The Hero Complex

by K. A Knight

  “Well, where else am I supposed to sleep?” I pout up at him, fluttering my eyelashes for good measure.

  “On the couch?” he suggests, but I can tell he knows it’s no good to even suggest that before I snort at him.

  “No way, I’m not sleeping on the couch, it will crush my wings.” I push said wings out a little for emphasis, he doesn’t need to know that I can make them disappear at will.

  “Wait, can’t you make them dis—” I hurry up to him, pressing a single finger to his lips to silence him, accidentally pressing myself against his still damp chest in the process. Damn, he’s a powerhouse. I would let him rip me anytime—wait, no. That sounded weird. I blame his nipples which are distracting me, yep, definitely his nipples. I wonder if he would let me pierce one?

  “Shhh—” He looks at me in shock before his pupils dilate, as his body reacts to having me pressed against him. Something starts to poke my leg and I glance down before he hurriedly steps away from me. Whoa, maybe that’s why they call him Ripper because that sucker is huge, like make your vagina hurt huge. Would he even fit? There would have to be lube, I bet he could never have anal sex, he would kill that poor ass. Heroes above, it was like a steel rod, how does he even fit that sucker in his pants? It would be like walking with a baton swinging free, I wonder if he can hit himself with it. These are the questions, but by the look on his face if I ask him, I think he might freak out. Men, why do they have to make a hard cock so weird? I only want to know if he has to use lube and get special pants.

  “Fine, you can have the bed,” he mutters, grabbing a pair of pj bottoms.

  “Well, where are you going to sleep?” I question, feeling a little guilty that I’m kicking the guy out of his bed, but only a tiny bit.

  “I guess the sofa?” he answers with a wince and I frown, that sofa was tiny, there is no way that he’s going to fit on that thing and he looks like he might know it. He would need a whole other one just for his cock.

  “Just sleep with me,” I suggest, before frowning at his expression, which is one of shock. “Oh!” I realise what I’ve said and wink at him. “I didn’t mean that way, I don’t sleep with Villains.” Although now that I’m a Villain myself, I guess that I don’t have to restrict myself to heroes anymore? Huh. This could be fun, maybe it’s time for some V to H action. Everybody loves a bad boy, just, you know, maybe not a psychopath kind of Villain, though they do have their own appeal.

  “Whatever you’re thinking, just stop.” He rubs his face with his hands. “Fine, we share. But this side,” he gestures to the left side of the bed, “is my side, and that side is yours.” He points to the right before storming into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Such a drama queen. Or should that be drama Villain? Huh, who knows?

  Scooting over to ‘my side,’ I whip my dress off over my head so I’m just in my black bra and lacy pants, before snuggling down under the covers. The door opens again to show me Ripper standing there awkwardly in pj pants, looking from the bed to me.

  “I don’t bite,” I say sweetly.

  He grunts, sidling closer and watching me like I’m evil, before sliding under the covers. He’s so far over I’m betting he’s nearly falling off the bed. He keeps shooting me looks, so I turn onto my side and face him.

  “Shit, I forgot to turn off the lights,” he mutters, staring sadly at the light switch.

  “I’ll get it!” I shout, trying to be helpful. Springing from the bed I race to the light switch, but I stop when I hear him groan. Looking back I see his eyes locked on my ass, a pained expression on his face.

  “You can’t sleep like that,” he grits out.

  Looking down at myself I frown. “Why not?” I huff, turning to face him and crossing my arms.

  He looks away, grinding his jaw. “Fuck’s sake.” He gets out of the bed and stomps over to his chest of drawers, yanking out a drawer and rummaging inside before pulling out a bit of material and flinging it my way.

  I catch it mid-air, and hold it up to the light to see a t-shirt, which I’m betting would be a dress on me. I have to swallow my laugh at the words on it. “Baddest Villain in town?” I choke out, and when I glance at him, he’s staring at the ceiling again with a blush on his cheeks.

  “Just put it on,” he grits out before sighing. “Please,” he adds and I smile.

  Pulling it over my head, I wiggle until it falls to my knees. Sticking my arm inside the shirt, I unclip my bra and pull my other arm in to tug it from the strap. Dropping the bra to the floor, I hold my arms out for inspection.

  “Better?” I ask.

  He runs his eyes down me, they heat and I almost shiver from their intensity. “No, fuck. Get in bed,” he groans, and throwing him a pout I get back into bed, pulling the covers up to my chin. He mutters as he marches over and flicks off the light. I hear him moving through the room before air hits my skin from him raising the covers. He gets in, the mattress dipping, making me roll towards him. I hit him with a grunt and he sucks in a breath.

  “This isn’t going to fucking work,” he yells and I blink incredulously.

  What did I do now?

  He gets up again and I hear him moving around the room, complaining to himself about annoying women and their boobs invading his bed and looking at his porn. I giggle into the covers and then wait until he comes back, confused about what he’s doing.

  Something smacks me in the face and I cry out, scooting back to my side.

  “What are you doing?” I whine as more soft things, which I guess are pillows, hit the bed.

  He just grunts and I sit still as he messes with them until they are in a line down the bed, separating me from him.

  “Did-did you just build a pillow wall?” I snort, laughter slipping out. I hear someone else in the house laugh and he swears again.

  “Shut the fuck up and go to sleep, tomorrow you will need to learn how to be a Villain,” he grits out and the mattress dips as he gets back in, but the pillows stop my roll this time.

  “Oh, and the pillow fort stops there,” he mutters, before turning over and giving me his back. I have to bite my lip to stop the laughter from tumbling out.

  Some Villain he is.

  Chapter Seven

  I slept better that night than I ever have before, although I woke up to the three Villains watching me like I was some sort of interesting science experiment. Blinking the sleep from my eyes, I see the three of them standing at the door, whispering between themselves. I’m curled up against one of the pillows that Ripper had placed between us, the pillow wall having fallen sometime during the middle of the night. Glancing at the clock on the wall I see it’s seven AM and groan, swiping my blonde curls from my eyes, I turn my glare on them.

  “Why are you guys up so early? We are Villains, shouldn’t we get to sleep in or something?” Seriously, I thought sleeping in was a perk of villainy, surely only Heroes get up at the crack of dawn? Groaning, I wiggle to the top of the bed and sit up, stretching my arms above my head, closing my eyes as the delicious feeling runs through my body. Is there anything better than a stretch in the morning? Well, maybe morning sex. Or breakfast in bed. Or both together...yum, pancake covered hottie.

  “Fuuuuuck,” Peeper mutters under his breath, and I pop one eye open to see them all staring at me.

  “See what I’ve had to deal with all fucking night,” Ripper grinds out. “I’ve barely slept a wink.” Now that he mentions it, he does look tired, and tense.

  “You look pretty wound up Noah, do you need a massage to help relax? I’m super good at those,” I offer, swinging my legs off the side of the bed, Ripper’s large t-shirt rising high on my thigh. A strangled noise brings my gaze back over to the guys.

  “Oh great,” he mumbles, his eyes not leaving my exposed thigh.

  “See, Noah, she’s just being helpful,” Peeper comments, his words are light but the smile on his face is wide enough to make the Cheshire cat jealous.

  “Would you just put some clothes on? Please.” Rip
per sounds like he’s in pain at this point and I decide to take it easy on him.

  “Okay, okay, fine.” I roll my eyes before pushing up to stand, and then grab the bottom of the t-shirt and pull it over my head. There is a whistle which I’m pretty sure was from Peeper, before the sounds of a scuffle start.

  “Out!” Ripper practically shouts, and as I glance over my shoulder I see him shoving them out the room, hastily closing the door behind him.

  Finally alone in the room, I roll my eyes. Have they never seen a semi-naked woman before? Fetching my bra from where I left it on the floor, I pop it back on before rifling through Ripper’s drawers. I settle on a pair of black leggings and a white button up shirt. Both are massive on me and I have to roll up the bottoms of the leggings, but partnered with a belt around my wait, the outfit doesn’t look half bad. I look like a badass rocker chick.

  Strolling into the small kitchen I find the guys huddled around the island, talking in hushed voices.

  “So, what’s the plan for Villain training?” I ask, a spring in my step as I bustle around the kitchen, helping myself to a huge bowl of cereal. The guys look at each other before Peeper clears his throat.

  “Yeah, about that...” He trails off as I narrow my eyes at him, and he looks at the others for back up.

  “Nope, don’t look to them. What do you mean?” I demand, a heavy feeling filling my stomach.

  “Well, we aren't exactly like Claus, Villain extraordinaire. We barely get by as Villains, we didn’t ask for this,” he explains. I understand, I do, I didn’t ask to be a Villain either, but they can’t just leave me, can they? These guys are the closest thing to friends that I’ve ever had.

  “Well, if you’re not going to train me, who is?” My voice is tight. This is just like when I was a Hero, no one wants me. I look at the others to see if they feel the same, my eyes wide. I even put down my cereal bowl, losing my appetite for what has to be the first time ever.

  “Come on guys, we can’t just leave her,” Streaker speaks up for the first time today and I beam at him.

  “Fine. But this is going to end in disaster,” Peeper declares, but he’s smiling, so I don’t think he really means it.

  “Yes!” I bound forward and throw my arms around Streaker. “You guys won't regret this! And you, you’re my favourite.” I smack a kiss on his cheek, enjoying the blush that appears there.

  “Hey, I let you sleep in my bed! Why aren't I your favourite?” Ripper frowns, crossing his arms over his huge chest until I smile up at him.

  “Okay fine, you are both my favourite.” The announcement brings a smile to his lips before he looks across at Peeper, a smug expression on his face.

  “We are her favourites.”

  “What about me?” he inquires, his face looks smug, but I get the feeling that he cares more than he is letting on.

  “You tried to kick me out.”

  “I didn’t try to kick you out! I was trying to say that we aren't the best to teach you!” Peeper exclaims loudly.

  “Excuses, excuses.” I tut, before bouncing on the balls of my feet. “When do we start training?”

  “Now,” Ripper answers, before his eyes lock on my outfit. “Are you wearing my clothes?” His voice sounds odd, a little strangled, and his pupils have dilated.

  “Yeah! Suits me, huh?” I give him a little twirl and the others laugh as he groans again.

  “You are going to be the death of me,” he mutters again before walking out of the kitchen.

  Villain training isn’t as exciting as I had hoped it would be.

  I look at the guys sitting across from me, a steaming mug of coffee in my hands. “Soooooo, I’m starting to understand why you guys aren't very good at this Villain stuff,” I comment idly, gesturing to the three of them sitting there. “You’re not doing anything.”

  “We are doing something. We’re waiting,” Streaker comments, looking slightly offended at my accusation.

  “Okayyy. So, what are we waiting for?” I question, looking around for a sign, or whatever super secret Villain signal they are waiting for. Peeper groans and takes a long sip of his coffee.

  “Can you just quiet your thoughts down a bit? You’re practically shouting at me right now,” he moans and rubs at his brow.

  Huh, that’s interesting. Glancing at him out the corner of my eye I calm my thoughts, thinking of puppies and kittens, seeing him visibly relax. Sipping at my coffee, I scream STOP READING MY THOUGHTS as loudly as I can in my mind.

  “Fuck!” he cries out, clutching at his head as he glares at me. “I can’t always help it! Besides, your thoughts are really fucking loud!” Ignoring him, I look around the diner again.

  “So why are we here? Looking for a granny to steal from? Or to steal a truck or something? Ooh, we could go joyriding! That’s always looked fun!” My voice is getting louder as I get excited, people around us start to turn to watch me, eyebrows raised.

  “Will you keep it down? We are trying to keep a low profile here.”

  “Oooh, because we are about to pull off our next big job. Got it. I’ll be quiet. Quiet as a rock. Except, you know, I’m prettier than a rock. Quiet mode activated.” Gesturing to my lips, I mime zipping them closed.

  “Thank god,” one of them mutters, and when I narrow my eyes at them, the guys just continue to watch me with open mouths and wide eyes.

  “No, we’re not planning our next ‘job.’ Who do you think we are, mobsters?” Peeper comments with a shake of his head, still rubbing between his brows.

  “Well then, why are we here?” My silence abruptly ends as I get impatient.

  “The coffee is good here,” Ripper says with a shrug of his massive shoulders, and I momentarily get distracted watching his muscles. Is it weird that I want to lick them?

  “Yes,” Peeper drawls, obviously reading my thoughts again. Seeing as he’s sitting next to me in the booth, I ‘accidentally’ elbow him in the ribs, trying to hide the smile of satisfaction from his ‘oof’ when my elbow makes contact with him. That will teach him to read my thoughts. “I can still hear you.” His muttered reply reaches me but I ignore it, focusing on the other guys.

  “But what about, you know, Villain stuff?” I ask, genuinely curious. This is not exactly the highflying Villain life I had expected.

  “You know how you get reminders to good deeds or whatever shit you had to do as a Hero? It’s the same for us Villains. For every bad deed we do, we get points which act like our currency. There are obviously different leagues.” Streaker rubs the back of his neck awkwardly as he struggles to meet my gaze. “We are at the bottom. Most of the shit we do, we don’t do on purpose. The biggest boost we got was when Ripper here turned up.”

  Ripper shrugs, looking awkward himself. “Yeah, turns out that ripping someone's arm off, even accidentally, is quite the point booster.”

  “So, no Villain stuff today?”

  “We are due to fill our quota, so we will need to do something today, I just don’t think it’s quite what you have in mind,” Peeper chimes in, and that’s when I get my brilliant idea.

  “I know! I could help! Seeing as I’m staying with you guys at the moment!”

  “I thought that was just temporary?” Peeper looks anxious at my declaration, but I ignore him again, looking at the others hopefully.

  “Well, what are your abilities?” Ripper looks thoughtful, even Streaker looks interested. Only Peeper looks like he might need some convincing.

  “You guys can’t be considering this?”

  Ignoring him, I smile sweetly at the other two. “I’m strong, I’m fast, and I can fly. Plus, I am really good at dancing.” My smug smile says it all, I’m really selling myself, who wouldn’t want me on their team.

  “Well, who could say no to that,” comes the sarcastic remark from Peeper before he sighs. “Fine, let’s go. We need to see if you have a natural talent for being a Villain.”

  With that announcement we all stand up to leave. I make the suggestion not to leave
a tip before hurrying out. See, I can totally do this Villain stuff. As we walk in silence I glance all around us, looking for the perfect opportunity to prove myself to them. I can feel their eyes on me, so the pressure is on. We round into a park and I see my opportunity ahead of me, it’s so blatant it’s like it was meant to be.

  “Right, watch and learn,” I demand, my confidence making me bossy. They just smirk at me, crossing their arms in unison as if they planned it. Peeper even waves me on. Flipping him off, I turn around and walk into the park. It's nice here, lots of lush green grass, and another idea hits me as I walk towards my target. Taking a gum wrapper out of my pocket, I drop it on the ground, boom. Littering. I feel my wrist buzz and when I glance down I see I’ve been granted a point. Okay, so that’s a little lower than I had hoped for, but I guess littering is lower on the Villain scale than say, murder. Okay, time to up the ante. I see my target and I feel the smile spreading across my face, this is going to be good.

  A little girl is by the fountain, watching the water as she eats sweets from one of those little paper bags. “Hey sweetie!” I call out, before taking the bag from her hands and then pushing her into the fountain. My wrist buzzes and I throw my hands up in the air with my victory. A little noise stops me from starting my victory dance and when I look down, the little girl is looking up at me with big bug eyes, looking like she’s about to cry.

  “Oh no. No, no, no, no, no. Don’t cry! I’m sorry!” I call out, not able to deal with her cute little face all scrunched up like that. “Here, look you’re okay.” I climb into the fountain and pull her out of the water. Fuck, it’s freezing in here. “Here are your sweets. See, not even wet!” I hand them back over, just as a very angry mother starts charging towards me. Oh shit. “I’m sorry!” I cry out as I run towards the guys—thank god for super speed.

  What I didn’t think about was the fact that my clothes are now soaking wet, so when I reach them I’m shivering, but the bastards are doubled over laughing at me. “We have to go. Now.”