“What the hell is going on?” Queen Midnight whispered, her eyes flicking around nervously.
“No clue,” Seth answered.
She sighed heavily and leaned against the wall next to him. Whatever was going on, they’d both taken the opportunity to duck out of the line of fire.
Danica looked pissed as she stomped around in her Powergirl outfit, pausing every once and a while to shoot a glare at Solar, who was busily bossing Pulsar around.
The twins looked like they were packing up everything they owned. Though no one had even said why.
He glanced at Queen Midnight out of the corner of his eye and wondered if she’d even noticed the tension that had filled the place ever since Tony hadn’t been able to keep it in his pants around Solar. She always came across as happily oblivious, but he knew a lot more went on behind her heavily kohled eyes than she bothered to show.
Looking at Solar, he couldn’t help the resentment he felt. She was tiny and pretty and she always had one eye turned toward Tony. And she’d gotten him too, even if it was just for one night.
There was no way Seth was going to say that Tony was completely innocent, because he’d definitely known what he was doing when he had sex with Solar. But the way she was playing it off to her brother…
Seth narrowed his eyes at her. She was folding a bunch of towels while Pulsar hefted large boxes out of their rooms and stacked them on the floor next to the elevator.
“So, where the hell are they going?” Queen Midnight asked.
Seth shrugged. “I have no idea. We’re obviously not very important members of the group if they don’t even feel the need to tell us what’s going on.”
She snorted, her silver bracelets jangling as she rubbed the tip of her nose with the back of her hand. “So I guess they’re leaving the group permanently. I wonder who we’re gonna get to replace them.”
“We’ll probably find out a week after we get our new members. And it’s not like I’m bitter about that or anything.”
“Heh, you sound pretty bitter,” she said. “Are we supposed to be helping these guys pack up or anything?”
“No way,” Seth scoffed. “If they can’t be bothered to let us know they’re leaving, then we don’t have to help them with their shit.”
Pulsar paused in carrying an overlarge box to give him a rather nasty look, but Seth didn’t care. He was tired of all the crap and was to the point where he could happily vaporize the jerk twins without a single regret.
He’d spent the bulk of his life trying to be the nice guy, and he honestly was very laid back, but he was quickly reaching his breaking point. Mostly because everyone kept trying to drag him into the middle of their drama whether he wanted to be involved or not.
He didn’t know how it had happened, but at some point he’d stopped thinking of his teammates as friends or even people he wanted to make a good impression around. The only one he even cared about was Tony, and that was because he had the hots for him.
Seth glanced at Queen Midnight and had to feel a bit bad for her. Other than the goth clothes and the rather freaky supernatural powers, she was pretty bland. It was part and parcel with the whole “sold half her soul for superpowers” type of thing.
He guessed that the half of her soul she’d gotten rid of was the part that had most of the personality. The rest of her was all angst and woe about the possibility of ending up in hell when she died. It was actually a pretty sad story. But she was still a downer to be around for too long.
So really the only member of the Teen Demis he was close to was Tony, which made it hard for him to care that the twins were leaving. They were just coworkers, not any kind of friend.
They’d stopped some crime and been rewarded, but it was all part of the job. He’d also done a rather slick spread with the two of them for Super People Magazine, but they barely had any contact otherwise. Team meals didn’t really count.
When it really came down to it, the twins had barely been a blip on his radar. They were his teammates, but when the job was done for the day that was it. He told them goodnight and that was that.
Seth crossed his arms and watched everything happening around him.
“I wonder where they’re going to go,” Queen Midnight mused. She’d pulled a blade out from somewhere and was using the sharp point to clean out from under her nails.
“I don’t care.” Seth watched Carrie pick up a small box and carry it for herself into the elevator. Her long blond hair had been pulled back into two side-by-side ponytails and she wore a green tee shirt and dark wash denim shorts. Her legs were long and bare and there wasn’t a single hint of a sock creeping out of her black sneakers.
She was pretty and perky and it was a battle to keep from clawing her eyes out.
Every time he saw her, all he could think about was Tony wrapped up in her arms, pressing his lips against hers as he slipped between her legs.
It was impossible to say that he wasn’t jealous when just the sight of her made him want to push her out the door. Her presence put him on edge and he wasn’t that upset about her leaving the team.
Seth sighed and pushed away from the wall to head into the kitchen. He pulled open the fridge and grabbed a package of lunch meat, a package of cheese, a bag of spinach, a plump tomato, and the squeeze bottle of mayonnaise.
Harper Kingsley
Ko-fi: HarperWCK
Paypal: HarperKingsley
“Do you want a sandwich?” he asked Queen Midnight, popping open the lid of the mayonnaise before grabbing up a sharp knife. She looked completely lost as she watched the twins packing up their stuff.
She blinked at him, her eyes flicking down to the tomato he was thinly slicing. She shook herself. “A sandwich, sure. That would be nice.”
He offered her a smile that she hesitantly returned. There was a shine to her eyes that had him thinking that maybe he should spend more time with her as a friend. She wasn’t his favorite person, but she was a teammate, someone he depended on to keep him alive when he went out to fight the baddies. And it wasn’t like she was that terrible to be around.
She was just an angst-filled bundle of woe, that was all.
“All right, that’s everything,” Pulsar announced, standing in the middle of the room. He was wearing a tight orange tee shirt and dark washed jeans. Even with his mask half covering his face he managed to look like a douchebag. It was one of the few things Seth really liked about Pulsar. He was honest to a fault, never hiding the fact that he wasn’t a nice guy.
“If you contact the usual cleaning place, we’ll pay the bill. I’ve left our keys in the bowl there. Hold onto any mail that comes in and I’ll send for it later.” Pulsar was very matter of fact. He was treating them as though they were strangers.
Seth grit his teeth and finished assembling the sandwich he was making before starting the next. “Hand me a plate,” he told Queen Midnight.
She bit her lip a second, then hurried to the cupboard behind him. She seemed shocked by Pulsar’s behavior.
Seth could have told her that Pulsar was a jerk. He was so wrapped up in his sister that there wasn’t room for anyone else in his world. There was a more than good chance that he’d never had a date in his life.
Solar wanted to leave, so that’s what the twins would do. And as easy as that, Pulsar went from trusted teammate, to just another costumed hero they might work with someday in the future.
Seth made a mental note to have all the locks and codes changed. He didn’t trust anyone.
He gave Queen Midnight a small smile when she set two plates down in front of the cutting board. He plopped a sandwich on one plate and pushed it toward her with his finger.
“Thank you,” she whispered, taking her plate and backing up until she could lean against the counter behind him. She was trying hard not to look at Pulsar, her face kept studiously downturned as she took small bites.
“Well, don’t you have something to say, Sunfire? You always have an opinion on everything.”
Dropping his sandwich on his plate, Seth pushed up his sleeves and went to wash his hands at the sink. He squeezed the thick, orange smelling soap into his palms and rubbed them together before rinsing them under the hottest water the faucet could produce. He wiped his hands off on the kitchen towel, then turned and calmly faced Pulsar. “I don’t know what you expect me to say. We were comrades and now we’re not. Good luck in all your future endeavors.”
Pulsar snorted rudely. “I always knew you were a class act.” He shook his head and announced to the rest of the room, “We’re leaving.”
“Don’t be so rude, Nate,” Solar said, stepping out of the elevator. She was dressed down in a pair of skinny jeans and a sleeveless white peasant blouse. Her long blond hair had been caught up in a high ponytail and with her mask on she looked more like a Dress Up than an official hero.
She was pretty and perky and a scheming little viper. She’d always gotten what she wanted and would do whatever to keep the status quo.
“We’re really sorry to be leaving like this.” She smiled, showing off her pearly white teeth. “I know it leaves you all in the lurch, but we felt like it’s time for us to move on. We’ll really miss you though.” She held her hand out to Pulsar, her bangle bracelets clinking together. “Let’s go. We have a long drive ahead of us. Goodbye!”
With that, they were gone. If the elevator could have slammed, the sound would have been a loud one.
“Can you believe those guys? Really!” Powergirl flung up her hands and stalked toward her room. There was the sound of a door slamming angrily.
“Well, that went well,” Seth said, taking a big bite out of his sandwich.
* * *
There was a weird vibe in the air when he got back to the Demi Lair. It set Tony’s skin creeping and he was immediately on high alert, his powers activating. He felt better with his invulnerability wrapped close around him.
“What’s going on?” he asked, carrying the shopping bags to the L-shaped couches.
Sunfire was sitting on his recliner playing a video game on the big screen. He didn’t even look at Tony. “The twins left.”
“Where to?” Tony asked, flopping down next to the bags and propping his feet on the coffee table. He didn’t want to think about Solar, not when he was full of so many regrets over what they’d done. He’d never been that fond of playing the bad guy, especially when he felt as though he’d done wrong.
“They’re leaving the group.” Sunfire was focused on his game, the controller clacking under his fingers while characters died horribly on screen amongst the explosions. “I called to arrange the locks be changed and for the cleaning service to come through. I figure we should have the whole place cleaned while we’re at it. It’s more cost-effective.”
Tony groaned and covered his face with his hands. “Why does this keep getting worse and worse?”
“Is this a bro-moment?” Sunfire asked, tossing a plasma grenade. “Am I supposed to be all supportive and ‘Dude, bitch is crazy’ just because you weren’t smart enough not to screw a teammate? Yeah, that’s not happening. You done wrong bro.”
“Wow,” Tony said, “you really know how to make me feel like a piece of crap.”
“The crappier you feel now,” Sunfire said, “the less likely I’ll catch you sexing up our last two female members. I don’t want to have to beat you up. That’d be lame.”
“I don’t think I’d enjoy it that much either,” Tony said.
Sunfire had always been the closest to him in the Teen Demis after Ashley. Now that she was gone–dead–Sunfire was the only real friend Tony had in the group. He didn’t know what he would do if Sunfire turned from him.
“God, you’re such a dick.” Tony thumped his fists against his forehead, then leaned forward to grab the red game controller from under the table. He activated it and chose his usual guy.
“Did I say I wanted to play with you?” Sunfire asked mildly.
“Shut up and let’s play,” Tony growled, lobbing some grenades of his own.
Sunfire sighed loudly, but went back to playing.
They fell into a companionable silence, the only sound the game. For a little while, even if everything wasn’t all right, it was bearable. And that was good enough.
Somehow they’d managed to amass a collection of empty Thunder Bolt energy drink cans and the city outside the windows had grown dark. Tony lifted his head and experienced a long moment of disconnect. When he glanced at the clock, he was surprised to find that they had been playing for close to three hours.
“Holy crap.” He rubbed his hand over his face. “I’m going to take a piss, then order the world’s biggest pizza. I’m starving.”
“Yeah, food sounds good,” Sunfire said, straightening his long legs out and pointing his toes. “And pizza with you seems like the best thing ever.”
“Nice.” Tony ran off to the bathroom.
He still felt bad about Solar and Pulsar leaving the Teen Demis, but there wasn’t anything he could do about. The twins had already left and there was no forwarding address for them. So he would go on with his life and he would never make that same mistake again.
Having sex with a coworker was messy. Especially when one person got totally butthurt, even for a just reason.
It had taken him a long time, but he knew now that Solar–Carrie–was in love with him. And knowing or not, he’d taken advantage of her for his own selfish desires. He’d really hurt her doing it too, and that made him an asshole.
So it was good that she was gone. He wouldn’t constantly be hurting her with his presence and she would be able to get a fresh start. It wasn’t like there’s been much holding the twins in the area. And once they’d been in the Teen Demis, they could hire on to any supergroup they wanted or go solo.
The twins had made a smart choice for them. And he would just have to deal with the guilt he felt at running them off.
Thus began his closer than usual friendship with Sunfire.
/ONE
