“Mark my words!” The villain bellowed as the police officers frogmarched him away, “I’ll be back Lady Starlight! The world will be mine!! You’ll see!”
“Until then,” Nancy muttered, giving the lunatic a sarcastic wave. Nancy, Lady Starlight to almost everyone in the building, began to brush herself off as she strode through the partially destroyed remains of what had been a large warehouse. Many of the containers and large storage shelves had been flung about and toppled over. A general sense of destruction pervaded what had once been a minutely organized space. She shook her head with mild annoyance. This time, her opponent had managed to create some manner of compulsion based on scents. Ordinarily, not so bad, yet somehow this time it had been potent enough to lead to him enthralling over two dozen men and women and secreting them here. Some of them had even manifested some rudimentary superhuman abilities…and a good deal more powerful than she had been expecting. Minor talents they might have been, yet working together in defence of their purported master, they had been quite the defence.
She grimaced as she watched a few of them being led away by more police. Some still sporting collars, cuffs, and other bonds. The scraps of the oddly sexy uniforms the puppet master had insisted upon. Some were confused, many still appeared to be under the partial influence of whatever drug they’d been given, and were still pining for their former captor. Nancy made a face, and shook her head. World domination wasn’t the only thing this guy had had in mind. By all accounts he and his lieutenants had been building a tidy little harem. What had been the name? She frowned, trying to recall.
There were so many of the delusional villainous idiots floating around, it was hard to keep track. The Seducer? No. The Medusa? She shook her head. Not that important now anyway. She watched him for a moment as he was brought outside of the building, hoping against hope that would be the last weirdo for at least…at least a week?
In her Lady Starlight persona, Nancy was dressed in a sensually tight, form fitting black and silver catsuit that covered her from neck to ankles and wrists. Her feet were clad in white leather boots, and a white utility belt. Her lithe form moved easily, a short cape billowing behind her and providing that extra edge of presence. She absently tucked a few strands of brilliant white hair behind her, another part of what she still sometimes thought of as her costume. A superheroine called Lady Starlight could hardly go about with Nancy’s plain chestnut brown after all. She even changed her eyes to a deep purple, rather than the pale green that she normally found in the mirror, and wore a brilliant silver domino mask.
All in all it was a look that only a handful of souls would ever associate with her normal life. The carefree Nancy who stayed late in libraries, watched dumb movies with her boyfriend late into the evening, and carefully attended every one of her classes hardly seemed to have the time or inclination to be a superheroine like Lady Starlight.
Nancy entered one of the large shipping containers. Plenty of ruined rope and scattered chain spoke to others having been held here in the past. She hoped that no one had been shipped away yet, but hadn’t had a chance to ensure she had rescued everyone. There was one form still there, waiting for her, and she felt her heart beating faster as she met his eyes. The boy had leather straps tightly cinched around his torso, and had been tightly gagged with tape, but Nancy would know those soft brown eyes anywhere. Alex. Her boyfriend.
He gave a squeal of joy to see her, and did his best to wave at her through his bondage.
Nancy breathed a sigh of relief that she had waited for everyone else to leave the shipping container. Perhaps they just would have put it down to some fan of hers being personally rescued, but she really didn’t need any extra attention being paid to Alex. Not when he was just…so…so…
She didn’t want to say naïve. He was just sweet. Sweet, caring, without a suspicious bone in his body. Which rather brought her back to why he was here…
“Hi sweetheart.” She gently began to peel the tape away from his lips, trying her best not to catch any of his hair, “What was it this time?”
The boy spat out a wad of cloth as she finished getting the tape off and looked at her with a slightly indignant air, “I was trying to search for a birthday gift for you. I wasn’t having a lot of luck online, but then this lady stopped by the flat. Said she was selling these wonderful perfumes that you would probably love.” Alex smiled at her, that warm innocent smile that she adored so much, even as his next words made her want to groan, “She said they could provoke a reaction in some people, so before I could smell it I had to be restrained. Apparently there were a few other people she had demonstrated the scents to just today who had that reaction. Then when I did, I blacked out! They must have grabbed both of us while I was out! I hope she's alright, I didn't see her around here..." He blinked at her owlishly.
Nancy looked at him, wondering for what felt like the millionth time how Alex could still retain this innocent view of the world. She let out a heavy sigh and ruffled his hair, “I’m sure…I’m sure she’s fine. Just…” She couldn’t help it. She pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath. She loved him. She loved him, even if he was sometimes an idiot about some things. Like people. And obvious traps. “I think we need to have another talk about home security…”
Alex shrugged, “If you wanted too, sure. I mean, I guess I forgot to lock the door when I let her in?”
I love him. Nancy reminded herself as another groan tried to exit her throat. He is a sweet, sweet boy who sees the best in people. And that’s not a bad thing. She thought to herself fiercely. Just…irritating sometimes. Frustrating that Alex refused to believe that people he met were anything other than what they told him. Despite knowing what she did for a living, Nancy had never managed to get Alex to see that a lot of people had less than altruistic motivations.
She loved him dearly, but her boy just could not seem to get it through his head that some people were not nice. In fact many people were assholes, and many more were villains. Nancy spent most of her days, every day, dealing with such societal dregs. But her sweet, sweet boy absolutely refused to approach any situation in any other way apart from joyful, naïve helpfulness.
“We’ll…we’ll talk about it when we’re back home.” Nancy hoisted him to his feet, taking Alex’s weight as easily as picking up a feather, “And then maybe we can have dinner before I head back to work…”
“I’d like that.” Alex snuggled into her embrace and hummed happily, hardly seeming to mind at all that he was tightly bound anymore, “I did manage to find a recipe I think you’re going to like. If you’ve got time to wait…?”
Nancy kissed him on the forehead, gathering herself to leap into the air, “For you sweetheart? I’ll make the time.”
Later That Evening
Nancy lay in bed next to Alex, watching him sleep as she traced soft slow fingers along one of his shoulders. He made some mumbling sounds and snuggled in closer to her, a small happy grin creasing his otherwise peaceful face. She couldn’t help but grin in return, despite the flow and tenor of her thoughts.
Being a superheroine was tough. She wasn’t the only one flying about, thankfully, but there was still so much to do around the city. Plus her own life to manage, the classes she was helping to teach, her friends to keep up with…
And Alex.
Dear, sweet Alex, who seemed to find no end of trouble.
Nancy felt a surge of guilt as she looked down at him. It wasn’t all his fault. Her choice to help defend people around the city and the world meant that there were plenty of villainous forces out there that wanted to do her harm. That would reach for her through Alex, by kidnapping him, or harming him in some way. Even though she did her best to keep her twin lives separated, did her best not to hang around him too often as Lady Starlight, some of the wicked forces she contended with knew she cared for him. Knew that Alex was someone they could use to get to her. She had tried to explain that to him, more than once, but he hadn’t changed. The same sweet, caring nature that had attracted her to him in the first place refused to buckle in the face of villainy, no matter how epic its scale might be.
She squeezed her eyes shut, her arms momentarily tightening around Alex, before she loosened it with a conscious effort. She needed to make sure he was going to be safe when she wasn’t around, but it seemed like every bloody time he answered the door he was being spirited away. Either by her sort of villains or just run of the mill ne’er do wells and other low life crooks. Even before the perfume incident, there had been two other door to door saleswomen who had decided that Alex fit their target type. One she had caught just as the woman had been about to begin ravishing an unconscious hogtied Alex. That hadn’t been too bad. The other…
Nancy grimaced, remembering a poorly lit basement dungeon. A brace of cages. Alex and some poor girl both strictly bound in bitchsuits. When she had busted into the place in righteous fury, the supposed saleswoman had been just about to start some sort of livestream. Nancy had put paid to that, and freed the two captives who had been about to start a new online career. All before her sweet boy had even awoken from the knock out drugs he had been dosed with. As far as he knew, he was just allergic to the flowers the lady had had him smell.
Alex could attract these crazed lunatics seemingly at will. In fact, his predilection for being kidnapped was a large percentage of the reason the two of them had met in the first place.
Nancy felt a grin suddenly tug at the corner of her mouth as she remembered. It had just been so ludicrous when she had discovered it…
A practised cackle sounded from the raised platform above Lady Starlight. She crouched and leaped into the air, her cape billowing fetchingly around her as she planted both fists on her hips, trying to block out the sounds of pandemonium from outside the sprawling factory building she was in. The police were doing their best, but stopping the lunatic who had created the automatons was the only way to save the city. She reached eye level with the platform, in righteous fury, and could finally see the eight figures on it.
The Mad Doctor was in the centre of it all, his white labcoat flapping about him as he gesticulated wildly amid his laughter. Five captives were arranged in front of him, trying to block her access to him in a haphazard fashion, all of them bound with some sort of smooth looking metallic belts. The seventh and eighth figures were slightly behind the insane scientist. One was a boy who she felt she vaguely recognized, his wide eyes fixed on her and a rather out of place smile just beginning to draw his lips out from around the ballgag shoved into his mouth. His bonds were leather rather than metal, and for some reason his shirt had been removed. Odd. The other…
Lay Starlight gave a groan as she halted her upwards ascent. Of course it was her.
The tall ebony woman gave Lady Starlight an insolently friendly wave, her other arm wrapped snugly around the waist of the boy she was holding in front of her. She was dressed in a coppery snakeskin catsuit, the arms having been cut off to reveal lithe muscular arms, with coiled snake tattoos tracing their way down from her torso to end in snakeheads on the backs of her hands. The tattoos seemed to writhe and twist, and Lady Starlight was careful not to look too closely at the snakeheads themselves, or their pulsing eyes. Plenty of foolish normals did that…and ended up more or less in the state that the boy was in. Instead she addressed the woman directly,
“Snakebite. Why the hell are you helping this lunatic?”
The villainess chuckled, “Because the dear Doctor has offered me a few of these delightful automatons to transport a few prized jewels from the premises of people who don’t appreciate them to my own humble abode. Plus…he’s offered me a way to finally get you back for ruining my City Museum job a month back. As you took something precious from me…now we’ve taken something precious from you…” Snakebite waggled her eyebrows and gestured in a ta-da motion at the young man she was holding.
Lady Starlight cocked her head quizzically, “What’re you talking about?”
“We kidnapped your boyfriend!” The Mad Doctor suddenly roared, as though finally realizing that a superheroine had appeared in front of them. His eyes were wide, far wider than anyone’s should ever be as he frothed angrily. His body seemed to thrum with manic energy, twitching and jerking around as he pointed an accusing finger at her, “And unless you retreat from this place, I shall--!”
“He’s not my boyfriend.” Lady Starlight interrupted, frowning a little and drifting closer to the platform as she looked at the squirming fellow held tight by Snakebite, “I don’t have a boyfriend.” The boy did look familiar, but she hadn’t a clue who he was. Some random civilian? But if these two morons thought he was attached to her…If she could keep these idiots talking…
Behind the young man, Snakebite cocked her head to one side, black hair tumbling from behind her to partially lay across the boy’s head and shoulder. The young man’s eyes flickered, and he let out an enticingly cute moan into his gag as his entire body shuddered with desire. Snakebite’s charming demonstration of the sorts of thoughts and feelings that she could impose upon the unsuspecting. Snakebite’s grin returned a little at the boy’s moans, and her waving hand returned to wrap possessively around his chest. She ran her tongue along the boy’s neck, prompting fresh adorable noises, and finished with a kiss to his cheek and another wink at Lady Starlight, “Not your boyfriend, eh? I find that rather hard to believe, given how often you just so happen to show up to rescue him.”
“What?” Starlight edged closer in the air, a frown dominating her face as she watched the poor fellow writhe in Snakebite’s arms, “I haven’t-!”
“You totally have.” Snakebite griped a hand around the boy’s throat, though seemed to take care to not exert anything approaching a dangerous level of pressure, and continued, “He was one of my little batch of captives back at City Museum last month. You showed up just half an hour after I finished hogtying him…”
“I save lots of people,” Lady Starlight snapped, continuing to drift closer to the platform. The other captives were watching her and the Mad Doctor, who seemed to be content to let Snakebite lead the conversation while he fiddled with his control box. Closer. She had to get closer, “One other rescue is hardly-”
“Then of course,” Snakebite continued as if she hadn’t heard Lady Starlight, “There was the Fairground Caper. Nearly two million dollars, and three gorgeous captives in my hands. Everything going well, and then I decided to add a fourth. Some darling, idiot boy who chose that moment to try and buy a ticket from one of my little hypno sluts.” Snakebite left off grasping the boy’s throat to twine her hand through his hair, yanking it back so that he was forced to look up. His guttural grown was answered with another sensual lick up his neck to finish with a kiss on his cheek, “And not twenty minutes after I had this cute little boytoy hooded and cuffed like the others, who should show up but you…?”
Lady Starlight blinked. That was where she recalled the squirming moaning figure from. The boy who had thanked her so warmly for his rescue, when she had pulled him out from the cubbyhole that he had been forced into. Who had seemed so concerned with the status of his fellow captives. Was this really the third time she had rescued him? She looked at him, straining against Snakebite’s firm grip. At how his eyes tried to catch hers, shining with some sort of feeling. How he squirmed so…so…sensually against the leather bonds that held him tightly. Captives of villains had no business being that enticingly cute…
Quite distracting…
“And that hardly begins to account for all the other times too!” The Mad Doctor suddenly sneered, capering about in place, “I had a look into things, once my lieutenant,” he gestured at Snakebite, who rolled her eyes when he looked away, “apprised me of this foolish weakness of yours. You’ve rescued him from no fewer than half a dozen other villains in the past two years, besides Snakebite. This gimmick of not knowing who he is…is rather tiresome my dear Lady Starlight. Now, unless you want your boytoy to be the owner of several additional holes I suggest you back off!” Starlight almost missed the sudden frown that creased Snakebite’s features as the Doctor wrenched a pistol out of his lab coat and waved it in the general direction of her captive.
“Gimmick?” Starlight switched her attention back to the Doctor, shaking away the surprised shock that she had seemingly intervened in this boy’s life so many times without remembering him. She spread her hands, a disarming smile floating across her face, “I assure you Doctor, the last thing I—”
She was finally close enough. And the line of captives was finally broken enough, with their constant struggling, to give her an opening. With hardly any warning at all, she suddenly rocketed forward. One fist smashing through the control box the Doctor held, while the other seized hold of his lap coat lapels, and held him above her head.
The sounds of battle outside seemed to stutter for a few moments. But the automatons hadn’t shut down. They were still going about their dastardly business, whatever mad schemes this lunatic had imparted to them.
“Y-you c-can’t-!” The Mad Doctor wriggled in her grip, trying to free himself, gabbling in shock. She knocked the wavering pistol away with a desultory snap of her free hand, making him squeal in pain and rage. She might have fractured something in his arm with that offhand blow. Such a shame. She growled, “I want the deactivation codes, right now.” Her grip tightened on him, and the thunderous expression on her face darkened. Villains required a rather intimidating approach.
Whatever bravery had been animating the mad scientist seemed to desert him as she held him dangling in the air. He sputtered for a few moments, his undamaged arm waving as though to indicate something should happen.
Starlight glanced over to see Snakebite still standing where she had been. The villainess paused, gave the pair of them a saucy wink, wrapped both hands around the bound, squirming young man, and leapt off the platform.
“Two timing bitch!!” The Mad Doctor squealed, “Get back here and help meeeeee!!”
“Codes!” Starlight snapped, “Right now. Or I’ll break your other arm.” Her grip tightened further, prompting a low moan from the scientist.
The man twitched, his face whitening with pain, “P-please don’t hurt me!” He almost seemed on the edge of blubbering as he babbled a string of letters and digits to her. Starlight snatched a pair of handcuffs that had been left nearby and secured him in place. Then she delivered a carefully calibrated blow that knocked out the villain. She withdrew a comms device from her utility belt and flicked the code out to Police Lieutenant Vanessa Calderone. The boys and girls in blue could handle the deactivation. There was still someone in peril.
She tossed the unconscious Mad Doctor down amidst his other captives, and shot back into the air, barreling towards the rear of the large factory building. Snakebite was clearly moving, but not fast enough. Starlight spotted them after a few moments, the ebony villainess hauling her struggling captive along a raised walkway. She put on an extra burst of speed and sailed over the tops of both their heads to land in her path.
“Going somewhere, Snakebite?”
The villainess paused, a wry smirk colouring her features as she eyed the superheroine blocking her path, “I thought the good Doctor would put up a bit more of a fight.”
“Some people know when to quit.”
Snakebite chuckled, “And others reach for the stars…and their light.” She winked at Starlight and waggled her eyebrows suggestively, and then twirled the still bound boy to be in between them as the heroine took a step forward, “Ah ah ah. Much as I detest violence as gauche as my former…ally’s…do not think I will hesitate…”
Lady Starlight shook her head with a grim smile, “You forget Snakebite, I know you. I know how you operate. You’ve got lines.”
Snakebite tossed her head back, her hair flowing in a most fetching way as she gave a loud, genuine sounding chuckle, “Oh bravo my dear. I have lines, do I? And what, you think I’ll just meekly surrender? I don’t know about you, but I hardly find prison life appealing.”
“Maybe I can put in a good word for you,” Lady Starlight paced a step closer, “You weren’t the architect of all that.” She gestured towards the now dwindling sounds of pandemonium from outside the factory’s walls. “I’m sure the Mayor would…”
Snakebite’s grin sharpened and she took a pair of steps back, matching Lady Starlight’s pace, “Oh dear, do you really think I’m going to fall for such a pedestrian trick? Come now, you now I’m better than that.”
Starlight halted and raised her hands, “Very well. But you can’t escape. I’ll chase you down, and put you away. Finally. For good. Your choice about how it happens, but I willbe taking you in.”
“Will you?” Snakebite’s grin turned coy, “I suppose we could do the usual song and dance. Some outrageous flirting, always enjoyable to do with you. Some overt fantasizing about what I might do with you as my prisoner…or perhaps, what I might do with the pair of you. A tempting fantasy, you’ll agree? Life as my pleasure pet…or I as yours? Though…” Without warning she wrapped both arms around the boy’s waist, pivoted, and hurled him onto an active nearby conveyor belt. It began to bear him away, at a fairly rapid pace, towards a large, glowing white hot furnace mouth. He screamed into his gag. Lady Starlight stood for a moment, looking aghast, as Snakebite turned and gave her a saucy index finger salute, “…if you do chase me down I’m afraid your boyfriend is going to get significantly hotter…”
Lady Starlight swore and launched herself after the squealing, squirming young man, “FOR THE LAST TIME! HE’S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!!”
A mocking laugh drifted after her, “Whatever you say sweetie. I’ll be seeing both of you around, I’m sure!”
Lady Starlight bit off a fresh retort as she sped towards the young man, managing to scoop him up and away from the conveyor belt mere meters from an uncomfortable meeting with white hot flame. A heroic last second rescue, one for the story books. She held him in her arms, speeding up and away to look back towards the raised walkway. Snakebite was nowhere to be seen. Starlight sighed.
Escaped again. That bloody woman is no end of trouble.
“Mmmmpph!” A soft grunt pulled her attention away from any further musing about escaped criminals, and she found herself staring into a shining pair of brown eyes. Eyes that seemed to overflow with wonder and gratitude. Yet…something more seemed to lurk within them, something different from the usual hero worship that graced the faces and expressions of most of those whom she encountered. She found a small little smile playing about her lips as she slowed her speed, drifting slowly down towards the floor.
“So…” She drew the word out, her feet almost daintily planting onto firm ground once more, “Apparently you feature in hostage groups. Hobby of yours?” A raised eyebrow and smile graced her face.
The boy flushed and mumbled into the ballgag. Bashful too. Starlight took pity on him and gently undid the buckle, tossing the device away as she lowered the boy into a sitting position. She settled next to him, inspecting him for any injuries, but found nothing especially hurtful beyond some bumps and scrapes. His body was still festooned with tightly strapped leather that pinned his limbs in place, and she gave him a moment to work his jaw after being bound for so long.
He looked up at her, those delicious brown eyes just making her want to scoop him back up in her arms, and mumbled, “I’d like to, you know.”
“What?” Her response was only half aware as she glanced around the factory before returning to him.
“Be your boyfriend. I’d like to, or, I dunno…take you for a drink?” He held her gaze for a heartbeat and then the flush transformed into a brilliant scarlet blush and he dropped his eyes, squirming shyly in his tight bondage.
Lady Starlight blinked, not knowing how to respond at first. For all the hero worship she encountered from civilians and normals, few had ever combined bashful boldness into such a request. It was oddly…endearing. Impossible of course, utterly impossible. She could hardly date a civilian. He wasn’t even her boyfriend and he was being caught up in villainous schemes. If her enemies ever really thought that she truly cared for someone…
Lady Starlight mentally shivered. She’d been told things by her fellow superheroes in the League. You just did not publicly link yourself with anyone in this line of work. Evil forces wouldn’t hesitate to harm family and friends. It simply was not safe to have relationships.
She eyed him for a few more moments, planning to tell him that. To let him down easily. To provide a dose of realism for the poor boy…yet somehow what came out of her mouth was something else instead, “Mmmm. How about I think about that, alright? What’s your name?”
C’mon Nancy, she thought to herself. You aren’t doing either of you any favours here…
The boy’s blush seemed to deepen, as if that was possible, “Oh, uhm, A-Alex. I live near the university, at 192--”
“I’m sure I can find you,” Lady Starlight interrupted him, an exasperated smile growing, “You should maybe not be giving your address out to random strangers. Even if they are rescuing you…”
Alex blinked up at her, a confused look settling onto his face, “Why not? They wouldn’t be able to find me otherwise?”
Lady Starlight looked down at him. No one could be that clueless. He’d just finished getting kidnapped by villains! Surely…She responded slowly, “My point exactly.”
Alex’s look deepened into a quizzical frown, “I mean…I guess? Doesn’t make much sense to me though.”
Starlight almost let out an exasperated laugh, but was stopped by the earnestness of Alex’s face. This was not the face of someone deliberately missing the point, or trying to egg her on. He seriously doesn’t see a problem with telling perfect strangers where he lives. How…?
"You are entirely too pure for this world..." She muttered, shaking her head minutely. And far too trusting and naïve to ever make it as her publicly acknowledged boyfriend. Not that she was seriously considering such things. Lady Starlight had far too many enemies for such personal considerations…no matter how much Nancy thought he had cute eyes and a sweet disposition. Lady Starlight gave the boy a small smile, while inside Nancy squirmed.
That seemed to restore some measure of confidence to him. A cautious grin bloomed on his still blushing face, seeming to light up every corner of his features. It dragged a wider crooked grin from her in return, as he muttered, “Everyone tells me that. Don’t really know why, but they’re always super nice about it…”
She bit off half a dozen possible responses, things that probably would have been far too cutting, and settled for just nodding and murmuring something vaguely affirming. She began to pick away at the belts holding him imprisoned, concentrating on the task. Whenever she happened to look up, she found those brown eyes quietly contemplating her, a smile always ready to shine the moment her face twitched in his direction. She found herself smiling in response as she worked, something in Alex drawing her out. An almost effortless disarming approach. Bashful charm, but rather appealing all the same.
She finished untying him, and helped the still unsteady Alex to his feet, “Can you walk?”
He tried to take a step and stumbled. She snagged him before he could fall, steadying him with both arms loosely wrapped around his waist. He blushed and stammered, “I…uh, I guess not. I’ve been tied up most of the day, so limbs aren’t exactly functional.” He squirmed in her arms, looking away from her in embarrassment, “D-don’t worry, I’m sure someone will be along who can help me.”
She shook her head, an odd feeling of protectiveness rising inside her. She didn’t want to leave him here by himself, even if the cops were likely on their way inside. For all she knew, Snakebite herself could return to carry him away again, thinking that she was kidnapping Starlight’s boyfriend. No, she couldn’t leave someone as…as…trusting, as Alex, here by himself. Not when he was in this mess because of her. She owed him a safe trip home…that she could do with a clear conscience. That didn’t imply anything other than an apology of sorts…and an informal farewell.
“I don’t think so honey.” She bent slightly, and swept him back into her arms. He gave a surprised, half strangled squeak as he once more found himself being easily carried, and looking up at her.
Lady Starlight gave him a swashbuckling sort of grin, injecting fresh confidence to tamp down Nancy’s mental squirming, “Now, let me get you back home in style.”
She leapt into the air, bearing him away back to his home. Alex’s delighted squeal trailing behind them as Lady Starlight flew out of the factory…and into the clear air once more.
That had been her first real meeting with Alex. When she had learned his name. And learned that she had been rescuing him from repeated kidnappings for well over a year. When she delivered him back to his place, he had been so sweet about trying to get her to stay, to let him cook her a meal or something as a thank you. She had demurred at the time, insisting that she had to get back out to finish up that business with the Mad Doctor, and hopefully try to pick up Snakebite’s trail. Alex had insisted though, rummaging through his fridge to come up with a large bowl of leftovers. Something that he declared she would definitely like, and he refused any effort on her part to not depart with the bowl of wrapped food tucked beneath one arm. Inside, Nancy had blushed and wanted to kiss him on his cheek. Lady Starlight held firmly to her course though, settling for thanking him reluctantly and giving him a friendly (controlled) shoulder squeeze of thanks.
She had stopped off at her own place first. She didn’t think the image of Lady Starlight flying around with leftovers was quite the one the city needed at the moment.
It had turned out to be a busy afternoon and evening. Starlight had aided the authorities in shutting down the final remnants of the automatons, but she failed to bring Snakebite down. The woman had wriggled free once again, leaving a trail of enthralled and bound men and women, including three police officers, for ten blocks before suddenly vanishing. She would no doubt lie low for a little while, but Snakebite was no more going to abandon villainy than Nancy was going to stop being Lady Starlight. The woman delighted in mischief of all sorts, and had a particular delight in tweaking Lady Starlight’s nose. So Lady Starlight had dispelled the enthrallment as best she could, freed those she could find, and helped dispose of the automatons. It was an exhausting day.
Starlight had returned to her own place, changing back into the outfit and mentality of Nancy, and slumped wearily onto her couch. Not having alternatives, she had warmed up the food from Alex, settled back onto the couch to watch some mindless television, and set to eating. A few cautious bites immediately established that Alex, whatever his failings to detect people intending to do him harm, was an incredible cook. She fairly devoured over half of his offering, finally managing enough control to put away the rest for tomorrow’s lunch.
But when she settled down into bed, she found she was a little restless. Her thoughts returned, again and again despite her efforts, to the boy with brown eyes. To the bashful, blushing, bold Alex, and the utterly foolish idea of being her boyfriend. To how his body had felt in her arms…how he had looked when he was bound and helpless. How those eyes had pleaded, and twinkled, and warmed, and shone at any point she’d looked his way. And, most especially, somewhat intriguingly, had been the simple goodness that had seemed to radiate off him. She wrinkled her nose a little. No one could possibly be that good, be that positive about the state of things…could they? He was just a silly, idiot boy who didn’t, couldn’t, matter to her. Right?
She couldn’t see him again. She couldn’t even consider dating him…and clearly Lady Starlight’s unknowing proclivity of rescuing him had already attracted unwanted attention. She couldn’t see him again…she had to put distance between Alex and Lady Starlight. It was for his own good…hers too. She told herself that again and again. She recalled what had happened to Stargirl three years ago…what a mess and near run thing that final rescue and showdown had been. Any further encounter between Lady Starlight and Alex was sure to cause trouble, no end of worry and potentially an even larger dose of grief if the worst should happen. She fell asleep, telling herself it was a bad idea all around.
When Nancy woke up the next day…she decided she wanted to see him again anyway.
It was a few days before Nancy figured out how she wanted to approach things. Alex had been quite sweet, and also clearly star struck. Moreover, all her concerns about what the nefarious forces operating in and around the city might think and plan as a result of such a meeting. Trying to hold a conversation with him as Lady Starlight was unlikely to be as productive as she wanted, if digging beneath the surface was to be accomplished. What’s more, he already seemed to be either prone to being kidnapped, or a lodestone for nefarious forces in the city to abscond with. In either event, it was hardly right for her to draw even more attention to some poor civilian by visiting his home in her official persona. No, likely better for both of them if she took this slow, and kept any contact between the two of them as herself. Maybe Lady Starlight’s absence from his life would convince people like Snakebite that the poor boy was most definitely not her boyfriend. Maybe it would convince them to leave him alone.
So she elected to try to discretely check him out as Nancy. His apartment was nice and close to the university campus, making it relatively easy to be nearby given her work schedule. She wasn’t certain for the first couple of days if he was going to school at the university or not, until she caught sight of him in the halls, leaving a Master’s level class of some sort. He was deep in conversation with a small crowd of his fellow students, and barely seemed to notice her as they swept by.
Nancy nodded to herself. That was good. The real risk was if her many rescue attempts had imprinted onto him in a way that somehow would help him see past the lack of the costume, and somehow ferret out that she was Lady Starlight. She did take the opportunity to discretely ogle after him though. Here, away from the dangers of superheroine combat…away from peril…Alex seemed even more appealing. His classmates seemed to genuinely enjoy his presence. He made a few quiet jokes that were received well, his eager shyness shining through his movements and speech. He was dressed better this time, not in the shreds of his outfit, but rather a smart casualness. As he and his group rounded the corner, he did chance to look back…though Nancy quickly busied herself by a locker.
That was alright, as he swept on without linger. Though, as Nancy wandered away, she found that the one glance he had given her had made her heart oddly giddy.
Nancy spent the rest of that day…now that she remembered…feeling rather off balance by that. He was just some random civilian after all. Hardly someone she should be swooning over so quickly.
Yet…yet there was something about him.
And so, in her spare time, she had used the next week to slowly build out what his schedule, what his life, was like. His varied classes and locations. His long evenings spent at the library. How his journey home often took an hour to complete the ten minute walk since he stopped to chat with people. To help random strangers along his route, to make conversation with them, to brighten their lives and his own. Nancy was a little bemused. Given how often he was supposedly being kidnapped, she would have thought he would flee home at the end of every day. Not Alex though…
Two days of the week though, she discovered that he didn’t head directly home. Instead he would tuck a book under his arm and stroll over to one of the university bars and read there for a few hours. Often eating too. Happily enough for Nancy, his favourite bar Longhorn’s Rest, was her favoured place too. And she knew the two regular bartenders, Candice and Allison. The two bubbly girls were close friends and ran the Rest like their own personal fiefdom. It let them cultivate a certain relaxed atmosphere, one that Alex seemed to find as attractive as Nancy did. So she spent a fair bit of time burrowed away in a corner booth, watching the boy as he relaxed and read.
Allison was the first to notice and ask about her interest in him. The short blonde woman was a regular gym bunny, and had the stocky physique of a power lifter. There was a reason that the Rest didn’t feel the need to hire a regular bouncer. The fact that Allison had a few friends who were willing to lend a hand as well didn’t hurt matters, and she prized a bluff, no nonsense approach to the bar’s operations. Her advised romantic approach was equally blunt.
“Quit mooning after him Nance, and just go talk to him. He’s one of our regulars, and I guarantee that he’d be interested in you.” Allison looked over at Alex discretely, back at Nancy, and then rolled her eyes with exasperated fondness, “Sweetest fellow, never given us any problems at all. Hell, he’s even helped us close up a couple of days when Candi was sick.”
“You don’t let anyone help out with that sort of thing,” Nancy said, a little bemused.
“Well…” Allison shrugged, “Exceptions to the rule and all that. I think you’d be cute together is all.”
Nancy glared at her in mostly mock outrage, and the stocky woman grinned.
“What? Bartender’s Privilege Nance. You get honest advice here, without fear or favour. Well,” Allison paused, looking back towards Alex for a moment, and then back to Nancy with a twinkle in her eye, “Maybe some favour.”
“I just…” Nancy played with her nearly empty glass, “I haven’t really dated. Like…ever. I don’t want to screw this up. Or him up.”
“Well, you will do that if you just sit here creeping on him.” Allison plucked Nancy’s glass from her hand, slid a fresh drink into it, and gave her a wink, “I’m going to put a drink for him on your tab. You’ve got five minutes to get yourself ready, and then I’m delivering it.”
Nancy gaped at her, and the blonde gave her a pleased grin before sauntering away. Allison headed right for the bar, beckoning Candice over to her. The tall, buxom redhead, the cause of more than a few broken hearts, plenty of lust filled fantasies, and another of Nancy’s close friends, smiled and bent her ear to Allison. After a few moments she nodded, gave Nancy a devilish grin, and began preparing a drink. Alex’s new drink. The new drink for Alex.
Nancy closed her eyes and took a breath. This was fine. This would be fine. She was a bloody superheroine. She saved the city on a monthly basis. Almost. She fought deadly villains with all manner of schemes, from the relatively pedestrian power and money, all the way up to the world ending kind. She had helped forestall two different apocalypses. She was respected by her peers, normal and superhuman alike.
She could bloody well ask a boy out.
She clutched her drink tightly as Allison smoothly pivoted away from the bar, a fresh pint glass in her hand. She watched the blonde stroll over to Alex, and settle the fresh drink in front of him. He looked up, a surprised yet pleased grin on his face. Allison briefly settled a hand on his shoulder, and then jerked a thumb over at Nancy’s table. Feeling the traces of a blush begin, Nancy snatched up her own drink and walked over to Alex’s seat. She most definitely did not scurry like some smitten school girl. She walked. Normally.
“Hiya!” Nancy said, sliding into the chair across from Alex.
Warm brown eyes found her pale green ones, and she found much of her irritated embarrassment draining out of her. They didn’t carry the wonder and hero worship that had followed Lady Starlight, but the warmth in them was at least familiar. And directed at her, rather than her superheroine identity. Nancy took a drink to hide any blush and then returned his smile.
“I thought you might like some company. I’ve been seeing you come in here for a while, and…” Nancy floundered for just a moment. She could hardly say she’d been following him around. “I…I just wanted, uhm, to chat…”
Alex grinned at her, guileless, “Of course! I’m always happy to talk with people. And thank you for the drink! You really didn’t have to do that,” he flushed a little himself, but took a long pull from the beer anyway and then smacked his lips in surprise, “Oh wow. I swear their home brews get better every month.” He gave a wave behind her. She turned to see Allison and Candice grinning back at both of them.
Bugger them both. She so could do this without them helping. Or watching.
Nancy had turned back to Alex then, her face set in the most welcoming smile she could manage without blushing. Eventually the two audience members moved back to their bar related tasks, mixing drinks, chatting with patrons, and only occasionally passing by their table. Alex for his part earnestly fell into conversation with her, and Nancy happily followed suit. Their chat ranged widely. Beginning with small talk of books, beer, and school, they swiftly left that behind. Life ambitions, fun activities, and all manner of other topics came and went as the day flowed onwards. Round after round was purchased, usually delivered by a smiling Allison. Candice brought them both their food orders, a pleased smile fixed on her face, and a sneaky wink delivered to Nancy when Alex wasn’t looking. Nancy stuck out her tongue at her.
Inevitably, the topic of his most recent abduction came up. Hu muttered with a bit of an embarrassed flush at how he had been ambushed on the way back from university. Enthralled by a gorgeous villainess with writhing snakes that had hooked his attention, slithered into his mind, and rendered him an obedient captive. He talked through his rescue, how Lady Starlight had rescued him, and even talked with him. Nancy coyly asked him how that had felt, and the blushing grin he gave as he talked about his feelings sent little butterflies racing through Nancy.
The day wound on into evening, and they still sat there, chatting away. Alex was just as charming in person as he had seemed all the days that she had been surreptitiously checking up on him. Though, as evening deepened into night, it became quite clear to her that she had a slightly more…robust alcohol tolerance. Allison and Candice both came to check on them a couple of times, and Nancy eventually decided that all things being equal Alex was probably ready for bed. And knowing him, it was probably best that someone walked him home. He insisted on paying for their evening out, waving her off as he stumbled towards the bar. Candice fluttered over to him to oversee the payment, and shot a concerned look at Nancy, who returned it with a reassuring motion. Of course she would see him home. That seemed to mollify the bartender, who bid them both a good night.
The walk back to his place was thankfully uneventful. Though it was a good thing that Nancy had spent the time memorizing his route home, because Alex was in far too much of a drunken bubbly mood to be of much help. She held onto him, feeling a little thrill as he leaned into her, and kept him from meandering too much as they made their way back to his apartment.
Once there, and after snagging the one working lift, she managed to secure his room number from him. Having previously departed via the balcony, she amusingly hadn’t the foggiest idea where his door was until he blearily led her towards it.
“This is you?” She tapped the door.
“Mmmm. ‘ss mee aright.” Alex slurred lightly next to her, slumped against the wall as he fumbled with his key. Nancy plucked the key out of his fingers and unlocked the door, pulling the stumbling Alex after her.
“I had a lovely evening Alex, but I think it’s time for bed.” Nancy chuckled, steering him towards his bedroom. The flat was nice enough, and distinctly cleaner than it had been when he had been deposited here two weeks ago and insisted she take those delicious leftovers. She marched him through the kitchen, grinning as he mumbled something to himself about offering her a coffee, and then into the bedroom. She paused, holding him by the door as she looked around. A nice place. Nothing hugely out of the ordinary. No weird shrine to Lady Starlight, thankfully. Just a normal fellow.
A normal fellow with a penchant for being kidnapped by villainous forces.
Everyone had a thing, she supposed.
Once Nancy gently shoved him onto his bed, and fetched a blanket to drape over him., she pulled out a scrap piece of paper. Eyeing the already lightly snoring form of Alex, Nancy bit her lip. Her mind still conflicted over any further involvement. He was a sweet, innocent civilian. She found herself intrigued by his trusting approach to the same world she inhabited. But…
She squashed the voice back. She could be careful. She could have this one thing, couldn’t she? Not Lady Starlight…but Nancy the person could have this one small shot at something more? She already gave the world Lady Starlight. Couldn’t the world give her this?
Nancy stood there for a few long moments. Then, shivering a little with a huff of breath indicating a decision was at last made…she scribbled. Her number, her name beneath, and then thanking him for a good night. Then she stuck it to his phone, looked down at him with a faintly exasperated, yet intrigued grin and gave him a kiss on his forehead.
“Alright then. Sleep it off, you sweet little drunkard.”
That had been their first real meeting. Their first, sort-of, date. Nancy grinned in the darkness of the bedroom, feeling the pressure of Alex against her as he slept. Her arm draped over his side and chest, gently stroking along his bare stomach as she pressed her face to the back of his neck. A soft sleep addled moan greeted her efforts, and she trailed gentle kisses along his neck and onto his shoulders. A sweet, slightly goofy beginning. One that fit her boy to a T.
What had happened next…
She felt her grip tighten again, the slow swirls around his stomach halting for a moment as her fingers lightly dug into his skin.
What had happened next had been…a little frantic.
Alex had called her the next day, all sweetly apologetic about needing to be taken home. Nancy had reassured him that it was fine, that she was glad to have been able to help and glad to have been able to have a fun night with him. She offered to meet him for coffee, hoping that she wasn’t appearing to move too quickly. But Alex had declined, saying that he had to attend a therapy session. Apparently a group had been stood up for individuals who had been taken hostage by villains in the city. This was specifically for people who had experienced Snakebite’s particular brand of kidnapping and hostage taking.
Nancy had been a little bemused that such niche therapeutics existed, but Alex assured her that he had gotten emailed about it from an official site. He hoped they might be able to meet up later, but his mid and late morning would apparently be taken up with this therapy session. They agreed to try to hang out for a late lunch.
When Alex was late, Nancy at first thought something must have come up. But as the minutes drifted by, it increasingly seemed as though something had either gone badly wrong, or she had entirely misjudged how sweet Alex’s character was. It just didn’t seem possible that he would ever deliberately stand someone up. And so, nearly an hour after they were supposed to have met, Nancy went searching for him.
A search of his usual haunts turned up nothing. She tried texting him, with no response. As she was headed over to his apartment, intent on having words with him if he had fallen asleep again, her secret little buzzer began to vibrate against her hip. She froze. That was a message for Lady Starlight.
Shit.
She made a beeline for home, making it in just under twenty minutes. She flicked the communicator on as she entered her flat, scrambling into her uniform as the message played. Snakebite. Because of course it was Snakebite. She had gone after the bloody traveling collection at the City Museum again, and taken hostages. Again. The police had surrounded the building, but after the first SWAT team that went inside had stumbled back out, stripped of their gear and shackled in a slave coffle, Lieutenant Calderone had decided to contact her instead. Again.
Was this déjà vu?
“You know what she’s like,” the police official’s dark face was flushed with outrage and, unless Nancy missed her guess, a little bit of latent arousal. An unfortunate, or fortunate, by-product of being in the vicinity of Snakebite’s particular brand of hypnosis, “I can’t risk more of my people going in there. I’m pretty sure she’s suborned the security guards too, and I’d prefer to not end this with shooting. If you can get her away from here, I’ll have teams standing by to move in.”
Thoughts of just where the hell Alex had gotten to temporarily fled Nancy’s mind as she changed into her Lady Starlight persona. Where ever he had gotten to, he was going to have to wait. Snakebite’s schemes had to come first. Hostages were at stake.
As she flew through the air, rocketing towards City Museum, a thought suddenly burned in her mind. Could Alex have been taken? Again? She shook her head. He was at therapy. There was no way, absolutely no way…
Where had that session been scheduled again?
A slight sinking feeling weighed on her as the Museum hove into sight, surrounded by emergency vehicles. Lady Starlight didn’t pause, and flew right passed them to rip a door open and stride confidently through it.
The lobby of the building was deserted, apart from a single receptionist. Who was bound to their chair and watching her with a dreamy expression.
“Welcome to the Museum. We’re closed right now, if you’d like to-”
Lady Starlight strode past the woman as she recited whatever lines she’d been given. Snakebite was definitely here.
She encountered a few more hypnotized people, mostly Museum staff who had gotten caught up in the hypnotic field of Snakebite’s tattoos. All of them bound in some fashion. None of them barred her way, nor could most of them, and they indicated a sort of trail of increasingly kinky destruction. Leading her deeper and deeper into the building, until she reached one of the large auditoriums.
Bursting through the doors, her heart leapt into her throat. A large bowl-like room greeted her, with seats marching down from the high level where she stood to a large stage. The first several rows of the amphitheatre were filled with dazed looking men and women, most of them partially stripped. All of them were bound to their seats. On the stage four hulking automatons, clearly from the same line that the Mad Doctor had unleashed on the city, were standing. The lights shining from their helmets indicated that they were active, and hadn’t responded to the shutdown code that Lady Starlight had sent to the police.
Standing in front of the automatons, with four squirming bodies arranged artfully at her feet, was Snakebite. She was dressed just as she had been those weeks ago during the factory fight, and was holding…
Lady Starlight bit back a curse.
Snakebite was holding Alex. The boy had been locked into a tight, straining black straightjacket. Her eyes picked out the material and narrowed. Latex. He had a large panel gag buckled tightly over his mouth and face, but she knew those wide staring eyes. The villainess was smiling, whispering something into his ear, and the boy was shaking his head and clearly moaning. She spared a glance for the other bound forms, noting that one of them still bore the outfit of what she could only assume was a clinical therapist.
Snakebite had kidnapped the bloody therapy group?
“You!” Starlight snapped the single world, thrusting herself into the air.
“Oh, Lady Starlight!” Snakebite grinned, running a finger down the side of Alex’s face, “So good of you to join us.”
“Why kidnap the support group, Snakebite?” Starlight asked, drifting downwards. She cast a glance towards the hypnotized crowd. They were going to be a bit of a liability in any fight, if it came down to it. Those automatons were no joke to go up against, even for her.
“Well, firstly,” Snakebite planted a kiss on Alex’s cheek, “Your delightful boyfriend finally decided to join it…”
“Again, not my bloody boyfriend,” Starlight snapped
Snakebite rolled her eyes, “Riiiight. Not your boyfriend.” She patted Alex, “I’m sure she doesn’t mean that sweetie. Anyway, the other reason was that they’re already nice and pliable to my particular brand of…hostage taking.” Her grin widened, “They made for quite the eclectic little assault team. Herded everyone in here for me so I could give them a little light show. And now…”
Snakebite gestured, and the entire crowd broke into happy cheers for her.
“I’ve secured a new supply of pliant little captives.”
“Why?” Starlight growled
“To get you here, obviously.” Snakebite grinned, “Those fools outside tried it their way, and failed. Now they’ve turned to you. And I know you, sweetie.” She began to slowly back away, towards the automatons, as Lady Starlight settled into the air two rows back from the filled seats, “I know you and how you work. I’m planning to walk out of here with that jewel collection, and I can’t have you speeding after me.”
“How exactly are you going to stop me?” Starlight asked, “These creatures? I don’t know how they escaped the shutdown code, but even in a fight they can’t keep up with me.”
“Oh they don’t need to keep up with you dearie.” Snakebite shoved Alex. The boy toppled with a squeal of dismay to land with a heavy thud. Starlight clenched her fists and prepared to surge forward, but Snakebite’s voice suddenly rose, “Units 23, 14, 53, and 76. Your Mistress is leaving. I want you to stay here and give Lady Starlight a good fight. If Lady Starlight attempts to follow me…” She grinned, “deal with the hostages.” Starlight’s face had gone cold.
Then Snakebite leapt from the stage towards one of the exits in the back.
And the room had exploded into pandemonium.
To this day Nancy still wasn’t sure just how long the fight took, or how she had managed to keep anyone else from getting hurt. The automatons didn’t seem to target anyone so long as she had stayed in the room, and so that’s precisely what she had had to do. Pummeling them, slamming them around, and doing her level best to break them apart. All while Snakebite had made off with her ill-gotten gains.
That was the fight where things had changed.
Where her normal and superheroine worlds, separated for so long, collided.
She had finished with three of them, rending them down into their scrap component parts. Starlight had just finished ripping the third one’s head from its slumping shoulders, when she heard a gagged scream of alarm. She had whirled around, cape and hair billowing out around her, to see the last automaton surging towards her. But its path would take it right across the stage, right overtop of Alex and the squirming pile of his fellow hostages.
With a cry of rage, Starlight had rocketed towards the charging automaton, slamming into it just two steps shy of Alex’s body. She planted her feet there, slamming blow after blow into its torso. One of its large mechanical hands slashed at her face, dealing her a blow that snapped her head back. Were she anyone else, it probably would have broken her neck. As it was, it just pissed her off. She was going to feel that for a week.
Seizing hold of the thing, she pivoted around and flung it at the pile of its contemporaries. It slammed into them, an arm and leg flying free, and let an electrical wail out. Then, mercifully, its glowing eyes flickered, and died. Starlight planted her fists on her hips, an exhausted smile momentarily brightening her face.
“Mmmmppffhh!?”
“I’m just getting t--.” Her amused voice cut off as she looked down. She was indeed standing athwart Alex, and he was looking up at her, partially propped up against a piece of broken desk. He was looking at her with wide eyes. Not the eyes of someone impressed at the rescue, nor of the fight.
Eyes that sparkled with recognition.
“Annccfgyy!?” The strangled sound was soft, but definite. She looked at him, her own eyes going wide and a hand flying up to her face to check her domino mask. Rather, the shreds of it. One eye and cheek was still partly covered, but the majority of it seemed to have been destroyed with that last attack. Somehow the hair didn’t matter. Somehow the eyes didn’t matter. He saw her. He saw her! Shit. Shit, shit, shit!!
She couldn’t stay here like this. She couldn’t do anything else. Her eyes stared down at him, horror at the recognition raging against the relief that he was alright. And the budding pokes from a certain corner of her mind. He looked very fetching in that combination of—no, not now. Stop that this instant. Bigger problems.
She growled at herself.
Shit. Time to leave.
“Ifff oouuuu!” Alex was still lost in the shock of knowing who she was. She sighed as she bent down and picked up what had once probably been his shirt, and wound it around her head into a rough sort of turban-esque covering.
“Alright.” She scooped him up, and eyed him, “We are clearly going to have to have a talk"
She paced away, feeling the boy squirm a little as she eyed the skylight. Thankfully, one part was open. She looked back down, noting how the latex of the straightjacket tightly defined his struggling body.
"Snakebite must really like how you look in kinky gear, doesn't she?"
Alex blushed and mumbled into his gag, momentarily thrown from his discovery.
Starlight…Nancy, grinned, the chaos of her thoughts momentarily at bay seeing him blush like that, “I suppose there are some overlaps between the two of us.”
Alex’s eyes had a moment to widen, and then she had leapt into the air, spiriting them away as quickly as she could move. There might be fallout from this, certainly she’d have to spend more time hunting down the nefarious Snakebite. But she had remembered at the time needing only to get away. To talk to Alex, the one person who knew her secret.
She remembered flying for a while, high enough that no one was likely to pay much mind to them, while she wrestled with her mental maelstrom. She didn’t have the slightest idea how to talk about this. She’d never had to talk about this, for the very good reason that her lives were separate. Her superhero friends didn’t know about Nancy, and her civilian friends couldn’t connect her to Lady Starlight. That separation had saved more than a few lives, she was sure. And now…now it was ruined. But how to talk to Alex about that? She didn’t want to hurt the boy, but he had to understand that dating her was just…just not safe.
So she flew. Around and around, on and on while a very cute, wholesome boy snuggled closer to her in his tight, straining bondage. That, and his soft whimpers, finally broke her out of her mental fog. It was cold up here. At least, for him it was. She’d hardly noticed it, even as he began to shiver against her. So she cast about for a suitable place, needing to fly a bit lower. It took a while, as she rejected dozens of possible high places as being too crowded, or too near to other structures where someone might see them. At least until she spotted a likely building, taller than all of its neighbours.
Perfect for a private conversation.
She had set him down against a vent of some sort, taken a few steps back, and let out a long breath.
“This is bad. This is really, really not good at all.” She had paced back and forth, her boots clicking along the smooth roof surface, “I keep my lives separate for a very good reason.” She turned and stabbed a finger at him, “You of all people should appreciate that. You’ve been kidnapped who knows how many times…”
“Wennny-ffeeven” Alex helpfully supplied
“Twenty-seven…” Nancy blinked, “Twenty-seven times. And that was without any actual official connection to me. Apart from whatever weird rumours Snakebite heard. But my world is dangerous, Alex!” She gestured wildly, her eyes wide with conviction, “That down there today? That was a cakewalk, compared to some of the people, some of the things I’ve gone up against over the last few years! People die in my world. All the bloody time.” Her face twisted a little, memories of battles past snapping at her mental heels.
She resumed her pacing, “That’s why I keep my lives separate. If this got out, if people knew about Starlight and Nancy, the university would be a smoking crater in a month. Maybe less.”
She closed her eyes and balled her fists up, “This is exactly why I shouldn’t get close to people. Why I shouldn’t date. It’s a bad idea. A bad idea for anyone to know who I am.”
“Nnnffggh!” Alex shook his head, his eyes shining with concern.
“It is so,” Nancy snapped, “If I have friends with powers who perish defending cities or this planet, how do you think some random civilian would fair, hmm? I care about people Alex. Lots of people, even in my life as Nancy. But the best way to protect them, the best way for them to be able to live normal lives, is for no one to ever, ever, be able to connect Lady Starlight and Nancy together. Hell, can you imagine what would happen to you? What or who might target you just because doing it might hurt me? Snakebite is bush league compared to some of the forces I go up against, and they wouldn’t think twice about snuffing out people I care about on the off chance it would hurt me.” She felt a burn begin to develop in her chest and behind her eyes. She would not cry in public.
“So you have to understand,” her voice began to soften, trailing to nearly a whisper, “I can’t do this. I can’t let my identity get out, or people I care about will get hurt.”
“Uuu aareee bffou eee?” She snapped her eyes up, seeing not disbelief, anger, mockery, or any of the thousand blends of negative emotion she had expected. Instead she saw those shining brown eyes, and his lips twitching into a crooked smile, “I ddin ffinnk mmm oounteff.”
"Of course you count you idiot"
She rubbed at her face, silvered hair tumbling about her. This was so unfair. So…so bloody unfair. To both of them.
“I’ve saved you. A lot. And you are super sweet. And I wanted to get to know you without all this,” she gestured at her outfit, “getting in the way. And I loved our little pub date. But then my job got in the way, and you got caught up in it, and I just…” she bit her lip, and scrubbed at her face, turning her eyes away from him. She didn’t to look at him, couldn’t look at him, right then.
“It’s my fault. Snakebite and all those villains keep trying to kidnap you, or take you away, and I can’t bear the thought of that happening. All I could think about since you didn’t show up for coffee was whether or not my life had ended up hurting you.” Nancy resumed her pacing, “And I know, I know its dangerous. I just told you how bad it can get sometimes. That’s why I didn’t want to start this as Lady Starlight. Why I wanted separation. But I can’t have that anymore.” She gestured at her lack of a domino mask, frustration etched on her face. “Hell, Snakebite probably had some bloody recording set up somewhere, and she already thought we were dating. Once this leaks out…once my enemies know that you know who I am, as Nancy…” She clenched her fists again.
“So I know it’s a bad idea. Probably the only thing worse would be to not be around you…and…and…” Nancy threw her arms up in exasperated frustration. No villain would ever believe Alex wasn’t her boyfriend. Let alone now. He was linked to her world. Nancy was linked to her world through him. She couldn’t keep these two lives separate entirely. The protection that might have been there for him, was gone after today. She balled her fists, with a frustrated sigh of longing. She squeezed her eyes shut. She felt like a lunatic. She couldn’t…
A muffled noise came from in front of her, and she opened her eyes to look down at Alex. He looked up at her, serious brown eyes meeting her frustrated pale green ones.
Then a smile bloomed on his face, partially obscured by the gag, but clean and bright for all of that. Somehow, bound and gagged as he was, Alex could make his own acceptance and intent perfectly plain.
And with that smile, she felt her stomach unknot, and her heart unclench. She bent down and wrapped him up in a tight embrace, enough that he squealed, and then she leaned back, feeling that burning back in her eyes,
“That’s the last time I let you have a say about me dating you.” And Alex burbled with muffled laughter. After a long moment, Nancy felt herself join in, slumping down next to this odd, wonderful boy. Her boy…
Nancy felt the muted remembrance of those emotions wash over her, taking comfort in the presence and form of Alex slumbering nearby. That had been nearly a year ago now. Nearly a year of dating, and the two of them had enjoyed a remarkably peaceful time. No one had swept in to attack the university, Nancy’s alter ego hadn’t been paraded across the news or amongst the criminal underworld. If Snakebite did know about them, she was keeping it to herself. Hell, the villainess had barely been seen in nearly eight months.
Their time together had only stiffened Nancy’s resolve that their relationship was the best way forward. And Alex’s…penchant…for being kidnapped wasn’t going away. There was no way in hell she was giving him up, or retreating from his life. She refused to sacrifice the little oasis of normality that they had carved out together. The calm and joy that came from being with him meant more to her than she had ever told him. She wasn’t entirely sure she had the words yet to express it.
And Alex wasn’t going to change either, nor would Nancy ever want him to lose those core elements of what made him…him. He was her little beacon amid all the horror she had to deal with, and if that meant he was a little too trusting and naïve, she didn’t care. So she had to think of something else. Something to keep him away from these situations that he got himself into. Protect him when he was here at home, away from people yet helpless before the sort of folk who only Lady Starlight was able to deal with.
Her eyes drifted over to the abandoned pile of leather straps as she continued to stroke his naked flank. As Alex mumbled again in his sleep, snuggling in tighter against her, she pondered. Would he agree to some…in-home restrictions? If she kept him captive here in the apartment, just enough that he couldn’t answer the door to let in villains, maybe that would be enough?
Could she do that? Would such a plan even work?