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forensicated · 9 months ago

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Smiffina Episodes - Frontline Part 3: End Game

Callum returns to work on the day of Emma's funeral. He tries to go out on a job but Gina keeps him station bound to support people who may need it given what day it is. The superintendent also wants him to lead the bearer party but Smithy isn't sure if that's a good idea. Smithy asks if she's alright and she admits she spent the night before with Emma's family . It's clear that it - and the rest of the last few months - are taking it out of her.

Karen meets Jack and tells him that it's looking more likely that it's a lone bomber targeting those he thinks are part of the Four Evils Of The Internet.

Pornography Rise:

The nightclub (the first bomb) was targeted during the day, not the nighttime when it would be full of revellers. He had shares in a pornography website and paid Gilchrist to print sleeves for pornographic DVD's for him. Gilchrist also had an account on the hardcore website that Drayton had shares in.

Racial Hatred:

Charity boss posing as a good man is actually fleecing vulnerable immigrants of their cash and makes out it's 'donations'.

He also has secret links with a racist organisation.

Identity Theft:

Carl Adams has links to having stolen other peoples identities and credit cards and had it done to him by the bomber.

Had a fake bomb planted in the garden next to his which Grace believes links to the identity theft idea - not the real person, not the real bomb. Received lots of items that can be used for bombs purchased by someone using his credit card.

The fourth is yet to come...child abuse.

Even if they have received a letter, someone who abuses children is unlikely to come forward and report it.

Uniform are called to a timber merchants where a burglary has been called in. It's a false alarm that rings a few jingle bells when the manager mentions a courier had called. Will rings the number of the informant back - just as Sally spots a bomb. She shouts his name but it's too late - the bomb explodes.

Luckily for her however it's just a flour bomb!

The warehouse is covered in CCTV and Grace is concerned why someone so forensically aware would chose somewhere crawling with cameras. The manager says he's a church warden who is heavily involved in his community and hasn't received any letters or threats. Mickey finds footage to show a courier in a crash helmet hide something near the door. A bomb disposal expert finds a memory stick. On it is a link to a website of The 4 Evils Of The Internet.

They've got just over three hours to find the next victim!

Grace sets up a meeting between the charity boss, Carl Adams and Gilchrist's friend, James Marford, in the same room. She asks if they/their friend told them that they have/had noticed something strange around them over the last few weeks which none of them say yes to. if they have computer security. The charity boss says he does now as a computer virus recently wiped out his computer and that he used a tech support company to do it but Carl did it himself. Canley Technology comes up as a link because they installed the security on two of the computers in question and Carl used to work there.

Mickey and Kezia spot that the 'courier' who set up the bomb that morning and left the USB at the warehouse makes a phone call and attempt to pinpoint the number with the help of TIU. Eventually Mickey finds out who he rang and they set up surveillance on him. He's called William Moore which is interesting as Canley Technology name Colin Moore as the man who installed firewalls on both computers.

Callum's taking the bombing rather personally. He couldn't save Emma but he's adamant he's going to save everyone else. He won't be drawn about Emma and shuts down immediately each time it's mentioned.

Smithy and Mickey watch the mans house, as he makes to leave, Jack tells Smithy to follow him and Mickey to stay and watch. "... Why are they always in such a hurry though?" Smithy sighs as the suspect starts to jog. Smithy is spotted so has to swap with Mickey to make it less obvious that they're following him. Mickey loses him but Callum and Sally catch him with Callum losing it and dragging him alone off to question him. William Moore admits talking to his brother that morning but he didn't mention it because he promised his wife he'd never speak to him again after she caught him looking at child abuse images on the internet. Callum meets up with them back at Moore's house and he's clearly put the screws on. "Whatever you've done I hope it doesn't come back to bite us..." Jack murmurs to him. Moore said his brother is obsessed with people abusing the internet and that he only viewed the images as part of his 'research' but he still agreed to kick him out for the sake of his marriage.

Grace lets the three men out but her suspicions are raised when James Marford makes a comment about the other two men running out the station almost 'like they want the bomber to escape' and makes a comment about it being a fluke that the charity boss survived anyway, covering it by saying that's what he told him.

As Jack looks at the pictures with Mickey things become clearer...James Marford is Colin Moore and by the time they radio it back to the station he's already left. The real Marford is a customer that Moore helped who now works abroad. He's been playing them all along and enjoying showing off 'how clever he is'.

He's known to the Barton St child abuse unit but as an informer who enabled them to make lots of arrests but they hadn't heard of them for several months - the same amount of time since his sister in law caught him looking at the abuse images. William admits he's never really fitted in and is a bit of an oddball and genius. Noone knew how to handle him because he was too 'subversive' and lecturers accused him of hacking the universities computers which got him thrown out.

He now attends a church and has gotten into religion in a big way. His brother said he called his flatmate, Gilchrist, a Heathen. The timber yard owner is also involved in the church as a church warden... could he be the next victim? Or does he know where Moore could be? They've got just over an hour left.

They have a rough idea of where he could be living due to a cluster of calls from his mobile in the area before it was deactivated. The timber yard owner attended the same church and was able to give an address which CO19 are on the way to. Everyone is on edge because it could be boobtrapped. CID run inside and find a website open on a computer displaying footage that he must have taken himself from the bomb blasts showing he was present at each one. He has another room set up to show footage from outside his property. Whilst watching the streaming footage from outside, Jack spots Moore in the crowd and sends out an all unit call to catch him. Callum spots him and chases him down with Sally, Will and Ben. Unfortunately he manages to get into a gated community. The gates close behind him and Callum can't get in. He tries to plead with him that enough is enough and manages to grab him but can't get keep hold and Moore literally slips out of his fingers and has disappeared by the time someone arrives to let them in.

There's 40 minutes left.

Karen and Jack as Grace to have a look on the computer. They find a link to a webpage that looks like it could be a child abuse website before it starts to 'self destruct' and wipes itself so they contact CEOPS to see if they have any information. CEOPS forward a list of people they know involved in that website and they cross reference it with the list from Canley Computers customers whos computers Moore worked on. One name matches and luckily they have his address - they've found the target. CID bring him in but he doesn't admit having a threat and they don't want him to know why he's being targeted. He tells them that they know he's behind a website peddling child porn. He still won't admit it and is very cagey. He says at 3.30 he'd normally be at work but there's nothing found in his office. He admits that he was supposed to be at the charity shop where his wife works . She told him a package had been delivered for him there. It's in the car... and at 3.30 she'll be on the school run.

They head to the charity shop, hoping that's where Moore will be and they send another unit to go and find his wife and get the car locked down.

Sally is tasked with putting Emma's hat on the coffin. Callum tries to get himself excused from the funeral. He wants to go to the school, insisting that he was too late for Emma but won't be too late for this one. Smithy gently tells Gina he'll take Callum's place in charge of the bearer party and she reluctantly gives in and lets Callum go.

Given that Emma's father was seen onscreen and played a large part in various storylines, it seems rather strange that he at least isn't seen onscreen at her funeral. It would have been a nice touch, especially given how close they were. Despite this, as they do every time they show a police funeral - it's absolutely beautifully done.

The children of the school are very excited to see the police officers and the fire brigade and keep trying to watch despite the teachers and police trying to get them somewhere safe.

Moore spots the plain clothed police officers around the scene and takes a woman hostage. CO19 draw their guns and warn him he's surrounded and to let her go. Grace tries to negotiate with him and tell him that the package is in the back of a car on the way to do the school run and he's putting innocent children and the mans wife - who has done nothing and has no idea of his dark side - in danger. Moore holds his phone up as he holds the woman hostage, threatening to ring the mobile. He shouts that people don't listen until they're made to listen.

Mickey and Callum find the car and drag the womans wife out. Unfortunately she has a baby that's strapped in and the boys struggle trying to get the baby out given they're in single figure minutes. Callum shouts at Mickey to run.

Moore calmly tells Grace and Jack that it's about front page headlines, getting attention to the evils of the internet, making people listen. Grace reassures him he's done it and doesn't need to do anymore. He has his finger over the dial button...

Callum is struggling with the car seat as the baby cries, trying his best to get her free.

He presses the button and the call connects as Grace shouts "NO!"

The car explodes and the woman screams for her baby. The officers flinch and look away before Mickey hesitates and lifts the barrier tape

There, crouched and protecting a tiny bundle from the blast is The Terminator Callum.

Sally breaks down at the funeral through a reading but Callum appears at the back and reassures her helping her through it. She goes on to make the speech and they meet up outside at Emma's grave side.

"She's a good copper, went the extra mile. No compromise."

Sorry Callum, I think we saw different Emma's.

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moonbelt · 7 years ago

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»of the super and the fantastic

↳ superhero au | somewhat enemies-to-lovers au

⇢ pairing: oh sehun | reader

⇢ genre: fluff + light angst + sexual themes [ + very lowkey fuckboy!sehun but also superhero!sehun.. idk i was feeling it ]

⇢ word count: 12.111

⇢ description: you applied to the prestigious Mount Academy of Supers on a whim and surprisingly you get accepted. however, there’s only one teeny — slight — problem. you’re an ex-supervillain.

author’s note: re-watched The Incredibles and suddenly was inspired to write something super! hope you enjoy it!!

You'd heard about Wind Boy long before you ever met him.

Although it wasn't that hard to know of him—Wind Boy was the son of the resident superhero that guarded the metropolis—Silver Ivy; a woman that was hailed as your city's very own A-grade superhero, she even has a plaque with her name on it gracing the wall of City Hall. Wind Boy wasn't some crime-busting supernova but he was somewhat heavily involved in cracking a few cases. Not that you stalked him or anything, it's just better for you to know your enemies.

It also didn't help that you were a villain-in-training that also happened to live in this said metropolis. To be fair, you weren't some high-class villain with a profiled wanted record and public scorn. In fact, now you were pretty much a petty thief. You know, the kind of person that just did the things they wanted to—sadly, those things tended to fall on the more dangerous sides of the law.

Ever since you could remember, you had the ability to run fast. Faster than you could handle. And ever since you could remember, your father had exploited that trait to benefit him and his greed. You found out years later that you could use your speed to move in time and that you weren't actually stopping time, you were simply accelerating so fast that time appeared to completely stop. Before you had a choice in the matter, your father was dragging you along on missions.

Breaking into banks mostly, that was how your dad had attained so much wealth. He froze everything in the path and you ran. At least that had been the plan until three months ago. It's not like you missed the life of crime, because you don't, you do however miss having something to do.

Contrary to what your father had told you, the law does, in fact, catch up to the bad guys. Three months ago, to be exact, was when the law finally caught up with him. You had expected him to drag you and your mother down with him but, you guess, as the one and only act of selflessness, he allowed the two of you to leave without being incriminated. So now, that leaves you with a superpower-less mother and an almost zero to both of your names.

You sigh to yourself, you can go back in time but no matter how many times you do; the outcome stays the same. Your dad gets cuffed, the government takes down his "Wanted" advertisements from the big screens in the Capital and Silver Ivy is hailed once more as the Queen protecting the city. Again, you don't hate Silver Ivy. You don't hate any superhero. Sometimes the world just has bad guys and good guys. That's just how it is.

Anyways, the point of the matter is, you knew Wind Boy existed and unfortunately, he knew about you too.

You'd just come out of a bank, Central City Bank – to be precise, and you were hoping that he wouldn't bust you out this time. Not that it mattered. He couldn't stop you. In fact, he couldn't really do anything, considering he wouldn't be able to even catch you. You laughed to yourself as you bent down and re-tied your shoelaces. You knew the CCTV didn't have you on footage because no matter how slow you ran, they were never quite able to catch you. Regardless, once you'd taken the money you wanted, you didn't stop running until you were a few towns over.

Your plans though, as usual, are interrupted just as you'd expected but prayed against.

"We have to stop meeting like this," he says now with an emphasis on stop. His eyes hidden behind a light blue mask and his lips twisted up into an uncanny smile. Well, more smirk than a smile but who really cares about the little details in a situation like this.

You roll your eyes harder than you intend to. "I'm not even doing anything and it's not like you can actually stop me, Wind Boy," you scrunch your nose at his name.

It was so... what's the word? Lame. Like who wakes up and thinks Wind Boy would be a good Hero name? It sucks and you wonder how he can even be so proud of it in the first place.

"You think you can run from everything?" He scoffs at your implication. "Yeah, you're right. You're fast, like really fast. But you know, there's no place you can go that I can't find you."

You glare at him, releasing your tied shoelaces and standing up to your full height. "I have no idea why you're so obsessed with me. I'm pretty sure there are worse things happening around Central City you could be bothered with."

"It's not my fault the wind feels things. Every time you run, I feel it. And besides, you need someone watching over you. You're, like, the worst villain in the history of villainy."

You highly doubt that. You didn't even steal anything this time—okay see, you borrowed the money and you'll give it back later when you do have enough money to pay for everything. It was a give and take. More taking than giving, but the point still stands.

Shrugging your shoulders, you try not to let his words get to you. "You have no proof, do you?"

He points at the red helmet next to your boot-clad foot, then he drags his fingers over the shades resting on your nose and as if that's all the proof he needs, he clears his throat. "Well, you're not exactly dressed up for a date or a walk in the park..."

"Like you're any better," you train your eyes over his super costume; a skintight clothing that really leaves nothing up to imagination, you could see almost everything that didn't really need to be seen, it came in simple shades of blue and with no cape. "Also, don't you have somewhere better to be? Like I know I'm a supervillain, well was, but I'm not robbing a bank here."

"Yeah, you did. And now you're doing something worse."

Okay so maybe you weren't completely honest—you weren't born with your powers. Your father, before he had slipped into his lavish lifestyle of theft, was a scientist. You never asked him growing up why he felt the need to have a kid with abilities, or how he knew you wouldn't have any, to begin with. All you do know is, it had taken years of researching and failing for him to finally come up with you.

The Scientific Society of Super Research exiled him because of his unlawful practice and experimentation, and from what you have gathered they have no idea you survived whatever it is your father had done. He went missing on the records and just like that — you became a villain's child.

"It's my ability, Windy," you snort. "No one screams at you when you go high flying in the skies. So, why are you hounding down my neck?"

"You can't just go through time." He ignores your question. "Back and forth, you disrupt a lot of things."

Turning his statement around in your head, you retort. "You can't just fly above people. Back and forth, it becomes a nuisance."

Wind Boy uses two fingers to pinch the bridge of his nose like he can't quite believe you and him are having this conversation. His black hair blows in scattered directions as a breeze passes by and you reach down and grab the helmet, making quick work with strapping it on.

"Those are two different things and you know it." He may be right but you don't give him the satisfaction of acknowledging it.

You push your shades higher up your nose. "Hold your horses okay. I'm not going back in time or forward in time. I'm going through time. It's the only way I get to understand my ability."

"There are schools for that..." He doesn't say your name, frankly because he doesn't know it.

You've known about each other for three months but you know it's not a smart move to let him know too much about you. Even though you've been reduced to a life of petty crime, he's still classified as an enemy. After all, you don't know anything about him other than when he's in super form.

"Thanks for the suggestion, I'll think about it," you cross your arms over your chest but after a moment add dejectedly. "I promise to not disrupt anything. I'm only going to see things."

You're not sure why you feel the need to explain your actions to him. Maybe it's because you're afraid he'll go and tell his dearest mother that a damned speedster is breaking the law. You figure he has yet to report you since the day he found you. You wonder why, but don't question it. Sometimes there are some things better left unasked.

In this day and age, you're not allowed to do anything with your powers if you're not registered or in an Academic program sponsored by the government. So either you become a superhero, ergo Wind Boy, a super-villain, see your father, or a making-ends-meet thief, like yourself.

"Anyways, see you around Windy," you offer him a smile as you position yourself in your running stance, crouched down and low. "As always, it's been nice talking to you."

"You're seriously going to continue? I could arrest you, you know?" His face is incredulous, his hands resting on his hips.

You snicker as you examine his stance. "You're gonna have to catch me first, you know. You always find me after I've already done something. You probably should try to catch me doing whatever big, bad thing while I'm doing it."

"You're breaking so many laws right now."

"Won't be the first time."

You clear your throat, thinking the conversation is done. He never arrested you before, you doubt he'll do it now. "If that's all, I'll be—"

Wind Boy cuts your sentence off. "Apply to the Academy."

"What?" Your eyes pop out and you whip your attention from the ground to his face once more. "Why?"

He runs a hand through his hair, breathing deeply. "You'd be able to use your abilities within the law. I wouldn't have to keep hounding you down your neck—it'll be a win-win situation."

"Not really. I'm having a lot of fun right now."

You'd thought about joining one of the already few Academy's for supers loitered around the state. Your record was pretty clean, considering your father took the blame for everything, so it wouldn't really be a problem. But then again you can't really see yourself doing anything remotely heroic. You couldn't force yourself to be something you're not.

"Think about it."

You raise from your crouched position. "Why? Why is this important?"

Wind Boy doesn't break eye contact even though you're staring at him a bit condescendingly. Maybe it's because he's not afraid of you? "Like I said, you've disrupted things. There's talk."

You don't show it, but your heart drops lower than you expect. Of course, you know that your actions have consequences and that every little differentiation you create in different timelines can add up to a bigger problem. But then again, this is your power. You couldn't just sit around and not use it, every time you tried not to, you just ended up with raging headaches and going through nervous spasms throughout the day.

"So, is this you being a hero? To me? A villain?"

He shrugs his shoulders. "Take it as you want. Just because I won't arrest you doesn't mean others won't."

"You're not being very heroic, Windy."

"And you suck at being a villain, so I'm helping you out. Think of it as my goodwill," he thinks to himself for a moment before he continues. "Don't tell anyone I said that."

Biting your lip as you think about what he's said, you can't help but think that he and his mother are so different. His mother, you believe, would never aide a civilian that just happens to be a part-time villain. Nah, she'll probably crucify you as a warning to other part-timers. Maybe get another plaque with her name in gold lining the City Hall.

You let out a deep breath, clearing your head from thoughts of his mother. "Okay. I'll keep it in mind."

You don't wait for him to reply. Instead, you kick yourself off and leave him in the past, present. For someone with such control over time, you don't really have a sense of it. Most times everything blurs together, the present so easily becomes the past. But as you run through the maze of options, you begin to think that maybe this Academy could be the something you've been searching to do to fill up your days.

Yeah sure, stealing money has its perks but Wind Boy is right. One of these days someone that's not him is going to catch up to you and you're not sure what you're gonna do if that happens.

Being hero? You can't see yourself doing it. It wasn't like your father pushed you down the path of the noble and brave. Your dad who won't exactly be proud if you make this decision, not that he has a say in the things you do anymore. Your mother... might not like the idea but she won't stop you either. After all, she'd wanted to be a hero long before genetics showed her that there was no space for mundane humans in a world now ruled by supers.

In hindsight, you should have realized that the organization of Supers wouldn't have turned down your application.

One; your ability was something they didn't want just anyone to have. You were positive they would rather have you closer to them to observe than not. Two; you weren't exactly registered as a supervillain. Your last name was your mothers, so they had no idea of knowing you were related to your father. Three; you fit all the ridiculous criteria they required before you could be reviewed for acceptance.

For some reason, it seemed like the universe was bent on you attending this Mount Academy of Supers. When you'd told your mother that you were thinking about applying, she quite literally blew her top off. You hadn't seen her as energetic as that night since when your dad was around. She set off to work with trying to contact her side of the family for help with the matter. You had always known that your mother came from a well-endowed family of superheroes and you'd always known that your mother's tale had been tragic from the start.

Born into a superfamily without an inkling of super in her, she was isolated and cast out from activities since she could remember. Heroes like to think they're different from the disastrous villains but quite honestly, they aren't. The strong prevail and the weak are left to fend on their own. In any case, the sealing of your mother's fate as an outcast was when she married your father, a scientist that had gained his superpowers by accident and by the following events; your father spiraling down into the life of villainy. Her family disowned her and minus the emotional turmoil, your family moved states away.

Anyways, your mother used this attempt of you becoming a hero to extend an olive branch to her side of the family. She must've spun an elaborate lie to them because from what you know, your grandparents didn't even know you existed. But now here you are, at a superhero Academy with the sponsorship of one of the top super family's in the nation. Crazy? Yes. But you're not complaining.

You're not sure what exactly you were expecting since you'd never been to a Super Academy before, but the campus is more normal than you thought it would be. Other than you being referred to as "newbie," by the student population, which you weren't in terms of skill level, there was nothing completely extraordinary happening at Mount Academy for Supers.

Sighing to yourself, you lower your head on your desk. Right now is supposed to be "self-study" but nobody, by the looks of it, was doing any studying. Ah, you're starting to regret this heroic path thing. How boring could this day get? Although maybe not as noble, you'd rather be outside doing something—anything. Like—

"Y/N, was it?" Your head whips up so fast you feel a kink in your neck because of it.

The voice to interrupt your internal monologue is that of the Vice-class president. About seven feet tall if you're measuring by over-all effect and about four feet tall if you're only talking about the physical. She looks like she can barely pass for a middle school student let alone a superhero-in-training.

You raise an eyebrow at her, not entirely sure what to say in response. You've been here for only four days and from what you've observed, the people in this Hero Academy like to mind their own business. Not like you wanted to be friends with any of them. Nope. You didn't. Not at all, it was totally fine, you were totally fine. H—

"I'm Kiki, the vice-class president. Sorry for not introducing myself earlier; it's been a busy week." She offers you a half-smile before she reaches into her skirt pocket and pulls out a piece of paper. "Anyway, today we have sparring practice and I take it you don't have a partner?"

Well, you haven't really talked with anyone other than the Principal and a few subject teachers so it's safe to say you had no idea there even was a sparring practice. "No, not yet. I need one?"

She nods. "Unfortunately almost everyone already has an assigned partner. So you don't really have any options."

"There's no one?"

You can't say your academic experience is starting with a great bang! In fact, you wonder if you might have the most pathetic hero debut in history.

Kiki shakes her head slowly at that. "There is someone. He hasn't had a partner in maybe two or three years? He'd be thrilled to get you."

Why hasn't he had a partner in so long? Did he suck that bad? You snicker to yourself. Or wait... maybe he was incredibly good? Whatever the case, you didn't bother to pester Kiki with it. Not because you weren't curious, more because you finally had something to do and didn't want to ruin it. All your questions would be answered later anyway when you spar and conquer whoever this new partner of yours is.

"So, who is he?"

"Oh Sehun."

"And who is that?"

She laughs to herself as she scans over the frown on your lips. "He's the class president. Sits right next to you actually."

You shake your head. "No. No one sits next to me. Well, no one has sat there in the last four days."

"Yeah, he's both lazy as he is busy," she says as she hands you the slip of paper. "Your best bet for finding him is in the outdoor training arena."

"The school day hasn't ended though," you cock your head to the side. "And I thought only two stars and above were allowed to do that."

Kiki doesn't say anything in response, probably because you just answered your own question. Whoever this Sehun guy was, he wasn't bad. You couldn't be regarded on a three-star level in the Academy by being weak. The ranking goes from F to D to C, B, A and then bronze star class, silver and finally gold; three stars. From the mini-orientation you had — which you'd been forced into when you'd arrived, you know three stars are the closest the Academy has to fully-fledged certified superheroes. Some even have their super name and already have a public following.

Your nerves start to thrum faster, you finally have something to do. You can't help the grin that makes it on to your face. Now this, this was something interesting.

Currently, you're a level D. Nothing spectacular there. Apparently, it doesn't matter if you've already gotten experience outside school grounds. If you're going to start in hero school, you have to start at the beginning and legally.

You push yourself off your chair and grab the paper that you realize now to be an Excuse Slip. "Thank you," you say, adjusting your uniform and slipping around the desk. "Can I ask you something?"

She shrugs. "What?"

"Your power, what is it?" Now that you're standing, you realize that she is smaller than you thought — you dwarf her.

"Gigantification."

Ah, you think, that explains why she's so small. Maybe it's a limitation of her ability? You shake your head, it doesn't matter. Right now what matters is finding this Oh Sehun and somehow convincing him to become your partner. Although, you don't think he'd be thrilled that a D student is the one giving him the honors.

You don't realize until you're already in the outdoor training arena that you should have asked Kiki what Sehun's power was. You watch solemnly as a handful of people, scattered evenly in their own private booths, practice with their abilities.

A boy, one of the few you don't recognize, generates fire from his palms and proceeds to thrust his hands into the ground and burning away through the area in front of him. You're not sure what kind of practice he's doing but you won't lie, his power is ridiculously cool and before you can stop yourself, you're running towards him.

You're not nearly as fast as you could be though. Why? The Principal deemed it necessary to have a limiter attached to you at all times. The ugly device makes it look like you're on house arrest. It's attached to your lower leg like a nuisance you cant get rid off. In her words, "until we think you're in full capability to harness your ability, we will need to take precautions."

Bullshit. You had almost full control over your talents, better than most kids in here. But you couldn't really tell her that your experience came from being an ex-villain. You didn't exactly want to spend years in prison. Your father was already doing that and you didn't want his sacrifice to be in vain.

"Hey," you say once you've arrived in front the steel wire gate that's protecting/preventing anyone else from entering his secluded spot. The dude with pyrokinesis doesn't seem to notice you, so you add. "You don't happen to be Sehun, do you?"

He stumbles out of shock and lands on his butt with a loud umph! His face is drawn into one of utter surprise and he sputters a bit before he can finally bring out words.

"Who the fuck are you?" He articulates perfectly as he looks slightly terrified, and you wonder if he's never met a speedster before. A hero-in-training shouldn't be this scared, should they?

You stretch an arm out, through one of the holes in the wire's net. "Y/N. Are you Sehun?"

The boy grunts as he stands up to his feet, running furious hands through his hair. He's wearing the schools standard black and grey P.E uniform and he is pretty tall. Taller than you that's for sure.

"No," he looks you up and down. "I'm Chanyeol. What was that? Teleportation?"

You shake your head. "Nah, temporal speed."

Chanyeol nods to himself as if noting it down in his head. "Cool. Very cool. We should spar sometime, I've never fought someone that fast before."

"What there's no one fast in this school? I thought Hero Academies was all about gathering the best of the best?"

He scoffs at that. "You'd be surprised how rare it is to find a speedster," he walks farther to his left and grabs a watch from one of the sparse benches. "Most of them become villains. You know, it's easy for them to evade the law and all that."

Something weighs down on your chest. Not guilt, but something like recognition. Just because someone was fast didn't mean they were automatically subjected to a life of crime. You could think of a thousand ways speedsters could protect civilians or subdue villains. There's a sort of fire brewing in you. He didn't say it but you feel like he's judging you simply based on your power. Like you're simply bad because you can run. You click your tongue and will yourself to stop thinking about it.

"Anyways, do you know where this Sehun kid is?"

He jabs his index finger to his right. "He was there a few minutes ago—"

Before he can finish his sentence, you're out of his listening distance. God, it feels amazing to finally be running. Even if you're only allowed to use two-thirds of your ability, it's better than not being able to use it at all. This area is more secluded than the other one, with high-rising metal wires surrounding it without any hint of extra space. The ground has been reduced to rubble and you watch, with interest, as the person in the center of it all lifts his arms in front of him and is about to do something—you don't know what— when his eyes connect with yours.

Unlike Chanyeol, he doesn't scream out in shock. Instead, he lowers his arms and places them on his waist, not taking his eyes off of you. You watch him, albeit a little cautiously, as he walks up to you. There is a certain air around him, like liquid confidence. He doesn't stop walking until he's an arms breath away from you. You squint your eyes at him, he looks oddly familiar.

"Is there something wrong?"

You furrow your eyebrows. Not only does he look slightly familiar, you can swear you've heard his voice before too. Well, to be honest, you think you've heard his voice a lot. You don't realize you've been glaring at him until he waves a hand in front of your eyes, forcefully dragging you back to the present.

"Hello? I know I'm strikingly attractive and you'd love to continue staring at my face but sadly—"

"Do you always talk so much crap?" You don't even attempt to stop the words from falling from your lips. "Like is it a condition?"

He rolls his eyes, not offended, but he does take a few steps forward. "Have we met before?"

You take a step back. "I don't know... Say, you're not like from the past or anything, are you?"

"If I am, I don't know it. You're the new transfer student right?"

Your eyes threaten to pop out of its socket. Does everyone know when someone moves in? Or do you have that newbie smell? You're tempted to smell your armpits on impulse. "Does everyone here stalk each other?"

He laughs and it's a very melodic sound and you swear you've heard it before. Why can't you remember?

"Nah. I'm just rich and have connections."

You want to ask him what being rich has to do with knowing you're the new transfer student but some part of you is less-keen to know the answer. But you figure with his "connections" he should be able to point you to where Sehun is, so you open your mouth to ask him. But then he tilts his face to the side, probably trying to take in your appearance fully, and that's when another surge of familiarity flares inside you.

"Hey, do me a favor and cover your eyes for a second."

A look of hesitation crosses his eyes but he masks it quickly with a strained smile like you're crazy. It's that look that causes a light bulb to flash on in your head. You take several steps back and eye him again. Shit. Why did he have to be in the same Academy? What were the odds? This wasn't how you imagined your road to heroism will start. Maybe you could go back in time and — you surprise even yourself with your actions.

"Windy?"

His eyes pop out from his skull, and you find it comical but at the same time you're still reeling from the fact that he's here. In this school. Along with you.

"Fake super-villain!"

"What?"

Windy shrugs, like it doesn't matter that he called you a damn fake. A fake?! Your mind sputters. Irritation flooding your veins, a new level for you. You didn't particularly like your ex-occupation but at the same time, you didn't want to be regarded as a faker! You open your mouth with the sole intention of telling him off, maybe gloat about a few of your successful missions, but Wind Boy beats you to the chase.

"I can't believe you actually got into the superhero academy. I thought you called yourself a super-villain. Isn't this, like, treason?" He looks at you with new-found admiration.

You pinch the bridge of your nose. "I guess, your name is Sehun?" You ignore his previous antics.

He takes a small bow. "One and only."

"And I guess you're always this annoying. Even when you're not in super form?"

"Only because it works you up so much," Sehun smirks and you wonder if this was his perpetual setting. Always smirking, never fully smiling. "So yes, always I suppose."

You move quicker than he could ever know and jam a finger into his chest. His eyes widen in surprise for a second, if you weren't fast enough you would've missed it. You can also see as his breath catches and falters in his throat.

"I may no longer be a thief or villain or whatever, but I am better than you."

Sehun laughs. No, guffaws in your face. The corners of his eyes crinkling so hard they become crescent moon shaped. "It's not nice to lie to yourself, you know." He leans forward and ghosts his lips against your ear. "Not very heroic."

Your head reels back, ears growing incredibly hot because that — this — wasn't what was supposed to happen! You were supposed to have the upper hand in this situation dammit. You grit your teeth together in mild agitation and a desperate attempt to keep your wits together.

"But I guess you're kinda right," Sehun strikes on. "I do have a reputation for being talkative. Never shutting up for anything, really."

"So that's your tactic or something? Annoy your enemies into submission?"

It's infuriating, really, how much he gets on your nerves. And now you're forced to realize within yourself that you and Sehun are no longer enemies. Crapping shit, you're on the same side now. Not only are you two brothers-in-arms, you're supposed to be his partner? Although a few hours ago you were demanding the universe to give you something more extraordinary to do, you didn't think this was it.

"It's working, isn't it?"

You bite your lower lip and look away from him. Christ, what is it? No matter how many times you try to convince yourself that he annoys every living fiber in your body, you end up getting confused. Sehun— Wind Boy — is aggravating, yes. But the more you stay pressed up against each other, body heat palpable, the more your brain starts to work too fast per minute.

You push yourself away from him in a dire attempt to clear your head. "Whatever. I came to ask you to be my sparring partner, do you accept?"

"Of course..."

"Y/N," you mutter, begrudgingly.

Sehun's eyes dart down to your lips and again you question that feeling brewing in your chest. "Y/N," he tests your name out. "Cute."

You roll your eyes harder than you've ever done before. Cute? Talk about a downgrade. Your name is powerful, daunting, better-than-sex-inspiring. Not 'cute.'

"I think the word you're looking for is badass? Maybe even mysterious?" You try and fail to restrain the fuming in your lungs.

He shakes his head, a grin slipping onto his face. "Nope. Definitely cute."

You click your tongue. You're better than this. You're better than him. "Promise me something then," you say finally, after several beats, tapping your foot on the ground rapidly.

He nods but doesn't say anything, urging you to continue. "When I win tonight, promise me you would never call me cute ever again."

"You're not going to win."

"I will."

Sehun shakes his head and makes a tsk sound. "What, you think I invited you to this Academy to whoop my ass? If we're sparring, I'm going all-out," there's a cocky glint in his eyes.

"And you think I wouldn't do the same?"

He turns his attention to the black restriction on your ankle and smirks. "Good luck with that."

For a second you had forgotten about the stupid limiter of your abilities. You doubt you'd be able to beat him without your full capabilities but damn, you're going to try and wipe that damn look off his face in one shot.

Maybe he senses that you're not going to say anything to his observation, or maybe he just wants to rile you up some more, Sehun says: "Why did you even listen to me? Do you think a petty thief can handle rigorous training?"

"Well," you step closer, gathering courage from your agitation. "Everyone knows you should always know everything about your enemies. And, trust me, before this charade runs out I'm going to learn everything there is to know about you. Your weaknesses, the things that make you tick. When I say everything, I mean it."

"Now, now. You have to at least buy me dinner first. It can be your consolation prize for losing."

"That's..."

He is stupidly infuriating. With his stupid smirk still laced on his lips and the look in his eyes like he's won this battle. A date? Why on earth would he propose that? He might as well ask you to sell your left kidney.

Even though, now that you think about it, you wonder if you'd been raised to be a hero from the start, would you and Sehun be friends? However, you can't act on this imagination. You couldn't get all chummy with Silver Ivy — the hero who put your father in prison's son. Now that would be treason. Not that you really care but it's the principle of the act.

"Why would you want to go on a date with me? Barely a week ago I was your enemy."

Sehun shrugs, lacing his hands behind his head and swaying on his feet. "But now, you're not. Do you believe in love at first sight? I know I did after I saw you for the first time."

You scoff at him, appalled. "Why are you flirting with me? We're meant to hate each other. I mean, no, I hate—"

"Hate's a really strong word. I never hated you. Wondered why you always robbed the same bank on the same exact date every other week like some idiot, but never hate."

You want to kick him directly in the shin and watch the prized boy fall to his knees. You ignore his criticism, it's not like you want to tell him that you promised your mother that you wouldn't continue stealing and if you robbed the banks in the other cities with the more high-class superheroes guarding them, you wouldn't make it out unscathed. You know your boundaries and you stick with them. You figured if you were going to lie to your mother you might as well lie within reason.

"I was wearing those damned shades and a red helmet. There's no way you fell in love with me unless you're a psycho. And shut up, we are not talking about that right now."

"My heart wants what it wants."

"We were fighting — you flung me into a fucking postbox," you let out a frustrated huff. Sehun was right, he really never shuts up. "And why are you telling me this now?"

A small grin takes haven on his face. "I mean, I was gonna ask you out on a date earlier but every time I saw you, it was after you'd just broken the law."

You cross an arm around your stomach, a little bit confused by these turn of events. "Are you still flirting with me?"

"..."

"Do you not plan on stopping anytime soon? I came here to ask you to be my sparring partner and declare that I will royally whoop your ass. Why are you flirting?"

"I can't really explain it, okay?" He says with not a hint of remorse in his tone. "You were staring at me like that and I thought—"

"Like what?" You sputter. You did not — have never looked at him anyhow. He was the one that decided to make his super-suit super frigging tight that you could see every ridge, every curve, every—

Sehun gawks at you incredulously. "The way you're staring at me right now! All intense and shit like you want me to keep pushing your buttons."

You bite the inside of your cheek, wondering where all your bravado has gone and willing yourself to not let it show that he's getting to you. "I do not stare," you bark out.

"Yeah, you're right. Usually, you glare really hard."

You groan, your mind working a thousand times a second to find anything to retort to that. "Know thy enemy and all that Jazz," you try, glaringly so, to sound calm, cool and collected — everything that you are currently not.

The right side of Sehun's lips tilts up. "Sure, Y/N. If you say so."

You decide you've had enough of this conversation. Well, it's not really a conversation. It's more of Sehun trying his damn hardest to make you admit that you feel something between the two of you when you're sure there is nothing. Even if you're attempting this whole "be a hero!" thing out, you don't want to spend more time than necessary with Sehun. You could barely stand him when half of his face was behind a mask, how are you supposed to tolerate him now?

"All I have to say is; you're not going to win and that's that," you say turning on your heel and walking away furiously.

You desperately want to run but if you run away now, it would only fuel his point that the two of you have some connection or whateverthefuck and there's no way in hell you're going to allow that.

But despite your best intents, you hear his laughter as he claps his hands maniacally behind you and it shakes every sense of resolve bubbling inside you.

"Wouldn't count on that!"

Sehun follows you everywhere.

No matter where you try to hide, he finds you. No matter how many times you tell him to leave you alone and let you focus on school, or whatever you're trying to do, he ignores your pleas and remains consistently by your side. It's been three weeks since you enrolled in the school and by damn, you never pegged Windy as the clingy type but now you're forced to reconsider.

You knew you would beat his ass eventually but it's funny, really, how much fun you've been having defeating him in his own game. And you admit, he truly is skilled. Very much so. If your current record is anything to go by.

Y/N: 8, Sehun: 5.

But it's one thing to fight people that have every idea what your weaknesses are. You know enough about him to give him a run for his position in the higher ranks of students. And yes, he gives you a hard time during sparring practice because he just never shuts up. It's like a lid that can never slap tight enough.

By your calculations, he should be too busy to find you now. He hangs out religiously with the same set of eight people every day around this time. You don't question it, anything to get him far away from you. Every time he stays close to you, you feel this weird thing in your chest. It comes and goes so quickly, you always think you imagine it, but then his stupid face shows up again and the feeling returns. It's weird and you'd rather not delve deeper into it.

You tap your foot mindlessly as you wait for Kiki to grab her stuff from her locker. She's surprisingly slow in finding her notebooks. Over the last two weeks you find yourself growing closer to the shorter girl, she's nice and funny and catches onto your sense of humor faster than not. It also doesn't help that you're in dire need of a friend after going so long without. You don't tell her that though, you'd rather not sell yourself short.

"Stop doing that," she says as she reaches into her locker and moves stuff around, looking for whatever it is she's been searching for.

You freeze up. "What?"

She uses the tip of her shoe to kick your foot. "That. You tap your foot like crazy, its distracting."

"Sorry," you say, biting the inside of your cheeks. These days you seem more on the edge, always looking over your shoulders in anticipation, wondering when Sehun is going to seek you out.

Kiki finally finds whatever she's looking for and slams her locker shut. "Are you still trying to avoid Sehun?"

Nodding your head, you allow her to lead the way to the next class. Which is regular English? Not English for supers, or whatever dumb thing you had thought Super Academy would teach. Honestly, there truly is nothing spectacular about the educational system at this academy.

The only good thing is that you've moved up a skill level. C doesn't look good on you, but you're somewhat proud. Apparently, you're one of the few to raise their bracket that fast, and you won't lie, it fuels your growing ego.

Kiki drags your thoughts back to her. "Why don't you just go on a date with him and call it a day? I mean, he's not that bad."

"He barely comes to school, he thinks he's some hot shit, bet he cries when—"

"He doesn't make classes often because he's his mother's sidekick, you know this," she pats your shoulder in mock consolation. "Plus, he makes all your sparring times. If you ask me, that's not as bad as you think."

You click your tongue, not saying anything in retaliation. Kiki is right but it's not like you want to agree with her logic. She laughs at your blatant sulkiness and artistically changes the subject to something you're more interested in; GreyHound, the newest villain in the public interest, has arrived at Central City.

Last night apparently, he left a string of murders in his wake. It's scary if you think about it from any perspective. You're a thief, not a murderer. Even your father, the supervillain you admire for his tact if nothing else, wasn't a cold killer. He stole, he gave people almost-death injuries but never killed anyone, at least not to your knowledge. But if the polls online are anything to go by, Silver Ivy is the one the public is hoping will get him apprehended. And from your perspective, Silver Ivy is the only one you think can get the job done.

You slide into your seat and make quick work of pulling your stuff from your backpack when someone bounds into the seat next to you. You don't even have to look up from your table to know it's him. He's the only idiot that sits next to you.

"Miss me?"

If there is anything you admire about Sehun, it's his tenacity. Truly one of the best to master the act, if you say so yourself. But you can't help the unfiltered groan that leaves your lips upon his question.

"You would like that, wouldn't you?"

"I mean, I don't know... maybe?" He has this feign-innocence down to the T and it's ruining your perceptions of him drastically.

You turn your attention over to him and cast him an incredulous look while he flashes you a canine-toothy grin. "You see this look of disappointment on my face? It's all for you."

He grabs his chest in a faux heart attack. "Why do you have to look at me like that? It's making me weak, please stop."

"Shut up," you breathe out, willing yourself not to laugh at his antics and instead pay attention to the teacher going off about something you don't know but should.

Now, it's safe to say, you don't know what this relationship you and Sehun have is. If he acted this way with everyone else, maybe you would've just chucked it up to him being a massive flirt or playboy but that, alas, is not the case.

He doesn't even look the way of most people or even give them the time of day. You can't count how many times people have stopped by his desk to make conversation with him and he just... dissociates. It's oddly interesting to watch him try to become one with air.

In fact, when he's not bugging you out, he's only ever really talking to those eight people you'd mentioned earlier. And because of this, you don't know where your relationship stands. Yeah, maybe you don't dislike him as much as before, he — never-closing his mouth — wore you down, but it's not like you're friends either.

You peer to your side and look at the boy in question. At least he hasn't asked to cash in on that dinner request. As he'd expected, you were not ready to fight with half your power being restricted and it resulted in your very first loss. He had laughed in your face and said you wouldn't be able to catch up to him now. It took a few more defeats for you to finally get on a winning streak against him. As you moved up to Level C, your limited ability was also reduced. It was nice wiping the look off his face, you can't forget it.

Tapping your pen on your lip, you debate if you should ask him the question that has been bothering you for the last week or so. Every time you try to talk to him, Sehun flips it around into some kind of flirt extravaganza.

Screw it. You tear a piece of paper from the edge of your notebook and proceed to write the question down.

« What does it mean to be a hero? »

It's a weird question, you know this, but it's something that's been plaguing you with no end in sight. As clandestine as you can, you slip the folded piece unto Sehun's desk, waiting for him to open it and answer you. It takes a few more moments before the paper makes a return to your desk.

« is this a trick question? lol »

« no. I'm serious. you're the son of the City's top hero. If anyone knows what being hero is, it should be you »

This time when you send the paper back to him you can hear the low whistle sound that leaves his lips when he reads your response.

« A hero? I really don't think heroes or the way society sees them, exist. This isn't a good v. evil thing. nothing is ever truly good and there's no definite bar for evil either. The things we see as heroic might be villainous to someone else. »

« is that why you have no qualms with fraternizing with an ex-villain? »

« nah. you're cute and I'm a lot of things but not blind »

The paper finds it's quick end crumpled in the dustbin soon after that. You make it a point to not look Sehun in the eye and you hope he gets the memo. Christ, you've never met someone so... you can't think of the word right now but you've never met someone so him, unapologetically, for better or worse. And you guess, it could be seen as refreshing but you're still bent on not allotting Windy any good points.

Faster than you've ever been, you leave class as soon as the time is up. You try not to think about the weird conversations that people are most definitely having about you, if not before obviously now that you ran out lightning quick. You don't like thinking about this thrumming feeling in your chest, more often than not it leaves you confused and disoriented. You cant even place a name on it, and most times you think to yourself that maybe you're having a self-induced heart attack. Crazy right? The amount of bullshit you'll spit if given the time to dwell on things.

You make a big show of trudging straight back to the dorms, not because you want to, but because you know Sehun is behind you and you want him to know that this — whatever this is between the both of you doesn't scare you at all. It's leaving you dazed and confused, yes, but never scared. You'll never be scared of Sehun. At least not in this life and certainly not in the next.

— Who or What is GreyHound? The new super-villain that has even the best of the best on their toes. —

That's the title of the news article that you're rereading for the umpteenth time in such a short amount of time. It's not like your obsessed with him, it's more along the lines that you're intrigued. You've never heard of such a villain that is so preoccupied with letting everyone know who he is. Almost every day there's a new headline with his name front and center. It's been a week or so since he arrived at Central City and he is singlehandedly monopolizing the news.

GreyHound, as it turns out, has become the main Antagonist prowling through the City and through the grapevine — school gossip — you know that Silver Ivy has been hacking down on trying to find him. With not enough luck. For a villain, he's pretty genius. With his tactics, you don't want to think about him as much as you do because there's this feeling in the pit of your stomach that he's more than bad news.

And the fact that it's not civilians that he's hunting after, that's what really makes you shake a little in your sneakers. He goes for the "heroes." You don't know what superheroes have ever done to him but it must have been something you can't comprehend for him to go on this tirade of killing them off.

There's a list of heroes that have been attacked by GreyHound in the last few days and it's disconcerting to say that it's a lot. And for the first time, you hope Silver Ivy can get to him quicker. You think, if you had the resources that she has, you wouldn't waste so much time dawdling. She's the symbol of hope for the people — and for you, if you're being completely honest with yourself — and you don't like this sense of panic haunting your skin.

You flip on your back, eyeing the ceiling. All day, you've had this sinking feeling in your chest like something is just waiting to happen. Sehun has been too busy helping his mothers affairs that he hasn't been in school enough to be a pain in your butt. And dare you to think, you sort of miss his never-ending foolish behavior. Life at Super Academy is kind of boring when he's not around, even though you would never tell him that. And yes, Kiki is amazing and is as close as a friend that you've ever heard but it's a different balance with Sehun.

It's not something you try to focus on. Defining your relationship with Sehun is weird. But now that you are thinking about him, you wonder if he's safe. GreyHound is hunting superheroes and Wind Boy is one of that category. Yeah, you know he's a pretty kickass super — you'll never say this to his face though — but GreyHound is worse than anyone you doubt Sehun has faced in his entire career.

And that's when the blog article pings with a new notification of it being updated. You scroll down to the list of heroes that are now out-of-service. And there's one name that you really didn't think you would feel this emotional about it being there.

— Yesterday, superhero Wind Boy fell prey to the prowling GreyHound. According to sources, they engaged in combat but our hero left with grave wounds. If the number one hero's son can't leave unscathed, how is anyone else? Are we supposed to keep living in fear of this... —

Wind Boy.

It's not fear that grips your chest tight. In fact, you're not sure what it is that clings to your airways and prevents you from inhaling and consequently makes you nauseous. You're biting your lip in unadulterated worry as you pull yourself off your bed. Your mind isn't quite catching up to the facts. Sehun is a superhero, not a hero-in-training like you. He's supposed to be cut above you, but this is like a rain of ice water on your skin.

You're not sure what you're supposed to do now. You have no idea where he is. He could be in any hospital in the city, there's too many for you to check. You could wait till when he comes back to school but frankly, you need to find him. He's obnoxious and loud and doesn't know when to quit, but he's... you... you don't even know but you do know that your body wouldn't be able to rest until you know where he is.

The dorm halls are empty which is to be expected since it's almost twelve-thirty a.m and there's this unspoken curfew rule going on here. You can't be bothered with semantics right now. For someone born to be so fast, it takes you awhile to reach the door you set out for.

You knock on the door and hope he'll come out and answer. You know he doesn't particularly favor you, if not from the disgruntled looks he sends your way, you know from the first interaction you had with him.

"Hello," he pulls the door open, hair pointed ways outward. "Oh, it's you. What do you want?"

"You're friends with Sehun right," it's not really a question because you know he is. He's one of his eight-man clique as cliché as that sounds. "Where is he?"

Chanyeol regards you with a grain of salt if his eyes are telling the truth. He runs a hand across his face. You're not sorry for waking him up, so you don't make any chance to apologize.

"What do you mean where is he? He's off doing mama-knows-best business."

"Oh, shut up. I know he's out of duty."

He cocks his eyebrows at that. "You know this how?"

Begrudgingly, you drag your phone out of your pocket and click on the last article you were on and show it to him. "This. Where is he?" This time there's an edge to your voice that was lacking before, your senses are finally waking up and getting with the program.

"Ah, shit," he closes his eyes for a second. "No one was supposed to know about that."

"Well, I do, so can you please tell me where he is before I burst my coronary?"

You've probably set the record for how many 'where is he?' To be said in a five-minute time frame. And in any other situation, you would have laughed at it. But now you're not in the mood. In fact, you're not in the mood to even think about laughing about it. It's pissing you off.

He bites his lip for a second, weighing it in his head for a few moments before he nods his head. "I'll take you there."

There happens to be the Academy's clinic. You've never really had a reason to be in there, so it's an odd feeling that washes over your bones when you walk into the pristine white section of the building. You don't make small talk with Chanyeol and he, thankfully, doesn't try to do it either. It's pretty far from the dorms though and you try and use this time to recollect your thoughts. And level the pros and cons.

Pro:

- He's not dead.

- He can say he fought a supervillain and lived (very few can relate)

- He's not dead.

- May have a few broken bones but alas not dead.

Con:

- Has broken a few bones and is in excruciating pain

- Probably lying on his deathbed.

- Probably wishes he was —

"You like him right? Sehun, I mean," Chanyeol interrupts your very important internal monologue.

Since it's not really small talk, it's just normal talk, you find it within you to shrug your shoulders. "What does it matter?"

"He likes you."

"I know that."

"You do?" His eyebrows raise comically. "He asked for us to bring you by earlier but I thought he was being a menace to you and that maybe he was just delusional."

You chuckle lightly. Trust Windy to be the one to ask for you. It's a funny thing, being depended on. You're not even being depended on right now but it's nice to know that at least someone wants you around. You were never quite sure how you measured with your dad. There was always something you were doing wrong, something about you always wasn't enough. And maybe there's a small — not really — part of you that's depending on Sehun too.

"How long has he been down?" You ask after several moments because it takes awhile to keep your thoughts from running amok.

"Maybe three days? It's been some time. His mom didn't want the news to report on it but I guess, somethings you can't help."

Yeah, you guess too. There are in fact lots of things that you can't help. Not in the sense that Chanyeol is talking about. Granted, you've never experienced this feeling before so you can't really place a name on it. But it has always been there. Sehun had said, albeit foolishly, that he fell in love at first sight or whateverthefuck he was spewing that day. But you didn't fall.

It's like the music you hear from an orchestra. The kind that slowly builds up, rapidly and then there is this resounding crash and extravagant crescendo that sucks you in. You can't hide it, you might deny it (as you would you know firsthand) but it's always there. Waiting for you to acknowledge the rising notes and growing fluency. It's different instruments adding together to make —

Ah; now you're sounding like some dramatic screenwriter. You shudder. You don't need to put words to this feeling. It's there. And it's as real as you could ever be.

Chanyeol stops at one of the patients' doors and gestures for you to do what you came here to do. You barely hear him tell you that he's leaving now because you're so focused on calming your nerves. Shit, you shouldn't be this nervous about meeting with him. You've met him more than a dozen times in your lifetime. Nothing is different. Expect he's probably in really bad pain. Or maybe not, there's probably a superpower to help with stuff like that.

It takes more moments that you don't want to admit before you knock on the door. "Sehun? It's me."

"And who is me?"

You roll your eyes at his response but slide the door open nonetheless. Your heart skitters at the sight of him. "Me."

Maybe you're just egotistical but you swear you can see a new light glinting in the brown of his eyes. And you're so incredibly content that he doesn't look as bad as you thought he would. Sure there are few cuts littered around his face but he doesn't look outright horrible.

"Miss me?"

"What would you do if I say yes?"

The corner of his lips stretches upwards. "I think I would like that very much actually. It's no fun getting my ass beat by anyone other than you."

You swear you shouldn't roll your eyes so much but here you are doing just that. "It's no fun getting beat by anyone, period."

"Nah," he scrunches his nose up, shaking his head. "My ass should have reserved beating just for you."

You fail miserably at preventing the laugh from slipping through your lips and at that Sehun laughs along with you. It's a nice sound that you're sort of used to by now but then you're reminded that if something had gone wrong he probably won't be here. You step fully into the room and slam the door shut, not wanting to think about the flip side of the coin.

"So, what did you break?" You walk closer to the foot of his bed.

He doesn't look directly at you when he replies, instead, he focuses his line of sight on the center of your nose. "Three ribs. Broke my wrist and my knee. But it's okay though, it doesn't hurt anymore. I'm supposed to rest to help with the rehabilitation... that's all."

You tilt your head to the side. "Are you trying to convince me that you're fine?"

"I don't know? Maybe? Is it working?"

"Not really but I'll play along," you shrug, sitting down on the edge of his makeshift bed. "Just add this to our score. Y/N; 9, Windy; 5."

He nods in agreement, a small smile taking permanency on his face. It's a handsome face, if you were somebody else maybe you'll take an hour just to say hello. He has that effect on people. A silence that's neither comforting nor awkward falls on the two of you. You're running over the things you would like to say when Sehun's voice slivers into your subconscious.

"Sometimes being a hero is so exhausting, like, work is too... work and I'd rather sit at home reading or drinking tea. Or literally doing anything but hero work."

"Tell me about it. When I was a supervillain—" Sehun's abrupt snort cuts through your sentence and you shoot him a disbelieving glare. "Petty thief, fine. I'd have these days where I wouldn't want to do anything at all. But my dad was a workaholic."

"Was?"

"Yeah. He's in jail now. Can't really be a workaholic in prison, can you?"

"Ah, so it's your dad that was the villain. You were just a thief."

Now that you think about it, maybe he's right. You're just a thief and he's just the son of a hero. It's fairly normal occurrence in the reality you live in. There's nothing substantially bad about the two of you. Although you'll be honest, you don't know where this sense of inherent good is coming from.

You heave your shoulders, sighing into yourself. "Do you really think I can be a hero? Like this isn't some pipe dream and I'm not just wasting my life in this limbo all for nothing?"

"I think, and this just my opinion, that you can definitely be one if you want. I mean, you're already at a Super Academy. If there was a part of you that didn't even think you could be a superhero, you wouldn't be here. You wouldn't have given what I said that night any thought." There's something you don't recognize staining his voice. Maybe sincerity?

You don't time how long it takes for you to accept what he says but you do. Sehun has a way with words, you've known this but still, and tentatively you curve your lips into a smile. You stretch out your arms towards him, a prickling sense of embarrassment in the back of your throat.

"Come here."

"I thought you don't like hugs?"

You angle your head to the side. "Is that a no?"

Sehun shakes his head adamantly, launching himself (as much as he can) into your arms and you wrap them tightly around him. The action makes you feel dependable and you like it, but more than anything it feels safe.

"Thank—" He's about to say something when you nervously stutter out. "I, uh, like you."

"What?"

Shit. Oh, this is so embarrassing but you can't keep a secret like this. If you feel something, you have the urgent need to let it be known, hence this very awkward confession.

"I like you," you state again with a little more resolve. "And maybe you should cash in that dinner date I owe you because if you don't I'm going to start thinking you really don't like me back and imagine the horror if I've been—"

"Okay, stop!" He raises both hands up and you don't exhale. "I've been flirting with you nonstop for like a month, Y/N. If you don't think I like you back you're either stupid or I don't know, stupid."

You scoff at him, not quite believing that this is the boy you gave your first confession to. Someone who without fail just never stops.

"Can I... Can I ask you for something?"

"Sure, if it's about who owns my ass, I've already told you that it's yours."

You laugh, biting your tongue as you think over your request again. "Compliment me on something, anything."

He thinks about it for a second or maybe two, tapping his forefinger on his lip. And then the corners of his eyes crinkle and you know he's about to say something completely —

"You have the utmost grace and skill of a supervillain. The best, if I've ever seen one."

"Wow. Can you believe that I like you even more now?"

"It's okay," he sighs in pseudo-exasperation, "Even the great Y/N is weak to my charms."

You've been called a lot of things, some you admit boosted your ego, others not so much. Your father, ever the perfectionist had placed more secrets on you than you could carry. All those names that had filtered into your subconscious — speedster, villain child, dumb, the occasional failure, supervillain, petty thief — doesn't make you less or more of a person.

Yes, you admit, stealing was never noble and there are things you cant stop in the universe no matter how hard you try. And yes, you do know that just because your paradigms have realigned with something else doesn't mean the life of crime will magically stop. The show must go on, yeah, but you're not required to act in it. You have never been required to act in it.

Anyways, the point of this entire thing is that everyone deserves that one person who has the ability to look over their past, their wrongs, their misgivings, and their flaws and yet still cares for them anyway.

We're not obligated to do anything for each other, we're not obligated to reach a hand out to someone that's blundering in the dark all on their own because that's all they've ever known. But it's kind to do so. And yeah, some may call this ridiculous naiveté but maybe... Maybe that's the real super thing in this world, at least to you. For you, Sehun is a close second to one of the fantastic things you've recently learned about the world. The first being, that heroes, and villains as hard as they are to identify are one of the same coin. You can't really—

"Why are you looking at me like that?" You ask Sehun when he reaches up with his fingers and laces them together with yours.

He looks at you deliriously happy and a part of you shivers. "Huh? Like what?"

"Like you're going to say something effortlessly cheesy. I'm lactose intolerant, you know, I won't stand for this."

Windy cocks his head to the side, amused. "I... haven't said anything." And for the first time in a long time, he is right. The boy who never puts on a lid has one on now.

But you're looking at me like that, you think, you don't particularly have to say anything.

"Yeah, you're looking at me like that. All intense and shit like you want me to just fall head over heels in love with you."

His grin widens — as impossible as that sounds, and his eyes don't once slip away from your face. "I'm not sorry about that."

There's a pause and then a beat from you. "Neither am I."

He uses your interlocked fingers to drag your body closer to him, you find out that you like this feeling of being next to him. He has this smell, like lavender but softer and it inflames your entire senses and makes you whole. The two of you look like damned fools, cheeks threatening to crack as you continue smiling at each other. And then you push yourself impossibly close until your breath is fanning his face and he's no longer smiling anymore.

"Would you mind if I kissed you right now?" Your chest is pounding unbelievably loud and it's about to burst altogether.

Sehun chuckles at your question. "I think I might get offended if you don't."

You didn't have the mind to laugh back with him instead you bend your lips lower and connect them with his. And it feels like your entire center of gravity is shifting, colliding with something you don't know and can't be bothered to find out. It drags you down with him until your hands are unlocking from his and finding haven in his hair. Windy reaches back with a hand and rubs slight circles on the nape of your neck while his other hand rests comfortingly on the sliver of exposed skin on your hip.

Delirious and uncharacteristically slow, the two of you pull apart trying desperately to catch your breaths against the rhythmic beating of your hearts. Your eyes meet. His; quiet, gentle, a declaration that when you do fall head over heels, you would — without a doubt, be caught. Your lips turn up into another small smile, another feeling bubbling up in your chest.

And just like that, you've found the third most fantastic thing this world has to offer.

You reach closer, this time with more desperation in your actions. Sehun makes a startled noise in surprise but then his body relaxes into yours. You slip your tongue into his mouth and the electricity that spikes through your veins — all the way from your toes and sharp enough to make you lose all control in your head — is nothing short of fantastical.

Your fingers slip from his hair and cup his face as you scoot your body over the bed and perch your thighs on top of his, bringing your bodies impeccably close. Windy tilts his head up, and pushes his chest harder into yours, deepening your kiss. Your mind is already frazzled and unlike your usual your thoughts, everything is slowed. And you like this feeling. Nothing is so fast anymore. You're not running blindly in the dark any longer and shit, this is an amazing feeling.

The two of you break apart again, the dire need to breathe becoming an issue. But all you want to do is stay here, kissing the fuck out of him. And watching him become putty under the feeling of your body.

"Tell me something," you breathe out.

"Anything."

Smiling through the motions, you toy with the ends of his inky black hair, not once taking your attention from his face.

"Promise me that you won't lose to anyone other than me ever again."

He chuckles at that, the light in his eyes shimmering. "Not to sound like a broken record, babe, but I already told you. My ass has been reserved for you... don't ruin it, please. It's quite a nice ass. If I do say so myself—"

"Oh my god," you groan into the crook of his shoulder, trying to hide your laughter but, it reverberates on his exposed skin. "Shut up."

"Would you make me?"

You arch your eyebrow at him, scoffing. "Gladly," before you silence any and all further words with your lips on his.

A/N: oh shit, i had too much fun writing this and i screamed like a thousand times as i wrote but i hope people like this and enjoyed it. thank you so so much for reading !!!

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