How I Started Dating A Superhero Ch. 02

I was jolted awake by the blaring sound of an alarm clock. I bolted to sit up, or at least tried but was held down by an arm across my chest. It took a second before the memories of last night came back to me, getting kidnapped by The Terror, "Miss" Amazing's rescue, the sex.

By now Elliot had sat up and dismissed the alarm, "Morning," He grumbled.

"Morning," I responded.

Elliot pulled himself out of bed, it was clear he wasn't a morning person. He was still wearing the lingerie front the night before. It felt kinda surreal to watch him change out of it so casually. "I'm gonna shower," he said to me, still rubbing sleep from his eyes. "You can help yourself to whatever." He slipped into the bathroom and I heard the shower running shortly after.

I got up and got dressed, all I had was the clothes I came with. Afterwards I found myself in the kitchen, rummaging around in the fridge and cabinets for anything for breakfast. Pickings were slim, it looked like they were overdue for a grocery run.

I settled on eggs, (it was really the only option). Within minuets I had them frying on a pan, the smell filling up the apartment. It wasn't long after that I felt a pair of arms wrapping themselves around my toros.

"Hey," Elliot said, still sounding tired but less so after the shower, "that smells really good."

"I'm almost done if you want to get the plates," I said, still focusing on the pan in front of me.

He let go of me with an exaggerated sigh, "I suppose," he said as he opened the cabinet. I could tell that their voice sounded a little different when they were out of costume. It was slight but just enough that you could argue it was a different person.

With breakfast plated and at the table, I finally got to look at him properly out of costume. His blonde hair was combed straight, bangs hanging just above the eyes. He wore thick, black framed glasses that, combined with the fact they weren't wearing makeup, seemed to completely make their face look different. They had a really ugly green sweater that looked a size or two too big that covered a lot of their figure as well.

"So this is how you hide in plain sight, eh?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said, seeming a little bashful. "It's not weird is it?"

"No, it's fine. This whole thing is just a lot," I admitted. "I've also never really, uh, 'been with' a guy before, you know?"

"You took to it quite naturally," He chuckled. "I hope I didn't pressure you."

"Nah," I said, "I suppose I never really had any reservations about it, but nothing ever really happened to make me consider it seriously. Till now, I guess."

"You're so laid back about it," He told me, "I wish a lot more people had that kind of attitude."

"I try not to worry about shit too much," I said. "We live in a city where a nut job in a Halloween mask tears people's heads off. We got more important things to worry about than who's banging who, so long as nobody's breaking any laws to do it."

He chuckled. "I appreciate that," He said. "This whole thing has definitely made dating a lot more difficult. Knowing who you can trust and all that. So I'm glad you're one of the good ones."

I smiled back at him, "I appreciate you being able to trust me," I admitted, trying not to blush. I was never good at this feelings crap. He reached across the table and touched my hand, it was a nice feeling but I opted to change the subject.

"I assume you've got a day job?" I asked, "While we're on the topic of learning things about each other."

"I'm a costume designer for the Woodham Theater," He said.

"That's a pretty swanky place," I said, "I think I saw a show there once, some art house piece I can't remember the name of. Did an article about it."

"Slaughterhouse Five," Elliot said.

"Huh?" I asked.

"That was the show, Slaughterhouse Five," He answered. "I uh.. may have read up on your previous work. It was the only article for a play you ever wrote."

"Well, I always appreciate a fan," I teased.

"We're doing Pirates of Panzam now," he continued, "and it's a nightmare. Nearly every costume has to be made custom. I can only modify an existing piece so much and the director is up my ass about accuracy."

"Sounds like a real ball of sunshine," I said. I've dealt with my fair share of assholes and this sounded like one of them.

"You have no idea," he said, "A failed Broadway director who thinks he's hot shit just because he set foot there and they didn't want him."

"Well, if you need someone to uh, "take care" of him, I think we both know a guy," I joked.

"Some days, I wish," Elliot laughed. But after a moment he paused, "speaking of, are you going to be okay today? I'm nervous."

"Our little orange friend only comes out at night," I assured him, gripping his hand lightly. "Besides, I'm from Brooklyn," I said, "we're a bit tougher than the average mook."

He smiled and laughed again. "Yeah, the accent makes that a little more than obvious."

"This is me toning it down, trust me," I said.

"As much as I'd love to sit and talk all day," Elliot finally said as we were finishing up.

"Yeah," I admitted, "Gotta get back to the old grind."

We both got up and got ready for our respective day's ahead. Stepping out of the apartment door, he locked it behind him.

"Here," he said, placing a key in my hand, "It's the spare, in case you get back before me."

"Oooh, we making it official now?" I teased.

"Shut up," he chuckled. We kissed and made our way down the stairs, splitting up as we hit the street.

I pulled my phone from my pocket, only now remembering it but it was completely dead. I flagged a taxi down and took it back to my apartment. I was a little nervous approaching it, knowing that I was just attacked here a few days ago. But it was also like, almost nine in the morning and there were plenty of bystanders in plain view.

I made my way to my apartment and cautiously unlocked the door. Thankfully the place looked untouched, I was afraid he had broken in while he was waiting for me.

I found my charger and plugged my phone in, letting it charge while I packed a bag of clothes, my laptop, my camera and anything else I may have wanted.

Once my phone was charged enough to turn on, I was bombarded by a slew of updates and missed messages. Tons of calls and texts from Elliot mostly. It was as I was clearing out these messages that a call came in from Detective Tanegawa, my police informant that sometimes let me have a few leaks here and there.

"Thrill me," I said as I answered, our code. It was a reference to an old movie, it was how Tanegawa knew I could talk without anyone listening.

"Word from the brass is that you went missing," His voice said.

"I got found," I told him, "You calling just to check in?"

"That and I'm at a scene that you might find interesting," he said. "Might be cape related, but something feels off about it."

Cape related murders in this town usually meant Terror, but there were other players that it could have been. "What's the deal?" I asked.

"It's better you see," He said. He gave me the address and it seemed familiar. After gathering my stuff I made my way to the location.

The address was familiar because it's a police precinct, or was. A crowd had gathered outside but Tanegawa snuck me around the back.

Tanegawa was a good cop, (rare I know), too good for a lot of people's liking. He didn't take shit or bribes from anybody, rubbed a lot of folks the wrong way. But he got results so they couldn't really do shit.

"Morning shift came in and found the place like this," Tanegawa said as he let me inside. The place smelled like death, bodies and blood at just about every place you looked.

"Holy shit," I said as I got my camera out, taking a few pictures. "And a cape did this?"

"Higher ups are adamant about pinning it on Terror," Tanegawa said.

"But you don't think so," I said.

"Terror's hit cops before, individuals, ones that he judged to be corrupt or have 'outstanding behavioral incidents'," Tanegawa explained. "This doesn't fit his MO."

"He's hit gangs before, interrupted drug deals, wiped whole groups out," I suggested as Tanegawa continued to show me around the scene, I took notes as we talked.

"He always left one alive," Tanegawa said, "to tell the story. Also if Terror hit this precinct, I don't think he'd go after the people in holding. Last night we have records of them holding mostly minor offenders, a few drunks and some kids busted for graffiti."

"Terror doesn't hit kids," I concluded.

Tanegawa nodded, "Based on previous cases, Terror seems to want to scare his victims. It's why he goes after those that seem to be a challenge, hardened criminals, corrupt cops and the like. Kids are too easy, not only that but whatever system he's judging people on would probably leave him to spare most if not everyone in there."

"So are you trying to tell me somebody is trying to frame The Terror?" I asked, "If so, why? He does enough on his own."

"If you can get away with it, it's the perfect crime," Tanegawa said. "What I also find suspicious is that I was transferred to this precinct yesterday. I was supposed to be here when the attack went down. But I left early."

"So you think this was a hit attempt?" I asked.

"Wouldn't surprise me," He told me. "I've been a significant thorn in the higher up's side for a long time. Not to mention, it's common knowledge that cops and capes don't get along. The police tolerate them so long as there are equally powered monsters like Terror for them to deal with. This may be a two birds with one stone situation. Spin the PR enough and you can turn the entire city against capes, give the police a reason to go to war with them, and eliminate any other 'problems' within the force."

"It's a good story but it'll take proof," I said, "but I have a little nugget that might push things in the right direction."

"And what's that?" Tanegawa asked.

"Terror's the reason I went missing," I told him, "You know he and Miss Amazing have been feuding for a while, he tried to use me to get to her."

"What time was that," Tanegawa asked with great interest.

"It's a rough time frame but I think I got home around 11:30," I said, I was leaving out more specific details, just telling him what he needed to know.

"The attack was estimated to happen around midnight," Tanegawa said. "While technically possible, it's not likely Terror would hit a precinct after losing a fight with Amazing. He'd be more likely to slink off and lick his wounds."

"Did you check the cameras?" I asked, noticing one was hanging on the ceiling.

"They made sure to destroy the database," Tanegawa said.

"That's not backed up?" I asked.

"This place hasn't been updated since '92, they still use tapes," Tanegawa told me. "They were thorough, they wanted to make sure we didn't know who did this. Even the bodies were mangled beyond the point where I'm betting a cause of death will be difficult to pin down. We're still looking for prints or DNA..."

"But Terror doesn't leave those things behind," I completed his thought, "Not to mention he usually wants people to know when he does something. If he did something like this, he'd want to broadcast it across the city."

"And nobody I can talk to wants to hear any of it," Tanegawa said. "Obviously I have to ask you not to publish anything just yet, but keep your ear to the ground, see if you can get me any more leads. So far all we have is circumstantial at best."

"I'll see what I can do," I said, "Might be a new player in town."

"Maybe," Tanegawa said. "For now, you should get out of here before someone sees you."

Tanegawa snuck me out the same way we got in. Once I was clear of the scene I grabbed my phone, I had to call Elliot.

|**|

I was nervous as John and I split up for the day. I tried not to think about it, but the thought of that orange asshole kept invading my mind, probably just what he wanted.

I popped my earbuds in and tried to listen to something while I walked to the bus stop. I always hated public transit, but I couldn't just fly to work.

I climbed onto the bus and found a seat, thumbing through my phone I saw a news article come across my feed. Something about an attack on a police precinct last night? It was being really vague on the details. Apparently there's been no official word about it so far.

Of course my mind went to The Terror like I assume most everyone else's did. But I was reminded that he was occupied last night, I doubt he'd go on the offensive like that after our fight. But I suppose it was a possibility.

I pushed the thought from my mind, can't do anything about something that's already been done. Once more information about it is available I could look into it. I know some capes are all about the investigation but that wasn't really for me. Point me at something I can punch and I'll be all over it.

I supposed I had gotten used to having John around for that, he was always the asking questions type. Not that I was using him for that, it just happened to be a perk. And now we're back to worrying about him.

I sighed and hung my head. Thinking back to last night. I didn't exactly plan on things going down that way but... I can't say I regret it. Part of me felt like a great weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I spent so much time worrying about what he'd say if I told him who I really was under the mask. But this was all moving so fast.

My head shot up as the bus came to my stop, I quickly gathered my stuff and stepped off. The theater was mostly empty as I unlocked the door. Just the woman behind the box office counter, we exchanged our greetings as I made my way down to my studio. It was in the basement and while it was technically a spacious room, it felt cramped with all the costume racks and mannequins wearing outfits in various stages of completion.

I sat down and pulled out my laptop, tucking my bag under my workstation. Of course I brought my costume with me, but I only really left early if a major emergency happened, like if a giant monster came out of the lake, (which actually happened once).

With reference material pulled up I got to work sewing pirate costumes all day, my phone streaming the police scanner to my earbuds. A thing I'm pretty sure every cape does. There was a lot of chatter about the attack last night but they were also trying to be as vague as possible. They probably knew by now that people like me were listening.

I worked for about an hour or so, and there was suddenly a knock at my door. I looked up, taking the buds out of my ears as I went to answer it. Probably the director wanted a progress report.

I opened the door and to my surprise, it was not my director. Instead it was a man I didn't recognize. He seemed somewhat young, around college age, long dark hair. His appearance suggested he was at least part Native American.

"Elliot Ashley?" He asked.

"Uh... yeah?" I asked. I could hear my phone vibrating on my workstation behind me.

The man held up an all too familiar orange mask, causing a pit to fill in my stomach. "We need to talk," He told me.