by Bryan Cohen
"What the heck is going on!?" His face turned bright red as he fumbled for his gun.
Ted looked back to Erica eyes wide. "What do I do?"
"Improvise!"
Ted looked back at the monitors and used his powers to wrench the leader's belt around his ankles. With a yanking motion, he tripped the robber and let his face hit the carpet. Before the other two kidnappers could realize this was no laughing matter, Ted had undone their belts and let their trousers hit the floor as well. When they tried to reach for their pants and their weapons, Ted swept their legs with a flourish of his arm and watched as they tumbled to the ground.
Dhiraj snorted. "It's a good thing they were all wearing underwear."
Erica couldn't help but grin as Ted pulled all three guns away from the half-naked men and sent them flying to the far end of the store.
One of the kidnappers unknowingly whined right into the camera. "I feel so exposed!"
The sheriff and his men cheered. Dhiraj hugged his friend around the waist. "You're amazing, Ted!"
Erica felt a sense of pride as she gave a nod to Sheriff Norris.
He smiled in response. "Alright men, go in on my mark."
"Wait!" Ted closed his eyes. "Something's not right."
The cheering halted as everyone focused back on the hero of the hour. Erica saw something happen within Ted. For a moment, he reminded her of a different living soul entirely. The admiration Erica felt started to drain out of her.
A fourth kidnapper came out of the back room with his gun pointed directly at the hostages. "We said no heroes!"
The man was about to shoot the injured hostage when Ted made a gripping motion with his hands and lifted the man into the air. The gun went off, though the bullet landed harmlessly in the wall. Ted tossed the man from one end of the store to the other, and his gun fell to the ground. Ted removed the clip from the weapon and placed it in the corner of the room with the other weapons.
"Now you can go."
The sheriff waved in his men. Ted put his hand up for a high five. Dhiraj and several of the sheriff's men obliged.
Erica did her best to hide the feeling of fear that was building up inside her.
He used another power. This is not good.
Ted noticed her lack of cheer. "You alright?"
She nodded and searched for an answer that would change the subject immediately. "Sorry, it's just that time of the month."
Ted appeared to short-circuit for a moment before forcing a smile. "Oh."
Erica turned away. "Great job, though. Looks like all the training I made you do paid off. Though we probably could have done without the hairy legs and boxer briefs."
She walked up beside him and reached out to shake his hand. Ted took her offering and squeezed.
"Wait. Are you taking credit for me saving the day?"
Erica bit her lip. "I would never. I'm just saying you shouldn't get 100% of the credit."
Ted moved from Erica's hand and put his arms around her waist. "How much credit do you want?"
Erica moved closer. She could feel his heart pulse through his skin. "I'll take 11%."
"Just 11?" Ted grinned.
Dhiraj cleared his throat.
Erica cocked her head to the side. "Yes?"
"As long as you give me some credit for getting the cameras, you two can make out on the news as much as you want."
Erica spied the Channel 5 news van and gave Ted a quick kiss on the cheek before pulling herself away.
"Couldn't have done it without you, Dhiraj."
Dhiraj flashed his newly updated smile, courtesy of a tooth whitening regimen.
Erica looked around to take in the scene. The four kidnappers were cuffed, and the sheriff's men were pushing them into the back of a couple of squad cars. Several members of the GHA movement couldn't help but give their enemy a clap of respect. Dhiraj began to give a TV interview. Ted shook the hands of one of the hostages and received a bear hug in return.
Erica tried to absorb the happiness of the moment as much as she could. But as she looked at Ted, the anxiety built in her stomach. Memories from another lifetime began to stream back without her control.
I won't let this happen again. I can't.
5
Ted felt his chest puff out a bit as the final kidnapper was loaded into the squad car. As far as he could see in front of him, the scene was one of victory. Even the jewelry store's owner had praised Ted's actions, despite him causing a little extra damage when he'd tossed the fourth kidnapper across the room. Ted dared not look behind him as the chanting continued from the Go Home Alien contingent.
They'd feel differently if I were saving them.
A hand touched the back of his neck and moved down his spine. When Ted spun toward Erica, she wasn't looking at him. She wasn't even looking at the mob. Wherever she was mentally, it wasn't anywhere near a strip mall parking lot.
"We trained, we saw, we conquered." He put his hand around her midsection. "Don't look so glum."
Erica looked back at Ted. Her beautiful smile almost hid the feelings underneath. Almost.
"Sorry. You're right, but it looks like we've got some other fish to fry."
Ted allowed himself to look back at the mob. He couldn't believe that so many people would come out just to yell at him.
Didn't they see me save people's lives?
As Sheriff Norris walked over, Ted could tell the intensity of the situation hadn't left him. He wondered how much longer the hostage negotiation would have gone on without his powers.
"Thank you, guys," the sheriff said. "We're really lucky you could get over here. Once again, the city is in your debt."
"How much debt?" Dhiraj appeared on the opposite side of Ted. He gave the hero a similar pat.
"He's kidding, Sheriff." Ted wrinkled his forehead at Dhiraj.
"I am," he said. "Just write us the excuse note for school and we'll be all settled up."
Sheriff Norris smiled as he chewed a piece of gum.
"You've got it." The sheriff looked at the growing crowd behind the trio. "Need any help navigating out of here?"
Ted took a deep breath. The initial several dozen GHA protestors had grown into more than 100.
"Thanks, Sheriff." Ted extended his hand to Sheriff Norris. "I think we'll be fine."
The sheriff shook all their hands before he walked back over to supervise his staff. After Dhiraj packed up the gear, they considered the path to his vehicle.
"The bastards." Dhiraj pointed straight ahead. "They set up right between us and my car."
Erica took Ted's hand, which caused him to jump.
"Let's just get the escort. Dhiraj can come back and get his car later."
Ted squeezed Erica's hand and let it go. He'd just stopped a robbery. It didn't make sense that they should have to run away afterward. Especially from a bunch of people who called him a murderer and a freak.
"I'm not just going to let them win." Ted tried to build the courage inside himself. "I'm in the right, here. It's only fair we should be able to leave without being hassled."
Ted took a step toward the crowd. Even that tiny movement caused the crowd to get louder. Part of him wanted to take Erica's advice and run away. The nervousness grew in his stomach like a balloon. Ted inhaled deeply as his feet moved even closer to the mob.
"Life isn't always fair, Ted." Erica hesitated for a moment before joining Ted's side.
Dhiraj struggled with the equipment behind them. "Sure, take your stand. Life would be a lot more fair if I had a hand truck. Or a wheelbarrow."
The three of them reached the edge of the crowd. Ted's pulse quickened and the crowd's chanting transitioned into more of a roar. Most of the GHAers were middle-aged. Some wore special shirts and brandished homemade posters with anti-Ted slogans. Ted noticed a little girl sitting on her father's shoulders. He caught her eye, and the girl's face scrunched up in anger.
"Excuse me." Ted waded into the mob, which parted enough to fit someone half of
Ted's size.
He considered using his powers to spread them further, but he resisted the urge. When Ted paused for a moment, Erica pressed her hand against his back.
"You're the one who got us into this." Erica's voice was barely audible over the buzz of the crowd. "Just keep moving."
Ted complied and doubled his pace. As he held Dhiraj's car in sight, the mob started to press in around him. He smelled breath and sweat and looked around for a possible opening. There was none.
This was a bad idea.
Ted felt his throat close up.
"Now!" The shout came from far off to his left.
By the time he looked toward the noise, a projectile had already struck Ted in the head from the other direction. The balloon stunned Ted momentarily as it unloaded its contents of green paint and water onto him, Erica and several nearby GHAers. In addition to the painful ringing on the side of his head, Ted got the worst of the splatter. Half of his face and most of his clothing was dripping with green paint.
As if it were second nature, Ted used his powers to push the mob backward, creating a circle of space around the three of them. The GHAers who felt the unseen force pushing into them began to scream, while those outside Ted's range jeered at the hero with all their might.
"Ted, don't." Erica did her best to settle Ted, but his head was throbbing. The fear was gone. It had been replaced by focus and anger.
Another balloon flew through the air toward them. Ted crushed it from afar before it could get halfway to him. A half-dozen people were drenched with the paint and flaps of balloon. Ted zeroed in on the source of the projectiles and was about to float the thrower up into the air when a voice burst through the shopping center on a bullhorn.
"This is the Department of Homeland Security." Agent Vott's voice rang loud and clear through the shopping center. "You are in violation of your permit and all of you are subject to arrest. Disburse immediately… or else."
If the mob had been in a city, the participants might not have listened, but the suburbanites quickly walked in the direction of their cars and vans. Ted recognized Agents Vott and Harding in the front seat of the black SUV. Vott stowed his bullhorn and motioned for the three of them to approach. Ted looked back at the two green paint stains in the middle of the lot. His pulse continued to race.
"Get in." Black sunglasses covered up Vott's eyes. "Stay on the towels."
Ted glanced at Erica for approval. When she nodded, he wiped his hand on the clean side of his shirt and opened the door. As soon as Dhiraj secured the gear in the back, the SUV pulled around the dissipating crowd and out of the lot. Ted watched as Erica attempted to assert her popular airhead persona.
"I'm like, literally overjoyed you came to get us." Erica twirled a strand of hair. "Green paint is so tacky."
Agent Harding looked at the three of them through matching shades. "Save it, LaPlante." He removed the glasses. "We know you're the brains of this operation. You can stop playing dumb."
Erica let out a gasp of air. "Good. That made me feel like taking a hammer to my skull."
Agent Harding smiled before his partner hit him with a sharp slap in the shoulder. The grin faded. He threw them a couple more DHS-embroidered towels.
"If she's the brains..." Dhiraj leaned forward in his seat. "What does that make me?"
Harding looked at his partner and then back at Dhiraj.
"It makes you the capital." Vott dismissed the question with his hand and looked back at Ted. "You did good work at the jewelry store. The three of you should be proud of yourselves."
The SUV had gotten far enough away from the lot to resume normal suburban driving speeds.
"Thanks." Ted wiped the side of his face with the towel. "But it sounds like you're trying to butter us up."
Vott and Harding exchanged another glance.
"Ted, we've been monitoring you for the last few months. Originally, we were sent to make sure that you weren't a threat to homeland security."
"And what was your assessment?" Erica crossed her legs and glared at the agents.
"We determined that you could do more good than harm." Vott ignored Erica's body language. "We can make this GHA problem go away pretty quickly for you."
Dhiraj cleared his throat. "All of a sudden, this is sounding a lot like a negotiation." Dhiraj turned on one of the cameras. "Don't mind me. Just recording this to make sure you don't kill us if we refuse."
"This isn't a movie." Harding's face tightened. "It's business. Ted, we want your help in the fight against terrorism."
Ted scratched his head. "I'm 17 years old, guys. I still haven't finished high school."
"We've had operatives younger than you, but none of them had the promise that you have," Vott said. "You could easily blow up a cruise missile before it kills innocent people, float a suicide bomber up into the air or disarm an entire militia before they can fire a single shot."
"Plus, we'd get a bonus for recruiting you." Harding grinned. "And I've got this eye on a great condo in the city."
Vott slapped Harding again.
"At least you're being honest." Erica focused her attention on Vott. "Ted can't really make that kind of commitment. He needs to be ready to save the world."
Erica looked at Ted to indicate that he was supposed to agree with her. He'd never thought that he could save people worldwide. Three months ago, he wasn't sure he'd be able to save himself in that diner. The idea of making people's lives better throughout the world intrigued him.
When a few seconds of silence went by, Erica pinched the skin on his thigh. The pain brought him back to the moment at hand.
"Erica's right, guys." He rubbed at the red skin on his leg. "If I'd been off fighting terrorists when Nigel and his gang attacked the school, things could've been much worse."
Vott pulled onto a side street and put the car in park. "You're right." He turned to face Ted. "But you stopped Nigel, and if another challenge comes, you can face that, too. But if you want protection from the GHA and you want to be a true hero, you should consider our offer."
Erica opened her door. "Thanks for the towels. We can walk from here."
Before Ted could form a cohesive thought, Erica was already out of the vehicle. Dhiraj followed suit.
Vott tilted his head forward, peeking out over his shades to get a better look at Ted. "What do you say, Ted?"
Ted felt the leather seat through the towels with his fingers. He wondered if he'd get a car like this if he joined the department. Ted took a deep breath. "Let me think on it." He glanced at Agent Harding. "Good luck with the condo."
When Ted stepped out onto the curb, Vott restarted the engine.
"We'll be in touch." Vott rolled the window up and drove away.
Ted felt his stomach churn and wondered if he should have let them drive away so easily.
"You should've said no," Dhiraj said. "Haven't you seen the X-Files? Trust no one." He pushed a camera into Ted's chest. "Now help me with this."
Ted floated all the camera equipment into the air.
Dhiraj stomped his foot. "Couldn't you have just done that the whole time?"
Ted ignored him and tried to read Erica's mood.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Just thinking about the pre-social media days. Secret identities made things a lot easier."
Erica started to walk toward her house. Dhiraj and Ted followed.
"There's nothing wrong with wanting to be a hero."
Erica looked out toward the horizon. "Do you want to help a few people here and there or keep the entire world safe?"
Ted hadn't asked for either. But he supposed he'd have to choose one way or the other.
6
Natalie sat on the edge of her bed and dribbled a basketball between her legs. When the doorbell rang, Natalie thought it was her phone buzzing for a fourth time. She continued dribbling until she heard another ring. She caught the ball in one hand, palmed it and laid it on her bedspread. After a few bounds down the stairs, she look
ed out the small window to the side of the door. The close-up of Dhiraj's face would have frightened her if he didn't do the same thing every time he came over. Natalie opened up the door and put her hands on her hips.
"Now that looks like someone who's happy to see me." Dhiraj scooted around Natalie and into the foyer.
"You know, when someone doesn't answer your texts, they're usually busy." Natalie swatted a bug back outside and closed the front door.
"You don't look busy."
"And when people who don't answer your texts aren't busy, what do you think that means?"
Dhiraj pulled at an imaginary chin beard. "It means they want to talk to someone, but they have some kind of psychological block that prevents it?"
Natalie grumbled and headed toward the kitchen.
"What do I get for being right?" he asked.
Natalie poured the two of them some juice and sat at the kitchen table.
"A glass of juice and a one-way ticket home." Natalie sipped the beverage.
Dhiraj nearly spilled his glass as he joined her. "So, my cameras worked today and helped Ted to disarm–"
"I saw the news."
Natalie knew she was being snippy, but Dhiraj was preventing her from ignoring the world around her – from ignoring Ted.
"You should've been there, Nat." Dhiraj inched his chair closer to hers. "You're part of this."
Natalie looked upward and back at Dhiraj.
"I didn't sign up to be a part of a crime-fighting team, Dhiraj." She chugged the rest of the juice. "I'm getting recruited by schools. I could get a full ride somewhere. That's a little less likely if I'm recovering from stab wounds all the time."
Dhiraj took a small sip. "When you broke things off with Ted, you said you'd try to stay friends with him. Instead, you're pushing both of us away."
Natalie walked away from the table and rinsed her glass. "Don't you mean all three of you?"
Dhiraj shook his head.
"You could be friends with all of us, but you're choosing to have nobody. Were you happier before you met any of us? When you just kept to yourself and had no support whatsoever?"
