Impossible Things (Subparheroes), page 17
I strode out the door and down the stairs, bolstered with new-found confidence. Rosselin’s men stayed down when they saw me coming, which surprised me. They were unquestionably powerful and could have put up a fight, but for some reason they chose not to.
Rosselin, however, scrambled to his feet with panic in his eyes. He started to lunge for his gun, so I pushed my hand forward, slamming him into the side of the SUV and pinning him there. “This ends here and now,” I growled.
“Please,” he sputtered, “don’t kill me.”
“You’re not worth the paperwork. I’m going to let SPAM deal with you, but let me be clear. If you ever show your face again or try to harm anyone I care about, I’m going to turn you inside out and use you like a sock puppet.”
Okay, so I was new to this whole threatening the bad guy business, and that needed work. It certainly instilled a healthy dose of fear in him, though.
A few moments later, Andy and Arden joined me. They were carrying thick rolls of twine, and we made quick work of tying up Rosselin and his men.
I wasn’t sure why the henchmen allowed us to do this, since at least one of them was powerful enough to take down wards and rip heavy doors and gates off their hinges. When I commented on it, the bearded guy muttered, “My brothers and I were told we’d be going up against civilians when we took this gig. Rosselin’s not paying us enough to get dismembered by a ridiculously powerful superhero.” I had no way of gauging my powers, but the fact that the three of them didn’t think they could take me on was eye-opening.
I stuffed Rosselin into the back of the SUV and ordered his men to get in the back seat, mostly to tidy up. Then I disabled the vehicle by ripping off a tire, in case anyone got the bright idea to try to escape. I’d actually only wanted to deflate it, but channeling my power was rough and imprecise—like wielding a club, not a scalpel.
Then I joined Arden and Andy, who were sitting on the front steps. Andy let out a shaky breath as he leaned against me, and I put my arm around his shoulders.
Arden murmured, “That all happened so fast.”
“It did. Are you okay?”
“Mostly, but I probably have a mild concussion,” he said. “I’ll call my family doctor when we go inside, and I’ll ask him to come and take a look at me. Right now though, I just need to sit here and process all of that.”
A minute later, the sound of helicopters shattered the silence. Three of them appeared over the treetops and landed on the lawn, and a bunch of people in SWAT gear began pouring out.
Arden looked alarmed, so I said, “Don’t worry. I think they’re on our side.”
Sure enough, it turned out April had sent them. They were led by a young Black woman in a Barbie-pink suit. She handed me her business card and introduced herself as Violet from SPAM’s Portland field office. After I explained what had happened, she said, “Good work.”
“Thanks.”
As her crew hauled Rosselin and his men to the choppers, she told me, “We’re going to need you to come into one of our field offices at your earliest convenience so we can take a formal statement. But for now, is there anything else we can do for you, Agent Miller?”
I raised a brow at that title. Had she used it because she assumed I was an agent, or because SPAM somehow knew my powers had come online and automatically promoted me?
Not that it mattered right now. “Actually, yes,” I said. “Could you send a repairman to fix my friend’s door?” It was currently sticking out of a flower bed at a jaunty angle.
“You got it.”
She started composing a text on her way back to the helicopters, while Andy, Arden, and I climbed the stairs. “I’ll text Grady and ask him to come back out and rebuild the barrier this evening,” Arden said. “Not that I expect my monster to make a move as long as you’re here. He can probably sense there’s a new alpha in the neighborhood.”
I glanced at him and asked, “You mean me?”
“Obviously. I can feel a ton of power radiating from you.”
“Speaking of radiating, you should have seen yourself,” Andy said. “You were lit up like a beacon, and your eyes glowed bright blue. It was incredible.” I held up my hands and looked at them. Fortunately, the glow was gone. He asked me, “Do you feel different?”
“I feel good. Really good, like I could run a marathon without breaking a sweat. Other than that, I guess I still just feel like me.”
Arden said, “I thought you didn’t have any superpowers.”
“They were dormant,” I explained. “It took the fear of almost losing the man I love to finally activate them.”
Andy stopped at the house’s threshold and caught my hand. When I turned to him, he stared at me in wonder and whispered, “You love me?”
“Of course I do. I love you more than anything.”
His face lit up in a huge smile, which brought out his cute dimples. Then he pulled me down to his height and kissed me before saying, “I love you too, Sam.”
It was the best thing I’d ever heard.
A couple of hours later, I cooked dinner while Andy made some calls and Arden rested—doctor’s orders.
When he ended his last call, Andy came up behind me and slid his arms around my waist. As he rested his head between my shoulder blades, he said, “I’m going to miss Arden when we’re back home. Do you think he’ll come visit us?”
“We can always come here and visit him. It’s a short flight from San Francisco. But he said he would, and I’ll bet he makes good on his promise. After all, he wouldn’t want to incur the wrath of the Human Glowstick.”
Andy chuckled and informed me, “That’s a terrible superhero name.”
“Okay. How about Glow Job?”
“Oh my god.”
“The Great Glowbowski? Hootie and the Glowfish?”
“No and no.”
“We’ll workshop it.”
After a pause, he murmured, “I can’t believe we finally get to go home. My mom was so excited when I told her.”
“I know. I heard her yelling from clear across the room.”
“Moira screamed, too. My ears are still ringing.”
“What did April say when she called us back?”
“She congratulated us on a job well done,” he said. “She also reiterated that we need to go to a field office ASAP for a debriefing and to issue a statement, so formal charges can be brought against Rosselin. Then she gave you and me the next eight weeks off, with pay.”
I turned to him and draped my arms around his shoulders. “Thank god. I wouldn’t have been able to face work on Monday morning.” I thought about that and added, “Not that I have any idea what our jobs are now, between my newfound superpowers and the fact that the archives were destroyed.”
“I don’t know, either. April said we’ll discuss it after we’ve had a chance to rest and recuperate, which is good. Right now, I don’t even know what I want to do.”
There was something else on his mind, and I nuzzled his hair and waited patiently while he figured out what he wanted to say. Finally, Andy looked up at me and asked, “What’s going to happen when we get back to San Francisco?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you going to ask me out on a date, then pick me up on Friday night for dinner and a movie?”
“No.”
A frown line appeared between his brows. “You’re not?”
“I mean, we can certainly go out, but this has already evolved way beyond casually dating. Don’t you think?” He nodded, and I traced his jaw with my fingertip. “I want to be with you all the time, so what do you think about moving in with me? I’ll understand if you feel like it’s too soon, but—”
He flashed me a huge smile. “I wanted to ask you the same thing, but I was worried you’d think we were moving too fast.”
“No way. I love you, and I want us to be together. It’s that simple.”
“That’s exactly how I feel. We’re going to have a lot to figure out, in terms of our jobs and your new, incredible powers. But this is a given.”
I kissed him and rested my forehead against his. “As far as my powers go, all I know is that I’m going to use them to help people, like my mother before me. I don’t know how, exactly, but I’ll figure it out.”
“We will,” Andy said. “I’ll be there to support you every step of the way, because we’re a team.”
The superpowers were nice and all, but that truly made me feel invincible.
EPILOGUE: ANDY
Two Months Later
North Beach was just waking up as I slowed from a run to a walk and wiped my forehead with the back of my hand. The smell of baking bread wafted from the Italian bakery, which made my stomach grumble.
As I rounded a corner, the sunny yellow house I shared with my boyfriend came into view. I’d moved in right after we returned from Oregon. Sam felt like home to me, so it had been an easy transition.
When I got inside, I kicked off my shoes in the foyer and stuck my head into the living room to look for Sam. He wasn’t there, but what I saw made me smile. We’d been finding furniture one piece at a time in consignment shops, and our home was coming together. It was definitely eclectic, between the royal blue sofa, the art deco coffee table, and the mismatched club chairs, but it was joyful, too.
On my way down the hall to the kitchen, I gathered a parade of hungry cats. When I’d moved out, Mom and Julie and I decided to split the menagerie between our two households—more or less. They hadn’t wanted to part with many of them, so Sam and I had only ended up with five.
“It’s not time for breakfast,” I told them. “I’m just up early.”
Sam was in the kitchen getting the coffee going, and his face lit up when he saw me. “Hi babe,” he said, as I crossed the room to him. “How was your run?”
“Good. I had some energy to burn, so I added a couple of miles to my route.”
When I reached him, Sam pulled me close and kissed my forehead. I grinned and wrinkled my nose as I told him, “I’m all gross and sweaty.”
“I know. I totally regret kissing you.” He tried to say that with a straight face and failed.
I chuckled and turned to the refrigerator, which we’d recently decorated with a new batch of photos. Some were of just the two of us. In others, we were with Moira and Qian, and Mom and Julie. Most recently, we’d added a picture of us with Arden, from when he’d visited us the weekend before.
I opened the fridge and grabbed a carton of eggs, which Sam immediately plucked from my hands. “I’m making you breakfast,” he informed me. “Sit down and relax.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to. It’s your first day back at work, in a new department. It’s a big deal.” He sidestepped a meowing orange cat named Cecil as he said that.
“No, it’s not.”
“Of course it is! You’re a big shot now, with the security clearance to prove it. Not just anyone gets to work in SPAM’s secret archives.”
“But as you know, I only took the job on a temporary basis. I’ll admit though, I’m a little nervous. I have no idea what to expect.”
“Well, I’ll be right downstairs in the lecture halls if you need me.”
“I’m happy about that, and it’s a big day for you, too. How are you feeling about starting SPAM’s superhero training program?”
He shrugged. “Good, I think. It’s no secret I’ve had a lot of misgivings about SPAM, but this feels like the right call. They were there for us when we needed them, and I won’t forget that. Plus, you’ve got to love a paid opportunity to hone my skills.”
Once his training was done, we were going to decide our next step. He could either stay with SPAM, or go out on his own, in which case I’d go with him. The two of us were a team, after all.
I turned my attention to the five cats that were meowing and teeming at my feet. With a sigh, I opened a cabinet and started scooping food into their bowls as Sam pointed out, “You’re a total pushover when it comes to those little fuzz heads.”
“Like you’re not? Don’t think I didn’t see you sneaking them extra treats after dinner last night.”
He flashed me a smile. “Okay, maybe. But who can blame me? Look how cute they are!” He scooped up a grey cat named Roscoe and kissed the top of his head before putting him down again.
A minute later, we heard the front door open. Moira had a key to our house, and this was her new version of climbing in my bedroom window at all hours.
She was accompanied by my mom and Julie, and as the trio breezed into the kitchen with casserole dishes and shopping bags, I said, “Hi there. Why are you up so early?”
My mom put a bag on the counter and crushed first me and then Sam in an embrace. “Because my boys are starting a new chapter today, and we’re so proud,” she gushed. “We decided to come and fix you both a hearty breakfast before work, to make sure you’re off to a good start.”
“That’s so sweet, but you didn’t have to do that,” I told her.
“Just go with it.” Moira placed a bakery box on the counter and opened the lid. “I brought bagels, as a tribute to your first day at SPAM all those months ago. Remember?”
It felt like another lifetime. “I do. Are they gluten free?”
“No.”
“Good.” I grinned at my best friend as I tucked a strand of her short bob behind her ear. She’d been going through a lot of changes recently, and one of them involved cutting off about two feet of her hair. She’d also started a new job with a civil rights organization, which she absolutely loved.
I could tell she was excited about something, so I asked, “What’s going on with you?”
Her eyes lit up as she blurted, “I was going to wait to tell you, because today is supposed to be about you and Sam. But I’m going to explode if I don’t say something!”
Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to her, and Julie exclaimed, “Tell us already, before we die of suspense!”
“Qian and I set a date last night! Mark your calendars for December thirty-first.”
“Oh my god!” I grabbed her in a hug and asked, “What made you finally decide to take the plunge?”
“I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching lately.” She let go of me, and the sweetest, most lovesick smile spread across her face. “I adore Qian. I always have, but I was afraid of how my entire life would change after we were married. What you and Sam have shown me is that change doesn’t have to be bad or scary, and that sometimes it’s okay to jump in with both feet.”
Sam gave her a hug and exclaimed, “Congrats, sis! You two are amazing together, and seeing how happy you are makes me happy, too.”
“Thanks, Sammy.” She changed the subject, because she hated being the center of attention. “Anyway, we need to get going on breakfast. We can’t let you two be late for your first day back at work.”
The five of us sprang into action. As I pulled some plates from the cabinet, Roscoe jumped onto the counter and tried to take a bite out of one of the bagels. I told him to stop, and when he wouldn’t listen, I sighed and slightly tilted my head.
Moira watched as the cat jumped off the counter, and then she turned to me and asked, “Did you just do that with your powers?”
“Yeah. I’ve been practicing.”
“That’s a lot of progress,” she said. “Good job.”
“Thanks. I’m actually proud of myself.”
My power might never help me save the world, but it was a part of me. Coming to terms with it felt like a form of self-acceptance.
Sometime later, after we’d eaten and Sam and I had showered and changed, we said goodbye to my family and stepped out onto the back deck. He smiled at me and said, “You look fantastic.”
“Thanks. So do you.” I’d gone with a red button-down shirt and jeans, because I wasn’t trying to impress anyone, and Sam looked smoking hot in a track suit. He looked smoking hot in everything.
“Thanks, babe. Ready?”
I nodded, and we smiled at each other as he scooped me into his arms. Then he shot straight up into the air, propelled by the energy all around him. He’d spent countless hours practicing over the last couple of months, and he’d made great progress with learning to use his superpowers. The only thing he hadn’t been able to do was tap back into his ability to temporarily freeze time. Our theory was that it only came online at times of extreme duress.
Just like every time we flew together, I burst out laughing. Being a hundred feet up should have been disconcerting, but instead, it was so fun that it made me giddy. I trusted Sam completely, and that meant I could relax and enjoy myself.
I looked down at our pretty little house, and at our family. They’d rushed out onto the deck when we’d taken off, and they were waving and cheering. Seeing us soar always made them giddy, too.
It only took a couple of minutes to get to work, but it was glorious. We soared over rooftops and circled a park near Chinatown, where I used to play as a kid. A little Asian boy stopped what he was doing to watch us in awe. He tugged his mom’s sleeve and waved at us, and as I waved back, I thought, Maybe you’ll fly someday, kid. Or maybe not, and that’s okay, too.
When we touched down near SPAM’s employee entrance, a few people stopped and stared. Even in a world with superheroes, flying drew attention.
After we checked in and hung our lanyards around our necks, we walked to the elevators hand-in-hand. Sam’s lecture hall was on the ground level, but I was on my way to the top floor. He kissed me and said, “You’re going to do great.”
“So are you.”
The elevator doors slid open, and as I stepped inside, he called, “See you at lunch.” I tapped my ID with its new, higher security clearance to the reader, and then I smiled and gave him a thumbs up before the door closed.
There were butterflies in my stomach, because this was a total unknown. But I wasn’t really worried. I knew I could handle whatever was waiting for me.
