by R. M. Walker
He put his forehead against mine and stared into my eyes. “I wasn’t allowed to, Sayah. You have no idea how hard it was to keep it a secret, especially when you looked at me with such adoration, when you weren’t trying to punch me,” he chuckled. “It took me a while to notice the hopeful looks you gave me when no one else was around. I was too afraid to believe that you might have feelings for me too. It wasn’t until the night I went out with Mrs. Stern’s grandniece that I figured out that you cared about me.”
Remembering the night he spoke about, I took a deep breath, letting the forgotten memory wash through me. “When you came home, you found me crying in the lab with a broken arm from fighting Vortex. I was mad that you weren’t there because you were on a date with Emilia. I told you that you weren’t allowed to leave me again,” I said softly. The pain of knowing Javin was out with another girl was worse than the broken bone.
He nodded and ran his knuckles down my cheek. “I heard the pain in your voice. You were upset because I wasn’t there. You weren’t blaming me for what happened, but you were hurt because I had abandoned you. I saw something in your eyes that night. I finally understood that you were jealous and disappointed that I had been with someone else. You have no idea what it took to keep the wall separating us intact that night. I nearly told you that I loved you and that I was going out with Emilia because Rupert had insisted on it.”
I pulled away, needing a second to calm my rage. I wanted to punch him for keeping this from me for so long, yet I needed to know why he had kept his secret. “Why weren’t you allowed to be with me? Who stopped you?” I asked, until the answer became blindingly obvious. “Fist. Fist wouldn’t let you be with me, right? He was always paranoid that we would form our own team someday.”
“Right,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. “He said that if I ever told you I had feelings for you he would send you away. I couldn’t risk it, no matter how much it killed me to stay away from you. Instead, I had to watch you date assholes like Chaz, while pretending to be indifferent.”
I closed my eyes and clenched my hands. I didn’t think I could hate Fist more than I already did. I was about to swear up a storm when I remembered the cemetery. “Why did you walk away from me after Fist died? Why didn’t you stay if you loved me?”
He hung his head. “I felt responsible for Fist’s death. I wasn’t there when Halcyon killed him. I was patrolling the other side of town, as I was ordered to do. Without Fist, more criminals would flock to the city. I knew if I stayed with you, we would have ultimately left Crimson to fend for itself. It was always my dream to take you away to a remote town and raise a family with you. I wanted to make sure the city was safe before I asked you to leave with me. I’m sorry that I didn’t stay when you asked me to. I understand if you hate me,” he whispered.
A mix of emotions washed through me. Javin loved me. He wanted to raise a family with me. I was so overjoyed that I couldn’t think straight, but I was so angry at Fist for keeping us apart.
His handsome face was so despondent that I forgot about my anger and grabbed his cheeks. Refusing to allow Fist to keep us apart any longer, I kissed him. “I love you and I don’t care who knows it.”
He let out a breath and smiled. “You don’t know how happy this makes me. I swear that I will make it up to you every day.”
I pulled him closer and ran my tongue over his lower lip. “You’d better.”
Kneeling down in front of me, he popped the button on my pants and pulled my pants down my legs. “This may sound really bad, but every night when I went to sleep, I thought about you.” He ran his tongue up the inside of my thigh, making me shiver. “I thought about kissing you and holding you.” He pulled aside my panties and licked up through my folds, sending chills through my body. “I would lay awake in bed and replay our conversations. I would say all the things I wanted to say. I imagined you lying next to me in bed and pictured all the things I wanted to do to you.” He swirled his tongue around and around until he reached my clit, causing me to shake. “I couldn’t sleep until I touched myself and pictured you riding me until we both came.” He sucked on my clit until my knees buckled and I lost control of my senses. Catching me, he carefully took me to the ground and settled between my legs.
“I did the same thing most nights, except you were fucking me,” I groaned.
A wicked smile appeared on his lips. “I wish you could feel how hard I am right now.” He pushed his tongue into my core and held my hips in place with his strong arms. He mercilessly drove his tongue in and out of me. I grabbed his hair and directed him to the places that needed the most attention. He quickly complied with my wishes, while I bucked wildly and cried his name. I came so hard that I nearly blacked out.
“Holy fuck!” I gasped.
Javin sat back on his knees and smiled at me. “That was better than I ever imagined. I had no idea that you would come so violently. I loved it,” he said, nipping my knee with his teeth.
I grabbed his arms and pulled myself up to reach his mouth. My tongue slid into his mouth and I kissed him. “I need you,” I groaned.
He raised his eyebrow, confused. “I’m sorry. I thought you came. Did I do something wrong?”
“No,” I panted. “That was amazing, but we aren’t done. I need you inside of me.”
He searched my face for half a second before he shoved his pants down to his knees. He hooked his arms under my legs and pushed his cock into my body.
“Yes!” I screamed.
Seeing the strain on his face, I understood how turned on he was. I was fulfilling his fantasies every bit as he was fulfilling mine.
He rode me hard while holding my legs apart. Unable to grab on to anything, I clawed at the floor and bucked as he drove his hard body into mine. I couldn’t believe that he was with me, satisfying every desire I had.
With a few more thrusts, my core spasmed and my entire body locked up. He threw his head back and yelled my name before falling onto my chest.
“You were right,” I gasped. “You were really hard.”
He chuckled and bit my shoulder. “Sayah, no one else has ever made me that hard. The few girlfriends I entertained out of sheer desperation really did think I was gay or that I was terrible in bed. I had trouble being intimate with them. I refused to think about you while I was with them, so it was difficult to have sex.”
“Screw them. You belong to me,” I said, feeling completely sated.
His expression became serious and he stared at me. “Do you mean that? Do I belong to you?”
The doubt in his voice nearly broke me. I caressed his cheeks and smiled. “Javin, it’s always been the two of us. Ara was too angry to ever confide in us or let us in. Fist was an emotionally stunted asshole. Even though you and I fought or competed for attention, we always watched out for one another. Despite the times when you acted like an asshole, I still cared about you. Now that I know why you were distant, I love you even more.”
His eyes teared up and he leaned down to kiss me. “I love you, Sayah, I do. I promise to tell you every day to make up for all the times I couldn’t say it.”
Deliriously happy, we sat up and wrapped our arms around each other. “Don’t ever keep anything from me again.”
“Never,” he said sincerely.
Glancing past him for a second, my eyes settled on the crime board. Though my vision was a little blurry still from my multiple orgasms, I noticed something strange about Daniel Draven’s photo.
“Rocket Warrior,” I muttered.
Confused, Javin pulled back to look at me. “Please don’t call me that ass hat’s name.”
Pulling my pants up, I quickly got to my feet and grabbed a marker from the kitchen table. I went to Daniel’s photo and started drawing a thick mask around his eyes and a fin off the back of his head. “Rocket Warrior,” I said in amazement, pointing to the photo. “I recognized Daniel’s eyes from our team up with Rocket Warrior during our fight against Commander Pain. I’d taken a blow
to the head and Rocket Warrior helped me up. My eyes had been unfocused, just like now. That’s how I made the connection.”
“Shit. How didn’t I see this before?” He took the marker from me and went to Robert Calvin and Drew Augusta’s photos.
I watched as Lightning King and Spear Master took shape before my eyes. “The three of them were heroes.”
“There’s a problem with that theory. Just last week I saw Lightning King stop a robbery on the news, but Robert Calvin died two months ago. I’m certain that Robert was the Lightning King,” he said, tapping Robert’s cleft chin.
“There has to be an explanation. Maybe someone is impersonating them so that no one notices that three heroes are missing. People eventually would figure out that Robert, Drew and Daniel were actually heroes,” I shrugged.
He stared at the board. “So we agree that they were heroes, but how did they die? They should have been able to protect themselves, yet they died in mundane ways.”
I went to Javin’s desk and opened the police files he had copied. “Robert died in a car accident when his car swerved out of control and hit a pole. Drew died from internal bleeding, but had no marks on him. Daniel died of asphyxiation, but had no marks on his neck. The coroner said it looked like he had drowned, but he didn’t have water in his lungs.”
Javin paced around the living area for a second. “That’s why the police didn’t think foul play was involved. They seemed like normal deaths, but the details didn’t add up. Daniel was found in his home with no indication that he had been submerged in a tub, sink, bucket or toilet.”
A cold feeling settled in my stomach as the answer came to me. “We know someone who could drown a person,” I frowned.
Javin shook his head. “Ara would never do that. She was certainly capable of immobilizing a villain in ice or hitting them with a wall of water, but she would never cross the line and kill someone. She’s a hero.”
“What about that time she created the ice darts? She nearly killed a henchman of Commander Pain’s,” I said, remembering how much blood had poured out of the guy.
He crossed his arms. “Okay, let’s assume that she froze the road, causing the car crash, pummeled Drew to death with waves and drowned Daniel then pulled all the water out of his lungs. Why? Why would she become a villain?”
I threw my hands up. “I have no idea. She always liked helping people. I saw her save children and the elderly. Her problem was with Fist. It doesn’t make any sense unless someone was controlling her.”
Turning around, he rubbed his chin. “Why was the banquet attacked? No master villain showed up to claim responsibility. You know how much they love to watch the carnage. Those gunmen had their orders, but no one showed up to gloat.”
“Do you think Ara had something to do with them?” I asked, confused by his change of direction.
“No, but I think Houston Kelly was involved. After I left the bathroom, I saw him head for the back exit. He said that he saw men coming into the building, but the gunfire didn’t start until after I got him to his car in the alley. There’s no way he could have seen them coming. There wasn’t enough time for him to see the henchmen enter the vestibule and run to the back of the building before they opened fire,” he explained.
“Do you think Houston knows that you’re Black Cape?” I asked.
“Houston reached out to the security company I work for and specifically asked for me. I thought he found out that I saved Conrad James from a robbery though he never mentioned it. He was the one who suggested I come as a guest instead of a security agent. I can only assume that he asked me to the event to confirm that I was Black Cape,” he said.
“If he was suspicious of you, he could have used the goon squad to try to draw you out while you were unarmed,” I suggested.
Javin threw his hands up. “This is all speculation without a motive. We have nothing that ties Houston to the dead CEOs, except for maybe Drew. Chaz mentioned that Houston’s company no longer has any competition with Drew’s company floundering without a CEO.”
I sat down on the couch and tried to figure out if Ara was involved with Houston, until I remembered what Ara had said when tasked by Fist to spy on him. “Ara didn’t just say that Houston was clean, she specifically said that Fist was paranoid and that Houston was a kind, caring man. For Ara, that was a glowing assessment. She also fought with Fist and told him to leave Houston alone because he was innocent. Do you think Ara was protecting Houston?”
“We need to locate Ara and find out what she knows about Houston,” Javin said, rushing over to his laptop.
“Leave it to the super sleuths to doom themselves. You two could never leave anything alone,” Ara yelled from across the room.
I twisted around to see water rising up out of the sink and spill onto the floor. I jumped off the couch and ran towards Javin, who was reaching for the weapons under his table.
Seeing the water take shape and turn into Ara normally didn’t bother me, but this time we were fighting on opposite sides and I was weaponless.
“Why did you kill those men?” Javin asked as his hand closed around his throwing stars.
“Crimson needed less heroes and I needed the money. I’ll bet you didn’t know that Fist cut me off. I don’t get anything from his estate. I guess it’s fitting since I had him killed,” she laughed cruelly.
Stunned, I didn’t know what to say. I stepped forward to ask Ara why, but Javin threw the stars at her midsection. They exploded on impact, causing Ara to break up into giant splashes of water.
“Run!” Javin yelled.
I headed for the front door and pulled Javin along with me. We would be no match for Ara without our battle suits and better weapons. Opening the door, I stopped short when a tall man wearing a brown battle suit with blue stripes appeared in the doorway.
“Halcyon,” I gasped. For a second I thought I was seeing the ghost of the man we had left burning in an abandoned warehouse. I quickly worked past my shock and took control of my fear. I had no idea what was happening, but it was time to leave and regroup. I focused my power and attempted to slide through the floor until he grabbed my arm.
“Not so fast, Sayah. You don’t want to mix up your molecules with mine,” Halcyon warned. “Ara told me about your weaknesses, so don’t bother trying to trick me.”
Through the helmet that obscured his face, I recognized Houston Kelly’s voice. I wasn’t sure if he was the real Halcyon or if he was using Halcyon’s costume to throw us off. Regardless, I threw my knee into his gut. He grunted, but didn’t release my arm.
Javin wasted no time in leaping at Halcyon and taking him to the ground.
Thankfully, Halcyon released my arm. Placing my foot on the ground to run, my legs suddenly went numb, and I started to shiver. “Ara, let me go. I don’t want to fight you,” I said, feeling Ara’s freeze breath blowing on my lower body. Turning my head, I saw Ara’s frost form break apart in the air and rush toward me.
Within moments, my entire body locked up and stiffened as Ara’s ice gathered around me. Unable to move, I helplessly watched Halcyon punch Javin in the face, throwing him off balance and inject him with something. A second later, Javin fell to the ground unable to move.
“Hurry, Ara. Javin won’t be down for long,” Halcyon shouted.
* * *
By the time I could feel my body again, Javin and I were somewhere inside the Creston Building listening to Ara argue with Halcyon over which one of them would kill us.
In the corner of the lab, hanging on the wall were the battle suits of Rocket Warrior, Lightning King and Spear Master, along with two others I recognized, Phantom Woman and Black Cape. I had no idea why they would impersonate us, unless coming out of retirement had forced them to add us to their scheme.
“Why, Ara? Why the hell did you kill Fist? Do you know what? I don’t care. I don’t care why you killed Fist. We all hated him. I want to know why you are killing the other heroes and betraying us,” I shouted as I slammed my hand
against my glass cage.
Standing in front of multiple computer screens similar to those in Fist’s old lab, Ara looked at me over her shoulder. “Did you know that Fist wouldn’t let me leave? I belonged to him. We all belonged to him. He reminded me of that every second of every day. Javin understood that. Fist happily kept the two of you apart. He needed his proud little soldiers to do his dirty work,” she snickered.
“Fist was an asshole. I get that. I put up with him because we were protecting the city. You could have easily left. He had super strength and he was smart, but your power was far greater than his. You could have run whenever you wanted, so don’t give me excuses,” I retorted.
She laughed cruelly. “Right. I could have left whenever I wanted and he would have blown me up. You’re so stupid, Sayah. Fist feared me. He feared that I would kill him and feared that I would destroy the city. He tried to control me to keep me quiet. When I figured out that I could freeze people, he put a chip in my head capable of killing me if I misbehaved. The bastard somehow coded the chip to my DNA so that it would stay with me even if I changed shape,” she sneered.
I wanted to be surprised by Ara’s confession, but I wasn’t. Fist was paranoid enough to do something crazy like that.
“Ara, I’m sorry that Fist didn’t trust you, but you could have told us. We could have found a way to protect you and get you out of the city. We were a family,” I said.
“We were never a family! Fist made sure of that. What do you think he would have done if I told you? He would have killed us all. You know it’s true. Instead, I had to find my own way out,” she said, placing her hand on Halcyon’s arm.
“You turned to Houston for help. Let me guess, he removed the chip and killed Fist for you,” I said.
She smiled at Halcyon. “You and Javin needed to have your revenge, so we set Halcyon up as Fist’s killer and faked his death to appease you. In return, I helped him get what he wanted.”
I heard the years of pent up agony in her voice. She had suffered in silence for too long and had lost her way. I wanted to feel bad for her, but she had chosen murder instead of trusting us to find a safer solution to the problem.