^^Chapter title credit: Song by Depeche Mode.^^

{Geoffrey}

In my opinion, fate's a bitch. The look on Raina's face when I told her I couldn't come home with her nearly made me want to call off the entire thing. I know I don't see her enough, and we haven't spent real quality time together since before Ettie was born. Lying next to her, one hand on her baby bump and the other on her face while I kissed her was something I never got tired of doing. Other times I would curl myself around her and pull her close, because trying to get comfortable as Ettie grew was much harder for her.

But now, here I am, waiting in an all-night diner in Brooklyn, looking up every time someone comes in. If I ever get the chance, I'm going to battle her through all five boroughs and throw her into the Hudson.

Then, finally, five minutes to ten, she comes in. Her hair's still long and brown with caramel-colored highlights, her skin is bronze as always, and her eyes are still an unusual bright purple. The second she sees me, she zeroes in on me like a hawk with its prey.

"Felicia," I say as she slides into the booth across from me.

"Geoff." She gives me one of those coy side-eye looks. "Or should I call you Mr. Cromwell now? I hear you're making the big money."

"Geoff is fine." My fists tighten, but I have to keep my composure until this meeting's over.

"I always liked the sound of your name with mine," she says, examining her nails. They're long and painted a dark shimmering red. "Much more than...what's her name...Raina."

"Well, I liked the sound of your name and went away, but that's just me."

She frowns, sticking her bottom lip out. "Come on, Geoff. You haven't even thought of me? Not once?"

"Not since you called my hotel room. With my wife in the room next to me." I didn't want Raina to know about this because I knew what Felicia was capable of. She could seduce men with one touch, just one among her many other superpowers.

"Oh, Geoff." She tilts her head to the side, her grin catlike. "Don't you know I don't care about that? Raina's got nothing but her looks going for her, and when you two are eighty, you'll see that."

"Shut up," I snap. "She'll always be beautiful to me."

She says nothing, only continues to stare at me.

"What do you know about Ridley's campaign?"

"He's campaigning?" she says, but I can tell her surprise is fake. "This is the first I've heard about it."

"Stop lying." I scowl at her. "I know you know something. What is it? Why does he want me to fund it?"

"If I knew, don't you think I would have told you by now?" Her eyes catch mine and stay there, and I suddenly feel a pulling sensation in my stomach.

"You've been known to dodge the point on many occasions."

"Look at that, the Red Knight's on to me." She lays her palms flat on the tabletop. "Tell you what. I'll give you what I know, but not here. Too public."

That should have been my first clue, but at the time I didn't realize it. Instead we both get up from the booth, and I drop some cash next to my uneaten burger. Then I follow her outside and down the sidewalk. It's not hard to miss her, with her swaying hips. That's what distracts me, enough that she's able to grab my arm and pull me into a dark alleyway. A second later she's pinning me to the wall and kissing me like she wants to suck my soul out.

I'm helpless to her influence. I grunt and kiss her back, dragging my hands all over her. She groans into my mouth and slips both hands up under my shirt. I flip us around so now she's got her back to the wall, yanking her hard against me. She lets out a sigh and grips my head in clawed fingers, preventing me from escaping.

"Oh, Geoff," says a familiar voice, right into my ear. "When will you ever learn?"

Then there's a thud, a sharp pain in the back of my head, and I black out.

≈

I wake up slowly, my body throbbing. My head feels like it weighs a million pounds. A foot prods me, and I groan. It prods me again, and I open my eyes.

Standing above me, his mouth twisted in a sneer, is Hammerhead.

"What?" I manage. My head hurts too much for anything longer.

"I couldn't persuade you as my alter ego, so I'm going to have to do it this way." He tosses something at me, and it lands on my chest. "Get up, Red Knight."

When I do, I see what he just gave me: my suit, compacted into a ball about the same size and weight as a ping-pong ball. I toss it on the ground and it expands instantaneously, into the suit of red armor that gave me my name. As I step into it, I feel it molding perfectly to fit me, and bringing all my senses into high alert.

Not high enough, it seems. There's a metallic clang from above me, and when I look up, I see him plummeting down towards me from the ceiling. I jump backward and kick him in the side, knocking him off-course with a frustrated shout. He hits the ground and rolls, landing on his feet. Then he sweeps both arms out in front of him in an arc, ending right at me. I feel a hard shove to my chest, sending me tumbling backwards.

"How about now, Red Knight?" he shouts, coming towards me again. I don't recognize where we are, in some old warehouse with a completely bare floor. "Want to say no now?"

"I'd die before joining you," I say, shooting two laser beams at him in quick succession. He dodges the first one, but the second grazes his thigh. "You might have nothing to lose, but I don't."

"Don't you understand, that's why I want you!" He makes a throwing motion in my direction, and suddenly a sharp disk of ice is coming at me like a ninja throwing star. I zap it with a laser beam, and it explodes. "That's why I keep coming back!"

"You're trying to change my mind, you're failing." He throws another ice weapon at me, and I turn invisible and sidestep it easily. "Besides, I have a wife and daughter to support. I'm not about to leave them with nothing."

"I need your endorsement, Geoff!" He sounds frustrated now. "I can't go forward with my research if I don't have it!"

"Research?" I raise my arm, zap him with another laser beam. The best thing about becoming invisible is that he can't throw his weapons at me. "What research?"

"My green serum, remember?" I see a wicked grin spread across his face. "I want to change the world with it."

Before I can reply, a torrential rain starts to beat down on me, blinding me. I feel one of Ridley's throwing stars hit its mark, because now he can see where I am. It cuts a deep slash across my side, and instantly I feel blood welling from it. I try to summon a laser beam, but they seem to be dampened by the rain.

Then suddenly, Ridley yelps with pain. Through the rain, I can see a blue-and-white blur, driving Ridley back with bolts of bright blue energy. I spin around, becoming visible again, and make a leap for the clear spot beyond the shower. When I recover, I can see Felicia, as Violet Storm, blinking at me in surprise.

"Sorry, Violet," I say, whacking her a good one on the chin to knock her out.

"Red Knight!" shouts a voice from behind, and I turn around just in time to see the blue-and-white super running towards me. It's Supernova. He skids to a stop in front of me. "You okay, man?"

All my pain floods in on me at once. I guess the adrenaline really had me going. I shake my head, and then I slump to the ground.

≈

I wake up again, my eyes sticky. Bright sun hits my face in stripes, and I see vertical blinds covering the window next to me. When I sit up, my head spins, and the wound in my side stings.

Once again, I don't know where I am. There's a narrow galley kitchen on the wall I'm facing, and a short hallway with two doors facing each other opposite. The walls are a plain white, and now I can see I'm lying on a mattress in the center of the largest room, even though my hands still touch both walls when I spread them. My shirt's missing, but I can see it was to get to my injury, which is taped and bandaged.

I try to remember anything about last night, and only one thing comes back: Felicia. She kissed me, and I kissed her back.

"Dammit!" I thump the wall with my fist. She'd led me into a trap. But it means she knew something. I'd just have to get it from her a different way.

I get up, swaying slightly on my feet. My head still hurts, but not as badly as last night. More of it comes back as I lumber into the kitchen and turn on the faucet, drinking directly from the stream. There was Ridley, as Hammerhead. He'd been trying to beat an answer out of me, evidently. And then there was Supernova. He rescued me.

Suddenly I hear the door unlocking, and I stand up so fast I whack my head on the cupboard above the sink. I rub it, creeping towards the door. I don't have any defenses right now, but I can put up a good fight still.

Hank appears, a battered messenger bag slung across his chest. His eyes catch mine, and he stops.

"Hey, you're up."

"Yeah." I stop rubbing my head. "How long was I out?"

"Well, it's about five-thirty now..." He checks his watch.

"Five-thirty? In the afternoon?" Dammit, that's way past the time I usually leave the office. Raina's going to be wondering where I am. Especially because I said I was coming home this morning, and I didn't.

"Yeah, what did you—" he starts, but I don't let him finish.

"I have to go. I told Raina I'd be home." I start forward, but a dizzy spell hits me and I collapse against the wall, trying to get my bearings.

"Whoa, man, you still need rest." Hank kneels down next to me, taking my pulse. "Your heartbeat's racing."

"That's because I remembered where I need to be," I say dryly.

"Look, I'll call El, and tell her to let Raina know you're safe. And afterward you can explain to me why you were there in the first place."

I let him help me back to the mattress, and I slump down on it. This weekend wasn't anything like I thought it would be, and it's all because Ridley threw a temper tantrum. Hank disappears down the hallway, and a second later I hear him speaking to Ellen on the phone. I drop my head between my knees. People thought I was taking a risk by marrying Raina, but I think it's the other way around. It's the reason why supers often don't settle down and start lives until their career is over. I'd put her through enough already, and this just added to it.

"Okay," Hank says as he comes back. "El said she'd call Raina right now. Hey, you okay?"

I look up. "I was just thinking about how I put Raina through another day of worrying about me."

"If she doesn't realize that's the order of the day with supers by now..." He shrugs and leans against the wall, crossing his arms. "So what were you and Ridley fighting about?"

"He still thinks he can change my mind." I run my hand over my hair, avoiding the sore spots. "And Violet Storm was helping him."

"Violet Storm. Don't think I've ever heard of her."

"Her real name is Felicia Burgess. I think she's helping Ridley with whatever scheme he's got planned out this time."

Hank nods. "Wouldn't surprise me. Want me to keep an eye out for her?"

"Yeah," I say, hoping I sound grateful. "That'd be helpful."

Then, from the bedroom, the phone rings. Hank goes to answer it, and then he pokes his head back around the corner. "It's for you."

I get up, wobble for a second, and then follow him. Since it's a cordless phone, I can stand out in the hall and talk on it. He hands it to me, one eyebrow raised.

"Hello?"

"Geoffrey Cromwell!" It's Raina, angry, tearful, and relieved. "What the hell happened?"

"Long story short, Ridley."

"Dammit!" Her voice cracks, and I hear a thud. She's pounded something with her fist. "I swear, Ridley's going to be the death of us all!"

"Yeah, I'm starting to think that," I say through a sigh.

"Are you well enough to come home?" she asks, after a long spell of listening to her trying to control her breathing.

"Hank says I need rest still. But tomorrow, I'll be home. I'll make sure it happens."

"You'd better," she says, slightly muffled. Wiping away her tears, probably. "I worry when I can't see you."

"I know you do." Guilt burns in my stomach when I think about how I kissed Felicia last night. "I'll be home soon. Promise."

"Okay," she says, through a shaky exhale. "I love you."

"I love you too. See you soon."

When we hang up, I curse Ridley. He knows exactly how to make the lives of people I cared about hell, and how to make it hard for me to fix it. I'll make him pay for it. I'm just not sure how yet.

≈

Home never looked so inviting. Hank had lent me a clean shirt, and since we're so different in build, it's a little tight on me. But it's better than nothing. After a good night's sleep, he'd called up one of his good friends, a super called Vermillion. She's about his age, blonde and fair. Her accent's distinctly foreign, but I can't pin it down.

We emerge out of constricting blackness right in front of my house. I stagger a little and try not to throw up. I'd never liked teleporting.

"Thanks, Vermillion," I say.

She's about to reply, but Raina beats her there.

"Geoff!"

I barely have time to turn towards her before she hurtles into my arms, nearly knocking me over. She buries her face in my shoulder and holds on tight, handfuls of my shirt clutched in her fists. I wrap my arms around her and pull her close, relieved to be able to hold her again. Then she pulls back, just far enough to catch my face in her hands and kiss me hard, her lips tasting like salt.

"I was so worried," she says when we separate, tears streaming down her cheeks. "When El said you were hurt..."

"Just a flesh wound," I say as casually as I can.

She breathes out a noise halfway between a laugh and a sob, kissing me again. It's when she pulls away for the third time that she notices Vermillion.

"And you brought my husband home to me," she says, turning to Vermillion and pulling her into a hug too. Vermillion seems shocked at first, but eventually sets her hands lightly on Raina's shoulder blades. Not used to hugs, looks like. "Thank you."

"It is the least I could do," she says when Raina finally lets her go.

"She's friendly, isn't she?" Raina says when Vermillion's gone, leaning into me and sliding an arm around me. "Wouldn't think she's friends with someone like Hank."

"Well, believe it or not, opposites attract." I slide my own arm around her and kiss the top of her head. That statement's true in more ways than one.