Other People's Heroes (The Heroes of Siegel City) (23 page)

In Annie’s face, I saw all three.

“I have to go,” I said to her, and I ran out of the lounge. I ran down the hall and stumbled into the arboretum, the only place I could think of to do what I was about to do without interruption.

I ran past the alien plants and past the gardens and past Flambeaux’s ruined topiary, which still looked a bit like someone I knew. I ran until I was as close to the center of the arboretum as I could estimate.

CONFESSIONAL

By the time I finished screaming I was ready to collapse. My energy was gone, my spirit was empty and every iota of strength I’d had seemed to void itself from my body. I didn’t think I would ever be able to move again. My cheeks were tear-stained and my neck hurt. The worst thing that could possibly have happened was if someone had shown up just then.

Which is why I was not at all surprised, as I slumped against a tree and buried my face in my lap, to hear footsteps and feel a Rush approaching me.

“I figure I at
least
owe you a conversation,” I said to Annie.

“Yeah, you do,” she said, unable to disguise the quiet, hurt rage in her voice. “Did you
mean
that?”

“When somebody is about to assault the city’s best-loved Cape in a maniacal rage you can probably take anything he happens to blurt out as gospel.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“Oh come on, like you didn’t know. The way I look at you? The way I hang on your every word in the desperate hope that you’ll say
anything
to make me believe you’re in the same place I am? You haven’t noticed
any
of this?”

“Even if I
did,
Josh, why didn’t you ever say anything? And
don’t
say you never had the chance, you had a
thousand
chances these last few months.”

“I had the
chance,
” I said, “I didn’t have the
right.
”

“What does
that m
ean?”

“You were with Noble. Maybe it
was
a stupid, destructive relationship, but I
couldn’t
be the one to point that out because I didn’t know if I’d be doing it because it was the best for you or because I wanted you for myself. Besides, I realize this places me in the minority these days, but I was raised with a certain set of values that includes ‘don’t steal someone else’s girl.’ Not even a jackass.”

She came to my tree and knelt next to me. “So you just kept it to yourself, then. How long were you going to leave things bottled up like that, Josh?”

“As long as it took! What, do you think I
liked
that? Do you think I liked watching you with him? The way he treated you... the way he made you feel whenever he walked into the room... it’s a
sin
, Annie.” I rolled to my knees so I could stare directly into her eyes.

“Get out of here, Ted!”

“Geez, all right,” said a topiary giraffe with a band director’s hat, which bobbed away.

“Josh
,
” she wept. “You don’t even know me, you’re in love with the mask.”

“Don’t
know
you? I don’t give a damn about the mask. You’ve never been so beautiful as you were that day in the park. And as for who you are, your name is Annie Harmon. Your mother’s name is Cynthia. You’ve got a brother named Quentin who’s only interested in girls and a brother named Tom who’s only interested in Capes. You’ve got a scar on your knee from a bike accident before your powers kicked in. You always wanted to be a dancer but you didn’t think you had the legs for it. You think the Smurfs get too preachy sometimes. Tell me some more of what I don’t know.”

“Eleven
months
? It didn’t take me eleven
minutes
with you to tell how sweet and amazing and incredible you are. He had eleven
months
and he
still
treated you like that? The man’s a bigger idiot than I thought.”

She stood up, wiping her face. I followed suit. “Stop saying that, Josh, you don’t know what he was like then--”

“Are you
still
defending him? What is it going to take, Annie, is he going to have to
kill
somebody?
He doesn’t deserve you
. You’re too good for him. And I’m not saying I
do
deserve you -- God knows I haven’t earned any miracles lately, but let me tell you what I
do
know. If I had the chance, if you
gave
me the chance, I would never,
never
stop trying to make you happy. You’re wonderful, you’re beautiful, you’re funny -- and stop trying to argue that point with me, you
are.
And you’re everything,
everything
I could ever want. I’d lose the powers, I’d burn the costume, I’d leave the whole damn city behind if you wanted me to. If it was for you.”

“When I met you, Annie, when I first began to learn who you are underneath that mask, I was thanking God for finally bringing someone that wonderful into my life. And then I found out about you and Todd, and I’ve spent every day since then raging against Him for placing you out of my reach.”

She began to tremble, still crying. I placed my hands on her shoulders and turned her to face me. At first, she tried to look away, but when I started talking, her eyes met mine.

“I love you, Annie. I’m sorry it came out this way, but I’m not sorry it came out. I love you. I need you. I’d do
anything
to make you smile or to hear you laugh. When you’re not around, I wish I was with you, when I
am
with you I never want it to end. I love you. And I’ll
never
regret saying that.”

She smiled, just for a second, then began to cry again. “You don’t know. You’ve got me on a pedestal--”

“No! That is
NOT
it. I know your faults. Some of them -- such as your incessant tendency to put yourself down --
really
upset me. But dear
God,
I wouldn’t care if you had no powers, waitressing in the filthiest greasy spoon in Siegel City and always had a
hairnet
on, as long as it was
you
.”

“I don’t know... I don’t know
what
to think. I don’t know what I want. I need to sort all this out.”

“Then go ahead. It’s okay. I’m not afraid of waiting, I’ll wait as long as you need.”

She put her head on my shoulder then and we both squeezed out the last of our tears. As I felt her, the nearness of her, I never wanted to let go, because I was scared I wouldn’t get her back.

This must be love,
I thought,
I can hear violins playing.
And then I noticed the fir tree with the white-clad arm giving me a thumbs-up. I opened my mouth, but Annie beat me to punch.

ISSUE ELEVEN

THE CALM

It’s amazing, how sometimes the simplest things can be the hardest to do. For instance, ringing Sheila’s doorbell the next day. I thought it would take my arm off. It was almost as hard as standing there, on the steps of her apartment building, waiting for her to click the damn intercom button and acknowledge my existence.

Finally there was an electric hiss and Sheila’s scratchy voice crackled, “Who is it?”

“Sheila, it’s me. It’s Josh. Come on, I need to talk to you.”

There were several more moments of quiet static before she replied. “I’m sorry, the sneaky bitch you have requested is no longer in service.”

“Why, all of a sudden, do you need
my
help? I wasn’t good enough to trust with your little secret about the Magical World of Morrie Abadie.”

“Look, I’m sorry about that, okay? I should have trusted you and I’ll never make that mistake again, I
promise.
But Sheila, listen, I’ve gotten myself into a real mess here. Noble wants my blood, Annie’s as stable as a nuclear power plant with Homer Simpson on staff, I’ve got to buy a new pool table if you can believe that and any minute now a swarm of pissed-off troll dolls with neon blue hair from the center of the Earth are going to attack the city, so I don’t have a lot of time!”

No response.

“Okay, I’m making up the part about the troll dolls, but the rest of it is all true. I
need
you, Sheila. I need your help. I can’t talk to anyone who can be
objective
about this whole, stupid mess! Please, just hit the buzzer and let me come up there.”

No response.

“You want me to beg? Is that what you want? I’ll do it! I’ll make a fool out of myself in front of the entire street! Sheila, I was wrong and I’m sorry. I’m a blithering idiot. I’ll do whatever it takes to make it up to you. I’ll cook! I’ll clean! I’ll bear your children! I’d be down on my knees if I could reach the intercom button from there! I’ll erect a shrine to the wonderfulness that is Sheila Reynolds, if you’ll just let me
talk
to you!”

I was in the middle of composing a ballad entitled, “Why I Think Sheila is Really Keen-a” when the door opened and Sheila stepped out. “Hey.”

“How long have you been away from the intercom?”

“I started down the stairs as soon as you said you were sorry.”

“So I’ve been begging the
door
for your forgiveness?”

“I suppose. Why, what did you say?”

“Nothing. Why didn’t you just buzz me up?”

“Because we’re not doing this here. We’re going for some frozen yogurt. You have until we get back here to convince me you’re really sorry.”

It didn’t even take me until we got to the yogurt place to finagle forgiveness out of her -- Sheila’s always kind of had a sisterly soft spot where I’m concerned. I bought her a cup of strawberry cheesecake. It wasn’t enough to rebuild the bridge entirely, but it sure as hell laid the foundation.

While she satisfied her sweet tooth I told her what happened with Annie -- the blowup with Todd, the tearfest in the arboretum, all of it. She listened with attention so rapt I thought she’d burst. Finally, she put down her cup and spoon.

“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” she said. “All you
can
do is give her time.”

“Time is going to
kill
me one of these days, you know that?”

“Time kills all of us. You’ve just got to live with it.”

“Time or Doctor Noble.”

“Don’t let that guy bug you. Sounds to me like he’s all bark and no bite, Josh. If he was really going to go after you, he’d have done it by now.”

“Tell that to Photon Man.”

“Do you
know
what really happened to Photon Man?”

“Well... not exactly, no. I know he did...
something
bad, I can’t really get people to talk about it. They chased him down and Noble found him,
alone.
He ‘accidentally’ hyper-intensified Photon Man’s powers and made him blow up.”

“Ew.”

“You’re telling me. That’s why Hotshot was so adamant about trying to find Icebergg before Noble got to him last month.”

“Is
that
what happened to Icebergg?” she said. “I’d noticed he’d gone missing.”

“You’ve really been paying attention, haven’t you?”

“Well... once I learned it was all fake it’s sort of like watching a soap opera.”

“You
hate
soap operas.”

“That’s because Eric Braden doesn’t wear tights. So, what
did
Icebergg do?”

“I don’t know if I should be telling you this, Sheila,” I said, but she shot me a look that seemed to indicate she knew precisely where she could hide the bodies, so I relented.

“Okay, okay. But you don’t report--”

“I don’t report any of this, I know. Go on.”

I launched into another storytelling session, this time beginning with First Light’s holo-reproduction of Deep Six’s murder and concluding with Flambeaux’s incoherent babbling in the arboretum.

“That is
so
weird,” she said. “Did you ever figure out what he was trying to say?”

“You know, right after that was Copycat’s ‘capture,’ and right after
that
I threw Doctor Noble through a wall and confessed to Miss Sinistah that I was in love with her. I didn’t even
think
about Flambeaux again until just now.”

“Josh, how could you
not
? It sounds like something
huge
is going to happen, you can’t keep this to yourself!”

“Sheila, I
have
to keep this to myself. No reporting, remember?”

“Oh, yeah. But still, how can you just
sit
on a mystery like this? I’m
already
climbing up the walls.”

“I’m no detective, Sheila, I wouldn’t know how to
begin
digging this up.”

“There’s only one way
to
do it. You’ve got to go to Flambeaux and pick his brain.”

“He’s catatonic!”

“Ah, how long can
that
possibly last?”

I laughed. “Sheila, as grateful as I am that you haven’t told anyone – Anderson Cooper, for instance -- about Morrie’s little playhouse, I’ve got to ask something here. How can someone as inquisitive as
you
be sitting on a story this big and
not
go insane?”

“I thought about that,” she said. “I guess the truth is I’m content to keep the secret as long as
I
know it. Solving the puzzle is more important than showing it off.”

“
Really?
” I said with a ridiculous level of skepticism.

She hugged me and we both fell into outrageous fits of laughter which, now that I look back on it, may have saved my life. Or at least my sanity. I was happy there. It was quite some time before I was happy again.

BEFORE THE STORM

“What
I
don’t get,” Ted said to me the next day, “is why you’re going to visit the catatonic pyro instead of trying to talk to Annie.”

“We’ve talked, man.
Believe
me, we’ve talked. Fact is, we both need some time to decide what else there is to say.”

“Pessimistic way to look at it.”

“Realistic, I’d say.”

We were back in the lounge and, although I had no more rumbles on my docket for a while, I was in costume, like most of the others. While I was in Simon Tower it made more sense to be Copycat than Josh Corwood.