I had never been known for bravery. I was always the one to rat on other kids, to throw my friends under the bus to avoid the wrath of others - you get the idea.

So it was a huge surprise for everyone - including myself - when Dirk claimed me as his best friend towards the beginning of eighth grade.

I had been coasting under the radar relatively safely for a year, but even with my introverted ways and quiet nature, I knew Dirk. Everyone did.

He was a stellar player of just about every sport known to man. He had already been approached by several college recruiters about going to their schools for sports but hadn't accepted any offers yet because he wasn't sure if he wanted to become a sports star - he was also smart enough that the world was his oyster.

He was in my math class, a subject in which we both excelled. Some kids tried to turn our grades into a competition between us - "Oh, Henry, you got a higher score than Dirk!" or "Ooh, Dirk beat you this time, Henry..." - but it never worked. Dirk was too amicable and I was too uncaring. We rarely said two words to one another during class.

Which was why it was a huge surprise when one day, at lunch, Dirk passed his usual table and sat down at mine, where I was the sole occupant, ignoring the calls of his massively confused friends.

"Hey," he greeted me with that winning smile of his.

"Hey," I had replied uncertainly.

And the rest was history.

Well, not quite. There was the whole incident during our junior year trip to a nearby power plant that had granted Dirk superhuman strength and an affinity for electricity. Then there was the fact that I was an insanely skilled computer whiz and had to be talked out of hacking classified CIA files when I was eighteen (by Dirk, of course).

We became the dynamic duo, better (in my opinion) than any of the flashy men found in comic books or movies. Dirk dressed like an action movie character to fight crime while I rarely changed out of my pajamas to work on the computer. Dirk punched bad guys in the face while I hacked their online lives. We took down criminal after criminal, gang after gang, and the fan mail, money and attention kept pouring in.

It was all for Duke, of course, although we always split the money. I gathered a cult following of my own thanks to my technology skills and the fact that some people just like rooting for the underdog, but my fanbase was nothing compared to what my handsome best friend attracted just  by stepping out of our apartment.

Not to mention that he had a classically beautiful girlfriend. Even having never been interested in romantic relationships myself, I still found it pretty adorable when she cuddled into his side or slung her arms around his neck for a small kiss.

Dirk's life was perfect in every possible way. 

And then he disappeared.

*

I sighed, pouring myself yet another cup of coffee. I had lost track of what one I was on.

It had been a week; seven full days, now progressing into the eighth. Marcy was asleep on the sofa, the news station muted. I watched the newscaster's lips silently contort for a few seconds before reaching over and pressing the power button on the remote. There would be nothing on the news about Dirk.

I had been patrolling the Internet for days, hacking into any information that I thought could contain a hint of information as to the whereabouts of my best friend. So far, nothing.

Crime rates were rocketing, since Dirk was no longer a threat. In fact, news reports were stating that crime was now higher than before Dirk had begun his benevolent reign, since would-be criminals were reveling in their safety.

After all, Dirk had vanished without a trace on his last mission - an actual assignment from the government - and had left behind not a single trace.

Something had to be done - soon.

I had toyed with the thought of taking Dirk's place several times over the past week, but had always instantly discarded the notion. After all, I was pretty puny and had no fighting experience. Not to mention that taking Dirk's place would be admitting that he was gone.

I settled back into my computer chair, continuing my search.

*

Marcy had always been kind to me, and that did not change, even now. When I emerged from my bedroom, I could smell pancakes.

Whenever she did something like this for me, I felt a pang of guilt. She deserved Dirk, and he deserved her. They deserved to be happy together.

A wave of rage at whoever had taken Dirk washed over me and I took a few calming breaths before wandering out into the breakfast area of my apartment.

Marcy offered me a small, sad smile and continued eating her pancakes in silence. I imitated her, knowing she was too emotionally weak to feel like talking.

"Did Dirk say anything to you about...about the mission, before he left?" I asked quietly after I couldn't hold it in anymore, curling my fingers around my coffee cup in an attempt to siphon some of its heat.

Marcy shook her head. "No, nothing. He said he wished he could tell me about it but it was top-secret." Her voice took on a slight mocking tone towards the end of her sentence and she sniffled, wiping at her already-tearing-up eyes.

I knew this was incredibly difficult for her, but I needed to find Dirk. "Do you know who gave him the mission or what type it was - gathering information, taking down criminals...?"

"I don't know anything!" Marcy snapped, rising so quickly that her chair tipped backwards. It fell to the floor with a sharp bang and she let out a small shriek at the sudden noise. Then, her face crumpled and she fell to her knees.

I quickly rose and rounded the table to kneel beside her, awkwardly hugging her with one arm as she sobbed. "I'm sorry," I whispered. "I know you wouldn't keep anything from me that would help Dirk. It was stupid of me to ask."

Marcy just leaned into me, expelling the contents of her soul in the forms of heart-wrenching sobs.

*

When I finally found something, I was so exhausted that at first, I didn't fully comprehend what I was reading.

It was only when I saw Dirk's name explicitly that I perked up, all tiredness draining from my body as I scanned the page excitedly.

In one last fit of desperateness, I had hacked into the CIA's most classified documents. I knew they would soon be on my tail as a result, but it would take them a while to actually find my computer, and when they did, I had protected the device so well that they would first be sent on a wild goose chase to Russia, buying me even more time.

But now, it didn't look like I would be needing any more time. I had found Dirk's mission summary.

After reading through it a few times, I sagged back in my seat, shocked. Dirk would never take a mission like this, I thought. Not willingly.

The mission was to infiltrate a foreign government and uncover some dirt on them for our own seedy gain. So simple and yet so dangerous, so political. Dirk fought crime, black-and-white cases. He wasn't a politician and he certainly wasn't a government spy.

So why would he accept this mission?

I reread the page. And then it all clicked.

No, Dirk would never take a mission like this willingly. "Willingly" being the key word.

Immediately, a hypothesis began forming in my mind: Dirk had been forced to accept this mission on behalf of the U.S. government and something had gone wrong. Something that had earned him a punishment. Or the other country's government had discovered him and he was now held captive by them.

Either way, my government had forced my best friend into a mission he never would have accepted freely, and he was now imprisoned - if not dead - as a result.

I groaned, massaging my temples. I had no idea how to even begin fighting an entire government with a computer alone, let alone two if need be.

What would Dirk do? I found myself wondering. It was often a question I fell back on in times of moral need or lack of courage.

Then I realized - whatever Dirk had done had landed him in this trouble. My goal was to not do what Dirk would.

My goal was to do what I would do.

I straightened up, returning to my computer with newfound energy.

It was up to me to save my best friend.