need to get out of here before something bad happens to my baby. Please. You wouldn''t seriously leave a pregnant woman shackled to a chair, would you? Even if you don''t like me my baby has done nothing wrong."

    "WHAT?!" Christian screeched into the phone so loudly she winced. "You seriously expect me to believe that? You''re a guy!"

    "My voice changer might sound like it but I''m not! It was the perfect cover. Who would ever guess such a deep robotic voice belonged to a woman? You certainly didn''t and I interacted with you most."

    "I don''t believe you!"

 Chapter 79 - I Dont Have Time For This!

    Avery huffed. "Why would I lie about that? I went to the ob/gyn less than a week ago. I''m not very far along and I''d rather not have a miscarriage while I''m stuck here. If I do, it''s on you for refusing to help. I don''t think you''d be able to live with that."

    "I need some sort of proof with a crazy im like that. There is no way on earth you''re a woman, let alone a pregnant one. You would say anything to get me to help you," Christian said scornfully.

    "Fine! Hear my real voice. See if you don''t believe me then."

    Avery wasn''t the best imitator in the world. If she wanted to change her voice the best she could do was English with a Spanish ent because of all the time she had spent around the Cruzes. That should be enough to throw him off since she rarely spoke Spanish around him and always spoke English in her normal voice.

    She turned off the internal voice changer and prayed that this worked before adjusting her ent. "This is me. Do you believe me now?"

    "You''re¡­actually a woman," Christian said faintly. "I don''t believe it."

    "Well, you better. Because I don''t know how long I''ve been stuck here and my baby needs to eat. Are you going to help me or not? I''d rather not be here all night."

    "I have to help you now! But I don''t know how to break through shackles. If I had ice powers or something I could freeze them off but I don''t. The only person I know of like that isn''t exactly easy to find."

    "And you can''t think of any other options?" Avery asked desperately.

    "No. I''ll see if I can find them but I make no guarantees. I''ll need your location too. Do you even know where you are?"

    "Uh¡­let me look up my coordinates. Hang on." She checked them on her helmet disy then read them off once he said he had something to write on.

    Christian repeated them back to her to be sure he had them right and then sighed. "I''m not sure when I''ll be there. If I can''t find Frostine I''m going to have to improvise. Hang tight and call me back if they move you."

    "Thank you," Avery whispered.

    "Whatever. Like you said, I do owe you. But don''t ever ask me for a favor like this again. We''ll officially be even once I get you out," he said firmly before hanging up.

    She sighed. How long would it be before he managed to find something to get her out with?

    She really didn''t want to be stuck here all night. She had taken a gamble and had to pray it would pay off. She desperately hoped he would get here soon. She needed to get home by her allotted time.

    A terrible thought urred to her. What was she going to tell Angelo? She hadn''t managed to get the virus imnted and got herself caught to boot. He was never going to let this go. The failure of the mission hadn''t been 100% her fault¡ªHunsacher had clearly been waiting for someone to break into his office¡ªbut she was going to have to exin how she escaped. Which would be an absolute nightmare.

    Avery would have smacked herself if her hands weren''t bound. She was such an idiot!

    She wasn''t sure how long she waited but eventually she heard voices. And not the ones she was hoping to. They had to be the goons who kidnapped her. Just what she needed right now!

    "Hello, Man in the ck Suit," one of them said menacingly. "You''ve caused an awful lot of trouble. Just wait until Mr. Hunsacher gets here to deal with you. You won''t be causing any more."

    Avery''s blood ran cold. Nn Hunsacher wasing here?! She waspletely screwed if that happened. If he found out the suit was nanotech he would be able to find who she was rather easily. All he would need to do was run some tests while she was immobilized and it would be all over.

    She was trying toe up with a snappy retort when the man who spoke and his partner were both suddenly knocked out. Tears came to her eyes when she saw that familiar yellow suit.

    Christian hade for her and brought help as promised. A brte woman in a sparkling blue and white jumpsuit with a matching white mask was by his side and looked at her with a vague glimmer of curiosity.

    "So this is the infamous Nox."

    "Frostine. I never thought I would have the pleasure of meeting you," Avery said in relief. "Thank you foring!"

    "I have to say I wasn''t expecting to get kidnapped by a former colleague tonight but Mercury exined the situation to me," Frostine said as she froze the shackles on Avery''s wrists and ankles.

    They shattered a momentter and she flexed them to make sure everything was okay. She was actually free! She needed to get out of here so she could get Angelo to try and track this ce down and erase any footage of her before Hunsacher arrived.

    The problem was that she had two superheroes standing between her and the way out. Frostine wasn''t going to try and turn her over to the authorities, was she?

    Avery stood there awkwardly trying to figure out what to do but she needed to think fast. "Uh¡­thanks again for your help, Frostine. And to you for bringing her, Mercury. I need to get going so¡ª"

    "Not so fast. What were you doing that got you caught in the first ce? The Nox I know never would have let that happen. Though I suppose there is your pregnancy as an excuse. Does the father of your baby know you''re out jumping aroundmitting crimes while carrying his child?" Christian asked with a scowl.

    She almost gave into the hystericalughter bubbling up inside of her. The father of her baby was standing right in front of her giving her a lecture without even realizing it.

    "That''s really not any of your business, Mercury. I need to get out of here so do you mind?"

    "I do mind! I spent hours flying around looking for Frostine or some sort of weapon to bust you out in the middle of the night so you owe me an exnation. What were you doing? And why on earth are you still doing it when you''re pregnant?!

    "You can''t just drop a bomb on me like that and expect me not to have questions! I didn''t even know you were a woman until today. That time you said you were flirting with me you were dead serious, weren''t you?" Christian demanded.

    Frostine looked back and forth between the two of them with a detached sort of curiosity but said nothing. She took in what they were doing without feeling the need to get involved.

    Avery shrugged. She was surprised he remembered that.

    "So what if I was? I thought you were funny. That''s why I saved your life. Like you said, we''re even now. I need to get out of here before Nn Hunsacher shows up. I''m sure both of you have better things to do tonight so there''s no need to bother with me."

    "There is too! What''s so important you would risk your baby''s safety? Why are you after Nn Hunsacher?"

    "He took everything from me. He''s done the same to a lot of people and needs to be stopped before he hurts anyone else," Avery said in a hard voice. She turned to address Frostine. "I don''t know what he told you or what you think of me but I hope you''ll keep what you''ve seen and heard here to yourself."

    "I have no reason to get involved," the ice hero said coolly. "Do what you will. I have people with much worse motives than you to deal with. Do take care of yourself, Mercury. I have business to get back to."

    Christian gaped after her as she left before scowling and standing his ground. "This isn''t over, Nox. You''re going to tell me what you''re up to or I''ll¡ª"

    "You''ll what? You can''t do anything to me," Avery scoffed.

    At least not as Nox. The clock was ticking and she had to get out of here before she was in even deeper trouble. She jumped out of a window and he flew after her, grabbing her and dangling her by her underarms in midair.

    "Are you crazy?!" he shouted. "You''re pregnant! What are you doing smashing through a window?"

    "I don''t have time for this! Let me go! You wouldn''t seriously fight a pregnant woman, would you? Go home, Christian!"

    "Oh, now you''re using my real name to get me to cooperate when I don''t know yours?"

    "So what if you don''t know mine? That has nothing to do with this!" Avery insisted with growing frustration.

 Chapter 80 - Im Not Judging You

    Avery''s phone rang and she wanted to scream. Now Angelo tried to get in contact with her? She didn''t have time for this! She did need him to take care of the security footage for her though so she couldn''t ignore it. She was going to have to multitask.

    "This is a really bad time," she said in Spanish. "The mission waspromised. I need you to hack the security footage and delete it at these coordinates, no questions asked. I''m in the middle of something right now."

    "G¨¹era, what¡ª"

    "NOT NOW. Do as I said and I''ll exinter."

    Avery told her phone to end the call after giving him the coordinates and sighed because Christian had heard that even if he didn''t understand it. "Who were you talking to?"

    "Again, none of your business."

    "How many people are behind you? What are you all trying to do?" he pressed.

    "Let me go, Mercury! I''ll fight you. I swear I will, baby or no baby. I don''t owe you anything. I saved you and you saved me. We''re even."

    "Nox, I want to understand."

    Avery did a double take. That was the least judgmental thing she had ever heard him say to her when they were Mercury and Nox. Was he being serious? Did he genuinely want to understand why she did what she did?

    "Why?"

    "Because I don''t think you''re the kind of person to do something for no reason. You care about people. So can you please tell me why you''re doing all of this? I won''t tell anyone," Christian said seriously.

    "You already told Frostine," she said skeptically.

    "Not everything! I had to tell her I needed her help saving someone I owed my life to and she figured you were my old archnemesis but I didn''t tell her anything beyond that. Really."

    Christian wasn''t a liar. Avery was inclined to believe him but that didn''t mean she trusted him. He had quit hero work and only came back tonight because she asked him to. And she did still have his secret identity hanging over his head. He had no reason to rat her out.

    She let out a heavy sigh. "Set me down. It''s hard to talk up here."

    Hended on the nearest building with a t roof and looked at her expectantly. "Tell me, Nox. Why are you out to get Nn Hunsacher?"

    "He''s a monster. The kind that will kill anyone who poses a threat to him. Even I don''t know how many people he''s killed but it''s too many. He needs to be stopped before he kills any more. Or before he manages to take over this country more than he already has."

    "Take over this country?"

    "You have no idea how powerful he is. He owns everything. Healthcare, power nts, agriculture, water, the United States Congress. He''s turned this country into a dystopian nightmare and it''s only going to get worse if he isn''t stopped."

    Christian''s brow creased. "How do you know all of this?"

    "People who work for him," Avery confessed. "There are a lot of us though I can''t tell you how many. People who have seen how evil he is for himself and want to stop him. We aren''t trying to hurt anyone. We''re trying to save them. Things would be a lot worse without our interference."

    "Worse how?"

    "I can''t tell you. But I will say this: Nn Hunsacher is more of a viin than I''ll ever be. For me doing illegal things is means to an end so I can stop him and give this country back to the people. For him it''s a power trip."

    "Then why don''t you leave it to the heroes to stop him? Why take things upon yourself?" Christian asked.

    Avery scoffed. "Like heroes would be willing to do what needs to be done to stop him. This is beyond what heroes do. Only someone like me who cares too much and has nothing to lose could even try."

    "You have something to lose now. Or have you already forgotten you dragged me out of bed for your baby''s sake? You can''t keep this up while you''re pregnant. And what about the father? You don''t seem like someone who has nothing to lose."

    She didn''t know whether tough or cry. She didn''t have nothing to lose anymore. But back when she and Angelo first started this endeavor they had both been grieving too much to think of long-term consequences and jumped in headfirst. Things had changed a lot for her since then.

    Avery sighed and sat down on the building''s ledge, leaning back on her arms and kicking her feet. "I didn''t when I started this. I thought I would be safe because I had already lost everything. I didn''t expect to find anyone else I was afraid of losing but here I am."

    "Then why not stop and leave it to someone else?" Christian asked. "You were really keen on my retirement after I got hurt. Why not retire yourself?"

    "There are always new heroes to rece people like you. No one else CAN rece me. This suit is one of a kind and it won''t respond to anyone else. It has to be me. I have to see this through to the end even though I''ve wanted to quit more times than I can count after meeting him."

    "Who is he? Your boyfriend?"

    "Someone I thought I could get away with having something casual with before getting greedy," Avery said wryly. "I thought any time with him was better than no time at all despite my situation being less than ideal. Before I knew it I was in too deep to get out."

    Christian frowned. "Nox¡­does he know?"

    "Of course not. He would never ept me for who I am."

    "And who are you?"

    Avery let out a tinyugh. "An excellent question. Sometimes I wonder that myself. Am I who I was before Nn Hunsacher took everything from me? Am I who I want to be when it''s all over? Or am I nothing but a viin to be scorned for daring to ignorews that allow people to get hurt?

    "You were a hero; you would never understand. I have to help people too but I can''t do it in the light like you did. All I want is to prevent anyone from suffering the way I''ve suffered. If I have to be a viin to stop a worse viin so be it.

    "I don''t know what I am aside from an idiot for letting myself believe I could be normal. I''m not normal. I haven''t been normal since before all of this happened but I was so convinced everything would be okay if I kept at it.

    "It''s not okay at all. The man I love would judge me the same way you do if he knew about me. Isn''t that sad? He thinks I''m a lot better than I am. Someone as good as him could never ept someone like me and I knew it from the start but I didn''t want to let him go. Maybe that''s what makes me a viin more than anything."

    It was oddly freeing talking to Christian like this. He had no idea she was talking about him.

    Letting him know she was a woman had been a gamble but that narrowed it down to half of the poption. It wouldn''t lead to her directly¡­unless he found out about her pregnancy. That would make it more suspicious.

    Was that it? Had her decision been made for her because she needed to protect her secret identity? It would make things so much worseter if he found out because he would know what she did but he wouldn''t forgive her regardless. It was amazing he even wanted to hear her side of things right now.

    Christian looked at her seriously. "I''m not judging you. I didn''t realize the depth of the situation before and I''m sorry about that. Can you tell me what Hunsacher is doing exactly that you''re trying to stop? It has something to do with that room in Hunsacher Inc. headquarters that you destroyed, doesn''t it? All of the destruction you cause has to have a reason since you don''t want anyone to get hurt."

    Avery blinked at him in disbelief. "You figured that out, huh? Have you been looking into me?"

    "I can''t deny I was curious what you were up to. I don''t like unfinished business," Christian admitted. "You destroyed that factory in California and thosebs up and down the east coast too, didn''t you?"

    "So what if I did?"

    "I want to know why."

    "And you won''t tell anyone? This is solely for your own curiosity''s sake?" Avery asked skeptically.

    "Who would I tell? I''m retired. I only got back in contact with Frostine tonight by chance to help you. Your secret is safe with me," Christian reassured her.

    She believed him. He actually wanted to understand Nox instead of tossing out his usual condemnation without much evidence.. She really didn''t want to call Angelo back so it wasn''t like she had anything better to do.

 Chapter 81 - He Thinks Like You

    Avery sighed. "Someone tipped us off that Hunsacher had something huge going on that he was hiding in a secret room in Hunsacher Inc. HQ. And boy, did he! As if practically owning the United States isn''t enough he''s looking into how to chemically induce mind control.

    "That''s why thebs had to go. It was where the research was being conducted. We had to destroy all traces of it so he couldn''t go forward with his ns. All we want is to dismantle his empire and protect everyone.

    "And that factory? It was a sweatshop taking advantage of refugees. We rescued them and got them somewhere safe where Hunsacher couldn''t exploit them anymore. We aren''t the bad guys, Christian. We really aren''t. Can you understand that?"

    "If you aren''t the bad guys why are you so convinced that the father of your child will reject you?" Christian asked.

    "Because he thinks like you," Avery said ironically. "He would never tolerate anything illegal no matter how well-intentioned. And I''ve lied to him a lot to keep my secret. He would never forgive me."

    "You seem awfully positive about that."

    "I can take anything but him leaving me. I can''t risk it. He''s the only thing that has made me truly happy since my world fell apart and if I lose him I''ll fall apart all over again. What good will I be able to do for anyone then?"

    Christian looked her straight in the eye even though he wasn''t aware that was what he was doing because of her helmet. "Avery."

    The sound of her name shocked her to her very core. He knew? He knew and he wasn''t screaming at her and calling her a traitor? How had he figured it out?!

    ===

    Christian had a hard time sleeping without Avery. Tonight was no exception. He was lying in bed alone with his thoughts when his phone kept persistently ringing. An unknown number. He answered it rather tetchily and was shocked to discover that it was Nox.

    Finding out not only that he was a she but that she was pregnant was horrifying. It made sense. It made so much sense! Thosements about date night and flirting were somehow both more and less creepy than he had thought.

    She hadn''t thought of him as a friend at all, had she? She had been interested in him! No wonder she had saved his life. No wonder she territorially called him "my hero" when fighting against Circus Freak and afterward. It all made so much sense now.

    The real question was why. Why had his archnemesis had a crush on him? What could he have possibly done to inspire that when they were fighting?!

    Thoughts like this tormented him as he flew around desperately hoping Frostine was out tonight. If she wasn''t he didn''t know how he was going to get those shackles off of Nox. Who had been interested in him but was now pregnant less than a year after he retired. She had certainly moved on fast. Or gotten unlucky.

    Christian flew around for ages before he managed to find her. She and Delta were in the middle of putting out a giant fire in an apartment building when he swooped in and grabbed her out of nowhere.

    "Sorry, Frostine, but this is a matter of life and death," he exined. "I need your powers for a little while."

    Frostine didn''t even try to fight back. "I thought you were retired."

    "I am. But someone I owe my life to is in danger and you''re the only one who can help her."

    "Someone you owe your life to? You aren''t talking about your old nemesis, are you? Delta passed on your message. I can''t think of who else it would be. You truly wish for me to save a viin?"

    "She''s not all bad," Christian admitted begrudgingly. "You know she doesn''t hurt people and steals insulin to give it to diabetics in need. She saved me too even though she didn''t have a reason to. I can''t let her baby die."

    "Her baby?"

    "Apparently, she''s pregnant."

    "And a woman. I distinctly recall you referred to her as ''he'' thest time we spoke. And that you were rather frustrated with her. I take it your opinion has changed," Frostine said sagely.

    "If anything I''m more frustrated. I don''t get her but I have to help her. I don''t have any other choice."

    "Do you intend to turn her in once you''ve saved her?"

    "I can''t. She¡­she knows my secret identity. We made a deal where she lets me live my life in peace in return for me not reporting her to any other heroes or the person she''s truly after. So you can''t turn her in either, okay? I only came to you because I have no other choice."

    "I told you before that people''s motivations are moreplicated than they appear. It seems you finally believe me," Frostine remarked.

    Christian let out a heavy sigh. Much moreplicated. Nox had liked him. She probably didn''t anymore but she had still turned to him for help in her hour of need. That was seriously problematic.

    "She''s about asplicated as theye."

    "I look forward to meeting her."

    They arrived at the coordinates Nox had given him not long after and Frostine froze a window and shattered it so they could enter. They wandered around for a while looking for the exact spot Nox was being held before they heard someone speaking. That had to be whoever had taken her.

    Sure enough, there were two thugs and Nox shackled to a chair that was bolted to the floor. He and Frostine struck in tandem and knocked them out.

    "So this is the infamous Nox," Frostine said with the tiniest hint of curiosity in her tone.

    "Frostine. I never thought I would have the pleasure of meeting you. Thank you foring!" Nox said graciously.

    "I have to say I wasn''t expecting to get kidnapped by a former colleague tonight but Mercury exined the situation to me."

    Frostine froze and shattered the shackles and Nox seemed relieved to be free before hesitating at the sight of both of them. She seemed to think they were going to stop her from escaping.

    Christian couldn''t rat her out but he did have a lot of questions. He wasn''t going to let her weasel out of answering them properly likest time. Not after he had been dragged out of bed for this.

    He tried questioning her and she dodged as usual. Frostine surprised him by leaving after saying she wouldn''t get involved with Nox. He would have thought she would at least try to take a known viin down but she had more pressing matters to deal with.

    That left him alone with his former archnemesis, who confused him more than ever. He was still trying to think of a way to get her to spill the beans when she jumped out of the window like a crazy person.

    She was pregnant! Did she not care about that at all?

    Christian snatched her out of the air to prevent her from hurting herself or her child by jumping around and suddenly Nox stopped arguing with him and spoke to someone in Spanish as if she was on the phone.

    When she had spoken without the voice changer earlier she had sounded like a native Spanish speaker. Like Angelo''s aunts. She had to be calling someone else who spoke Spanish. But who? He couldn''t recall any other times she called someone in the middle of a fight.

    "Who were you talking to?"

    "Again, none of your business."

    "How many people are behind you? What are you all trying to do?" he pressed.

    "Let me go, Mercury! I''ll fight you. I swear I will, baby or no baby. I don''t owe you anything. I saved you and you saved me. We''re even."

    She sounded awfully defensive and he couldn''t me her. He had given her a hard time every other time they met. But he wasn''t going to get the answers he wanted by being inflexible. He needed to try and see things her way.

    "Nox, I want to understand," Christian said earnestly.

    She seemed shocked but eventually agreed on the condition that he set her down. He wanted answers about why she had acted the way she had around him but figured he needed to start with someone easier to soften her up. Why she was out to get Nn Hunsacher seemed as good a ce as any.

    She didn''t reveal everything but was more open than she had beenst time. She exined that someone needed to stop him in order to keep people safe. She was fighting the kind of viin who worked from the shadows rather than out in the open like Christian was used to.

    She said earlier that he had taken everything from her. Who had he killed? And if the situation was so serious why hadn''t she ever contacted the authorities? Why be a vignte?

    "Then why don''t you leave it to the heroes to stop him? Why take things upon yourself?" Christian asked.

    Nox made a disparaging noise. "Like heroes would be willing to do what needs to be done to stop him. This is beyond what heroes do. Only someone like me who cares too much and has nothing to lose could even try."

    "You have something to lose now. Or have you already forgotten you dragged me out of bed for your baby''s sake? You can''t keep this up while you''re pregnant. And what about the father? You don''t seem like someone who has nothing to lose."

    This was his segue.. His chance to find out more about Nox the woman as opposed to Nox the viin.

 Chapter 82 - A Strange Sense Of Irony

    Nox seemed reluctant to answer. She ended up doing a pose that reminded him a lot of Avery when she was upset and didn''t want to talk. Though she normally did it against the couch instead of the edge of a roof.

    "I didn''t when I started this. I thought I would be safe because I had already lost everything. I didn''t expect to find anyone else I was afraid of losing but here I am."

    "Then why not stop and leave it to someone else? You were really keen on my retirement after I got hurt. Why not retire yourself?"

    "There are always new heroes to rece people like you. No one else CAN rece me. This suit is one of a kind and it won''t respond to anyone else. It has to be me. I have to see this through to the end even though I''ve wanted to quit more times than I can count after meeting him."

    "Who is he? Your boyfriend?" Christian pressed.

    If this baby wasn''t the result of some one-night stand she had to be in some sort of rtionship. When had she switched the target of her affection? Why had she left him alone after he retired if she liked him? Was he really going to be safe if she was involved with someone else or would shee after Avery eventually because she was possessive? He needed to know.

    "Someone I thought I could get away with having something casual with before getting greedy. I thought any time with him was better than no time at all despite my situation being less than ideal. Before I knew it I was in too deep to get out," Nox said with a wryugh.

    That sounded eerily familiar. Hadn''t he been in the same situation back when he was a hero and thought he couldn''t have Avery because of his side job?

    He had retired though. Nox hadn''t. She was still deeply involved in trying to take down Nn Hunsacher, who Christian was beginning to believe was serious bad news. Getting information from people who worked from him made her seem like much less of a conspiracy theorist.

    Christian frowned as a thought hit him. She hadn''t answered his earlier question about whether or not the father of the baby knew she was out doing viin work tonight.

    "Nox¡­does he know?"

    "Of course not. He would never ept me for who I am," Nox said with certainty.

    "And who are you?"

    "An excellent question. Sometimes I wonder that myself. Am I who I was before Nn Hunsacher took everything from me? Am I who I want to be when it''s all over? Or am I nothing but a viin to be scorned for daring to ignorews that allow people to get hurt?

    "You were a hero; you would never understand. I have to help people too but I can''t do it in the light like you did. All I want is to prevent anyone from suffering the way I''ve suffered. If I have to be a viin to stop a worse viin so be it.

    "I don''t know what I am aside from an idiot for letting myself believe I could be normal. I''m not normal. I haven''t been normal since before all of this happened but I was so convinced everything would be okay if I kept at it.

    "It''s not okay at all. The man I love would judge me the same way you do if he knew about me. Isn''t that sad? He thinks I''m a lot better than I am. Someone as good as him could never ept someone like me and I knew it from the start but I didn''t want to let him go. Maybe that''s what makes me a viin more than anything."

    Nox LOVED the father of her child? She had moved on so quickly? He didn''t understand but was afraid to ask what was on his mind while they were on such a serious subject.

    Christian also felt guilty. He had judged her and they both knew it. Things were different than he had thought. If not for her methods she would be considered a hero. She was more antihero than viin, as Frostine had spected.

    "I''m not judging you. I didn''t realize the depth of the situation before and I''m sorry about that," he said humbly. "Can you tell me what Hunsacher is doing exactly that you''re trying to stop? It has something to do with that room in Hunsacher Inc. headquarters that you destroyed, doesn''t it? All of the destruction you cause has to have a reason since you don''t want anyone to get hurt."

    Nox was skeptical but ended up telling him. In far greater detail than anything she had before. Hunsacher WAS evil!

    She seemed somehow desperate to get that point across to him. That they weren''t the bad guys. Why did she care so much about his opinion? Why would it matter if he thought badly of her?

    He felt like he was missing something here. Something big.

    An insane thought came to him. One so insane he shouldn''t even be entertaining it. If she cared about his opinion now¡­and she had cared about his opinion back then too¡­was it because she still had feelings for him?

    Nox said the father of her child was someone she thought she could have something casual with before she got greedy. Avery had told him she wasn''t good girlfriend material and that since he wasn''t good boyfriend material that they were a perfect match.

    She also had a crush on him-as-Mercury before she had one on him-as-Christian ording to Angelo despite the fact that they had only interacted once. That hadn''t made sense to him.

    But if she knew him better than that¡­if she interacted with him regrly¡­ Hadn''t Nox said she saved him because she thought he was funny? Vanessa said something about Avery finding someone she could have witty banter with in her maid of honor speech. And Nox had described their back-and-forth as flirting.

    No. It couldn''t be!

    Avery couldn''t possibly be Nox. Though they did both speak Spanish. Speaking of Spanish¡­Angelo had been certain Christian would drop her like a hot potato because of differing political views. Being a hero versus being a viin was very different than politics but wasn''t the basic premise simr?

    Nox seemed absolutely positive that the father of her child would reject her if he knew the truth. Why such certainty? If he loved her he should be able to ept her. Unless she thought he wouldn''t because he already hadn''t epted her under other circumstances.

    "If you aren''t the bad guys why are you so convinced that the father of your child will reject you?" Christian asked, trying to probe further and see if his wild theory was correct.

    "Because he thinks like you. He would never tolerate anything illegal no matter how well-intentioned. And I''ve lied to him a lot to keep my secret. He would never forgive me," Nox said sadly.

    "You seem awfully positive about that."

    "I can take anything but him leaving me. I can''t risk it. He''s the only thing that has made me truly happy since my world fell apart and if I lose him I''ll fall apart all over again. What good will I be able to do for anyone then?"

    Nox looked very vulnerable just then. She had pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

    She had been giving off a strange sense of irony for most of this conversation. There were other times he had talked to either Nox or Avery where he had gotten that sense too. Always when certain topics came up. Like her dad. Or what she felt obligated to see through to the end.

    Hadn''t some of those Nox break-ins coincided with times she was supposedly out of town? Why had he never put the pieces together before?

    And there was the fact that she had saved his life and found Liam to give him a blood transfusion. He had thought it was because of hacking but what if it was because she actually knew him?

    Avery had a strange reaction when she visited him in the hospital too. She had been crying her eyes out when she arrived and said she was so scared. He thought Liam must have phrased things badly but what if it was because she had seen him fall out of the sky? And because she was afraid her secret would get out due to her saving him?

    Nox said she couldn''t afford to lose the man she loved. If that was why she had saved him it made a lot more sense than his previous theory.

    Avery being Nox made so much sense if he really thought about it. There was a lot he didn''t understand but he wouldn''t be able to find out if he didn''t broach the subject.. He didn''t want her to keep avoiding him because she was afraid.

 Chapter 83 - For Better Or Worse

    Christian could understand why his wife didn''t want to talk about things if she was keeping this big a secret from him. Especially since she knew he disliked Nox. He was confused and hurt but if he was right he had to know.

    He looked directly at the woman he suspected was his wife. He needed to test his theory. The best way he could think of was by calling her name.

    "Avery."

    Nox was on her feet in an instant, ready to bolt, but he reached out and grabbed her wrist. That was all the confirmation he needed even as she actively denied it. "I don''t know any Avery. I have to go."

    "Avery West-ter, look at me!" he demanded. "I have questions and you better answer them but I''m not going to leave you. Do you understand?"

    Nox''s helmet seemingly dissolved and there was that familiar white hair spilling out of it. The face he loved so much was stained with tears and had an expression of utmost shock on it. So he had been right. All this time Nox had been Avery?!

    How? Why? He had so many questions he didn''t know where to begin but one came to mind that he hadn''t factored in while puzzling all of this out earlier. It hit him like a truck.

    "When were you going to tell me you were pregnant?! What do you think you''re doing jumping around like that?!" Christian demanded.

    "I¡­I wasn''t sure what to do," Avery stammered before sniffling. "I couldn''t tell anybody. But how did you know it was me? Did I screw up the call or the voice changer? And what do you mean you''re not going to leave? You hate me!"

    His heart sunk. He had given off that impression, hadn''t he? How had she handled that knowing who he was? Hang on, how had she even known who he was? When did she figure that out?

    "I don''t hate you. But first you tell me how long you''ve known who I am," he growled. "I''m asking the questions right now and you have an awful lot of answers to give."

    Avery started crying. Really crying. The only other time he had seen tears from her was at their wedding but those were happy tears. Right now she seemed so confused and in despair that he could hardly stand his ground.

    He wanted tofort her but knew he couldn''t until she told him what on earth was going on. He would never get answers any other way.

    "I had my suspicions since our first date but they weren''t confirmed until Circus Freak stabbed you," she said as she futilely tried to stem her tears. "I''m sorry. I know I was selfish. I liked you too much to let you go when your secret identity fell into myp."

    "Why?!"

    "Seeing you was the highlight of my week. Pathetic, right? My life was so sad that I had to take what I could get from the guy trying to stop me. I didn''t like you the whole time. It started about nine months before you asked me out.

    "I didn''t give much thought to you before. But after you saved me that one time I realized how funny you were and how kind and soon I was head over heels. Angelo thought I was such an idiot for having a crush on the hero I was fighting."

    How did Angelo factor into this? Were they in on it together?

    Another missing piece of the puzzle hit him and he cursed. It was so obvious in hindsight. Hunsacher killed people off when they caused him trouble. Levi West and Horatio Cruz had died in the same ident. A car ident. Those were fairly easy to orchestrate.

    "Angelo''s your partner because Hunsacher killed your dads," Christian said grimly. "I''m right, aren''t I?"

    Avery seemed surprised he guessed correctly. "Yeah. We had to take over their jobs. My dad was Nox and his was tech support. They were a nanotechnologist and software developer and both worked for Hunsacher Inc.

    "That was no ident. The brakes went out but I had asked to borrow the car to go to a cake decorating expo in New Jersey less than a week earlier and I saw my dad fixing it himself. How could brand new brakes go out when a mechanical engineer had been the one to install them?

    "He left the suit to me in case something happened to him but I never thought it would happen so soon. He programmed my biometrics in as a failsafe so only I can control it. It''s nanotech."

    The rest of Avery''s suit melted away and disappeared back into the smartwatch that rarely left her wrist. Beneath it she was wearing a t-shirt and leggings and looked all the more vulnerable for it. She wiped at her eyes again as the tears flowed anew.

    "You have no idea how much I''ve tortured myself about wanting to fulfil hisst wishes and wanting to be with you. No idea! It''s been killing me and I couldn''t say anything to anyone! Not even Angelo. He doesn''t know you''re Mercury because he would have killed me if he did. He already thinks I''m stupid enough."

    Christian''s hands balled into fists. He needed to try and keep his cool here or she would stop talking but he wanted to agree with Angelo for once.

    Was shepletely insane?! Why had she thought it was a good idea to knowingly get involved with her nemesis? She hadn''t showed much interest in his secret identity until after that date when she guessed who he was. It had only happened because of that!

    Avery never switched who she liked at all. She simply switched her focus to the option where she would be able to spend more time with him. It was incredibly maniptive and selfish of her. No wonder she said it was the most viinous thing she did. Messing with him like that¡­it truly was terrible.

    She said earlier that she meant for it to be casual and before she knew it she got in too deep because she was greedy. Marrying him and carrying his child was <em>definitely</em> in too deep! In fact, it was the understatement of the century!

    Christian was angry and hurt and felt betrayed being lied to so much by someone who absolutely knew what she was doing was wrong but kept at it anyway. But he couldn''t reject her even so.

    For better or worse. That was part of the marriage vow. This was about as "worse" as it could get but she was still his wife. And he still loved her.

    "It was pretty stupid," he said scathingly. "What were you thinking?"

    Avery''s tears spilled over again and despite himself he wanted to reach out to her. "I wasn''t thinking. Not really. I came up with endless justifications for what I was doing as if that would make it okay. It wasn''t okay. It was never okay.

    "I''m so sorry, Christian! I never meant for things to go this far. I couldn''t tell you the truth because I thought you would hate me for it. I couldn''t live with myself if you hated me. I really couldn''t. You do, don''t you? How could you not? You''re furious with me; I can tell."

    Christian blew out a frustrated breath. "Yes, but that doesn''t mean I hate you. You never tell me anything, Avery! I knew you were hiding things from me but I never would have anticipated <em>this</em>.

    "How could you do this to me? More importantly, how could you do this to yourself? You''ve been torturing yourself with guilt all this time, haven''t you? That''s why you''ve been so offtely. Because you were overworked with all of this stuff and thought I couldn''t ept it."

    Avery looked at him pitifully and spoke up in a small voice. "Can you ept it?"

    It wasn''t like he had any other choice. He had promised he would support her no matter what. And mind control was straight superviin territory. She was trying to save people like he used to even if her methods were questionable.

    "Do I have any other option? I said I would help you figure things out and I meant it. If stopping Hunsacher is what I have to do for you to be happy so be it. I''m in," Christian said, hardly believing he was getting involved in something illegal even if it was for the sake of the woman he loved.

    Avery''s eyes widened in astonishment as tears continued to fall. "Seriously? You''re going to help me?"

    "For better or worse, Avery. For better or worse."

    She burst into incoherent sobs then and threw herself into his arms. He sighed and held her tightly. She had been holding all of that in for so long, hadn''t she?

    Christian wasn''t okay with this. He wasn''t sure how long it would be before he was.. But he had made amitment to thisplicated woman and wasn''t about to let her down even if she wasn''t quite what he expected.

 Chapter 84 - Its Been Nice Knowing You

    Avery continued sobbing on Christian like the world was ending and he sighed. She still hadn''t answered a lot of his questions but he wouldn''t be getting more out of her anytime soon.

    A lot of her confusing behavior wasing together though. Why she had been so angry on the anniversary of her father''s death made a lot more sense if she both missed him and resented him for leaving such a big responsibility to her.

    To think! The original Nox had been his father-inw! How had he never realized the person he fought every weekend had been reced?

    They were about the same height and sounded the same. He had no reason to suspect it but he still felt stupid. All those years he had been fighting a girl.. And not just any girl. The one he had liked under different circumstances. His own girlfriend.

    They had been dating already when she used him as a springboard and punted him into that building so he got hurt. How was he supposed to feel about that? She might not have foreseen the consequences but still!

    Avery had given Christian minor injuries more times than he could count but that was the only major one. And a lot of these supposedly happened when she had feelings for him.

    How? How had she been able to do it? How could someone with as big and sappy a heart as hers live with that sort of thing? How desperate had she been to defeat the man who killed the only parent she ever knew that she could disregard any personal feelings on the matter?

    Though she hadn''t been able to do itpletely. She had uncharacteristically jumped into the spotlight and saved his life despite knowing it could put her secret at risk. All because she didn''t want him to die.

    Christian''s anger was fizzling. Avery loved him. That much was clear. She hadn''t gone about showing it in the best way but how was he supposed to fault her for it when he had seen how hard a time she had with what she had lost?

    She wasn''t a bad person. He knew that. She was kind and cared too much about people. Even if she did go about a lot of things all wrong she wasn''t the viin he had painted her to be.

    This was partly his fault. If he hadn''t been so judgmental before she wouldn''t have felt the need to hide this from him as long as she had. She had been terrified of being left behind by yet another person she loved.

    How was he supposed to stay angry knowing that? He had never been good at holding grudges.

    Christian tightened his hold on her and kissed her hair. "I''ve got you. I told you I had your back no matter what and I meant it. So stop worrying, okay? I''m sorry."

    Avery hupped and looked at him rather pitifully with astonishment in her eyes. "Wh-what are you sorry for? It''s all my fault!"

    At least she knew what she did was wrong. That was something.

    "I''m sorry that I put you in a box with all of the other viins I knew. You wouldn''t have felt so insecure if I hadn''t done that. I can''t even imagine how terrible you must have felt all of those times I said things to you without knowing what I was talking about," Christian said ruefully.

    Avery shook her head. "You didn''t know any better. I knew that."

    "But didn''t it hurt?"

    "¡­yes."

    Christian sighed. "That''s what I thought. You shouldn''t have had to deal with that, Avery. You''ve been dealing with so much alone. But you don''t have to do that anymore. You need to be honest with me from here on out, alright? I can''t help you if you aren''t."

    Avery wiped her nose as her eyes filled with shame. "I have nothing else to hide. Angelo is going to kill me though. He''s going to find out who you are if you help us."

    "Suddenly, how he acted when we got engaged makes a lot more sense. He was worried about you jeopardizing the mission."

    "And about getting hurt. But I guess that was a pointless worry on his part."

    Christian was reminded of Angelo''s unwavering confidence that he wouldn''t be able to handle finding out more about Avery and his determination to prove him wrong. He would be eating his words soon enough.

    Finding all of this out hadn''t been enough to make Christian leave the woman he loved. He still wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Now more than ever since he knew she was carrying his child. He had to get involved in her fight in order to end it as quickly as possible so she could stop putting herself in danger.

    "I won''t let him kill you," he said grimly. "He owes me an apology."

    Avery let out a wateryugh. "I suppose he does. He isn''t going to be happy about that. Or any of this, really."

    "Is he the reason you seemed to be omniscient?"

    "Yeah. He can hack anything. I''ve never met anyone more proficient withputers, even T¨ªo Horatio. He''s the brains behind this operation. I just do whatever he tells me to. I''m not exactly much of a nner."

    Clearly, since she had been so impulsive about all of this and had been heedless of any potential consequences. He was still having a hard time believing it.

    "I''m surprised someone as overprotective as him would let you do something so dangerous," Christian said.

    "There''s no reason to when I''m in the suit. It''s virtually indestructible," Avery replied with a shrug. "He worries about me more than enough when I''m out of it. He trusts my dad''s tech and so do I."

    He wanted to ask more but didn''t get the chance because her phone rang. It was obviously Angelo based on the look on her face. She did not seem happy to take this particr call. She sighed and epted it reluctantly.

    "Hunsacher was waiting for me, Angelo," she told him. "I''m lucky I managed to get away. I had to use my favor from Mercury after I got shackled to a chair. He used some sort of knockout gas and I couldn''t find the stupid filtration button. There really needs to be clearer instructions for this thing."

    "WHAT?!" Angelo yelped so loudly even Christian could hear it.

    "I''m fine! But I didn''t manage to nt the virus. He''ll be expecting us next time so I''m not sure what we''re supposed to do. I''m sorry."

    "Forget that! Get over here RIGHT NOW."

    "I''ll be there soon."

    Avery sighed again and looked like he imagined a chicken would on its way to the chopping block. "He''s definitely going to kill me. It''s been nice knowing you."

    Christian scowled. "I already said I wouldn''t let him kill you. I''m going with you."

    "¡­dressed like that? Because he''s going to figure out what I did. Aren''t you worried about your secret identity?"

    "Not with your family. Mine knows. They sort of had to since they''re aware of my powers. I really doubt Angelo will say anything considering how protective he is of you. Whether he likes it or not, I am your husband. He won''t do anything."

    He was confident of that. Angelo had been looking out for her the entire time without even having the full picture. He would have been a lot worse if he had known she was involved with her old nemesis.

    "And you aren''t doing any more jumping tonight," Christian added firmly. "We''re flying."

    Avery squeezed her eyes shut. "I''m really not a big fan of flying your way. I prefer being the one in control."

    "Do you really think I''m going to drop you?!"

    "No, but it feels weird!"

    "Come on, Avery! You owe me this much after all the secrets you''ve been keeping. I know the truth now so I''m going to you take care of yourself and the baby if I have to."

    Christian still hadn''t fully processed his anger about that. She had known about it for days based on what she said earlier and hadn''t said anything because she "didn''t know what to do." He didn''t like the implications behind those words.

    Avery couldn''t argue with him and she knew it. She let him pick her up and held onto him tightly with her eyes closed the entire time. She was a bit shaky when he set her down on the fire escape outside Angelo''s apartment. She had told him which one it was without opening her eyes. She must have gone in that way a lot of times.

    Angelo was waiting for her and his eyes nearly popped out of his head. He obviously hadn''t been expecting Mercury to tag along.

    "What''s <em>he</em> doing here? Calling him to get you out is one thing but how could you be this stupid?"

    "Lay off her, Angelo. I''m on your side now," Christian said with a scowl.

    "How does this hero know my name?!"

    Btedly, he realized he was still using his Mercury voice by instinct. It must be because he was in costume for the first time in a while. If he was going to out himself and exin why he had suddenly decided to help he was going to have to use his regr voice.

    "It''s me."

    Angelo''s eyes widened and he looked back and forth between Christian and Avery before ranting in Spanish and throwing his hands in the air. Well. This was going about as swimmingly as she had predicted.

 Chapter 85 - You Did This On Purpose!

    Angelo hadn''t been in the best state since Valentine''s Day. It was easier to avoid Vanessapletely and since he was so busy setting things up trying to take Hunsacher down he didn''t have time to join in on Avery''s weekend ns anyway.

    He hadn''t seen her at all and she hadn''t tried to reach out. He might have burned that bridge to the ground but what else was he supposed to do?

    Aplishing his goal was more important than anything else. But he was stressed because he wasn''t taking any time for himself and was still running on little sleep. Every time Avery saw him she harped on him about it but he didn''t see her often these days either. Only when it had something to do with their mission directly or they had some sort of family event that would be suspicious if it was missed.

    For months Angelo had been little more than a machine. Getting this done had turned into an obsession. He was simultaneously consumed by rage and worry for his foolish best friend and wanted to get it all done with as soon as possible.

    He finally managed toe up with a n to cripple Hunsacher''s businesses and force him to break them up after much time and effort.. Avery had never let him down before when it came to a mission that truly counted so he was more than a little concerned when it had been hours and he didn''t hear from her.

    He tried calling her and she was rather breathless. "This is a really bad time. The mission waspromised. I need you to hack the security footage and delete it at these coordinates, no questions asked. I''m in the middle of something right now."

    "G¨¹era, what¡ª"

    "NOT NOW. Do as I said and I''ll exinter."

    Avery hung up on him immediately after giving the coordinates and Angelo was left both stunned and more worried than before. Normally, she only spoke to him in Spanish if she was around his family or if she was purposely trying to keep what they were talking about a secret.

    Who was she with at this time of night? What had happened? How exactly had the mission beenpromised?

    He sat stewing in his worry until he couldn''t take it anymore and tried calling her back. She didn''t seem very happy when she answered and he quickly found out why.

    "Hunsacher was waiting for me, Angelo. I''m lucky I managed to get away. I had to use my favor from Mercury after I got shackled to a chair. He used some sort of knockout gas and I couldn''t find the stupid filtration button. There really needs to be clearer instructions for this thing," she said with weary frustration.

    "WHAT?!"

    Waiting for her? How could he have been waiting for her? Had he finally caught onto them?

    And that wasn''t even the most shocking thing she said. She got captured and had to call in a favor from a hero that she had aplicated history with. That was a terrible idea! How had everything about this operation gone so wrong when they had been doing so well?

    "I''m fine!" Avery reassured him. "But I didn''t manage to nt the virus. He''ll be expecting us next time so I''m not sure what we''re supposed to do. I''m sorry."

    That was the least of Angelo''s worries at the moment. He was more concerned about his best friend and how her cover might be blown. They could figure out what to do next regarding their n once he made sure she was alright.

    "Forget that! Get over here RIGHT NOW."

    "I''ll be there soon."

    Angelo sighed and spun around in his office chair repeatedly while waiting for her to show up. She had an awful lot of exining things to go.

    He was not expecting her to arrive in Mercury''s arms outside of the suit. It was bad enough she was relying on someone who would turn them over to the police in a heartbeat but she had gone and blown her secret identity?!

    "What''s doing here? Calling him to get you out is one thing but how could you be this stupid?" Angelo demanded.

    Mercury red at him and his bodynguage was distinctively protective. That made absolutely no sense because this hero might have seen Avery''s face but she said she didn''t know him.

    "Lay off her, Angelo. I''m on your side now."

    Angelo was not expecting that. She told this guy about him?! What all had she said? How much of their ns had she given away? And why on earth was a hero who had definitely been against Nox willing to team up with them?

    "How does this hero know my name?!"

    Mercury sighed and changed his voice into one that was very familiar before saying, "It''s me."

    All of the pieces clicked together in an instant. Angelo looked back and forth between a very sheepish Avery and the hero that was her husband before exploding.

    How long had she known Christian was Mercury? That idiot never changed her romantic interest at all! It had to have been pretty early on. She had to have done this on purpose. She had been sneaky about getting what she wanted ever since they were kids.

    "You did this on purpose! How long have you known? Are youpletely insane? Do you have a brain in there at all? How could you knowingly go after the guy who spent years trying to stop us?" he shouted.

    "So what if I did? It doesn''t matter now. He''s here to help," Avery said with her arms crossed tightly over her chest.

    She responded to his Spanish in English, which meant she didn''t want to leave Christian out of the conversation. What on earth had they talked about earlier? How had ite to this? He couldn''t have known she was Nox before tonight.

    The most pressing question in all of this insanity was how he had even epted her after she told him the truth. By all means, he shouldn''t have. He must love her a lot more than Angelo thought.

    An unpleasant thought hit him. He had been so certain Christian wouldn''t be able to ept what Avery was up to even without knowing he had been Mercury of all people that he said the guy could have all the apologies he wanted if he proved Angelo wrong. He was going to collect on that, wasn''t he?

    "How did this even happen?" Angelo demanded, waving his arms around in frustration.

    Avery sighed. "I told you, I had to call for help. He sort of figured it out on his own from there."

    "Don''t tell me you were stupid enough not to block your number beforehand."

    "I wasn''t!"

    "She wasn''t," Christian confirmed.

    "Then how could he have possibly figured it out?!" Angelo demanded. "You didn''t straight up tell him, did you?"

    Avery''s expression was insulted. "I wouldn''t do that!"

    "Angelo,y off her," Christian said tiredly.

    How could he still defend her when he knew how much of an idiot she had been? Wasn''t he angry at all? Or was he too much of a pushover when it came to his wife? Angelo didn''t understand him at all.

    "How are you okay with this?!"

    "I''m not! But I have to be. I promised I would support her no matter what so here I am. Tell me what you need me to do. The sooner we can get this over with the better."

    Angelo scrutinized him. He was still wearing his mask so it was hard to tell if he had circles under his eyes or not but he certainly seemed exhausted by the whole situation. There was something about his voice and the way he was carrying himself.

    He was determined to back Avery up and get her out of this life as quickly as possible. Why? Because he didn''t want to be married to a viin or because he was worried about the danger after rescuing her?

    What was this guy''s deal? Though he seemed tired he was being amazingly calm about all of this.

    Had he already lost his temper? It did look like Avery had been crying.

    Angelo didn''t want to butt in where he didn''t belong¡ªhe wasn''t a part of their rtionship¡ªbut he couldn''t deny he was worried. Thest thing he wanted was to deal with the fallout of this.

    Christian imed he epted it but did he really? He said he wanted to help but what could he offer? He had retired from hero work.

    He might be able to help Avery with some of her missions but how involved would he want to be? They would need to figure all of this out and he wasn''t sure now was the right time but since they were all here¡­

    "What are you willing to do?" Angelo asked skeptically.

    Christian clenched his fists. "Whatever it takes to end this without hurting anybody or pushing Avery too much."

 Chapter 86 - I...Im Sorry

    Without pushing Avery too much? Why would her husband care about that? He had his butt kicked by her more times than Angelo could count. He would know better than anyone what she was capable of in the suit.

    "Why does that matter?" Angelo asked, squinting at him.

    "Avery shouldn''t be jumping around or fighting anybody right now," Christian replied stoutly. "I can do whatever she normally does in her ce."

    He didn''t get it. This goody-two-shoes who was not only awyer but a former hero was willing to do viin work so his wife didn''t have to? That didn''t add up. There had to be more to it.

    Angelo rounded on Avery. "Why can''t you do it?"

    She buried her face in her hands.. "You''re going to yell at me again. I really can''t take any more of that right now."

    A tiny prick of guilt red up. Oops. He had yelled at her, hadn''t he? Christian probably had earlier too if he had to guess. She did seem more emotionally fragile than usual right now. She was pretty tough most of the time.

    But what horrible thing had she done that made her think she would get yelled at further? Was it solely because she needed to take a break during this crucial juncture? And why would she need to? She knew how important getting this done now was!

    Angelo realized it in a single horrible instant. Christian''s insistence on getting this done quickly even if he had to take his wife''s ce in something he was morally against. Why he hadn''t left her.

    "You''re pregnant!" he eximed as if it was a curse.

    Both of theirck of response gave him the answer he needed. He ran his hands through his hair in agitation. Pregnant. How could she be pregnant? He knew getting into a serious rtionship in their situation was a terrible idea!

    "Ay, ay, ay," Angelo muttered. "I can''t believe this! How could you do something so monumentally stupid, Avery?"

    Her head snapped up at the sound of her real name. Her eyes were filled with tears but she was defensive. "It wasn''t like I did it on purpose!"

    That wasn''t muchfort. They had just lost their greatest asset in this mission. How were they supposed to speed things up that way, let alone continue at the pace they had already been at?

    And there was still Nn Hunsacher being onto them tonight to contend with. How were they going to deal with any of this if Avery was out ofmission? He couldn''t even be excited about the possibility of having a niece or nephew under these circumstances.

    Angelo ran his hands down his face and moaned in Spanish. "You idiot!"

    "Yes, we''ve already established that I''m an idiot," Avery snapped back in English. "Do you have anything else to say?"

    "Forgive me if I can''t congratte you for ruining all of our ns in one go! We''ve been working on this for and now it''s ruined!"

    Christian sighed and put a hand on his wife''s shoulder tofort her. "Stop calling her an idiot. Things aren''t hopeless. She can stille with me and show me what to do. I just don''t want her to do anything that might cause problems for the baby. This isn''t the end of the world."

    Angelo tried to calm his raging thoughts. Was this really not going to ruin things? He trusted the suit a lot more than he trusted Mercury since Avery managed to beat him so many times.

    He did have a long career as a hero before he got stabbed though. That had to count for something¡­but would it be enough?

    "You won''t be able to do this as Mercury," Angelo pointed out, not wanting to cause further argument by bringing up his concerns.

    "Mercury is retired," Christian said in a hard voice. "I already knew that. All I''m doing here is helping my wife stop someone trying to take over the world. If she''s Nox I can be Nox Two."

    "Technically, you would be Nox Three since I''m the second Nox," Avery spoke up with the tiniest hint of a smile on her face.

    "Eh, who needs technicalities," he replied with a wave of his hand.

    Angelo couldn''t believe he was witnessing this conversation. He never thought he would be working with a hero. Let alone one who happened to be married to his best friend.

    He tried to think about what little he knew about Mercury. He was fast, strong, agile, and could fly. Those weren''t bad things to have in an ally but would they be enough to rece the nearly indestructible suit Levi left behind?

    Should Avery just hand the suit off to someone else? Changing the biometrics would be a hassle and it really wouldn''t be wise to put a novice in it during such an important time for the mission. It had taken her months to get the hang of things and even to this day she hadn''t figured out all of the features since she hadn''t been able to find the dumb filtration button earlier. That had kickstarted all of this.

    "I''m going to have to rethink a lot of our n," Angelo said with resignation. "Including how to make up for what happened tonight. If Hunsacher''s onto us we need to know if he''s onto us specifically or the fact that someone is out to get him and targeting certain ces."

    Avery frowned. "Wouldn''t he havee after us on a personal level if he knew who we were? My guess is that he left a trap for whoever has been causing him trouble. One of the goons who grabbed me referred to me as the Man in the ck Suit.

    "I don''t think he would have done that if he knew who I was. You''ve covered our tracks too well. We just¡­need to be more careful of potential traps lying in wait for us. I need to find that filtration button and Christian needs a gas mask and we should be good to go."

    That seemed like an oversimplification to Angelo. What if Hunsacher tried more than gas next time? What if he brought in greater forces than they had the ability tobat?

    He needed better tech. Was he going to have to hit the ck market to find viinous weapons like methrowers and freeze rays?

    Leah could pay for it but he was going to have to track it down. And convince the goody-two-shoes to use it. The suit had some helpful capabilities built in but they weren''t meant to be effective againstrge groups.

    "There''s a lot more we have to do than that. If Hunsacher is already hiring more goons to protect headquarters and using weapons we aren''t used to we''re going to need to more firepower. Especially if you can''t fight. I don''t know how many people your husband is capable of fighting on his own."

    "Depends on the people," Christian admitted. "But I won''t let anyone hurt Avery. You can count on that."

    Angelo could see the fire in his eyes. He meant it. He would die before he let someone hurt her on his watch. That was quite the dedication.

    Another squirm of guilt. Angelo had seriously misjudged the man.

    "I¡­I''m sorry."

    Christian raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

    "For doubting you. You were right and I was wrong. You''re handling this a lot better than I thought you would. You''re still willing to have my girl''s back and I appreciate that more than I can say," Angelo confessed.

    The words were sour in his mouth. He hated admitting he was wrong and always had. But he wasn''t so prideful that he couldn''t say so when it came to his attention. That didn''t mean he had to like it. He didn''t like anything about this mess and wished it hadn''t happened.

    There was no going back. Avery had married a hero and was pregnant with his child. All Angelo could do at this point was ept it and try to work around it as best he could.

    There was going to have to be some serious working around though. Losing their key yer at a time like this would majorly set them back.

    Christian seemed genuinely surprised by the apology but satisfied nheless. "Thank you. I appreciate it. And so you know, after hearing what Hunsacher is up to I agree that he needs to be stopped even if I''m not a huge fan of your methods.

    "I''m not doing this just for Avery. I''m doing it because it''s the right thing to do. She exined some of it to me but could you clue me in on the rest? I''d like to know what I''m getting myself into."

    Angelo was even more surprised than he was at that response. A hero genuinely thought they, a group of viins, was doing the right thing?!

    He had misjudged him even more than he originally thought. He might not be such a goody two shoes after all.

 Chapter 87 - I Cant Believe Im Agreeing To This

    Angelo spent the next hour or so exining things to Christian with Avery asionally interjecting. He had a lot of questions, specifically about the legal side of things.

    Finding out he had looked into Nn Hunsacher trying to figure out his nemesis after "he" saved his life was unexpected. He knew about thewsuits that had either been dropped or involved a fine rather than jail time.

    Of course he would be interested in the legal aspect of all this. He was awyer.

    "And there isn''t anyone within the legal system you trust enough to try and take Hunsacher down? You have plenty of evidence," Christian pointed out. "Though I suppose it has mostly been obtained illegally. You would need the testimony of the original witnesses."

    "I doubt that would be enough to get a warrant," Angelo said grimly. .

    Hunsacher had time and the ability to get rid of evidence before the government came knocking. Most judges weren''t willing to grant a warrant without sufficient information beforehand so they couldn''t exactly surprise him.

    That had been part of the problem with a lot of the previouswsuits. The other part was buying off the cops, DA, or jury.

    "We would have to find someone with power in the legal system willing to work with us. Do you know of anybody?" Angelo asked skeptically. "It''s not like you''re a judge."

    "No, but I know a few. I usually don''t go to court since I handle the paperwork side of things but that wasn''t always the case. In the early days of my career I had to handle patent litigation a lot," Christian said with a shrug.

    "¡­.do you know them well enough to vouch for them?"

    "Not personally. My boss is very good friends with one of the judges though. They''ve known each other sincew school. He might be our best bet."

    "Wouldn''t we need more than a judge? We would need a detective or the FBI or somebody like that to get the warrant in the first ce too, right? Where are we supposed to find one of those who are trustworthy? Ourwork is mostly made up of scientists," Avery pointed out.

    They all frowned. That was true. A trustworthy judge wouldn''t make a difference without someone to get the warrant for them. They would have to be located in New York City too so they couldn''t simply use any old rtive or friend of someone in theirwork scattered across the country.

    Their New York contacts were spread pretty thin. Though Hunsacher HQ was located here their informants from that office had all been moved out of the country for their own safety.

    Angelo supposed he could contact them through secure channels and ask if they knew of anybody they trusted back in New York. It was a long shot though.

    Even if they managed to find someone they would need to have them investigate things without tipping off Hunsacher. The warrant would need to blindside him for it to be effective. Then they would have to make sure Hunsacher couldn''t buy his way out of it once they made a rock-solid case. That was asking for a miracle.

    Those other times he was sued he didn''t go to jail at all. It was all civil cases rather than criminal ones. To nail him they needed to get him charged with a crime and stuck in jail where he would be denied bail as a flight risk and kept locked up.

    He would surely hire the most expensive defense attorneys money could buy but he would be stuck in one ce. That would help them at least somewhat.

    "I have some people I can ask but the whole thing is still risky," Angelo sighed.

    "No riskier than blowing things up," Avery replied. "That reminds me¡­is there anything else you need me to blow up any time soon?"

    Christian didn''t seem happy about the prospect of blowing anything up but kept quiet. Until a minuteter when he jumped to his feet looking as if a lightbulb had been lit over his head.

    "I have it!"

    "Have what?" they replied in tandem.

    "The solution to our problem! This won''t break up Hunsacher''s monopolies but it very well mightnd him in jail and buy us some more time," he said eagerly. "If you''re looking for evidence that can lead to a warrant I''ve got it. Insurance fraud."

    Avery looked at him nkly. "What does insurance fraud have to do with anything?"

    "You''ve been blowing up Hunsacher facilities for ages! I''m willing to bet someone somewhere has already connected the dots. If they haven''t all we need to do is make them."

    The wheels in Angelo''s head were turning. They had blown up a lot of Hunsacher facilities but a lot of the vandalism they hadmitted was on shellpanies that weren''t easy to connect back to him.

    If they continually struck known Hunsacher holdings someone would notice a pattern sooner orter. Especially if they focused on one location. It would look suspicious that nobody got hurt in all of the explosions. And if Angelo tracked down the witnesses first and convinced them to testify against Hunsacher¡­

    "This might actually work," he said in disbelief. "But the two of you are going to have to blow up an awful lot of buildings without causing coteral damage."

    He could make sure they didn''t get caught on camera and if they got to the witnesses first and promised them money topensate for the fact that they lost their guard jobs this would be too easy. They could use thew against Hunsacher for once.

    Avery grinned at him. "Fine by me! Those sorts of missions are a piece of cake."

    Christian sighed. "I can''t believe I''m agreeing to this."

    She patted him on the arm. "You can do it! All you have to do is knock some people out for me unless you want me to do the fighting."

    "You are doing the fighting. You need to take it easy."

    "Can I knock people out from behind? That takes hardly any effort at all. I''m really good at it!"

    "¡­not the sort of thing I would be bragging about, Avery. But I suppose if it''s that simple for you. But no jumping around or getting into actual fights," Christian said firmly.

    "Fiiiiine."

    Avery pouted and Angelo waspletely floored. This entire conversation was difficult to believe. A retired hero and his viin wife were arguing about what degree of fighting was appropriate because she was pregnant. No one would ever believe this even if he could tell them!

    He would need to figure out the right targets to blow up. And start targeting Hunsacher''s closest lieutenants as well. There had to be a few people he trusted with the full extent of his business dealings. He couldn''t have gotten to where he was alone.

    There was still a lot of work to do if they wanted to give this country back to the people. Nn Hunsacher might be the biggest perpetrator but he wasn''t the only one. It was time for them to step up their game.

    Angelo wanted this to be over and done with before Avery''s baby was born. Then she would be able to focus on her future like she wanted.

    He owed his best friend that much after giving her such a hard time about all of this. He wanted her to be happy. Looking at the way she and her husband were interacting despite their confrontation earlier gave him hope that she would be able to have the life she wanted even with the truth out.

    Unfortunately, this meant he would be getting even less sleep than usual. He needed to work harder to get this all done. He had so much to do he should really kick them out now. They could continue their mushfest elsewhere.

    "I have a lot of work to do so you two should go home," Angelo informed them.

    "You sure you don''t need any help?" Christian asked.

    Avery shook her head. "Knowing him, we would only get in the way. I''m kind of exhausted anyway. Let''s go get some sleep."

    A wise choice. She knew she wasn''t good ating up with ns in her best form and right now she was tired and emotionally strung out. It was better for them to leave him to it. He didn''t have work tomorrow so he could keep going until he had to crash then get at it again once he woke up.

    Angelo watched them go out the window and saw the way Christian tenderly picked her up before flying off and still couldn''t believe that those two had actually fallen in love. Nox and Mercury. Who would have thought?

    It was also strange that his best friend''s husband had superpowers. Those weren''t terriblymon. Did that mean her kids were going to have superpowers too? How would she handle that?

    He had to push those questions aside and get to work. He could worry about Averyter. Right now he had to focus on strategy. The sooner they could get this taken care of the better.

    Who knows? With any luck, she might be able to take part of her pregnancy easy. His sweet, stupid best friend deserved that.

 Chapter 88 - No. I Did It For You

    Nn Hunsacher was furious when he discovered the man in the ck suit had gotten away. He had help.

    The men dispatched to take care of any potential intruders after setting up hidden motion sensors in ces Nn thought his enemy might strike had been knocked out simultaneously from behind. When they came to the man in the ck suit was gone and two windows had been broken.

    These windows were more than thirty floors up. Who on earth was helping him? Was there more than one as he had suspected? Or did he have allies with superpowers?

    There were several types of powers that could get people up that high. Flying, jumping, powers involving some sort of propulsion. It wasn''t easy to narrow that sort of thing down. Multiple power types could have been used to break the shackles too.

    It wasn''t like there was a superpower registry anywhere. Most people kept them secret and either lived their lives with their heads down or became heroes or viins.. The man in the ck suit was too low profile; he couldn''t possibly be working with anyone that had a public persona.

    What could Nn do to a hero or viin, anyway? They had secret identities for a reason. Nobody could track them down so easily.

    Not knowing the extent of his enemy''s allies only added to his frustration. He still hadn''t managed to narrow down who they might be. If the man in the ck suit knew people with superpowers¡­was he one of them? Or was the suit technology based?

    He needed to look into this further. And provide greater protection for his holdings so they couldn''t have the chance to regroup. They would surely be more cautious after this.

    He to catch the man in the ck suit. If he knew his identity he could destroy him like he had so many others. This particr thorn in his side had caused far too much trouble already. He deserved to die.

    ===

    Avery was nearly certain that everything that happened the night before was a dream when she woke up in her husband''s arms as usual the following morning. It was too unrealistic that he would not only still love her but have epted her secrets as well.

    But no. He woke up, squinted at his phone to see what time it was, then said it was probably toote for breakfast food so they should make lunch and asked her what the baby wanted to eat.

    He knew. It hadn''t been a dream.

    Avery vaguely remembered stumbling home in the wee hours of the morning from Angelo''s ce and copsing into each other''s arms. They had both been worn out physically and emotionally and needed thefort only the other could give.

    "¡­we should shower first," she saidmely.

    Christian agreed. "True. I love flying but it can leave me feeling really gross."

    They both took turns and when she came out she saw that he was making macaroni and cheese as she had requested. The box kind she only used when she was feeling particrlyzy. He asked what the baby wanted and that was it.

    The baby. She for sure got to keep it now that he and Angelo knew about it and were willing to work around it.

    Avery was both relieved and terrified. Her own mother had been horrible and she hadn''t even been sure if she wanted it at first because of her circumstances. Would she be able to love it properly and make up for what she almost did out of fear? Would she be able to have the kind of family she had hoped for before her father died?

    He wouldn''t be around to see any of his grandchildren and the thought broke her heart but there was nothing she could do about that. Nancy and Brian would be wonderful grandparents but her children would still be missing out on knowing Levi West.

    Should she be thinking about the future right now? Did she even have the right to after what she pulled?

    Christian didn''t seem angry at her this very moment but he had beenst night. She was sure he wouldn''t let it go that quickly. She had deceived him horribly.

    Avery wasn''t sure what she was supposed to say so she simply thanked him for the macaroni and ate in silence. He was the one to speak first after he was done eating his portion and it wasn''t what she expected.

    "How far along are you? You didn''t mention that."

    So he wasn''t going to keep asking questions about the whole Nox thing or how much she had lied to him? His tone wasn''t usatory. It was a basic question about her pregnancy.

    "About six weeks," she said awkwardly.

    Avery was reminded of the fact that she had a doctor''s appointment the next day where she was supposed to tell her doctor her decision one way or the other. Her decision had been made but she really didn''t want to bring that up again.

    Christian had likely already guessed based on what she saidst night that she had been thinking of getting rid of the baby to protect herself and she didn''t want to fight about it. It was better to keep that particr tidbit to herself since she wasn''t going through with it in the end.

    "That''s not very far along. When will we find out if it''s a boy or a girl?" he asked.

    She knew this not because the doctor had told her but because of the t¨ªas pregnancies in the past. "Around the five month mark."

    "That''s pretty far out. Do you want one or the other?"

    Avery shook her head. She didn''t care about that. All she cared about was seeing it born safely now that she knew she could do that and still fulfil her obligations to her father and everyone else who needed Hunsacher taken down.

    "That doesn''t matter to me."

    Christian''s expression turned thoughtful. "Is albinism heritable?"

    "Yes, but unless you have the gene for it somewhere none of our kids will be albinos. They''re more likely to look like you."

    "Bummer. And here I hoped any daughters we had might look like you."

    The way he said that made her heart skip a beat. How could he still be so mushy after what happenedst night? Would she ever stop feeling like this was a dream or was she destined to walk around in a state of disbelieving confusion for the rest of her life?

    "They might still look like me," Avery said slowly. "They just won''t have my coloring."

    "I suppose that''s true. You have the most beautiful eyes though. It''s a shame they were hidden away under that helmet for so long," Christian said with a shrug.

    She wasn''t sure what to make of that. Was this how he was trying to cope? By being overly casual about it?

    "Would knowing I was a girl have made a difference?"

    "Well, I''ve fought plenty of female viins over the years but none were as pretty as you. Who knows? Maybe you would have turned me to the dark side sooner. I was intrigued by you at first sight."

    Avery rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. You only did it for the baby."

    Christian looked at her very seriously and reached out to caress her face. "No. I did it for <em>you</em>. I want us to be happy, Avery, and that won''t happen until this is behind you. I''ll blow up however many buildings I need to in order to make that happen."

    That really shouldn''t have been romantic but it was. She stood up and walked around the table so she could kiss him.

    Marriage was supposed to be about teamwork, wasn''t it? Her parents had never been like that but she had the chance to be different. If Christian worked with her she had no doubt they would be able to pull this off.

    The problem in his case would be adjusting. He had to swap out his costume for a pair of ck cargo pants with matching boots, gloves, and a long-sleeve shirt. And wear a gas mask just in case. He got the kind that covered everything and effectively disguised who he was.

    He didn''t seem veryfortable in the mask the first time they wore it going out to hit a ce Angelo rmended the following weekend. "¡­how do people even wear these things?"

    Avery shrugged. "I guess they get used to it?"

    "How did you get used to your suit? It probably feels just as weird."

    "I''d bet weirder. The sensation of nanobots rushing over your skin is one I can''t quite describe. But I got used to it eventually. And I found the filtration button so nothing will happen to me this time!"

    "How many buttons are on that thing?"

    "Oh, too many to count. Different features are programmable and can be activated either by tapping things or giving voicemands. My dad was very thorough."

    "Thorough enough to include a pepper cloud button," Christian said wryly. "That was one of my least favorite escapes of yours."

    Avery made a sheepish expression he couldn''t see. "¡­my bad."

    "I''m just d we''re on the same side now so I''m not on the receiving end of any more of your creativity."

    She was too. She reached out to hold his hand and squeeze it, careful not to overdo it with the super suit''s strength. Having him here helping her meant more than she could put into words. She didn''t have to worry about hiding herself from the man she loved anymore.

 Chapter 89 - No Other Choice

    They crept along inside the facility until Avery pinpointed the best ce to set off the bomb with the least amount of casualties. While she armed it she had Christian go find night guards and get them out of the building to a safe distance she had calcted.

    He came back as she was finishing up and looked at the bomb curiously. "Where did you even learn to do this?"

    "Angelo looked it up for me," she said with a shrug. "He''s the one who makes them. I just arm them. You can find virtually anything on the inte if you look deep enough."

    "¡­Angelo is kind of scary. Aren''t you ever concerned about him trying to take over the world?"

    Averyughed. "As if! He doesn''t do anything that won''t benefit him personally. He''s brilliant but doesn''t waste his time on things that don''t matter to him.. I''m willing to bet that once we finish with all of this that he''ll go back to ying video games."

    "He''s into video games?"

    "Oh yeah. Spent most of his free time on them before all of this happened though he would still go out with people if he was invited. Why?"

    Christian shook his head in wonder. "I was just thinking that our brothers/brother figures are more alike than I originally expected. Angelo''s a lot more serious than Liam could ever be."

    Sheughed again. "I don''t think anyone can be as goofy as Liam."

    "Fair. So how long until you''re done?"

    "Not long. I should have it just¡­about¡­now! We need to get out of here in the next two minutes."

    Christian scooped her up and flew out of there immediately to the safe spot where he had left all of the nightguards. They watched the building blow up together and she felt a certain sense of satisfaction. It was always nice seeing a jobpleted without anyone getting hurt.

    This one would bring them closer to taking Hunsacher down for good. How could she not be happy about that? It was what she had been working toward for the past four years.

    "How many times have you done this?" he asked as he watched the building go up in mes.

    "More than I can count at this point. Why do you ask?"

    "Just trying to imagine how many charges of vandalism and arson I might have to defend you against in a worst case scenario."

    Averyughed again. "You worry too much."

    "And you don''t worry enough."

    "Now you sound like Angelo."

    She couldn''t even see Christian''s face from under the gas mask but she could tell he was grimacing. "Don''t tell me that. Come on, let''s get out of here."

    "Not yet! We need to make sure we know who these people are." She checked all of their ID badges and made sure she had their info so Angelo could track them downter more easily. "Okay, now we can go."

    Her husband nodded and picked her up again before flying them home. She retracted the suit as soon as they were inside and he pulled the gas mask off in disgust.

    "Ugh. Still not a fan of this thing. My old costume was a lot easier to deal with."

    "Did you wear it all the time?" Avery asked curiously.

    Since he hadn''t been aware she knew his secret identity until recently he had never told her about life as a hero. She couldn''t deny she wanted to hear about it. It had been a significant part of his life for about half of it.

    "Yeah, underneath my regr clothes. The material is specifically made for that so you don''t sweat to death," Christian exined.

    "And your sses?"

    "So you noticed."

    "Noticed that one a while ago. They''re part of your ''normal person'' costume, aren''t they?"

    "I am a normal person!"

    "A normal person with superpowers. Are our kids going to have them too?" Avery asked with a raised eyebrow. She hadn''t considered that before.

    "I''m¡­not sure, honestly. No one else in my family has them but they had to havee from somewhere. If you have a recessive gene for powers it''s possible," Christian admitted. "My mom said if that happened I was going to have to tell you but you already knew."

    "We have quite the gene pool, don''t we? I''m albino and you have superpowers."

    He shrugged and took off the rest of his gear. "It''s not boring, that''s for sure. Mostly I feel bad for my mom because she didn''t know how to deal with a kid who could float away unconsciously."

    "What did she do about that?"

    "Put weighted clothes on me. All that really did was make me stronger."

    "So you don''t have some sort of additional strength superpower? I could tell it was a lot higher than the average person''s but wasn''t as much as my suit."

    "Nope. The only other power I had was a sixth sense about danger. I had to get that turned off using power suppressors in order to retire. You have no idea what it''s like having the whole world screaming at you all the time," Christian said with a sigh.

    So she had been right! That was why he seemed so distracted a lot of the time before retiring and how he was always able to find her when no other hero was. It exined so much.

    "I thought you had something like that," Avery remarked.

    Christian seemed surprised. "No one else ever managed to figure it out. No one else ever figured out my identity either though so I suppose I should have expected it. You''re too smart for your own good, you know that?"

    "Well, my dad was a nanotechnologist. I suppose I got some of his brains though I don''t use them much. Angelo''s the man with a n. Always has been. I just kind of followed his lead unless I really wanted something. He''s a year older than me so I used to trail after him all the time."

    "He mentioned something about that once."

    "Of course he did."

    Avery thought overall that their first mission working together had gone well. She was optimistic that they would be able to pull this off. Christian was treating her the way he normally did too.

    She was grateful for it but also waiting for the other shoe to drop. He couldn''t possibly be as okay with this as he appeared based on some of his questions and teasing earlier. He was worried about what they were doing.

    He continued to worry as the missions continued. They went out destroying things every Saturday night for the next two months while Angelopiled research on how to take down Nn Hunsacher''s closest lieutenants.

    They hit a few ces where Hunsacher had set traps but since they were both impervious to knockout gas with their gear they were able to take down the people waiting for them with ease. Things were going almost too well for their ns until they happened to hit a particr snag.

    Hunsacher had over a dozen armed men waiting for them. And Christian wasn''t bulletproof.

    Avery had no other choice. She needed to take care of this one herself. Sending a silent apology to both her husband and her baby, she had to do a bit of acrobatics to kick all of their guns away in a sh.

    A few of them shot at her but the bullets bounced off and ricocheted elsewhere. A few hit some of the people working on the gunmen''s side in potentially nonfatal ces.

    As soon as they realized she was bulletproof they stopped shooting at her and changed their target to Christian. She wasn''t about to stand for that when he was only involved in this because of her. He had already been stabbed. He didn''t need to be shot too.

    She maneuvered herself directly in front of him for protection despite his protests of "what do you think you''re doing?" and she managed to use the newly-discovered stun gun feature of her suit to knock a couple of them out before grabbing their guns. She had never shot a gun before but she had been watching their shooting posture earlier and mimicked it so it looked like she knew what she was doing.

    Avery held one gun in each hand as she continued to block her husband from harm. "Drop the guns or I''ll shoot."

    They looked at each other hesitantly before another tried to shoot her. She blocked the bullet with ease and it ended up in somebody''s leg on the opposite side.

    After seeing that final bit of proof that they couldn''t beat her they dropped the guns and slid them over to her. She had Christian grab them so nobody else could try anything funny and stared them down.

    "Do you want to do this the easy way or the hard way? I think you need to get half of your buddies here to the hospital and that won''t happen if you fight me."

 Chapter 90 - I Know What His Problem Is

    The mercenaries all looked at each other before scattering. Well. That was easy.

    Avery felt rather satisfied as they finished what they were doing but Christian was quiet. He didn''t say anything until they were back in the safety of their apartment but once he took off his gas mask he looked uncharacteristically angry.

    "What was that back there?!"

    "Uh, me saving your life? You aren''t bulletproof but my suit is," she said logically.

    "You know why you aren''t supposed to fight right now!" Christian argued. "That was really dangerous, Avery! What if it hurt the baby?"

    "All I did was a few flips! Those bullets never touched me. I saw a video a while back of a woman who was nine months pregnant doing a backflip on a trampoline and she and her baby were both perfectly fine. I have another checkup next week and you''ll see for yourself that nothing happened.."

    He flew over to her and gripped her shoulders tightly. "Can you understand that I can''t afford to lose either of you? You can''t be this reckless!"

    Avery red at him. "Do you not see the hypocrisy in that statement? I can''t afford to lose YOU. I did what I had to in order to keep you safe and nothing more. So don''t give me that. You don''t know what it''s like to lose people. I can''t lose any more. I can''t."

    Christian crumbled at the look on her face and leaned down so his head was touching the top of her shoulder. "Avery¡­"

    "Don''t ''Avery'' me. I''m going to bed."

    She got ready for bed first and pretended to be asleep when Christian came to bed and called her name. She was too upset to talk about this more right now. Couldn''t he see that she had only done it to save his life?

    Her ire remained the following morning and rather than hang around in the stilted air of their apartment she went to hang out with Vanessa. That had been happening less and less oftentely because of how ragged Angelo had been running her for months but she still saw her best friend outside of work at least twice a month.

    Vanessa likely assumed this was because she was married but that wasn''t the case at all. Before Christian found out the truth she had been too busy to spend much time with him either.

    "Men are ridiculous," Vanessa scoffed as they did their nails in her living room.

    "I''m inclined to agree but what have they done to you this time?" Avery asked, trying to decide whether she wanted to paint her nails pastel yellow or blue.

    "I got ghosted again for the third time in a month and on top of that I haven''t seen Angelo since he ran out on me on Valentine''s Day. I think he''s avoiding me on purpose. I know he''s like family to you but that''s a jerk move."

    Hang on, they had gone out on Valentine''s Day?! Why hadn''t Vanessa ever said anything about this?

    "You never told me you went out on Valentine''s Day!"

    Vanessa sighed. "I didn''t want to make a big deal out of it since it didn''t go well. I''ve been trying not to let it bother me but with how well the rest of my dates have been going it''s been hard not to dwell on it since I actually know him. Or thought I did."

    "What happened exactly?" Avery asked hesitantly.

    She had an idea knowing Angelo but wanted to hear her friend''s side of the story before drawing any conclusions. She had known they danced throughout her wedding but not that anything hade of it.

    Vanessaunched into her story as she continued painting her nails a pinkish red. "He offered me a deal at your wedding when I asked him to dance. He said he would dance however much I wanted if I went out with him on Valentine''s Day so he didn''t have to be a single loser without ns.

    "That benefitted me way more than it benefitted him and after being around him as long as I have I''ve learned that he doesn''t do things arbitrarily. So I started paying more attention and got an inkling that he might like me.

    "I''d never thought of him that way and figured whatever we were doing on Valentine''s Day would be casual at best until he showed up with flowers. Aside from the wedding I had never been alone with him for more than a few minutes at a time so we''ve never done that much talking one-on-one.

    "He was invested in everything I had to say. How many men do you know that do that? My suspicions grew but were essentially confirmed after he identally called me pretty in a roundabout way. He kind of floundered when he was trying to exin himself.

    "I tried to corner him by asking him why he asked me out and he started to panic and told me not to go there because it didn''t matter one way or the other. I said that it did because he''s rtively fun to be around and I could see myself liking him so we should at least give it a shot and that was when he bolted after telling me not to.

    "I don''t understand why he would do something like that but he won''t respond to my messages and I haven''t seen him in person since so unless I stalk him at his house I''m not about to get any answers. I have to hold onto my dignity somehow."

    Vanessa seemed rather frustrated by the end of her exnation and identally messed up one of her nails. Avery''s heart went out to her.

    She had suspected Angelo liked her too but knew he would never get involved with anyone until Nn Hunsacher was defeated. Especially after seeing what happened to Avery.

    "It''s not your fault, Ness," she said quietly. "I know what his problem is."

    "What is it?!"

    How to exin this without giving anything too important away? She didn''t want Vanessa to feel like it was her fault in any way because it wasn''t but she couldn''t betray her and Angelo''s secret either.

    "Angelo has a lot going on right now," Avery said hesitantly. "He hasn''t been avoiding you specifically. He''s been too busy to even get more than a few hours of sleep most of the time. He knows he isn''t currently capable of giving anything to a rtionship and thinks you deserve better so he isn''t even going to try."

    Vanessa scowled. "Seriously? That''s why he''s avoiding me like I''m the gue?"

    "I never said I agreed with him. Only that I know why he''s acting like that. But why is this still bothering you so many months after the fact? Does that mean you actually do like him? It sounds to me like you miss him."

    "Why should I miss someone that can''t be bothered with me?"

    "When ites to matters of the heart ''should'' usually doesn''t factor into things," Avery said wisely.

    Goodness knows she shouldn''t have fallen in love with her nemesis and gone so far to be with him. She was still dealing with the fallout of that in some ways.

    Vanessa sighed and tears sparked in her eyes. She turned her head, clearly not wanting Avery to see, but it was toote. "That idiot. So what if I miss him? He refuses to talk to me! What sucks the most about all of this was that I didn''t realize what I had until it was gone."

    So she thought she had taken Angelo''s presence in her life for granted. It was true that they did see each other a lot over the past couple of years, especially once Avery and Christian started dating. The four of them doubled all the time.

    Vanessa had gotten used to having him around and now that he had been gone for several months it was hitting her hard. Poor thing. She deserved better than that.

    "Ness¡­it''s not the end of the world¡ª" Avery began.

    "You don''t get it! Ipletely blew it. He''s never going to talk to me again because I made things awkward. I would have rather kept seeing him without things going further than not see him at all. Stupid hindsight."

    Hindsight could be cruel. She wished there was something she could do for her friends¡ªboth of them¡ªbut she couldn''t get involved. At least not until this was all over. If it ever was.

    "He''s going to talk to you again, I promise," Avery told her. "Like I said, he''s so busy right now he hardly sleeps. He barely has time to talk to me and that''s only because I''m involved in his side project."

    "What on earth is he doing that takes up so much time?" Vanessa demanded.

    "¡­I can''t tell you that. It''s his business."

    "Do you at least know when he''ll be done with it?"

    "I wish."

 Chapter 91 - What Do You Suggest Then, Mr. Lawyer?

    Avery had an idea of why Angelo was pushing himself so hard right now. It was abination of being driven by his rage the closer they got to the finish line and wanting to get it taken care of before her baby was born.

    She had tried telling him to slow down and take care of himself more than once but he didn''t listen. He had to be getting closer to his breaking point. She was worried about him but there was nothing she could do to get him to take it easy when he could almost taste victory. He was stubborn like that.

    Vanessa sighed. "Figures. The one man who actually cares about me in some sort of meaningful capacity has to be stupidly noble about it. But enough about me. You agreed that men are ridiculous. What did Christian do?"

    "He''s being overprotective," Avery grumbled..

    "Why?"

    "You can''t tell anybody, okay? We''re going to make the official announcement soon. I''m pregnant and he thinks I can''t do ANYTHING because of it."

    Vanessa''s mood flipped like a switch and she squealed and bounced up and down. "Aves! That''s amazing! Not the overprotective part but the part about you guys having a baby. Are you excited?"

    "Honestly, I''m nervous more than anything. I know almost nothing about being a mom," Avery confessed.

    "Oh, honey, don''t worry about that! You''re going to be fantastic. Hardly anyone knows what they''re doing in the beginning. My sister felt the same way and she''s doing fine."

    If only that was all she had to worry about. She was concerned about getting this baby born safely, fixing things with her husband after she monumentally screwed up, and saving the world. She had an awful lot on her te.

    "I certainly hope so," Avery replied tiredly.

    Vanessa could tell that her attempt at a pep talk hadn''t worked and changed tacks. "I''m sure Christian wille around eventually. He''s just looking out for you even if he is going about it the wrong way."

    "I know but that doesn''t make it any less frustrating."

    "Hang in there. You won''t be pregnant forever."

    Like that made her feel any better! Sure, being pregnant wasn''t the most pleasant thing in the world, but once it was over she was going to have to deal with being a parent. More likely than not it would be while still juggling her Nox duties.

    Avery didn''t want that. She didn''t want to leave her child without a parent the way both of hers had left her at different times in different ways.

    She was indestructible in the suit but her dad hadn''t been wearing it when he died. The car ident had been too sudden. He had been driving and hadn''t had time to activate the nanobots.

    If Hunsacher dug deeply enough he would find her. It was only a matter of time before that happened now that he had connected some of the dots. That would put her and everyone she cared about in danger. How was she supposed to cope with that?

    "That''s true," Avery agreed rather than going into why that was even more worrisome.

    She changed the subject to something more lighthearted and tried to focus on that during the rest of the time she spent with her friend. She didn''t want to think about anything else since she hade here in order to be distracted.

    They both seemed a bit more lighthearted by the time she left. There was nothing likeughing about stupid things to get your mind off of what was bothering you.

    Avery went home and was surprised to find her husband waiting with flowers. He held them out to her nervously. "I''m sorry for giving you a hard time. I''m still trying to adjust to all of this. I know you''re incredibly capable and can kick my butt any day of the week but I can''t help but worry."

    She cracked a smile. It was hard to stay mad at him when he phrased it like that. "As long as you know it. Thanks for the flowers."

    Christian had gotten her purple roses. Her favorite. She didn''t know what it was but in addition to being her favorite color they smelled a lot better than most roses did. Maybe she was biased.

    He seemed relieved. "I''m d you like them. Did you have fun with Vanessa?"

    "I did. We painted our nails. See?"

    Avery held them up and wiggled her fingers to show them off. She didn''t want to mention her current desire to strangle Angelo. Just because she understood his reasoning didn''t make it any less frustrating to watch.

    Two of her favorite people were having a hard time (partially because of each other) and it was highly tempting to shake him and tell him to go for what he wanted for once. She knew he would never do it though. It would only result in another argument that neither of them had energy for.

    She couldn''t say anything now¡­but as soon as this was all behind them she was going to have to try and talk some sense into him. Whenever that may be.

    What was she going to do once her stomach started to show? Hunsacher thought she was a man. If he learned otherwise he might be able to track her down more easily. Christian had been able to guess who she was as soon as he found out she was a woman.

    "Very nice," Christian said approvingly. "So what do you want to do for the rest of the day?"

    Avery kind of wanted to take it easy but the choice was taken from her before the words were even out of her mouth. Angelo was calling. She held up her phone and shot him an apologetic look before answering.

    "What is it, Angelo?"

    With how hard he had been working himselftely there was no way he would call unless it had something to do with the mission. He had never been one to waste time on pleasantries anyway.

    "Christian was right!" he replied excitedly. "Someone did connect the dots. I''ve been monitoring warrant requests and one was just put in for Nn Hunsacher''s known homes and offices! I''m not sure how deeply they''re going to be able to look into his files and finances for a case of insurance fraud but at the very least they should find something."

    "What does this mean for us?"

    "If they do find something they''ll be able to arrest him and no amount of money will be able to get him out of jail if it goes to the right judge. I know this is a long shot but the warrant was through Alexander Pritchett. Does Christian know of him? Is he trustworthy? I mean, he did grant the warrant against such a big shot in the first ce."

    Avery turned to her husband, hardly daring to get her hopes up. "Do you know of a Judge Alexander Pritchett?"

    Christian''s eyes widened. "That''s the one I was telling you about. Who''s friends with my boss. If all of this goes through him I don''t think Hunsacher will be able to buy him off."

    "Did you hear that?" she asked Angelo eagerly.

    "Yes! G¨¹era, we might actually be able to pull this off. I think we need to do one more mission once the warrant has been enacted. One that will lure him there personally. If the police catch him supposedly in the act that will be the final nail in his coffin."

    Avery frowned, her enthusiasm fading. "Isn''t that leaving an awful lot to chance? We''d have to hold him there somehow and manipte things just right in order to frame him. Then we''d have to hightail it out of there without anyone seeing. If we screw things up even a tiny bit we won''t be able to pin this on him and it will be back to square one."

    "Won''t it seem too much like a setup that way?" Christian added. "If he already knows the police are onto him why would he risk doing it again?"

    "What do you suggest then, Mr. Lawyer?" Angelo asked in annoyance.

    "I think we should watch and see what happens with the police first. They should be able to arrest him without further interference from us. Then we can focus on the next part of the n."

    "We need an expos¨¦," Avery added. "Putting Hunsacher in jail won''t be enough. We need to take down his entire empire."

    A thoughtful expression crossed Christian''s face. "Not necessarily. Angelo, you''re already working on taking down those working most closely with Hunsacher, aren''t you?"

    "Yeah, why?"

    "With them out of the way, all we really need to do is get Leah involved. She''s still married to him so with him in jail she''ll be in charge of his assets. If you find out exactly what all of the holdings are she can be the one to break them up."

    Avery blinked at him. "That seems too easy! They''re in the middle of a divorce. Will she really be able to do that?"

    "I''ve seen cases where widows in the middle of a divorce still get all of their husbands'' assets. It might be a bit moreplicated in this case but it should work," Christian said with a shrug.

 Chapter 92 - I Cant Lose You. Not Like This

    "What if we can''t pull that off?" Angelo asked, skeptical. "Wouldn''t it be better to just kill him and leave her a widow?"

    Avery was appalled. "Angelo, we don''t kill people!"

    "We thought we couldn''t do it before because someone would just take his ce but things are different now! We have Leah! Honestly, we should have thought of this sooner."

    "I didn''t sign up to kill anyone," Christian said firmly.

    "Come on, we''re so close! There''s no need to resort to extreme measures when he''s nearly out of our hair. If all goes ording to n he should be arrested in the next couple of weeks and we won''t have to worry about him anymore aside from ensuring he gets convicted. I hate him too but we don''t work like that," Avery agreed.

    Angelo muttered mutinously. "There aren''t any guarantees that Leah will be able to do anything once she''s arrested. Then we''ll have to figure out another way to break up his empire.."

    "So be it. We''re not stooping to his level. Murder is murder even if it is done in retaliation."

    "Whatever. I just wanted you to know about the warrant. I have to go."

    He hung up without another word and she was concerned. He wasn''t seriously going to try and murder Nn Hunsacher now that the idea had been nted in his head, was he? He was a hacker! He didn''t know anything about fighting people!

    Avery nced over at Christian, who looked distinctly troubled. "Why did your best friend have to jump to murder as an option?"

    She let out a heavy sigh and leaned against the back of the couch. "Look, Angelo''s had it rough. He wants this over with as much as we do but he''s also a lot angrier than I am in general. I don''t think he would actually do it."

    That was what she wanted to believe, anyway. They did this to help people. They couldn''t stoop to Hunsacher''s level. Angelo couldn''t actually try to murder somebody no matter how smart he was.

    They had to wait for the warrant like nned. It was going to work! Everything would be fine.

    "If you say so," Christian said but he didn''t sound so sure.

    That conversation stuck with Avery over the next week and a half. The warrant had been served and they were waiting to see if an arrest would be made. It seemed that theputer forensics people the police were using were slow.

    She figured Angelo was about to lose his mind so she tried texting him to see if he wanted to go somewhere or do something. He could definitely use a distraction about now.

    No response. His phone was ALWAYS on him. She tried again five more times and called him three times with no response. That was worrisome. She tried Jorge, the t¨ªas, even Leah to see if any of them had been in contact with him recently. Still nothing.

    Avery had a very bad feeling about this. She had a sinking suspicion where he might be.

    "Christian, I think I need to go check on Angelo," she said grimly.

    "You still haven''t gotten a hold of him?"

    "No."

    "Are you going to go to his apartment?" Christian asked.

    Avery let out a sigh. "Don''t judge him¡­but I think he went after Nn Hunsacher himself because the n was going to slowly for his liking."

    She had already told her husband enough lies. He had been there for that phone conversation so he should understand her concerns. She needed to make sure Angelo didn''t do anything that couldn''t be undone.

    "You''re going to try and stop him, aren''t you?"

    "I have to."

    "Then I''ming with you," Christian said resolutely. "I don''t want your family to be a murderer either and you''re in no condition to jump around or fight."

    He wasn''t wrong. Her stomach was finally starting to show a tiny bit when she wore tight clothes. She had no idea if it would be noticeable in the suit yet. She was running out of time to get this done as mystery man Nox.

    "Alright but hurry," Avery told him.

    Christian got dressed in record time and wore a ski mask rather than a gas mask this time before flying her off of the fire escape. Nn Hunsacher had several different properties in New York City so they had to try more than one before they found the right ce. A fancy townhouse where the front door had been left unlocked. Thankfully, they didn''t have to break any windows and could sneak in.

    They heard a horribly familiar voice shouting in another room. "It was me! I''m the one who''s been causing you so much trouble but that isn''t enough. I''m going to kill you for all the other people you''ve killed."

    Avery''s stomach sank as she rounded the corner and saw Angelo standing there pointing a gun at Nn Hunsacher. "Don''t do this!" she pleaded in Spanish.

    He flinched but didn''t turn around and held the gun steady. "I have to! Don''t you understand? You''ll never be able to live peacefully if he doesn''t die! I''m doing this for you, me, and all of the other people who can''t live if he does.

    "Leah and those kids have been locked up for almost a year. People die from rationing their insulin every day. There are unsafe conditions in all of his factories. And that''s only the tip of the iceberg. This man has either straight up murder or indirectly caused the deaths of THOUSANDS of people.

    "The world is better off without him. Go home, G¨¹era! This is my sin. You don''t have to bear it. Just go and be happy in the way I can''t. You''re moving on but I have nothing to look forward to when this is all over. All I have left is my hate."

    Nn Hunsacher''s eyes widened when he saw Avery. He didn''t seem very afraid for someone who had a gun pointed at him.

    He was frozen in ce but genuine fury shed across his face and he yelled, "You! The two of you were working together this entire time! Why? Who are you?"

    Avery felt nothing but disgust finally setting eyes on the man who had ruined so many lives and taken her father and Horatio from them. "Shut up, you worthless piece of slime. You don''t deserve to know who we are."

    She moved toward her best friend and saw the grief and rage mingled in his eyes that was so familiar through the holes in his ski mask. She wrapped her hand around the gun and looked directly at him.

    "He isn''t worth it. You''re a good person; don''t throw your soul away for someone so pathetic," she said seriously, switching back to Spanish. "You wanted to help people and you are. Don''t be a killer for him. Don''t stoop to his level. You''re a million times better than he is."

    "What does it matter if I be a killer? We''re already viins!"

    "We aren''t viins. We''re antiheroes. And if you cross that line there''s noing back from it. Ever."

    Tears swam in Angelo''s eyes. "So what? I''m not as good as you. I don''t have something waiting for me on the other side like you do either. There''s no reason I shouldn''t do it and end all of our suffering."

    Avery frantically tried to think. She didn''t want to stop him using force because he was a normal person and he would get hurt by the suit''s strength. She would if she had to but she would prefer to talk him down.

    It hit her a momentter. He didn''t know what Vanessa had said the other day.

    "Vanessa!" she blurted. "I talked to her the other day and she said she missed you and that she didn''t realize what she had until you stopped talking to her. She likes you and wants to see you again. Isn''t that worth it?"

    His eyebrows nearly shot off his face. "She said that?"

    "Yes! And I know you only backed away because you thought she deserved better when you were consumed by revenge. If you do this now you''ll never deserve her because it will consume youpletely. The wonderful person I grew up with will be gone.

    "I can''t lose you, Angelo. Not like this. Come home, okay? It''ste but I''ll feed you and you can take a nap on my couch. Food and sleep ought to get you thinking straight. I love you. I love you so much so don''t do this. Please."

    As if to punctuate her words, sirens came roaring up the street. Don''t tell her they were serving the arrest warrant now!

    The red and blue shing lights were getting closer. They had to get out of here without getting caught or this whole operation would be a bust. She was about ready to grab Angelo and go but Christian beat her to it.

    He hoisted Angelo over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and frantically yet silently gestured for her to move. She ran after him and they escaped through the back door, being sure to lock it on their way out. She heard the police breaking down the door to serve the warrant right as he positioned her over his other shoulder and flew off.

    Angelo cursed and scrambled to hold on. Averyughed at him while simultaneously trying not to think of her own precarious grip.

    She really, really didn''t like flying. Being in control of her own jumps was far preferable.

 Chapter 93 - It Was Different Than I Thought It Would Be

    Angelo didn''t speak again until theynded on their fire escape and he pulled off his ski mask. "How did you even know where to find me?"

    "I know you, Angelo Cruz. Where did you get that gun?" Avery demanded.

    "The ck market at the same time I got that freeze ray you never ended up using. Can you not look at me like that?"

    "You can''t even see me looking at you."

    "Yeah, but I can feel it all the same," Angelo muttered.

    Avery retracted her suit and looked at him seriously. "There. Now you can see how I''m looking at you. Am I judging you for what you almost did? Do you really think I would do that? Give me the gun.."

    He could see theck of judgment in her eyes but was still ashamed and looked at the ground as he handed it over. "Here."

    She gave it directly to Christian, who seemed to take her hint and flew away to dispose of it far from here, likely in a body of water. Goodness knows there were plenty surrounding New York City.

    "I''m not mad at you, Angelo. I''m just d I was able to stop you before you did something you would regret for the rest of your life," Avery said as she pulled him into a tight hug. "I understand why you wanted to. I really do. But we need to be better than that. We''re the good guys, remember?"

    "Yes," Angelo whispered reluctantly as his hands trembled on her back.

    She pulled away and led him in through the window. "Come on, I''ll make you something to eat. I''m guessing you didn''t have dinner. You tend to be more impulsive when you''re hungry."

    "Can you make chicken quesadis?"

    "You got it."

    Avery was in the middle of making them when Christian came back and announced that the gun was now at the bottom of the East River. He didn''t say anything else aside from the fact that he wanted some of what she was cooking because flying made him hungry.

    The three of them sat at the table in an ufortable silence eating their food when she was done. She also pulled out a half-eaten cake she had made a few days earlier when she was stressed that everyone dug into with gusto.

    The police would deal with Nn Hunsacher. She desperately hoped they didn''t believe him about being attacked by three masked strangers.

    Even if they did there was nothing that could be done about it. They had all been wearing gloves and their hair was covered. She was certain Angelo found a way to shut off whatever security system or cameras Hunsacher had before striking as well. Otherwise he wouldn''t have dared to do it in the first ce.

    "You covered your tracks, right?" she asked for rification.

    He looked insulted. "I''m not stupid!"

    "Well, you did try to kill someone tonight. Not exactly the smartest idea. But I''ll let that go for now since we all need to sleep. I''ll get you a nket first."

    "You go get ready. I''ll do it," Christian told her before giving her a peck on the lips as he passed her to put his te in the sink.

    "Thanks," Avery said as she shot him a grateful smile.

    She was exhausted but also felt gross so she went to shower and brush her teeth. It waste, she was sleepy from being full, and she didn''t want to do anything at all tomorrow. Now that the major drama was out of the way she should finally be able to take it easy for a while.

    When Christian joined her he reached for her in the dark and held her close. "You did good tonight," he murmured. "I''m really proud of you."

    "For what?"

    "Not being tempted to kill him yourself. He did kill your dad, after all. But you never thought about it for a second and you managed to talk Angelo down. That was a really brave thing to do."

    Avery scoffed. "Please. I wouldn''t qualify that fully as a win. If the cops hadn''te when they did¡ª"

    "I think he was listening to you though. You would have been able to do it if you had more time. Are you sure you''re okay after all of that? You did have to see your worst enemy up close for the first time."

    "It was different than I thought it would be¡­maybe because I was so frantic about stopping Angelo. I didn''t want that monster to take anything more from me."

    She hated Nn Hunsacher. She would never forgive him for what he had done to her personally and to society atrge. But that didn''t mean she was going to let one of the people she loved most in this world kill him and deal with that burden for the rest of his life.

    Angelo had poured his heart and soul into stopping Hunsacher. How could she let him be a killer when they had worked so hard to do this right? How could she let him go past the point of no return?

    "If we manage to get him convicted he won''t be able to take anything from anyone ever again," Christian said reassuringly. "That''s our next step, right?"

    "Yeah. That and taking care of the people who worked closest to him. But since Leah will have his shares once he''s locked up if all things go ording to n she might be able to handle them for us. She''ll be able toe out of hiding once he''s in jail because he''ll have no way to kill her."

    "So our job is mostly done?"

    "Yeah. From here on out it''s the nners'' game. I''m just muscle. I doubt I''ll be needed from here on out," Avery said, not quite sure how to feel about that.

    Was it really over so easily? Could she finally focus on her pregnancy and her marriage now? She didn''t want to leave it all on Angelo''s and thework''s shoulders but she could admit that she needed to take it easy.

    Christian kissed her forehead. "Good. You''ve done enough. You deserve to be able to retire too, Avery."

    Retirement. A beautiful word. Would she truly be able to put being Nox behind her forever? What would that even look like? It had been such a huge part of her life for the past four years.

    Avery drifted off to sleep with that happy thought. Retirement. It was finally almost over. Wasn''t it?

    ===

    Hunsacher never figured out the identities of the people who framed him. Nobody believed that men in masks and super suits were out to get him based on the evidence the insurance investigators had collected.

    He tried pushing the trial back as long as he possibly could but the DA working the case had been involved inw suits against him before and apparently held a grudge about him getting off scot-free. He was determined to see Hunsacher burn and showed no mercy.

    The trial happened only five months after the arrest (which was amazing considering Hunsacher''s reach and money). Avery had been convinced he would stall it as long as possible but they weren''t the only ones out to get him.

    Angelo kept working all that time with Leah and the rest of thework trying to take down any potential allies of Hunsacher''s once they ensured that the court case was in good hands. However, he was better about taking care of himself now that Avery was no longer involved in the process.

    His mission to get her to a ce of normalcy had been aplished. She was able to spend the rest of her pregnancy worrying about baby names and how to decorate the nursery like a normal person.

    Because of that he was able to rx a little. He started joining in on group activities again and saw Vanessa for the first time in ages. He tried to pretend nothing was wrong and for some reason she went along with it. Avery was rather surprised by that but figured the two of them would have to talk for real sooner orter.

    Everything was on track. So why was she still unsettled? Because it didn''t feel real?

    During the investigation it came out that Hunsacher had a lot more money than anybody knew about. He was also being charged with multiple counts of tax evasion, illegal business practices, and murder.

    That was the best part of all of this. One of his lieutenants had cut a plea deal after Angelo managed to get information on him to the DA in question anonymously and confessed to Hunsacher ordering him to kill people. A lot of people.

    He knew he would spend the rest of his life in prison but wanted to be in his own cell. He had been the one who messed with the brakes on Levi''s car and both his and Horatio''s deaths were now ruled as murder rather than idental. It was more than Avery could have ever hoped for.

    Justice had been served. But they hadn''t managed to aplish what their fathers were originally after yet. Maybe that was the problem.

 Chapter 94 - Thank You For Not Giving Up On Me

    Christian thought his wife would be happier about Hunsacher being behind bars. She had been distracted ever since the arrest though she tried her best to act like everything was normal again.

    He wished there was more he could do. The day he was given a life sentence with no possibility of parole all Avery could do was cry in his arms. She couldn''t even try to put all of her thoughts into words and they poured out through her tears instead.

    She had gotten what she wanted! So why wasn''t she happy? Why wasn''t it enough?

    He asked her about it one day when they were on the way home from dinner with his family. She had engaged with everyone like usual but as soon as they left she was quiet and he knew something was wrong.

    "Avery? Can you tell me what you''re feeling right now?"

    His wife looked at him with sad eyes. "It took us four years to take Hunsacher down but we haven''t aplished our ultimate goal of giving this country back to its people. That was what my dad wanted more than anything..

    "We managed to stop him from implementing mind control and Angelo and the rest are trying to break up the monopolies but it doesn''t feel like enough. We stopped one evil. Who knows what will end up taking its ce? There will always be someone who will try to buy their way to the top like Hunsacher did. We can''t stop all of them."

    Ah. So that was what it was about. Retirement guilt.

    Chrisitan understood that. He had been there. Worried about the people he wasn''t saving by sitting back. But ultimately he had realized that someone else would take his ce.

    There would always be bad in the world but there would also always be good that rose up to fight it. He believed that with all his heart and he told her so.

    "There will always be people like you and me, Avery. Those who fight the good fight by seeing the injustices in the world and taking them into their own hands. It doesn''t all have to be on you. Take it from a retired hero."

    Avery cracked a smile. "I suppose your words do hold more weight than most. That isn''t all that''s bothering me though¡­I don''t feel ready for to be a mother and I''m sad that my dad will never know his grandchildren. Or that his wish is on its way to being fulfilled. I just¡­really miss him right now."

    Christian wrapped her in his arms and kissed the top of her head. "He would be so proud of what you''ve aplished, Avery."

    "I know. But I wish I could have heard him say it himself, you know?"

    He could understand that. Losing her father had left a hole in her heart that could never be filled. That didn''t mean he wasn''t going to keep trying to make her happy though. They were building a family together and though she would always miss her dad she would never be lonely.

    "I know. I''m sorry," Christian said with a heavy sigh.

    "It''s not your fault," Avery replied quietly. "Special asions are just hard without him. I mean, I''m having my baby shower tomorrow. That''s kind of a big deal. It''s making all of this feel so much more real."

    Her due date was less than two weeks away. Marianne had finally hired a second cake decorator to take some of the pressure off of her as her pregnancy progressed so she would be able to take a longer maternity leave than most.

    He was grateful for that because neither of them wanted to send their daughter to daycare so soon. They had found out they were having a girl months ago and decided on the name Bailey. They wanted to use a B name because theirs started with A and C and it sort ofpleted the set.

    Avery hyphenated her name when they got married because she was thest of her line. The West name would die with her.

    Christian could see how much that troubled her so when they wereing up with baby names he suggested that they hyphenate their kids'' names as well so it could carry on. She had been rather moved by that.

    He didn''t care what they were called. He just wanted his family to be together and happy.

    Liam had questioned his decision since it was traditional for children to carry their father''s name only but he exined that it was important that Avery keep her dad alive in this way and he couldn''t argue with that. He didn''t know what it was like to lose someone.

    Neither did Christian but he had seen how much it had affected his wife and Angelo. He sincerely hoped he never would.

    "It is getting very real," he agreed, forcing himself to focus.

    His thoughts had been wandering again. That had been happening a lot since he found out Avery was Nox and started working with her. It had been a lot to process but at this point he had put whatever issues he had about her lies behind him and was trying to focus on the arrival of their first child.

    The nursery was ready, the baby clothes were bought, and all that was left aside from the baby shower was the birth itself. The two of them had pored over countless baby books together since Hunsacher''s arrest so he felt about as ready as he could.

    The problem was that his wife was struggling. He was d she was finally confiding in him about things that were bothering her but it was still hard seeing her upset.

    Avery had be a much bettermunicator once she no longer felt the need to keep secrets from him. They were doing well on that front. He just wished he knew how to cheer her up and get her to focus more on the future than the past.

    She said before they even got engaged that she needed time to figure things out. It seemed she was still working on that even with the whole Hunsacher mess behind her. He didn''t know how much longer it would be or how he was supposed to help her but he knew he had to try.

    Christian had fallen in love with aplicated woman. There was no denying that. But because he loved her he was determined to stand by her side even when there was nothing he could do to help her.

    Avery sighed and snuggled closer to him. "At least I know some people who have had kids before. I''m sure your mom and Angelo''s t¨ªas will be incredibly helpful as I try to learn how to navigate having a baby around. I''m not going into this alone."

    No, she wasn''t. She had a support system in ce and she had him. He would be with her every step of the way.

    "You''ll be fine," Christian reassured her. "Don''t worry."

    He felt like a hypocrite for saying that because he was worried too. Both about his wife and about how things were going to be going forward.

    They really hadn''t had much time alone together before getting pregnant. And most of that time was under incredibly stressful circumstances. They were going straight from one stressor to another. Were they really going to be okay?

    He felt like he couldn''t show any negativity though when she was already so worried. He truly wasn''t as stressed about all of this as she was but he wished they had more time to figure other things out before bing parents. Kids weren''t supposed to be born under chaotic circumstances.

    Though he wouldn''t call this chaotic. It would have been if they were still out fighting against Hunsacher for sure but they weren''t. That part was over now.

    It was all Angelo''s game. His and the people''s he was working with.

    Avery didn''t have to worry about it anymore but she still did because that was the kind of person she was. The kind who cared too much. It was one of the things Christian loved about her but he wished it didn''t weigh down on her so much.

    "I will be fine," she said with a degree of weary confidence he found surprising. "Because I have you."

    He kissed the top of her head. He was d that she felt like she could rely on him. More than he could say. It was all he had wanted from the first time he could tell there was something bothering her that she couldn''t or wouldn''t talk about. They hade a long way since then.

    "I love you, Avery."

    "I love you too. Thank you for not giving up on me."

    Christian rubbed her arm. How could he? If finding out she was his archnemesis hadn''t been enough to make him do that nothing could.

    She had lied more than he would have thought he was able to forgive but she did it because she wanted a chance at happiness after miserably and selflessly devoting her life to make the world a better ce. She saw something she wanted and she went for it heedless of the consequences.

    And she hadn''t beenpletely selfish. She had saved his life knowing full well that it could blow her cover. Because she loved him and hadn''t been able to bear standing back and doing nothing when she was capable of intervening.

    Avery''s actions hadn''t been the wisest but they hadn''t been ill-intentioned. Christian couldn''t resent her for them knowing how much she loved him and vice versa.

    She had been willing to throw away everything she had worked for to be with him. She had gone against her closest friend too. That was how determined she had been to live happily with him for the rest of their lives. So how could he begrudge her that? They had wanted the same thing even if they went about it in different ways.

 Chapter 95 - Of Course He Will

    Christian had never been much of a grudge holder. Avery was genuinely apologetic about what she had done and was actively working to make amends by being more open about things and working with him.

    He couldn''t really ask for more than that but he did wish she would be more at peace with everything that happened. She did a good thing. Why couldn''t she be satisfied?

    He knew she still had conflicted feelings about her dad too. It was incredibly frustrating not knowing how to help her.

    Honestly, he had a hard time reconciling the man his wife clearly idolized with someone he used to fight regrly. Even if it was important, how could he leave such a heavy burden on his only child''s shoulders?

    Christian would never do anything like that to their kids. He would let them live their own lives the way they wanted to without having unfair expectations.

    That seemed to be what Avery was struggling with most regarding her dad.. She couldn''t quite make sense of her father raising her so lovingly only to put the weight of the world on her shoulderster when he couldn''t finish something that was important to him.

    It had needed to be done¡ªNn Hunsacher had been a major threat¡ªbut that didn''t make it fair. The unfairness was the problem.

    She had struggled with it on her own while striving toward her own happiness for so long. At least she didn''t have to bear it alone anymore. She had Christian now that she had opened up about it.

    They were going to be okay. Avery needed time, that was all. A huge part of her life had ended and she was still adjusting. She would get there. He was sure of it.

    When she came home from the baby shower beaming and carrying a mountain of gifts for Bailey he had more hope that she would be okay than he had in ages. She might be somewhat lost in the past but she was focusing on the future too.

    Christian helped her set everything up in the nursery and was satisfied seeing that light in her eyes that he loved as she talked about the games they had yed and how much fun she had with her friends and family. Good. That was a totally normal thing that had nothing to do with her life as an antihero.

    As long as Avery was happy he was happy too. Her happiness meant more to him than anything else in the world.

    He thought back on all of this as he sat in his office between meetings with clients trying and failing to get some paperwork done. It was hard to focus when he had so much on his mind.

    His office phone rang and he picked it up using the same businesslike tone as always. "Christian ter."

    "Christian!" Marianne''s frantic voice sounded in his ear. "You need toe down here right now. Avery''s water just broke and she needs to go to the hospital but I can''t take her since I''m manning the counter."

    He nearly jumped out of his chair. "Now?!"

    "Yes!"

    "¡­I''ll be right down."

    Christian hung up the phone, grabbed his suit coat and hurriedly told Cheryl that his wife was inbor and he needed to go. He asked her to call the client he was supposed to be meeting with in an hour and exin the situation for him.

    She looked at him, incensed. "You really think I wouldn''t? Go! I''ll exin it to anyone who asks."

    He thanked her fervently before practically sprinting to the elevator. When he arrived downstairs Avery was already waiting for him, looking more than a little freaked out herself.

    He hadn''t anticipated the babying quite this soon but had been driving them to work for the past week to be safe. The hospital bag they had packed was in the trunk of his car. All they had to do was make it to the nearest parking garage and pray traffic wasn''t too bad.

    "You okay?" Christian asked her, noticing how fidgety she was.

    "I have no idea what I''m doing! I tried calling people with experience while waiting for you but I only managed to get a hold of your mom and T¨ªa Felisa. They''re going to meet us there."

    That made sense. He had no doubt that his mother had dropped whatever she was doing to be there for her much beloved daughter-inw.

    "You''re going to be fine," he said soothingly. "You''ve taken all those sses on how to breathe properly and you''re not going to be alone. I know it''s hard but try to rx, okay?"

    "Hard?! I have to push an entire human being out of me!" Avery eximed.

    Christian sighed. He should have known that anything he said at this point would be useless. He tried a different tack but she wasn''t having it. In her nervousness she bickered with him all the way to the hospital.

    She calmed down slightly when she saw Nancy and Felisa. Apparently, having seasoned veterans there made her feel better than her husband.

    He couldn''t feel bad about that though because he had no idea what it was like giving birth and never would. And she still depended on him to some extent because she refused to let go of his hand as she panicked.

    Christian couldn''t deny he was concerned about all of the blood because of his wife''s clotting issue but the doctor reassured him that Avery would be fine and they would keep an eye on both her and the baby for a few days once Bailey Anne West-ter made her entrance into the world.

    Avery cried as sheid eyes on their daughter and he was tempted to do the same. She was so tiny and beautiful with a surprisingly thick mop of dark hair.

    As the doctor moved the newly cleaned baby into her mother''s arms everyone collectively cooed about how perfect she was. Felisa murmured in Spanish as she moved Avery''s sweaty hair off her forehead and Nancy looked about ready to burst with joy.

    "Oh, you did wonderful, Avery! She''s absolutely gorgeous."

    Avery smiled gloriously at both of them despite her exhaustion. "She is, isn''t she? Christian, get over here and say hello to your daughter."

    He had been standing somewhat awkwardly to the side after getting his reassurances from the doctor and moved closer with a lump in his throat as he looked at his little family. He reached out to stroke Bailey''s tiny cheek and grinned at his wife.

    "She''s just as beautiful as her mother."

    Avery blushed. "I''ve never felt less beautiful in my life."

    Christian shook his head before leaning over to kiss her. "Well, you''re wrong. Motherhood looks great on you."

    Nancyughed. "Good boy. Scoot over more so I can get a picture of the three of you!"

    He obediently did as he was told and he and Avery both beamed at the camera as she took several. This was definitely a moment that needed to be remembered. He had no doubt his mother was going to frame a photo of it somewhere.

    "I need to call your father and let him know that both mother and baby are doing well. Avery, sweetie, let me know when you''re up for visitors. I won''t have Brian or Liam disturbing you before you''re ready," Nancy said before going out into the hall.

    Avery let out a smallugh. "Your mom is a force to be reckoned with."

    "She had to be. She raised Liam, after all."

    Sheughed harder this time. "She raised you too, you know."

    Christian shrugged. He couldn''t exactly reference his powers with Felisa in the room but she had a point. His mother had been through a lot.

    "I''ll do the same," Felisa promised. "Though I make no guarantees about Angelo. That boy has always done as he pleases but I''ll do my best to keep him at bay. Congrattions, you two!"

    Avery smiled and shook her head as soon as she left. "I have no doubt Angelo will be here as soon as he knows."

    "Of course he will," Christian said with augh.

    It was honestly surprising he hadn''t been pacing outside the room this whole time, knowing him. He must not have been clued in yet since not many people knew she had gone intobor.

    "I''ll try to rest up before that happens. Do you want to hold her?" Avery asked.

    Christian nodded eagerly and took extra care as he picked up the baby. She seemed so tiny and fragile. She blinked up at him with big dark blue eyes and he felt his heart constrict. He loved her so much already!

    "Hi, Bailey," he cooed softly. "It''s so nice to finally meet you."

    He could gaze at her forever. That was how beautiful she was to him. In this moment he felt like the luckiest man in the world.

    He nced back at his wife and saw she was smiling widely at him. "Aww, you''re such a cute dad already."

    "What can I say? We make adorable kids."

    Averyughed. "We sure do."

    "I love you, Avery," Christian said seriously. "I love you so much."

    Her smile grew softer and she reached out to caress his face. "I love you too. With all my heart."

 Chapter 96 - Complicated

    Christian didn''t want to let his wife or daughter out of his sight so he insisted on sleeping on the couch in the hospital room. Eventually, Avery told him to go home and shower at the very least beforeing back and that they would still both be here.

    He did so reluctantly but admitted it needed to be done. He was still in his suit from work the day before though he had taken off his coat and tie.

    He hurried home and took care of it as quickly as possible, being sure to bring something to change into and a toothbrush so he could do the same thing tonight. He wasn''t sure he would be able to handle sleeping at home without them. He would feel better knowing they were nearby.

    When Christian made it back to the hospital Angelo was there. Honestly, that took longer than he thought it would.

    "She''s even tinier than Sofia was!" Angelo eximed in disbelief as he peered at the baby in her mother''s arms. "I didn''t think that was possible.."

    "Clearly, you''ve never heard of preemies. Bailey was only a week early and she really isn''t that small. The babies in your family are just big," Avery said as she rolled her eyes.

    "Whatever. Can I hold G¨¹erita?"

    "Go for it. Be careful with her head though."

    "I know how to hold a baby! You know how many times I''ve babysat our cousins."

    "Yeah, yeah."

    Christian watched as Angelo carefully picked Bailey up and cradled her against his chest. He felt a certain sense of appreciation for the man that he hadn''t before. They wouldn''t be enjoying this sort of peaceful family setting right now if not for all the extra work Angelo put into dealing with Hunsacher''s holdings on his own so Avery could focus on her pregnancy.

    "G¨¹erita means ''little white girl'', right?" he asked.

    He put it together using context clues after being around the Cruzes long enough. He was starting to pick up a few things in Spanish.

    Angelo looked up in surprise. "Yeah. It''s basically like calling her Avery Junior."

    Averyughed. "She isn''t nearly as white as me though."

    "No one is as white as you."

    "Other albinos are."

    "Yeah, but how often do you meet other albinos?" Angelo pointed out.

    Avery shrugged. "I''ve never met another one but we do exist. Obviously. Though we make up less than one percent of the world''s poption."

    "You''re not really helping your point, G¨¹era."

    "I won''t concede defeat. Christian, do you feel any better now that you''ve cleaned up?"

    Christian smiled at his wife. "Yeah. I made sure to eat something too. Have you had breakfast yet?"

    "Yes, but it was terrible. Oatmeal without copious amounts of brown sugar in it is an abomination. I barely managed to get it all down," Avery replied with a shudder. "I will never understand why hospital food is so determined to be gross. Good food is what heals people!"

    He was inclined to believe her considering she went to culinary school. But he also knew she had a sweet tooth that nothing could fully satisfy.

    "I can bring you something from the outside tomorrow after work," Angelo offered. "Or tell the t¨ªas to bring something. I''m sure they''ll want toe overter and can bring you some soup."

    "Speaking of work, why did you ditch today? You could havee after your shift was done," Avery scolded.

    "And put off meeting my niece longer than necessary? I don''t think so."

    "How did you know I was here, anyway?"

    "I had to hear it from Jorge, who heard it from his mom. Thanks for keeping me in the loop, by the way," Angelo said sarcastically.

    "Don''t even start! You try going throughbor and see if you remember to text people. That reminds me¡­I need to tell Vanessa. She''s probably tried getting a hold of me to see how it went since she was there when I went intobor," Avery said with a sigh.

    Christian went to dig her phone out of the hospital bag and handed it to her. Her eyes widened when she saw all of the missed messages from a variety of people.

    "¡­I have more people to text back than I thought."

    Out of curiosity he checked his phone too and saw that he had some texts from people at work who were aware of his dramatic departure. Oops.

    "If it makes you feel any better I do too," Christian told her.

    Avery cracked a smile. "Aren''t we popr?"

    "Actually, I think it''s Bailey that''s popr. Stealing hearts already and hardly anyone has even seen her."

    "I can let Vanessa know you''re up for visitors for you. Since you have so many people to text back," Angelo offered. "The t¨ªas too. Just let me know."

    "That would be great, actually. Thanks, Angelo."

    "Anytime. I didn''t call out sick¡ªI pretended to have a doctor''s appointment¡ªso I need to get going. I''ll be back though. Get some rest, G¨¹era. Your life is about to get a lot more chaotic so you''re going to need it."

    Averyughed. "I''m used to chaos. But thank you. I''ll see youter."

    Angelo handed the baby off to Christian. "Congrattions to you too. I think G¨¹erita looks like you."

    "Just the hair color. It''s too soon to tell for anything else."

    "Still. Later!"

    Christian gazed warmly down at his daughter as she stared sleepily back up at him. He spoke softly to her until he was distracted by his wife''sughter.

    "There''s no way he offered to contact to Vanessa for my sake. He''s just looking for an excuse to talk to her. Why can''t he admit he likes her? There''s nothing holding him back anymore."

    "Isn''t he still pretty busy working with Leah on tearing down Hunsacher''s empire though? Maybe he doesn''t want to do anything until he''s done," Christian theorized.

    "He''ll have missed his chance if he thinks like that. I wish I could smack some sense into him," Avery said with a sigh.

    "I''m sure he''ll figure it out sooner orter on his own."

    "He better. Otherwise I will totally support Vanessa finding someone else."

    Christian couldn''t help but smile. She was totally rooting for the two of them even if she wouldn''t admit it. He hoped everything worked out for them too. Angelo was important to his wife and she wouldn''t be at ease as long as he was having a hard time. That was simply the way things were when you cared about someone.

    Avery was the kind of person you wanted to have in your corner. He considered himself very lucky that she loved him. The tiny baby in his arms was too having her as a mother.

    Special asions made him sentimental. A lot of things were still uncertain right now but he could tell their future was bright.

    ===

    Angelo wasn''t quite as busy as he had been before Hunsacher''s arrest but he still had a lot going on. That didn''t mean he wasn''t about to drop everything the moment he heard that Avery''s baby had been born.

    Bailey was so small. Fragile. Helpless. Seeing her in her mother''s arms when he arrived made him all the more determined to watch out for both of them. Because they were family.

    He wasn''t the only one who felt that way anymore though. When Angelo handed her off to Christian before leaving he saw how tenderly he looked between his wife and daughter. Taking care of them was his job more than it was Angelo''s.

    The thought left him feeling oddly bereft. He would always have Avery''s back but it was different now that she was married.

    Her husband had been very supportive, helpful, and overall understanding about everything that went down after he found out the truth. Which was all the more shocking considering he was Mercury.

    Christian ter had to be some kind of saint. No one else would be able to ept that sort of thing so easily. His love for Avery was much stronger than Angelo ever would have guessed. And his love for their daughter was just as strong already.

    He was happy for her but still felt a strange sense of loss. Maybe that was why he offered to help her out contacting people so she didn''t have to when she was tired. Or maybe he simply wanted an excuse to talk to Vanessa and used the t¨ªas as a cover up. Even he wasn''t exactly sure which one it was. It might be abination of both.

    Things with Vanessa wereplicated. He wasn''t avoiding her anymore but he didn''t feel like he had the right to pursue her. Not after what he almost did.

    Avery had been on the verge of convincing him to put the gun down when her husband grabbed him and ran but he had still almost killed a man. Even if it was one as evil as Nn Hunsacher.

 Chapter 97 - Nothing To Offer

    Vanessa deserved better than someone who harbored as much inner darkness as Angelo did. The enemy had been defeated yet he still felt so helpless and angry. Trying to break up the monopolies was somewhat of a distraction but nothing could fully distract him from what he almost did.

    He wasn''t as good as Avery. He never could be.

    That didn''t stop him from wanting to be selfish even if he couldn''t act on it. He still enjoyed seeing Vanessa in group settings despite the slight awkwardness left over from when they hadn''t been talking.

    She hadn''t managed to corner him alone yet but he knew it was only a matter of time. He didn''t have an exnation ready so he hoped that the news of Avery''s baby would be enough to keep her from asking about it. He couldn''t have that conversation. Not right now. .

    Angelo texted his t¨ªas first since that had less potential to backfire on him. Felisa had already gone but Miguel, Jorge, and Mateo wanted to see the baby too. She agreed that she could visit on a different day since there were other people who would want to go first.

    Domenica and Beatriz also wanted to see the baby but agreed that they could wait too since Christian''s family would likely want to go first and only so many people could be in the room at once. That was awfully thoughtful of them.

    Taking a deep breath, Angelo sent the message to Vanessa next. ''Hey, just thought you should know both mom and baby are doing well and feeling up for visits now''

    She was at work so she didn''t get back to him until her lunch break. ''Oh good! I''ll have to pop by after work. Want to go with me?''

    Did he? Yes. But did he see this potentially going badly? Also yes.

    ''I already went today so I''ll have to take a raincheck. Maybe we can go together once they''re home''

    That would buy him a little more time. He still had no idea what he would even say to her. He knew what he wanted but also knew that the timing was terrible. He was too much of a wreck right now to get involved with anyone. Let alone someone he actually cared about.

    ''That works'' Vanessa replied.

    Angelo sighed and put his phone back in his pocket after checking that the coast was clear. He had work to do. He really shouldn''t be letting his mind wander like this.

    After work he went over to Leah''s new apartment. She had stopped staying at Avery''s ce as soon as the coast was clear and she and her children weren''t in danger anymore. Zack and Sydney were very happy about that but still struggling to adjust to normal life again after being locked up for so long.

    They weren''t behind in school because of all the time their mom spent teaching them from online curriculum but they were still having trouble adjusting socially. She confided the other day that she had them in therapy.

    The kids were happy to see him as usual because they recognized him as someone who came bearing gifts. He didn''t have anything for them this time though and they were disappointed.

    Leah mussed both of their hair simultaneously. "Come on, guys, that''s no way to act. Say sorry to Angelo."

    "Sorry, Angelo," they chorused glumly.

    Angelo actually felt a little bad. He shouldn''t have forgotten that this time just because his mind was full of other thoughts right now.

    "It''s fine. I''ll bring you guys something next time."

    "You really don''t have to," Leah told him. "You''re going to spoil them."

    "Don''t worry about it. They''ve had it rough. Bringing candy is the least I can do. It slipped my mind because I was at the hospital this morning. Avery had her baby," Angelo exined.

    "Oh, how exciting! Are they doing well? I still need to send her a gift since I wasn''t able to make it to the baby shower."

    "They''re both great. Bailey is super tiny but Avery ims that babies are just big in my family."

    Leahughed. "How would she know that?"

    Right. She wasn''t aware of how Angelo and Avery knew each other. Only that they were working together. They didn''t really talk about personal things since his association with Leah was purely business.

    "We were raised together. She''s basically my sister," he exined.

    "Oh! I didn''t realize. How long have you two known each other then? She teases you a lot but I thought that was just how she was."

    "I''ve known her since she was born. Our dads were best friends and we saw each other pretty much every day once we got old enough to y together. Her dad didn''t have any other family so mine kind of adopted them both."

    Leah smiled. "That''s sweet. She''s very lucky to have you."

    Was she though? Was she really? Becausetely it seemed like all he did was worry her.

    Angelo changed the subject. "Anyway, what do you have today? I know you were concerned about the Hunsacher Inc. board meeting that''s happening next week. But I did some research; they can''t do anything about holdings that aren''t directly connected to thepany. You have the power here."

    They had already done a lot since the arrest but it didn''t feel like nearly enough. At the very least they had been able to reduce insulin prices and begin fixing the broken healthcare system Nn Hunsacher had exploited.

    It was an awful lot of paperwork and there were still miles to go but they took care of some of the most pressing issues first. They had a lot of other things to do like shut down any additional sweatshops they hadn''t been aware of before and make the factories safer to work in overall.

    There were a lot of people in on this but Angelo had taken point because he was able to meet with Leah in person and the rest of theirwork was out of state. They offered their ideas in chat groups and video conferences though when possible.

    It had always been difficult scheduling things like that over different time zones. He had gotten used to having people show up when they could and catch up when they couldn''t.

    Angelo was no businessman and Leah was no businesswoman but they had done a lot of research into all of this and were doing their best. So was everyone else from theirwork. The only people he hadn''t bothered involving were Avery and Christian because he felt they had done enough.

    She had done her job. Now it was time for her to focus on her family.

    He wouldn''t be able to do the same until this was taken care of. Yet another reason not to get involved with Vanessa.

    Though he couldn''t deny that his mind wandered throughout the nning meeting to what she might be doing right now. Her reaction to Bailey was probably a sight to behold. She was about as enthusiastic about things as Avery. There was a reason they got along so well.

    "Angelo? Are you alright?"

    Leah''s voice broke through his thoughts and he realized he had been spacing out. "Sorry. I was just thinking about what might be going on at the hospital right now."

    "Do you want to do this another time? The meeting isn''t for another five days."

    "It''s fine. I''ll refocus," Angelo reassured her.

    And he did with much difficulty. Why was his head up in the clouds? He knew why getting involved with Vanessa was a terrible idea! He knew she deserved better. That she could have anyone she wanted if she really tried.

    She would forget about him sooner orter and things would go back to how they had always been. They would be nothing more than Avery''s friends who happened to see each other a lot because of her.

    With how slowly things were going it was likely Vanessa would be in a rtionship before Angelo managed to undo the damage Nn Hunsacher had done to the infrastructure of this country. He had no idea how long it would take and didn''t want to take any unnecessary risks.

    Vanessa deserved better. He knew she did. So why was he even still thinking about this?

    At the end of the meeting he took the subway home and checked Facebook. He saw that Avery had finally posted pictures of her little family and was sure to give it a heart react. But he also saw that Vanessa posted a picture of herself holding Bailey and felt his heart clench.

    She was smiling so happily. Carefree. So how could he burden her by getting more involved in her life when he had nothing to offer?

    She wouldn''t be happy with someone like him long-term. He was sure of it.

    Getting involved more than he already had would ruin the good thing they had going. When any potential rtionship inevitably went south he would never be able to show his face at get togethers Avery was in charge of again. That was too horrible even to think about. Why didn''t Vanessa get that?

 Chapter 98 - He Would Have Been Proud Of Her

    Angelo was firm in his resolve. He wasn''t going to mess with things. He would keep doing what he was doing and Vanessa would keep doing what she was doing. Their lives didn''t need to intersect any more than they already had.

    That was what he told himself right up until she managed to corner him. They had gone to visit Avery together about a week after she and Bailey came home from the hospital and she sort of chased after him as he tried to leave. He was already flustered by the knowing look Avery shot him on his way out the door so he had no idea what to say.

    "Angelo, can we talk?" Vanessa asked hesitantly.

    "I don''t see what there is to talk about," he replied without meeting her eyes.

    "Look, I get that you''re busy but if you can make time for things like this you can make time to see me too, can''t you?"

    Angelo was a lot freer than he had been before but he was still pretty busy.. Not too busy to have a life outside the mission if he really wanted to but that wasn''t the problem here. He could make it work if not for the fact that it was a terrible idea.

    "That isn''t it."

    "Then what is?" she demanded with her hands on her hips. "Avery said you couldn''t think about dating because you were busy. If you aren''t busy I don''t see what the problem is."

    "I am busy but even if I wasn''t this still wouldn''t be a good idea," Angelo said firmly.

    "Why?"

    "I''m no good for you, Vanessa. Even if I was I wouldn''t want to risk making things awkward since Avery would be stuck between us if something went wrong. You deserve better. So just¡­forget about me, okay? I''m not worth it."

    "Can''t I decide that for myself? If we could handle the awkwardness of the past several months I think we can handle anything. I don''t even want anything serious right now, Angelo! I just want to see you."

    "You do see me."

    "Not often enough! I only see you through Avery. Can''t I see you outside of that sometimes? I miss you when you aren''t around."

    Angelo''s heart skipped a beat. Avery had told him as much but hearing it straight from Vanessa was different. She just wanted to see him. How was he supposed to say no to that?

    But he knew that he would get greedy if he did. Wasn''t that what happened with Avery and Christian? After a certain point her rationalization got out of control and she ended up doing something incredibly stupid.

    It had worked out well for her but that was an anomaly. He wouldn''t be able to tell Vanessa the truth. Ever.

    It was mostly over now but he still had hismitments. He couldn''t-dee-dah off into the sunset. Especially not being as angry and full of hatred as he still was.

    "Vanessa¡­as much as I would like that I really can''t offer you anything. It wouldn''t be fair in the long run," Angelo confessed.

    "What does the long run matter?" Vanessa demanded. "Living in the present is good enough for me. If things don''t work out they don''t work out. That doesn''t mean I''m not going to live my life."

    "¡­you sound frighteningly like G¨¹era."

    "Well, she is my best friend. But that''s off topic. If we both want to see each other more often it''s stupid that we aren''t."

    Angelo sighed. She really didn''t get it. "I''m not the sort of person you think I am."

    "Then I can see that for myself the more time we spend together. Simple as that. If we aren''tpatible that''s fine but I''d at least like to see that personally rather than have it told to me," Vanessa said firmly.

    He was wavering. It was hard not to since she was basically giving him an easy outter. All she wanted was to see him more often. He wanted to see her too but he couldn''t afford to get greedy.

    "Vanessa¡­"

    "Just think about it. The way things are now I see you once or twice a month. All we would have to do is change that to once a week. Do you think you could spare me that much time? Just a few hours here and there."

    Her deep brown eyes bored into his and he suddenly felt that he couldn''t refuse. They were practically pleading with him.

    He let out a heavy sigh, feeling like he was going to regret this. "Fine. Do you want to get dinner or something? I haven''t eaten since lunch and could really go for a hot dog for some reason."

    Vanessa smiled at him so dazzlingly he nearly stumbled backward and she linked her arm through his. "Sounds perfect."

    ===

    Avery thought she was used to sleep deprivation from her time as Nox but that was nothingpared to being woken up every two hours to feed Bailey. Christian tried to help as much as he could but he was exhausted too. And still had to go to work on top of it.

    They both suffered through months of sleepless nights before their daughter needed to be fed less often. It was miserable but she wouldn''t trade Bailey for anything. Even a good night''s sleep.

    She missed her job but simultaneously wasn''t ready to go back to work when her six months of maternity leave were up. They found a daycare that came highly rmended by Domenica and started driving to work rather than taking the subway so they could drop her off beforehand.

    Bailey was an adorably chubby baby whose smiles and giggles captured the hearts of anyone who heard them. She thoroughly charmed the daycare staff on her first day.

    Avery couldn''t help but text to see how she was doing throughout her shift when she was on break and thought about her daughter a lot but was also d to be back in the bakery. The smells of vani and yeast felt like she wasing home.

    Everyone was d to see her but no one more than the second cake decorator. He had been drowning the whole time she was gone like she used to back when she was on her own. She felt for him. She really did.

    Getting back into the groove of things wasn''t as hard as she expected. Her skills hadn''t gotten rusty since she still made cakes for people she knew when she was at home with the baby.

    Avery fell into a new pattern. Every morning she and Christian would take Bailey to daycare before heading to work. They met up in the lobby when they were done and went to pick her up together. Then they yed with her for a few hours before she went to bed and were able to enjoy a couple more together until they needed to sleep too.

    On Mondays Bailey didn''t need to go to daycare because Avery was back to her old schedule of having Sundays and Mondays off. Four days a week wasn''t too bad.

    When she and Christian wanted to go out they had no shortage of avable babysitters. Nancy and Brian being the most frequent to volunteer. If they needed a break they were always able to take one.

    Avery wished her dad would have been able to babysit his granddaughter too but it was pointless. He would never get to meet her.

    It broke her heart but what could she do? There was no changing the past. All she could do at this point was try to build a better future for her daughter and any other children she might haveter. She wanted Bailey to grow up with siblings.

    She never had the chance biologically but there was Angelo. Growing up without him would have been so much more boring. Even Christian, who was frequently driven insane by his brother, agreed with the sentiment.

    They wanted to wait until Bailey was a little older but didn''t want there to be as big an age gap as there was between Christian and Liam. They would probably try again in another year or two.

    For now she wanted to focus on dealing with their rather rambunctious daughter. Bailey was certainly a handful but was so cute it was impossible to resent her for it.

    Her whole family loved her. Avery was sure her dad would have too.

    He would have been proud of her. She was sure of it. For what she aplished as Nox and in her personal life.

    She still hadn''t untangled all of her feelings about him and what he left behind for her but she knew he had loved her. And she loved him. But she couldn''t spend her whole life looking back. The time hade to focus on looking forward.

    Avery hade to a rather difficult conclusion recently. It was time for her to sell her childhood home.

 Chapter 99 - Really Brave Of You

    Avery knew she had held onto her dad''s apartment for too long. She should have let it go as soon as she got married. But especially after she knew her husband wasn''t going to abandon her for the secrets she kept.

    Having two apartments was silly. The money she was using to pay property taxes could better go toward Bailey''s future. They would need to start a college fund sooner orter.

    Her daughter''s future was more important than holding onto her childhood home. She would be able to keep the truly sentimental items. But having an entire second apartment as a shrine to times long past was ridiculous when she really thought about it.

    Avery hadn''t changed a thing since her dad''s death. That wasn''t healthy. .

    She didn''t have to let her love for her dad go. She would always love him and always miss him. But she didn''t want to be trapped by the past anymore.

    That was how she found herself sorting through items to donate, sell, keep, or throw out on a Sunday afternoon. Bailey was at her grandparents'' and she, Christian, Avery, Jorge, Maribel, and Vanessa were all involved in the massive undertaking. She may or may not have bribed half of the participants with cake to get them to help.

    Once everything was packed up and ready to go she also needed to repaint the walls and get everything professionally cleaned so she could sell it. She had no doubt it would go quickly. Real estate in New York City was always in demand.

    "Your dad kept a lot of your old clothes," Maribel noted. "Do you want to keep any for Bailey?"

    Avery nodded. "Yeah. Things alwayse back into fashion eventually. We can see if they''re useful when we get to that point."

    The women were sorting through her the walk-in closet in the master bedroom currently. There were an awful lot of boxes to go through. The men were out in the living room packing movies, board games, and the like.

    "Is there anything of your dad''s you want to keep specifically or do you want to donate his old clothes?" Vanessa asked.

    "Donate them. I have nowhere to keep all of these. I do want his Yankees hat though."

    Avery was looking through various memorabilia from her dad''s earlier years. She needed to keep this box. She could check it all out more thoroughlyter.

    It felt strange doing this. She had put it off for so long.

    Angelo had sold his childhood home almost immediately after his father''s death. She supposed he couldn''t stand being surrounded by the memories. She had been the other way around. She had needed those memories to keep her going as they stared down a seemingly impossible foe.

    He repressed things and let his anger fuel him rather than feeling them. That wasn''t healthy but there was nothing she could do about it.

    She thought he might be doing better these days though. He was certainly spending enough time with Vanessa. If that wasn''t a sign of starting to move on she wasn''t sure what was.

    They didn''t seem together in any official capacity but she had noticed the way they looked at each other when they passed in the hall earlier. Vanessa might not want to admit it but she definitely returned Angelo''s feelings.

    If Avery had to guess she wasn''t saying anything because she didn''t want to push him away. In the meantime she was content simply to spend time with him. Anything was better than nothing.

    It was sad but she couldn''t push them. They were the only ones who could figure out what pace to go at.

    She would do her best to support them from the sidelines without getting actively involved. She hoped for Vanessa''s sake that Angelo figured things out soon though.

    They both deserved to be happy but especially him because he had been through so much. It was beyond time for him to live for himself instead of for revenge. He was allowed to be happy even though his parents were gone.

    In fact, that was all the more reason to try and find happiness. They wouldn''t have wanted him to spend his whole life depriving himself of things that mattered. She was certain of it.

    Avery couldn''t worry about Angelo and Vanessa too much though. She had other things to worry about. Like selling this apartment. And Bailey''s teething.

    Those were perfectly normal every day worries that had nothing to do with her life as Nox. She was putting it behind her for good so she could focus on what made her happy. Her family. What had once seemed like nothing more than a distant dream.

    When she first took up her dad''s mantle she never would have imagined this. Happily married to his nemesis with a beautiful child. It was crazy when she thought about it. So much had happened that was still difficult to wrap her head around sometimes. She wouldn''t have seen thising in a million years but she was so grateful it had.

    Avery felt rather sentimental as they finished cleaning out the closet, throwing things away, stuffing things in boxes to be donated, and so on. She had already listed all of the furniture aside from what they nned to save for Bailey''s room when she outgrew her crib on Craigslist and was waiting for buyers so she could deal with thatter. It was time to move onto the next room but they all took a break to order pizza first.

    There was something about organizing that was absolutely exhausting. All of them were beyond ready for the food when it arrived and devoured it all in less than ten minutes.

    Theyughed and talked for a little while longer while waiting for the food to settle before getting back to work. She noticed that Angelo casually had his arm around the back of the couch as Vanessa sat next to him and seemed more rxed than he had in ages. It made her smile.

    It took another two and a half hours of work to get everything done because people kept getting distracted and they had to take a lot of stuff down to the dumpster. But eventually it was over and Avery thanked everyone sincerely and promised she would get their cakes to them in the next week. They all headed back home and she and her husband went to pick up the baby.

    Bailey was ying with a hanging mobile toy she loved when she arrived but when she saw them she screeched in delight and began reaching out toward them. Nancyughed.

    "Now she acts like she missed you but she was perfectly content before you got here."

    "She knows how to charm people," Christian replied with augh of his own. "Thanks for watching her, Mom."

    "Anytime! How did the packing go?"

    "We managed to get everything done. All that''s left is selling or throwing away what''s left of the furniture. We''re hoping to get that taken care of in the next few weeks."

    "Oh, good! I''m d you were able to get that taken care of. I''m sure it will sell quickly once it''s all cleaned up. The market right now is hopping. You guys picked the right time to sell!"

    That hadn''t factored into things at all. It was simply a perk. Avery hoped they were able to fetch a good price to provide for her children''s futures. She was sure her dad would have wanted that for them.

    The time had long sincee though and she was only now acting on it. When they got home she and Christian took several trips to move what they did keep up to their apartment but she was too tired to unpack it just then. That took a few weeks.

    In the meantime they had to go back to the old apartment several times to sell the furniture. It didn''t take as long as she expected to get that all taken care of too.

    On the day before the sale would close she wanted to go there onest time. She looked around the nk walls that had once been full of pictures, the ce where the dent she identally left in the wall used to be, and the fire escape she had used so many times as Nox.

    It was strange to see it all so empty. Wrong, even. But in the next few weeks the new family would be moving in and this ce would be full of life again. Just someone else''s life instead of hers and her dad''s.

    Avery could practically see her younger self messing around on the living room floor with Angelo. The ghosts of memories she would never truly forget even if she didn''t have ess to the ce they were made in anymore. She might be saying goodbye but she would always remember how happy she had been here.

    Christian came up beside her and seemed to sense what she was thinking. He wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed the side of her head.

    "Selling this ce was really brave of you, Avery. I''m proud of you for moving on."

    Avery smiled up at him. She never would have been able to move on to this extent without him. He had given her an awful lot to look forward to. There was nothing wrong with looking back now and then but she wasn''t drowning in it the way she used to and it was all because he gave her hopes for the future.

    "I couldn''t have done it without you."

    Christian returned her smile and leaned down to kiss her properly. "Come on. Let''s go home."

 Chapter 100 - An Unintentional Side Effect

    "I really thought he loved me! Why else would he give me so much attention and care about my kids? But I saw him with another woman the other day and when I confronted him about it he looked at me like I was crazy and said our rtionship was only business. How could he?" the client wailed.

    Jocelyn Normandy, hero and certified marriage and family therapist, had seen pretty much everything. All she needed was a little context and she could figure out the heart of the problem easily.

    She had always been good at that. She saw things no one else did and was able to make deductions ordingly. It was part of why she had gone into counseling.

    This particr client had beening to her for months after her children''s therapist (one of Jocelyn''s colleagues) rmended she see someone too. Tracy hadn''t wanted to take her on personally because she saw it as a conflict of interest.

    Leah Martin (formerly Hunsacher) did a very good job with her children, all things considering. She was a good mother despite her situation.. The problem was that her own mental health had taken a major hit taking care of them while they were hiding away for their own safety for about a year.

    The man in question was brought up frequently. He had been the one to offer Leah and her children protection from her ex-husband, who was now in jail for the rest of his life for a variety of crimes.

    She had exined everything that happened with that in earlier sessions. Jocelyn hadn''t been terribly surprised because she knew Nn Hunsacher had to be up to something shady for her old friend Mercury''s nemesis Nox to go after him.

    Antiheroes didn''t strike without cause. Jocelyn knew Nox didn''t fit the usual viin mold from the moment she first heard about her.

    She hadn''t expected her hero and civilian lives to mix in such a way. But she couldn''t turn Leah away saying she had a conflict of interest. By the time she found out about everything they had already established rapport. So she kept what she had unintentionally figured out to herself.

    Jocelyn had deduced that Nox had some sort ofplicated rtionship with Mercury from the moment Delta passed on the message that he was alive and she was right. She had seen the security footage. It matched how Mercury had described his most perplexing viin.

    Mercury retired and she thought that would be the end of it. She hadn''t expected to meet up with him again or meet Nox at all.

    That had been a real eye-opener. She had been willing to bet almost anything that Nox was in love with Mercury after witnessing the two of them interacting in person and finding out that she was pregnant. Which made it rather likely that the woman he retired to marry was also his nemesis all along.

    She couldn''t deny she was curious how all of that would work out but it wasn''t any of her business. So she went back to a very concerned Delta who had been shocked that Mercury kidnapped her out of the blue. She had given him a very vague exnation of Mercury needing her help with something and that it was urgent. He let it go rather reluctantly.

    Jocelyn hadn''t expected to learn more than that. It had been an unintentional side effect of listening to Leah.

    Nox was apparently the surrogate sister of the man Leah was interested in and her name was Avery. Mercury''s name was Christian and they had a two-year-old daughter named Bailey.

    Leah didn''t talk about them much since she hadn''t been in regr contact with them sinceing out of hiding. She imed that they were happy but what would an outsider know? Things were rarely as they seemed at a nce.

    Jocelyn hoped they were happy. Mercury deserved that.

    But that wasn''t the issue at hand. She believed that Leah had misread Angelo Cruz''s signals but needed to probe further to be sure.

    "Based on everything you''ve told me it does sound like your rtionship has been all business," she said mildly. "Can you tell me why you thought otherwise?"

    Angelo contacted Leah frequently but it was always within the context of either taking down Nn Hunsacher or breaking up his monopolies once he went to jail. At least as far as Jocelyn understood.

    Leah had tears in her eyes. "But he''s so nice to me! He helped me when he didn''t have to and always brought little presents for the kids and made me feel so valued. How could he not love me back? You don''t treat people like that if you aren''t interested!"

    Jocelyn was fairly certain she understood. Angelo had been so desperate to take down Nn Hunsacher after his father was murdered that he went straight for the most useful asset he could think of. The estranged wife.

    He treated her well because he needed her. That didn''t mean he ever had feelings for her.

    "Did he ever make overt romantic or sexual advances toward you?" Jocelyn asked.

    "¡­no."

    "Talk to you about anything that wasn''t directly rted to what you were working on together?"

    "He asked about the kids."

    "That''s basic small talk, Leah. Aside from that?"

    "Not really."

    "Did he ever reach out to you outside of what you were working on?" Jocelyn probed.

    Leah''s expression had grown sullen. "No."

    "How old is he?"

    "How is that relevant?!"

    "Answer the question, Leah. It may be more relevant than you think."

    "¡­about a decade younger than me," Leah said reluctantly. "Where are you going with this?"

    Somewhere important. "And how old is the woman you saw him with?"

    "Probably closer to his age than mine."

    "Two more questions. What did he act like when he was with her? And was it different than how he acts when he''s with you?"

    Leah''s tears spilled over now and she desperately tried to swipe at them. "He wasughing. And¡­and he looked at her like she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He neverughed with me and rarely even smiled. But he was so nice to me!"

    "That''s just it," Jocelyn said as kindly as she could. "He was nice to you and you weren''t used to receiving kindness from men. Your husband always treated you coldly unless you were fulfilling the role he wanted you to y in public.

    "You were hurt and scared when Angelo showed up to save you. You rebounded onto him and confused his kindness with him loving you. It''s a perfectlymon response for people in your situation but that doesn''t make it fair for the other person. Do you understand?"

    Leah sniffled. "Yes¡­but that doesn''t change my feelings for him."

    "Your feelings are valid. However, that doesn''t mean that all responses to them are. You told me you confronted him about it. How did that go?"

    "¡­not very well. I didn''t do it directly in front of her or anything! But I did pull him aside and she saw us talking even if she couldn''t hear us. He wasn''t happy with me and told me not to contact him again because our business wasplete months ago.

    "I kind of lost my head. But I hadn''t seen him since thatst meeting and he was barely responding to my texts. I missed him so when I saw him with someone else I couldn''t stand by and not say anything."

    Jocelyn shifted in her seat and looked at her client seriously. "Okay, let''s talk about your reaction. Do you think it was appropriate?"

    "Obviously not because he never wants to see me again. But what else could I have done in the moment?" Leah asked pitifully before blowing her nose using a tissue from the box on the table.

    This sort of thing happened a lot. The supply closet was full of tissue boxes.

    "You could have stopped and tried to think about how he would feel. He was with someone and you very likely embarrassed him. If the situation was reversed I doubt you would want someone doing that to you," Jocelyn pointed out logically.

    "No, I wouldn''t," Leah confessed. "But what do I do now? Angelo hates me!"

    "We can''t control what other people think or feel about us. We can only control our actions. Angelo told you what he wanted. You can choose to honor it or not but both decisions will bear consequences."

    "So you''re saying if I leave him alone for a while he might forgive me but if I keep bothering him he might get a restraining order?"

    "I can''t speak for Angelo. But I think you know which decision will ultimately be better for you," Jocelyn said calmly. "You are worthy of love, Leah. Just because the person you care about now doesn''t return your feelings doesn''t mean you aren''t lovable.

    "But healthy rtionships take work. I think right now you would benefit from working on your own trauma before trying to have that sort of close rtionship with someone else. You''re already burned out from taking care of your kids being locked in a single room for so long and haven''t fully processed that."

 Chapter 101 - My Hero

    Leah let out a heavy sigh. "Yeah, I know. But I miss being loved. Henry loved me but he died! Nn never loved me at all. And neither did Angelo. That was all in my head."

    "You can have that again," Jocelyn encouraged. "I fully believe there is someone out there who can see the good in you and love you for it. But that doesn''t mean we can expect reciprocation from just anyone because that doesn''t take the other person''s feelings into ount."

    "What do I do then?"

    "You can start with an apology. I don''t know if Angelo will forgive you or not¡ªthat''s up to him¡ªbut it should make you feel better and start to put the incident behind you.".

    Leah thought this over. "There''s no guarantee he''ll even read it. He hasn''t been responding to my messages."

    "It''s at least worth a try," Jocelyn informed her before ncing at the clock. "I''m afraid we''re out of time for today. I''ll see you at the same time next week."

    "Alright. Thanks, Jocelyn."

    "You''re wee. Be nice to yourself, alright? Making mistakes doesn''t mean you''re bad. Don''t forget that."

    Leah nodded before hurrying out of the office. Once she was gone Jocelyn sighed. That woman had some seriously low self-esteem and a desperation to be loved and validated after what she went through with her second husband. Unfortunately, she looked for it in the wrong ce and someone else might be paying the price for it right now.

    Why did people always have to hurt other people while trying to look out for themselves? She had wondered that since she was a child. It had been another part of the reason she became a counselor.

    Jocelyn understood a lot more about human nature now than she did then. She was able to figure people out almost too easily these days.

    That, plus her secret identity, made it difficult for her to get close to anyone. She had exactly one friend¡­if you could even call him that. And he showed up right on time as usual less than five minutes after she thought of him.

    He came every day she worked precisely at noon. The Super Subs delivery man.

    Their friendship of sorts started not long after she began working at this office. She had barely finished her master''s degree and was lucky enough to get a slot due to a former professor''s rmendation. She had also been so busy she could hardly breathe.

    Jocelyn didn''t have time to eat well but that didn''t matter much since using her powers burned an insane amount of calories. Every morning she had toaster strudel, toaster waffles, or powdered donuts for breakfast because it was quick and gave her the sugar she needed to get through the first half of her appointments. For dinner she grabbed whatever she could in between rescues or viin fights.

    The problem was lunch. When she was in college she had bought herself food on campus every day. She didn''t have the time or energy to pack herself anything either then or now.

    She didn''t schedule appointments at noon so she had time to eat but she still often had paperwork to do then so she didn''t get more than thirty minutes to eat. That didn''t exactly allow for going out and getting food herself from restaurants nearby.

    Jocelyn started ordering cheap takeout from a variety of ces. One, a pizza ce that had amazing calzones, had a rather interesting delivery man who left an impression on her the first time he brought her one.

    He was wearing rollerdes. Rollerdes! Who wore rollerdes when delivering food?!

    "What on earth are you wearing?" she asked him, unable to stop herself when she noticed after signing the receipt.

    A wide, genuinely amused smile crossed his face. "You know, you''re the first one to ask. Everyone else just rolls with it or assumes it''s part of my uniform. Truth is, it''s faster than walking when the deliveries aren''t far enough to drive."

    Jocelyn was so amazed that she actuallyughed. That didn''t happen terribly often. She was often told she was too serious. But this strange pizza delivery man had managed to pull one out of her for the first time in months.

    "And you don''t drop anything doing that?"

    "Not at all! I''m pretty quick on my feet and have good reflexes," he said with a shrug. "Anyway, duty calls. Have a nice day, Jocelyn!"

    She had been surprised he remembered her name from the order. How many of those did he see a day? She hadn''t even caught his because she had been too preupied by the rollerdes to notice his nametag.

    After that she ordered calzones at least twice a week and saw him every time. In the process she learned his name was Keith and that he was the most easygoing person she had ever met.

    He always stopped to chat with her briefly before moving on to the next delivery and she gave him the highest tips she could afford. He deserved it for being the most consistently friendly person she encountered on a regr basis.

    Jocelyn had been genuinely disappointed when he stoppeding. She wondered if he had gotten a different job but didn''t get her answer until a monthter when she ordered from a Chinese ce and he showed up still wearing his signature rollerdes.

    "Hey, Joss! Imagine my surprise when I saw your ordere through. Betraying your love of calzones so soon?" Keith asked cheerfully.

    She had been surprised both by the nickname and the teasing. The only other person who ever teased her about anything was Delta, a hero she worked with on a semi-regr basis because they had simr powers.

    "Why did you switch jobs?"

    "Ah, things didn''t work out so well at the pizza ce," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "But here I am! Catering to my favorite customer once again so it''s a good thing, really."

    Things didn''t work out very well for him a lot. In the three years Jocelyn had worked at her office he ended up switching delivery jobs between seven different restaurants. Super Subs was only thetest on that list.

    She had gotten into the habit of ordering solely from whatever restaurant he was working at until he quit/got fired (he never specified which) and then trying new restaurants until she found him again. After it happened the third time he specifically requested they exchange numbers so he could tell her where he ended up after that.

    She had been surprised both by his bluntness and that he had realized her pattern. But somehow it was impossible to be self-conscious about it because he didn''t make it awkward.

    Keith was an easy person to be around. The easiest she knew, in fact.

    Jocelyn smiled as he brought over her meatball marinara sub with a dramatic flourish. "Ie bearing sustenance!"

    "My hero," she deadpanned.

    Keith simply grinned at her as she signed the receipt as usual. He had dimples in both cheeks and a boyish face that was forever full of mischief. His blue eyes sparkled when he smiled and his light brown hair was hardly visible from under his helmet.

    "Happy to help. Anybody particrly crazy this morning?"

    Jocelyn replied coolly. "You know I don''t think of my clients as crazy."

    "Yeah, because you''re a good therapist. I''m sure there are plenty out there who do," Keith said with confidence. "But that doesn''t mean I''d want you to pick my brain apart."

    "Afraid of what I''ll find in there?"

    "Nah. I''m an open book. Mostly I''m afraid of being turned to ice when you tell me everything I''m doing wrong with my life."

    Jocelyn had heard it all before. She had been known as the "Ice Queen" all her life even without factoring her powers into things. So what if she didn''t show her emotions on the surface? That didn''t mean she didn''t feel things!

    "You have a rather prating gaze, you know," Keith continued. "I''m sure it''s very helpful for getting people to spill all of their secrets."

    He had no idea. She used it both at work and as a hero. Though thetter was less about spilling secrets and more about getting people to cooperate. Bystanders could be horribly obtrusive in the middle of rescues.

    Jocelyn was sessful as a hero partly because of her powers and partly because of the cool, calm way she was able to handle emergency situations. She had to use what she had avable to her best advantage. Even if it didbel her as cold to everyone else.

    It was ironic somehow that she and Keith got along so well considering she was notoriously cold and he was the literal embodiment of warmth. He practically radiated sunshine.

    Maybe that was why she kept ordering from him. She needed that dose of cheerfulness to get her through the rest of the workday and then going out and doing hero duties afterward. She had really struggled with bncing it all when she was first starting out but it had gotten a lot better since she found someone who helped lighten things up for her.

 Chapter 102 - Popularity Was Useless

    Jocelyn raised an eyebrow. "Does that mean you''re going to spill all of your secrets to me if I stare into your eyes long enough?"

    Keithughed and leaned forward against a counter, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "I''ll tell you one right now. I''m switching jobs again next week. I''ll be at that Thai ce three blocks from here¡ªthe Lucky Lotus."

    Again? Though she supposed he was overdue for a switch. He had been at Super Subs much longer than any of the others. It was for the best.. She was getting kind of sick of sandwiches every day.

    "Yousted longer than I thought you would this time. I think it''s a new record," Jocelyn informed him.

    Keithughed again and shrugged innocently. "What can I say? I''m a restless wandering soul. But don''t read too much into that, Miss Psychologist."

    "I wasn''t nning on it. Besides, I could go for some Thai food for a while."

    "Is there anything you don''t like to eat? Because you''re surprisingly adaptable when ites to food sticking to a single restaurant for as long as I work there. Even I get sick of work leftovers after a while."

    Now it was Jocelyn''s turn to shrug. She had gotten so used to eating whatever while she was out doing hero work that she couldn''t afford to be picky. There were certain foods she liked better than others but it didn''t really factor into what she actually ate. She was too busy for that.

    "Not really."

    "Do you at least have a favorite food? I already know your powers of not getting sick of repetitive meals are strong but I''m curious what you would eat if you could pick anything," Keith said with a twinkle in his eyes.

    Jocelyn had to think about it. Did she have a favorite food? She didn''t have many preferences since she hadn''t been able to develop them with the life she had lived.

    "Let me get back to you on that."

    Keith raised an eyebrow but ultimately let it go. "My favorite is a good hamburger meal. Not the fast food kind¡ªthe kind you get at a nice sit-down restaurant with seasoned steak fries and a milkshake thates with a side tin of extra. Man, that sounds good right now! Way to make myself hungry while I''m working."

    Jocelyn cracked a smile. He could be so dramatic. She fished the bag of chips and cookie that came with herbo meal out of the bag he had just given her and handed them over.

    "Here. So you don''t get so distracted by hunger you run into a pole or fall down a manhole somewhere."

    Surprise shed through his eyes before he looked genuinely moved. "Are you sure? You got this for yourself. Aren''t you hungry?"

    "I still have a whole sandwich in here. I''ll get through the rest of the day. Besides, I have a secret stash of kid-friendly snacks in my office for my youngest patients. Worst case scenario, I have to have a Fruit by the Footter."

    "That doesn''t sound like a very bad worst case scenario to me! I love Fruit by the Foot."

    "There you go," Jocelyn told him. "I''ll be fine so eat something before you cause an ident."

    "Nice to know you have so much faith in me. But I do really appreciate it. You''re an angel sent from heaven above to give a humble, starving deliveryman some food. The patron saint of the hungry. The pinnacle of charity. The¡ª"

    Sheughed and poked him in the arm. "Don''t you need to get going? I don''t want you to get in trouble."

    He looked at his watch and yelped. "Crap, I''mte! What can I say? Time flies when you''re having fun. Don''t forget to order from Lucky Lotus on Monday!"

    "I won''t."

    "Awesome. See you then, Joss!"

    "See you," Jocelyn said with another small smile on her face as she headed back into her office.

    Keith was so ridiculous. That was what made him fun to talk to though. She still hadn''t quite figured him out. He was so carefree all of the time and she had never met anyone like that who wasn''t repressing a whole lot of trauma with toxic positivity.

    He wasn''t just positive though. He was downright silly at times. He was the only person Jocelyn knew who was capable of regrly making herugh.

    She needed that. Her life was a sea of helping people and without that she would drown.

    Honestly, it was sad that her only friend was a business rtionship. She wasn''t much better off than poor Leah. She wasn''t in love with Keith though. Their only contact was less than ten minutes on weekdays and that was enough.

    Jocelyn liked figuring people out but she had never been close to any of them. She supposed that was her own traumaing through.

    It seemed like most people in the mental health field had some sort of history with mental illness themselves. But there was no use dwelling on that now. Her life was what it was. She neither loved nor hated it. She simply existed and tried to make whatever difference she could both professionally and otherwise.

    The first time she ever saved someone using her powers she felt such a rush. It was the first thing she truly FELT in her cold, colorless existence where she had to keep quiet and out of the way so she wouldn''t set her parents off.

    She had only been ten. After that she started sneaking out to help people from the shadows. She didn''t make an official appearance as Frostine until she was old enough that people wouldn''t realize she was a child. Child heroes got a lot more scrutiny than adult ones.

    Plus there was how much she was sneaking out to contend with. She didn''t want to get caught so she didn''t be a hero until she graduated from high school.

    Jocelyn left her parents'' house in New Jersey with a full-ride schrship (when she wasn''t sneaking out she was studying) and never looked back. Disappearing was easy in a ce like New York City and the crime rates were high so it was the perfect ce for a hero to go. She did her undergrad at NYU and never left.

    There was no shortage of people to help here. There was always something or other going on. She hardly had time to breathe and that was the way she liked it.

    Jocelyn finished eating her sandwich and got some paperwork done before her next appointment. She was booked solid until 5 PM and barely had time to grab that Fruit by the Foot between appointmentster in the day.

    When she clocked out she was on her way to find something to eat when she heard sirens. Duty called.

    She found a ce to change and stuffed her clothes and purse into a vent with the intention ofing back for themter before heading in the direction of the sirens using her ice to propel her.

    It was a bank robbery. Simple enough to deal with. All she had to do was freeze the perpetrator before any shots could be fired. The robber wouldn''t even know what hit them.

    That was exactly what she did. The police were grateful as always and she went on her merry way trying to find something to eat once she was done. A lot of people stared at her since she did this in costume but most were too afraid to approach because of her reputation for being cold.

    What was she supposed to do? Being overly friendly with people she didn''t know wasn''t her strong suit and never had been.

    Jocelyn didn''t care what people thought of her. She got her job done and made a difference. That was what mattered. Not being personable or popr like Mercury was before he retired.

    He was the kind of hero everyone liked. She was more the kind that everyone tolerated because of her usefulness. She didn''t let it get to her though. She hadn''t be a hero hoping for adoration from anyone. She became a hero because she wanted to save people.

    Poprity was useless. She had gotten through school with hardly anyone knowing who she was. It was better that way.

    She saw worries about fitting in gue her younger clients so often. It seemed like such a hassle to her. Why care what anyone thought of you? It was way too much pressure for anyone to handle.

    It was all a sham anyway. Being popr didn''t make you feel any less lonely. Real connections with people were far more important than having everyone like you on a shallow level.

    Jocelyn didn''t even have any of those. She had plenty of acquaintances but her only friend was someone she barely saw. And it was only because of how friendly he was. Most delivery people didn''t bother to stick around and chat.

 Chapter 103 - Its Nothing Personal

    Jocelyn wandered the streets helping various people or stopping crimes until she needed to get home and sleep after she managed to procure dinner (a hot dog from a cart in the park). It was a Friday so it didn''t matter so much that she was going to bedter than usual. Viins preferred to strike on weekends.

    She typically spent all day out of the house Saturday and Sunday dealing with them and other hero work since she had nothing better to be doing. She wasn''t like most heroes. Her secret identity wasn''t as fleshed out.

    She had no one demanding any of her time since she lived alone. Her apartment was little more than a converted storage closet but since it was just a ce to sleep she didn''t care. She didn''t get ustrophobic and having roommates when you had a secret identity was more trouble than it was worth.

    Jocelyn had a toaster strudel before heading out Saturday morning and didn''t get a chance to have lunch until nearly 2 PM because of how in demand her powers were. She was trying to decide what to eat when a ssh sounded beside her and the smell of pizza hit her nostrils. She turned and saw her fellow hero Delta holding out a pizza box.

    He smiled at her. "You hungry, Frosty?"

    As much as she resented being called the name of a fictional snowman she wasn''t one to turn down free food. "Yes. But I''ve told you a million times not to call me that."

    "But it''s so fun! Would you really deprive me of one of the few joys in my life?"

    "Just give me the pizza."

    "I will! Meet me on the nearest rooftop so we can eat in peace," Delta replied with a wink before shooting himself up into the air and leaving her soaked.

    Jocelyn sighed and froze the water before making the ice dissipate. It was something she had to do often when he was around. At least her ice propulsion didn''t make anyone get wet.

    She met Delta on the roof and discovered he was already inhaling his second slice of pizza. He angled the box toward her with his other hand and she dug in too. It was far from the best pizza she ever had but she was too hungry to care.

    Neither of them said a word before the entire pizza box had been depleted. Delta burped before rubbing his stomach and sighing in satisfaction.

    "That hit the spot. I''m just d I ran into you instead of MultiMan because he could eat four whole pizzas by himself. I didn''t want any to go to waste and wanted to share with a fellow weary hero but he''s too much."

    Jocelyn was inclined to agree with his assessment. MultiMan''s power was making copies of himself. He probably used up more energy than the two of thebined.

    "I take it you''ve made the mistake of sharing food with him before."

    "Yeah, and he ate all of it before I even got any!" Delta replied indignantly. "He could eat an entire buffet by himself."

    She didn''t doubt it. She was d he ran into her too because she had been hungry and eating out all the time was a real drain on her finances. Though now and then people gave her food for free because they wanted to thank her for saving them or what she did for the city in general. That was always nice.

    Jocelyn had to carry cash in her costume because she couldn''t exactly use a credit card with her name on it while looking like Frostine. She had a small pouch on her hip that was useful for that sort of thing.

    "That''s unfortunate," she said mildly.

    "Yeah. So what brings you out this way?" Delta asked.

    "I just finished dealing with Skulker. Again. You''d think he would learn by now but he''s been in and out of jail for years."

    "Ah, repeat offenders. They''re seriously annoying. I''ll never understand viins'' motivations. But I guess that''s what separates us and them."

    Jocelyn was forcefully reminded of Mercury. He used to think the same way before realizing that Nox was different than the people he usually fought. But most heroes tended to think that way.

    She might too if she wasn''t a therapist. People''s motivations were much moreplicated than their actions could lead you to believe. She had learned that a long time ago. As a result she wasn''t the type to judge a book by its cover. There was always a lot more going on under the surface.

    "Agree to disagree. It''s not quite that simple," she said.

    Delta rolled his eyes. "You always have to disagree with me, don''t you?"

    "Not always. But you are wrong a lot of the time."

    "Gee, thanks."

    "It''s nothing personal, Delta. You''re an excellent hero. You''re just¡­what''s the word¡­narrowminded? A lot of heroes are."

    "But you aren''t," he said sardonically.

    Jocelyn shook her head. "No. I think understanding those we fight is important. Thinking we are better than they are won''t help us catch them any easier. Viins may seem petty and a lot of them are but there is more going on there than you might think."

    "What you said. Agree to disagree. I''m sure there''s someone somewhere who needs us. You want to go patrol the area together?"

    Delta may act annoyed with her frequently but he still liked working with her. Otherwise he wouldn''t make offers like this on a regr basis. Aside from her coworkers and Keith she saw him the most.

    Jocelyn definitely wouldn''t count him as a friend though. He was strictly a colleague since they never spoke about anything other than hero work. He didn''t even engage in small talk. None of the heroes she interacted with did.

    They showed up, asionally helped each other out, then left. That was how things always worked.

    They didn''t have time to chat and couldn''t exactly talk about their lives because they needed to keep their identities secret. Not that she had much to say about herself anyway. She knew she was boring.

    She didn''t have a favorite food, a favorite color, or any hobbies to speak of. All she had was her job and she couldn''t go into specifics because of client confidentiality.

    "Sure," Jocelyn agreed.

    No, Delta wasn''t her friend. He wasn''t her partner or her sidekick either. They were simply heroes who had simr powers and worked together a lot. She didn''t know of any other heroes who had a rtionship quite like theirs though. Usually, heroes were loners.

    Most were at least vaguely aware of each other by covering the same service area but because they had their own schedules and lives outside of being heroes they only interacted when they happened to run into each other.

    Sometimes she wondered about the others heroes she knew. What did they do with their free time? Did they struggle finding a bnce between hero work and having a life? Did their powers ever make regr living more difficult? Things like that.

    Jocelyn didn''t have a life so she didn''t know what that was like. Her power did have the perk of her never getting hot or cold though. She could wear anything she wanted all year though she tried to stick to what was normal so she didn''t stand out. Standing out was never something a powered person wanted. People might notice things about you that would give you away.

    What was Delta like when he wasn''t being a hero? She saw him out and about more frequently than any of the others. He might be like her.

    She couldn''t exactly ask though. It was a hero taboo to ask about their lives outside of hero work.

    She supposed it didn''t truly matter. She and Delta worked well together. Knowing more about him wouldn''t change that. All that truly mattered for their cooperation was their ability to work together as a team. They were good at that after how many times they had done it over the years.

    Jocelyn and Delta made their way around the city together for the rest of the day, stopping more times than she could count to intervene in some situation or other. They worked together like a well-oiled machine.

    At the end of the night when she was getting so sleepy she could hardly keep her eyes open they parted ways. He gave her a cheerful wave and said, "See you when I see you!" before heading off in the opposite direction of her apartment.

    She worked in Brooklyn but lived in Manhattan. It was hard to tell what part of town Delta was heading for if he was even heading home now at all. He might be going out to get ate night snack somewhere first. Fighting crime was exhausting and really made you work up an appetite.

    Jocelyn headed back to her micro-studio in the Upper East Side. The tiny window had a great view of Central Park but that was about all it had going for it.

    All of her belongings were stacked floor to ceiling and she had a mini fridge, toaster oven, and microwave in lieu of a real kitchen. She barely had room for a tiny desk and her mattress was raised above everything else so she had less than two feet between her head and the ceiling when lying down, not unlike a bunk bed.

    She spent more time in her office than she did here so theck of space didn''t bother her. She was a minimalist anyway. It was a ce to crash at the end of the day and nothing more.

    Jocelyn handled her living space very well overall. Though when she was as tired as she was now she frequently tripped on her way out of the shower because of how the toilet was angled in the tiny bathroom.. That was never fun.

 Chapter 104 - He Did Not Want To Count Frostine

    Keeping a job did not jive with hero work. Keith Savage hadn''t stayed in one ce for more than a year and a half since graduating high school and focused more on being a hero than trying to figure out what to do with the rest of his life.

    Unfortunately, he had no sense of direction. Being stuck in one career for the rest of his life put an awful lot of pressure on him.

    He had been so paralyzed by the endless options spread before him that he hadn''t been able to decide on a college major and got an associate degree in general studies before giving up. Since then he had worked as a nightguard, a 911 operator, a mailman, a telemarketer, a doorman¡­ It was hard keeping track of all of his jobs, honestly.

    Keith had been fired more times than he could count for showing upte or not showing up at all because he got stuck doing something involving saving the city. It was a miracle ces kept hiring him at all.

    He tended to go where they were desperate. They didn''t care much about how many times he had been fired when they were seriously shorthanded.

    That was how he got into food delivery. It was a lot more flexible than being stuck in the kitchen the whole time was. He wasn''t a huge fan of it but it worked best around his schedule¡­even if he did keep getting fired for missing weekend shifts.

    Keith was trying his best here but it was difficult for someone like him to work full-time! He couldn''t afford to live by only working part-time though. So he found a way to work around it.

    He couldn''t deny that his current system was partially influenced by his friend Joss. After he got fired from the pizza ce she used to order from and found him againpletely by ident he realized that seeing her had be an integral part of his day.

    So whenever he was forced to change jobs he made sure to stick with food delivery in the area so he could keep seeing her. Her shift coincided well with the work hours a hero needed so that was what he used to justify his decision.

    Keith''s hours were weird though. A few here, a few there. He kept either getting fired or trying to find something that worked better, hence the constant job switches.

    He hadn''t been fired this time. He switched to the Thai restaurant because they were solely looking for a weekday person. The best part was that it was full-time and offered benefits. Not having health insurance as a hero was terrifying. He had been very lucky not to get seriously injured yet.

    With such a good setup he was determined to stick it out as long as possible. All he had to do was not get sidetracked on the way to work and he would be golden. The problem was that he was not good at letting other people handle things when they were right in front of him.

    Keith really needed to be better about that. Now that he found the perfect setup he could not afford to lose this job.

    He hoped that Joss liked Thai food because she would be eating it for a while. If she ever got sick of it he would have toe up with some other excuse to see her. Sad as it was, she was probably his best friend unless you counted Frostine. He did not want to count Frostine.

    She was useful to have around and always had his back in a fight but she was such a know-it-all that sometimes he wanted to shake her. It seemed like all she ever did was contradict him.

    Frostine was as cold as her powers and blunt to boot. She was physically incapable of sugarcoating

    She was an interesting person to tease though because she never reacted. He was determined to get herugh, smile, blush, etc. eventually. But it had been four years and she hadn''t yet.

    Frostine wasn''t his best friend but she was certainly his oldest. Keith was friendly with everyone he met but never got close to anyone because of how busy he was as a hero.

    And because he was used to having to leave people behind. Why get attached when you know you''ll never see them again?

    That wasn''t a problem now in the age of social media but it had been when he was a kid. Though he couldn''t deny the thought of only interacting with Joss on social media was not a pleasant one.

    She was another one who was interesting to tease. She didn''t react to his dramatics the same way most people did. He was a lot goofier as himself than he was as Delta because people expected him to be more heroic than that.

    He had tried patterning his hero persona after Mercury''s. Everybody loved Mercury.

    Keith was used to not being taken seriously but that posed a problem when trying to get bystanders to cooperate. He had learned that early on in his hero career.

    He would never tell her this but he looked up to Frostine''s ability to handle a crowd. Her cool, calm, and collected demeanor helped keep panicking people at ease even if it was difficult to deal with under certain circumstances.

    What kind of person was she behind the mask? Was she always so stiff and humorless?

    Keith would never find out. Secret identities were kept secret for a reason. She couldn''t have much more of a social life than he did though. He saw her several times a week and that was way more than any other hero he knew. They might actually have lives and careers and only do this as a side gig.

    It would be nice if being a hero paid. That seemed to be the only thing he was truly good at.

    Nevertheless, he was determined not to screw up his new job. He needed it if he ever wanted to get out of his apartment shared with five other guys. As much as he might not want to he really did need to start thinking about the long-term future.

    Mercury''s retirement and the conversation they had about why he did it had sort of lit a fire under him. He had done it so he could get married. To even be able to do that he had to be fairly financially stable.

    Keith couldn''t deny being a little jealous of him. He was unarguably one of the most popr heroes if not the most popr. Everyone loved him. He had the most fan groups of any hero in New York City (yes, Keith had checked) and had the highest hero approval ratings.

    Mercury had it together as a hero and now it seemed like he had it together in his retirement as well. He had prepared for it. Keith needed to prepare for it too.

    Granted, he still had plenty of time. He was only twenty-five and had been doing hero work publicly since graduating frommunity college at twenty-one. Most heroes didn''t retire until they were in theirte twenties or early thirties.

    Keith liked being a hero¡ªit gave him a sense of purpose¡ªbut he couldn''t deny that retirement had been sounding nicer and nicertely. Not dealing with viins or keeping up an exhausting public persona so people would like him or Frostine''s ongoing disdain was appealing.

    But if he wasn''t a hero he would be a washout former foster kid who couldn''t hold a job. At least as Delta he had one thing going for him.

    Though if he quit he might be able to make some real friends. Or see Joss on the weekends. He didn''t know what she got up to when she wasn''t in the office but he didn''t exactly have time for hobbies so he would be down for anything.

    Delta was the only thing that had ever been solely Keith''s. Growing up he was always sharing things with his foster siblings or doing what other people wanted to do so he would fit in. Ha. Like he ever truly fit in anywhere.

    He had superpowers! The only niche he fit into was the one that other superpowered people fell into. Heroes or viins. And after seeing his dad go in and out of jail his whole childhood he did not want to be a viin and risk that.

    Keith preferred helping people to hurting them. Everyone liked a helpful person.

    People who were helpful, friendly, funny, and kind tended to resonate best with others. So that was what he had be. He wasn''t any of those things naturally except maybe funny. But people had always told him he had a strange sense of humor. That he didn''t know how to take anything seriously.

    How could he when it felt like his whole life was a joke? It was easier tough his way out of things than talk about his feelings. To the point that it had be an important part of his personality.

    Unfortunately, Keith couldn''t get away with not taking things seriously for much longer. The time hade to start preparing for the future he had never wanted and he wasn''t looking forward to it at all.. If it was up to him he would stay as Delta forever but he knew that wasn''t realistic.

 Chapter 105 - More Than Enough Personality For The Both Of Them

    After a somewhat exhausting weekend of hero work (the viins were running rampant more than usual on Sunday) Keith did not feel like he was on his A game to start his new job. He had to make the best of it though.

    He dragged himself out of bed and made sure he had plenty of time to get himself to work. They might open at 11 AM but in addition to deliveries he was also in charge of kitchen prep.

    He had already taken care of all of his onboarding paperwork so he would be good to go once he got there. Since he had such a long history of food delivery jobs they didn''t bother supervising him. They simply showed him how their specific type of electronic pin pad worked and he was off.

    Keith was relieved because he really didn''t want anyone else encroaching on his limited time with Joss. She was the only person in his life who regrly sought him out and that meant more to him than he was willing to admit.

    It all started by ident. She used to shake up her lunch orders and happened to order from a ce he switched to after getting fired.

    He had been happy to see her again because she tipped well so he was sure to be extra friendly. Normally, in the delivery business you didn''t get regrs. But she stubbornly insisted on ordering from his restaurant every day after that.

    Keith had been genuinely sad to leave that job because he thought he would never see her again. But to his surprise she ended up finding him again and continuing to order so she would see him every day through his next few jobs. It was impossible not to notice the pattern.

    She didn''t seem to be tracking him down specifically but once she found him she stuck with him. That was more than anyone had done in years.

    He liked the feeling of having a friend (albeit one he was providing a service for) and offered to exchange numbers so he could tell her the next time he switched. He had been apprehensive about embarrassing her but didn''t want to lose contact either.

    Joss wasn''t embarrassed in the slightest. He should have known. She was perhaps the most self-confident person he had ever met but not in a cocky way. It was hard to exin but it seemed like she couldn''t care less what anyone thought of her. He wished he could be like that.

    Keith never mustered the courage to break their pattern. He only texted her when he switched jobs unexpectedly so she would know where to order from next.

    Honestly, he was a coward. But he knew that their friendship would be ruined if he made it outside of work hours because of how inconsistent his schedule was being a hero. He had no idea how any of the others managed to juggle rtionships of any sort with traipsing around the city half the time.

    He wasn''t exactly satisfied with the way things were¡ªhe wished he could see her more and try to get to know her better¡ªbut at the same time didn''t want to rock the boat. They had a good thing going. Why mess with it?

    Today Joss had ordered som tum with rice and he was on his way to deliver it to her. He wished he could talk to her about his weekend like a normal person but couldn''t. He always avoided making small talk like that with her because he was afraid of having the question reciprocated.

    Instead they always talked about other things. Things of no real significance that still meant a lot to him because of who they wereing from.

    Keith''s mood lifted the moment he headed out with her food. He wondered what she was going to say today and whether he would be able to make herugh or not. Most days he was able to pull it off and it was satisfying since in the beginning he hadn''t been able to at all.

    He skated into the lobby and discovered she was already waiting for him looking very sleepy. She yawned and stretched, the three-quarter sleeves of her white blouse momentarily sliding up because of gravity. She brushed her chocte brown hair out of her face and smiled at him.

    "Hey, Keith. How''s your first day going?"

    "As good as it can be. All the better because you''re my first delivery of the day," Keith replied with a grin as he handed over the food bag and held out the pad for her to sign.

    She shook her head indulgently. "Do you tter all of your customers like this?"

    "Nah, just you. Special Joss privilege."

    "I''d have to see that to believe it."

    "I''m wounded! How dare you doubt me after three whole years of being my favorite customer?" Keith asked, making a dramatic show of being hurt.

    Jossughed, exactly as he had hoped she would. She had a niceugh. The kind that made you feel warm by hearing it. He had been surprised the first time he heard it because it didn''t fit the super serious persona that was all he had seen thus far.

    She wasn''t all serious though. She had a solid sense of humor or she wouldn''tugh at his over-the-top antics. A lot of people thought he was too much in his natural state so he usually tried to tone it down but he didn''t have to with her. He was able to be himself and she epted him as he was.

    That was rare. Special. Was it any wonder he valued their friendship as much as he did?

    "Was I really your favorite customer that far back?" Joss asked skeptically. "I''m pretty sure I didn''t reach that status until we established our pattern of me ordering from wherever you worked."

    Keith shrugged. "You were my favorite customer as far back as Tasty Panda."

    "Is that why you randomly gave me a nickname when you saw me again? Because I definitely wasn''t expecting that."

    He hadn''t offended her by doing that, had he? He had been calling her a nickname all this time and she never said anything. He had thought she liked it or that other people called her that already so she was used to it at the very least.

    "Do you dislike it?" Keith asked with a frown.

    Joss shook her head. "Not at all. But no one had ever called me that before. You''re the only one."

    "Seriously? But you look more like a Joss than a Jocelyn."

    "I''ve never heard that before. What exactly does a Jocelyn look like?"

    Keith had to think about it. It was kind of hard to exin. Jocelyn seemed much more formal, for one. Originally, he had shortened her name because he was happy to see her again as a familiar face.

    But over time he realized that it truly did suit her better. Jocelyn was stuffy. An old woman''s name. Someone with augh like hers definitely was more Joss than Jocelyn.

    "I think Josses have more of a sense of humor than Jocelyns," he said with a shrug.

    Exining further than that might identally be offensive. Offending her was thest thing he wanted to do. Though he didn''t know if she was even capable of getting offended since she didn''t seem to care what people thought of her. He still didn''t want to risk it.

    Joss actually snorted. "So it''s entirely a matter of perspective. If you didn''t think I had a sense of humor I would look more like a Jocelyn."

    "Of course you have a sense of humor! You put up with me, don''t you?"

    "I don''t put up with you, Keith."

    "You know what I meant."

    She went silent for a moment before responding. "You''re the only one who thinks I have a sense of humor. Everyone else thinks I''m boring and they''re probably right."

    That may have been the most self-deprecating thing Keith ever heard Joss say. What was up with her today? Had something happened over the weekend or was thinking she was boring a sore spot for her?

    "Hey now, someone boring could never be my favorite customer," he said to lighten to mood.

    It worked. She gave him a slight smile. "You do have more than enough personality for the both of us though. I think it bnces out."

    Was that apliment or an insult? It was hard to tell. She was smiling when she said it though so he was inclined to lean toward the former. Besides, if she thought he was too much she wouldn''t stubbornly insist on ordering from wherever he worked so she could see him.

    Joss had to value their limited time together as much as he did. Otherwise she wouldn''t bother.

    "Thanks, I think," Keith said. "Anyway, I need to get going. See youter, alligator."

    "In a while, crocodile."

    He had started using that sign off semi-often about two years ago and she hadughed and said she sometimes did things like that with her youngest clients to cheer them up at the end of a rough session.. He figured she was simply humoring him but appreciated it all the same.

 Chapter 106 - But Youre A Therapist!

    Joss wasn''t nearly as goofy as Keith was. At least she could appreciate his goofiness. Most people couldn''t.

    He always had to tone his personality down depending on who he was interacting with. But there was something about her that made him feelfortable enough to be himself. Maybe it was because of her psychology training.

    Most of his life was spent acting. Acting how he thought the foster families wanted him to act so they wouldn''t send him back. Acting how he thought the kids at school wanted him to so they wouldn''t ostracize him. Acting like a normal person who did not double as a hero. Acting more heroic than he truly was.

    He didn''t act around Joss as much as he did around the others. He couldn''t tell her about being Delta but aside from that she got the most authentic version of Keith there was.

    He headed back to work feeling lighter somehow and was able to handle the rest of his first day without difficulty. The problem was after work when he wasn''t even able to take a dinner break because too many people needed saving.

    Keith was starving and desperate for food. After the night he''d had he needed his favorite so he headed to a tavern he knew had great burgers that was opente. He was friendly with the owner in both of his identities and got free food on asion when he was in costume. That was especially helpful tonight.

    He took full advantage of the bottomless fries and had three baskets. That was how hungry he was.

    It really hit the spot and he had the random thought that he should take Joss here before dismissing it. Stupid. That wasn''t how their rtionship worked. He brought her food; they didn''t go out to get it together.

    But he couldn''t help but wonder what that would be like. If they could hang out on weekends. That couldn''t happen unless he was off-duty though. And he was never off-duty.

    Heroes never rest. At least not him and Frostine. He couldn''t speak for the others that he saw less often.

    Honestly, he was surprised he didn''t run into her at all today. But he would probably see her tomorrow. He almost never went more than two days without running into her somewhere. They were both on the more active end of things.

    Keith savored his meal and headed home feeling satisfied. Unfortunately, that didn''tst long because the roommate he shared a room with, Brandon, harped on him foring in sote on a weeknight.

    "Where do you even go? It''s not like you have a girlfriend. You''re never here and you need to do your portion of the chores."

    "I''ll do it tomorrow," Keith said wearily. "Can you let me shower now? I want to go to bed too."

    Brandon let it go reluctantly. They had some version of this argument at least twice a week. It always went around in circles and it was draining. Having roommates and having a secret identity was hard. Yet another reason for him to want to get his own apartment.

    In this city that seemed like a pipe dream. His own ce on his sry? Laughable.

    Keith really, really needed to get on top of his future. He should probably go back to school but if he hadn''t managed to figure out what he wanted up to this point he doubted he would be able to now.

    He wanted things to be taken care of before he retired so he wouldn''t have to worry. Assuming he retired before he was thirty that didn''t leave him a lot of time since he would have to go back to school at night after working all day. That would limit the amount of sses he could take at once. Two or three tops.

    Would he even be able to finish school by then? Maybe if he took sses year round. The prospect was not a pleasant one.

    What Keith really needed to do was pick something andmit. What did it matter if he didn''t find fulfilment in it? He didn''t find fulfilment in any of his other jobs aside from ten-ish minutes a day talking to Joss.

    He needed a consistent, stable way to pay the bills. And to start saving for retirement so he didn''t have to work himself to death as an old man. That was a terrifying thought.

    Maybe what he needed was career advice. The problem was that he didn''t really have anyone he could ask.

    Frostine was smart (or at least thought she was) but they never talked about anything remotely personal. He supposed there was Joss but he didn''t see her nearly often enough to have time to chat about something like that. Plus asking for help was embarrassing.

    Keith was sure if he did bother asking Frostine she would give him a hard time about it in that know-it-all way of hers. Joss might be a better bet. She at least knew about his endless job hopping to an extent.

    When would he have time to talk to her about it though? He really didn''t see her for very long and he didn''t want to get in trouble at work. Should he text her?

    She might have a heart attack if he did that out of the blue since they never texted about anything but his job switches. Their text history consisted of maybe fix or six texts in a row every few months and it would be weird to change that.

    This was the problem with not having any other friends. It wasn''t like he had any family to rely on either. When it came to things like asking for advice he was stuck. Hitting up random strangers on the inte who didn''t even know him didn''t seem wise.

    If he was going to ask for help it had to be from someone who actually understood him at least a little. And that only left him with two not-so-great options.

    Keith could think about this more tomorrow. He was exhausted.

    He flopped into bed once he was done with his shower and was asleep from almost the moment his head hit the pillow, not waking until his rm woke him up the following morning. He ate an overflowing bowl of cereal before getting ready for work and had time to think again on hismute.

    Joss or Frostine? Which would ultimately be more fruitful? Should he just risk mortifying himself and try both of them?

    When Keith went to deliver Joss''s food (red curry with chicken) he still hadn''t decided what to do. Yet she could tell there was something off about him immediately, curiously tilting her head to the side as she scrutinized him.

    "Are you alright? You seem different than usual."

    That was what he got for being friends with a therapist. She was trained to notice things like this.

    He tried to give her a reassuring smile. "Actually, I was debating whether or not to ask for career advice. You''re pretty much the only person I could think of but it''s embarrassing."

    "How is asking for help embarrassing? Though I don''t know how helpful any adviceing from me would be," Joss said matter-of-factly.

    This woman truly wasn''t fazed by anything. He couldn''t help but wonder what all she had heard to be that way or if it was simply part of her personality. It could be abination of both.

    Keith handed over the food and pad for her to sign sheepishly. "You really don''t mind?"

    "No. In fact, I''m kind of ttered. No one has ever asked me for career advice before," she told him.

    "But you''re a therapist!"

    "Who works primarily with traumatized children, couples, and families. People don''te here asking for career advice. Theye here for just about everything else."

    Ah. He supposed that made sense. Still, her reaction was surprising. Why would she be ttered that he hade to her for help? Was it because she was d he thought of her in his moment of need or something? That was awfully sentimental for someone who saw so little of him.

    "Got it. I don''t really have a lot of time now¡­is there a time you''re avable outside of work?" Keith asked.

    Joss bit her lip. "¡­I''m a pretty busy person. I can''t do weekends but if you wanted to meet right after work today I could probably spare an hour or two."

    "Great! I''ll be sure to treat you in return for the help. Is there anything specific you want for dinner?"

    "I''m good with anything."

    Keith nearly sighed. He thought she would say something like that. Did she even have a favorite food? She had never gotten back to him with the answer to that. Come on, everyone had a favorite food!

    "Alright. I''ll figure something out before then and text you so you can meet me there. I don''t get off until 6:30."

    Joss nodded. "Just let me know. I''ll be there."

    Keith was relieved. He had been worried she would say no for some reason.. He thanked her and headed out feeling like he might finally be getting somewhere regarding his long-term future.

 Chapter 107 - That Was New

    Jocelyn wasn''t expecting Keith to ask her for career advice. That wasn''t the sort of rtionship they had. They talked about little nothings and he frequently teased her or tried to make herugh but that was about it.

    Coming to her for advice was real friend territory. She had never had a real friend before so she was excited but simultaneously nervous about messing it up.

    What if she gave bad advice? What if he realized he didn''t like talking to her for more than a few minutes at a time? What if she identally offended him? She knew she wasn''t the best at sugarcoating things. That didn''t matter in her job but it did in her personal life.

    If she could even call what she had a personal life. She didn''t do anything for herself.

    Jocelyn had colleagues not friends. Except for Keith. She couldn''t afford to lose him so she had to do this right.

    This meant she wouldn''t be able to go do hero work tonight until their meeting was done. She couldn''t risk getting caught up in something and beingte. That meant she had time to kill for the first time in ages.

    She wasn''t sure what to do with herself. Should she just do paperwork off the clock? Though if she got caught doing that her supervisor wouldn''t be happy.

    What else could Jocelyn do? She hadn''t had time to read a book since finishing her master''s degree so she didn''t have any on hand. She supposed she could sit around messing with some of the games she had in her office for her child clients but that might be difficult without any additional yers.

    She had some puzzles too but she had done them all before. She supposed that was better than nothing. No one would know she was still hanging out here after hours if she hid in the bathroom or something waiting for everyone else to leave.

    She didn''t want to get in trouble because her boss was very strict about billing hours and not going overtime. John was never happy when sessions ran long for one reason or another.

    Jocelyn made it through the rest of the day by pushing thoughts of tonight out of her head and focusing on her clients. Once thest one left and she was certain the coast was clear she snuck back into her office and pulled out a puzzle. She could lock up when she left but for now she had nowhere to go for an hour and a half.

    She was meeting Keith at a nearby caf¨¦ twenty minutes after he got off work. In the meantime she had nothing of substance to do and it was unsettling. She wasn''t used to having nothing to do.

    She finished two puzzles in less than thirty minutes before giving up on that. She decided to check her phone for any emails and was sidetracked by an ad for a game. There was never time for things like that but she supposed it wouldn''t hurt to try it out just for now.

    The game involved matching dots toplete levels and was surprisingly diverting. She breezed through the first twenty or so easily before getting stuck and losing a life. She had to be a bit more creative the next time to pass it.

    Jocelyn spent the rest of her time like that, surprisingly enjoying herself. She always enjoyed a good mental puzzle. When she was younger she used to buy crossword or Sudoku puzzle books for a dor and spent hours on them alone in her room. Eventually, she mastered them to the point that she would create her own in notebooks.

    She hadn''t had time for anything like that in years but this game sort of reminded her of it. Maybe she should download more of them to do on hermute instead of just sitting there thinking.

    When she arrived at the caf¨¦ she was slightly less nervous than she had been earlier because of how diverting the game had been. She was able to greet Keith normally when he arrived and act like this wasn''t her first time getting dinner with a friend.

    "Hello! How was work?"

    "It was fine. You?" he asked as they got into the line.

    "Also fine. So what did you want to talk about exactly? Career advice isn''t very specific," Jocelyn pointed out.

    "Well¡­I''m not quite sure. All I know is that I can''t be a deliveryman forever. I need to start thinking about my future and I don''t know where to start. Anything would help at this point, really."

    "Do you have any specific goals in mind? That might help narrow things down."

    "Uh¡­having my own apartment would be nice. I''m getting pretty sick of having roommates. And having benefits and some sort of retirement n. Sorry. That''s really generic."

    Jocelyn shook her head. "Not at all. Anywhere is a better ce to start than nowhere. A lot of jobs these days offer benefits including 401ks but the pay might not be enough for your own apartment. If that''s your goal you''re going to need to make a certain amount per month.

    "Studio prices vary depending on what part of town you want to live in. Most ces require you to make three times the rent to live there or have someone stable as a cosigner. Where do you want to live?"

    Keith blinked at her. Apparently, he hadn''t thought that far. "I live in Brooklyn now. Staying here wouldn''t be the end of the world."

    "It also depends on how much space you need. Micro-studios are much cheaper but they''re little more than ces to sleep. If you want to have a proper living room and kitchen you can still probably find something under $2,000 a month in a sketchier part of town."

    "How can someone live without a proper living room and kitchen?"

    "If they''re rarely home," Jocelyn said, thinking of her own living space. "I assume that''s what you want then?"

    "Yeah. I can handle sketchy areas," Keith replied confidently.

    "You should aim for a career that offers a sry of $65,000 a year or more then. If having an apartment, benefits, and a retirement n is all that really matters to you it shouldn''t be too hard to do some research and pick what sounds the most doable."

    "That does narrow things down a bit. But is it even possible to get jobs like that without a master''s degree? If I go back to school I''ll only be able to do it at night after work so that will slow me down."

    Jocelyn thought this over. She hadn''t looked into other career options since she always knew she wanted to be a therapist. She had taken her sses during traditional hours and dealt with hero work in snatches when she wasn''t working on homework or studying.

    "I wouldn''t know. You would have to look that up yourself. I''m sure there are plenty of jobs that would do that with either a bachelor''s degree or going to trade school but I can''t name any off the top of my head."

    "Huh. I never thought of trade school as an option. Do they really have things like that that would make enough?"

    "As I said, I don''t know. But it''s worth looking into," she said with a shrug.

    The conversation stopped there because they had to order their food. He got arge bowl of macaroni and a side of bread. That actually sounded pretty good so she did the same. She couldn''t remember thest time she had macaroni that didn''te in an individualized microwaveable cup. The difference in quality was staggering.

    Jocelyn sighed in satisfaction and Keith noticed. He let out a smallugh. "Is macaroni your favorite food then?"

    She honestly didn''t know. She did like macaroni but it had to be done right. The kind that came out of a box wasn''t the same as when restaurants used real cheese.

    "I don''t have a favorite food," she admitted.

    He had been very vulnerable with her earlier by asking for advice when they hardly knew each other (daily conversations aside) so she was able to do the same in return. She didn''t like admitting shecked opinions on most things because people always thought she was crazy and wanted to know why.

    She would rather not talk about the why. She was self-aware enough to know the reason for it but that didn''t mean she wanted to bring up her dark past.

    "Huh," Keith said in response. "I did wonder."

    And he left it at that. Why did he leave it at that? No one else ever did. She had been bullied mercilessly when she was younger for not having a real opinion on anything. That was where all of the Ice Queenmentary started.

    Jocelyn regarded him curiously. Did he not care? Was he truly able to ept it at face value and move on? That was new.

    She felt the need to exin herself further regardless of his seeming eptance. "Food is fuel. Whether it tastes good or not doesn''t really matter when you''re hungry."

    "I get that," Keith said to her surprise. "There have been times I could have eaten cardboard and been satisfied. Though that doesn''t really have any nutritional value so I doubt it would fill me up."

    Jocelynughed. There he goes being ridiculous again. Was he trying to make her feel better? If so, it was working.

    "Cardboard wouldn''t make anyone a good meal. Except maybe a pig. I''ve heard they can digest every part of the human body so cardboard wouldn''t be difficult for them."

    Keith nearly choked on his macaroni. "What?! Where did you learn that?"

    "One of my clients told me. You would be amazed by the things kids say when they want to avoid telling you what''s actually on their minds," Jocelyn said with a shrug.. "I know all sorts of random facts about a variety of subjects."

 Chapter 108 - Do You Want To Patrol With Me?

    Keith looked at Jocelyn wide-eyed. "Are they all that disturbing? I don''t want to be eaten by a pig! Though I suppose the likelihood of that happening in New York City is incredibly low."

    "If this causes you to be afraid of pigs avoid going to Iowa. There are more there than in any other state," she told him with augh.

    She hadn''t expected him to react so strongly to what she said. He truly was the funniest person she knew and not only because of how dramatic he was. He frequently did things she didn''t expect and it made her life more interesting.

    Interesting in a good way. Work could be plenty interesting in a bad way. She had more horror stories than she could count from both her internships and her time as a licensed therapist.

    Keith raised an eyebrow. "I''m going to assume you heard this from the same kid."

    "Correct. He loves pigs."

    "You¡­have a really crazy job, don''t you?"

    Jocelyn shrugged. "Sometimes. I''ve long since reached the point where I thought I''d seen everything. I get proven wrong too often for that."

    Both at work and as a hero. She had seen and heard more than she had words to describe. It was why she was so open-minded. It was impossible not to be after a certain point unless you were incredibly stubborn and insistent on ignoring what was right in front of you.

    Stubbornness had never been a particr trait of hers. She had learned to be flexible to survive.

    Keithughed and shook his head. "I bet! Do you like your job though even though you hear stuff that makes it so you can''t sleep at night?"

    "I think you''re the one who''s going to be losing sleep over this," Jocelyn pointed out. "I do like my job. I never imagined doing anything else. I always knew I wanted to help people and once I got to college and took a low-level psychology course I was hooked."

    "Must be nice knowing what you wanted to do from the get-go. I got an associate degree in general studies because in the two years I was there I couldn''t decide what I wanted to do. That''sing back to bite me now."

    "There''s no set timeline for life. People can change their minds any number of times. I know people who went back to school to change careers in their fifties. There''s nothing wrong with it."

    Keith sighed. "Sure seems like it though. Everyone has it together except for me. But geez, way to be a downer. Sorry, Joss. I didn''t mean toin."

    "I don''t mind," Jocelyn said seriously.

    She meant it. She heard much worse on a daily basis. Listening to a friend being a bit self-deprecating was a totally normal part of socializing even if she wasn''t usually on the receiving end.

    "Even after hearing peoplein all day?" he asked skeptically.

    "That''s different. In my sessions I help people problem solve and reframe their thinking. Right now I''m just listening as a friend. It''s kind of nice, actually."

    "Listening to someonein?"

    "Having a friend."

    Jocelyn wasn''t embarrassed to admit it. They were definitely friends even if their friendship was an unusual one. He wouldn''t have offered to treat her to dinner in exchange for her help otherwise. That was something friends did.

    Keith furrowed his brows in confusion. "Do you not do this sort of thing often?"

    "No. I told you I''m a busy person. I don''t have time to make or keep friends. Everyone I know is more of a colleague," she admitted.

    "Really?"

    "Is that so strange?"

    "No. It''s just¡­I''m the same way. Honestly, you''re my only friend," Keith said before looking embarrassed and turning back to his macaroni in an attempt to hide it.

    A slow smile made its way across her face. Why did hearing that make her happy? Was it because his words were an indication that their strange semnce of friendship meant as much to him as it did to her?

    "You''re my only friend too," Jocelyn informed him.

    "So is it okay for me to text you when I''m not changing jobs then? Because I didn''t want to overstep my bounds," he replied sheepishly.

    "Of course! I can''t guarantee how often I''ll be able to get back to you though. Like I said, I''m¡ª"

    "Busy. I get it. I am too. But maybe if you''re not busy sometime we can actually hang out for more than ten minutes? You wouldn''t need to make yourself sick of Thai food that way."

    Jocelyn wouldn''t feel right if she didn''t see him every day. "I''ve barely started working my way through the menu. I think I''ll be okay for a while. But yeah. That does sound nice. Weekends don''t work very well for me so maybe we could do something after work."

    "That works! What would you want to do?" Keith asked.

    "I¡­have absolutely no idea."

    "Don''t worry about it. I cane up with something. Why don''t we n for the same time next Tuesday?"

    Tuesday was random but it worked. Crimes were typically low then. Jocelyn could get away with not going out and doing hero work for a night.

    She smiled. "Sounds good to me. I look forward to whatever youe up with."

    "No pressure," Keith joked.

    They settled into afortable silence and finished their food after that. She didn''t want her time doing something normal with a friend to end but she also acknowledged that she should probably go stop at least a few crimes before bed.

    "I should get going but this was fun," Jocelyn said with a smile. "Thanks foring to me with your problem."

    "That''s a strange thing to thank me for but okay. Thank YOU for being so helpful. I have more to go off of now than I did before. I''m going to have to look into things."

    "Good luck! I''m sure you''ll figure it out."

    She waved goodbye to him feeling happier than she could ever remember. Happy. Not satisfied, not aplished, HAPPY. It was apletely different kind of positive feeling than she was used to.

    Jocelyn was d that Keith was her friend. She was d she was able to help him a little too. And that he hadn''t gotten mad at her for saying what was on her mind the way Delta so often did. She knew she wasn''t the best at talking to people, which was ironic considering her profession.

    But the difference between talking to someone as a therapist and as a regr person waspletely different, as she had told him earlier. This friend business would certainly take some getting used to but she wasn''tining. Not in the slightest.

    She couldn''t deny being curious what sort of activity he would want to do on Tuesday. He had such a big personality he probably had all sorts of hobbies and coulde up with something entertaining.

    Jocelyn found a ce to change and stash her stuff and tied her hair back into a quick braid before heading out. Having hair in your face while trying to do hero work was a definite no. She learned that when she was still a kid sneaking out of the house.

    She was quite proficient at braids. She had plenty of time to practice them when she was hiding in her room. French, fishtail, Dutch, crown, cornrow, four-strand, waterfall,ce,dder, zigzag, rope,ttice, bow. Even five-strand. She had learned by watching tutorials on her phone with earbuds so no one would hear her.

    She didn''t have time for anything fancy now though. A French braid was perfectly sufficient for keeping most of her hair out of her face.

    The sound of sirens drew her attention and she followed them to where there was a major car crash and apanying fire. She froze it immediately and the police were quick to thank her. A familiar voice sounded from behind a momentter.

    "Looks like you beat me to it," Delta remarked.

    "Water shouldn''t be used to put out ss B fires, anyway," Jocelyn reminded him. "Do you want to patrol with me?"

    He let out a long-suffering sigh. "You do realize I know that. I was just saying."

    He never exactly said yes but he followed her anyway and they kept searching for trouble for the next two hours before she needed to go to bed. They found a fair amount of it though only one incident involved a viin.

    Jocelyn told him she needed to go and he replied with his usual "See you when I see you!" as she left. Apparently, he didn''t need to go to bed as early as she did.

    Waking up, putting on light makeup so she looked professional, eating breakfast, andmuting took time. Sometimes she wished she lived closer to her job but she hadn''t been able to find any micro-studios in Brooklyn. Maybe someday when she wasn''t a hero anymore and had saved up for a down payment she would be able to move.

    She didn''t need much but couldn''t deny that a real kitchen would be nice.. All of that takeout took a real toll on her finances.

 Chapter 109 - Everyone Gets Flustered

    Jocelyn was in an excellent mood for the next several days. She was feeling generous so when someone she saved gave her several different vored bags of kettle corn from their small business in gratitude she decided to share with Delta when she saw him. After all, he had shared his pizza the other day.

    She didn''t get gifts from people she helped often. Her reputation preceded her. People thought she was too cold and distant to ept such things though she never turned anyone down unless autographs were involved. She didn''t want anyone to potentially recognize her handwriting and it seemed like a colossal waste of time.

    "Where did you get these?" Delta asked in disbelief. "There''s so much!"

    "From somebody I saved from getting hit by a motorcycle with bad brakes. There is a lot. I was barely able to carry all of this here."

    Jocelyn had beenden with two shopping bags'' worth and each one contained at least three vors. She hadn''t checked what they all were yet so she pulled them out. Strawberry cheesecake, cheddar cheese, dill pickle, cinnamon toast, banana bread, ssic, smores, and caramel apple.

    Delta peered over her shoulder at them. "You gotta admire some people''s creativity. Are some of these even good? I don''t know about strawberry cheesecake vored popcorn."

    She shrugged. "A gift is a gift."

    "Alright, I''ll try a few pieces of each. If any are good I''ll take them off your hands."

    Jocelyn took her gloves off and used a bit of hand sanitizer from her hip pouch. She didn''t want to eat finger food with gloves that touched who knows what throughout the city. She offered Delta some too and he did the same.

    She tried the strawberry cheesecake first. "It tastes good but is somehow jarring at the same time."

    Delta grabbed a few pieces too and chewed thoughtfully. "I can see your point. It is good though. I guess there is something to strawberry cheesecake kettle corn after all. Let me have some of the dill pickle."

    They worked their way through their sampling of all eight vors making asionalmentary about which vors were better than others. His favorite was the cheddar cheese and hers was between the banana bread and cinnamon toast.

    "You seemed to like the sweet vors better," he noted. "I wouldn''t have pegged you as having a sweet tooth."

    Jocelyn shrugged. She didn''t seek sweets out specifically most of the time but she did like having sugar to start her day with. That was usually enough for her.

    "I tend to eat sweet things for breakfast."

    "Seriously? I would have pegged you as a bran kes sort of person," Delta said in surprise.

    She blinked at him. "That''s oddly specific. Any particr reason?"

    "¡­not really. I have a question for you though! I meant to ask yesterday but didn''t get the chance. What do you think I''m good at? I know it''s random but it''s a serious question so don''t blow it off."

    Jocelyn was confused by the abrupt subject change but she had no reason not to answer his somewhat strange question. She didn''t know him outside of a heroic context so she could only tell him what she had seen that she thought made him a good hero.

    "You think quick on your feet, have good reflexes, and are good at making people feelfortable with you," she told him. "Is that the sort of thing you''re looking for?"

    Delta sighed. "Not quite but thanks anyway."

    "Why do you want to know?"

    "It''s kind of a personal thing. I''m thinking about what I should do when I retire and haven''t found a career I think would suit me yet."

    Oh. Jocelyn hadn''t realized he was thinking about retiring. Was this because of Mercury? Or had he simply decided it was time? She had no idea how old he was or anything about the man behind the mask.

    Delta''s costume hid his identity rather effectively. His fish-scale-like suit had a mask attached to a hood so it was impossible to tell what color his hair was or if he even had any. All that was visible of his face were his blue eyes, his mouth, and his chin.

    "Are you thinking of retiring soon?"

    "Not for a few more years at least but I want to be prepared for when that happens," he said before shoveling in another handful of cheddar kettle corn.

    Jocelyn was relieved that he wasn''t nning on leaving the hero game just yet. Finding people to work with as reliable as him was incredibly difficult. She didn''t want to lose her most useful colleague.

    Preparing for the future was always a good thing. Though it did raise the question of what he did now that didn''t feel suitable to continue after he retired. He probably had some dead-end job somewhere that was barely enough to pay the bills.

    "What do you think you''re good at? Since you seem to want to y to your strengths," she said wisely.

    Delta let out a bitterugh. "Honestly? This. I''m good at being a hero but not much else. I can''t do this forever though. It doesn''t pay the bills and even if it did heroes don''tst forever. Look at Mercury! He was one of the best and he nearly got killed before leaving to get married."

    Jocelyn couldn''t deny she had worried about Mercury and the situation with his former nemesis wife. She couldn''t even bring that up now because it wasn''t her secret to tell.

    "He was getting older," she said instead of what was truly on her mind. "It happens to all of us. We all lose our touch eventually."

    "He sure didn''t seem old."

    "I wouldn''t define anyone in their early thirties as ''old'' but think of professional athletes. They usually retire around that time too. Mercury did what he thought was best for him."

    "How do you know how old Mercury is?" Delta asked suspiciously.

    Jocelyn sighed. Here she was trying not to reveal anything and ended up doing it anyway! "It was an educated guess. Most heroes retire by that time. I don''t know how old Mercury is. I would have to know him for that."

    She didn''t like lying but it needed to be done in this situation. You would think she would be better at not letting things slip considering the whole client confidentiality thing. But when she was talking about a mutual acquaintance she just had to slip up.

    Technically, she didn''t know Mercury. She just knew of him through Leah. She had never met the man in his civilian identity though she couldn''t deny that she had looked him up on Facebook out of curiosity.

    He wore (most likely fake) sses, was a patent attorney, and lived with his family in Queens. His cover photo was of him with his wife and daughter and he looked happier than she had ever seen him in person as he had his arms around both of them.

    His little girl was chubby-cheeked and adorable. She shared his brown hair and hazel eyes as opposed to her mother''s much lighter coloring. Jocelyn had not expected Nox to be an albino.

    Social media painted a much prettier picture than real life so she hadn''t been able to tell if Mercury''s happiness was genuine or not. But it really wasn''t her business despite her hoping for the best for her old colleague.

    "Right. None of us know each other," Delta said as he blew out a frustrated breath. "I can''t even tell you about my career problems in detail because it would give too much away."

    "Details do tend to help in such situations¡­but if you like being a hero so much why not do a job where you can still sort of be one? A police officer, a doctor, a firefighter. Something like that," Jocelyn suggested.

    "¡­is this your idea of a joke? Did you seriously tell the guy with water powers to be a firefighter?"

    "Why not? You have plenty of experience with it. And it was only one of the options. I don''t joke. At least not about things like this."

    "I don''t think you joke period."

    "That isn''t true! I know I''m not the funniest person around but I have a friend whoughs at me. That¡­sounded better in my head. But you know what I mean. I''m notpletely humorless," Jocelyn said more defensively than she thought she was capable of.

    She was fairly certain she just got his earlier reference to bran kes and why he had changed the subject when she asked him to exin it. He thought she was boring.

    At this point she was used to people thinking that but she didn''t want to hear it from the person she spent the most time with. Not when she actually did have someone as lively as Keith wanting to hang out with her. Delta was wrong! She couldn''t be 100% boring even if she didn''t have hobbies or favorites.

    Delta stared at her. "You actually got flustered! I didn''t think that was possible."

    "Everyone gets flustered, Delta! I''m not actually made of ice," Jocelyn snapped. "Keep the cheddar. I''m leaving."

    "Hey, Frostine!"

    She gathered up the rest of the popcorn and slide down the roof of the building on a column of ice before making it vanish behind her.. She didn''t need to deal with his negativity right now.

 Chapter 110 - It Hadnt Been Intentional

    It was stupid that Jocelyn was letting this get to her. She had heard much worse from all sorts of people. Jocelyn the Ice Queen. Jocelyn the Wallflower. Jocelyn the Robot. Jocelyn the Invisible Girl. Nobody cared about the kid who hadn''t so much as had a favorite color or a spark of life in her dull eyes.

    Boring. She knew she was boring¡ªshe had heard it her whole life¡ªbut she didn''t want to be boring. If she was boring Keith wouldn''t want to be her friend anymore.

    He didn''t think she was boring, did he? Why would someone like him want to hang out with a boring person more outside of work? At the very least he seemed to think she had interesting things to say. Even if she had unintentionally horrified him with that fact about pigs the other day. He hadn''t seemed angry about it or anything.

    Jocelyn had never card what anyone thought of her before this. It hadn''t mattered because the people in question hadn''t mattered. Not on any meaningful level. Things were different with Keith.

    He didn''t know her well but he still seemed to like her more than most people did. At the very least he wanted to spend more time with her and get to know her better. No one else cared enough to bother with that. How was she not supposed to care about what he thought?

    If he thought she was boring too once he got to know her better¡­then what? He would still have to bring her food she ordered from his restaurant but he might not want to be her friend anymore.

    That wasn''t what she wanted at all. She finally found someone worth having a life outside of work and hero duties for and she didn''t want to lose that.

    Getting dinner together the other day was the first time she had taken for herself (though technically it had been for someone else it still counted!) in longer than she could remember. She had been happy, which wasn''t a terriblymon urrence in her rather repetitive life.

    Jocelyn hadn''t thought it was possible to be happy because of another person. She had seen so many of the ways people could hurt each other and had thought it better not to get involved on more than the surface.

    She wanted to help people so that was what she did. She helped broken children, parents, couples, and families the way she wished someone had helped her when she was younger.

    She helped people as a hero too. A lot of them. More than she could count.

    Helping people was all she knew anymore. It was better than being in survival mode all the time but only because of the sense of satisfaction she got from feeling like she was making a difference in the world, no matter how small.

    Jocelyn hadn''t had anything else she wanted to do until now. But since she had found it she couldn''t let go of it. She wanted to experience what it was like to have a real friend rather than simply a ssmate or colleague. How could she let this opportunity pass her by?

    It was hard to put everything she was feeling into words. Even so, she shouldn''t have snapped at Delta like that.

    He didn''t know her. Just like everyone else. They didn''t know and they didn''t understand so what they said didn''t matter. That was how it had always been¡­until he hit a nerve.

    A nerve she hadn''t even realized could be hit because she knew better than anyone how boring she was. Her life consisted solely of work because she couldn''t bear not to be so busy she couldn''t think.

    People who had been hurt tended to go one of two ways. They either wanted other people to suffer the way they did or the opposite.

    You saw this a lot with heroes and viins but it could be much moreplicated than that. Like with Nox. She tried not to box people in with generalities. To judge without sufficient information.

    Jocelyn had no idea who Delta was or what his life was like. She didn''t know why he became a hero, why Mercury''s retirement had lit a fire under him, or why he always had to give her a hard time about things. Sometimes she wondered if he disliked her but if he truly did he wouldn''t keep working with her, would he?

    He did give her a hard time an awful lot. It had never gotten to her like it did today though.

    She sighed as she made it back to the alley next to her apartment building. She had retrieved her belongings though it was difficult to carry them with the rest of the popcorn.

    She might have to bring it with her to work to snack on tomorrow. It would certainly take her a while to get through it. But she was determined to eat all of it, even the vors she wasn''t as big a fan of, because it was proof that someone appreciated her.

    Jocelyn didn''t need Delta''s appreciation or good opinion. If he thought she was boring she saw no need to associate with him further. He could do his own thing and she could do hers like she had done before meeting him and realizing how effective tag teaming was with their powers.

    A seasoned hero like her didn''t truly need anyone''s help. It simply made things go a bit faster.

    That was what she told herself but when she made it home she was barely able to force herself to shower before crawling into bed and pulling her weighted nket over her head. She needed to feel theforting pressure right now more than usual even if she didn''t get cold.

    ===

    Keith had been looking into his career options whenever he had a minute after his talk with Joss. He simply wasn''t feeling any of the options he was reading about that only required a bachelor''s degree or trade school.

    Were those his only options? Did he need to just find one and force himself to stick to it in order to get what he wanted out of life?

    Questions like this were still haunting him when he met up with Frostine and she unexpectedly shared her obscene amount of kettle corn with him. He had been surprised to find out that she ate sugary things for breakfast. That hadn''t seemed like the woman he thought he knew at all.

    Keith hadn''t originally intended to go to her for career advice at all since he already had Joss''s but when he realized he was treading in dangerous territory it was the only thing he could think of to change the subject.

    He hadn''t expected her topliment him despite the fact that he had been fishing forpliments¡ªhe felt like all he got from her was criticism¡ªor for her to ask him what he thought his strengths were. It was a sensitive topic since he didn''t think he was good at anything but being Delta.

    Suggesting he go along with his hero tendencies was actually pretty smart. He hadn''t anticipated the conversation going in that direction.

    He didn''t think anything but doctors (which required way too much school) would make enough money but it gave him something to consider. He would have to do more research once he got home.

    Unfortunately, that was where everything went wrong. Keith had been teasing her as usual when she actually reacted. And not at all in the way he would have thought.

    He had been hoping for augh or something but she got defensive. The coolest, calmest, most collected person he knew fumbled with her words because of something he said. He never would have seen thating!

    That really threw him off so he happened to say what was on his mind. "You actually got flustered! I didn''t think that was possible."

    The very air around Frostine seemed to freeze and her cold eyes were the stormiest he had ever seen them. "Everyone gets flustered, Delta! I''m not actually made of ice. Keep the cheddar. I''m leaving."

    Keith called after her but she was as good as her word. In the blink of an eye she had vanished. He had genuinely offended her. How? What was it exactly that he said? He had only been messing with her like usual!

    He hadn''t thought he cared what a know-it-all like her thought but it was oddly distressing watching her go. Especially since she left the popcorn behind. It was a reminder that she had been trying to be nice to him and he ended up driving her away.

    It hadn''t been intentional. He would have to apologize the next time he saw her.

    The problem was that Frostine seemed to be purposely be avoiding him after that. He heard about her exploits from word of mouth but it seemed that she was trying to hit areas they normally didn''t cover as often so she wouldn''t run into him.

    Keith tried thinking back on what he said exactly. He had been teasing her about thinking she didn''t joke around and then said something about her getting flustered in disbelief. That was when she snapped at him.

    Specifically, she said she wasn''t actually made of ice. Maybe he struck a nerve.. She never seemed bothered by people thinking she was cold before though and they had worked together on and off for the past four years.

 Chapter 111 - Come On, Frosty!

    It felt strange not seeing Frostine around. Wrong even. Keith knew he needed to apologize for whatever it was he said that set her off but that was impossible to do if he couldn''t find her!

    He wanted to apologize but he also wanted to tell her that her idea hadn''t been bad. He had looked into his options after they talked and discovered that firefighters in New York City made more than the minimum ie Joss had told him he would need to aplish his goals.

    If he became a firefighter he would be able to keep helping people (what he was good at) and make enough to support himself properly. He would need to take physical and written tests before being epted into a firefighter academy and attending for eight months. It was rmended that he find himself a firefighter mentor to help him with the process as well once he passed his exams.

    Keith knew plenty of firefighters. He helped put them out all the time as Delta. If he asked one of them to mentor "someone he knew" they should be willing to help him out.

    The problem was that the starting sry was low and experience was necessary to get up to the point he needed to be at. After five years it went way up and that was without factoring in potential promotions.

    The websites he checked also said his chances of getting hired were higher if he worked as a part of a volunteer fire department first. It would be really nice if he could just reveal himself in situations like this. He had more experience putting out fires than most people in the FDNY did!

    If Keith was going to do this he was going to have to either severely cut down on the hours he spent doing hero work or quit earlier than expected. He would still be helping people. It simply wouldn''t be as public as it was as Delta.

    Honestly, he wasn''t sure how to feel about that. He knew he needed to think about his future but he liked having random people''s appreciation. You got that as a hero in a way you never could otherwise. It was one of the few benefits of being a public figure.

    He couldn''t deny it was exhausting though. The praise barely made up for the rest of it sometimes.

    And being a public figure always came with its critics. He tried to make himself as likable as possible but Delta''s persona could be difficult to keep up with.

    Keith would still kind of have to do that as a firefighter. No one would trust a goofball to save them. But it wasn''t like that would be anything new. He would be able to be himself off the clock in a way he couldn''t right now.

    There were more pros than cons overall if he really thought about it. Semi-retiring or retiring at twenty-five wasn''tpletely unheard of. He could keep working at his current job and study for the written test on weeknights and get involved with a volunteer fire department on the weekends. Whatever free time he had left could still be used for hero work.

    Not that he thought there would be much. He still had to leave some time for Joss too now that they had reached a point where they would be seeing each other out of work now and then.

    It would be difficult but doable. Keith had thought it through and realized this was the best choice for his future.

    He wanted to tell Frostine she had been right even if it would make her insufferable for a while. But he couldn''t do that if she kept avoiding him!

    He finally managed to catch her on a Saturday in the middle of a viin fight. Two of them were tag teaming so she wasn''t in a position to turn down the help. Though he did notice her voice was a lot colder than usual when she was forced to speak to him.

    Yep. She was definitely still mad at him.

    When the viins had been defeated and were taken away in the back of a police car he finally managed to catch her. "Can we talk?"

    Her eyes were steelier than a knife. "I don''t think we have anything to talk about."

    "I wanted to apologize!"

    Her expression softened because she was surprised. "What?"

    "I''m sorry for teasing you. I didn''t mean to upset you. I was just caught off-guard because you''re always soposed," Keith was quick to exin. "And I wanted you to know that your career advice was totally solid and I n to use it. You''re really good at stuff like that. Please forgive me? It''s been weird not seeing you this week."

    "¡­did you actually miss me? Even though you think I''m boring?"

    Dread filled the pit of his stomach. Ah. She must have made assumptions about the bran kesment. Was that the real reason she had been upset?

    "Was that what you got out of that?" Keith asked evasively.

    Frostine looked straight into his soul and he flinched. "Are you saying you don''t?"

    Boring wasn''t the word he would use. He thought she was cold, stiff, humorless, and a know-it-all but not boring. He didn''t know enough about her to make that designation. She might be a very interesting person outside of the mask though he sort of doubted it.

    "Come on, Frosty! I don''t think you''re boring. Just that you could lighten up a little now and then."

    "Really?" Frostine asked skeptically.

    "Your ability to stay cool is what makes you a good hero. Honestly, I''m kind of jealous of that. I only tease you because I''m trying to get you to react. You never do so I was surprised when you actually did for once," Keith confessed.

    "I don''t know you well enough to say whether or not you''re boring. I only see you in a certain context. Like you said, you have someone who thinks you''re funny. I''m a lot more serious as a hero than I am normally too. Who knows? Maybe you''re the life of the party when you aren''t Frostine."

    She smiled. Actually smiled! He had never seen her smile!

    "The life of the party, huh?"

    "You never know," Keith replied with a shrug.

    Frostine let out a small noise that may or may not have been augh. "Apology epted."

    Relief flooded through him. He didn''t really think she would be the life of the party in any context but at least his outrageous im had gotten her to soften up as much as she was capable of.

    She said she wasn''t actually made of ice and he had finally seen for himself that it was true. Twice. He would have to remember she was more sensitive than she let on from here on out. He didn''t want to make her mad again.

    Keith never would have seen thating. Frostine was always so unbothered by everything. He had seen her hanging upside down in a viin''s giant fist before without changing her expression. So how had something like this gotten to her when that hadn''t?

    "So do you want to patrol or what?" he asked.

    "Sure," Frostine agreed. "But first I need to eat something. I could go for some macaroni in a cone from that ce about a dozen blocks from here."

    He was surprised for two reasons. First, she never specifically sought out a food when they were together. She always took was she could get. Second, he had absolutely no idea what macaroni in a cone was.

    "Macaroni in a cone?"

    "Yes. I discovered it recently. It''s macaroni wrapped in a soft pretzel cone and topped with crumbled bacon."

    That¡­actually sounded really good. An interestingbination to be sure but was that really much different than having macaroni with a side of French bread like they served in caf¨¦s? His stomach rumbled. He could go for some macaroni in a cone too.

    "That works. I haven''t eaten yet either," Keith told her. "Why macaroni in a cone though?"

    Frostine''s expression grew almost imperceptibly softer. "Macaroni might be my favorite food. It''s a quick and easy way to eat it on the go."

    Might be? Why did that phrasing somehow remind him of Joss? She didn''t even have a favorite food and saw it as nothing more than fuel to keep her going. He had assumed Frostine was the same way since when you were a hero you had to take what was avable.

    He had learned a lot more about his colleague in the past week and a half than he had in the past four yearsbined. He may have misjudged her. There was more to her than her icy exterior indicated.

    Keith had never been this curious about Frostine. What kind of person was she when she wasn''t out fighting crime?

    Someone who loved macaroni, apparently. She looked extremely satisfied as she dug in once they got their macaroni cones. It was almost cute.. He never in a million years would have thought his stoic colleague was capable of making such an expression.

 Chapter 112 - He Needed To Focus

    Keith had never once thought of Frostine as a woman. She was far too intimidating for that. Plus she often treated him like he was an idiot, which was a major turn off. Who would be interested in someone like that?

    She was capable (almost overly so), clever, and could hold her own in a fight. There were definitely less female heroes than male ones in New York City though he couldn''t speak for elsewhere. Of all of them, she was definitely the least feminine.

    It had nothing to do with her looks. He couldn''t see much of her face so he had no idea if she was a beauty or not but she had hair that went halfway down her back that was always tied in some sort of braid and had some curves despite being lean and toned like most heroes. She was about average height for a woman too. Maybe 5''6". Going off that alone she was plenty feminine.

    Her voice was somewhat monotone but it wasn''t as if she sounded like a guy. It was more about the way she carried herself andmanded authority.

    Frostine was not someone you wanted to mess with. She could freeze you solid with a nce and that was without using her powers. Which, Keith had to admit, were some of the strongest he had seen. They were versatile too.

    She was capable of using ice to propel herself in a way simr to how he did though it was much less messy. She could also create giant ice walls or towers, freeze people in their tracks, turn the ground to ice for an impressive distance, even freeze rivers or oceans. She couldn''t melt things but she could make her own ice vanish when it was no longer needed.

    And that was only her powers. She was also frighteningly intelligent, efficient, and an expert fighter and acrobat.

    Keith couldn''t help but wonder where Frostine had trained. Honestly, she was amazing. She used her powers to help her win most fights but he had seen her in hand-to-handbat before as well with Inferno when he kept melting her ice. He would never admit it but he had admired her prowess since before he had even be a hero.

    She had been at this much longer than he had. Nearly ten years ording to the news. Was she thinking about retiring too? She never mentioned it but she had to be in herte twenties by now.

    "Have you ever considered retiring?" he asked suddenly.

    Frostine momentarily stopped eating her macaroni cone to eye him curiously. "No. Why do you ask?"

    "I was just curious. I won''t be doing this for much longer and in the meantime I''m going to have to cut back so I can do what I need to prepare for a real career. You''ve been at this longer than I have so¡­"

    "Oh. I don''t think so. I don''t know what I''d do with myself if I wasn''t a hero."

    Keith hadn''t expected that but he supposed he should have. She didn''t seem to have time for a social life considering how often she was patrolling the streets. He had thought they were simr in that way before.

    "What about working toward a career?"

    Frostine swallowed another bite before answering. "I already have one and I''m perfectly satisfied with it."

    "For real? You have a career, not just a job? Is that even possible being a hero?" Keith asked incredulously. "I''ve never been able to hold a job for long managing this on the side."

    "It''s quite possible. I''m not the only one who has done it. It''s all about time management and knowing your limits. I never jumped in when I knew I would be cutting it close to amitment I had elsewhere."

    "¡­what if they really needed you?"

    "Someone else alwayses eventually. We''re very receable, Delta," Frostine said matter-of-factly.

    She finished off her macaroni cone and he was left in a daze. She wasn''t wrong¡­but did she have to phrase it like that? New heroes popped up all the time. There was always someone willing to jump into the fray when things went wrong. First responders too.

    The world didn''t need Frostine specifically. It needed someone like her who was willing to get the job done. And she didn''t seem bothered by it at all.

    It didn''t need him either but that definitely bothered him. One of the main reasons he had be a hero in the first ce was because he wanted to be seen. Liked. Appreciated. He wanted to help too but couldn''t deny that the poprity factor was a big part of it. He craved validation from outside sources but it never seemed to be enough.

    "And that doesn''t bother you?" Keith blurted.

    Frostine shook her head. "No. I know that any difference I make could be made by someone else. I just want to help when I can."

    That was perhaps the most altruistic thing he had ever heard her say. Or anyone, really. She worked all day then spent all of her free time trying to help other people. She wasn''t in it for the poprity at all.

    Keith had already suspected this to some extent because of how she didn''t seem to care about having a positive public image. She was too brusque and cold. She seemed not to care because she DIDN''T care. No wonder they had always shed.

    What mattered to him didn''t matter to her at all. Of course she woulde off as judgy and a know-it-all in that situation!

    Suddenly, he felt ashamed of himself. He had not only misjudged her but gone about hero work the wrong way. Whatever his motives were, he was still helping people though! That had to count for something, right?

    "Do you think everyone is receable or just heroes?" Keith asked curiously.

    Frostine shrugged. "A person''s value is their own to decide. Seeking it from external sources never ends well from what I''ve seen."

    She may as well have pped him. This was exactly why she often rubbed him the wrong way. She managed to hit him right where it hurt without even realizing it.

    How could he possibly decide his own value when no one had ever truly wanted him? If he had to assign a value to himself, it would be worthless. Was that healthy? Probably not but it was all he had.

    It hit him in that moment what his problem with Frostine was. It seemed like she was always trying to pick him apart like his old therapist back when he was in foster care. Did she work in the mental health field? Because that would exin a lot.

    She wasn''t trying to be a know-it-all. It might be what she was used to because of her work.

    But Joss was a therapist and she wasn''t like that. At least as far as he had seen. They really hadn''t talked all that much.

    Keith wasn''t a huge fan of therapists but she didn''t seem like she was psychoanalyzing him when they were together. Maybe it was because she was off the clock then and she knew how to separate her work from the rest of her life.

    He didn''t know what he was supposed to think about any of this but didn''t have time to respond because there were sirens in the distance and Frostine was already beckoning him to follow.

    Right. He needed to focus. He was in hero mode right now; he couldn''t let himself be distracted.

    At the end of the night when Keith returned to his apartment and got to work cleaning so his roommates would get off his back those thoughts crept back in. Frostine was different than he had thought she was all this time.

    Half the time she drove him crazy but she wasn''t really all that bad, was she? She was a lot better a person than he was. His thinking she was a know-it-all was really him projecting because he didn''t like feeling guilty about the things she said.

    She had a real knack for seeing through to the heart of the matter and saying ufortable truths. It had been easy to brush her off as being the problem all this time when really it was mostly him.

    He wasn''t all that great. The one thing he was good at was being a hero and he did it mostly for external validation.

    Heck, he patterned his Delta persona after Mercury because of how popr he was! He didn''t think anyone would be reassured by the natural silliness of Keith Savage.

    He was never enough for anyone. So how could he possibly be enough for himself?

    Unbidden, the memory of Joss''s smile as she said it was nice to have a friend popped into his head. Maybe there was one person he was enough for without purposely twisting himself into a pretzel.. He could hardly wait until Tuesday to see her again for more than a few minutes at a time.

 Chapter 113 - The Full Arcade Experience

    Jocelyn hadn''t expected Delta to seek her out specifically to apologize. Orpliment her multiple times in the process. Or make herugh.

    The very thought of being the life of the party was hrious because she had never been to a party. And didn''t have a life. The absurdity of it was what got to her and helped her forget her hurt feelings from before.

    She hadn''t realized he would be retiring so soon. It would be strange not seeing him around multiple times a week anymore. It had been when they weren''t talking and that was for less than a week. She had worked alone before and could do it again but it would take some getting used to.

    Mercury had moved on. Now Delta was moving on too. Where did that leave her?

    Jocelyn supposed she was doing something by meeting with Keith asionally outside of work. Though having one real friend wouldn''t be enough to get her to retire from hero work.

    She didn''t have hobbies. She didn''t have anything better to be doing. All she had wanted for so many years was to help as many people as possible and keep herself distracted in the process.

    Now she had something else she wanted too. She wanted to keep the first friend she ever made. That scared her more than any viin.

    Fighting was familiar. Comfortable. Easy. Handling any sort of rtionship with another human being that wasn''t strictly business was not. It was uncharted territory.

    Jocelyn was both nervous and excited about what activity they would be doing on Tuesday night. She thought about it all day Tuesday, especially after Keith refused to give her any hints when she saw him at lunch time. He simply winked and said it was a surprise.

    Since she didn''t know what they would be doing she had tried to dress asfortably as possible while still being professional. She wore a tan sweater with skinny jeans and matching tan boots that were well broken in.

    She was supposed to meet him at a certain subway stop so they could head to the ce he had in mind together when he got off work. He did mention it wouldn''t involve food so she would need to eat beforehand. She did that while waiting for him and got him a sandwich too since he probably wouldn''t have time to eat before meeting her.

    Unlikest time, Keith wasn''t wearing his uniform when he showed up. He had clearly brought clothes to change into. He was wearing jeans, a gray t-shirt, a leather jacket, and ck sneakers.

    She had only seen him without his helmet on one other time and his hair was just as messy as it had been then. Like he tried to fix it with water after wearing the helmet so much but it didn''t quite want to cooperate.

    Jocelyn held out the sandwich bag and he looked at it in surprise. "Is this for me?"

    "Yes. I didn''t think you had eaten yet."

    "You''re right, I haven''t. Thank you! That''s really nice of you; you totally didn''t have to do that."

    "You''re wee. So where are we going? I''ve been wondering all day."

    Keith grinned at her. "You''ll see when we get there."

    "Must you leave me in suspense?" Jocelyn asked with a sigh. "I feel like you''re dragging this out on purpose."

    "Guilty as charged. I want to see the look on your face when we get there."

    "¡­what kind of ce are you taking me to exactly?"

    "A fun one!"

    Fun. Did Jocelyn even know how to have fun? All she knew how to do was kill time. Though if anything in her life was fun it was her brief interactions with Keith. She was going to have to trust him on this.

    While they waited for their train he ate his sandwich with vigor. Afterward it was kind of hard to hold a conversation with how crowded the station was but they did their best with small talk about their days until he told her their train had arrived and they needed to go.

    She wasn''t familiar with this particr train. It wasn''t the one she took tomute so she had no idea where they were going.

    When they arrived she blinked at the ce he had taken her in shock. She had never stepped foot in one of these before though she had heard of them.

    "An arcade?"

    "Tada!" Keith said proudly before squinting at her. "Why do you look so shocked? Don''t tell me you''re one of those people who thinks adults aren''t allowed to have fun unless it involves alcohol."

    Jocelyn shook her head. "Not at all. I''ve just never been to one of these before."

    "Never?! That''s uneptable. You have to understand the joys of Skee Ball and Dance Dance Revolution. Follow me, my uneducated friend."

    He waved her over to the change machine before sticking a twenty dor bill inside of it. The sheer number of quarters was nearly iprehensible but he counted them out and split them in half before handing a pile to her that she struggled to fit into one of her pants pockets.

    Next he directed her to the Skee Ball machines. She watched a few people around them and realized they were trying to roll the ball into the holes with the highest point values. She could probably do that.

    Jocelyn put her quarter in the machine and gave it a try but she never managed to get above the twenty point hole. She got two tickets for her effort and held them up before sticking them in her other pocket. Maybe she just needed to try again. It was only her first time.

    She tried twice more but never managed to make it above the thirty point hole and that was only once. She looked at Keith a bit glumly.

    "I don''t think I''m very good at this."

    "It''s only your first time! Don''t worry about it. I''m a bona fide Skee Ball expert," he told her as he put his own quarter in the machine next to hers. "I''ll get us some more tickets."

    Keith hadn''t been boasting. He never scored lower than the forty point hole and frequently made it into the hundred point ones. He must have a lot of experience with this sort of thing. Had he picked the arcade because he came here often?

    He ended up getting over a dozen ticketspared to her two. She was impressed.

    "How did you do that?"

    "A LOT of practice. But Skee Ball isn''t how you get a lot of tickets. It''s mostly for fun. You want to win a lot of tickets you need to y jackpot games. I''ll show you where those are at if you want."

    Jocelyn nodded eagerly, wanting to get more tickets. She had seen the prize area briefly from a distance earlier and thought she might be able to get something to put in her office for her youngest clients. That would not be happening by ying Skee Ball.

    Keith showed her to a game that was much like a jump rope where you had to jump over a spinning line that got faster and faster. He only managed to get thirty tickets and she was determined to do better. She had been excellent at jump rope when she was younger because it was something she could do alone at recess without any of the other kids giving her a hard time.

    Jocelyn put her quarter in and managed to win over a hundred tickets. She grinned in satisfaction when they all came out of the machine and she looked up at her friend who was visibly shocked.

    "How did you get so many?! I''ve never seen anyone do that!"

    "I guess I didn''t lose my jump rope skills. That''s nice. I think I''m going to keep trying this one for a while if you don''t mind."

    She ended up inserting multiple quarters so she could y the triple jackpot and won it with ease. That really made her tickets add up. She didn''t have pocket space anymore so she had to start putting tickets in her purse.

    "You''re incredible! Do you want to try something else?" Keith asked.

    "Sure."

    They wandered around trying various jackpot games for a while. Then Jocelyn stood by and watched him make it all the way to the end of Pac-Man, which got him a lot of tickets as well. He definitely had a lot of experience with that one too.

    There were some games they were able to y together, such as one where two yers could hit colored lights as quickly as possible or air hockey. She kept knocking the puck into her own goal but she was very good at the light one and got more than a hundred and fifty tickets from it.

    "Dance Dance Revolution doesn''t get you any tickets but you have to try it at least once to get the full arcade experience," Keith exined once they were running low on quarters.

    Jocelyn nodded. She had followed his lead this long and had been having a good time.

    Once their quarters were in he warned her that she would want to do beginner mode because she didn''t know what she was doing but she identally pushed the button for the highest level. His eyes nearly popped out of his head.

    "You''re not going to hit a single move on that! This game is really hard; I''ve barely moved up from beginner to basic and still rarely score higher than a C," he warned her.

    Jocelyn didn''t care about that. She was doing this for the experience not the points since tickets didn''t count. But one the music started she didn''t see what he had been so worried about.. She didn''t miss any moves.

 Chapter 114 - This Seemed Awfully Familiar

    This dance game required no more concentration than a challenging fight did. Jocelyn was rather enjoying herself. She didn''t expect the apuse when the song ended though. She hadn''t even realized a crowd had formed around the machine. She had been too focused on what she was doing.

    "That was amazing!"

    "I''ve never seen anyone do that well in DDR!"

    "How many years have you been practicing this? I can''t even imagine how many quarters you must have used to get to that level."

    Jocelyn didn''t know how to say this was her first time ever doing it. She simply said thank you and turned to Keith. "Do you want to pick the next song?"

    He was gaping at her too. But rather than saying anything he mped his mouth shut and nodded before choosing something. She did just as well on the second and third songs and the crowd only got bigger by the time they finished their set.

    She was a bit overwhelmed. She didn''t think she had ever been this popr. Maybe at the beginning of her hero career before her developed a reputation for being standoffish. That had been a very long time ago.

    Keith somehow seemed to sense this and protectively put an arm around her shoulders before steering her through the crowd toward the prize area. Nobody bothered her that way. He didn''t give them a single opening to with how quickly he moved. She was both impressed and grateful.

    "Thank you. I wasn''t expecting that kind of a reaction from total strangers," Jocelyn said.

    "Well, I can''t me them. That was one of the craziest things I''ve ever seen and I''ve seen a lot of crazy things. Are you a dancer or something?" he asked in disbelief as he removed his arm.

    "Or something."

    When Jocelyn was in college one of her roommates introduced her to the school gym''s recreation sses. She learned kick-boxing, weight training, dance, and more through it that helped her refine her technique as a hero. When she first started out she wasn''t able to do hand-to-handbat and simply sted people with ice when they weren''t expecting it.

    Keith shook his head in disbelief but let it go. "Let''s see how many tickets we have."

    They went to one of the ticket counting machines and she made sure to dig all of hers out of her purse and pockets since they were sort of overflowing. Her grand total was 2,173 tickets.

    Her friend''s eyes widened but he said nothing as he put his own tickets into the machine. He had 349.

    "¡­it''s because you kept winning all of those jackpots."

    Jocelyn nodded. "I know. Let''s see what they have avable in the prize area."

    They had walked past it several times but she had never gotten a good look until now. She had enough tickets that she might actually be able to get something decent but she wouldn''t know for sure until she checked.

    She scanned a wide variety ofpletely random items before seeing something she knew her young clients would love. A back of the door basketball hoop with a squishy ball. The problem was that she didn''t have enough tickets. She frowned as she continued looking but couldn''t find anything else that looked useful.

    "Found anything you want yet?" Keith asked as he approached after walking around for a while.

    Jocelyn sighed. "I''m three hundred twenty-seven tickets short."

    "Here, take mine."

    "What? No! You earned those."

    "I insist. I saw you eying that basketball hoop earlier. You''re getting it for your kids, right?"

    She raised an eyebrow. "My kids?"

    "The ones you give therapy to. You mentioned before how you have a lot of games in your office," Keith exined. "Or is it for you?"

    "No, it''s definitely for them. But are you sure? There wasn''t anything you wanted to get?"

    "With this amount of tickets I can''t get much more than candy or tiny toys. I can still get myself a couple of Tootsie Rolls or something with whatever''s left if you get it. Ie here for the games not the prizes."

    "Alright. Thanks."

    Jocelyn walked away hugging the basketball hoop box to her chest while Keith popped both Tootsie Rolls into his mouth at once. That had been fun. She was d she came out with him today to experience something new. She had liked a lot of those games.

    When they made it outside he looked at her expectantly with his hands in his jacket pockets. "So. How would you rate your first ever arcade experience overall?"

    "I would give it 4.5 out of 5 stars. I wasn''t very good at some of the games but it was still fun. The one downside was the ticket system. It seemed inefficient to have people carry them around everywhere."

    Keithughed. "They''re old school. Most ces have upgraded to game cards that have points instead of quarters and keep track of how many tickets you have these days. They keep things the way they do for nostalgia purposes.

    "Before everything gotputerized all arcades were set up like that. This ce is a relic. The only thing that''s changed since I was a kid is some of the games. Others are still here like Pac-Man and Skee Ball. It''s nice to know that some things withstand the test of time."

    "You must have gone to the arcade a lot. You were very good at what you yed," Jocelyn told him.

    "Only the stuff that doesn''t get you a lot of tickets. Though, to be fair, I was only working with ten bucks. The more money you spend on games the more tickets you earn. To win stuff that''s 10,000+ tickets you probably have to spend more than a hundred dors. You''d be better off just going to the store or getting the thing online.

    "And I did go to the arcade a lot. It was where my friends and I hung out after school most of the time. I blew pretty much all of my allowance there stupidly trying to save up for things that cost a ridiculous amount of tickets," Keith said sheepishly.

    Jocelyn cracked a smile. "So you''re speaking from experience."

    "Yep. A hard learned lesson that took about six months'' worth of wasted allowance when I was twelve. So clearly you didn''t spend time in the arcade as a kid since this was your first time. What did you do instead?"

    Things that would keep her mind stimted but also keep her as quiet and unobtrusive as possible so she didn''t incur her parents'' wrath. When she was twelve she had primarily focused on creating Sudoku puzzles. Or was it crosswords? It might have been both that year.

    "Crosswords and Sudoku puzzles. After a while I got so good at them I started making my own. I spent countless hours on it," Jocelyn said with a shrug.

    Keith let out a smallugh. "So you''ve always been smart then."

    "I wouldn''t call myself smart."

    "You have a PhD and made puzzles for fun as a kid! By what definition are you not smart?"

    "I only have a master''s degree."

    "Only," Keith scoffed.

    Jocelyn shrugged. "It''s a year shorter and the requirements are different. I got a master''s in marriage and family therapy rather than a PhD in clinical psychology. There''s a difference."

    "If you say so. I still say you''re probably tied for the smartest person I know."

    "With whom?"

    She hadn''t meant to let that slip out but she was curious. He had previously said he didn''t have any other friends so she wasn''t sure who there was for her to be tied with. A family member, maybe?

    "Uh¡­she''s a colleague of mine. Brilliant. Quick on her feet. Gave me really great career advice the other day about ying to my strengths. Actually, I''ve decided to go with one of her suggestions because I think it would suit me and eventually work with the parameters you told me about."

    Jocelyn hadn''t realized he had gone to multiple people about this. Suddenly, she felt less special. Which was stupid because she knew she wasn''t special to him in the first ce.

    She wasn''t special to anyone and it didn''t matter. She had known that all her life so why did hearing this have to make her chest feel tight?

    "Really? What did you decide on?"

    "I''m going to try and be a firefighter. They have good benefits and once you''ve worked there a while the pay is good too," Keith said with a shrug. "It was the only option I looked into that seemed to fit.

    "I tried looking up any old job that made money over the minimum you figured out but I wasn''t feeling it, which was why I asked her what I was good at. She told me I should think about what I thought I was good at and that''s how I came to the conclusion that I should be a firefighter after looking into it more."

    Jocelyn''s heart nearly stopped. Hang on. This seemed awfully familiar.

    Hadn''t she had a conversation just like that with Delta when they kind of got into their fight? She had suggested a firefighter as one of the possibilities too because he said all he was good at was being a hero.

 Chapter 115 - More Questions Than Answers

    No. It couldn''t be!

    Jocelyn tried to think back on everything she knew about both Keith and Delta. He changed jobs frequently, was a busy person, and was looking into settling down into a career.

    Delta was thinking about retiring and trying to n for it. He mentioned he changed jobs a lot too and had a conversation with her that was almost identical to what Keith was telling her right now.

    But the two of them had so little inmon! All she could think of was blue eyes and the fact that they both teased her aside from the oddness surrounding their very simr career issues happening at the same time.

    Keith was way goofier¡­though hadn''t Delta said something about how he was more serious as a hero than he was normally? Their voices weren''t exactly the same either. Keith''s was animated where Delta''s was tter (though not as t as hers) but that might be a situational issue.

    A firefighter. That would be the perfect career for someone with water powers. But hadn''t Delta dismissed that as a joke at first? Why would he change his mind about that? Though he did say that he had ended up taking her advice when he apologized to her.

    Jocelyn narrowed her eyes at Keith. He was about the same height as Delta. Four or five inches taller than her when she wasn''t wearing heels.

    It was hard to tell much more than that simply by looking at him because of the nature of Delta''s costume. It covered almost his entire face. Was she overthinking things or had she identally figured out another colleague''s secret identity?

    Mercury had been bad enough! Knowing who Delta was would be so much worse because of how often she saw him. She hadn''t seen Mercury in person since the day he needed her help rescuing his wife.

    And worse¡­worse¡­if Delta was Keith that meant the two people she interacted with the most were the same person! How was she supposed to deal with that when she couldn''t tell him what she knew in either context? Especially since they had started seeing each other more often.

    Jocelyn didn''t want to ruin their friendship. Not when it was the only one she had.

    But how was she supposed to handle having not only her own secret identity but his hanging over her head? What could she even do about that?

    "Joss?" Keith asked in concern. "Are you alright?"

    "I''m fine! Sorry. I think that would be a great option for you. I just spaced out for a second there," Jocelyn lied.

    She hated lying. Unfortunately, the truth didn''t seem to be an option right now. She didn''t want him to freak out on her. If someone figured out her secret identity she would be upset. So why wouldn''t he be?

    She couldn''t do anything to upset him. She wasn''t 100% positive anyway. This was all spection. It could be a coincidence. But her track record made it hard for her to think that way. She had guessed that Mercury and Nox were romantically involved and she had been right.

    Keith smiled at her, utterly unsuspicious. "No worries. I''m d you think so. I need to start studying for exams but everyone needs to take time to have fun now and then. We should do something like this again next week. Do weeknights work better?"

    "Yes," Jocelyn said faintly.

    Right. Preparing for the future meant she would see him less as Delta. If she only saw him in one context she would be less likely to slip up, wouldn''t she?

    This would be fine. She hadn''t told anyone about Mercury¡ªincluding Delta, who had brought him up the other day¡ªso if she could do that she could do this. Whatever it took to keep the one precious friendship she had.

    ===

    Keith''s outing with Joss left him with more questions than answers about his friend. He had wanted to get to know her better but had been shocked at some of the new information. Like her outstanding performance in Dance Dance Revolution without ever having yed it before.

    He wouldn''t have pegged her as the physically active type. Though finding out she made her own puzzles as a child wasn''t as surprising. That seemed like the sort of thing a smart person would do.

    She had been very strategic with the jackpot games that required you to hit a certain tiny slot. Her sense of timing was impable. She was good at a lot of games like that but not as good at things that required aiming at a target. Her newbie status definitely showed there.

    It truly was insane how good she was at most of the games she yed considering she had never been to an arcade before. He had never seen anything like it.

    Joss had a curious sense of wonder about her as they made their way through the arcade. That was the only thing that would truly give her away as never having been there before. It was somehow detached though.

    Keith had noticed she didn''t seem disappointed when she failed or pleased when she seeded. She sort of just did her thing in a matter-of-fact way as if it didn''t matter one way or the other.

    He definitely got the impression she was enjoying herself though. He couldn''t quite say how he knew since she didn''t get excited or anything. He just did.

    Sheughed and smiled like anyone else (though she had been slow to warm up to him in the beginning) but she wasn''t overly enthusiastic. That wasn''t how she operated. Honestly, he had no idea what was going on inside that woman''s head.

    Despite her nonchnce about winning or losing games she had still wanted to get something for the kids she worked with. She could have gotten something for herself but the thought didn''t seem to have even crossed her mind. He knew she was a caring person so it made sense.

    Joss had shared food with him before when he mentioned he was hungry but she never specifically went out of her way to get him something before today. The sandwich had been unexpected.

    When was thest time somebody did something for him simply because they thought it would help him out? Aside from her, that is.

    Keith supposed there was also Frostine with the kettle corn but that was incidental. She happened to run into him when she had way too much to finish off herself and they ate together often so it wasn''t that unexpected.

    That wasn''t the same. Joss had purposely gone out of her way to get him food because she thought he needed it. That sort of consideration was foreign to him. She was looking out for him because she wanted to. Had anyone else ever done that? He honestly couldn''t remember.

    She was as kind as she was confusing. He wanted to know more. He wanted to know everything.

    Keith wanted to get closer to Joss. He knew it wasn''t realistic while he was still traipsing around as Delta but he was allowed to do some things for himself, wasn''t he? Like Frostine said, they were all so receable. If he wasn''t there someone else would take his ce.

    He needed people to like him in order to be satisfied but it was different with a carefully crafted public persona than it was with being himself. Thetter was more meaningful somehow.

    Maybe he didn''t need to be adored by the masses if there was one person who genuinely wanted him around and cared what happened to him. It would be quite a shift in his usual thinking but he would have to get used to that sort of thing if he was going to retire.

    Retirement loomed over him. He really needed to get cracking on everything he had to do for that.

    Keith had already looked into the study materials for the firefighter exams and how to join up with a volunteer fire department. His application was in and he was waiting to hear back. If they epted him, he had an awful lot of training to do so he probably wouldn''t be able to do much hero work.

    After that he would need tomit to certain volunteer shifts, which would also cut into his hero work. He had decided he wouldn''t take the firefighter exam until he had done all of his volunteer firefighter training and had been a part of a volunteer fire department for a few months so his application looked better. Whatever it took to increase his chances.

    He was determined to make this work no matter how long it took. He needed to n for his future.

    Twenty-five wasn''t toote for that. Joss said that people in their fifties changed careers all the time. It wasn''t toote for him to buckle down and get serious instead of skating (or in his case he should say rollerding) by.

    He would still be helping people but he would be helping himself too. There was nothing wrong with that. Goodness knows no one else was doing it.

    No, that wasn''t true anymore. Joss was.. And he appreciated that more than he could say.

 Chapter 116 - Not Someone I Want To Cross

    The next day Keith headed over to Joss''s office as usual but she wasn''t waiting for him in the lobby. Someone else whose face he recognized that he didn''t know by name was. A middle-aged ck woman who also worked there.

    She smiled at him, knowing exactly who he was looking for. "Jocelyn just went to the bathroom. She''ll be back in a few minutes. Do you want me to sign for her?"

    "No, I''ll wait. Thanks."

    "Suit yourself. Did you two have fun at the arcade yesterday?"

    Keith was startled. "She told you about that?"

    The woman nodded. "Mmhmm. I saw her putting up that basketball hoop on the back of her door this morning and asked her about it. She said she got it at an arcade she went to with her friend Keith. I''ve seen your nametag so I asked if it was you and she said yes. I didn''t realize you two had progressed from flirting to seeing each other outside of the office. Good for you!"

    Now he was even more taken aback. Flirting?! He hadn''t been flirting with Joss! He was being friendly!

    "We do not FLIRT," he said, affronted.

    The woman eyed him doubtfully. "And the arcade wasn''t a date?"

    "No! We were just having fun! I wouldn''t¡ªI couldn''t¡ªshe''s my friend. That''s all. Joss is great but it isn''t like that."

    "You''re telling me thating here every single day despite working at different restaurants, giving that overly serious girl a nickname, making herugh when no one else can, and seeing her alone outside of work isn''t flirting?"

    It sounded bad when she put it like that. But hang on¡­ Making herugh when no one else can? Overly serious? That didn''t sound like Joss.

    Keith was embarrassed at being called out but also at the realization that people in this office had been watching their pattern all this time and making assumptions. It really wasn''t like that!

    He didn''t get the chance to defend himself further because Joss came back in the door leading to the lobby. Her smile was sunnier than usual and it made his heart skip a beat. Probably because he was already feeling weird. That had to be it.

    "Hi, Keith! I got the basketball hoop up and one of my clients this morning had a shoot off with me. Thanks again for giving me the extra tickets I needed to get it."

    The woman gave him a smug, knowing look before heading back into her office and he felt his face heat. He hadn''t had any ulterior motives! There wasn''t anything he particrly cared about getting from the prize area and she had really wanted that basketball hoop. It was the nice thing to do, especially since she had brought him dinner earlier.

    "No problem," he managed to get out, his throat feeling oddly tight.

    Keith handed over her food and got her to sign the pad as usual but he felt off after that woman used him of flirting with Joss. It had nothing to do with flirting. It was simply two friendless, busy people establishing a routine that the other happened to be involved in. That was all.

    "You okay?" Joss asked, tilting her head in concern.

    Her hair moved and she went to push it out of her face. He didn''t know why but for some reason that verymon motion drew attention to her face in a way in normally didn''t.

    She was actually very pretty, wasn''t she? He had never noticed that before. Why hadn''t he noticed that before?!

    "I''m fine," Keith insisted, pasting on a smile to cover his suddenly racing heart. "I''m d you were able to have fun with the basketball hoop."

    "I did. Where should we go next time?"

    Next time. He hadn''t even thought of a next time yet! Though they had established yesterday that they wanted to do this again on another weeknight. To get to know her better he would have to see her in a variety of contexts. He would have to think about it.

    "I haven''t figured that out yet but I''ll let you know. Unless there''s somewhere specific you want to go?" Keith asked.

    Joss shook her head. "I''m cool with anything. I''m sure you have more ideas than I do."

    "Alright. I''lle up with something good, I promise."

    She smiled at him again. "I''m sure you will. I look forward to it. Yesterday was a lot of fun."

    Yesterday was a lot of fun for him too. He liked seeing Joss outside of the office. He was able to see sides of her he never would have otherwise that way even if they were somewhat shocking.

    "It was," Keith agreed softly. "Anyway, I should get going. See you tomorrow."

    He hurried out of there as fast as he could without seeming like he was hurrying because he was slightly panicked. How many times had she smiled at him and he had been fine? He was only thinking weird things because of what that coworker of Joss''s had said.

    She didn''t know what she was talking about. She hadn''t seen all that much of their interactions. Most of the time she stayed in her office. She was generalizing!

    Joss was just his friend. He had never once thought about getting romantically involved with anyone. Things never went well for his roommates in that department and he didn''t have the time.

    That might be changing slightly soon but still. Having a girlfriend seemed like a lot of work too. Keeping someone else happy and liking him wasn''t exactly his strong suit. He had been rejected so many times and put on so many masks to prevent it from happening again.

    Keith had been his most authentic self around Joss but he still hadn''t been around her very often. She could easily get sick of him like everyone else.

    He wouldn''t be able to bear that even as a friend so how could he risk it further by going into girlfriend territory? He wouldn''t be able to tell her about being Delta either and that could get tricky.

    He couldn''t think about dating period until he had officially retired. Not that he was sure he would even want to. For rtionships to work out people had to be authentic with each other and he and authenticity didn''t exactly mix.

    Besides, Joss didn''t even like him like that! They were friends. She said so herself.

    Though it was strange that the woman who gave him a hard time earlier said he was the only one who could make Jossugh. That couldn''t possibly be true!

    She might be the type to separate work and fun. Hadn''t he already thought that about her? Just because she didn''tugh in such a serious work environment or interact with her coworkers enough for that to happen didn''t mean she didn''tugh with anyone else.

    Why was Keith even thinking about this? He couldn''t afford to ruin things with Joss by getting any weird ideas in his head.

    She was his friend. His best and only. It didn''t matter what anyone else thought or how pretty she was. He couldn''t mess with that. He absolutely was not allowed to mess with that when she was the first person to ept his silliness.

    He had a hard time concentrating on his work after that. And his hero work. He nearly got crushed by a car a viin threw before Red Dynamo caught it and yelled out to him.

    "Delta! Are you trying to be a soggy pancake?"

    Haha. Soggy pancake. Because he would have been ttened and he had water powers. Very funny.

    "Sorry. I have a lot on my mind," he said apologetically. "I''ll get my head in the game."

    "You better! If you don''t you''re going to get yourself killed and I don''t want to have to deal with Frostine nagging me about it forever. If you die on my watch that''s going to automatically make it my fault and she is NOT someone I want to cross."

    Keith considered this. He had only been on the receiving end of Frostine''s ire once and it was not an experience he ever wanted to repeat. He could understand Red Dynamo''s concern.

    Would she really care that much if he died though? She was the one who said they were all receable. She could probably find someone else to patrol with. She had been surprised when she asked him if he missed her. That had to mean she hadn''t missed him when they weren''t speaking.

    They teamed up a lot as a matter of convenience. They weren''t friends though they had been friendlier with each other since making up than they had been the whole four years they had known each before that.

    No, Frostine wouldn''t miss him too much. Red Dynamo was exaggerating but he did need to focus.. He didn''t want to die before making anything of himself in his secret identity.

 Chapter 117 - You Kidding?

    "Do you really think she would care?" Keith couldn''t help but ask.

    Red Dynamo looked at him like he was crazy as he gingerly set the car down. "You kidding? You''re the only one of us she actually likes."

    He didn''t say anything more because he got back to fighting the viin capable of transforming into a giant monster. He had super strength so he was the best man for the job but Keith could provide backup.

    With enough force water was able to cut through steel. He was able to use his powers as on offensive weapon when the situation called for it. Right now the situation definitely called for it!

    He used des of water to slice the viin up pretty good. He howled in pain and that gave Red Dynamo the opportunity he needed to make the final blow.

    The viin untransformed and was cuffed and led away in the back of a police car not long after, leaving Red Dynamo and Keith standing there alone. He couldn''t help but go back to that earlierment now that the fight was over.

    "Do you really think she likes me?"

    The other hero gave him the same look as before. "Delta. I''ve known Frostine since she was a rookie hero. She NEVER worked with anyone on a consistent basis before you came along. She prefers doing things on her own. Or she did, anyway.

    "Besides, I ran into her the other day and made a joke about where you were and she very coldly told me she wasn''t your keeper. Seemed like I hit a nerve. Did you two get into a fight or something? Because I''ve seen a lot of ice from that woman but never to that extent. It was scary."

    Keith''s guilt about the incident resurfaced. "¡­yeah but we settled things."

    "There you go. She wouldn''t care about whatever stupid thing you did if she didn''t like you."

    "Why do you assume I''m the reason we fought?!"

    "Weren''t you?" Red Dynamo asked with a severely skeptical expression on what was visible of his face.

    "¡­yes, but there''s no reason to jump to conclusions."

    "Yeah, there is! Frostine''s so chill she would never start something. She''s more ice statue than person. I''m amazed you managed to piss her off at all. You must have some sort of special ability."

    Keith scowled at him. "I do not! And she isn''t made of ice. She''s a person with feelings like anyone else."

    He used to think like Red Dynamo until recently. Her snapping at him that she wasn''t made of ice had been what kickstarted it but observing her behavior more helped him realize that too. Anyone who got that much enjoyment out of macaroni in a cone was 100% flesh and blood.

    "If you say she has feelings why are you so shocked she likes you?" Red Dynamo asked with a raised eyebrow. "Don''t tell me you''re actually INTERESTED in the ice queen?!"

    "No way! I''m interested in someone else!"

    Keith internally cursed himself. He had been trying to convince himself he didn''t like Joss¡ªit nearly got him hit by a car¡ªand he had to go and blurt it to someone else anyway. He was an idiot.

    "Oho! Are you having girl troubles? Is that why you nearly became roadkill?" Red Dynamo asked eagerly.

    He was really tempted to throttle the guy but he didn''t see the point in lying. Who was Red Dynamo going to tell? Another hero knowing he had someone he liked didn''t narrow things down at all. It wouldn''t give him away.

    "Yes, are you happy?"

    "Very! It''s nice to know you''re actually human. Sometimes I wonder because everyone in our line of work seems so perfect all the time. But seriously, you need to be more careful. Space out about your girlfriend on your own time."

    "Noted," Keith muttered. "But she isn''t my girlfriend. She''s my friend. I don''t want to screw things up with her so I can''t even think like that. I''m only distracted because earlier someone suggested we''ve been flirting all this time and it made me realize that I might like her more than I thought I did."

    "Have you been?"

    "No. We''ve been talking. Laughing. Joking around. Well, I joke around and she teases me back in a sort of fondly exasperated manner."

    Red Dynamo shook his head despairingly. "Delta, that''s definitely flirting."

    "But I don''t think she actually likes me!"

    "You didn''t think Frostine liked you either. Your radar for things like that sucks."

    Keith groaned. "What am I supposed to do? I can''t unhear what I heard earlier and now I can''t stop thinking about it."

    "You could always ask her out. It''s hard to juggle rtionships and this job but it''s doable. I have a girlfriend," Red Dynamo said with a shrug. "Granted, she works nights so she doesn''t notice how often I''m gone, but that''s part of what makes our rtionship work."

    "I can''t afford to lose her if things go south though."

    "That''s just fear talking. You never know if you don''t try. Feel her out. See if she might like you back before doing anything if you must but don''t just sit on your feelings indefinitely."

    "¡­why are you giving me rtionship advice? Don''t you have anything better to do?" Keith muttered, red-faced.

    Red Dynamo grinned at him. "What''s better than helping the younger generation find their way? Hang in there, Delta. I''m sure you''ll figure it out."

    "Yeah. Sure. I''m going to go look for something to do."

    "Good luck!"

    Keith waspletely mortified and not only because of Red Dynamo''s teasing. There was no denying it now, was there? He liked Joss. He just hadn''t recognized the desire to get to know her better and being happier when he saw her for what it was because he had never contemted getting romantically involved with anyone.

    Things would be different soon. He wouldn''t be a hero anymore. He would be allowed to do things like that¡­but that didn''t make it a good idea.

    He needed to get his head in the game before he got hurt but didn''t know if that was possible at this point. Maybe he should just go home and try to sleep it off. That might be his best option.

    That was exactly what Keith did but he couldn''t sleep. His head was full of Joss and all of the things that could go wrong if he tried to be more than friends. They had barely be more than work friends! How could he think of pushing things further?

    He didn''t want to go backward though. He wanted to see her more often. He wanted to understand her better. He wanted¡­more.

    How much more was the problem. He shouldn''t get greedy, especially without knowing what her thoughts were on the matter. Red Dynamo suggested feeling her out but how was he supposed to do that?

    Subtlety had never exactly been his strong suit. Besides, Joss was sharp. She was a therapist for crying out loud! Her job was analyzing human behavior! She would see through him in a second and everything would be ruined.

    Keith wasn''t even sure if these feelings were romantic or if he was just lonely and she was the first person who had been sincerely nice to him in longer than he could remember. He found her fascinating and fun to be around but was that enough? Friends worked like that too as far as he knew.

    He really didn''t have much experience with real friendship since all of his had been so superficial. He hadn''t hung out with anyone outside of work since graduating frommunity college and bing Delta except for her.

    Did he like her or did he LIKE her? It all seemed so junior high but he was inexperienced when it came to matters of the heart.

    Sure, Keith had crushes when he was in school but they never went anywhere. Girls thought he was funny the way people think a clown is. No one would want to date a clown.

    So why would Joss? Someone as smart as her who had her life together more than he ever could¡­why would she be interested in him? Honestly, it didn''t even make sense that she wanted to be his friend.

    But she did. For some reason she liked being around him. How was he supposed to resist that? She was the only one who did aside from Frostine but that was only ording to Red Dynamo. His words needed to be taken with a grain of salt.

    Finding that out about his stoic colleague had been surprising. He hadn''t thought she was the fiercely independent type because of how often they teamed up but had to admit he didn''t know much if anything about how she was before they met. She had been a hero a lot longer than he had. And here he was retiring first.

    Would Frostine really miss him when that happened? She couldn''t possibly. She would be fine on her own.. She didn''t really need him anyway.

 Chapter 118 - Too Smart For Your Own Good

    Jocelyn was going slightly crazy trying to convince herself that Keith and Delta were not the same person. She tried to dismiss it but it was difficult to ignore the evidence in front of her.

    Her hunches were rarely wrong. Too many coincidences had stacked up here.

    But what could she do? She couldn''t ask and have her suspicions confirmed. She was just going to have to deal with this and that was all there was to it. She would have to keep treating them as though they were two separate people because, for all she knew, they were.

    She managed to hold it together pretty well the next time she saw Keith but something was definitely going on with him. She had never seen him look so embarrassed. Had Marche said something to him while she was in the bathroom? But what could she have possibly said to leave him like that?

    No. That couldn''t be it. There had to be something else going on.

    Something seemed off about him the next day at lunch too but it wasn''t quite as obvious as it had been the day before. Whatever was going on, he didn''t seem willing to talk about it and it wasn''t her ce to pry.

    So Jocelyn kept her mouth shut and acted like everything was normal. She wished he would confide in her though. Maybe she could help.

    It was strange seeing him be less self-confident. He was normally so over-the-top. But no one could be confident all the time. She couldn''t help but wonder if his goofiness was some sort of defense mechanism or if he was truly as easy-going as he appeared.

    Maybe he was stressed about his firefighter exams or applications. But wouldn''t he tell her about something like that since he already came to her about career advice before?

    Keith''s unusual behavior and wondering if he was truly Delta left her feeling unsettled. That only intensified when she ran into Deltater that night. She needed to act normal. As if she didn''t have any suspicions about his identity whatsoever.

    "Have you eaten yet?" Jocelyn asked as a somewhatme icebreaker.

    He shook his head. "No. You?"

    "No. I was about to go get a hot dog or something. Shall we?"

    "Sure."

    They headed to the nearest hot dog stand and got their food before finding a nice rooftop to eat on where they wouldn''t be disturbed. Jocelyn was careful not to get any ketchup on her face and ate slowly because she didn''t have much of an appetite though she knew she needed to eat.

    She couldn''t be hungry when she was this worried. When was thest time something stressed her out this much? Was it when she was trying to find an internship in grad school in the middle of midterms?

    She didn''t end up having to say anything because Delta spoke up first somewhat hesitantly. "Hey, Frostine¡­you''re smart."

    "I am?"

    Jocelyn suddenly recalled that Keith had said she was probably tied for the smartest person he knew with a coworker of his who was supposedly brilliant and had helped him with career advice as well. It would be too ironic if he was talking about her both times!

    Ironic yet oddly touching. She didn''t getpliments often. And the fact that he potentially thought she was the smartest person he knew as two different people added to that unfamiliar warm, fuzzy feeling.

    "Yeah," Delta coughed out, a bit embarrassed. "One of the smartest people I know, actually. So I was wondering¡­do you have any experience with liking someone you aren''t supposed to like? Because someone I know is in that situation right now and having a hard time."

    Jocelyn blinked at him. This sounded a lot like Mercury and Nox''s situation.

    "Not personally but I have a friend who had that problem."

    "What happened with them?"

    "They got married and have a daughter. I don''t know any of the details but I suppose they were able to work out the issues of why they weren''t supposed to like each other and made it work anyway."

    "For real?! Do you at least know why they weren''t supposed to like each other in the first ce?" Delta asked in disbelief.

    Jocelyn didn''t want to give away her old colleague''s secret, especially because Mercury was a mutual acquaintance. If she said it was because they were nemeses that would indicate that at least one of them was a hero and Delta knew he had retired to get married.

    "Yes, but it''s not my secret to tell," she said apologetically. "It was a pretty solid reason though. Originally, the husband didn''t like her at all because of it. But they must havee to some sort of understanding."

    Delta squinted at her. "Not your secret to tell? What does it matter? It''s not like I know these people. Hang on¡­do I know these people?"

    Jocelyn didn''t say anything but he took her silence as a yes. "No way! Who is it? If it''s someone we both know it has to be a hero! Or¡­a former hero. You''re talking about Mercury, aren''t you?! I knew there was something fishy about the guy who saved him!

    "Don''t tell me¡ªthat guy was actually a viin and a girl. This ispletely insane! How did you even find out about that? I seriously doubt he would tell you something like that. And he seemed so happy to be getting married too!"

    Jocelyn let out a heavy sigh. Delta wasn''t stupid. She shouldn''t have said anything. But she had absolutely no intention of mentioning she knew Mercury''s secret identity. She would only tell what she had been involved in as Frostine, not what she found outter as Jocelyn Normandy the therapist.

    "Do you remember when Nn Hunsacher got arrested?" she asked.

    Delta looked at her in surprise. "Yeah. It was huge news because of how rich he was. Why do you ask?"

    "You remember he got nailed for murder among other things, right? One of the people he had killed was a nanotechnologist who worked for him. A nanotechnologist who knew what he was up to and wanted to stop him by any means necessary.

    "When he was killed for his efforts he passed on a super suit powered by nanobots to his daughter. She took his ce as an antihero known as Nox whose mission was solely to take Hunsacher down.

    "Nox was Mercury''s nemesis. I don''t know exactly what happened there but I do know that he asked me about her once back when he thought she was a man. He told me about a viin he knew who wasn''t like the others because he never purposely hurt anybody, worked from the shadows, and stole insulin.

    "I thought that sounded more like an antihero¡ªa Robin Hood¡ªthan a viin and told him so. I thought that was the end of it until I saw what happened to him when he was stabbed by Circus Freak. Someone fitting the description of the viin he described before saved him.

    "I thought he was dead for a while. Then you passed on his message that I was right. I knew what he meant immediately. He had to havee to some sort of ord with Nox. Again, I thought that would be the end of it, but that night Mercury randomly kidnapped me was because he needed help saving Nox''s life.

    "It seemed that he felt like he owed it to his former nemesis because she had saved him before. A reluctant life for a life. But then I got there, found out she was a woman who knew his secret identity, and watched the two of them bicker.

    "It hit me that Nox had to be in love with Mercury. She saved his life because she knew who he was and wasn''t willing to let him die even if it did ruin her own ns. That made me think that she was who he had retired to marry but that he didn''t know who she was at that point.

    "He must have figured it out sooner orter but I can''t go into how I know some of this because it has to do with my secret identity. I was only able to put it all together in the end because of someone I know outside of the mask who knows them," Jocelyn finished wearily.

    Delta''s eyes nearly popped out of his head. "You know who Mercury is?!"

    "Believe me, I didn''t ask for it. But yes. I know who Mercury is. And I can''t tell you anything else about him because he doesn''t know I know."

    "I can''t believe you figured it out! Your deductive reasoning skills are off the charts. That''spletely insane."

    Jocelyn sighed again. "I know. I really do. Sometimes I wonder if he''s truly happy. But it''s not like I can ask him. He doesn''t know me when I''m not Frostine and I''m not about to tell him I know who he is because of something a mutual acquaintance of ours let slip. It''s a sticky situation. I did look him up on social media out of curiosity once. His wife and daughter are beautiful and they seemed happy but pictures can be deceiving."

    "Unbelievable," Delta said with a shake of his head. "You''re too smart for your own good, you know that?"

    "No one has ever told me that before."

    "Well, you are. Geez¡­liking your nemesis is so much worse than liking your best friend."

    Jocelyn tilted her head at him. "Is that the problem your friend is having? Why is that an issue? Isn''t friendship a solid foundation for a romantic rtionship?"

    "Not if you can''t afford to lose them if you screw up," Delta said with a shrug.

 Chapter 119 - I Think Im Losing My Mind

    Delta wouldn''t meet Jocelyn''s eyes, which was suspicious. She was beginning to think that his friend was purely hypothetical and that he was talking about himself. It was one of the oldest tricks in the book.

    Hang on¡­if Delta was Keith¡­she was Keith''s best friend! Only friend but it was basically the same thing.

    Did he seriously like her?! Why? What goodness could he have possibly seen in her to inspire that? Was that why he wanted to spend more time with hertely outside of their usual schedule at work? Was it why he had been acting so strangely the past couple of days after they went to the arcade? Had he thought of that as a date?

    Jocelyn was bursting with questions she wasn''t allowed to ask. She had to force herself to stay calm the way she had a million times when dealing with shocking things people told her at work.

    "Why can''t you afford to lose them?" she asked in her usual tone with great effort.

    Delta sighed. "Because she''s the only one who has ever epted how much of a dork I am. She knows I''m just a dumb goofball and still cares about me. I can''t remember thest time someone did that.

    "So it doesn''t matter how beautiful, funny, smart, or kind she is. I''m not allowed to like her because if I screw things up like I tend to do with people she''ll be out of my life forever. I can''t risk that."

    Beautiful? Funny? Kind? Was he talking about HER?!

    "You think she''s beautiful?" Jocelyn squeaked.

    Delta nodded and leaned back on his hands, not noticing anything was off about her. "Yeah. Especially when she smiles. She has a greatugh too. The kind that makes you feel warm when you hear it. When she finds something funny she sort of just¡­lights up. It''s hard to exin.

    "It''s ttering, you know? That someone that smart and beautifulughs like that at dumb things I say. I should have known I was a goner ages ago. She''s been the highlight of my day for such a long time and I never stopped to think about why."

    Jocelyn didn''t cry. She learned early on that it was dangerous so if she was sick or hurt as a child she let the tears fall in silence until she learned to prevent them.

    Tears asionally came to her eyes from pain during viin fights but that was apletely different sensation than what she was experiencing right now. Her mask was getting wet.

    Why was she crying hearing potentialpliments about herself? She wasn''t even positive Delta was Keith! He could be talking about someone who had absolutely nothing to do with her. There was no point in getting emotional about this. But if he was talking about her¡­How was she supposed to feel about someone she cared about thinking so highly of her?

    Jocelyn had never once thought of getting romantically involved with anyone because all her parents ever did was fight when they were together. She had seen an awful lot of the ugly side of rtionships in her work too.

    She had barely been handling the idea of having a friend when she was hit not only by potentially having the burden of his secret identity on her hands but this. How was she supposed to handle this?!

    "Frostine?" Delta asked, bringing her back down to earth.

    She was still here and she needed to act like it. "Sorry. I was listening. Just trying to think of something to say."

    "Are you¡­crying?"

    Jocelyn realized with dismay that the tears hadn''t stopped. Oh dear. "I think my allergies might be acting up."

    "I didn''t know you had allergies," Deltamented with slightly narrowed eyes.

    "You don''t know everything about me."

    "Lately I''ve been thinking I don''t know you at all. You keep surprising me, Frosty, and I don''t surprise easy."

    "How exactly have I been surprising you?" Jocelyn thought it was high time to change the subject and that was the first thing she could think of to make it happen.

    "I thought I had you figured out but now I realize I don''t. I don''t know a thing about you. None of us know a thing about any of us. We see each other almost every day and I only recently found out your favorite food is macaroni. That''s so basic!" Delta said with a disbelieving shake of his head.

    "Why would something like that matter? We don''t need to know things like that about each other in order to do our jobs. If anything I think it''s more distracting."

    "Why would you¡ªoh. You''re talking about knowing Mercury''s secret identity, aren''t you?"

    "Yes. I neither needed nor wanted to know that but it fell into myp and there''s nothing I can do about it," Jocelyn sighed, thinking more of Delta/Keith than she was Mercury. That was far more concerning.

    "I still can''t believe he married his nemesis. Or that you found out because you know someone who knows them in your secret identity. That''s crazy," Delta said with another shake of his head. "But hey¡­does that mean you don''t want to talk about what''s going on with me? If talking about private stuff bothers you¡ª"

    "It doesn''t bother me. I like to be of help where I can."

    Jocelyn meant it. She may not have wanted to know about this whole secret identity mess but she couldn''t regret helping either Mercury or Delta. She helped save her old colleague''s wife and unborn child; how could she ever regret that?

    And Delta (even without ounting for the fact that he was probably Keith) was one of the most consistent people in her life. She had wanted to help him with hisck of direction when he asked.

    Delta smiled at her indulgently. "You''re too nice for your own good, Frosty."

    "I''ve never been told that before," Jocelyn said in surprise.

    "Probably because you intimidate people. But there''s a real softy in there somewhere. It''s a privilege to be able to see that."

    She actually blushed. When was thest time she did that? She honestly couldn''t remember. Delta was saying the strangest things tonight and it was really throwing her off. They had never talked like this before.

    He noticed too. "Are you blushing?! What''s going on with you today? I''ve never seen you like this!"

    "I think I''m losing my mind," Jocelyn said honestly.

    "What''s going on? Or can you not talk about it? This is weird. Honestly, I''m getting kind of worried about you."

    She was worried about herself too. She was an imprable wall of ice ording to everyone else. So why couldn''t she stick with that the one time she truly needed to? Was this the price she was paying for getting involved with other people on more than a surface level?

    "I can''t really talk about it. Sorry."

    Delta frowned. "Is it too much of a giveaway to who you are? You can use generics like I did."

    Generics weren''t safe either! Jocelyn put things together too easily because of them. What if he could do the same thing? He would be so angry if he found out he had outed himself to her if he was Keith.

    "It is," Jocelyn hedged. "Sorry. I just have a lot on my te right now. I''ll be fine."

    "Do you at least have someone you can talk to this about in your secret identity? It isn''t good to bottle things up."

    The irony that he was telling this to a therapist was too much. She knew better than anyone that you weren''t supposed to bottle things up but who could she tell this to? Maybe she should get her own therapist. A lot of her colleagues had them to help process everything they dealt with at work.

    Due to client confidentiality they wouldn''t be able to reveal the truth about her or anyone she talked about. But did she really want anyone else to deal with the burden of the knowledge she had too?

    "No," Jocelyn admitted with a sigh.

    "That''s not good. Is there anything I can do? You''re always looking out for me, Frosty. Who looks out for you?" Delta asked.

    No one. No one had ever looked out for her. She always had to do things by herself. The closest she ever came to being able to rely on someone was knowing Delta had her back in a fight and with asionally bringing her food. That was the extent of their rtionship.

    At least as heroes. If he was who she thought he was¡­

    Jocelyn shrugged helplessly. "I don''t have anyone like that. I''ve always been on my own."

    Delta furrowed his brow before biting his lip hesitantly. "Hey¡­this is kind of random but can I hug you? Because that''s really sad."

    He wanted to hug her because he felt sorry for her? She couldn''t remember thest time she had been hugged by anyone. Not properly, anyway.. Keith putting his arm around her to shield her from the crowd didn''t count.

 Chapter 120 - More Likable Than You Think

    Jocelyn tilted her head. "You seriously want to hug me to make me feel better?"

    "Why not?" Delta asked with a shrug. "I''ve heard it works."

    "You''ve only heard it works?"

    "I don''t really have anyone to hug either, you know. Maybe it will make both of us feel better. We won''t know unless we test it."

    She cracked a smile. His tone was matter-of-fact but that was definitely the sort of thing Keith would say. Just far more dramatically. Maybe his true self was shining through or maybe she genuinely was going crazy.

    Either way, she wasn''t opposed to a hug. Especially since she knew it wasing from a ce of concern. Delta cared about her enough to want to cheer her up. No one else did so she wasn''t about to turn down a sign that he cared.

    "Your logic is solid. Go on and hug me then."

    Delta looked at her funny. "It''s kind of hard if we''re both sitting down."

    "Right. Sorry."

    "You really don''t have much experience with hugs, do you? Come on." He stood and held his arms out, waiting for her.

    He wasn''t wrong. She didn''t get hugs growing up and there was no reason for her to have themter either so she didn''t exactly know what she was doing. Seeing other people do it and doing it yourself was different. She wasn''t quite sure how close to get or where to put her arms.

    Jocelyn stepped closer to him and felt his arms go around her, wrapping hers awkwardly around his back. This felt strange. She wasn''t used to being touched. But she couldn''t deny that the pressure was somewhat reassuring.

    She suddenly felt rather overwhelmed. No one had ever hugged her when she was upset before. Why did she feel like crying again? What was wrong with her?

    If Delta was Keith that meant he cared about her in two different contexts. That really got to her. Until recently nobody had cared about her even in one. How was she supposed to feel about that? Especially if he truly did like her as a more than a friend.

    Jocelyn tightened her hold on his back as she felt the tears well up again. She didn''t want to let him see a second time.

    It was stupid that she was getting emotional. Stupid and unlike her. No one would use her of being an ice queen right now. If anyone else saw her like this they would probablyugh.

    Delta gently rubbed her back. "It''s okay, Frosty. Whatever''s going on, you''ll figure it out. I believe in you. So believe in yourself a little too."

    She let out a strangledugh. Was it even possible to believe in herself in this situation? She had absolutely no idea what she was doing or how to proceed. She wasn''t good at things like this. Navigating rtionships outside of a professional setting was foreign to her.

    It hit her a momentter that he almost always called her Frosty. It had started about six months after they met, around the time they began working together on a somewhat regr basis.

    Keith had started calling her Joss after he ran into her at his second job since they met. If they were the same person was this a thing he did when he wasfortable with others? Keith considered her a friend. Did Delta think that way too?

    "Hey, Delta¡­do you like me?" Jocelyn asked curiously.

    Delta pulled away instantly and looked at her like she was crazy. "Did you not hear me say I liked someone else earlier?! Just because I hugged you doesn''t mean¡ª"

    "I meant do you think of me as a friend."

    "Oh. Geez, don''t give me a heart attack! I guess so, forck of a better term. We have each other''s backs. That''s sort of what friends do. We''re just¡­friends who don''t know each other all that well. Work friends."

    Work friends. Jocelyn had never had one of those before. She wouldn''t count any of her colleagues as work friends but couldn''t deny that her rtionship with Delta was different than the one she shared with her fellow therapists or heroes.

    "I see. That makes sense. But why did you react so strongly to that?"

    Delta rubbed his arm and wouldn''t look at her. "Ah, it''s something stupid Red Dynamo said the other day. I almost got smashed by a car and he said you would give him grief forever if anything happened to me on his watch because you like me best out of everyone. I guess I was worried for a second there that you asked that because you liked me. Like-liked me. I told you it was stupid. But you don''t, right?"

    Jocelyn frowned. Red Dynamo and Delta had talked about her? She couldn''t deny being curious about the rest of that conversation¡­and why Red Dynamo thought that. He wasn''t entirely wrong though.

    She did like Delta best out of all of the heroes she knew. It hadn''t started out that way. He had been an annoying rookie when they met but he quickly proved how useful he could be in a fight. He managed to save her life at one point and that was when she no longer begrudged his desire to tag along with her and learn the ropes.

    "No," she said nkly.

    Delta seemed relieved. "Oh, good. That would make things awkward since we see each other a lot. Though we''ll probably be seeing each other less once I start working towards my retirement. Do you have anyone you like?"

    Jocelyn immediately thought of Keith, Delta, and his possible confession to her. She had been overwhelmed by it and unsure what to think or feel.

    She definitely couldn''t afford to lose Keith. She didn''t want to mess it up so she had to be careful. She needed to have all of the facts before she thought of a n to move forward. That sort of strategic thinking had gotten her this far and likely wouldn''t fail her now.

    "Not really."

    "That''s a yes or no question, Frosty," Delta said with a slightugh. "Is that a ''not really'' closer to ''yes'' or ''no''?"

    "I''m honestly not sure. I have someone I can''t afford to lose as well but I''m not sure whether or not I like them. I''ve never thought about such a thing," Jocelyn admitted.

    "Yeah, neither had I until someone used me of flirting with her. Now it lives in my head rent free."

    She actually knew that meme because of a teenage girl who came to her for therapy. She was d she didn''t have to ask what that meant during a rather emotionally charged conversation.

    All of the blood in her body froze when a thought hit her. Keith started acting funny after he was alone with Marche when she was in the bathroom. Had she used him of flirting with Jocelyn? Was that why he was so embarrassed?

    Fantastic! Another coincidence. Just what she needed.

    "Have you been flirting with her?" Jocelyn asked faintly. She couldn''t recall anyone flirting with her in her entire life!

    "I didn''t think so but the person who called me out isn''t the only one who does. I like being around her¡­and I want to know more about her¡­but I know it could never go anywhere so if I was flirting it wasn''t done consciously," Delta said with a sigh.

    Her heart flipped in her chest. She liked being around Keith and wanted to know more about him. Did that mean she had been flirting back all this time? She hadn''t been thinking about their association going anywhere either.

    Jocelyn knew her reasons for not wanting to get into a rtionship. What were his?

    "Why can''t it ever go anywhere?"

    "I''m not very good at the whole ''making people like me long term'' thing. The closer I am to someone the more likely I am to screw it up," Delta told her, frustration tinting his tone.

    "You''re more likable than you think. I''ve kept working with you this long, haven''t I?" Jocelyn asked.

    "Yeah, but you also don''t know the real me. I''m a lot more annoying outside of the suit. Actually, I''ve tried to pattern my hero persona after Mercury''s. Everybody likes him. Why am I even telling you this? You have a real knack for getting people to talk, you know that?"

    "So I''ve been told."

    She immediately thought of a conversation she had with Keith about how she had a very prating gaze that could make people spill all of their secrets. It seemed that he had been right.

    "You said you''re less serious outside of the suit. I don''t think that makes you annoying at all. You don''t need to act like Mercury to be likable. You''re plenty likable on your own."

    Delta shook his head. "You don''t get it. I''m a total goofball. Nobody takes a ss clown seriously."

    A total goofball could definitely describe Keith. He really was Delta, wasn''t he?

    His tone was undeniably bitter. Did he think no one liked him because he was silly? That wasn''t true at all. Keith''s silliness was one of the main reasons she did like him.. He brought some fun andughter into her nd life.

 Chapter 121 - No Way! Really?!

    Whether he was Keith or not, Delta had hugged Jocelyn to cheer her up earlier. The least she could do was return the favor.

    She reached out and put her hand on his shoulder. "Goofballs are my favorite kind of people."

    His eyebrows nearly shot off his face. "No way! Really?!"

    "Everyone needs warmth andughter in their lives. Even someone as dull as me. In fact, I think people like me need it more than most. It helps keep me from drowning in everything else that goes on both as a hero and a civilian."

    Delta thought this over. "So that friend you mentioned before. The one that thinks you''re funny. Are they like that?"

    A soft smile appeared on Jocelyn''s face. "Yeah. They are. So don''t think badly of yourself for that, okay? You never know. You might be the light of someone''s life by being your real self."

    He looked at her as though he had never seen her before. With entirely new eyes. It seemed she had surprised him again. He did say she had been doing that a lot recently.

    "You¡­I don''t know what to say."

    "You don''t have to say anything. We have been sitting here for a while though. People probably need us. Shall we?" Jocelyn asked.

    Delta smiled warmly at her. "Yeah. Thanks, Frosty. I mean¡­thanks, Frostine."

    "You can keep calling me Frosty if you want."

    "I thought you hated it."

    "I don''t mind so much anymore. Friends call each other nicknames, don''t they?"

    Delta''s smile grew even wider. "Yeah. They do."

    ===

    Keith had so much information to process he didn''t even know where to begin with it by the time he made it home. He had work in the morning and knew he needed his rest but couldn''t sleep so hey in the dark stewing in his thoughts after he finally bid Frostine goodnight.

    He had asked for rtionship advice and gotten so much more than he bargained for in a lot of ways. Finding out that Mercury had married a viin (even if she did end up being more of an antihero) was quite possibly the most shocking thing he had ever heard. And that was really saying something considering the life he had lived!

    As if that wasn''t crazy enough, Frostine knew him. Or at least knew someone who knew him and had managed to put the pieces together.

    She had to be some sort of genius. He didn''t think he would have been able to figure something like that out based on such limited information. It was a good thing she didn''t have a grudge against Mercury or the guy would be in serious trouble.

    That was crazy enough but then Frostine started crying out of nowhere when he was talking about Joss. She imed to have allergies but he had never seen her get watery eyes before.

    Thenter, when he gave her a sort ofpliment, she blushed. He couldn''t help but ask why she was acting so weird and her response surprised him even further. She said she was losing her mind. About what, exactly? That was about as vague a statement as could be!

    Keith was legitimately worried about her, especially when she said she couldn''t talk about it with him. Or anyone else because she didn''t HAVE anyone else.

    The mighty ice statue Frostine admitted that she had never had anybody and always been on her own. That fit with what Red Dynamo said about being a loner in the early years of her hero career¡­but if she never had anyone in her secret identity either that was really sad.

    She might be more like him than he thought. He had wondered before because they both always seemed to be patrolling the city instead of having lives of their own but this essentially confirmed it.

    He felt sorry for her. He knew what that was like. And she had been crying, which was incredibly distressing to see because she was normally so emotionless.

    So he offered to give her a hug. She was kind of awkward about it, like she had never done it before, but ended up hugging him tightly after a minute. She must have really needed it. He did his best to reassure her but wasn''t sure how effective he was.

    Frostine didugh though. That had to count for something¡­but was possibly the saddestugh he ever heard. It sounded like she was crying again but he was afraid to ask if she was.

    Keith kept hugging her until she nearly gave him a heart attack by asking if he liked her. No. No way. She couldn''t possibly have been crying earlier because she was upset he liked someone else, could he? Red Dynamo did think she liked him but didn''t specify in what way!

    She couldn''t though! Why would she? They hardly knew each other despite working together for four years.

    He felt like an idiot when she rified as a friend and looked at him in confusion. A relieved idiot though. She seemed to be telling the truth, especially when she mentioned she had someone she couldn''t afford to lose even though she had never thought about whether or not she liked them.

    They had been in the same boat until that colleague of Joss''s had to go and ruin everything. He had been overthinking for days and ultimately came to the conclusion that he did like her. Which sucked because he didn''t want to ruin the one good rtionship he had.

    When Frostine asked him why his rtionship with Joss couldn''t ever go anywhere he got a lot more vulnerable than he meant to. There was something about the way she was looking at him that drew the words out.

    "I''m not very good at the whole ''making people like me long term'' thing. The closer I am to someone the more likely I am to screw it up."

    "You''re more likable than you think. I''ve kept working with you this long, haven''t I?" Frostine pointed out.

    "Yeah, but you also don''t know the real me. I''m a lot more annoying outside of the suit. Actually, I''ve tried to pattern my hero persona after Mercury''s. Everybody likes him. Why am I even telling you this? You have a real knack for getting people to talk, you know that?"

    "So I''ve been told. You said you''re less serious outside of the suit. I don''t think that makes you annoying at all. You don''t need to act like Mercury to be likable. You''re plenty likable on your own."

    That wasn''t true at all. He had to be what people wanted him to be in order to be liked. He was a chameleon. There was only one person he hadn''t had to do that with and he was terrified of losing her. Too terrified to act on his newfound feelings.

    Keith disagreed. "You don''t get it. I''m a total goofball. Nobody takes a ss clown seriously."

    Frostine nearly gave him his second heart attack of the night by pping a hand on his shoulder and looking him dead in the eye. "Goofballs are my favorite kind of people."

    She had to be kidding. Her expression was deadly serious but there was no way this overly serious woman''s favorite type of person could be so different from her. He couldn''t quite manage to rein in his shock.

    "No way! Really?!"

    "Everyone needs warmth andughter in their lives. Even someone as dull as me. In fact, I think people like me need it more than most. It helps keep me from drowning in everything else that goes on both as hero and civilian."

    That¡­made sense. Why did that make sense? He didn''t think she was nearly as dull as she imed though. Not anymore with all of the surprises she had been tossing at himtely.

    Something urred to him. Her friend. The one she brought up the first time she ever got flustered. The one whoughed at things she said or did. Were they like that? Was that why she liked them?

    "So that friend you mentioned before. The one that thinks you''re funny. Are they like that?"

    The softest expression he had ever seen from Frostine crossed her face. "Yeah. They are. So don''t think badly of yourself for that, okay? You never know. You might be the light of someone''s life by being your real self."

    The light of someone''s life? How could he ever be the light of someone''s life when his own life had been so dark? Was she saying that because her friend was the light of hers?

    Keith couldn''t think of something to say to that. His mind had gonepletely nk. "You¡­I don''t know what to say."

    "You don''t have to say anything. We have been sitting here for a while though. People probably need us. Shall we?" Frostine asked simply.

    She had said what was possibly the nicest thing anyone ever had to him so he could be generous. He corrected himself when he called her Frosty because he knew she hated it but she said he didn''t need to do that because they were friends.

    Maybe he didn''t have only one positive rtionship in his life after all. All this time he hadn''t realized he had another one.. He had two friends and pretty soon he would be leaving one of them behind so he could move on with his life. How was he supposed to feel about that?

 Chapter 122 - Yesterday Was A Fluke

    Keith eventually fell into an uneasy sleep after the information overload from talking to Frostine but he did get some excellent news when he woke up. The email he had been waiting for arrived!

    He had officially been epted as a volunteer firefighter and needed to start his training this weekend. He debated about telling Joss over text before deciding he would rather see her reaction in person. Maybe he could suggest they do something to celebrate.

    Even if he did like her, he couldn''t ruin the dynamic they had. It was normal to celebrate things with friends, wasn''t it?

    The morning seemed to drag on before he was able to tell her. He rollerded into the lobby of her office in excitement and found she was leaning against a counter looking rather pensive.

    "Joss, I did it! I got in!"

    She looked up at the sound of her name and a brilliant smile spread across her face. "That''s great, Keith! Congrattions. When do you start?"

    "Bright and early Saturday morning. They sent me an informational packet. I have a lot to do but everyone has to start somewhere, right? I''m looking forward to learning the ropes," he said happily. "This deserves a celebration and it''s no fun doing it alone. Care to join me?"

    "Absolutely! What do you want to do?"

    "Not sure yet. I''ll figure something out. My weekends will probably be even busier than before so it''ll have to be a weeknight. Is that alright?"

    "My weekends are busy too so that works great," Joss reassured him. "I''m happy for you."

    "Thanks."

    Keith could tell she was. His normally nonchnt friend was showing enthusiasm on his behalf. That was a pretty big deal. But he wasn''t allowed to read too much into it. She was just being nice. It didn''t mean she liked him.

    Even if she did like him back, what would it matter? He was in no position to get into a rtionship with someone right now. Possibly ever.

    Why was Red Dynamo''s advice about feeling her outing to mind? There wasn''t a point!

    "Anyway, here''s your food," Keith said. "I''ll text youter!"

    Jocelyn nodded with another smile. "I''ll be waiting for it. Have a good rest of your day."

    "You too!"

    How could he not have a good rest of his day when things were finally looking up for him? He was actually working toward something instead of drifting along aimlessly. Nothing could detract from that even if he was also distracted by thoughts of Joss.

    What had she been thinking about so intently before he arrived? It was like a switch had been flipped and she suddenly went from being super serious to the way she normally was around him.

    Keith was oddly reminded of Frostine. That expression was very simr to the one his often stoic work friend made.

    That wasn''t their only simrity either. They had the same coloring. Chocte brown hair and gray eyes. Joss''s hair was always down while Frostine''s was always braided back though. And Joss''s eyes were much less cold and sharp.

    He had thought his two friends werepletely different in terms of personality but he had seen a much more human side of Frostely. Especiallyst night when she proved for the second time in a few weeks that she had emotions just like anyone else.

    What was Frostine going to do without him being around as often? Would she be okay?

    Keith never thought he would worry about such a thing¡ªworry about her at all because she always seemed so capable and like she didn''t need anyone¡ªbut yesterday had changed things. She seemed to be every bit as alone as he was.

    He really hoped that her friend was able to help her out even if she couldn''t talk to them about whatever was bothering her. Everybody needed some sort of outlet, didn''t they? Even someone as generallyposed as Frostine. Maybe ack of being able to talk to anybody about what was bothering her was why she broke down yesterday.

    She bounced back quickly enough but what could have bothered her enough to make her cry? He had never seen anything like that from her in four years of working together.

    Keith sighed. This was exactly why superheroes didn''t be friends. They didn''t¡ªcouldn''t¡ªknow each other for real so getting attached only caused problems. Worrying about Frostine wouldn''t do anything for him but it wasn''t like he could stop it.

    He cared about what happened to her. He hadn''t thought he would until everything that happened recently. He never had before.

    It used to be that they met up, fought crime, asionally ate food together in between, and then went home and didn''t think of each other until they met again. He had been able topartmentalize. He saw her more often than he saw any other heroes but she was still just another one of them.

    After yesterday though¡­he couldn''t help but wonder what was going on with her. Why she didn''t have anyone she could rely on. Why couldn''t she rely on her friend? Wasn''t that the whole point of friendship?

    Keith continued wondering about this on and off all day until he saw Frostine again. She executed a beautiful aerial kick while simultaneously freezing two different targets.

    Her movements were seamless and he was as impressed as always. She truly was quite a hero.

    "Need any help?" he asked as he knocked one of the bad guys off his feet with a jet of water akin to a power wash.

    "If you could st those guys'' guns away I would appreciate it."

    "You got it!"

    They managed to round everyone up in less than fifteen minutes, collected all their guns, and froze them in ce until the police arrived to cuff them and take them to the station. All in a night''s work.

    Keith eyed Frostine critically after that. She certainly seemed to be doing fine. She was handling that group pretty well on her own before he arrived. Her focus was impable as always, as if yesterday hadn''t happened.

    Was she really okay though? Or was she just acting like it? How often had something major been going on with her that he had never known about?

    It wasn''t that Frostine didn''t have emotions. It was that she was talented at hiding them behind a nearly imprable wall of ice. He couldn''t unlearn that. Now he would always wonder if she was actually okay or felt even more alone than he did with no one to turn to.

    "Are you alright?" Keith asked.

    Something shed through Frostine''s eyes briefly but she put on a reassuring smile. "As alright as I can be. Don''t worry about me, Delta. Yesterday was a fluke."

    A fluke or a buildup that had been happening for a long time and finally spilled over? He wasn''t sure he believed her. But it wasn''t his ce to pry. She already said she couldn''t talk to him about it.

    "If you''re sure," he said hesitantly.

    Frostine''s reply was resolute. "I am. Let''s get to work. I''m sure there are more people like this lurking around somewhere."

    And there were. There always were. In a city as big as New York there would always be plenty of crazy people with an agenda running around at any given time. Slow nights weren''t really a thing when you were a hero.

    That was something he looked forward to being a firefighter. When things were slow for them they got paid to hang around waiting for a call. That sounded great!

    Every minute they took for themselves was a minute something bad was happening they couldn''t stop. But they weren''t responsible for everyone. They saved who they could and didn''t dwell on who they couldn''t. If they did they would drown.

    Doing something was better than doing nothing. Keith may not have as pure of motivations as Frostine but he had still helped a lot of people over the years. That was something worth being proud of.

    And he would be able to continue helping others while simultaneously helping himself. Really, his switched focus in life was a win-win.

    No one would truly miss Delta but Frostine. He wished there was a way they could stay in touch so they would know the other was okay but the only one he could think of was setting up anonymous email ounts and messaging each other asionally there.

    That was so dumb. Would she even go for something like that just for the sake of his peace of mind?

    Keith would have immediately thought no before but now that he knew she was more sentimental than she let on she might not shoot the idea down right off the bat. It wouldn''t hurt to ask when he got closer to officially retiring.

    He didn''t want to lose all contact with her permanently.. Once he hung up the suit forever he wouldn''t even be able to say hi if he saw her out and about because she wouldn''t know it was him.

 Chapter 123 - Yeah, Were Sort Of A Weird Case

    Keith wanted to do something for Frostine but had a hard time thinking of anything. He knew so little about her. The only solid thing he had was that macaroni was her favorite food. Maybe he could bring her some the next time he saw her. That macaroni in a cone ce was surprisingly good.

    He wasn''t able to put his n into action until the weekend after he finished his first day of volunteer firefighter training. He saw her handling a minor situation on her own and figured he would be able to get away with not helping to go get her food instead.

    The owner of the food stand seemed both surprised and pleased to see him again and when he said he was bringing some to Frostine he insisted on giving both cones away for free. All of the free food was a definite perk he would miss about being a hero.

    When Keith found her again she was in the middle of another fight. He sted the viin into a wall, effectively knocking them out, and grinned at her.

    "Special delivery for my favorite hero!"

    Frostine rewarded him with augh as she spotted the food bag in his hands. "Are you saying you like me better than yourself? You''re a hero too."

    He shrugged. "Eh, who doesn''t? Here. Eat it before it gets cold."

    She raised an eyebrow at his self-deprecation but when she opened the bag she looked rather touched. "You went out of your way to get me macaroni in a cone? That ce is pretty far from here."

    "You said macaroni was your favorite food and you seemed like you needed cheering up the other day."

    "No one has ever done anything like this for me before. Thank you!"

    No one? Seriously? Frostine had said never had anyone who had her back before but that was too sad. Most people still received random acts of kindness from others at some point in their lives.

    Her eyes were shining and she beamed at him before digging into her macaroni cone. His heart momentarily stopped. For a moment there she looked a lot like Joss.

    Stupid. Why was Keith seeing simrities everywheretely? Frostine couldn''t possibly be Joss. Why would a therapist bother bing a superhero? Wasn''t having one job dealing with helping people enough? How would she even have managed being a hero and going to college, let alone grad school, at the same time?

    He needed to snap himself out of it. Worrying about his budding feelings for Joss was hard enough without factoring anything else into the mix. Frostine was apletely different person.

    He was probably thinking like this because he missed Joss. He had only seen her for a couple of minutes today because the takeout orders at the restaurant were unusually backed up.

    That wouldn''t be a problem for much longer because the two of them were going out to celebrate on Monday. He was really looking forward to it. She always managed to surprise him when the two of them had more time together to talk.

    "You''re a good friend, Delta," Frostine said, shaking him out of his thoughts. He hadn''t realized she had finished her food. "Your best friend is very lucky to have you."

    Was she? Had Keith done anything for Joss at all? He supposed he made herugh and that wasn''t something that happened often ording to her coworker. That didn''t feel the same as all she had been doing for himtely though.

    "It would be nice if she thought so," he said more despairingly than he would have liked.

    "I''m sure she does. Come on, we should talk to the police."

    Sure enough, they had arrived. After briefly exining the situation and handing over the still unconscious viin they headed out to find something else to do.

    They worked in tandem as always but Keith was having trouble focusing. If he was going to be like this he really should go home before he almost got hit by another flying car or worse. But he only had so much time left with Frostine and didn''t want to waste any of it.

    Since when had he started thinking like that? He used to think of her as such a drag. Hardly gave her a passing thought when he wasn''t on hero duty. Too many things had been throwing him offtely.

    He needed to crack down and focus on both his hero work and his volunteer firefighter training. He found his mind wandering the next day when he was supposed to be watching a training video and had to snap himself out of it.

    His future was far more important than whatever confusion he was having revolving around the only two friends he had. He couldn''t do this. Not now!

    Keith knew this but he still struggled all the way to Monday. When he saw Joss at lunchtime she smiled warmly at him and told him she was looking forward to tonight and he nearly had a heart attack.

    Why? Why did she have to look so cute when she said that?

    He wouldn''t have described her as cute before. She was far too elegant for that. The only times he ever saw her she was wearing professional clothes and her behavior was always soposed. Beautiful was a better word to describe her but in that moment he couldn''t think of anything but cute because of how happy she looked at the thought of spending time with him.

    Keith barely made it through the rest of the day in a daze. At the end of his shift he rinsed himself off with his powers before changing out of his uniform. He was all sweaty and gross from being in the kitchen.

    He grabbed his backpack with his damp uniform in it and headed out to meet Joss at the subway station like before. She stood there looking deep in thought again¡ªamon urrencetely¡ªbefore spotting him and smiling.

    "Are you going to tell me before we get there this time or is it another surprise?"

    "I''m taking you to my favorite restaurant in all of New York City," Keith announced dramatically. "I can''t think of anywhere better to celebrate."

    "Is it a burger ce? You mentioned that was your favorite food," Joss said, surprising him.

    She had a good memory. He hadn''t expected her to figure that out.

    "Yes, but not just any burger ce. The best kept secret in Queens. I found it ages ago and have been going regrly ever since."

    "You get out to Queens often?" Joss asked curiously.

    Ah. Keith hadn''t thought about how he would exin that. Why would his favorite restaurant be out in Queens when he lived and worked in Brooklyn? He traveled all over the five boroughs on an almost daily basis as Delta but a normal person wouldn''t do that.

    "I have some business out that way. Whenever I''m in the area I have to stop there," he saidmely.

    Thankfully, she didn''t push it. "Cool."

    They headed on the train out to that tavern he liked and the owner noticed him right away when they walked in. "Keith! Good to see you. You want your usual?"

    "Yeah, but we still need a menu for my friend here."

    His eyes widened for a moment and he smiled widely in wee at Joss. "Only the best for Keith''s friend! I''ll give you two the best table in the house and get a menu to you right away. Tony!"

    One of the men behind the bar nodded at him and bent down to get a menu before gesturing for Keith and Joss to follow him. This really was the best table in the house. Normally, Keith sat at the bar because he was alone.

    "You really doe here a lot," Joss remarked as she looked around after Tony left to get them drinks.

    "Mostly they remember me because I order the same thing every time."

    That wasn''t entirely true. He ordered the same thing every time and always came in at odd hours. He was pretty sure thetter was what made him more memorable to the staff. When he was here as Delta he had an entirely different order to deflect suspicion. It was hard to pick a favorite between the two. He came in costume or out depending on what he was in the mood for.

    "I don''t go anywhere consistently enough for the staff to remember me¡­discounting you," Joss said with augh.

    Keith grinned at her. "Yeah, we''re sort of a weird case. Are you finally going to shake it up and try new restaurants again once I quit my job?"

    "Probably. I''ll never find such a great delivery man anywhere else though."

    It wasn''t really much of apliment but still warmed him from head to toe because she was the one saying it. That was how this had all started out. Ordering food from the same ce multiple times then her finding him again by chance and deciding to stick with him rather than have variety in her diet.

    That was what made them friends in the first ce.. And now¡­now as he stared at her smiling at him across the table he desperately wished they could be more.

 Chapter 124 - Just Be Yourself

    Joss was so important to Keith. He couldn''t afford to lose her but still found himself getting greedy because a few people had nted a stupid idea in his head.

    He wasn''t supposed to be thinking like this. This wasn''t a date. It was two friends celebrating an aplishment together. It could never be more than that. It really couldn''t because he screwed up every rtionship he touched.

    Honestly, it was amazing he hadn''t managed to mess this up yet. Probably because he really hadn''t spent much time with her. As she got to know him better it was highly likely she wouldn''t be a fan of what she saw.

    Keith remembered something Frostine said out of the blue. That her goofy friend was the light of her life and that he might be that for other people too.

    Was that even possible? Could someone truly value him that much?

    He knew Joss had to like him as a person and find some value in their rtionship in order to stubbornly eat at the same restaurants for so long solely to see him. But he didn''t want to get ahead of himself. That was the best way to end up disappointed.

    "You''re just saying that," Keith deflected, pretending to be embarrassed by thepliment with a wave of his hand.

    Joss shook her head. "I''m not. I''m going to miss seeing you every day when you do be a firefighter. My workdays won''t feel the same at all."

    "You could always see me outside of work every day."

    Stupid! Why had he said that out loud?! That definitely sounded like flirting. He was NOT supposed to be flirting with her. Not when he wasn''t allowed to let his feelings run free for fear of losing what they had.

    Her eyes widened. "You would want to see me that often? Really?"

    At least she didn''t seem upset. Just confused. Why would she be confused by that though? Did she not realize how much he enjoyed spending time with her?

    "Why wouldn''t I? You''re my best friend," Keith said honestly. "You aren''t the only one who''s going to miss that."

    "That''s a lot of effort to put in though."

    "No more than you have by checking out different restaurants until you found me again. Unless you don''t want to see me that often. I''d understand; wouldn''t want to get sick of me."

    "I could never get sick of you!" Joss said vehemently. "I meant that it was a lot of effort for you to put in because you''re going to be really busy. And I don''t know what firefighter schedules are like so ours might not match up so well."

    Keith blinked at her. No one had ever told him anything like that before and he didn''t know what to make of it.

    "That''s a pretty bold im to make. You underestimate my ability to annoy people."

    He said it in a joking tone but he meant it. People always found him annoying in the end unless he managed to keep up whatever persona he thought they would like best the whole time he knew them. Even that wasn''t always enough.

    Joss looked at him seriously, seeing through his attempts to use humor as a shield. Right. He momentarily forget she was a therapist. People probably did this in front of her all the time.

    "Keith. You''re the highlight of my day. You underestimate your ability to make people happy."

    Tossing his words back at him sent his jolt through him. He made her happy. Had anyone else ever told him that before?

    "I do?" Keith asked in a more vulnerable tone than he meant to.

    Joss reached out and sped his hand on top of the table as she gave him an oddly heartbreaking smile. "Yes. I would love to see you every day once you change jobs. I just don''t want to put pressure on you if that''s difficult to make work. Promise."

    "Why?"

    The word slipped out without his permission. He truly didn''t understand. Why would someone as smart and beautiful and put together as her want to see a wreck like him so often now that she knew more about his situation?

    She shrugged. "I need more fun in my life. You''re very fun."

    Was he really? That reminded him of his conversation with Frostine too. She said that everyone needed warmth andughter but people like her needed it more than most because it helped her from drowning in everything she had going on.

    She also called herself dull. He didn''t think Joss was dull at all but she did have a high-stress job. Dealing with other people''s problems all day must be hard. She probably did need a goodugh to break up all the negativity.

    Had Keith finally found someone whose personalityplemented his real one? Was that why they had gotten along so well all this time and she had put so much effort into continuing to see him whenever he switched jobs? Had the impossible finally happened?

    That made thinking of taking their rtionship to the next level even scarier. She was too important, too rare and precious to lose!

    "Honestly, it makes less sense that you want to hang out with me than that I want to hang out with you," Joss continued. "I''m about as boring as it gets."

    "I don''t think you''re boring at all!" Keith protested.

    "You would be the first."

    He frowned. Who could possibly think Joss was boring? She was slow to warm up to new people, that was all. There was nothing wrong with being shy.

    He was struggling to think of something to say when she spoke up again. "I think that''s what makes us work. We both think the best of each other. Everybody needs someone like that."

    Joss cut through straight to the heart of the matter. She was right. That was what made them work, wasn''t it? They needed each other because they were both able to make the other person happy simply by being themselves.

    Keith needed her so much. If she needed him too even a little¡­was it possible for him not to screw this one up? The timing was still terrible because he hadn''t retired from hero work yet but Red Dynamo had managed to make it work with his girlfriend.

    No. He was getting ahead of himself again. He had no proof Joss was interested in him romantically.

    Why would she be? He was nothing special. He wasn''t ugly but he wasn''t particrly handsome either. And he had absolutely nothing to offer her other than the ability to make herugh.

    Keith didn''t have a stable job like she did. He lived paycheck to paycheck in a crappy apartment shared with five other guys. Would she even want to have a boyfriend like that?

    "You really need me specifically?" he asked doubtfully.

    Joss nodded. "Yeah. You''re my best friend too, you know. I''m not so great with people and I''ve never had a best friend before but I do want to see you more. So let me know if I''m doing anything wrong, okay?"

    What kind of thinking was that? How could she possibly do something wrong when she had never been anything but nice (albeit sometimes slightly exasperated with his teasing) to him?

    "What do you mean you''re not so great with people? You''re a therapist!"

    "Yeah. I''m good at giving therapy not having real rtionships with people. You applypletely different skills in those situations. I doubt anyone would want to be friends with somebody in therapy mode all the time," Joss said reasonably.

    She had a point. Still, he didn''t think she was bad with people. She had always acted perfectly fine around him.

    "I think you''re being too hard on yourself. You''ve been a great friend to me," Keith told her.

    Joss smiled at him in a way that turned his insides to jelly. "Really? That''s reassuring."

    Ah, he waspletely helpless in front of her, wasn''t he? How had she been able to affect him this much in such a short period of time? It hadn''t been like this for three years before that coworker of hers said something to him.

    There was no going back now. Every time he saw her he inched closer and closer to spontaneouslybusting. That would be a real aplishment considering his water powers.

    "Don''t worry about that, Joss. Just be yourself," Keith said as he gazed at her warmly.

    "I''ll do my best. But the same applies to you."

    That was the problem with giving advice. You had to follow it or you would feel like the world''s biggest hypocrite. He wondered if she ever had that issue when she was in therapy mode but it wasn''t like he could ask.

    "Deal," he said reluctantly.

    Being himself had never worked out well for him but he had to try. This might be his only shot at being genuine with someone. He wasn''t about to mess it up.

    Keith had no idea how to proceed from here but he knew that he needed Joss in his life. Even if she did turn it upside down by seeing more than he wanted her to.. She was scarily good at that even for a therapist.

 Chapter 125 - She Was New At This

    Jocelyn had never been so confused in her life. There was a high probability that Keith was Delta, which would mean Keith liked her in her secret identity. So why was Delta suddenly being so nice to her as Frostine?

    He brought her macaroni in a cone without prompting despite having to go out of his way to do so. And when he did he acted much sillier than usual. Did he finally feelfortable being himself more after their conversation about how goofy people were her favorite? If so, she was both gratified and perplexed.

    She wanted him to know how much she appreciated this¡ªappreciated him¡ªbut she had to be careful. She couldn''t let him know she knew him in two different contexts so she did her best whenplimenting him. He didn''t seem to believe her but he also didn''t seem to have caught on, to her great relief.

    His self-esteem was much lower than she originally would have thought. She had seen glimpses of ittely. He likely only felt that he could reveal such weaknesses because he thought she didn''t know the real him.

    What had Delta/Keith been through that he genuinely believed no one would like him for who he was? Did he have any idea how important he was to her?

    Probably not. She needed to be better about showing that. He deserved to know but she didn''t want to scare him off at the same time. It would be a fine line to walk and she really wasn''t good at this whole friendship thing. Especially since he probably had feelings for her that she wasn''t sure she was capable of returning.

    Jocelyn was afraid of messing up what they had too. She had seen far too many rtionships go wrong to want one for herself when she was still learning to navigate the waters of friendship. She didn''t have nearly enough experience to know what she was doing.

    Her thoughts went around in circles until it was time for them to celebrate his getting epted into a volunteer fire department. She needed to snap out of it and focus on helping her friend feel good about his aplishment.

    Unfortunately, that was easier said than done because she got yet another clue that he was Delta. His favorite restaurant was in Queens while he lived and worked in Brooklyn. He said he was out that way a lot for business. That business could easily be hero work. Goodness knows she made it all over New York City within the span of a single day.

    Jocelyn pushed that aside and focused on talking to him. The conversation flowed easily and naturally as it always did despite her distraction.

    She was also sure to be as straightforward with thepliments as she could be in the hope that he would realize that she truly did care about him. She wasn''t expecting him to offer to see her outside of work every day because of it though!

    She was shocked because no one had ever wanted to see her that often. She couldn''t quite hide her disbelief. That was an awful lot of effort to put for her sake and no one had ever made that sort of effort for her either.

    Keith misunderstood her intentions and thought she didn''t want to see him that often. Confused as he made hertely, that didn''t diminish the fact that she wished she could spend more time with him. He was being self-deprecating about it too so she was quick to rify she could never get sick of him.

    He brushed it off as a joke. "That''s a pretty bold im to make. You underestimate my ability to annoy people."

    Now he was sounding more like Delta. He wasn''t annoying though. She had never thought of either of them that way discounting when Delta followed her everywhere in the beginning and she wasn''t used to it. It was less about him than it was her difort being around others regrly.

    Jocelyn needed to get her point across so she had to be bold about it. "Keith. You''re the highlight of my day. You underestimate your ability to make people happy."

    "I do?" Keith asked in disbelief.

    His tone made her insides twist. Why couldn''t he see what an enjoyable person to be around he was? She wasn''t very good atforting people outside of the context of her job but she had to do something so she reached out to hold his hand.

    "Yes. I would love to see you every day once you change jobs. I just don''t want to put pressure on you if that''s difficult to make work. Promise," she said seriously.

    "Why?"

    Oh, why couldn''t he get it? She didn''t want to say the same things she had as Frostine either so he would put two and two together. Being generic but still managing to say what she wanted to say was going to be difficult.

    Jocelyn tried to y it off casually. "I need more fun in my life. You''re very fun. Honestly, it makes less sense that you want to hang out with me than that I want to hang out with you. I''m about as boring as it gets."

    "I don''t think you''re boring at all!" Keith protested.

    "You would be the first."

    That came out more bitterly than she intended it to. But it was the truth. Everyone thought she was boring because she didn''t have particr preferences about most things and didn''t speak unless absolutely necessary in most situations.

    Her survival mechanism had caused her to be practically invisible and the people who did notice her made fun of her for it. She was used to being considered boring by now. It usually didn''t bother her buttely she had less of a handle on her emotions for some reason.

    People told Jocelyn she was boring and Keith he was annoying. Their problems were the exact opposite but somehow that was part of what made them get along so well. She didn''t think he was annoying and he didn''t think she was boring. There was something strangely beautiful about that.

    "I think that''s what makes us work. We both think the best of each other. Everybody needs someone like that," she said.

    Keith eyed her skeptically. "You really need me specifically?"

    "Yeah. You''re my best friend too, you know. I''m not so great with people and I''ve never had a best friend before but I do want to see you more. So let me know if I''m doing anything wrong, okay?"

    Jocelyn was about as terrified of screwing this up as Delta (and possibly Keith) seemed to be. She couldn''t lose him by being awkward or making him ufortable. She needed to do better than that. To be better than she usually was.

    Keith seemed shocked by her line of thinking. "What do you mean you''re not so great with people? You''re a therapist!"

    "Yeah. I''m good at giving therapy not having real rtionships with people. You applypletely different skills in those situations. I doubt anyone would want to be friends with somebody in therapy mode all the time."

    He went out of his way to reassure her after that and told her to be herself. Had anyone told her to be herself before? She wasn''t sure but that was a problem considering she didn''t even know who "herself" was. She really didn''t have much of a personality after the life she had lived.

    Jocelyn agreed on the condition that he would do the same. She wanted him to befortable around her. She didn''t care if he thought he was annoying. She liked being around him just the same.

    Did Keith really like her in a romantic context? She only thought so because she was fairly certain he was Delta and if he was she was the only person who fit the bill when her work friend had talked about the person he liked.

    She had a hard time reading his signals. She was new at this.

    If he did¡­what was she supposed to do about that? He seemed afraid of taking things to the next level but if he got over that fear she had no idea how she was supposed to respond to that.

    Jocelyn couldn''t afford to lose him but she wasn''t sure she thought of him that way. Or that she wanted to. Romantic entanglements never seemed to end well.

    Delta said he thought his best friend was beautiful. That was a definite sign of romantic interest. She had never looked at Keith through the lens of attraction. He was no male model but he wasn''t bad-looking. He had a way of drawing her in but it was because of his actions rather than his looks.

    She didn''t have much of a sense of aesthetics. She had never had so much as a passing crush on someone before.. If she did like Keith¡ªand she wasn''t sure she did¡ªit would have to be because he was the human embodiment of sunshine.

 Chapter 126 - A Nice Sort Of Strange

    Jocelyn wished Keith could see that about himself. That he was the light of her life. But she didn''t know how to say that withouting across as too intense.

    But since he couldn''t she would simply have to keep encouraging him. If she did it long enough he might actually believe her. That would require an awful lot of seeing each other though. If he truly did n to see her every day once he switched jobs that wouldn''t be a problem except perhaps for her poor muddled brain.

    She didn''t even know how to work out whether or not she liked him and how to proceed if she did, let alone all of the secret identity stuff thrown into the mix. How had Mercury and Nox done it?

    It would be nice if she could ask but it wasn''t her ce. They didn''t even know she knew who they were and she couldn''t tell them without breaching patient confidentiality. She was alone in this as she was with everything else.

    Jocelyn wished she had someone to rely on but things had never worked out like that for her. It simply wasn''t her lot in life.

    She kept everyone at a distance to protect herself. Now that she was finally letting someone in to a certain degree there were still things she had to keep from him. She didn''t like it at all but there was nothing she could do about it. Her secrets couldn''t be shared with anybody.

    She was momentarily distracted by needing to order food. Burgers weren''t a food she ate often. Not real ones, anyway. Only the fast food ones she wolfed down when she didn''t have time to stop for anything better in between viin fights.

    These were probably different but she didn''t know much about toppings so she got the most basic one on the menu with a vani milkshake. Keith''s usual ended up being a portobello mushroom burger with provolone cheese and a chocte milkshake. She was about to ask him how that became his usual when she was distracted by the people sitting at the table directly next to theirs.

    They both looked vaguely familiar to her. A stocky Hispanic man and a petite ck woman who were cracking up over something together.

    "Can you believe it? G¨¹erita truly is her mother''s daughter," the man chuckled.

    The woman wiped tears of mirth from her eyes and grinned, shaking her head. "I can''t believe Avery ever did stuff like that!"

    "Oh, all the time. I have soooo many horror stories from when she was little but she''ll probably kill me if I tell you too many. There are certain things we have a pact not to speak of so¡­"

    "Aw! Come on, Angelo! I haven''tughed this hard in ages. I won''t tell her you told!"

    Jocelyn immediately understood why they had looked familiar. She had seen both of them in the cover photo on Avery West-ter''s Facebook page. This had to be Angelo Cruz, the man Leah had rebounded on, and his girlfriend.

    They certainly seemed happy together. Leah''s interference hadn''t caused them too much trouble after all. She was d.

    She had nearly forgotten that Mercury and Nox lived in Queens. She had never run into them when she was out this way but the apartment Leah and her children had hidden in for so long was here too.

    Jocelyn couldn''t help but wonder what those two were up to tonight. If Angelo and his girlfriend had managed to be happy despite what Leah tried to do¡­were they happy too?

    She had been wondering about the two of them more and more oftentely because of her own secret identity mess with someone important to her. It was a good thing they weren''t in this restaurant with their friends because she wasn''t sure she would be able to stop herself from asking for help if she saw them.

    That would end terribly for her. She would out herself not only as Frostine but as Leah''s therapist and that was a serious breach of professional ethics. Her career was the one thing in her life that was solid. She couldn''t mess it up.

    "Joss?"

    Keith''s voice brought her back to earth. She did her best to give him a reassuring smile. "Sorry. I thought I saw someone I know. What were you saying?"

    "I was wondering if you wanted to hear about how my first couple days of training went."

    "Of course! Tell me all about it."

    Heunched into an overly dramatic retelling of what sounded like a rather dull orientation and she couldn''t help butugh at the detail he was putting into it. He seemed reinvigorated by herughter and got all the more into it as a result.

    Jocelyn keptughing at his antics and asking questions about what else he still had to do right up until the food arrived. Right now she and Keith didn''t seem much different than the other couples in this restaurant and the thought made her feel strange. Most people assumed seeing a man and womanughing and talking together had some sort of romantic rtionship at first nce rather than that they were friends.

    Was that what she wanted? If she excluded all the reasons it was a terrible idea¡­what did she want?

    All she really knew was that she wanted to keep seeing him and spending time with him. That he made her happy. That she didn''t know what she would do without his way of brightening her day at this point.

    Depending on anyone was terrifying but hadn''t she already been doing it from the moment she purposely kept ordering from the restaurant he switched to the third time? This was just on a slightly higher level. Oh, who was she kidding? This was on a much higher level.

    When the food arrived Jocelyn realized why this was Keith''s favorite restaurant. It was delicious! The difference between these burgers and fast food ones was staggering. Same with the fries and milkshakes.

    "This is really good!" she told him between bites.

    He grinned at her. "Told you! Best ce to get burgers in New York City."

    Jocelyn would have to remember this ce the next time she was in Queens if she had more time than usual to eat. Normally, she grabbed whatever that was quick and easy before rushing off again.

    "I can see why it''s your favorite."

    "Do you have a favorite restaurant? Aside from Lucky Lotus," Keith teased.

    She rolled her eyes. She only ate at Lucky Lotus because of him and he knew it. "No. I eat whatever is avable, remember?"

    "Oh, right. But there have to be some ces you go more often than others."

    "Not really. It all depends on what part of town I''m in when I need to eat and how quickly it needs to be done."

    Keith shook his head despairingly. "Joss! You really need to expand your palette. I think we need to go on a restaurant tour. It''s official. I''m going to show you how affordable fine dining works in this city."

    Jocelynughed. He was so insistent but she had no reason to say no. It would give her more of a reason to see him outside of work. She would be needing that soon since she didn''t know how much longer he would be at Lucky Lotus.

    Even so, seeing him for a few minutes a day didn''t satisfy her the way it did before she got to know him better. She wanted to see him more.

    "I look forward to seeing more of your expertise," she said with a smile.

    Keith shot her a satisfied grin. "Awesome. We''ll have to figure out some sort of schedule since weekends don''t really work for either of us but I''m determined to hit as many as possible. Who knows? Maybe you''ll have a favorite restaurant by the end of it."

    That would certainly be unexpected. She barely figured out her favorite food but that had been because of his help. He might be able to help her find a favorite restaurant too.

    Jocelyn had a feeling that the more time she spent with Keith the more he would rub off on her. That would be a good thing. She could certainly use some of his vitality to brighten her dull existence.

    "Maybe," she agreed.

    They finished their food and Keith exchanged farewells with the tavern owner before they headed out. They went to the subway station together even though they had to get on different trains to get home and she was both full and content.

    Her confusion hadn''t lessened any but that didn''t stop her from enjoying her time with him. She could overthink on her own time.

    This was the first night in longer than Jocelyn could remember that she didn''t engage in hero work at all. It had taken them a while to get to the restaurant and if she wanted to be able to wake up for work she needed to go home now.

    It was strange. Tonight she had felt more like a normal person than she ever had before.

    Laughing and talking as if on a date with her best friend. Going to work, enjoying herself after work, and going to bed at a reasonable hour. Not the sort of things one did as a hero.

    A nice sort of strange though.. Jocelyn could see herself getting used to this sort of thing even if it did cut into her hero work.

 Chapter 127 - How Had He Done It?

    Weeks passed and Jocelyn still didn''t know what she was supposed to do about these new developments. She saw Delta less and was fairly certain it was because he was busy with his volunteer fire department training. But when she did see him he acted more lighthearted than usual.

    It seemed her pep talk had gotten to him. Around her at least he wasn''t keeping up his more Mercury-like persona anymore.

    She was d. He shouldn''t have to be anyone but himself.

    Jocelyn also saw Keith a lot more. In addition to her daily orders at the Lucky Lotus they went out to dinner at least twice a week. He hadn''t been joking about that restaurant tour. All of the ces he took her to were delicious so she couldn''t possibly decide which she liked best.

    She was genuinely enjoying spending more time with him but didn''t know what this meant going forward. Did he like her or not? She hadn''t figured that out yet through observation alone.

    It was difficult to do since hergely acted the way he always had around her. There had been something off about him for a little while after the incident she suspected Delta told her about but he seemed to be back to normal now.

    Jocelyn was 99% sure they were the same person at this point. Delta''s absences coincided with when Keith was busy and his behavior was a lot more like her best friend''s too.

    Maybe it was because they were the same two people now acting more like their usual selves both in and out of costume but she felt like there wasn''t much of a difference between the vor of their interactions whether they were Frostine and Delta or Jocelyn and Keith.

    Probably because he felt morefortable joking around with her now so sheughed. That never would have happened before. They were both too professional in hero mode for that before they acknowledged they were friends after all.

    They were just too simr. She hoped he didn''t figure out that she was Frostine for a simr reason. She was being very careful but you never know when you might slip up.

    It would be very difficult to exin her way out of knowing his secret identity. He would likely be angry and embarrassed because of everything he told her thinking she was someone else. It was amazing what people would do when they were talking to someone anonymously opposed to in person.

    Jocelyn was having a good time but also waiting for the other shoe to drop. She didn''t like that feeling at all.

    But what else could she do? Spending time with Keith brought her more satisfaction that anything else in her life did, whichever identity he was using at the time. She was stuck. Unsure how to move forward but unable to go back.

    She found herself being swept along by their enthusiasm in both situations, unable to resist. Which was dangerous because of the strong potential for it all toe crumbling down around her due to the secrets she couldn''t tell anyone about.

    Jocelyn couldn''t do anything about it so she had to focus on what she could do. Right now that was grocery shopping. She needed more toaster strudel, snacks for her clients in her office, shampoo, andundry detergent.

    It was a beautiful day though. She got sidetracked and ended up wandering around Central Park trying to sort out her thoughts first. She could head to the store and then do herundry afterward. There would still be plenty of time to do hero work after. Chores had to be done sometime.

    Normally, she didn''t stop to smell the roses like this. She wasn''t sure what was wrong with hertely.

    It might be because she was finally slowing down and living for herself a little by doing things with her best friend after work two to three times a week. She had never done anything like that before.

    Her life used to be categorized solely by work/school and being Frostine. She couldn''t honestly say that was the way things were anymore. She had a tiny semnce of a social life.

    Even being a hero had be more fun since Delta started being friendlier with her. She never would have described that part of her life as fun before. It was more of a necessary evil than anything. Something she had to do because she had nothing better to do with herself than keep helping people even after helping them all day.

    People were milling about taking advantage of the unusually nice day considering the time of year. Riding bikes, pushing strollers, rollerding, jogging. Whatever they could do outside while the sun beat down and provided warmth to the chilly air.

    Jocelyn found herself wandering toward the southeast corner of the park. She had been thinking about all the people she walked by, wondering if it was possible for her to ever be like them.

    To have likes and dislikes. Hobbies. Goals. Family and friends.

    Keith was a hero too and he had more of those than she did. More of a personality too and he was just as busy as she was. How had he managed it?

    She was nder than an unsalted potato chip. It was no wonder people didn''t like her. They wanted to interact with people who were interesting and she didn''t exactly fit the bill. He thought she was interesting though. That would have to be enough.

    Jocelyn didn''t know why. She couldn''t help but worry that once he saw how little there was to her that he wouldn''t like her anymore. He wasn''t aware of the full extent of herck of likes and dislikes. Only that she didn''t have a favorite food or restaurant. That was tame inparison to the truth.

    She didn''t have a favorite color, movie, book, band, song, season, activity, anything. She just¡­existed. Largely opinionless.

    Her life was her work. She had nothing outside of her two jobs (though one was unpaid) until she and Keith started hanging out more often. Their restaurant tour was the most she had done for herself since she had gone off to college.

    A young child ran past her, squealing in delight as it chased a pigeon. She had never been allowed to be that loud or have that sense of childlike wonder. That was the main reason she went into marriage and family therapy where shergely worked with kids. She wanted them to have a chance to have what she didn''t.

    Jocelyn couldn''t change their situations but she could do her best to help them heal so it didn''t affect their futures too much. Those they were able to build for themselves.

    What had she done with hers? Helped a whole lot of people without ever helping herself.

    She sighed and looked up at the cloudless blue sky. What would she do with herself if she retired? She couldn''t realistically keep being Frostine forever. She didn''t have a goal or a sense of direction since she already had a career.

    So many empty hours to fill sounded like a nightmare. Most heroes who retired had a reason to. They retired for a person like Mercury or new opportunities like Delta.

    Jocelyn didn''t have a reason. So she would likely carry on indefinitely until she got seriously injured like Mercury had. And then what? She didn''t have anyone to take care of her. She had minor injuries before but nothing serious. She had always gotten lucky but you never knew what could happen.

    As heroes got older their reflexes weren''t what they used to be. It was why there were almost no heroes over the age of thirty-five. Death or retirement were the only options. No one could be a hero forever.

    It would be nice if she could talk to a retired hero about how they managed to do it without going crazy. Unfortunately, they didn''t keep in touch. Nobody knew anyone else''s secret identities except her because she had unfortunately sharp deductive reasoning skills.

    Her neck was starting to get sore from craning it so she looked straight ahead again and nearly did a double take. Was that Mercury and his family?

    She recognized his wife''s distinctive white hair sticking out from under a light blue and white beanie even if her violet eyes were hidden behind a pair of sunsses. She was heavily pregnant and was holding one of their daughter''s hands. He was holding the other and looking down at her fondly.

    Jocelyn had wanted to know what was going on with them but also hadn''t wanted to run into him in person because of her desperation for advice. She didn''t want to freak him out and have him potentially perceive her as a threat. Especially because she couldn''t exin how she had managed to figure out both of their secret identities.

    She had seen them and they looked happy so she should go before she did something stupid. And yet¡­she found herself following them inside the entrance of the Central Park Zoo.

    Since she had been right behind them in line at the ticket counter she was able to continue following them easily enough. She was paying more attention to them than the animals despite never having been to a zoo before.

    Bailey wanted her mother to pick her up but she clearly couldn''t due to her pregnancy and looked at her husband beseechingly. Mercury not only picked the little girl up but tossed her in the air as she giggled in delight before cing her on his shoulders so she could see the animals better. She seemed pretty happy about that.

    So did he, honestly. He looked like there was nowhere in the world he would rather be than at the zoo with his wife and daughter.

    How had he done it? How had he managed to untangle the mess that was his and his wife''s secret identities and still end up being so happy together? Was such a thing even possible to replicate?

 Chapter 128 - Help

    Jocelyn was amazed that a former hero¡ªone of the best¡ªcould be so well limated to family life after formerly having a schedule not much different than hers. Granted, it had been a few years at this point, but she didn''t think she would be able to do the same in that timeframe.

    Mercury looked happy. Genuinely happy. Even when his daughter yed pattycake on his head. And when his wife teasingly took a bite out of the food in his hand. He justughed it off and poked her cheek when she grinned mischievously at him.

    They used to be enemies but their rtionship sure looked solid now. How was that possible?

    Jocelyn didn''t think a solid rtionship was possible for her even with someone she did get along with. Things never went that well for her.

    She continued watching them, rather transfixed, until Mercury kissed his wife and daughter in front of the elephants and left them there before marching over to her with a rather formidable expression on his face. Oops. He might have noticed all of the staring.

    "What''s your deal? Do I need to report you for stalking? You''ve been following my family since this morning!"

    Jocelyn blinked at him. She hadn''t expected to get caught.

    "I''m sorry. I don''t mean any harm. I was just amazed that things worked out so well for you. We do know each other but um¡­it''s kind of a long story," she said awkwardly.

    His eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Who are you? I''ve never seen you before. And even if I had that''s still really creepy."

    Jocelyn sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Sorry. My name is Jocelyn Normandy but you wouldn''t know that. We knew each other before you retired and I followed you because I was hoping for some advice."

    She saw the exact moment Mercury realized who she was because utmost disbelief shed across his face. He mouthed her hero name and she nodded. His expression was even more incredulous now. Well, he had experienced quite a shock. She would too if someone randomly approached her and said they knew who she was.

    "How did you¡ª"

    "Let''s just say my powers of deductive reasoning are more a curse than a blessing. And before you ask, I haven''t told anyone and I don''t intend to. It''s not my business," Jocelyn said firmly.

    "Then why approach me at all?" Mercury asked with a furrowed brow.

    "I told you, I was hoping for advice. About retirement. And how to navigate knowing the secret identity of someone close to you. I don''t have anyone else I can talk to about this but I really didn''t intend to bother you until I saw you and couldn''t resist. My apologies for disturbing your time with your family. I''m d things worked out between the two of you."

    He put together the clues and sighed heavily before shaking his head in disbelief. "You know about my wife too, don''t you?"

    "Yes."

    "You would benefit from talking to her more than me. She figured out who I was first. But I have to ask¡­who do you need advice about?"

    Jocelyn shrugged helplessly. "It''s not my secret to tell."

    "Okay, fair enough. Why don''t youe over and meet my family instead of lurking. I''m Christian, by the way."

    "I know. Thank you."

    Nox was standing with a hand on her daughter''s head and looked at her husband in concern as they approached. "Uh, Christian? Why did you invite the person following us over here?"

    "She isn''t a threat. You''ve met before. She''s an old colleague of mine and helped us out once."

    Nox gaped at Jocelyn as it hit her. "How did she find us?!"

    "It wasn''t my intention to scare you," Jocelyn saidmely. "I just sort of¡­figured it out. I can''t tell you why either because of confidentialityws. But I pose no threat to you and we''re even since I''ve revealed myself now too. It''s nice to see you again under better circumstances thanst time. I''m d there weren''t any issues and that your daughter was able to be born safely. She''s beautiful."

    "¡­confidentialityws?"

    Christian sighed. "I think I know what happened. Anyway, Avery meet Jocelyn. Jocelyn, Avery. She wanted to get some advice from you."

    Avery was clearly taken aback. "Me?! What advice could I possibly give?"

    "I''m in a simr situation to the one you and Christian were in before," Jocelyn hedged. "I haven''t been able to talk to anyone about it but I thought you would understand and might be able to help direct me."

    "You''re in love with your nemesis too?!"

    "No¡­it''s my best friend. I know them in both identities and put the pieces together by ident. They don''t know I know and I don''t know how to tell them."

    Christian scrutinized her, clearly trying to figure out who it was, but she wasn''t about to give it away. Not a single detail that would clue him in that it was Delta she was talking about. It wasn''t his business.

    Avery seemed less concerned by this. Likely because she didn''t know any other heroes personally. "I see. How about this? Why don''t I give you my number and we set something up forter? Bailey really wanted toe to the zoo today and she''s getting kind of restless."

    Sure enough, the little girl was whining and tugging on her mother''s pants because she wanted to go see something else. Jocelyn didn''t mind at all. She hadn''t meant to impose on their outing in the first ce.

    "I would appreciate that! Thank you."

    "No problem. I do owe you for helping save my life and Bailey''s. Next time you need to talk to someone though don''t stake them out like that. It was weird," Avery said with a smallugh. "Do you have your phone?"

    Jocelyn blushed. It had been pretty stupid of her. She had never done anything like that before and never wanted to again.

    She opened her phone and created a new contact. "Ready."

    Avery listed her number off and checked to be sure it was right before Jocelyn sent her a test text and she replied to it so both numbers could be saved. She appreciated this more than she could say.

    "Thank you and sorry again. Enjoy the rest of your weekend," Jocelyn said before hurrying out of the zoo in humiliation.

    She still had all of her errands to do and had wasted so much time! Despite her embarrassment she couldn''tpletely regret what she did though. She might actually get some sort of help with her ridiculous situation now. If anyone understand what that was like it would be Avery.

    She hoped their eventual conversation would allow her to have some rity for the first time in a while. Her head had been muddled for far too long. Talking to someone with experience should help give her some sense of direction.

    Jocelyn needed to know what to do about Keith/Delta. She had been trying to keep her cool all this time but it was bing progressively more difficult the further along things got.

    Thest thing she wanted was for him to get mad at her for hiding what she suspected from him. She wouldn''t be able to stand that. Not when he was her only friend and the most important person to her.

    Admittedly, her head wasn''t where it should have been when she finished all of her chores and errands and headed out to do hero work for the rest of the day. Perhaps that was why she ended up thrown into a wall unexpectedly in the middle of a fight against multiple viins.

    A pained scream escaped her when she tried to move her knee and she ended up fighting waves of dizziness in a desperate bid not to pass out. Broken. That was definitely broken.

    Despite the haze of pain washing over her, she managed to freeze the viin in his tracks so he couldn''t cause further injury. The problem was that she couldn''t move and needed to get out of here.

    Jocelyn gritted her teeth and tried army crawling but that only made things worse. Delta''s words from a while back came to her in her moment of need rather uselessly. "Who looks out for you?" Right now she could say with certainty that no one was looking out for her. No one had even noticed she was hurt.

    She was currently in an alley. Who would see her back here when her ice was blocking the exit freezing that viin in ce?

    "Help," she said feebly. "Somebody. Please."

    "Frostine? Is that you?" a concerned, familiar voice called.

    Jocelyn nearly wept from relief. "MultiMan! Yes, it''s me. Can you get me out of here? I think I broke my knee and I need to get to the hospital right away."

    A tower of MultiMen propping each other up made it to the top of her ice wall and over it. Two of them gingerly helped lift her up and passed her along to the other copies back to the other side of the ice.

    "I''m going to call an ambnce for you, okay? Hang tight," MultiMan''s voice rippled from his many copies as they began to be sucked back into his main body.

    "Thank you," Jocelyn said wearily.. "I appreciate your help."

 Chapter 129 - You Never Ask For Help With Anything

    Jocelyn had never been this badly hurt the whole time she had been a hero. She had to get carted away in an ambnce since she couldn''t even stand and her kneecap had shattered so extensively she had to get a partial patellectomy.

    They removed part of her kneecap because of how badly it had been damaged and she had extensive physical therapy ahead of her and still never may be able to fully extend her left leg again. Her hero career was basically over because of something as stupid and careless as being thrown into a wall the wrong way when she was distracted.

    How many other times had she been thrown into walls and had been perfectly fine? This was so stupid!

    Stupid and painful. Forced retirement was so much worse than choosing it for herself. If she kept trying to fight after recovering she could end up dead without a full range of motion.

    What was she supposed to do now? She didn''t even have her stuff on her when she was out fighting crime so she needed to have someone go to her apartment and get it before they would discharge her from the hospital. She still had paperwork to fill out.

    Jocelyn couldn''t bother Keith about this. He would figure out she was Frostine in a heartbeat if she was caught at the hospital without having her insurance or ID on her. She was going to have to reach out to her supervisor, wasn''t she? She had to exin that she would be out of work for a week anyway as she recovered from emergency knee surgery.

    It was a good thing she had the number memorized. She had to use her boss as her emergency contact on her rental application and herndlord as the one at work.

    She had to borrow someone''s phone and she was very lucky that her supervisor picked up. He was rather concerned about what happened to her and he and his wife came to the hospital to pick up her keys dressed rather casually since it was a Sunday.

    She had to stay overnight as there was no one to take her home post anesthesia yesterday. That bill was definitely going toe back to bite herter and she was not looking forward to it at all.

    "What happened, Jocelyn?" John''s wife Maria asked in concern when they arrived.

    Jocelyn sighed. "I got into an ident and my knee shattered. I''m sorry for bothering you both on a weekend."

    "Don''t apologize for getting hurt! idents happen. You haven''t used any of your sick or vacation days this year so if you take a week to rx and recover it will all be paid," John told her kindly. "We can absolutely bring you your wallet but do you have anyone to take care of you once you''re discharged?"

    "¡­no. I can manage though. I n to sleep this off as much as possible."

    They exchanged a nce, unsure, but didn''t argue with her. Merely epted her apartment keys and said they would be back. They returned with her purse a couple of hourster and she thanked them profusely for their help.

    They brushed it off and told her to take care. John even said he would call all of the clients she had scheduled for her to cancel their appointments for the week and that she should take it easy. Bless him.

    The problem was that Jocelyn didn''t know how to take it easy. She never had.

    She was going to be taking it easy for an awfully long time and had no idea what to do with herself. She supposed now was the time she had to discover new hobbies if she didn''t want to lose her mind. She was going to have to look into things she could do while stationary.

    With a heavy sigh she slumped back against the pillow. Everything about this was terrible. Life as she knew it was over.

    At least John or Maria had been thoughtful enough to grab her phone and put it in her purse. She decided to y that dot connecting game to kill time. Maybe she would have to get into phone games more¡­though that definitely wouldn''t be enough to fill all of the horribly empty hours stretching before her now.

    Eventually, a nurse brought the paperwork she needed to fill out and she was able to do that, get her crutches, and be discharged with a long set of instructions she needed to follow. She was grateful she had also asked John and Maria to bring her a change of clothes because she did not want to leave on crutches looking like Frostine. That would be a dead giveaway to where she lived.

    Maria rather practically brought her a dress. It was a lot easier to wear over the brace on her knee. Jocelyn was going to have to get more of these. She didn''t have many.

    It took her a ridiculously long time to get home on her crutches. She didn''t have proper shoes either. All she had were Frostine''s turquoise bluepression socks. She couldn''t exactly ask for her supervisor to bring her shoes because no idiot in their right mind went out without them in this city.

    They didn''t match her dress at all but she really hoped no one was paying attention to her feet. She looked nothing like Frostine right now between her loose, messy hair and struggle to move.

    How did anyone get around on these things regrly? They really hurt her armpits.

    Jocelyn made it home with much difficulty and plopped into her chair after moving her desk chair over to prop her leg up on. It would be really helpful to have a recliner right now but she didn''t have the space.

    She sighed heavily and leaned her head against the back of the chair. This was such a nightmare. She didn''t even have anything to do but y phone games until her phone ran out of battery. Which was exactly what she did until she had to get up and get her charger.

    Since moving was difficult and painful she only got up for that, to use the bathroom, and to get the takeout she ordered when it arrived. Her bathroom was so small that she had to sit on the toilet at a strange angle to make room for her bad leg. This was going to be incredibly inconvenient.

    Showering properly would be impossible on one leg too so she was going to have to give herself sponge baths and use dry shampoo for the foreseeable future. She didn''t even OWN dry shampoo.

    Could she try rinsing her hair in the sink? That didn''t seem like that would end well.

    Jocelyn thought she was managing as well as she could all things considering until she realized something horrible. When it was time for her to go to bed she couldn''t even get up to her mattress. That was thest straw for her horrible day. She burst into tears and couldn''t stop sobbing no matter what she did.

    It took over thirty minutes for her to calm down. Think. She had to think! She couldn''t climb up there even to pull the mattress down and after sitting in this ufortable chair all day she knew she wouldn''t be able to sleep here either.

    She was still trying to figure out what to do when she got a text from Keith. ''Hey, just got done with training for the day. Thought I''d see how your weekend is going''

    This was different than the situation with the hospital. He didn''t know Frostine got hurt so asking him toe over and help her move the mattress wouldn''t give her secret identity away. But could she really put him out like that when he had barely finished training and was probably tired?

    Jocelyn had already inconvenienced five people today. That was a personal record and not one she wanted to beat.

    But she knew that Keith would find out about her injury sooner orter. And that he would genuinely want to help her if he knew she was having trouble. It was asking that was the hard part.

    ''Not great, honestly. I hate to ask but could you possiblye over and help me with something?''

    Rather than responding to her text, he called her and his voice was tinted with concern. "What happened? You never ask for help with anything."

    Jocelyn sighed. "I broke my leg and now I can''t get to my bed. I was hoping for some help getting my mattress to the ground so I can sleep. I don''t want to put you out but¡ª"

    "Joss! Why didn''t you tell me what happened sooner?!"

    "I knew you were busy and didn''t want to bother you. I live in Manhattan so it''s kind of far."

    "Forget that," Keith said impatiently. "Text me your address. I''ll be there as soon as I can. Is there anything else you need that I can get on the way?"

    Jocelyn didn''t want to inconvenience him further but she also knew she was in no condition to make it to the store on her own. Since he had offered she should take advantage of it.

    "Dry shampoo. I promise I''ll pay you back."

    "Don''t worry about it. I''ll be there soon," he promised before hanging up.

    Jocelyn was simultaneously ashamed and grateful. At least help wasing.. She didn''t know what she would have done if he hadn''t texted her when he did.

 Chapter 130 - I...Dont Know

    For once, things had been going surprisingly well for Keith. He was seeing more of his favorite person, Frostine had lightened up and made his hero work much more enjoyable than usual, and his training wasing along.

    He still hadn''t figured out what (if anything) to do about his newly realized feelings for Joss but he had time. She wasn''t going anywhere anytime soon based on what he had seen so far.

    It was hard to tell if she returned his feelings or not because she acted the same way she had since early in their friendship aside from seeming somewhat distracted and broody when she thought he wasn''t looking. He didn''t think that had anything to do with him though.

    Keith asked her at one point if everything was okay and she said she had some work stuff going on and couldn''t talk about it. He was inclined to believe her due to the nature of her job.

    So when she asked him for help with something he was more than a little shocked. She didn''t seem like the type of person to ask for help with anything. He knew it had to be serious so he called her since it was faster than texting.

    She broke her leg! Why hadn''t she told him? Wasn''t that the sort of thing you told your best friend about?

    Keith didn''t want to keep her waiting so he changed into his costume to get that dry shampoo and make it closer to her apartment building before putting his regr clothes back on top of it. Her voice had been worn out on the phone so she probably really needed her sleep.

    When he arrived at the apartment number she had given him he thought there had to be some sort of mistake. The door was squished in between two others and looked more like a utility closet than anything. There was a doorbell though.

    He rang it and a minuteter a very disheveled Joss answered the door. She was obviously in pain with a light sheen of sweat on her bare face, her hair was messier than he had ever seen it, and she was wearing a pair of long-sleeved blue and ck striped pajamas with one of the legs rolled up over a bulky knee brace.

    In true Joss fashion, she didn''t seem the slightest bit self-conscious about him seeing her like this. That made him think she didn''t like him because people usually wanted to look their best in front of the people they liked but he also knew that was simply how she was. It was hard to tell.

    "Hey," she said dully. "Thanks foring."

    She adjusted her crutches and stood aside to let him in but he still had to squeeze. THIS was an APARTMENT?!

    Keith had never seen such a small living space before. Even those tiny home videos on the inte were ptialpared to this. He was pretty sure his shared bedroom was about the same size.

    He recalled that she mentioned something about micro-studios being cheaper when he mentioned wanting his own apartment. But she didn''t say anything about living in one herself.

    Herment about needing help with her mattress made a lot more sense now. It was pretty high up. He didn''t know what he had been thinking¡ªmaybe a bunkbed with a desk under it like they had in one of his foster homes¡ªbut it definitely hadn''t been this.

    "Is there even space on the floor for your mattress?" Keith asked doubtfully.

    Joss''s face fell. She hadn''t thought of that. Her mattress was a full and the floor probably only had space for a twin.

    "I¡­don''t know."

    "Let me climb up there and see," he said before doing that.

    Keith looked between the loft and the floor several times before shaking his head. "There''s no way. You need an air mattress if you want to sleep on the floor. I''ll go get you one so hang tight, okay?"

    "But¡ª"

    "I''ll be back!"

    He had already jogged out the door before she could say anything else. He knew she was going to protest further if he didn''t go and she needed her sleep. This was the least he could do for his only friend when she was having a hard time.

    Keith got lucky. He managed to find somewhere selling air mattresses less than thirty minutes before the store closed. He got one that had an electric pump to make things easier for her and hurried back to her apartment.

    Joss answered the door slowly and rubbed her eyes. He had only just noticed they were puffy and a bit red. Had she been crying earlier? Was she in that much pain or was it something else too?

    His heart ached. He wished there was more he could do for her than just run out and get things. He wanted to help with whatever the underlying thing bothering her was too.

    It was distressing seeing her like this. He had never seen her upset before. She was always so unppable, which was another trait she shared with Frostine. Stupid! He shouldn''t be thinking about that right now.

    "How did you break your leg, anyway?" Keith asked as he plugged in the air mattress pump.

    Joss sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I hit it at a weird angle. Something so insignificant but now half my kneecap is gone and I have a long road of physical therapy ahead of me."

    "What?!"

    "Yeah. My kneecap shattered so they had to take parts of it out. I have the next week off of work but after that I still don''t know what I''m going to do with myself because I''m used to being busy and that''s going to have to stop."

    Keith''s eyes widened. That wasn''t any old broken leg! Poor Joss. He couldn''t even imagine how painful that was and he had gotten injured a few times as Delta. It was always much less serious though, which was a relief because he didn''t have health insurance until recently. He was able to treat himself at home.

    She looked so miserable when she talked like that he couldn''t resist the urge to give her a hug. "I''m so sorry, Joss. If you need anything¡ªanything at all¡ªdon''t hesitate to reach out, okay? Even if it''s for something as simple as you being bored.

    "If I''m not working or getting in training hours I cane whenever you need. Don''t you dare worry about bothering me. This is exactly what friends are for. Helping each other out when they need it."

    "But¡ª" she began.

    "No buts. I''ve got your back no matter what, alright?"

    "You do? Really?"

    Joss''s voice sounded so vulnerable and disbelieving¡ªwhich was incredibly unlike her¡ªthat Keith pulled away to look her in the eye and impress upon her how serious he was. He knew people had a hard time taking him seriously because he was always joking around but she needed to know he could be reliable when warranted.

    "Yes," he told her seriously. "Everybody needs to be able to rely on someone when they''re having a hard time. It would be an honor to be that person for you."

    Tears swam in her eyes and she whispered, "Thank you."

    "No need to thank me for that." The air mattress was blown up so he unhooked the pump and looked around. "Do you have spare sheets and nkets anywhere? I''ll set up your bed for you."

    "Spare sheets are in that bin there. You can just get the nket and pillows off my bed."

    Keith nodded and did as she said. The sheets were too big for the mattress but he could tuck the extra underneath and hope she didn''t move around in her sleep too much. He ended up finding some extra nkets and balling them up as well to help her elevate her leg as she slept.

    Since she couldn''t bend her knee at all he had to help her get down onto the air mattress. Once she was there he helped situate her leg on top of the spare pillow and nkets so she would be asfortable as possible before tucking her in.

    Despite how tired Joss looked it was oddly adorable seeing her all snuggled up under the covers like that. His heart stupidly skipped a beat.

    This was not the time for that. He was here to help her as her friend. He couldn''t burden her with his feelings right now. That would be a terrible thing to do to someone who had so much else on her te.

    Keith smiled at her before turning out the light on his way out the door. "Goodnight, Joss. I hope you''re able to get the sleep you need. I''lle by after work tomorrow and bring you dinner if you''re okay with waiting that long to eat."

    "That''s fine," she replied softly. "Thanks, Keith. Really."

    "Anytime."

    He flipped the light switch and locked the door on his way out. He really hoped she was going to be okay. No matter what happened, he was going to be there with her as she went through this.

    Keith never had the benefit of anyone being there for him when he was having a hard time.. He was determined not to let that happen to Joss as long as he was around.

 Chapter 131 - What Have You Been Doing Today?

    Keith worried about Joss all throughout work the next day. He texted her on his breaks and felt oddly bereft not bringing her lunch as usual.

    She imed she was fine but when he arrived with her dinner he noticed she looked like she had her soul sucked out of her. He set the food down on the nearest avable surface (honestly, there weren''t many in an apartment this size) and frowned.

    "Have you taken your pain meds recently?"

    "No. I''m only supposed to take them every four to six hours and I''m waiting until right before I go to bed so I can get some sleep," Joss told him with exhaustion running through her voice.

    Ah. That made sense.

    "What have you been doing today?" he asked as he began taking the food out.

    "ying phone games and watching YouTube videos. I really need something better to do."

    He handed her the takeout container and she shot him a wan but grateful smile before digging in. Phone games and YouTube videos didn''t sound like the best way to spend an entire day. Had she really not done anything else?

    Keith figured someone as smart as Joss would want to read a book or learn a new skill while she wasid up. Maybe she didn''t have any books lying around. It wasn''t like she could make it to the library easily with her leg. Or get any sort of materials for anything else.

    He could potentially help with that. When a person suddenly went from busy to having nothing to do they could get bored easily.

    There wasn''t anywhere for him to sit since she was using the desk chair to prop her leg up so he leaned against a tiny spare bit of wall. He wanted to be as helpful as possible to her. That way she would be more likely to want to keep him around long-term.

    "Now that you''reid up is there anything you''ve wanted to do but haven''t had the time for? I can get you whatever you need and bring it by tomorrow," Keith offered.

    Joss frowned. "I¡­no. I could use some ideas, honestly."

    "Books you want to read? Crafts you want to try? Puzzles? The sky''s the limit as long as it''s an indoor sitting down type of activity."

    "If you could go to the library and bring me some rmended books that would be great. I''m not picky. Get me a stack and that shouldst me a while. Thanks. I appreciate it."

    Keith raised an eyebrow. Was she picky about anything? She didn''t seem to have a favorite ANYTHING. Everyone had at least some things they preferred over others. He wasn''t much of a reader himself but he likedics better than novels. He had been a big Calvin and Hobbes fan when he was a kid.

    "You don''t have any preferences at all? What sort of books do you normally read?"

    "I haven''t read a book for fun since before college. Back then I read whatever was readily avable at the school library," Joss admitted.

    Okay, that gave him something to work with. High school libraries usually carried YA novels. He would just have to find some of those to start with. Maybe he could get her some mysteries and nonfiction too since she said she wasn''t picky.

    "I''ll get you a variety then," Keith reassured her. "Don''t worry about it. Anything else?"

    "No, not that I can think of. Thanks though."

    Joss went back to eating her food and he figured he should eat his before it got cold even if he had to do it standing. This apartment definitely wasn''t meant for entertaining people.

    And here he thought living in a three-bedroom apartment with five other guys was bad! At least he had a living room and a kitchen even if he did have to share them. All she had was a tiny fridge, toaster oven, and microwave.

    She must live mostly on takeout. He did too but that was more of a situational thing because he was always out and about. He knew how to make a few things he had picked up in various foster homes. Mostly he had cereal in the morning but sometimes he shook it up with eggs and toast.

    Joss couldn''t even make eggs. Unless there was some way to do it in the microwave? That seemed unnatural though.

    How busy was she that she could stand to live in a ce like this? She must hardly ever be home. What would keep someone out of the house that often though? This was nothing more than a ce to sleep.

    Keith was hardly home but that was because of all the time he spent on hero work. The odds of both of them being heroes was impossibly small even if she did asionally remind him of Frostine. Who would probably be wondering if he vanished off the face of the earth because he had sort of given up hero work to take care of Josstely. Oops.

    How could he go gallivanting about the city when the one person who truly mattered to him needed help? Helping generic strangers didn''t mean nearly as much as helping someone who cared about him.

    He needed to be readily avable to help her out during his off hours. That meant no hero work for the foreseeable future.

    Honestly, he minded a lot less than he thought he would. This was practice for when he retired for real. He was taking a break to deal with personal matters. The city would carry on without him. Heroes were very receable, after all.

    Keith hoped Frostine didn''t worry about him too much and assumed he had stuff going on that had to do with his impending retirement. This would be a lot easier if he had a way to get a hold of her.

    "What sort of games have you been ying today?" he asked, shaking those thoughts free.

    He was here with Joss now and needed to have his focus entirely on her. Especially with how bored she had been today. She needed thepany.

    She shrugged. "I switched back and forth between things when I got stuck or it got too repetitive. I yed this colored water sorting game, one where you have to connect colored dots, and solitaire."

    Keith had only heard of solitaire of those three and that was plenty hard. He was willing to bet the others were too since she was good at puzzles. She mentioned that she used to create her own when they went to the arcade.

    "Were they any fun?" he asked.

    "Somewhat. I did it more to pass the time than anything. And ended up watching a bunch of bizarre videos like how to make a swimming pool full of Jell-O and whether or not you can swim in it."

    He blinked. That was pretty random. "¡­can you?"

    "If it''s sufficiently diluted to act like a liquid. Otherwise you would have to dig your way through," Joss informed him.

    "How do people evene up with this stuff? Let alone get the money for it!"

    "Who knows?"

    "Would you even want to swim in a pool full of Jell-O?" Keith asked, pulling a face. "I feel like that would be all sticky and gross."

    She nodded her agreement. "Probably. Some of the things people do are quite perplexing. I think they do them simply to see if they can without stopping to think about whether or not they should."

    Heughed. That sounded like a Jurassic Park quote. "Your scientists were so preupied with whether or not they could, they didn''t stop to think if they should."

    "Huh?"

    "It''s a movie quote. Don''t tell me you''ve never seen Jurassic Park!"

    "I''m afraid I haven''t."

    "It''s so good! And it''s based on a book. I''ll see if I can check it out for you at the library when I go. You have plenty of time to watch movies now; you should see if you can find it on any streaming services."

    "I don''t have any," Joss confessed.

    That made sense if she was always busy. Who wanted to pay for something they didn''t have time for? On the rare asions Keith had time to watch TV he mooched off one of his roommates'' ounts since it was hooked up to the TV in the living room.

    "Try some free trials then. Most of them have the option. If you like a show on there you can always get the subscription when it runs out," he suggested. "Bingeing shows can take up a good chunk of time and keep your mind off things."

    "I might have to look into that. Thanks. Do you have any other suggestions?"

    Keith had to think about it. Streaming services were a pretty cheap way to keep busy if you had a lot of time on your hands but other hobbies could get pricey from what he had heard. He didn''t know how much she had to spare, especially with whatever medical bills she had been hit with after having knee surgery.

    "I''ll look into that and get back to you," he promised.

 Chapter 132 - More Similar Than He Originally Thought

    Keith didn''t have time to look into it until his first break the next day. It looked like a lot of those hobbies either required going outside or buying a lot of stuff for it.

    He brought Joss those books as requested but still had to think of what else she could do. At least he had some time. He didn''t know how fast she read but those shouldst her at least a week even if all she did was read.

    Wrong. He was very wrong about that. She finished them all in less than four days!

    Since she finished thest one before noon she spent the rest of the day testing out different TV show pilots when she finally got a free trial on a streaming service. She was still watching on herptop when he arrived and was simultaneously ying games on her phone, likely to have something to do with her hands as she was unable to move much else.

    If Joss needed to have something to do with her hands regrly she should try something like crocheting or origami. Crocheting could get expensive though.

    Paper was cheap. If she used printer paper instead of specialized origami paper she could get a whole lot of it for less than ten bucks at the right ce. He would have to bring her some tomorrow. He still remembered how to fold ninja stars from middle school and could show her how.

    Speaking of buying things¡­had she been able to get groceries at all since her surgery? Or been able to doundry? She probably needed help with that but hadn''t wanted to ask and be a bother.

    She had said things like that multiple times but it really wasn''t a bother. He had wanted to see her anyway and being her personal errand boy gave him the perfect excuse.

    "Do you need any groceries or help withundry?" Keith asked.

    Joss sighed, which he knew meant yes before she even said anything. "Yeah. I should really stop having so much takeout. I can make you a list. And I could useundry help too but you really don''t have to. I can manage."

    "That''s not happening. You''re using crutches; you can''t carry anything. Tell me where yourundry basket is and I''ll bring it with mine when I go to theundromat."

    "¡­it''s in the bathroom."

    Keith went to go find it and discovered it was a ck popup hamper rather than a true basket. That would make things easier. He had one of those too. He could sling one over each shoulder.

    "Thanks, Keith," Joss said softly.

    "No problem!"

    She didn''t send him that grocery list until the next day but when he saw it he frowned. Aside from apples, bananas, and bread everything on it was microwaveable or toaster oven junk. He knew that was all she had to work with but still. She should really be eating better than this while recovering from surgery. At least she was having some fruit.

    Keith decided to be a busybody and get her some canned vegetables too. They were less than eighty cents a can so it wouldn''t make much of a difference for her grocery bill.

    He arrived at her apartmentter than usualden with things for her. She seemed rather surprised by the vegetables and the ream of paper.

    "I didn''t ask for these."

    "No, but vegetables are important! Oh geez, I''ve never sounded like such an adult. I didn''t mean to overstep but you are recovering from surgery and could probably use them," Keith said apologetically.

    Joss scrutinized him. "And the paper?"

    "That''s for origami. I thought it would be a good way to keep your hands busy while you watch TV. I only know how to make ninja stars but I can show you how to do them. I''m sure you can find all sorts of free tutorials online for anything else. I already folded yourundry for you. Where does everything go? I can put it away too so you don''t have to strain yourself."

    "Behind that curtain in my closet of sorts. Thank you."

    Keith was relieved she was getting more used to him doing things to help her out without protesting that he didn''t need to. That was a good thing.

    He was in the middle of hanging up a blouse when she spoke again several minutester. "Why are you doing all of this for me? Surely you have better things to be doing with your time."

    "I can''t think of any better way to spend my time than with you."

    "That''s different than doing things for me. I''m not doing anything to entertain you and you''re running all of these errands and doing chores like it''s no big deal. Why?"

    Keith looked at Joss and smiled warmly despite the ache in his heart seeing the genuine confusion on her face. She really didn''t get it, did she? She didn''t understand that she deserved to be helped when she was having a hard time.

    "I don''t need you to entertain me. I just need you to be happy and taken care of," he said honestly.

    "Why?" she repeated.

    Because he liked her more than he had ever liked anyone. But he couldn''t force the words out. Not like this. If he was going to tell her the truth about his feelings it couldn''t be now. It would have to be when she was doing better.

    "Because you''re my best friend, Joss. I take care of my friends."

    "You go far and beyond the call of duty. I''ve never been taken care of like this in my life," Joss said with a sense of disbelieving wonder about her.

    Yet another simrity between her and Frostine. Neither of them had anyone watching out for them. But that wasn''t true anymore, at least in Joss''s case. He wasn''t the most reliable person in the world but she had him.

    "You don''t have to worry about that anymore," Keith said lightly.

    Her words saddened him though. He knew what that was like. Being alone¡­not having anyone who truly cared about you¡­having to deal with things yourself. No wonder she was so independent.

    Joss didn''t have to live like that though. And neither did he. He was certain that if the situations were reversed that she would do the same for him. It was simply the kind of person she was. A helper. But even helpers needed to be helped sometimes.

    "I don''t understand," she admitted.

    Keith was already back to hanging upundry. "What''s not to understand?"

    "All of this. I''m not¡­I''m not worth this. You''re doing too much for me and I don''t want you to feel burdened or get sick of me since I''m mostly immobilized right now. You can go home. We can hang out again once I''m recovered."

    "I don''t want to go months without seeing you! And I don''t feel burdened at all. You''re the one who said you could never get sick of me. So why can''t you believe the same in reverse?"

    Joss blinked at him as if the thought had never urred to her. Did she think so little of herself? She usually seemed so self-assured. Was that all a front? What on earth went on inside that woman''s head?

    "You like me that much?"

    Keith''s heart hammered against his ribs. He had to y it cool here. He couldn''t let her know how much he liked her in a not-so-friendly way.

    "Duh," he said, drawing out the word. "We wouldn''t be best friends if I didn''t."

    "Keith, I¡­" Joss faltered.

    "Yeah?"

    "Never mind. Can you show me how to do those ninja stars after you''re done with that?"

    Keith was dying to know what she had been about to say but afraid to push it. He turned to smile at her. "Of course. I''ll need to put the groceries away too though. You take it easy and get back to your show. I''ll be over there soon."

    "Alright. Thanks," Joss said softly.

    He had never done a load of women''sundry before this and was slightly embarrassed but he had lived with enough foster sisters over the years that it wasn''t that big of a deal. He didn''t want to make her feel worse so he acted like this was a perfectly normal thing to do.

    Finding space in the tiny fridge and "pantry" (which was just a couple of storage bins with food boxes in them) was more difficult. How on earth did she live like this?

    Joss could probably afford better even if she didn''t want roommates. She had a master''s degree for crying out loud! So why choose to live in a shoebox? He couldn''t understand the rationale behind that at all.

    He had learned more about the sort of person she was in the past week than he had in all the time they had known each other. And he wasn''t sure how to feel about the picture it was painting. Something had seriously hurt her at some point for her to be like this.

    Not having any real roots. Constantly keeping herself busy. Being fiercely independent and not wanting to bother anyone else with her problems while always helping other people with theirs.

    Keith recognized those signs even if he wasn''t a therapist. That was a coping mechanism. One he was somewhat familiar with.. They were more simr than he originally thought.

 Chapter 133 - All Tangled Up

    As Keith realized there was much more to Joss than met the eye and that she probably wasn''t as put-together as she appeared he wondered if that was why they got along so well. There was a good chance they had both been rejected by everyone else their whole lives for being themselves until they met a kindred spirit.

    She did say that thinking the best of each other might be why they worked. Had she figured out that he used humor as a defense mechanism? She probably had considering her job. Maybe she felt a sense of solidarity around him too.

    She also said he made things more fun. Based on what he had seen since she got hurt he was beginning to understand why that was such a big deal to her.

    Joss didn''t have hobbies. She didn''t know what to do with herself when she wasn''t busy with whatever she did outside of work and it was ringly obvious. She read what she was given. Ate what she was given. Went along with any suggestions that were given without seeming to put any thought into whether or not it was something she wanted.

    She didn''t seem to have much of an opinion on anything but that didn''t mean she was boring. She had rather interesting things to say and was able to keep up with his weird sense of humor.

    It was just strange. How did someone manage to go through life as long as she had without finding things she liked or disliked?

    When Keith was doing herundry he noticed that almost all of her clothes were neutrally colored. As if she picked whatever was inest on purpose. She didn''t have essories the way most women did either. And her pajamas were all matching sets. The kind that were bundled up and sold in packages rather than needing to be tried on.

    Her apartment didn''t have a single thing in it that was sentimental. It was perfectly organized and perfectly generic. Anyone could live here. Even a motel room had more personality than this ce.

    He knew Joss had a personality. So why didn''t it show in her space?

    Keith didn''t have much in his room either but he at least had stickers on hisptop and a band poster he had held onto since high school. And a striped bedspread that included one of his favorite colors. Hers was in white.

    That wasn''t the only weird thing either. When she was watching TV she didn''t seem to get into it at all. Her expression was nk as if she wasn''t absorbing what she was watching in the slightest. But when he asked she was able to give detailed analysis of what was happening on the screen.

    She wasn''t enjoying what she was watching. She was simply doing it to have something to do.

    How much of her life was like that? Was hanging out with him like that too?

    Keith didn''t want to believe it. Joss was a lot more animated when they were joking around than she was when she was doing her own thing. But he had noticed when they were at the arcade before that she took things in the same way when they weren''tughing at something or other.

    Was there anything she truly enjoyed? He was beginning to think there wasn''t and she did everything solely to have something to do.

    That was a sad way to live. He didn''t think there was anything wrong with her for being like that but he did wish she found a way to be more engaged in the world for her own sake.

    It made him want to help her experience as much as possible. Maybe that way she would find something she liked for real. Unfortunately, that would be difficult to do until she fully recovered. He already knew that would take months.

    Keith didn''t mind too much though. He nned to stick around much longer than that.

    He may not fully understand thisplicated woman but he wanted to. Desperately. He wanted to understand everything about her so he wouldn''t do or say the wrong thing and drive her away.

    Joss had worried about that before. She said she wasn''t good with interacting with people outside of a work setting and if she did anything wrong to tell him. That hinted at her being every bit as afraid of messing this up as he was.

    If she had been through something traumatic in the past it would make sense. That they were both like that because they were used to getting rejected and didn''t want it to happen again.

    Keith had never had more than a superficial rtionship because he thought his real self wouldn''t be epted anywhere. He didn''t think that was Joss''s problem. He was pretty sure she had never even discovered what her real self was because of whatever happened to her.

    That was okay. He didn''t care what that ended up being. Even if she wasn''t terribly opinionated she was still smart, kind, and funny. That wouldn''t change when she found things she cared about other than her work.

    He nced over at where she was concentrating hard on making an origami flower and smiled. How had he ever thought she was too elegant to be cute? She was adorable.

    When Joss finished she held it up for him to inspect. "What do you think?"

    The lines were impably sharp and it looked exactly like the model she had a picture of on her phone. She had picked up on origami quick. He wasn''t sure if she liked it or not but at least it was giving her something to do for now.

    Keith grinned at her. "Best origami flower I''ve ever seen. You''re a natural. A little more practice and the origami gods will be bowing down to you."

    Joss rolled her eyes at his exaggeration but let out a pleasedugh. "High praise. Thanks, Keith."

    "You''re very wee."

    No, he didn''t understand herpletely. But he was starting to. That was what mattered.

    ===

    Jocelyn hadn''t expected Keith to take care of her so thoroughly. She thought asking for help with her mattress would be a one-time thing but he exceeded her expectations so much she didn''t even know where to begin.

    He came over every day not only to keep her entertained but help with whatever chores she needed done. He neverined and when she tried to protest or apologize he brushed it off by saying he wanted to help her. She truly didn''t understand.

    Was this because he liked her? Was that why he was helping her out?

    He said it was because they were best friends but she had never had a best friend before so she didn''t know what all it entailed. This seemed to go above and beyond what anyone would do for someone else unless they were family. The healthy kind that actually loved each other.

    Jocelyn didn''t have any experience with that either. This was all rather perplexing.

    It didn''t help that she had way too much time to overthink about all of this. Since she wasn''t working she had nothing but time and not much to do. Those books Keith brought helped kill time but that was all it was.

    None of them left a real impression. Same with the TV shows she tried to watch. Eventually, she picked something solely to have a consistent way to pass the time. She wasn''t terribly invested in it so she yed games on her phone while listening more than watching.

    Somehow Keith figured out what she was doing and suggested something else to do with her hands while she watched TV. It required more concentration and that was helpful.

    The real question was how he had known. Had seeing her outside of the usual context given something about her away? She was concerned about that possibility because she knew better than anyone that she was dull as dishwater. Someone as lively as him wouldn''t want to be around someone like her long-term.

    Jocelyn had never wanted him to see her like this. Vulnerable. Weak. In pain.

    But it wasn''t as if she had any other choice. She was recovering from surgery and needed the help.

    Keith came over every day to either bring her things or just hang out. He always helped her into bed too since it was difficult for her to get onto the mattress with her leg and the limited floorspace.

    He worked or trained all day then took care of her all evening. Why? Why was he doing this? What was he gaining from it? He must havepletely given up on his hero duties to take care of her and she knew he loved being a hero.

    Why would he give that up for her? Were his feelings for her stronger than she thought?

    Jocelyn''s were all tangled up. She was incredibly grateful he was here and simultaneously terrified of bing more dependent on him than she already was. Especially with all of the secrets between them. Those wouldn''t be resolved so easily.

    She hadn''t gotten the chance to reach out to Avery West-ter yet. Even if she could she didn''t know if they would be able to meet. More likely they would have to talk on the phone because she was stuck at home.

 Chapter 134 - Thats How Life Works

    Jocelyn wasn''t able to get a hold of Avery until she was back at work. Waking up earlier to drag her slower-than-usual self to the subway station was exhausting and her knee hurt terribly. But her clients needed her so she off she went.

    They all wanted to know what happened and she had to make up a better story that didn''t contradict the one she had already given John and Marie. At least most didn''t ask too many questions.

    She got lunch from Keith as usual and he was very concerned about how she felt being up and about, which made her heart race for some reason. Why? He had been fussing over her ever since he found out she got hurt! What was different this time?

    He couldn''t stay long because he had another delivery to make but he promised toe over as soon as he was off work. She barely managed to hold herself together. What did this mean? What was wrong with her?!

    Jocelyn didn''t know but she did need to eat. She remembered to text Avery when she finished and received a text back asking if she could call now.

    A nce at the clock showed there wasn''t enough time left of her limited lunch break. Avery offered to talk once she was back home because Christian would be able to watch Bailey then and she could give her undivided attention.

    That worked. Keith got offter than she did anyway. This was not a conversation he could be party to.

    Jocelyn forced herself to get through the rest of the day, made it home with much difficulty, She took as quick a sponge bath as she could and did her best to wash her hair in the sink before changing into her pajamas. She had gotten into the habit of being ready for bed before he came over because he had to help her onto her air mattress and didn''t want to make him wait around longer than necessary.

    She checked to make sure she still had time before calling Avery. She picked up on the third ring surprisingly cheerfully considering Jocelyn had sort of stalked her family the other day and begged for help.

    "Hi, Jocelyn! So what exactly was it you wanted to talk to me about? You mentioned it involved your best friend."

    "Yes¡­we had a couple of conversations both as Jocelyn and Frostine that were very simr and I was able to put the pieces together. They aren''t aware I know and I don''t know how to tell them. I''m afraid they''ll be upset with me."

    "If you figured it out by ident that isn''t your fault. I don''t see why they would be upset unless they have a problem with one of your identities. That was my issue," Avery said.

    "That isn''t it. We''re friends in both identities. But¡­well¡­they told Frostine they liked their best friend. It couldn''t be anyone but me. Do you have any idea how weird it is sitting there hearing someone talk about how beautiful and smart and funny you are without being able to acknowledge they''re talking about you?" Jocelyn asked somewhat desperately.

    "Oh. I can see how that would be weird."

    The rest of it poured out in a rush. Now that she had said one part of what was on her mind she couldn''t stop herself.

    "They said they can''t afford to lose me and I can''t afford to lose them either, especially now that I''ve seen how much they care about me. I got hurt and they''ve been doing so much for meing over every day and taking care of things I can''t do on my own and keeping me entertained as it feels like everything is falling apart.

    "I think they really like me and I can''t let them know that because they would be embarrassed and I haven''t sorted out my feelings about them. I can''t because once I do there''s no going back and I''m not even 100% sure they are who I think they are.

    "They might not like me romantically at all. They could be two separate people. It just seems incredibly unlikely since I was right about you and your husband. I''m cursed to guess people''s secret identities, I suppose.

    "So what am I supposed to do? How did you do it? Mer¡ªsorry, Christian¡ªsaid you figured it out first. How were you able to work things out? You''re the only person I can think of who has some experience with this sort of thing and I need help."

    Avery''s voice was sympathetic when she responded. "That''s an awful lot to deal with. I wasn''t 100% sure either and that was the justification I used for pursuing him because it really is too ridiculous to date your nemesis. But I was already basically sure by the time it was confirmed for me. You said it was because of some conversations you had. What exactly was it?"

    "My best friend talked to me as me about changing jobs since they''ve bounced around as a food delivery person for years and wanted tomit to a real career but didn''t know where to start.

    "Then my other friend asked for very simr advice because they want to retire. Too many things added up for it to be anyone else after that. I missed it all this time because they act differently in different situations," Jocelyn said helplessly.

    "But now they don''t?"

    "No. We both started acting more like ourselves and that clued me in further. Their senses of humor are so simr! I''ve had to be so careful not to slip up and let him know I know. Originally, I was thinking I could just keep it to myself indefinitely since he''s retiring but since we''re getting closer I feel like I shouldn''t. I don''t want to have secrets from him but I don''t know what to say."

    "I see your problem," Avery replied in a thoughtful tone. "But since you know they like both sides of you I don''t think you have to worry too much. You do have some sort of feelings for them, don''t you? Otherwise you wouldn''t say you can''t afford to lose them."

    "They''re my only friend. I¡­never nned to get involved with anyone romantically. I don''t know if I like them or if I''m lonely and desperately clinging to the one person who doesn''t think I''m made of ice," Jocelyn confessed.

    "But it isn''t fair to them not to have my feelings sorted and I''m terrified that if we do both like each other that we''ll somehow manage to mess it up and then I''ll be alone again. I can''t go back to the way things were before now that I know how nice it is to have someone want me around."

    "I understand. Really, I do. I was afraid Christian would hate me because I was Nox but he didn''t. He just wanted to understand and help me. If your friend truly does care about you I think you''ll be able to work through this."

    Jocelyn felt some of the tension leave her shoulders. She knew Keith cared about her. She knew Delta cared about Frostine too, if not to the same extent.

    He was afraid of not being liked for who he was. He should understand that she was the same way, shouldn''t he? But what if he didn''t? What if he still got angry and embarrassed and decided she wasn''t worth it after all? She had been causing him a lot of troubletely even without factoring in the secret identity mess. He might think she wasn''t worth the hassle.

    "But what if I do lose him over this?" she asked fretfully.

    "Then you never truly had him in the first ce," Avery said wisely. "I know it''s scary but it worked out for me way better than I ever dreamed it could. I was so convinced it would end terribly and so was my best friend, who didn''t even know he was Mercury. Just that I was getting married to awyer.

    "If Christian can love me enough to stay with me when I was his nemesis and caused him nothing but trouble for years I think your best friend who likes both sides of you should be okay with a little bit of embarrassment and having to have a mature adult conversation.

    "But if he doesn''t, he doesn''t. That''s how life works. Sometimes you get disappointed but you have to keep moving forward anyway. I''m sorry if that isn''t what you want to hear. I really do think things will be okay for you though. This is just backup encouragement."

    Jocelynughed at the very concept of backup encouragement despite her stress. Avery was an interesting person. She could see why her husband had been intrigued by her.

    "Thanks. I appreciate it."

    "No problem! How are you holding up with your injury? Are you going to have to retire?" Avery asked.

    A pit formed in Jocelyn''s stomach. She had been trying not to think about that. "I am. They removed part of my kneecap so it isn''t as if I have any other choice.. I have no idea how to deal with retirement since my whole adult life has been devoted to being a hero."

 Chapter 135 - She Needed To Be Braver Than This

    Avery made a thoughtful noise. "I think Christian can help you with that more than I can. I was never as involved in my life as Nox as he was with his as Mercury. I only did it because I had a specific goal in mind and never wanted to in the first ce so I was relieved to be done. Let me go get him for you."

    Jocelyn could hear soft voices in the background but couldn''t quite make out what they were saying until Christian''s came on the line. She had been too mortified at being caughtst time she heard it to process that it waspletely different than it had been as Mercury. She was impressed he thought of that.

    "Hi, Jocelyn. Avery says you''re worried about retiring? Sorry to hear about your injury."

    "Thank you. And yes, I was wondering how you did it. You were fairly active as a hero so how did you manage to settle down?"

    "It wasn''t too hard because I had something to leave for. I wanted to spend more time with Avery. But since you''re leaving by force I can understand how that would be difficult. I take it you have a lot of free time to fill?"

    "Far too much," Jocelyn admitted. "All I did was work and be Frostine until recently when I started hanging out a bit with my friend. Now I''m stuck at home alone a lot of the time and I''m losing my mind. I don''t have hobbies. How do you develop hobbies? How do you be a normal person, Christian?"

    Christian definitely understood where she wasing from. His tone was apologetic.

    "I know exactly what you mean but I got lucky enough to go where Avery went and do what she did. Being around her made me happy so I didn''t mind what we were doing as long as we were together.

    "If you don''t have a person you can fill your time with, find something else you can do. A volunteer opportunity, some sort of ss? Something you can do to feel productive because thinking about the people you aren''t saving can get to you at times.

    "But it''s not bad to look out for yourself. Every hero has their day but at the end of it all we''re still people with needs. I needed to build a life with the woman I loved. What do you need?"

    "I don''t know," Jocelyn said honestly.

    But Keith shed through her mind even as she said it. She couldn''t even think of something as big and scary as building a life with him but she did want to spend more time with him. Get to know him better. Show him how good he was and that he didn''t need to be anyone but himself.

    Did she like him after all? Was that what this was? She wasn''t sure and it unsettled her.

    "That''s alright," Christian reassured her. "You''ll get there. In the meantime be sure to take care of yourself, alright? Let us know if you need anything."

    "Don''t feel obligated just because I saved your family once. I don''t want to be a bother," Jocelyn replied.

    "That isn''t it. You can never have too many friends. Most of mine were Avery''s first so it would be nice having more who I knew first. Besides, I did hope you were doing well. I hoped all of you were even though I couldn''t stay in touch. Now we can."

    Oh. She hadn''t realized. Maybe the rest of the heroes had stronger bonds than she thought aside from her and Delta. She felt a bit warm hearing that even though she knew she would likely never get to speak to any of the others again. She had two hero friends she was allowed to talk to and that would have to be enough.

    "I see. I hoped you were doing well too. It''s such a relief to see that you are."

    "Yeah¡­I imagine ourst meeting as heroes would have made you worry about me. Sorry about that," Christian said sheepishly.

    "Don''t worry about it. Have a nice rest of your night, Christian."

    "You too. Feel better!"

    He hung up on her and she decided to add him on social media since he said they were friends. That was the sort of thing friends did. She would be able to see he was doing well for herself more easily that way.

    Jocelyn went to heat herself up some soup in a mug and was in the middle of drinking it to save herself the need to wash a spoon when Keith showed up. She had gotten in the habit of leaving the door unlocked when he wasing over soon so she didn''t have to get up.

    "Come in!"

    He opened the door and smiled at her. "Ooh, is that coffee? Can I have some?"

    "Actually, it''s soup. You can have some if you want though. I''m afraid I don''t have any coffee."

    "¡­you''re drinking soup?"

    "I didn''t want to wash a spoon."

    "You do realize I could have washed the spoon for you? How are you going to get the pieces out of the bottom?"

    Jocelyn hadn''t thought quite that far. "Ah. Do you mind getting me one then?"

    Keithughed. "No problem. Though I suppose drinking it would work if it was just broth or some sort of creamy tomato soup. What is that, anyway? Chicken noodle?"

    "Yeah. Admittedly, it is hard to drink the noodles. And the chicken. And the vegetables. I should have just gotten a spoon in the first ce but walking is hard and I was already sitting when I realized I forgot one."

    "Been there. Not with drinking soup out of a mug but with sitting down and realizing I forgot something important a secondter. Heating it up in a mug is actually super smart. They take up less space than bowls do in your one kitchen utensils bin."

    "Exactly why I did it. I have a mug I use as a bowl and a reusable water bottle I use as a cup. One te, one fork, one knife, one spoon. That''s the extent of my cookware. Isn''t that sad?"

    "A little. Even I have more than that. I''m sitting pretty with two of each," he said dramatically.

    Jocelyn snorted. "Because two is so much different than one."

    "Hey, I also own a sauce pan, pot, baking sheet, and strainer. I''d say I''m miles ahead of you when ites to cookware. But it is the only thing I''m miles ahead of you on so let me have my victory, please."

    There he went being self-deprecating again. Why did he always have to do that? He was miles ahead of her when it came to having interests.

    "I''m sure there are plenty of things you''re better at than me. I already know you''re better at Skee Ball and air hockey," Jocelyn pointed out. "You''re also a lot funnier than I am. So it''s not just in terms of cookware."

    Keith smiled. "I forgot about air hockey. You''re funnier than you think though. I''m just a total dork."

    "Don''t say that like it''s a bad thing. It happens to be what I like best about you."

    "So you''ve said. And I appreciate that. No one else appreciates my unsungedic genius the way you do."

    Always deflecting with humor, wasn''t he? Not that she had any room to judge. She knew him well enough by now to realize that it was simultaneously a coping mechanism and something he was afraid of being rejected for. Which meant he probably had a history of being rejected. That was something the two of them had inmon.

    Jocelyn truly couldn''t afford to lose his light in her life. She knew she should tell him the truth and that they should talk about all of this as rational adults but as she saw him grin at her withughter in his eyes she couldn''t do it.

    Why was she chickening out? She needed to be braver than this!

    She thought she was firm in her resolve by the end of her conversations with both Avery and Christian but once Keith was in front of her she found herself unable to say what was on her mind. She needed to tell him. She KNEW she needed to tell him so why wasn''t she telling him?

    Yet she didn''t. Not that day. Or the next. Or the whole rest of the week.

    Jocelyn continued taking advantage of his kindness toward her every day without telling him the truth. It was about to burst out of her like a volcano and she couldn''t let that happen because she needed to have this discussion while she was calm and rational.

    She had been calm and rational most of her life but right now when she was exhausted, stressed, confused, and in pain she wasn''t sure she would be able to make it stick.. And she had to. This was when it mattered most!

 Chapter 136 - He Needed To Know

    Keith wasn''t sure how he could tell but Joss was upset about something. Something that went beyond her inability to do a lot of things because of her knee. She frequently looked like she was about to say something before backing down.

    What was it? What did she want to tell him but felt like she couldn''t?

    Every time he tried to ask she said she was fine or just tired or in pain. She would never give him the real reason and he was getting frustrated.

    How was he supposed to help her if he didn''t know what was going on? He wanted to help her. Seeing her upset was incredibly distressing. There was something about seeing a normally calm person on edge that makes you feel the same way.

    Joss wouldn''t let him help her on an emotional level since he already was on a physical one by doing the things she currently couldn''t. She probably didn''t want to burden him but he didn''t see it that way.

    Having an emotional connection with someone was a privilege not a burden. A scary one, to be sure, but a privilege nheless.

    Keith had never had that before. He never let anyone in like this before. He had shared more of his vulnerability with her than he had with anyone who actually knew who he was. Frostine didn''t count because of the anonymity between them.

    He was going to have to keep trying. He wanted to get closer to Joss. He wanted to understand herpletely and let her know how wonderful she was. Giving up here wasn''t an option even if he was frustrated.

    After he finished his training one Saturday night he needed to go check on her so he changed into his costume and used his powers to get across town quicker as he often did. This time he briefly stopped to pick something up for her at the store that he only just remembered she requested and ran into MultiMan on his way out.

    He was eating a burrito and seemed equally surprised to see him. "Delta! I thought something happened to you too. No one has seen you in weeks."

    "I''ve had some personal stuff to deal with. Still do, in fact. I''m here on an errand for someone but the subway was too slow." He frowned as something about the other hero''s wording urred to him. "Too?"

    "Frostine got hurt pretty badly a few weeks ago. I helped her get to an ambnce but I haven''t seen her since so I assume she broke something important. I would have thought you knew but if you''ve been off the grid too it makes more sense that you don''t."

    Keith gaped at him. "Frostine got hurt?! What happened?"

    MultiMan shrugged. "I''m not sure exactly since I got there after it happened. A viin was encased in ice but I couldn''t see her anywhere. She ended up being trapped on the ground in an alleyway behind the ice. She wasn''t the most talkative because of the pain and didn''t tell me how she got hurt.

    "I got her over the ice wall and waited with her for the ambnce to show up. Haven''t seen or heard from her since but it looked pretty bad with how heavily she was bleeding and how swollen her knee was."

    Keith''s heart nearly stopped. "Her knee?!"

    "Yeah. The left one."

    Frostine''s left knee. Joss hurt her left knee too around the same time. And sometimes he thought the two of them were so simr it drove him crazy until he dismissed it. What if he hadn''t been crazy? What if they were simr because they were the same person?

    "Is that so?" he said faintly.

    MultiMan nodded since his mouth was full of burrito. When he swallowed he spoke again. "Uh huh. I hope she''s alright and that she was able to get someone to take her home from the hospital. I offered to go with her but she said she would be fine on her own."

    That certainly sounded like Joss. Refusing help because she didn''t want to bother anyone.

    His friend was struggling because she wasn''t busy anymore. What had she been busy with? Was it being a hero? Helping people for her job and with all of her free time?

    That sounded like her too. She gave so much of herself to others without ever thinking of herself. And so did Frostine based on that one conversation they had about her only wanting to help.

    They were both altruistic. Or maybe it was just one of them that was altruistic because they had been the same person the entire time.

    A thought hit him like a truck. Joss''s distractiontely. Was it because she knew he was Delta? She had figured out who Mercury was; he already knew she was good at putting clues together when she had them.

    If she was Frostine she knew him as both Delta and Keith. He had asked both of them for career advice around the same time. She could have put it together from that with how smart she was. And he had only been using generics! It would exin why she didn''t want to say what was bothering her even using those if that was how she figured him out. She wouldn''t have wanted the same thing to happen to her.

    But why? Why would it matter if he knew who she was unless she didn''t trust him? But if she didn''t trust him why would she keep spending time with him and let him into her apartment so often even if she was desperate?

    Keith nearly died of mortification when he remembered that he had told Frostine he liked his best friend. And she not only cried but blushed after that. The first real reaction he had ever gotten out of her aside from the time he made her mad by insinuating he thought she was boring.

    Her reaction would make a lot more sense if she was Joss. She knew she was his best friend.

    Had it been because she was embarrassed or because she was moved? He wracked his brains trying to think back on that conversation but couldn''t remember much about it since it had kind of been all over the ce.

    "Delta?" MultiMan asked.

    He had finished his burrito and was looking at Keith like he was stupid for not responding. Maybe he was. Maybe he was the biggest idiot on the for not realizing what was going on sooner.

    His only two friends were the same person. Sure, he knew them in vastly differing contexts, but shouldn''t he have noticed that before now?!

    "Sorry. I was spacing out. Worrying about Frostine, you know?"

    "I''m worried about her too. If you somehow manage to get in contact with her be sure to let me know she''s doing alright," MultiMan said.

    Hystericalughter bubbled up that Keith forced down. If he managed to get in contact with her, huh? He was fairly certain he was on his way to see her right this minute.

    "¡­sure. Thanks for helping her out."

    "She would have done the same for me. See you around, Delta."

    MultiMan headed off and Keith was left with the thought that yes, she absolutely would have. That was simply the sort of person she was. Always helping. Always looking out for everyone else while no one looked out for her.

    If Frostine did end up being Joss she had someone looking out for her now whether she liked it or not. She''d had his back for years and without even realizing it he had hers in her time of need.

    He didn''t know what to do with this information except perhaps die of embarrassment. If Joss knew he liked her why didn''t she say anything? Was that why she had been so distractedtely? Was that what was bothering her?

    If it was because she didn''t like him back why would she keep saying nice things to him and letting hime over? Or was she afraid of screwing things up as he was and that was the only reason she didn''t say what she knew? He had to ask her even if it did make things awkward. He needed to know.

    Keith rushed off toward her apartment with a fierce determination about him, barely managing to remember to put his outer clothes back on over his costume before sprinting up to her floor. He barged in and found her fiercely concentrating on an origami star. A small pile of them was next to her chair on the ground so she must have been at this a while.

    "Joss!"

    She looked up at the sound of her name and smiled at him. "Hi, Keith! Look what I''ve been doing. I was thinking once I finish all of these that I could paint them and put them in a jar as decoration. I got the idea from the inte."

    While a tiny part of his brain acknowledged that it was a good thing she was finally trying to make this ce more hers he was too focused on what he needed to say toment on it. He blurted what was on his mind immediately.

    "You''re Frostine, aren''t you?"

 Chapter 137 - What Do You Want?

    Joss''s expression went nk for a moment. Then came the sh of panic. The wheels turning in her head as she tried to figure out what to do. Resignation.

    "I don''t see the point in denying it. I WAS Frostine. My hero career is over because of my knee. Isn''t that stupid? Nearly ten years of viin fights and I had to get taken down by being thrown into a wall of all things."

    Keith hadn''t expected her to admit to it so easily but he supposed he should have. She was a straightforward person. It was amazing she hadn''t brought up the issue earlier knowing what she was like.

    "You were thrown into a wall?"

    "Yeah. Shattered my knee on impact because it hit a corner. And now I''m probably never going to have full use of my left leg again. For such a stupid reason," Joss said bitterly.

    "Joss, that''s not your fault¡ª" he began but she rode right over him.

    "Oh? It isn''t my fault for being distracted and not having my heart in what I was doing? I made a stupid mistake and it cost me everything. My hero career, my leg, and probably you too. My injury is how you figured out who I was, right?"

    Keith didn''t know what she was getting at. "What do you mean probably me?"

    "Aren''t you upset at me? I figured out your secret identity months ago by ident. I suppose it''s my curse that this has happened to me with three different people now."

    Real anguish was on Joss''s face. She looked like the world had been pulled out from under her. No wonder she hadn''t said anything all this time. She had been genuinely worried about his reaction.

    "I''m not upset at YOU," Keith said honestly. "The situation is stressful, I''ll admit, but I''m not mad at you or anything. Mostly I feel like an idiot for not realizing sooner and embarrassed and confused because you have to have figured out that I like you but you''re still treating me normally and I don''t know what that means."

    "You''re not an idiot. I only managed to put it together because I had almost exactly the same conversation with both of your identities a few days apart. The coincidences stacked up after that because I knew what to look for.

    "I knew you would be embarrassed. That''s why I didn''t want to say anything even though I knew I should. I didn''t want to keep this a secret from you once we started spending more time together.

    "I understand being confused too¡­but it''s you, Keith. You''re the friend I talked about as Frostine. I can''t afford to lose you either so I stupidly did what I thought was best at the time to not upset the bnce," Joss sighed.

    Keith still didn''t know what that meant. Did she like him romantically or not? Was she afraid to try like he was or did she not have those feelings in the first ce?

    "What do you think is best now?" he blurted.

    She looked up at him with serious gray eyes he had seen a thousand times both in and out of the mask and wondered how he ever could have missed it. No one else had such deep eyes that saw through everything.

    "Whatever keeps you with me. I''ve never liked anyone before because I''ve seen too much of what can happen when that goes wrong but I can''t deny that you''re the most important person in the world to me. I care about what happens to you and want you to see how good you are and am happiest when you''re around.

    "Is that what happens when you like someone? Honestly, I''m terrified because I don''t even know how to be a good friend. No one has ever wanted me around until I met you. I was the outcast. The invisible girl. The ice queen.

    "I don''t even know who I am so how am I supposed to know what I want or what I''m feeling? Everybody always thinks I don''t have emotions but they''re buried so deeply because it''s what I had to do to survive. Stay quiet and ept things as they are no matter what.

    "I didn''t know how to want things until I wanted to do them with you. I''ve spent most of my life trying to keep busy and make a difference for unfortunate people like me but that isn''t always fulfilling. It''s simply something to do so I don''t go insane.

    "Why would you want to be with someone like that? Especially now that I need so much help physically and will for months at minimum. I''m not worth it and I was afraid you would see that sooner orter."

    So Keith was right. She didn''t know who she was and it WAS the result of a survival tactic.

    He crossed the room and knelt down to hug her tightly as she sat in her chair. "I don''t care about that, Joss. You''re worth it to me. So what if you''re still trying to figure things out? So am I! There''s nothing wrong with that."

    "Everyone else thinks there is," Joss said sadly.

    "Since when do you care what everyone else thinks? Aren''t you the one who told me seeking external validation leaves you feeling empty?"

    "You know, therapists are the biggest hypocrites there are. Sometimes we can''t take our own advice."

    Keith had wondered that before but hearing her say it made him want tough even during this rather emotionally charged conversation. He had to hold it in though. Now was not the time for that.

    "I don''t care what you think about yourself," he said fiercely. "Because I think you''re amazing. There are so many things I''ve admired about you both as Frostine and Jocelyn Normandy and you thinking badly of yourself won''t change that."

    Her muffled voice spoke up from where her face was pressed into his shoulder. "I think you''re amazing too."

    Keith instinctively wanted to deny it but recalled something she said as Frostine. "Am I really the light of your life? You said that before."

    "Yes. I didn''t have anything tough about or look forward to before you came along. Why else would I bother eating at the same restaurant for months on end? I needed some of your vitality to get me through the day once I found it."

    Right. What she said about goofballs being her favorite kind of people. She truly did need him; crazy as that was. No one else had ever needed him before. Maybe no one else would ever need him again. But Joss did. She saw him exactly as he was and still needed him.

    "You aren''t dull," Keith said, referencing that conversation. "You''re brilliant and have the most interesting way of seeing the world. You always keep me on my toes and that''s a good thing."

    "See? We think the best of each other, like I said before. I don''t want to mess with that. I don''t think you do either," Joss replied.

    He was fairly certain he knew what she was getting at. "You just want to stay friends?"

    "I think that''s the safer thing to do but I''m not sure if that''s what I want. I''ve always yed it safe and kept myself at a distance to avoid getting hurt again. I think you have too. Trying to do anything else would be a huge risk for both of us.

    "I have seen a lot of rtionships fail and the terrible aftermath people suffer but I also know that it is possible for them to work if openmunication is kept and people are willing to put in effort to maintain them. I''m willing to do that even if I do a terrible job at first. Are you?

    "My fear is that you won''t be because you''ll see that I''m really not that great and think the effort isn''t worth it. You''re the only person who has ever truly cared about me so the very thought of that happening is excruciating.

    "What do you want, Keith? Are you willing to venture into the unknown together or would you rather stay where it''s morefortable? I honestly don''t know what I want other than continuing to see you and get to know you better," Joss finished in the most vulnerable tone he had ever heard from her.

    What did Keith want? It wasn''t a question he got often if at all.

    He pulled back from the hug and looked into her beautiful, unsure face. There was only one thing he wanted right now and he couldn''t help but say it out loud.

    "I want to kiss you. Can I?"

    Joss''s eyes widened and she blushed adorably before nodding. Keith gently brushed some of her hair out of her face before leaning forward.. He had never done this before and wasn''t quite sure what he was doing so he did little more than a peck.

 Chapter 138 - Your Worst Pun Yet

    Keith sighed and pulled away because the position he was crouching in wasn''t the mostfortable and they shouldn''t do much with Joss''s injury. His heart was racing so it was better not to make that worse. Thatst thing he needed right now was to have a heart attack.

    "I really, really like you, Josstine," he said to lighten the mood.

    Joss snorted before dissolving into peals ofughter. It took her quite a while to get a hold of herself before she grinned at him with an indulgent shake of her head.

    "That might just be your worst pun yet."

    "There are no truly good puns; only truly bad ones. But that''s what makes them good. So really, I think that would make this my best pun yet," Keith said as he innocently shrugged and held his hands up.

    "I don''t even have an argument for that. You win. I never realized my hero name and my real one could even bebined in such a way."

    "Jocelyn and Frostine don''t seem terribly simr at first nce but they do both have the ''oss'' sound and that''s what made it work. But punsters are always on the lookout for things like that. It''s practically our life''s work."

    "I''m sure it is. How did you pick your hero name, anyway? Delta and Keith are about as different as can be," Joss noted.

    "I looked up a list of words rted to water and it was the leastme. What about you?"

    "I did something very simr for ice. Apparently, Frostine is the name of a children''s board game character with ice powers. I found it ironic since she was a queen and everyone always called me Ice Queen without even knowing about my powers."

    That was definitely a lot more in depth than his choice had been. And a lot more sad. He felt a prickle of guilt because he had been the same way before he knew her better. He had thought Frostine was an ice queen because she never once showed her emotions around him until recently.

    Which made a lot of sense in hindsight. She had been stressed about messing things up with him without realizing that wasn''t possible.

    "That is ironic," Keith agreedmely. "Also a way more interesting reason for picking a name than mine."

    "Reasons don''t have to be interesting to be valid," Joss said with a shrug.

    "I suppose that''s true."

    He didn''t know what to say after that. What did they do now? They just had an emotionally charged conversation that ended on a strange note because of his constant need to keep things lighthearted.

    First, Keith needed to stretch his legs. He had been crouching for quite a while. He straightened and moved to the nearby patch of wall he liked to lean against.

    "So, uh, what do you n on doing with your stars again?"

    He remembered what she had said when he first showed up before all of this happened though it took him a minute to get there because his mind was still a bit muddled from their kiss. He had never kissed anyone before and he would really like to kiss her again but didn''t think that was the best idea at the moment.

    They had time. Neither of them wanted to go anywhere so he would get his chance under better circumstances.

    "I was going to get a cheap paint set and paint them different colors before putting them in a clear jar and using them as decoration. I thought it might liven this ce up a little since I''m going to be stuck in it for the foreseeable future," Joss said, gracefully allowing him to change the subject without judgment.

    "My office is colorful because that''s what kids like but I didn''t see the need to do that here. But if colors can make them feel better maybe they can make me feel better too. It gives me something to do other than throw my origami creations out so I figured why not?"

    "That makes sense. Maybe you could make one of those for me too when you''re done," Keith suggested.

    "You would want one?"

    "Sure! Who wouldn''t want to have something their favorite person made just for them?"

    Joss''s smile was so wide it threatened to split her face. "Great! I would be honored to make you a paper star jar. That rhymed, didn''t it?"

    "Yes it did. Well done," Keith replied with a grin of his own.

    How could he have ever thought she was an overly serious know-it-all? That wasn''t the woman he knew in the slightest. Though he supposed back when they only interacted as Frostine and Delta that he hadn''t really known her.

    Joss wasn''t dull or boring at all. She had a lighthearted side thatplemented his perfectly.

    She didn''t have a problem with him joking around too much. She relied on it. And he didn''t have a problem with her rtiveck of opinion because she still had fascinating things to say.

    They could make this work. He had to believe that. That the only person who had ever wanted him would be able to stay by his side forever. He was absolutely determined. Nothing was going to mess with his rtionship with her. Not a single thing!

    Keith couldn''t stay for long after that because he needed to get home and sleep so he could wake up early for his training the next day. He watched her make more paper stars while he made a few shuriken himself and then tucked her into bed as he had been doing. The only difference was that this time he caressed her face and kissed her forehead.

    "Goodnight, Joss. I''ll bring you those jars and paints tomorrow."

    Joss nodded, a slight blush on her face. "Okay. Thanks. Goodnight, Keith. I''ll see you then."

    He headed out feeling like he was on top of the world. He had no idea what the future held for them but as long as he was able to be with her he could handle anything. And he did know they were capable of working together well after years of having each other''s backs in battle. That was a point in favor of this rtionship.

    Although¡­what were they? They never quite put abel on what they were trying to do even though they had kissed and sort of expressed their feelings for each other.

    Keith didn''t want to pressure her while she was recovering, especially since he was functioning as her caretaker. It was why he hadn''t nned on bringing up his feelings in the first ce but that sort of went out the window when he found out she already knew.

    It didn''t really matter what they were right now anyway as long as they were together. He cared about her presence more than he cared about whatever else there might be to it. He just wanted to see her.

    So see her he did. As she was recovering he kissed her most days but it was never making out because he doubted she was up for that with how physically miserable she was. Especially once she started physical therapy trying to get some motion in her leg back.

    She had it three times a week after work and as a result she was able to wait around for him to get off work so they could go over to her ce together. She had a hard time getting around on her crutches and he preferred being there to help if necessary with how crowded the subway station was. Not exactly crutches-friendly.

    When his volunteer fire department training ended and he only had three-hour shifts once a week he was able to spend more time with her so she got a folding chair to put her leg up on and let him have her desk chair. That way they were able to sit next to each other to watch TV while she was stillrgely unable to move around.

    Joss often leaned against his shoulder when she got tired of doing origami or ying phone games and though it was strange at first Keith quickly grew used to it. Having someone else so close to you was moreforting than he would have imagined.

    She had finished a few shows she wasn''t particrly enthusiastic about when he introduced her to his favorite one. A si he thought she would like because their senses of humor were simr.

    Sure enough, sheughed multiple times per episode and seemed to like this one better than all of the others. She even told him halfway through the first season that she thought it might be her favorite show. That was gratifying.

    Watching her find things she liked was slow-going but that wasn''t the first time it had happened. She enjoyed origami more than he thought she would but it was strictly an activity for when she watched TV. When she wasn''t watching TV she liked to paint.

    Painting her origami creations was only the beginning. She found it rxing and wanted to learn how to paint something for real so she started with some cheap paint by numbers kits.

    Once she was recovered and could move around more easily she nned to sign up for a ss, iming that someone told her that sses after work would be a good way to keep herself busy. He had absolutely no idea who she heard that from since he was her only friend but he wasn''tining.. If it helped her find things she liked he was all for it.

 Chapter 139 - That Sounds Horrible

    Jocelyn felt like she was in a dream. The wonderful kind you were vaguely upset you woke up from.

    She hadn''t had to bring up the Delta issue at all because Keith did it first! Not only that but it went so much better than she could have ever anticipated. Avery West-ter had been right.

    He cared about her enough that he wasn''t mad at her for figuring it out or think less of her for not having much of a personality. He insisted on staying with her even though he was as afraid as she was of messing things up.

    That meant the world to her. She would never be able to put the full extent of her feelings into words. If she thought about it too much she was tempted to cry. Someone wanted her and was willing to stay with her as she figured out who she was outside of being a helper.

    Jocelyn had never felt so loved before. So SEEN.

    She wasn''t the invisible girl to Keith. He saw her as she was and still wanted to keep her around. Even if she was boring. Even though she was hurt and he had to do so much to help her right now.

    He never seemed the slightest bit bothered about not being able to go out and do things. He was perfectly content to watch TV or followplex origami tutorials or do thousand-piece puzzles with her.

    "Do you really not mind being stuck in here with me all the time? I''m sure you have things you would rather be doing," Jocelyn pointed out.

    Keith shook his head and looked at her more seriously than usual so she knew he wasn''t joking. "Nope! There''s nothing I''d rather be doing than hanging out with my best friend."

    His arm was already around her since they were watching TV and he pulled her slightly closer so he could kiss her cheek. He did that sort of thing a lot and it always made her heart stutter. What she didn''t understand was why he didn''t do more. And still used thebel of "best friends" when best friends normally didn''t kiss each other.

    It had been a few months since she got hurt. Physical therapy wasing along but she still couldn''t walk without her brace. At least she no longer needed the crutches. Those had been the worst to navigate with in a ce as crowded as New York.

    They couldn''t really go out because she wasn''t supposed to overdo it. She had a feeling the ces Keith wanted to go involved a lot of walking.

    "Is there anything you want to do once you''re feeling better?" he asked curiously.

    Jocelyn had one thing in mind. "I''d like to go to the zoo. I''ve only been once but I kind of ended up watching people more than animals."

    "That¡­sounds just like you, honestly. We can go to the zoo. I can''t even remember thest time I went. I''m not sure whether I liked the monkeys or the penguins better because they were both pretty cool to see."

    "I vaguely remember seeing an elephant but I was a bit distracted."

    Keith raised an eyebrow. "By people watching?"

    "It was the specific people I was watching. I ran into Mercury''s family and was curious so I sort of followed them," Jocelyn confessed.

    "For real?!"

    "Yeah. He wasn''t very happy about it when he caught me. I had to exin who I was and what I was doing. Probably the most embarrassing thing to ever happen to me. He forgave me though. Even said we''re friends."

    "You''re actually friends with Mercury now?"

    "Why not? I''m actually friends with you."

    Keith frowned. "That ispletely different! We knew each other outside of hero work for a long time. You only knew him as a hero then found out his secret identity by ident."

    "I don''t see why this is a problem," Joss said in confusion. "It would be nice to know who the others are too so I can support them from a distance but I doubt that will ever happen. I at least want to tell MultiMan I ended up being okay since he helped me but that''s never going to happen either."

    "You really want to be friends with everyone? Even Red Dynamo?"

    "Why not? I was confused why Mercury wanted to bother with me after I sort of stalked his family and he said you can never have too many friends."

    Keith shook his head in disbelief and muttered, "That guy really is too perfect. What''s he like outside of the suit?"

    "Very happy to be with his family," Joss said as she thought back to how he acted all morning at the zoo and the conversation he had with himter about retirement. "He really loves them. I think it''s sweet."

    "Never would have pictured him as a devoted family man but I suppose it makes sense considering he retired to get married. He has a kid, right?"

    "Two. A daughter and a son."

    Daniel West-ter had been born not long after she was hurt. She saw it on Facebook when mindlessly scrolling on her phone during one of her many, many hours alone during the recovery process.

    "Have you seen them both?" Keith asked.

    "His daughter was at the zoo but his son was only born recently. I''ve seen pictures. They both look at lot like him. They certainly don''t favor their mother. She''s¡­rather unique."

    "And you''re not going to tell me how because you don''t want to give who they are away?"

    "Not my secret to tell," Jocelyn said apologetically. "I didn''t tell them about you either so you don''t have to worry about that."

    "Like I''d worry about Mercury telling anybody who I am. The guy''s as straight an arrow as theye. Or¡­he was. I suppose he did end up helping out the antihero he married take down Nn Hunsacher."

    "I think they did the right thing. My medical bills are not nearly what they would have been if they hadn''t broken up the monopoly on privatized healthcare. I''m incredibly grateful for that."

    "Huh. I wouldn''t have thought of that."

    "They did an awful lot of good for this country and very few people will ever know. I''m d they''re happy."

    "Then you''re not jealous?" Keith asked suddenly.

    Jocelyn looked at him in utmost confusion. "What? Why would I possibly be jealous?"

    "Of Mercury''s wife."

    "For what?"

    "Being Mercury''s wife."

    Ah. Hisment about her being friends with Mercury being different than being friends with him made a lot more sense now. His inferiorityplex toward his old hero colleague hadn''t gone away.

    "Not in the slightest," Jocelyn said honestly before deciding to tease him. "I''ve always been more of a Delta fan anyway. Mercury was way overhyped."

    Keith shed her a relieved grin. "Is that so?"

    "Yep. Delta''s way funnier and better looking. Besides, haven''t you ever heard that opposites attract? Mercury is way too much like me to experience any degree of interest. His wife is a real character; I think that''s why he loves her so much."

    "Really?"

    "Yes. I asked him how he handled retirement and he said it was because he was able to do things with his wife and her friends to fill the empty hours. Does that sound familiar to you at all?"

    Surprise registered on his face. "Yeah. Never would have pegged you two as having simr personalities."

    "Neither would I. Shows what we know about other people, doesn''t it? You only see a fragment of what''s going on under the surface. And I can''t be positive either since I didn''t talk to him much but that is the impression I got," Jocelyn said with a shrug. "Who would want to be with someone just like them, anyway? That seems boring. I think having different perspectives and personality types helps keep things interesting."

    "I definitely don''t want to be around someone just like me all the time. That sounds horrible."

    Keith made a show of shuddering and pulling a face and she rolled her eyes and poked him, telling him to be nice. She didn''t like when he got all self-deprecating but knew there was nothing she could do about it. That was something he needed to work on and he wouldn''t do it until he wanted to.

    Jocelyn couldn''t fix him. All she could do was continue to care about him while he decided whether or not he wanted to fix himself.

    He clearly had some sort of traumatic past but he had never talked about it in detail. She knew it wasn''t her ce to ask. He would share when or if he was ready. After all, she hadn''t told him anything specific about her childhood.

    She wasn''t sure she wanted to¡ªshe had never told anyone about it¡ªbut if they were going to have a real rtionship someday they would need to let each other know what they were carrying. That was a problem a lot of her clients had. They went into a rtionship without being willing to work with the other person''s baggage (or their own) and expected things to be fine.. That never worked.

 Chapter 140 - There. You Happy?

    Jocelyn frowned. This was obviously a rtionship of some sort since Keith had just been jealous but she didn''t know what they were exactly. It would be nice to know after so much time passing.

    Being in a moremitted rtionship would have more pressure on it but there could be certain benefits too. She simply wasn''t sure what those would be at this point.

    She didn''t want to push Keith before he was ready. He liked her but he hadn''t brought up anything about being in an official romantic rtionship and wasn''t doing much physically either. It was all rather innocent.

    Since she hadn''t even been sure she liked him that way at first she hadn''t minded. The space andck of rigidly defined boundaries had been helpful. They both knew they were each other''s most important person and that had been all that mattered.

    Jocelyn couldn''t help but wonder if they were ever going to get any further than this though. In a vaguely curious sort of way.

    As long as they were able to be together in some capacity she was happy with whatever she could get. Whether she was Keith''s best friend or his girlfriend the most important thing was that she was able to see him every day.

    She still wasn''t supposed to climb up to her loft bed but she was able to get herself down to the floor now so he didn''t have to tuck her in but he still always either came over after work since she wasn''t up for going out and walking around at the moment.

    When she recovered fully it would make more sense to meet up after work and hang around Brooklyn so he didn''t have to travel so far out of his way. They could meet up on weekends when he wasn''t getting in volunteer hours or studying for the firefighter exams too. He was nning on taking those after being with the volunteer fire department for six months.

    Jocelyn was really looking forward to it. And being able to walk without being in pain again.

    The physical therapist warned her that she might want to wear a smaller knee brace for a while that didn''t immobilize her but helped keep things in ce, especially when doing physical activity, even after she was able to take off the one that kept her knee from bending.

    This had been an incredibly long and frustrating process with a lot of pain already. She didn''t have words to say how grateful she was that she hadn''t had to go through it alone.

    Keith always texted her on his work breaks to check in on her and she didn''t have to spend her evenings alone with nothing to do. He was there with her as much as he possibly could be considering his own schedule.

    Jocelyn loved him for that. She didn''t know if it was romantic love or not yet but she was absolutely certain that she loved the man sitting next to her with all of her heart.

    She hadn''t thought she was capable of love. Only generically caring about what happened to people. Love required closeness. Vulnerability. Bonding. All things she had never experienced before he came along and lit up her dark world.

    As she looked over at him watching the screen with his eyes crinkled at the corners with genuine amusement she felt so much affection for him overflowing that she couldn''t help but lean over and kiss him. It wasn''t any longer than the ones he gave her but he jumped like she had given him an electric shock.

    "What''s wrong?" Jocelyn asked in concern.

    Keith blinked at her. "Nothing. You''ve just¡­never done that first before."

    "Haven''t I? Huh."

    She hadn''t realized she had only been on the receiving end until now. He had been the one to start it though. Maybe she subconsciously didn''t want to overstep her bounds.

    It wasn''t like it was anything new though. He kissed her all the time even if it was only pecks on the lips, cheeks, or forehead. He didn''t dislike kissing her based on that. The only reason he had seemed thrown off was because he hadn''t been expecting her to make the first move.

    Jocelyn supposed she needed to be the one to do something first more often. That way he wouldn''t be thrown off. It would probably help him understand how much she cared about him too. That was definitely important.

    Keith smiled warmly at her. "By all means, feel free to do it again."

    Something about his gaze made her blush but she did as he said. "There. You happy?"

    "Quite."

    He reached out to caress her face radiating contentment and his expression made her heart skip a beat. Maybe she was less okay with the rate things were going than she thought. In that moment she really wanted to kiss him some more.

    ===

    By the time Jocelyn''s leg finally felt well enough to walk around with a more pliable knee brace the weather had gotten much nicer. The sun was out so it was a beautiful spring day when they finally made it to the zoo.

    Keith met her at her apartment since she lived so close to Central Park wearing a pair of jeans and the leather jacket he favored. She ended up putting a jacket on over her sweater solely because most people outside would likely be doing the same. She didn''t feel the cold at all.

    When they made it down to the street he took her hand and she felt butterflies erupt in her stomach. Thest time he had done this was when they went to the arcade and she hadn''t felt anything then.

    His hand was warm andforting. She wouldn''t mind walking around like this much more often.

    "Your hands are pretty cold," Keith noted. "Are they always like that?"

    "¡­yeah. My body temperature is lower than most people''s. I don''t really get cold or hot for whatever reason. Sorry. Am I making you cold?"

    "Nah. Just stating an observation. I bet thates in handy, especially in the summer. Hey, have you ever tried making your own shave ice or ice cream? Because that would be totally awesome!"

    Jocelyn burst outughing. He had the strangest ideas sometimes. Making shave ice with her powers had never even urred to her. Why would it? Her brain wasn''t nearly as creative as his. She would have to give that a try in a few months.

    "No, but I''ll give it a shot just for you."

    Keith grinned at her. "Sweet! I''ll be sure to get the best vored syrups. They sell them near the snow cone machines. I''m sure you''ll be able to pull it off. Maybe if you''re bored you can open up a seasonal snow cone shack. I would totally be willing to help you run it."

    "Why would I want to run a seasonal snow cone shack?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

    "For extra money. What if we did it just so we could go on vacation? We''ve both never left New York. Wouldn''t going somewhere be so fun?"

    His enthusiasm was contagious. How was she supposed to turn down a bizarre idea like that when it was because he wanted them to go experience somewhere new together? It would be a unique challenge and would help her kill time. It was worth a try.

    "Maybe you missed your true calling as a salesman. I''m sold," Jocelyn informed him with a smile.

    "Am I really that convincing or do you just want to go on vacation?" Keith asked.

    "Why can''t it be both?"

    "I guess that''s fair. It''ll be great though, Joss. You''ll see!"

    Jocelyn was sure she would. If it ended up being a total bust at least they would get a goodugh out of itter. Nobody would ever expect Frostine and Delta to be running a snow cone shack together.

    He had retired earlier than nned because he preferred taking care of her or spending time with her to hero work these days. He was still pretty busy between his day job and his volunteer fire department shifts but it was nothing like his old schedule when he spent all of his free time patrolling the city looking for trouble.

    She was relieved he got out before he got hurt like she did. And that he thought she was worth giving that up for sooner than expected. She knew how much being a hero had meant to him.

    This proved that she meant even more. How was she not supposed to be affected by that?

    Keith had never professed his love (the word he used specifically was like) or anything to that extent. They were little more than best friends who happened to asionally show physical affection. Even so, Jocelyn felt loved.

    Did he feel loved because of her too? She sincerely hoped so. She loved him so much but didn''t want to rush him. As long as they were together it was fine.. That was what she continued trying to convince herself even as she wanted more and more.

 Chapter 141 - The Most Frustrating Thing Of All

    Keith was fairly certain he was going to lose his mind sooner orter. His rtionship¡ªif you could call it that¡ªwith Joss wasn''t getting anywhere.

    He knew it wasrgely his fault. He was afraid to rock the boat. She had been having such a hard time with her recovery and he didn''t want to make things more difficult for her. Especially since she was less sure of her feelings than he had been at the start of all this.

    He tried not to care about that; he really did! But it had always been impossible to know what was going on in that woman''s head unless she said something specifically. Her emotions didn''t show on her face very often but it was moremon than it used to be. He was gratified that at least he could make her blush somewhat regrly now.

    She was starting to be slightly more opinionated but still didn''t always say when she liked or didn''t like something. He had noticed she was starting to like certain colors better than others after she painted all of those stars.

    Joss tried to keep the number of each color about the same but whenever she did have uneven numbers she would pick either teal or hot pink to make up the difference. The natural thing to do was get her a teal blouse for Christmas. She could use more color in her wardrobe.

    That blouse became her most frequently worn and Keith couldn''t tell if it was because of the color, the fact that he gave it to her, or both. She mentioned off-handedly that she had never gotten a present before.

    How was that possible? Even he had gotten presents before when he was in foster care. What kind of cold environment had she grown up in that she had never gotten any?

    Though it would exin why she was the way she was. She said she had to stay quiet and unnoticed to survive before without giving any details. If she went unnoticed of course she wouldn''t get presents. But what kind of jacked up parents would do such a thing? Why hadn''t social services gotten involved?

    Keith was angry on her behalf. Joss didn''t deserve that.

    He was determined that once he was in a better ce financially that he was going to buy her all sorts of presents. She would never have to deal with that sort of thing again.

    She was a lot more fragile than she seemed. He knew she was an incredibly capable person both as a hero and in her career but when it came to managing her emotions properly she was rather inexperienced. He didn''t want to take advantage of that while she was still figuring things out, which was part of why he was about to lose his mind.

    Keith had been so taken aback the first time she kissed him because all that time he had thought she was putting up with him doing it rather than actually enjoying it or desiring any form of reciprocation. She was so nonchnt about it too! As if she hadn''t even realized what she had or hadn''t been doing.

    What did that mean? Did Joss like him kissing her or was she just trying to copy what he did?

    She didn''t rely on him more than she absolutely had to. She let him kiss her or hug her or help her do things like get onto her mattress because of her leg but never initiated touching him unless it was in a teasing way before then. She asionally poked him or something when he was being self-deprecating but that had been about the extent of it.

    Keith didn''t know what she truly thought of him beyond being her most important person and he was too afraid to ask. He couldn''t very well ask if she found him attractive and would be willing to do more now that she was feeling better point nk.

    If he did that he would probably die of embarrassment. So he kept his thoughts to himself and tried to focus on enjoying his time with her.

    He needed to give her time since she had never considered being in a romantic rtionship before she was afraid to lose him. Sometimes he wondered if the only reason she put up with it was because she would rather have him in any capacity than not at all and this was how she was able to do it.

    That wasn''t a veryforting thought. He didn''t want her to feel forced to be his girlfriend, which was arge part of why their rtionship hadn''t progressed at all in the months since he found out she was Frostine.

    Keith had said that he didn''t mind that Joss needed to figure things out as long as he could still be around her and at the time he meant it. The problem was that now it didn''t feel like enough.

    He had spent most of his adult life not knowing what he wanted. He only developed goals for himself at all less than a year ago.

    Those hadn''t included anyone else because he was used to being on his own. He had wanted to get his own ce where he could live life on his terms without any roommates giving him a hard time and have a career he could fall back on when he couldn''t be a hero anymore.

    As far as goals went, they hadn''t been much but they were still more than he ever had before. Now his goals had changed to include Joss.

    Keith wasn''t sure when it happened exactly. But he had the thought one day that it would be nice to watch TV together on a real couch where he could hold her more easily. It was difficult to reserve the TV in the living room at his ce because of how many people lived there so he wasn''t sure he wanted to do that even once she was more mobile.

    After that he started thinking about both of them getting more kitchen utensils and learning to cook together so they didn''t have to utilize as much takeout. Having her origami or paintings decorating his apartment. Going on trips outside of New York City.

    Before he knew it he had started nning out his whole life as if she would always be in it. Which was a horrible idea because he didn''t know how invested she was in all of this.

    Joss had said he was better-looking than Mercury but he was fairly certain she was just messing around to make him feel better when he got insecure. He hadn''t realized they were still in contact until she said something.

    They hadn''t been friends as heroes the way Delta and Frostine had. It wasn''t fair that Mercury found out who she was first!

    Keith could reluctantly acknowledge that Mercury didn''t have things as easy as he used to think once he found out about the situation with his wife being his nemesis. But that didn''t change the fact that he felt like he had always been second fiddle to the man.

    He thought he had gotten over that once Frostine told him he only needed to be himself because he was plenty likable on his own but it reared its ugly head again when he found out that she was still in contact with him. He was jealous.

    A good chunk of his life he had been jealous. Of the people whose families were normal. Of stability. Of poprity. But nothing made him quite as jealous as the thought of Joss being interested in someone else.

    Her reassurance made him feel slightly better but he was still worried and it got him wondering more and more what her true feelings for him were. At this point he was fairly certain he loved her and the thought terrified him. Thest people he loved¡ªhis parents¡ªhad let him down horribly and ultimately left him.

    Keith had known for a long time that he couldn''t afford to lose Joss but that only got worse the more time he spent with her. He didn''t know what he would do without her.

    The very thought of losing her filled him with panic so he couldn''t help but wrap his arm around her waist and pull her closer to him as they stood in front of the giraffe exhibit. She looked up at him and smiled before turning back toward the informational que she had been reading.

    He needed to pull himself together. Joss wasn''t going anywhere, especially not in favor of Mercury.

    She was here with him, having a good time by the look of it, and he should be doing the same. He was fine. Everything was fine. She might not be his in any official capacity but she had still chosen to stick around this long, hadn''t she?

    Keith needed to work on his insecurity if he was going tomit to any sort of real rtionship. Provided that was even what she wanted.. Not knowing that for sure was the most frustrating thing of all.

 Chapter 142 - Dreaming Hurt

    Keith''s desire to see Joss on a daily basis only got stronger when he wasn''t seeing her every day anymore. He had studying to do and she had that painting ss on Tuesday and Thursday nights. He tried to fit all of his studying in then so he could still see her every other day but it wasn''t the same.

    He texted her when she wasn''t at her ss but that was a lot different than seeing her in person. He wished they didn''t live so far from each other so he could pop by whenever without having to n ahead of time.

    Honestly, he didn''t want to have his own apartment anymore. He wanted to have one with her.

    He didn''t know if she would want such a thing but he did. He really, really did. Having someone toe home to at the end of the day had always been a foreign concept to him but if it was Joss¡­

    Keith couldn''t think like that. They didn''t even have an officially defined rtionship. Of course she wouldn''t want to move in with him.

    Dreaming hurt. He knew that better than most because that was all it had done since he was very young. He hadn''t ever wanted to have dreams only to have them crushed. Yet here he was dreaming of a real future with someone. It absolutely terrified him.

    Joss was such an easy person to be around. He didn''t have to be anyone but himself. He didn''t have to keep a mask on physically or metaphorically with her now that they had cleared the air about their identities.

    He never would have harbored such dreams with anyone else. It had to be her. She was special¡ªno one else epted him exactly as he was.

    Living with people who didn''t was exhausting. He was never exhausted because of her. Even when he had been running around doing all sorts of errands and chores for her when she was hurt didn''t wear him out because he was still able to see her and spend time with her.

    She had a rxing presence. Maybe it was because she was so calm most of the time.

    Whatever the case, Keith loved being around her. So why wouldn''t he want to live with her instead of by himself? He far preferred herpany to being alone so it made sense despite how scary it was.

    He didn''t dare bring it up when things were so uncertain though. He didn''t know what she wanted. Heck, she didn''t even know what she wanted!

    Patience was key. He couldn''t screw things up so he had to go at her pace. What he wanted didn''t matter as long as he didn''t lose her. Having her a little was better than not having her at all.

    Unfortunately, knowing that didn''t change the fact that he wanted more. He wanted all of her to himself. Her smile¡­herugh¡­the way she lit up only in front of him because she wasfortable with him.

    How could he push her and risk losing that? She waspletely different around others than she was around him. More closed off. A seemingly imprable wall of ice.

    Behind that ice was the most wonderful person Keith had ever met. He couldn''t deny that he was afraid of other people seeing how amazing she was and taking her away from him. He knew it was stupid and selfish but couldn''t stop himself from worrying.

    If Joss opened herself up to other people she might not need him anymore. And if she didn''t need him she might find herself a better offer and leave. He wouldn''t be able to bear that since she hadpletely changed the course of his life.

    He tried not to think like that. She was here, she cared about him, and she promised she wouldn''t get sick of him. He needed to rx.

    "Can I get arge tiger''s blood?" someone asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

    Keith was in the middle of helping Joss run her snow cone stand. She was in charge of making them while he handled sales. They had gotten a permit to set up shop in the park after doing a lot of trial and error to get the consistency right.

    She managed to figure out how to make it as fluffy as actual snow and their customers preferred that to the chipped ice sort of snow cones. The process of setting up shop wasn''t as difficult as they had thought it would be. All they had to do was work out of a modified shed.

    Joss had good credit so getting a small startup loan hadn''t been a big deal. With the way sales were going they should be able to pay it offpletely by the end of the summer and still have enough left over to go on a trip somewhere.

    It helped that they weren''t paying for a snow cone machine. She WAS the snow cone machine. All they had to do was ount for the shed and the vorings.

    "Absolutely! That will be three dors."

    The customer handed it over as Joss filled arge cup with snow and began generously pumping tiger''s blood vor on it. She gave it to him to pass on and he smiled at the customer as he exchanged it for the three dors.

    "Would you like your receipt?"

    "No, I''m good. Thanks!"

    "Have a great day!" Keith said before helping the next person in line.

    He really shouldn''t be letting his mind wander while he was working. They were a two-person operation so their hours were limited. Joss did this by herself while he was finishing up his shifts at work and when he was volunteering but she far preferred having him here because things went more smoothly.

    Even with limited hours on weekdays they had no shortage of customers. That was how good these snow cones were.

    Keith still couldn''t believe Joss went along with his ridiculous idea so easily. He had mostly been joking when he brought it up originally but she rolled with it anyway.

    They were nning on using the money they made by the end of the summer to go to Florida. She had never been to an amusement park before and he thought that was a crime. They would be going to Disney World, Universal Studios, NASA, and the beach while they were down there for a week.

    He hoped that was enough variety that she would be able to find something she liked while they were there. If nothing else it would be a new experience for her. She enjoyed those overall even if it wasn''t for something she was particrly interested in.

    Keith was really looking forward to it. He had been to Disney World once when he was in foster care and had a good time but he hadn''t been in over a decade.

    Mostly he was excited about seeing Joss''s reaction to everything. She was quite familiar with Disney movies. Her youngest clients raved about them and she had been curious enough to watch a bunch of them while she wasid up.

    Her perspective on things should be interesting as always. She had the most unique insights into the world around her sometimes. He loved listening to her talk about them. She thought she was boring but really she was quite the conversationalist.

    She said the most surprising things sometimes. It kept his life interesting.

    Keith and Joss carried on the way they usually did until the park closed. They locked up the shack and were sure to take the money from the cash register with them (this was New York, after all) when they headed out.

    She preferred keeping it in her wallet and putting it back the next time she went to the shack. She was capable of defending herself perfectly fine if someone tried to mug her but couldn''t protect the shack from a distance when she was somewhere else.

    He slipped his hand into hers and smiled at her. "We ended up making $443.50 today."

    "Not bad for a weekend! If we keep this up we might be able to take our trip sooner than expected," she replied.

    Their original n was to aim for December in case they weren''t able to afford everything solely by doing this over the summer. But the way things were looking they might be able to go in October instead.

    That might be for the best. It would be super crowded in December because of all the kids on Christmas break. They might not be able to ride as much that way.

    Keith didn''t mind hanging out in a tiny shack with Joss to make that happen. They both had stools to sit on and didn''t even need air conditioning because of her powers. She kept them cool andfortable in the heat.

    More urately, she kept him cool andfortable. She didn''t need it since she didn''t experience hot and cold the way most people did.. It was one of the many ways she was considerate of him and he appreciated that more than he could say.

 Chapter 143 - What Did I Tell You?

    "I think this deserves a celebration," Keith announced. "Burgers on me."

    "From that ce in Queens we went to before? The food there was really good. I''m down if they''re open thiste," Joss said.

    "They cater to night owls. I''ve shown up there at 2 AM before and they were still open."

    "Cool."

    They walked to a subway station that would take them out to Queens and Keith asked if her knee was bothering her at all. She shook her head and said she was fine since she was wearing her knee brace. She had put it on shortly before they left the shack.

    They had gone out and done plenty of things involving walking around before their free time was swallowed up by the snow cone shack and she had always been fine as long as she had it on. He was relieved that the long-term consequences of her injury weren''t too severe. Physical therapy had helped a lot and she was as close to full function as she was ever going to get.

    Sometimes she seemed troubled by this because of how active she had been as a hero but she was retired now. She didn''t need the same level of physical fitness she did before.

    They made it to the restaurant without any issues and sat around chatting while waiting for their orders to be taken. Everything was going perfectly fine until someone called Joss''s name. Who would she know out in Queens?

    "Hey, Jocelyn. Fancy running into you here," a male voice sounded from their right.

    Keith looked up and saw a tall man with sses smiling at her. Unease washed over him. Who was this guy and why was Joss smiling back at him? She didn''t usually smile at people!

    "Christan! What a pleasant surprise. How are you?" she asked.

    Christian shrugged. "Pretty good. What about you? It seems like your leg is doing better."

    "It is. I''m able to move around fine as long as I wear a knee brace when I''m on my feet for too long. Being able to go somewhere other than work or my apartment again has been really nice."

    Keith''s head was spinning. He knew about her injury? How would he know about that? The only people who knew about that were ones who saw Joss regrly. Was this guy a client? Would she be so friendly to a client if she saw them in public? And why would someone who lived in Queens go to a therapist in Brooklyn?

    "I bet! Beingid up is the worst. When it happened to me a few years ago I would have lost my mind if not for Avery," Christian said.

    Joss looked around. "Where is Avery, anyway?"

    "In the bathroom. We went to the movies and decided to get ate night snack afterward since we didn''t get popcorn or anything. Movie theater prices are too inted considering how cheap it is to make popcorn."

    Avery? Who was Avery? Another guy? That was a unisex name but if Joss was friendly with one guy Keith didn''t know about there could be another.

    He got his answer a momentter as a tall albino woman came up beside Christian and smiled widely at Joss. "Jocelyn! I had no idea you lived in this part of town. It''s good to see you."

    "Oh, I don''t. Keith introduced me to this restaurant a while back," Joss said.

    Avery scrutinized him, likely trying to be subtle, but her violet eyes were piercing. Why was she looking at him like that? He had never met her before! Though now that he thought about it he was fairly certain that she was Nox.

    Joss said Mercury''s wife was unique-looking and that their children favored him more. You couldn''t get much more unique than an albino.

    Besides, now that his initial territorial reaction had passed he realized that Christian looked an awful lot like Mercury would without the mask if you ignored the fact that he had sses. Tall and muscr with brown hair that was much neater than Mercury''s would be because of all the flying.

    So that was how Joss knew them. But what was with Avery''s reaction? Had she talked about him with other people? What on earth had she said?

    Avery smiled and stuck out her hand. "I''m Avery. Nice to meet you! You must be Jocelyn''s best friend."

    It would be so easy to say yes. That WAS all he was, after all. But that wasn''t what came out of his mouth. No, he had to be an idiot and blurt, "Boyfriend! I''m her boyfriend. Nice to meet you too."

    Keith wasn''t her boyfriend. They kind of acted like it sometimes but they had never established that. Why was he so stupid? She probably wouldn''t refute him now but he was definitely going to get questions about thister.

    Avery''s smile grew wider. "Aww, I''m so d things worked out! What did I tell you?"

    Thankfully, Joss managed to keep her cool. "That it would probably work out. You were right."

    Christianughed. "She usually is. Anyway, it was good to see you but we should probably get going. We need to pick up the kids from my parents'' house."

    "We should totally double sometime!" Avery added. "I''ll text you to set something up."

    "Sure," Joss agreed before saying her goodbyes and waving them off.

    As soon as they were gone she turned her gaze on Keith and he felt distinctly like he was being x-rayed. Oh, why had he said that?! She didn''t get the chance to say anything because the food arrived just then. They ate in a heavy silence and he could hardly enjoy the food because he was so worried about the inevitable conversation awaiting him when they left.

    He didn''t want to deal with this. He really, really didn''t want to deal with this. He had put it off this long because he was afraid of what Joss would think and it came out because he felt threatened. He was an idiot.

    Why did he need to rify that he was more than friends with Joss in front of Mercury and Nox? He didn''t even know Nox!

    Was it some stupid sense of pride? To show Mercury that he could be on top of things and have his life together too even though he didn''t really? Or was it because he had been jealous of Joss seeming so friendly with another guy even though he happened to be happily married? He had been too incensed to notice the wedding ring earlier in the conversation.

    "So," Joss said once they were out on the street. "Since when are you my boyfriend? I wasn''t aware we established that."

    Keith sighed. "We haven''t. I''m sorry. But I figured that this point I''m more boyfriend than best friend so it was a more uratebel. If that isn''t what you want I wouldpletely understand¡ª"

    "That isn''t what I''m saying, Keith. Is that what you want? If so, why didn''t you say anything? I was under the impression you didn''t want tomit despite liking me."

    "You were hurt! I didn''t want you to have to worry about anything but recovering. I thought we had time to establish thingster when you were less stressed."

    Keith wanted tomit more than she did. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. And he absolutely could not say that and freak her out because she hadn''t confirmed whether or not she was interested in him fully.

    "I''ve been fine for a while," Joss pointed out.

    He rubbed his forehead in agitation. "I know. I''m just a coward. The timing never seemed right and it didn''te up. I didn''t think you were interested inmitting either. I can tell you care about me but it''s hard to tell in what capacity. I know what I want but I don''t know what you want so I was afraid to ask."

    "What DO you want?"

    "I want you. I would have thought that would be obvious by now."

    "You already have me though."

    Keith groaned. "Not really, Joss! You''re a hard person to read so I can''t tell if you''re only keeping me around because you need a best friend or because you like me as man. I know you''re still figuring things out in general so I didn''t want to pressure you."

    "Oh," Joss said, at a loss for a moment before recovering. "But I stand by my statement. I DO like you. I was wondering why you never did anything more since you were the one who supposedly liked me first so that answers that question. It wouldn''t be pressuring me. I want you too."

    His heart nearly stopped. "Seriously?!"

    "Yes. If you want to be my boyfriend I would like that very much. But you''re going to have to talk to me about things more becauseck ofmunication is the number one reason rtionships die. I see it happen every day at work and I don''t want that.

    "You said you would work with me before but not telling me what''s on your mind is NOT working with me. I need you to be honest about what you want.. If you can do that I would be very happy for you to be my boyfriend."

 Chapter 144 - Im Sorry I Live In A Shoebox

    Keith was abashed but Joss was right. He had been bottling things up again when he said he would work with her.

    She was a marriage and family therapist for crying out loud! Of course she would see all the bad things about rtionships and how they could fall apart. Of course she would want him to do the things her professional training dictated to have healthy rtionships.

    He was still trying to think of a response when she added, "You''re not the only one at fault here. I didn''t want to rock the boat either. We both need to be better about telling each other things. I should start by telling you that I love you.

    "I''ve never been in any sort of rtionship before and I don''t know what I''m doing but I truly do love you with all my heart. I didn''t think such a thing was possible for me but here I am. I want to be with you, for you to have better self-esteem, and for you to kiss me more often. Your turn."

    Keith was stunned. She was in love with him?! And how could she say she wanted him to kiss her more often with such a straight face?

    That was such a Joss thing to do. She really knew how to pack a punch with her words. He couldn''t help it and burst outughing. He tried to get a hold of himself because he was worried about offending her but when he nced over she was eyeing him curiously but not with annoyance. He should have known.

    She wasn''t the type to get angry about that sort of thing. She was curious about people''s reactions to things rather than taking them personally.

    "Did I say something strange?" Joss asked.

    Keith grinned at her before hugging her tightly. "Not at all. Your straightforwardness is cute, that''s all. For the record, I love you too. So much. I can most definitely kiss you more often."

    "And tell me what you want?"

    What he wanted was moreplicated than what she did. Telling her about his far-off dreams seemed like it would be rushing things considering he wasn''t exactly her boyfriend. He could hold onto those until they got closer. It wasn''t like he would be able to afford to move for quite some time anyway. He would need to start working as a firefighter first.

    He could tell her what he wanted on a shorter term basis for now and get to thatter. "I want to be your boyfriend and have all the privileges that entails. I''d also like to see you every day on an indefinite basis but I know that''s not exactly realistic with our schedules once we''re done with the snow cone shack."

    Joss''s painting sses were on hold until the fall since the first session ended and she was waiting to sign up for the next one because they conflicted with the snow cone shack hours. They had been seeing each other every day for the time being but he knew that wouldn''tst much longer. Especially once he passed his firefighter exams and most likely had graveyard shifts as a newbie.

    Would he ever see her that way? He honestly wasn''t sure and didn''t like the sound of that at all.

    She smiled at him so warmly that his heart flipped in his chest. "I''m sure we can figure something out. I prefer seeing you every day too."

    "So¡­am I your boyfriend or not?" Keith asked sheepishly.

    "Yes, Keith, you''re my boyfriend."

    Joss briefly kissed him before entwining his fingers in hers and pulling him toward the subway station. He was confused why she wanted to get there so fast at first until he realized that she got two tickets toward Manhattan.

    Something in his chest tightened. Oh. She was bringing him back to her ce thiste. He had said he wanted all the privileges being her boyfriend entailed but hadn''t expected her to do anything about it so soon! They had been officially dating for less than ten minutes!

    She acted like everything was normal and chatted about nothing of real importance all the way back to her apartment. When they got there she took off her brace and rubbed her knee before looking up at him with a smile.

    "Go ahead and make yourself at home. I figured it would be easier for you to stay here tonight and we can go get you some new clothes on the way to the park in the morning. I have an extra toothbrush somewhere," she said as if this was the sort of thing that happened all the time.

    Joss did have a full-sized bed so technically there was room for him, unlike at his apartment since he only had a twin. It would be a bit of a squeeze but he didn''t mind in the slightest.

    The problem here was that he had no idea what he was doing either and didn''t want to disappoint her. She was an understanding person. He shouldn''t be worrying about this. She knew he had never had a girlfriend and that this was new territory for both of them. Everything should be fine!

    Keith stood there somewhat awkwardly after taking his shoes off because he didn''t know what he was supposed to do now. Should he make the first move? Did he need to ask first? She had said she wanted him to kiss her more.

    "Keith, breathe. I''m not going to eat you," Joss said when she realized he was internally panicking.

    "I can''t imagine you eating anyone."

    "You know what I meant."

    He cracked a smile. "Yeah, I do. Sorry. I''ve just never done this before."

    "You kiss me all the time."

    Keith furrowed his brow at her. "¡­I honestly can''t tell if you''re teasing me or if you''re the most innocent person on the. Which is it, Joss?"

    He got his answer when she snorted and grinned at him. "I''m definitely teasing you. You can''t make it twenty-eight years in this world without knowing what it means to invite a guy over to stay the night."

    "You''re terrible."

    "So you can dish it but you can''t take it?"

    Keith didn''t have an argument for that. He teased her all the time though never quite like this. He was surprised she was reciprocating more than usual but that was probably a good thing overall, wasn''t it? It meant she wasfortable with him and starting to figure out more about her personality. Though he did wonder if he had been a bad influence on her somehow.

    "Apparently so. Just get over here and kiss me," he sighed.

    Joss''s eyes sparkled and sheughed as she crossed the room and wrapped her arms around his neck. She had certainly never done that before! Where did she even learn that? She had only ever pecked him on the lips.

    Keith supposed it was as she said. There were certain things you couldn''t live in the world without knowing no matter how inexperienced you were. And she had been watching a lot of TV while recovering. She might have gotten it from there.

    Hang on, was she seriously two and a half years older than him?! No wonder she seemed so much more mature!

    He would have to file that away forter because a few kisses in his brain was focused on nothing but the way her lips felt and the fact that this was so, so much better than what they had been doing before. They really should have done this sooner.

    Unfortunately, Keith wasn''t used to being up in a loft and ended up whacking his head on the ceiling, which kind of killed the mood. Joss was horrified and apologetic but all he could do was crack up because of how ridiculous the situation was. She joined in once she realized he was okay.

    "I''m sorry I live in a shoebox," Joss sighed as she kissed the top of his head to make it feel better.

    Her arms were around him and his face was pressed into her shoulder. He didn''t mind one bit. As long as he was careful about not hitting his head again he could get used to having to be so close together when they were up here.

    "Don''t be. It''s not your fault I hit my head," Keith said reasonably.

    "Would your ce work better next time?"

    "Are you kidding me? I have five roommates and share a room with one. You may live in a shoebox but at least it''s YOUR shoebox."

    "I suppose that''s true. Still, I''m sorry," Joss said apologetically. "Is your head feeling any better?"

    "My head is fine. I''ve taken much worse hits, believe me."

    "Oh, I do. One of the many hazards of being a hero. That''s one part of it I certainly don''t miss. I do prefer being retired most of the time now that I have you but Mercury was right.. Sometimes you feel like you''re supposed to be out there helping people who need you and feel guilty. Do you ever feel like that?"

 Chapter 145 - Modes

    Joss had said she went to Mercury for retirement advice. Keith supposed that was one of the things he warned her about.

    "Not really. I guess that''s because for most of the time I''ve been away I''ve been helping the one person that actually matters to me. I don''t really feel the absence of helping," he said casually.

    Her arms tightened around him and she kissed him. "You''re sweet."

    "I try, anyway."

    Speaking of Mercury¡­he knew Joss didn''t want to give her old colleague''s secret away. She would be ufortable if Keith asked. Though with enough context clues either he or his wife could easily figure out he was Delta since he was with Frostine depending on the type of advice she had originally gone to Avery for.

    He could at least ask about that much, couldn''t he? "Hey, um¡­did you talk to Avery about me before?"

    Joss''s tone was slightly embarrassed. "Yes. I needed advice and she seemed like a solid person to go to. Sorry."

    That made sense considering she was probably Nox. She had been in love with someone whose secret identity she knew too. He could let that slide.

    "Don''t worry about it. I think it''s pretty normal for people to talk to their friends about rtionship stuff. After all, that''s what I did," Keith teased.

    Joss blushed. "You nearly gave me a heart attack by doing that. I''m d you did though. I never would have been brave enough to do anything otherwise. I think things worked out exactly like they were supposed to."

    He could agree with that. He wouldn''t trade having her as his girlfriend for anything in the world.

    "I think so too," Keith said before kissing her forehead.

    He could put the issue of Mercury and Nox aside, especially since Joss seemed to want to be friends with them. He was just going to have to keep his spections to himself about their identities and go with the flow. Goodness knows he was used to that. It was a small price to pay to make her happy.

    ===

    Jocelyn had wondered if Keith was ever going to say anything about putting abel on their rtionship. She was d she had said what she needed to say but even more d that he agreed with it.

    She really hoped that would be enough. She knew they both had tendencies to keep things to themselves and that no matter how much they loved each other they wouldn''t be able to work out long term if they didn''t find a way to fix that.

    She shouldn''t be overthinking things right now though. She should be enjoying the feeling of having the one she loved so close to her.

    It was the first time in her life she hadn''t woken up alone. Keith was still dead to the world, lying on his side with his mouth hanging slightly open. The cuteness nearly overwhelmed her and she reached out to touch his cheek.

    Things had been getting steamy before he hit his head but afterward theyid around cuddling and asionally kissing until they fell asleep in each other''s arms. She felt bad that they were interrupted¡ªespecially since he hurt himself¡ªbut he brushed it off. She got the feeling that he was happy to have even gotten as far as they did.

    It was stupid that they had both been in love with each other and hadn''t said anything. She didn''t know exactly how long it had been but it had to have been for a while.

    So much time they could have been spending like this that they didn''t because they were both afraid of messing with the status quo. Had they learned nothing from the first time they had to have that sort of conversation?

    Apparently not. Jocelyn was afraid of this bing a pattern. She loved Keith and she wanted to stay with him forever but that wouldn''t work if this kept happening. Two broken halves do not equal a whole. Trying to find sce in someone with simr experiences didn''t work unless both parties had healthymunication and worked on their own issues.

    She was trying to figure out how to be more of an individual after a lifetime of hiding in the shadows and was doing a decent job, all things considering. He needed to work on his self-esteem. They both had to stop being afraid of rocking the boat and keeping things bottled up.

    She wanted the two of them to work more than she had ever wanted anything. To keepughing with him forever.

    Jocelyn sighed and switched from touching his face to stroking his hair. The repetitive motion was calming. They needed to do better. She knew she would have to tell him why she was the way she was eventually so he would understand¡ªhe needed to do the same about his trauma¡ªbut those sorts of things couldn''t be forced.

    The right opportunity woulde eventually. She had to believe that.

    She continued ying with his hair until he yawned and rubbed his eyes, slurring sleepily. "Joss? Whaddya doin''?"

    "ying with your hair because you''re really cute when you''re asleep."

    That woke him up. His eyes crinkled at the corners and he smiled widely before wrapping her in his arms. "Look at you being all sentimental first thing in the morning! I''m honored."

    Jocelynughed. "You should be."

    "Oh, I know. The almighty Jocelyn Normandy has descended to earth solely to tell her boyfriend he''s cute when he''s asleep. This is a momentous asion that should be recorded in the history books!"

    He was so ridiculously over-the-top about his teasing. She would never be able to beat him at that but she didn''t mind. It was one of the things she loved most about him.

    "How do you evene up with responses like that?" Jocelyn asked with augh.

    "Eh, they juste to me. Why? Are you trying to learn? Because being this much of a dork takes talent," Keith dered.

    "Not exactly. I just want to be able to tease you back properly so you don''t get bored."

    "I''m never bored when you''re around. You''re the most interesting part of my life. You don''t need to be a total ham to make that happen. You keep me on my toes without that."

    "I do?" Jocelyn asked curiously.

    "Joss, you''re full of more horrifying ''fun facts'' than anyone I''ve ever met."

    "What, like how fir trees can grow inside human lungs? Or that horned toads can squirt blood out of their eyes?"

    "I was thinking about how pigs can digest every part of the human body but those are bad too. You know some seriously messed up kids but I suppose it''s in the job description," Keith said with a wry smile. "The fir tree one is new. How did that get discovered?"

    "A patient went in for lung issues. Doctors thought it was a tumor until they took it out. Apparently, the man in question inhaled a seed and it sprouted in there," Jocelyn told him.

    "Great. Now I never want to breathe again. Thanks for that."

    "Anytime."

    Keith frowned. "How do you deal with all of the stuff you hear every day? You have to hear a lot more than disturbing facts that will haunt me in my nightmares."

    "I do. It''s aboutpartmentalization. I used to be in work mode at work and hero mode when I wasn''t and that was all there was to it. It''s a bit different now since I have other things to do in my free time."

    "So now you''re in work mode then snow cone mode?"

    "Basically. But before we did this and I had hours to fill by myself I tried distracting myself as best I could in a variety of ways so I didn''t have to think about it. As long as I''m focused on something I''m able to keep them separated."

    "Huh. Is there a Keith mode?" he asked.

    Jocelyn let out a small snort. "I suppose you can say that. Though I don''t feel like I''m in a mode when I''m with you. I feel like I''m actually alive."

    She hadn''t meant to say that out loud because it sounded stranger than it had in her head but it was out now. Hopefully, he didn''t read too much into it. She wasn''t ready to have that conversation yet.

    Keith held her close. "That may be the nicest thing you''ve ever said to me. And the saddest."

    "Why the saddest?"

    "Because it implies that you don''t feel alive when I''m not around. Guess I need to be around more."

    "That would be nice."

    Jocelyn was d he let that go without pressing it further. All he did was cuddle her a while longer before saying they should have breakfast. All she had were toaster strudel or toaster waffles and he knew it from the times he had done her grocery shopping for her when she was on crutches.

    That didn''t seem to bother him though.. He pumped his fist when he saw she had the blueberry kind and ended up eating two.

 Chapter 146 - Online Hero Forum

    Jocelyn and Keith started work at different times so the pattern they fell into once they established their rtionship involved him only staying the night on weekends so they could head straight to the snow cone shack together. Now that his volunteer firefighter training wasplete his three-hour shifts were usually on Saturday mornings but he would still go the shack with her for a while first thene back when he was done.

    They didn''t get a lot of sales in the morning but that was fine. It gave them more time to just talk with each other.

    She always enjoyed talking with him. As she got to know him better her belief that she could not afford to lose him strengthened. He was everything to her and that was terrifying.

    Jocelyn never thought someone would be this important to her. She had spent her whole life either hiding or being rejected. She never thought she would be seen, let alone epted. But she had been. And by someone so wonderful too!

    Keith didn''t care that she didn''t have much of a personality. He didn''t think she was boring and was extremely patient as she tried to figuring out how to be Jocelyn Normandy the person instead of Jocelyn Normandy the helper. Being a therapist and a hero was very different than being her own person with a life.

    A life that consistedrgely of her boyfriend. She didn''t know what she was going to do when his schedule changed and she wasn''t able to see him as much.

    He didn''t n on taking the firefighter exams until after their trip because he didn''t want to be told he couldn''t get time off too early at his new job provided he was epted. It was a wise move, especially since he had been saving up his vacation time at Lucky Lotus.

    Jocelyn had never taken a vacation in her life. She had taken a week off with a doctor''s note earlier this year but John was so surprised she wanted to take a vacation for the first time since working there that he hadn''t cared about that in the slightest.

    They had made enough at the snow cone shack to pay off their loan and go on this trip with a little left over. They split it and she nned to use her cut to buy more painting supplies. Her sses resumed two weeks after they got back from Florida. She had missed that so she was looking forward to it. She only hoped that it was enough to keep her busy when Keith (hopefully) started his new job.

    She would miss him and the routine they had established terribly but she knew this was important to him. Besides, it had partially been her idea. She couldn''t begrudge him his desire to move up in the world.

    In fact, Jocelyn was quite proud of him. She knew better than anyone how many times he had switched jobs withoutmitting both because of his hero work and hisck of direction for how he wanted his life to go. He deserved the stability.

    Keith had been an excellent hero so she had no doubt he would make a wonderful firefighter too. Sometimes she wondered what the other heroes thought about them disappearing around the same time.

    People had spected that Mercury died when he retired because of the nature of his rather publicized injury right before it happened. She doubted people thought the same about her since all she had done was hurt her leg. MultiMan probably stopped rumors like that from starting.

    Jocelyn didn''t pay much attention to gossip but she couldn''t help but wonder if anyone had made the connection since Frostine and Delta retired around the same time. They had been spotted together frequently and Red Dynamo had thought she liked Keith before she even realized it herself.

    She had a few minutes so her curiosity won out. She looked herself up on her phone and found that her theory was correct. There was an online forum about heroes full of people specting about what happened.

    ''Has anyone seen Deltately? Thest known sighting was months ago''

    ''Nope. He vanished off the face of the earth''

    ''I was there for thest known sighting. He was talking to MultiMan about Frostine. Apparently he quit to take care of personal things''

    ''Personal things? That''s super vague. At least that means he''s probably not dead. I always liked Delta''

    ''It''s a shame what happened to Frostine. So many years fighting crime and she had to get hurt badly enough to retire. I suppose it was about time though. She was reaching the general time in a hero''s career where they quit''

    ''You don''t think Delta''s personal stuff was taking care of Frostine, do you?''

    ''No way! How would they even know who each other are?''

    ''They did seem really close though. They were almost always together. There''s never been a time I''ve seen Frostine out and about where Delta wasn''t far behind''

    ''Oh my gosh, do you think they''re dating?''

    ''Wouldn''t surprise me! They might have had so much chemistry as heroes that they told each other their secret identities. It wouldn''t be the first time that happened. I heard there were these heroes on the west coast who were rather open about their rtionship when they were in costume''

    ''Frostine and Delta! I never would have guessed. She always seemed so cold''

    ''Even cold people can have their hearts melted by the right person. Who wouldn''t fall in love with Delta after spending a lot of time with him? I met him once and he''s so dreamy''

    ''Your crush is going nowhere fast. You know that, right?''

    ''Duh! I was just saying. My money is totally on Frostine and Delta being together even if it does break my heart''

    Jocelyn shook her head in disbelief. Some of these people who didn''t even know them had managed to figure it out. Had her feelings truly been so obvious from the beginning? She hadn''t known about them herself.

    She supposed that favoring Delta over any other hero had been enough of a clue in and of itself considering her reputation. What could she say? Even when Keith wasn''t acting like his true self he had still grown on her. He was that likable.

    ''Do you think they''re going to get married?! That would be the wedding of the century and no one would even know about it!'' someone else posted on the forum.

    ''That would be insane! If they do I wish I could be there''

    ''Me too!''

    "Me three!''

    Jocelyn exited out of the forum after that, her face burning at the thought. Getting married? They had only officially been dating for a month! She couldn''t even daydream about something so big this early on. She hadn''t thought about it at all.

    She had always taken things one day at a time. The only long-term goals she ever had were getting a schrship to college so she could escape her parents'' house and bing a marriage and family therapist once she got there. She wasn''t the kind of person who thought about the future.

    Getting married. How could she ever do something like that after being forced to endure her parents'' horrible marriage and see all the people whose marriages fell apart at work every day?

    Jocelyn loved Keith. If she had things her way she would stay with him forever but they had an awful lot of growing together to do before she could even contemte such a thing. She didn''t know if either of them were capable of making that sort ofmitment.

    Being with him forever¡­the thought appealed to her but she didn''t know if it was realistic. They both carried a lot of baggage.

    Physical and metaphorical right now because they were heading to the airport to start their long-awaited vacation. Keith grinned at her when she approached him near the check-in area.

    "Are you ready to go on vacation for the first time in your life?"

    "Yes. It should be fun," she told him with a smile.

    Especially because she would be doing it with him. She had no doubt that it would be much more boring if she had ever tried to do something like this on her own. Though the thought likely never would have urred to her. It certainly hadn''t before.

    Jocelyn was looking forward to this trip partially because of where they were going but more because she was going with Keith. He had a way of making anything interesting.

    He was all hers for the next week. It would be nice to have that extra time to spend with him before he got so busy. She had to take what she could get. She would support him in his goals even if they took him away from her more than she liked.

    That was how being in a rtionship was supposed to work.. He was there for her so she would be there for him too.

 Chapter 147 - I Know What Thats Like

    Jocelyn had never been on a ne before. It was an interesting experience. She was used to small spaces but not having so many people packed into them.

    Keith didn''t seem the slightest bit bothered. He had done this before so she hadn''t expected him to.

    The flight was less than three hours. He spent most of it watching a movie so she read a book she had brought with her. It wasn''t the worst way to pass time but the seats could have been morefortable. At least he had his hand resting on top of her thigh for most of it.

    He did things like that a lot since they started dating officially. He always had to be touching her somehow but she didn''t mind. It made her feel very loved.

    When their nended they went to get a rental car and headed straight to their hotel. They had eaten lunch at the airport and still had some time before dinner so they decided to go to the beach. She had never been discounting times she had viin fights to deal with out on the water.

    This was her first time as a casual beachgoer and she wasn''t quite sure what to expect. She had only ever been at night since that was when viins tended to strike.

    This beach was quite crowded. She supposed it was because they went during daylight hours. There were people everywhere doing activities ranging from building sandcastles to napping to ying volleyball.

    Jocelyn definitely hadn''te here to take a nap. She knew nothing about volleyball either aside from ying it a few times in high school P.E. Keith had been to the beach before so she was nning on following his lead. It was the easier thing to do.

    "Come on! Let''s go swimming," he said after they set up their stuff on the sand.

    "¡­I don''t know how."

    Keith blinked at her. "You don''t? But you always handled things involving water without fear!"

    "Because I had my ice to fall back on. If I fell in I could make an ice tform below me to get back out. Nobody ever taught me how to swim and once I was an adult I never got around to taking lessons because I didn''t think I''d need it. I didn''t even own a swimsuit until I bought one for this trip," Jocelyn confessed.

    "Remind me to teach you at the hotel pool after dinner. Knowing how to swim is an important skill. We can just go to the shallow part if you want. I won''t let anything happen to you. But if you''d rather stay out of the water altogether I''d understand. I wouldn''t have suggested going to the beach if I knew you couldn''t swim."

    "Don''t worry about it. I''m the one who didn''t say anything. I figured you could help me out if necessary because of your affinity with water."

    Jocelyn hadn''t been concerned about not knowing how to swim knowing Keith would be with her the whole time. She had seen him do some amazing things with bodies of water before. He didn''t just create water; he could control it.

    Keith smiled and shook his head. "Of course you did. If you want to swim I can make that happen. Come on."

    He took her hand and they walked into the surf together. The water was pleasantly warm and Jocelyn felt herself rx as she breathed in the salty air. She could understand why people likeding to the beach.

    They stayed where the water only came up to her waist and jumped through the waves for a while. Then Keith wanted to go swimming for real and went out further, leaving her standing there watching him with a fond smile on her face. He certainly seemed like he was having fun.

    Suddenly, the water seemed to physically grab her and carry her over to where he was. He wrapped an arm around her and kissed her. "Gotcha!"

    Jocelynughed and sshed him. "You scared me! I''ve never been grabbed by water before."

    "Sorry. You just looked so beautiful standing there that I couldn''t resist."

    She rolled her eyes but couldn''t stop the smile from spreading across her face. "You really couldn''t have swam back over to me?"

    "Nope. The sight of you in a swimsuit was too much for me to bear. What can I say? I have the world''s hottest girlfriend," Keith said in his usual dramatic way.

    "Ironic since you actually have the world''s coldest."

    "Haha, very funny. Ice powers and being hot aren''t mutually exclusive, Joss."

    "That''s reassuring."

    Jocelyn was still amazed that he found her beautiful. No one else had ever said anything like that to her before he came along. She had been too invisible for anyone to notice what she looked like.

    They swam around for a while (well, Keith swam and manipted the water so Jocelyn didn''t sink) before heading back to shore and digging around in the sand. She made a valiant attempt at building a sandcastle but it kept falling apart. He told her he needed to use more water and surreptitiously squirted some out of his hands onto her sand so it was easier to work with.

    He was right at home in a ce like this. She had the incongruous thought that perhaps she would feel at home in Antarctica. She doubted she would get the chance to test that theory considering how far away it was.

    Jocelyn enjoyed herself at the beach partly because it was something new and partly because of how much fun Keith was having. They would have to go to ones back home more often next summer.

    They grabbed dinner on their way back to the hotel and used the pool''s showers to rinse the sand off before getting in so he could try and teach her how to swim properly. He was exceedingly patient with her when she wasn''t doing very well trying to tread water.

    He didn''t say anything about why she couldn''t swim until they were back in their hotel room and she was drying her hair after her shower. "Hey, Joss¡­why didn''t anyone teach you how to swim?"

    Jocelyn had been expecting questions. Most adults knew how to swim. He was probably waiting for the end of the day so he wouldn''t ruin the fun while they were out and about.

    She knew she had to tell him about her family sooner orter but she hadn''t expected it to happen quite this soon. She wasn''t going to get a better opening though. This was her best chance to get the bare bones out.

    "My parents weren''t what you would call involved. They were always drunk and fighting with each other. Most of the time they forgot I was there. I preferred it that way so I tried to keep quiet and out of their way as much as possible," she said without meeting his eyes.

    "I was the product of a one-night stand. My father had a strong enough sense of responsibility to want to marry the woman he knocked up but they were never suited for each other or willing to try and work things out.

    "They spent my whole life fighting and I assume they split up once I left the house. I wouldn''t know because I didn''t stay in contact. They med me for ruining their lives so why would I? They never wanted me. Not before I was born or after.

    "They wouldn''t have minded at all if I drowned. They probably would have been happy about it. So why would they bother putting their only child in swimming lessons? I didn''t matter that much to them."

    Keith seized her in a tight hug. "I''m so sorry, Joss. You didn''t deserve that. No kid does."

    Jocelyn hadn''t meant to sound so bitter but she had never talked about this before. Her true feelings came flooding out with the words she had kept locked inside for so long.

    "No, I didn''t. But people get saddled with all sorts of things they don''t deserve. Hiding for most of my childhood left me a shell of a person. Nobody likes a shell. I got ignored at home unless I was being yelled at and ignored at school unless I was being bullied for being weird.

    "Not having opinions on things was a survival tactic. What else could I have done? I was just a kid who didn''t know any better. Yet I''ve spent my whole life hated because of it. I always told myself it didn''t matter but deep down it did. Nobody ever wanted me until I met you."

    Keith kissed the top of her head and spoke quietly. "Nobody ever wanted me either. Our situations were a bit different but I know what that''s like. I''m sorry you had to go through that. It''s terrible, isn''t it?"

    Tears filled her eyes. It was. It truly was.. No one should have to go so many years knowing that nobody wanted them around.

 Chapter 148 - You Flatter Me

    "What happened to you?" Jocelyn asked when the implications set in.

    She had already guessed that Keith had some sort of childhood trauma because of his low self-esteem and need for external validation. He had never said much about it though, likely for the same reasons she hadn''t.

    He sighed and responded with two words. "Foster care."

    Ah. Many of Jocelyn''s clients were in foster care. She knew that sense of hopelessness well. That exined a lot. He tried to be whatever he thought people wanted him to so they wouldn''t send him away like everyone else had.

    "How long?" she asked gently.

    "I went in when I was six and stayed until I aged out. Never got adopted. The court case with my dadsted six years before his rights were terminated and by that point I was too old for anyone to be interested.

    "I had three failed adoptions before giving up and deciding to spend the rest of my time in the system without trying. None of my foster homessted more than two years. Why do adults have to be so selfish and not think about their kids?

    "My mom walked out because my dad was a drug addict and would do anything to get a fix and he spent most of my childhood in and out of jail. Neither of them cared about me or how their actions would affect my life.

    "I used humor as a coping mechanism and even that annoyed people so I had to tone myself down everywhere I went. I wanted people to like me and saw Mercury on TV once surrounded by adoring fans when I was in middle school. That''s what made me think I could be a hero too. Isn''t that sad?"

    They were so simr even if their ways of coping had been different. Jocelyn had known for a while that this was part of what drew them to each other.

    Hisplex toward Mercury made a lot more sense knowing he was the reason Keith bothered bing a hero in the first ce. It was really unnecessary though. He didn''t need to act like someone else in order to be loved.

    "I''m sorry, Keith," Jocelyn mumbled into his shoulder. "You shouldn''t have had to go through that either."

    He let out a heavy sigh and held her tighter. "What''s done is done. No use dwelling on it. Things are working out much better for me these days so I''m trying to look forward instead of back."

    Her heart warmed at the implication that she was a part of the reason for that. "That''s a good mindset to have."

    "It''s mostly thanks to you."

    Jocelyn pulled back from the hug slightly so she could kiss him. She couldn''t help it when he said something like that. All she had ever wanted to do was make a difference for people and finding out she had done that for the one she loved meant a lot to her.

    Keith desperately kissed her back and she could feel how much he loved her and needed her in that moment. As much as she didn''t like talking about her past, she couldn''t deny that they had needed to have this conversation.

    Now that it was behind them they would be able to enjoy the rest of their vacation in peace. She was determined to have a good time taking her first ever break that wasn''t the direct result of being taken out of action against her will. Everyone needed a break sometimes. Even people like her who lived going from distraction to distraction.

    ===

    Keith hadn''t thought it was possible to hate anyone more than he hated his parents but Joss''s were giving them a run for their money. Hearing about her childhood exined why she was the way she was perfectly. She hadn''t been given the chance to try and discover who she was or what she liked because she was too busy trying not to let anyone notice she existed.

    It broke his heart. He also felt horrible for misjudging her as Frostine. All of her behavior back then was exined perfectly by how she had grown up.

    If only they had known this about each other sooner! They would have had that sense of understanding and not been so alone years earlier. Unfortunately, he couldn''t change the past. All he could do was appreciate having her in his life properly going forward.

    Despite the heaviness of the conversation that night the rest of the trip was lighthearted and every bit as fun as he had hoped it would be. Watching Joss experience things she hadn''t before was always a good time though it was now a bit tinged with regret knowing why she reacted to things the way she did.

    Keith tried not to let it get to him. Once they got back to New York he needed to crack down and focus on studying for his firefighter exams.

    He wasn''t only working toward his future anymore. He was working toward theirs.

    Whatever the future brought, he wanted to face it with Joss by his side. He wouldn''t be able to stand beside her with pride unless he had a better job and a way to pay at least half of the household expenses.

    He knew she didn''t care about things like that¡ªshe just wanted to be with him¡ªbut he did. She was always taking care of everybody else. She deserved to be taken care of somewhat for a change. She deserved to be able to take it easy now and then without having to carry the people around her.

    Keith studied hard for his exams with that in mind and was able to pass them on the first go. Because of his references at the volunteer fire department he was able to get hired at a fire station in Brooklyn about twenty minutes from where he currently lived.

    Joss was incredibly proud of him and ended up ordering a custom decorated cake from Avery West-ter, who was apparently a cake artist. It was decorated with frosting mes and had ''Congrattions Keith'' written on it.

    "I really need to learn how to bake so I can do something like this myself next time we need to celebrate," she said with a shrug after serving up two slices. "Maybe when my painting sses finish I should take a baking ss. I would need a kitchen to practice in though."

    "You can always use mine," Keith offered.

    The very idea of Joss wanting to bake things personally for him filled him with warmth. She could be really sweet when she wanted to be.

    "That would be nice," she said. "I''ll never be as good as Avery¡ªshe did go to culinary school¡ªbut I should really know how to feed myself better. A cooking ss would be wise too. I can''t live off of freezer meals forever.

    "Speaking of Avery, she invited us to go do an escape room with her and some of her friends in a few weeks. I told her we would have to work around whatever your new schedule is and she said that was fine."

    Keith had done an escape room once in college. He could see Joss really loving something like that with how good she was at puzzles.

    He would have to get over his mixed feelings about Mercury since she seemed excited at the prospect of doing something with friends. The guy had never done anything to him. He was being stupidly jealous for no reason.

    Christian ter wasn''t the only former hero with his life together now! Keith was on track to get exactly where he wanted to go. There was no reason to be jealous or feel inferior in any way.

    He had just been epted into his career of choice, which was no small feat, and had the woman he loved by his side. He didn''t have a reason to be jealous of anybody right now. In this moment he was perfectly happy to be Keith Savage for the first time in his life.

    "That sounds fun," he told her with a smile. "You''re going to really like escape rooms; I can tell."

    Joss let out a smallugh. "Is that so?"

    "They''re basically big puzzles and you''re the puzzle queen so¡­"

    "The puzzle queen? That''s a new one."

    "Am I wrong? You beat so many phone games while your knee was recovering that I can''t even keep track of them all. And did SIX thousand-piece puzzles. I couldn''t even do one of those on my own."

    A pleased expression crossed her face. "You tter me."

    "It''s not ttery if it''s true," Keith said with a shrug. "What can I say? I''m dating a genius."

    Jossughed harder this time. "I wouldn''t categorize myself as a genius by any stretch of the imagination but I''m d you think so highly of me."

    "Of course I do. You''re the best person in the world."

    She leaned over to kiss him with a soft smile. "Pretty sure that''s you. Thanks though. I love you, Keith."

    "I love you too."

    He truly did. He loved her so much! At this point in his life his only wish was that he would be able to keep her with him forever.. And as soon as things were a bit more stable with his job he was going to tell her that.

 Chapter 149 - She Was His Whole World

    Keith''s training started early in the morning so he got off even earlier than Joss did while it was going on. That gave them the opportunity to go to that escape room on a Friday night since Christian and Avery were able to get his parents to watch their kids.

    There were four other people making up their group. Joss and Keith had originally been invited because they wanted to hit a room that needed eight people and they only had six avable.

    Jorge and Maribel Cruz were somewhat recently married and his cousin Angelo and his girlfriend Vanessa LaFontaine were there as well. Apparently, she worked at the same bakery as Avery and the rest were her rtives.

    Keith wasn''t sure how well Joss would be able to blend in with a bunch of people she didn''t know but she managed to hold her own when Christian introduced them. "Guys, these are my friends Jocelyn and Keith."

    A jolt when through him. His friends? He knew that Christian was aware of Joss''s secret identity but had he managed to figure out his as well?

    "Your friends? I didn''t know you had any," Angelo said in surprise before Avery elbowed him in the side.

    "Shut up, Angelo."

    "Shutting up. Nice to meet you both!"

    "You too," Joss said while Keith could only nod. His head was still reeling.

    He wasn''t able to participate in the escape room as much as he had hoped because he was debating whether or not to say anything to Christian. He pretty much did whatever Joss told him to since this was right up her alley.

    They all managed to make it out with twelve minutes to spare and he went to the bathroom, leaving Joss chatting with Avery and Vanessa out in the lobby. He was joined by Christian not long after and didn''t have to say anything because the other man did first as they were washing their hands. It was a good thing they were the only ones in the restroom.

    "I wondered what happened to you," Christian said mildly. "Nice to know you''re doing well, Delta. Though I never would have seen you and Frostine being a thing."

    Well, he wasn''t stupid. Keith had looked him up and found out he was awyer. It wasn''t surprising that he figured it out given the context clues. His wife had certainly caught on fast enough based on her reaction the first time they met.

    "Neither did I. She acted very different as a hero than she did as her regr self. I see retirement is suiting you."

    Christian smiled serenely. "It is. I''ve never been happier. You? I thought you said you still had a few good years left in you? It hasn''t been quite that long."

    "It happened earlier than I expected because Joss needed me," Keith admitted. "But I don''t mind in the slightest. Taking care of her was more important than random strangers I''d never see again."

    "Spoken like a man in love. Good for you. It''s nice to know two of the old crowd are doing well. I''m not in contact with any of the others. It was quite a surprise when Jocelyn reached out to me since I thought that chapter of my life was done forever."

    "Red Dynamo has a girlfriendst I heard. Supposedly, she works nights and that''s why she hasn''t figured him out."

    "Red Dynamo, huh? I wouldn''t have seen thating either. Shows what I know," Christian said with augh. "What about MultiMan? Have you seen him at all recently?"

    "Not since I ran into him and found out about Frostine being hurt. That''s how I figured out she was Joss. They had the exact same injury and it was too much of a coincidence. I''m really d he told me though. Things never would have progressed if he hadn''t."

    "It is nice having such things out in the open. Secrets are a burden to everyone involved."

    He would know, wouldn''t he? Keith was dying to know how he ended up happily married with two kids to his former nemesis but it wasn''t his business. Joss has already told him what little she knew of the situation and if he brought it up Christian would know she had been talking about him. That would make her ufortable so he kept his curiosity to himself.

    "No kidding. I''m d things worked out for both of us."

    Keith was surprised to find that he meant it too. He wasn''t jealous of Mercury anymore. He was d his old colleague was doing well and no longer felt like it was apetition.

    He smiled. "Yeah. Me too."

    They headed out of the bathroom and he saw Joss smiling andughing in the middle of her conversation. It made him happy to see. He wasn''t upset about her interacting with other people in a positive way like he would have been before. He knew his ce in her heart was unshakable. It would be good for her to have other people she had fun with too, especially since he was about to get so busy and he knew she went crazy when she didn''t have things to do.

    His schedule became crazy before he knew it. He was working 10:30 PM to 6 AM every day but Tuesdays and Wednesdays as soon as his training finished and that really limited the time he was avable to see his girlfriend.

    They were able to hang out before he went to work on weekends once he woke up around 2 PM and from the time she got off work until he had to leave on weekdays but only when she wasn''t in her sses. He hated the days he couldn''t see her and missed her terribly. Texting or calling wasn''t at all the same.

    Keith desperately missed the way things used to be but more than that he wished there wasn''t so muchmuting involved to see each other. He was getting paid a lot more per hour than he had been at the restaurant. He was fairly certain the two of them could afford a one-bedroom apartment together at this point even if it wasn''t anything fancy.

    He didn''t care about that. He just wanted to be able toe home to her at the end of a long graveyard shift.

    He brought it up on a Tuesday night when she was practicing some of her newly acquired cooking skills in his kitchen and prayed it would go well. "Hey, Joss¡­remember how you said I''m supposed to tell you things that I want?"

    "Yeah," she said without looking up from what she was doing.

    "I was wondering if maybe you wanted to try looking for an apartment together. You would have a real kitchen to work with and we wouldn''t have to take the subway so much just to see each other. Is that something you would be okay with or am I overstepping?"

    Joss stopped dicing vegetables and looked at him wide-eyed. "You really want to live with me?"

    "I can''t live without you," he said dramatically before growing more serious. "But yes. I want to be able toe home to you at the end of the day. Would that be too much to ask?"

    Tears filled her eyes as she shook her head. "Not at all. I would love that. People are always desperate for housing in Manhattan so it shouldn''t be hard to get out of my contract. What about you?"

    "My lease is up at the end of next month. If we''re going to do this we should get on it right away."

    Joss stepped away from her vegetables to hug him tightly. "That sounds great."

    Keith was relieved. He had gotten that off his chest and she seemed happy about it if her reaction was anything to go by. They were on the same page here. He was so d she was onboard. It would have been soul-crushing if she hadn''t been.

    She was his whole world. Honestly, he would marry her in a heartbeat if she would have him. Even though the very thought flooded him with panic. If it was her it would be okay.

    As the one person in this world who fully epted him and loved him for who he was he believed in her. Especially since she was the type who believed in working things out rather than moving onto the next best thing.

    If there was anybody in this world he could trust his heart to it was Joss. He had never wanted marriage or a family considering how messed up his was but he knew it would be possible with her.

    Seeing Bailey and Daniel West-ter''s pictures all over social media after he added Christian and Avery (and meeting them once in person) had gotten the wheels in his head turning. What would a potential child of his and Joss''s look like? Would they have her gray eyes and dark brown hair or his lighter brown and blue? Somebination of both? Or would they look like random rtives neither of them were in contact with?

    Keith knew Joss was great with kids considering her line of work. It could be nice for her to interact with kids who weren''t traumatized for once.

    He wasn''t sure if she would even want a family after what she went through but it was nice to dream. Maybe he could bring it up after they had been together longer. He needed to take things one step at a time so he didn''t rush her but that was alright.. As long as he was with him the whole time that was what mattered.

 Chapter 150 - The Future Had Never Been Brighter

    Jocelyn had never put any thought into leaving her tiny apartment until the first time Keith hit his head on the ceiling. It was far from thest.

    She realized that such a tiny space was not meant for two people since it barely worked for one but she couldn''t afford to move somewhere else on her own and was afraid to take the next step. They really hadn''t been officially together all that long. She told herself it would be eptable to bring it up once they had been together a few more months.

    So when he brought it up first she was ovee with emotion. Living together was a big step. One that hinted of permanency. The very idea of permanency of any sort after the life she had lived made her want to cry.

    Jocelyn threw herself wholeheartedly into apartment hunting because he was busier than she was and she was so excited about it. She found a cute little one-bedroom ce in Brooklyn where they would have a real kitchen and a living room that was only $1,100 a month.

    It wasn''t in the best part of town but she figured two former heroes would be able to defend themselves if it really came down to it. This way they would be able to save up for other things, including potentially buying a bigger apartment in a better part of town someday. Thinking long term could be scary but there was something pleasant about it too.

    She was able to find someone to take over her micro-studio easily¡ªanother poor lost soul who was never home so it didn''t matter how small it was. She felt sorry for them. And for her younger self for living like that.

    There was so much more to life than helping other endlessly while you were running on empty. There were ways for even someone as dead inside as she had been to feel alive.

    Jocelyn never would have discovered that if she hadn''t met Keith and been daring enough to follow him from restaurant to restaurant solely so he would continue to make herugh. That desperation for a tiny bit of amusement hadpletely changed the course of both of their lives.

    It was crazy how something so small could end up meaning so much. She never would have expected that.

    These days she had things she looked forward to. Likes and dislikes. Hobbies. She was HAPPY and that was something she never thought she would experience.

    Jocelyn had Keith but she also had friends. People she met in her various sses who asionally wanted to get together for lunch when her boyfriend was sleeping in on weekends. And there were Christian and Avery, who asionally invited them out for more group activities like the escape room.

    She had added Angelo, Vanessa, Jorge, and Maribel on social media because of that as well. Leah''s old unrequited love got engaged around Christmas and seemed very happy. She was d things worked out for him.

    She was doing better too these days, trying to focus on healing before putting herself out there romantically again. Which was exactly what she should have done in the first ce after going through something so traumatic. Jocelyn wasn''t worried about her. She was making great progress.

    That was one of the few satisfying things about her job. When her clients were doing well enough that they cut down on the number of times they needed toe in per month. It was when she felt like she made the most difference for people.

    Jocelyn''s job had never been too difficult to deal with because her emotions were locked behind a wall of ice. That hadn''t changed even now that she was showing emotions more outside of work.

    Compartmentalization was necessary as a therapist. Just not as a normal person trying to have a real life.

    Work was work. Home was home. Before, her life had been all work even if the types of work she had been doing were different. That hadn''t been at all healthy.

    Things were so much better now. She still didn''t like having a schedule so different from Keith''s but she was finding more and more to do when he was gone that made her happy too. She wasn''t entirely dependent on him like before.

    Jocelyn got home from getting lunch with her friends Patty and Maren from her cooking ss and discovered her boyfriend was still asleep so she decided to work on a thousand-piece puzzle and listen to a podcast. About thirty minutester she felt him slump forward on her shoulder.

    "Morning, Joss," he said sleepily.

    "I think you mean afternoon."

    "Honestly, it''s the same thing at this point. Did you have fun with your friends?"

    "I did. Maren is a really funny storyteller. She manages to make everything her son does sound hrious whether it actually is or not. He seems like quite a troublemaker but he''s adorable. I''ve seen plenty of pictures and videos," Jocelyn told him.

    Keith mumbled into her shoulder. "Does that sort of thing appeal to you?"

    "What sort of thing?"

    "Having kids."

    Jocelyn momentarily froze. She had never given it any thought. Suddenly, she wondered if Keith had. His tone was almost too casual.

    Why was he asking this? Did he want to have kids with her? She had never intended to be a mother but she hadn''t intended to get romantically involved with anyone either. She couldn''t deny that it was a scary thought but not an entirely unwee one.

    She had interacted with kids plenty both in her job and as a hero. Dealing with their trauma was difficult but any child she gave birth to would have a clean te. She knew how to handle tantrums and such too.

    She could probably be a decent parent. At the very least she would never behave the way hers had. That wasn''t the sort of person she was.

    "Not until about ten seconds ago," Jocelyn said evenly. "Why do you ask?"

    Keith''s tone remained casual. "Bailey and Daniel are really cute. The whole ''family'' thing never really seemed like something I wanted to do until I saw how happy Christian and Avery are with their kids. If they can do it, why can''t we? Only if you''re interested though. I could go either way."

    Was this how other people felt being hit by her bluntness? She was stunned and unsure quite how to respond. There was a lot to unpack from what he said there.

    He said he could go either way but he really wanted a family with her, didn''t he? But he loved her enough that if she didn''t he would still stay with her as just the two of them. The real takeaway she got from this was that he wanted to be with her forever.

    "That''s a bigmitment. You would be stuck with me for a minimum of eighteen years," Jocelyn said stupidly.

    Keith let go of her and walked around so he could make eye contact to show he was serious. "I would never consider myself ''stuck'' with you, Joss. I would happily be with you five times longer than that."

    "You''re still nning on being alive at one hundred sixteen?"

    "You actually did the mental math?! Never mind, of course you did. You know what I mean though. I¡­well¡­whether we have kids or not, I know I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I''ve known that for a while now."

    The puzzle piece Jocelyn was holding fell through her fingers. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. She hadn''t misread his signals about wanting to move in together. Permanency was on his mind too.

    "I do too," she admitted.

    She couldn''t imagine her life without him. She wanted to be by his side learning, growing, andughing with him forever.

    Keith grinned at her before clearing his throat and getting down on one knee, taking her hand as he did so. His bedhead was all over the ce and he was wearing id pajama pants with a smiley face t-shirt but he had never looked so handsome to her.

    "I''m sorry this isn''t fancier but¡­will you marry me, Joss?"

    Jocelyn''s throat closed so she wasn''t able to speak but she did nod fervently as giddiness overtook her. Relief flooded his face and the second he got up from the kitchen floor she tackle hugged him.

    Getting used to being in a rtionship hadn''t been easy. She knew better than most how difficult maintaining a marriage could be but if it was with Keith she knew things would be alright.

    They loved each other and had already proven they could be a great team as both Frostine and Delta and Jocelyn and Keith. As long as they continued having each other''s backs they could get through whatever life threw at them. Together.

    Overwhelmed with love for him, she kissed him fervently for a while. When they pulled apart he had the happiest smile she had ever seen on his face but simultaneously looked a bit sheepish.

    "So¡­uh¡­do you want to go get a ring? It''s going to have to be a fake stone for now because I don''t have much but¡ª"

    "I don''t mind!" Jocelyn said quickly.

    She had never cared about jewelry. She didn''t even have her ears pierced. Anything would work as long as it was proof that she would be his forever.

    Keith seemed relieved. "Alright. Let''s go then!"

    "In your pajamas?"

    "Right. Forgot about that. Give me a minute then we can go."

    He came out of their room a momentter wearing jeans and his favorite leather jacket. He held his hand out to her and she dly took it, hardly able to believe this was actually happening all the way to the jewelry store.

    Jocelyn couldn''t stop staring at the ring on her finger once they left. It sparkled in the light even more than snow did.

    "We should take a picture," Keith suggested.

    An excellent idea. She had never been one for taking pictures because she had no desire to remember anything before the two of them started going out. He was the one who wanted to take pictures of the things they were doing as proof of their experiences.

    Jocelynid her hand on his chest so the ring was on full disy and shed her brightest smile at the camera as he took a selfie of the two of them. As she looked at the picture afterward she thought of how far she hade.

    She never thought she would smile so happily back when people regrly used her of being an ice statue. If they could see her now they would never believe it.

    But that didn''t matter now. The past was behind her.. And as she looked over at her fianc¨¦ making the picture his new lock screen with an equally joyous smile on his face she thought that the future had never been brighter.

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!