ERICA

It was still dark out when my bedroom door opened.

"Sweetie?" My mom's face was smiling, even as her eyes were coldly searching the room. "Where's your brother?"

I forced my face to keep calm, pretending to be sleepy and confused. "I don't know, I think he went to the bathroom?"

She disappeared briefly, I could hear her knocking on the bathroom door. I stayed under my covers, trying to remember to breathe as my heart beat loudly in my chest. Just this morning I had thought of them as nice, normal people. Maybe a little more cold and distant than other children's parents, but definitely not villains.

Not the kind of people who kidnapped other people's children.

Or the kind who casually talked about killing my brother Henry. Even if he wasn't really my brother.

It didn't take long for my mother to return. This time she wasn't smiling. My father stood behind her, his arms crossed, casually leaning against the door frame. Blocking the only escape route.

Click.

I felt the cold nuzzle of the gun in my mothers hand press against my chest. Terrified, frozen into place, I stare up into her uncaring eyes.

"Let me ask you again, dear... Where. Is. Henry?

I woke up with a gasp, staring into the darkness with wide panicked eyes. My hand had already grasped the gun that I kept under my pillow and was pointing it with practiced ease.

But there were no enemies here to fight.

My heart beating, my face dripping with cold sweat, I systematically searched the room, checking my small house's defense system. Everything was intact. I was alone.

I put my gun on the bedside table and sat down with a loud sigh, the worn mattress sinking under my weight.

I was alone.

I was safe.

No one, not even the Captain, knew my address.  I had spent years crafting the defenses, not even Villain Suppression Unit Security experts could break something I wanted to stay locked. And of course, I had never brought anyone back here. Never. I wouldn't let anyone even see this place, much less welcome them inside.

I didn't trust anyone. It was safer that way.

I rested my head in my hands, shaking. Why this dream again? Why tonight of all nights?

But of course I knew why. Hearing that my parents had escaped had been a bigger shock than I realized. So far it had been kept secret, even the captain had been unaware of it, but we confirmed it with the National Villain Prison.

They were loose again.

I rubbed my shoulder, the old wounds in my chest wall throbbing with remembered pain. The morning my parents had discovered that Henry had escaped was the day they discarded their masks, stopped pretending to be decent people. It was the day my life had descended into Hell.

But losing my trust in people? That had taken years. It wasn't a single moment. There was no epiphany when I finally realized that my "brother" was never going to keep his promise and come back for me. No bright shining light bulb in my head saying that I could only depend on myself if I wanted to survive.

It was a creeping, tortuous grinding down of that bright shining trust, a slow decay, until even I couldn't remember when I finally lost hope.

And now he was back.

Smiling, laughing, acting like the past had never happened.

It made me want to hurt him.

All the more painful because I could see the boy I had loved as the only family member on this earth looking out through his eyes. It would have been easier if he had died. At least then I could have pretended that he hadn't forgotten about me, left me to rot and suffer at the hands of psychotic killers who spent every waking moment trying to mold me into a perfect successor of their insanity. 

But now I needed him.

After I refused to join the Hero Assistance Unit, there was no reason for me to be able to infiltrate their office and find the mole. Me walking in alone would only raise suspicions. If I were partnered with Henry... no he went by Jarrod now, I would have access to the traitor. Access to information I needed to take down my parents.

This time I would kill them.

Henry's face flashed through my mind and I groaned, hiding my face once again. I knew why I was willing to put up with this partnership, but what was he getting out of it? Why did he agree to partner up with me?

I didn't trust him.

What on earth was he thinking?

HENRY/JARROD

I was fighting for justice.

I swung my fist into the face of a nondescript villain, feeling a sense of exhilaration as he went flying through the air into a nearby wall. Even after all these years, after being sick and weak for so long, it was still a wonderful sensation to be strong. To be a hero.

I had saved someone, a woman tied to a chair. She sat quietly, calmly despite her situation, a bag hiding her face. Was she a kidnap victim? I reached out, pulling off the concealing cloth.

It was Erica.

Her face was pale, but her familiar features, the slightly crooked mouth, the small scar over her left eye from when she fell out of a tree she climbed trying to impress me... they were all there. Her eyes hadn't changed at all from when we were kids: she always looked as if she were studying everything in a room all at once, as if nothing escaped her notice. I often felt she could see beyond my skin and bones, into my very soul. As a kid it made me very scared to ever try to lie to her. I wasn't worried she would get angry, however. She was my protector, my best friend after all. No, I was scared she would look at me the same way she looked at everyone else: disinterested, wary, and distrustful. I never wanted her to show me those kind of eyes.

But that was the gaze that studied me now.

"You never came back." She whispered to me, every word cutting into my heart, making me stumble and fall to my knees beside her. "You forgot about me."

I reached forward, but my hands couldn't touch her. "No! It's not like that! My family... they checked on you! They said you were living a happy, normal life! That if I came back... that your parents would just hurt you..."

"You believed them? You promised me..."

"But... But I..." My words were choked with sobs, the disappointed expression she wore almost more than I could bear. "I'm sorry! I was wrong!"

She shook her head slowly. "It's too late."

"No, we still have time!"

"Too... late..." Her eyes were focused on nothing, red bloomed over her left chest, staining through her shirt, running down her arm and torso and pooling on the floor.

"NO! ERICA! YOU CAN'T DIE! ERICA!"

"ERICA!" I sat up in bed, screaming in panic. I looked around the room, confused for a moment, and then relaxed as I recognized familiar surroundings. I had rented this apartment several years ago, but I had made the space my own. Central enough in town to have friends over, while being far enough away from my family for me to have my own space. I took in a deep breath, taking in the wide-open space, the breeze rustling the curtains through the open window, the lights left on in the kitchen.

I was home.

I sighed, rubbing my aching forehead with a hand. What a terrible dream. But it wasn't like I didn't understand it, my subconscious wasn't remotely trying to be subtle.

Of course, I had been planning this reunion for years. Following her progress in the VSU, I had been cheering on each of her victories from the sidelines. She had taken down villain after villain, annihilating lairs and infrastructure, in a way more effective than even most superheroes. I had celebrated when I heard that she would be offered a position of senior agent in the HAU, and began making moves to have her placed on my team. In my head I was planning a happy reunion, one where she understood my reasoning for not coming back for her and told me not to worry too much about it. We would hug, and then it would be just like old times, except now I was strong too, and could watch her back like she had watched mine.

That delusion came crashing down when she sent the interview request back with the words "PLEASE SHOVE UP ASS" scribbled across it with red pen. The higher ups wanted her fired, but her captain made it disappear through some administrative sleight of hand. She got off with a slap on the wrist, but my dreams of working with my former sister and my childhood hero... well they were in tatters.

So when I heard they were looking for a VSU liaison, I volunteered... with the request that I be teamed up with Erica. I used all sorts of official sounding reasons. Her arrest record alone made her a good candidate. When her personality was brought up as an objection, I simply remarked that I might have a positive influence on her. That shut up even that overprotective captain of hers.

As I prepared to meet her outside the HAU, I practiced my speech and my expression for hours.

"Hi Erica! I missed you!" Too needy.

"Hey sis!  I'm all grown up!" Sounded silly.

In the end I had to wing it, coming up with a casual "Long time no see, Erica." I smiled, expecting to see her all too familiar smile back.

Instead she looked at me like I was a stranger.

No, even worse than that. I could see the recognition in her eyes, as well as a some shock, but both were overwhelmed by the coldness in her gaze. It was a look you would give someone you would rather avoid. The awkward silence lingered between us.

Confused, worried, I tried to break the ice between us.

She responded by punching me in the face.

I was nearly indestructible, part of the powers I inherited from my parents, so of course it didn't hurt. I heard a bone in her hand break and felt a sharp pain in my chest.

She told me to stay away, and when I didn't listen, she left me paralyzed in the street, land walked away without turning back once.

I knew I had to apologize. Maybe if I had a chance to explain my situation to her, she would understand. But all of my reasons, all of my justifications and excuses, everything came crashing down as she pulled her collar aside and showed me three small scars on her left upper chest. Bullet wounds.

They had shot her.

I had been living safely and happily, while she had been shot and tortured. What else had she suffered, while waiting for me to rescue her? What had I done?

I had fooled myself into believing they wouldn't hurt their own daughter. I made excuse after excuse. It didn't matter that my brother told me he checked in on her monthly and she was doing well. My parents convincing me that my presence would cause her danger meant nothing. None of it mattered, because they weren't the real reason I hadn't come back.

The reason I never told anyone, the one I was not even willing to admit it to myself.

I leaned back in bed, staring up at the ceiling with hopeless eyes.

I had betrayed her.

She would never trust me again. I didn't deserve it.

How could I face her tomorrow?

ERICA

I walked into the Captain's office, not surprised that Jarrod had gotten there before me. He looked a little paler than normal. Could invincible superheroes even get sick or tired? His gaze met my own, before shifting towards the floor.

"Coffee?" He held out an extra cup. It smelled divine. I recognized the logo from the new shop downtown. I never splurged enough to pay for it, spending most of my salary on weapons, bribes and new security features for my home, but had often been tempted to walk in through the fancy glass doors.  I shook my head quietly, however, and poured myself a cup of coffee from the broken machine on the side table in the office. It tasted like rubber, but at least it should be safe.

"..." Jarrod didn't complain, he simply set the cup on the desk.

"Idiot." A big meaty hand reached out and grabbed the cup. The captain tipped his head back and swallowed the scalding hot contents in one gulp. Seeming not to mind, he patted his stomach with obvious satisfaction. "That's good coffee! Of course, the wife disapproves, says it'll make my ulcers worse, but I blame about 90% of them on your shenanigans anyways."

We both stared at him in shock, it was the first moment I felt in sync with my temporary partner. Disturbed, I cleared my throat and sat down, putting my feet up on my usual spot.

"Am I in trouble again already?"

"Don't test me. I just want to know the plan." He glared at both of us indiscriminately. "Now that you have serious firepower behind you, I need to know that you're not going to tear apart the city looking for your parents."

Jarrod shrugged. "If she wants me to..." He didn't look like he was joking.

"Don't make things worse." I hissed at him. "Look, our plan is simple. My sources tell me there's a mole at the HAU."

The Captain raised an eyebrow. "Tell me something I don't know."

"Really? Did everyone suspect the HAU?" Jarrod seemed surprised.

I chuckled. "Every raid that I worked joint with the HAU ended up in failure, they had left long before, or only grunts who didn't know anything would stay behind. But when I fed FALSE info to our 'allies'" I spread my hands, shrugging. "Then things magically went smoothly."

"Makes sense." Jarrod nodded, his eyes once again intently focused on me, making me uncomfortable. "So do you know who it is?"

"I have suspicions, of course. But I can't prove anything. If I choose the wrong person, I might tip off the real mole and we lose our window."

"So what do we do?"

I grinned. "Easy. I happen to know multiple locations for the Villain, Death Warden's newest lairs. We'll send one address to each suspected member of the HAU, and whichever location packs up and leaves, we have our winner!"

"Who are you going to tell?" His face was open, he obviously didn't have any ulterior motives in asking the question.

The Captain laughed. "Show him the list."

I glared. "Cap... I really don't think..."

"Show. Him. The. List." He didn't give an inch.

"Fine." Sighing, I took a small paper out of my pocket and handed it to Jarrod.

The superhero took it, his fingers abnormally warm as they brushed against my own, and carefully straightened out the paper on the desk in front of him.

"..."

I looked away, drinking my coffee.

"...There are heroes on this list." He sounded confused.

"What, you don't think heroes can be traitors?" I snorted, almost choking on my coffee. "Don't be naïve."

"... I'm on this list." Now his voice had lost all inflection, seeming mechanical.

After a long silence, I finally glanced back over at him, surprised to see him staring back at me with a sad gaze.

"And?" I refused to apologize.

"Do you really think I could work with villains, after what happened to me?" His voice was strained; he was obviously upset and trying to hide it.

I didn't bother trying to hide anything. "And after what happened to me? Well, I know that anyone can betray you."

"..." Again an awkward silence.

Finally the Captain broke in. "Well! Either way, you are being temporarily trusted by the VSU. Help us find the mole and we'll strike your name off the list."  He held out a hand. "Deal?"

Jarrod shook it.

"If only it were so simple." The words were whispered under his breath, but I still caught them. I shook my head, not planning to correct him. He was right. It wasn't that simple.

I stood up to leave, and Jarrod mirrored my actions. But as I reached the door...

"Actually, Jarrod? Can I have a word?" The captain called out to him, ignoring my glare.

With a huff, I slammed the door behind me. The boys wanted to talk alone? Fine. Sighing loudly, I leaned against the wall and waited. I took a sip of my coffee and grimaced. It really did taste awful.

We headed out towards the HAU office.  Curious, I was the first one to break the silence.

"What did the captain want to talk to your about?"

"I'd rather not talk about it." He replied so quietly it was almost a whisper.

He had spent almost 30 minutes in there, and he wasn't going to say anything? I sighed, keeping my eyes on the road.

"How's your hand?" His voice was still strangely emotionless.

I held out the limb in question. "Just a hairline fracture. Nothing that VSU advanced splinting tech couldn't help patch up. As long as I don't punch any more indestructible people for the next few weeks..."

He laughed, almost seemingly despite himself. "I'll try to avoid pissing you off."

"Unlikely."

"Then I'll just try to duck faster next time."

Now I laughed. "That's more like it."

He had been in a strange mood since he left the captain's office, this suppressed version of him was weirding me out. Now that he was laughing, the atmosphere was more relaxed. I felt a strange sense of satisfaction...

Wait.

I shook my head, trying to clear of it the unfamiliar emotion.

He's not Henry. He's not family. He is just a random person, your partner Jarrod. You will never see him again after this case. I silently chanted to myself.

He's not Henry.

Maybe if I said it enough, I would truly believe it.

"Don't tell him about it, it's top secret!" I pretended to sound annoyed.

"I think we can trust him." Jarrod was in his element, playing the arrogant superhero to perfection. He swaggered around, posing frequently, checking out his reflection in any and all reflective surfaces. I had a hard time not laughing, especially when I caught the gleeful light in his eye as he hammed it up in front of his coworkers.

"Won't they suspect something? " I had whispered to him a few minutes in.

"I mostly do international work, they don't know me very well. Besides, a lot of them DO act like this."

And it seemed to work, most of them went a long with it without batting an eye.

But none more so than Greg.

"Tell me!" He was practically jumping up and down in his excitement.

"I don't know..." I eyed my former coworker suspiciously, forcing myself to keep a straight face at his puppy dog expression.

"Your opinion doesn't matter." Jarrod cut me off, turning to Greg with a conspiratorial grin. "So we have this secret raid tomorrow night, and I can use an extra set of hands..."

"I want to help!" Greg's eyes were sparkling, looking off into the distance, presumably imagining promotions.

"Great! Here's the address." He handed him a slip of paper with a wink, and we moved on. As we turned a corner though, Jarrod pulled me into an empty office.

"Hey...!" I paused when I saw him doubled over with laughter.

"Did you see his face?" Jarrod was crying, he was laughing so hard. "I thought he was going to pee himself with excitement."

I sighed. "I hate Greg, I really hope its him."

"No such luck, Erica. " He wiped his eyes, trying to catch his breath. "There's no way he's smart enough to be a double agent."

"A girl can dream." I looked out of the office door to make sure no one was listening.

"Hey, if he turns out innocent, I'll hold him down and let you beat him up again."

"I don't need your help. I've already put him in the ICU once." Cracking my knuckles I smiled grimly at the memory.

"Yeah, but it will be so much easier if he's not running away. Think of how long you can drag out beating him up." Jarrod sounded like a used car salesman. I couldn't help but laugh.

"You're insane."

"So says the Demon Witch. "

"What does that make you?"

He grinned. "The Demon Witch's lackey."

I cracked up and once we caught our breath, we settled down on some chairs to discuss the rest of our plans.

"You seriously have a lot of locations of hideouts. What was that, 9 already?" Jarrod shook his head. "No wonder you're the VSU's lead agent."

"I actually have ten." I pulled out the address. "But I've run through my list already."

"Except for me." His smile faded a bit.

I nodded. "Except for you."

He reached out. "Here, if I run into any more HAU guys after work I'll pass this one off too. "

Shrugging, I handed it to him. I actually knew of five other locations I hadn't mentioned, but I wasn't about to divulge all my secrets.

"Thanks for your help. It made it pretty easy to pass off this information without raising suspicions."

His all too familiar bright green eyes stared back at me seriously. "Anytime."

"..." There was an awkward pause.

He's not Henry.

I stood up. "Well, I'm heading home."

"Do you need a ride?" He followed suit.

"No, I'm fine." I wasn't about to let anyone near my home, least of all him.

"Ok, well then, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yep." I started walking away.

"Umm... Erica?" His voice was strange, like he was forcing it out.

I turned back. "Yeah?"

"..." He hesitated a moment too long, then seemed to collapse on himself. "I'll be grabbing coffee tomorrow again, Besides the ones I'm getting for me and now I guess your Captain, what kind of coffee would you like?" It obviously wasn't what he originally meant to say, but his face was still hopeful.

...

It wasn't forgiveness. It was just coffee.

"Medium roast, sugar, no cream."

His smile lit up the room. "Will do!"

With a sigh I walked away.

He's not Henry. He's not...

HENRY/JARROD

I watched Erica leave, slowly releasing the grip I had on the table nearby. It was dented in, completely damaged beyond repair, but I couldn't make myself care.

I really, really wanted to break something.

I had been sad this morning, but understood when she refused the coffee. I had been surprised, and a little disheartened to know that I had been on her list of suspects for the mole. But nothing, nothing at all could prepare me for what I saw once the Captain held me back in his office.

Once Erica slammed the door shut, a heavy file was thrown onto the Captain's desk.

"Read it." His face was blank, I couldn't figure out what was going on, but an uneasy feeling built in the pit of my stomach. All of a sudden I just wanted to run away, hide, and never look at what the contents of that file were.

But I didn't have a choice.

With a sigh I sat back down, and flipped to the first page.

A picture of a teenage stared back at me. A sixteen year old girl.

Erica.

"I was the detective who took her case. She turned in her parents to me. I helped her get herself emancipated, and the whole ordeal earned me this unit, and my promotion. "He shook his head, staring down at the file with a troubled expression. "This file is her case, with all the evidence she submitted. You need to read it."

"I don't think..." I couldn't imagine Erica being okay with this.

"I know who you were, what you two meant to each other."

"Then you know that she hates me."

"With good reason."

I nodded. "With good reason."

"Read it."

Unwillingly, I turned back to the pages in front of me. I had already seen her gunshot wounds, how much worse could this file be? I lifted a trembling hand and turned the page.

It was so, so much worse.

I had to pause frequently. It was not overly thick, but each page was filled to the brim with horrific descriptions. Some came with pictures. The things that had been done to her... the things she had been forced to do...

I started dry heaving into the trashcan by the desk. The Captain looked on, his eyes cold.

"This... How could they... their own daughter?"

"They wanted her to be a better, more vicious villain than even they had become. Erica was naturally a kind-hearted girl, to twist that into what they wanted... took some creativity. "

The nausea passed, but I threw away my coffee drink anyways. There was no way I was putting anything else into my stomach after that.

"Why show me this?" I had to know.

If anything, the Captain's gaze became even stonier. "Because now you know why she doesn't trust anyone, why she doesn't have friends, why she lives in an undisclosed location with better security than the White House.  She was broken, by what they did, but she pulled the pieces back together, and now she's a damn good agent. One of the best."

I shook my head to clear it. "Are you asking me to stay away from her?"

His smile was grim. "I'm asking you to not give up on her. You screwed up years ago, but she already hates you less than all her other former partners. You can't make it up to her, but if by some miracle she forgives you, or lets you into any part of her life.... Don't screw it up again."

He stood up, so I did to.

"Or I'll kill you."

He wasn't joking. 

"I understand." Neither was I.

I had left the office in a terrible mood, which surprisingly Erica had picked up on. It took her less than 2 minutes to push me out of it. It was something she had always done back when we were kids. Whenever I was depressed about being weak or sick, she always was there to cheer me up again. I was surprised to see that part of her hadn't changed.

But now, I was alone again, and the contents of that file continued to haunt me. I changed direction, no longer heading back to my apartment. As I passed familiar streets and houses, I felt an old sense of weariness fold back over me. I hated it here. My second childhood home, my real parents' home.

I passed through the white picket fence, unlocking the front door and entering with only a light knock. Mom and Dad weren't home. They were on a tour in Italy, enjoying their retirement from Hero life. It was fine. I wasn't there to see them anyways.

I searched the house, pausing when I came to the practice room on the first floor.

I was thirteen, bruised, hurting from every spare spot on my body. My lip was bleeding, my vision blurry, but still I kept standing.

I had to get stronger.

Another punch came, harder and faster than I could follow, it connected with my gut, and I felt myself flying backwards to smack against the wall.

CRASH!

I looked up to my brother posing victoriously, and my father standing to the side with a disappointed expression.

"Come on, brother! It's been two years since you stopped taking the suppression pills, and you're still worthless in a fight even with your powers!"

I cautiously stood up, wiping the blood from my face. "I can go again."

"Stop." My father stepped in, shaking his head. "You're too weak to train further with Michael."

Too weak.

As if the words cut my tendons, I felt myself collapse to the ground, broken, bleeding, tired.

I'd never... be strong enough... to help her.

"Jarrod?" A familiar voice pulled me from my memories.

"Michael, I thought I would find you here." I smiled at him, but it was a strained expression.

Despite being blood related brothers, we had never gotten along. By the time I  had shown up when I was ten, Michael had never wanted an older brother, much less one that was weaker than him. Suddenly sharing his parent's attention when he had grown up an only child... it must have been a shock. He beat me up frequently, until I finally grew into my full powers at sixteen. When I was strong enough to fight back, all of a sudden my parents felt that our sparring had turned too dangerous and forbade it. I felt cheated, but couldn't really complain. After all, Michael  was doing me a huge favor.

Or so I thought.

"Hey Michael, I have a question for you." I grabbed a couple beers from the fridge, tossing him one and sitting myself down on the couch.

"Go ahead." He sat down nearby, setting his unopened drink on the table.

Wow, so far only the Captain had been willing to drink something I had given. It really wasn't my day.

"When we were growing up, you did me a favor." I smiled grimly. "One that I paid you all of my allowance to do. "

Michael suddenly looked a little on edge.

"You were supposed to check up on the girl I had thought was my sister, Erica. You were going to make sure she was doing okay, so that when I was strong enough I could go save her."

He shrugged. "And?"

"And all those years you told me you had checked on her. That you had used your invisibility power and speed to enter her house and check with her to make sure she was doing okay. You were going to tell her that I was okay, and that I was coming to get her." I stood up, too tense to stay still.

"Now I just found out that she grew up tortured and abused, enduring things I wouldn't have wished on my worst enemy, much less a child. "

Michael shrugged again, an extremely annoying gesture.

"Why?" Why lie to me? Why pretend she was okay? Why the façade, when he could have just said no?"

"Why?" Michael laughed, "Because you were dumb enough to pay me money and never check that the work was being done. Let it be your first lesson in the world of business. Everyone is out for themselves, brother." He stood up. "Is that all? I need to go to bed."

I thought it over. "Actually... there is one more thing..."

ERICA

The coffee tasted just as good as it smelled. Jarrod and I stood in asurveillance room at the VSU, watching a wall of screens. Each camera was pointed at a different hideout, ten in total.

"So we told them we would be moving around 10 PM. If anyone is a traitor they should start moving their forces or supplies before then." Jarrod was pacing nervously. I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Relax, this is the easy part."

"I HATE waiting!" He complained, sipping on his coffee drink. It looked more like ice cream than coffee. I eyed it, shuddering.

"What IS that monstronsity?"

"Iced cappuccino with extra whipped cream.... And maybe a few sprinkles that got on by accident."

"You got extra sprinkles too, didn't you?"  My face distorted as I tried to hold my laughter."

His shoulders sank. "Yes."

I couldn't help it, I laughed. "Why not just drink regular coffee, if it's going to embarrass you that much?"

He looked at the cup in my hand, and it was his turn to shudder. "Because I have taste buds."

We both chuckled at that, before turning our attention back towards the screen.

"Who do you think it will be?" He asked quietly.

"Nine." Was my immediate answer.

"I'm telling you, Greg is too stupid..." He paused, staring up at the screen with an odd expression. "There's movement."

I looked up as well, noticing that in one of the screens, boxes and important personnel were being moved out. I let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding.

"Great, so we do have a traitor!"

"Seems so." His voice was flat, angry. I counted screens, realizing something odd.

"Wait... It's screen ten... who did we give that address to?" I looked over at Jarrod, and realized... it was the number he had taken and said he would give out. He had obviously given out the address.

And the identity of that person really hurt him.

"Jarrod...?" He was staring blankly at the screen, but then soon turned and headed out. "Wait!"

He didn't pause. Sighing, I shot a tracker onto his back. Once he started up with his unnatural speed, there was no way I would be able to keep up. I followed behind him, moving towards a nice neighborhood in the best part of town. I stopped in front of a normal looking house with a white picket fence, wondering why it looked familiar.

Than I realized, I had seen it in a picture before.

It was Jarrod's childhood home.

Oh no.

I crashed into the front door, only to find him kneeling on a strange man's chest, punching him while shouting, his face red with rage.

"Traitor!"

The man was trying to fight back, but obviously having a hard time. "Is this over me not checking up on that stupid girl again? I told you it's your own fault for believing me when I said that she was doing fine!"

Jarrod stopped, his chest heaving with exertion. "You're right it was my fault. I didn't go save her. Not because you told me she was fine. Not because our parents told me it would endanger her." He paused his face distorted with pain. I recognized the expression, it was the one he had been wearing last night when he wanted to tell me something but chickened out.

"It was because of me. I wasn't strong enough. I hadn't developed powers, I couldn't stand the thought of escaping only to return the same weak little brother who needed her protection. I was too scared and embarrassed to return to her like I promised. So I waited until I was sixteen, when my powers had come in. But by the time I went back to that house..."

He shook his head, tears in his eyes. "It was too late. She had already grown beyond needing me to save her. It didn't matter whether or not i was strong. I wasn't able to save the only person who mattered."

He let out a sigh, staring back at the man with obvious hatred. "But that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about you being the mole for the Shadow Couple."

The man turned pale. "You can't... you can't prove that!"

"I gave you the address for the lair that was going to be raided. Only you knew that address. And now it's being evacuated." He reared back and punched him again and again. "I should kill you, you worthless piece of..." He was obviously too angry to listen to reason. Getting involved in a fight between superheroes was not a good idea... but...

"Henry! Don't kill him!" Without meaning to, I ran forward and grabbed his arm. "We need him alive to question him."

"Erica?!" Immediately he stopped attacking, looking up at me with a sad smile. "I'm sorry."

I slapped him, it hurt my hand. "Idiot."

Then I couldn't help it, I gave him a hug. I felt his tears soaking through the fabric over my shoulder. "I'm not going to forgive you, you know."

"I wouldn't dare even ask for it."

"But let's take down these bastards."

"You got it, partner." His eyes lit up, his face covered in his grin.

With that we turned to the half-dead man on the floor. Henry cracked his knuckles. "Now, brother mine, you're going to tell us how to track down the Shadow Couple."

Now. Now the real hunt would begin.