Saving Supervillain 1 Chapter 19 (Patreon)

Stella sat at the table eating her pancakes with the biggest grin on her face. “So, what are we doing today?”

“Training this morning, and I’d like to get an idea of what’s happening with our two problems in the Bureau.” I sipped my orange juice.

Stella was wearing one of my shirts; She said it made her feel like she belonged in my apartment.

“Oh. You need a key if you are going to keep staying here.” I opened a drawer with my powers and floated out the contents, plucking the key and sliding it over to Stella.

She picked it up with a reverent expression.

I’d slept on it, and I still felt the same way I had the day before. We both knew what it meant, and I was falling hard for her, but we never said the ‘L’ word.

Instead, we danced around it and tried to show it through gestures. Giving her a key to my place was about the closest I was going to come to it for now.

“We should probably get to work soon.” I reminded her, looking at the shirt that was too big for her.

“Oh. My new clothes.” She pulled her focus away from the key, setting it down on the table carefully as she flounced over to the couch and her many bags.

Stella paused and gave me a guilty expression. “Do you think I could have some space in your closet for these?”

“At that rate of buying clothes, I’m going to need a new place.” I eyed the bags.

“Just a big first trip to stock up.” She grumbled, a cute frown crossing her face as she looked over the bags once more. “Besides, this barely put a dent in my signing bonus.”

I realized I hadn’t really looked into what I was making at the bureau. Money hadn’t been an issue for me since my less honorable times using my powers.

“What are you making?”

“Three million a year for my contract, and a ten percent signing bonus.” Stella said casually.

My eyebrows shot up, and I let out a small whistle. “I didn’t realize the Bureau paid so well.”

“Pretty sure you are making seven figures, Miles. Did you not check?”

“Nope. I have a secret stash. I don’t worry about money.”

Stella paused, biting her lip. “Miles, you were a villain once, yes?”

“Briefly, when I was furious at the world. Let’s not spoil this morning with those memories, though.” I diverted the conversation. That was well and truly behind me.

Stella, amazing as she was, just accepted that and continued to rifle through the bags, getting dressed there in the living room.

The way she swayed her hips as she did so was all show for me, one that I didn’t mind.

“Can I carry you to work?” She asked.

“Sure.” I surprised myself by agreeing.

Stella finished squeezing herself into a pair of skintight jeans and snatched up her key, stuffing it in a small clutch. “Let’s go.”

***

Unfortunately, by the time we got to the Bureau, Mindfuck must have spun quite some story because information on her and Omnigirl was suddenly on lock down. It put me a little on edge, but I tried not to let it show.

Stella, Melody, and I moved into the lifting rooms. Stella putting far more effort into lifting than she had before.

When it was near lunchtime, Stella politely excused herself, leaving me alone with Melody on a lunch date.

“What do you think about the titan sighting off of Coast City?” Melody started the conversation as we sat down in a booth at a local bar and grill type of restaurant.

“I lived there briefly. They get a couple of warnings like this a year, but only about one landfall a year. They think this one is the Leviathan.”

Among the largest of the known titans in the world, Leviathan was a deep sea creature, armored in rough scaly skin. It looked like some cross between a whale and an alligator, only far larger than any natural whale.

“At least Leviathan never pushes too far inland. It isn’t terribly aggressive either.” I commented, a line I’d heard before.

Melody awkwardly pushed around the salt shaker. “I heard Mindfuck was arrested.”

“Were you worried?” I knew Melody was different from Stella and I. She didn’t have a dark past. I had a feeling the glimpse into where I would go to protect those I cared for had worried her slightly.

She nearly tipped the salt shaker, catching with her powers and righting it. “Yeah, I wasn’t sure.”

“I don’t lie.”

“Except about your power.” She shot back quickly.

Nodding, I understood. “I get it. If I make an exception for that, how can you be sure that I’m not making other exceptions?”

I paused, making sure to make eye contact with her. “I’ll tell you this. My power is very dangerous.”

“You could be a hero.” Melody blurted out. “Miles, I want to understand.”

What she left unsaid was that my abilities being secret had broken some of our trust. She wanted my secrets to be out in the open. And that wasn’t an option for me.

“Melody, I’ve been very protective of my power for a long time. It isn’t that easy.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You turned a robber into paste yesterday. And apparently, you tracked down Mindfuck. Yet she was arrested. And the entire Bureau seems to have no idea what you can do. You’re my manager. I need to be able to trust what you tell me to do. I need to know what side you are on.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. She hadn’t quite dropped an ultimatum, but it was close.

“Stella knows, doesn’t she?” Melody asked.

“Parts.” I confirmed.

“Give me a hint. I swear this stays between us.” She pleaded with me. I could see that she desperately wanted to trust me, but she was scared.

But I also was figuring out how much I could trust her. “If I tell you, no one can know. I need you to understand. If you spread this, I will do everything in my power to stop you from ruining my life. You’ve seen enough to know to take that seriously.”

She swallowed and nodded slowly.

I paused, realizing I was seriously breaking my nobody knowing rules.

“Make the salt shaker float.” I told her.

She frowned, but did it.

Then I ripped her ki away, disabling her power.

The salt shaker fell, spilling on the table. Anyone watching wouldn’t think a thing of it.

But Melody?

Every inch of her body language spoke of disbelief. Then it rapidly turned to fear as she concentrated harder on the salt shaker, yet it didn’t budge.

“Miles.” Her voice quaked.

“I know. Supers don’t react well to it. Can you imagine the things that would happen if this got out?” I pushed ki back into her, and the salt shaker rose off the table again.

Melody swallowed loudly. “Yeah. I suddenly felt naked and helpless. People would do rash things after feeling that.”

“If I told you that was just the tip of the iceberg, would you believe me?”

“I do believe you and… I understand. Both why you keep it a secret and why you pushed me away.” A little smile quirked up at the edge of her lips. “You aren’t afraid of commitment. You are afraid of yourself, and what you bring to a relationship.”

I raised my hands in surrender. “I gave Stella a key to my place this morning. So see? I’m growing.”

“She’s good for you.” Melody was recovering nicely from her moment of terror. “You are good for her, too.”

“You’re not upset that she’s moving in?” I wanted to make sure the air was clean between us.

Melody gave a self-deprecating laugh. “I thought you already had a wife or a girlfriend before we went on that date. The dating pool doesn’t have many single men at our age. Besides, even Miss Point City just took a second wife into her marriage.”

Surprised, I took her comment in stride. “Oh, well, this is taking some getting used to from me to just have a single g—” I nearly choked on the word, but I tried it again. “Girlfriend.”

Melody had to hold back a laugh, just shaking her head. “Yeah, Stella has her work cut out for her. But I see at least one reason why you’ve been holding out on people.” She tested her power, wanting to confirm it was still working, and floated the salt shaker. “I assume there’s more. You were too quick to work quietly on your problem with Mindfuck.”

“We aren’t going down that rabbit hole. It’s in the past where I’d like to keep it.”

Melody nodded in understanding. “Lots of kids with big powers do stupid things. The world doesn’t even think we are responsible enough to drink, yet some of them have the power to topple buildings.”

She was closer to the truth than I’d like, but she continued. “Anything recent I should know about?”

I shook my head. “Unlikely. I have a good twenty years since I’d done much.”

Melody looked at me curiously. “How old are you? I know some supers don’t age like the rest of us.”

“Forty three.” I didn’t see any reason to hide it.

She clicked her tongue. “Damn, you’re good looking for forty-three. And you are still single.” She said it like it was a crime.

“Things change.” Stella was slowly worming her way into my life.

“Which brings us here.” Melody’s leg rubbed mine under the table as she tilted her face down and looked at me through her eyelashes. “On this date.” She clarified.

“Looks like you got what you wanted.”

Melody smiled. “I learned from Stella that I need to be a little pushier.”

“Great.” I laughed. “Try not to teach that to too many other girls.”

Her smile said ‘no-promises.’ “So, what do you want for the future?”

I paused, trying to think of something that a normal person would say. But I went for transparency instead. “No idea. I don’t plan that far ahead.”

“Really? Nothing?”

I shrugged. “Nope. I very much live in the moment.”

“You live like someone in hiding, always ready to get up and go.” She clarified.

I considered it; she wasn’t wrong.

I even had a second home in the city, owned by a shell company.

Melody shook her blonde hair. “We’ll have to work on you. I want to find a man, and a few girls wouldn’t be bad for some fun. But unlike you, I’m getting older. If I don’t have kids in the next five or so years, I think I might lose the chance.”

Normally talking about kids on the first date would freak me, but my mind was stuck on the fact that she thought a few other girls would be ‘fun’. Then again, with the gender ratios, more women were inclined to seek fun with other women.

“Like you know, I joined BSH because I wanted to boost my modeling career. Heck, you were the one that put it in my head. But I’m also sort of enjoying this gig. The rush I got from defeating that bear was only second to the cheers afterwards.”

“Your idea of a modeling career is fading?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I think if I get some solid offers, I’ll do both, but that remains to be seen. Oh, did you see the newspaper today?” Her eyes lit up with excitement.

I shook my head, wondering what had happened.

She whipped out her phone and flipped it around for me to see.

A picture of her and Stella landing outside the grocery store was the front-page picture with the headlines ‘New Hero Team Bursts into Action’. The actual text of the article was far too small to read.

“I cut that out and framed it at my place.” She had a huge smile on her face as she took the phone back.

“Good to see you are enjoying the new job. I think you managed to do some good yesterday.”

She went to reply, but both of our phones chimed at the same time.

I checked mine. It was a message from Beatrix for an emergency meeting in an hour. I assumed hers was the same.

“We better get going.” Melody put her phone down.

“Sit back down. We can easily have forty-five more minutes of a date.” I motioned her to sit, giving her my most charming smile.

The server chose that moment to come by. “Can I get you two anything to eat?”

***

I walked back to BSH with Melody.

As we approached, the lobby was packed with heroes. It looked like that was where we were gathering. It must be the main space big enough for everybody.

Stella found me in the crowd and pushed her way to me, wrapping both of us up in a hug. “How was the date?”

“Good.” Melody said quickly. “I learned a few things, and I cleared my concerns.”

Stella squeezed me tightly. “Great job Miles! This one is a catch. We don’t want to let go.”

“We?” I said, raising an eyebrow.

“Of course.” Stella dismissed my question as if it were obvious. “So, Melody, when do we go on our date?”

I nearly stumbled, but they ignored me.

“Let’s see what this emergency meeting is about. I have a bad feeling we are about to head to Coast City.” Melody put words to what we were all thinking.

“We can still do a date in Coast City.” Stella argued. “Besides, Miles has already slept with both of us, and I haven’t slept with you.”

Stella wasn’t being particularly quiet, and several heads turned our way.

Glaring at Stella, she didn’t regret it one bit. “Don’t say those things so loud. We still work together.”

“And play together.” Stella added, not quieting herself at all.

I ran my hand down my face. The rumor mill was going to go crazy with that nugget. But in the end, it was true.

“Yes, Stella.” Melody tried a softer approach, lowering her own voice. “But if you are that loud, people are going to come in and crowd this relationship. You might not get much of Miles’ attention if they all think he’s up for grabs.”

That seemed to do the trick. Stella’s voice came out softer, although she wasn’t backing down much. “That’s fine. I don’t mind women. The more the better.”

“If you threw a dozen women at Miles, what do you think would happen?” Melody tried to coach her.

Stella glanced at me with a thoughtful expression. “He’d try to run.”

“Exactly, Let’s avoid that.”

Stella’s face went serious, and she nodded emphatically.

“You both realize I’m right here, right?” I grumped. “Besides, if I run, there’s nothing either of you can do to stop me.”

They shared a look and both of them giggled with some inside joke that was lost on me.

Luckily, our conversation was broken up as Kim stood at the top of the steps. She patted the air, signaling for everyone to calm down.

What they’d said still had me panicking a bit. I was just adjusting to one, maybe two, relationships. I wasn’t ready for a dozen.

Stella leaned into me slightly, seeming to sense it and wanting to offer comfort. As much as I had pushed her away, she understood me better than anyone else, and I was glad she had persevered through my attempts to shake her.

The lobby settled down enough for Kim to be heard.

“I’m sure you’ve all seen the news, so I won’t belabor this. Leviathan has officially crossed the final warning line for Coast City. There is a ninety percent chance Leviathan makes landfall.”

She paused, letting that sink in for the rest of us. “We are sending a contingent of our heroes over to Coast City and keeping a skeleton crew here to keep watch on the city. Crime never takes a day off, unfortunately.” She let her voice ring out across the lobby.

“Managers, please head to The Spine. From there, we will start to divvy out roles for this mission. Heroes, if you got the notification, you are going to be coming with us to Coast City. Pack up. We need to leave in the next hour.”

With that, Kim turned sharply on her heels and marched over to the doors that I knew led to The Spine.

“Well, I guess that means you both are packing.” I told my two heroes. “I’ll see what you are both doing.”

Stella jabbed the air. “I want to fight the Leviathan.”

I left her to celebrate as I followed Kim. The rest of the managers joined, and we spread out to view the three main monitors.

All of them were filled with names.

“On the right, we have the home team. Those who aren’t leaving the city.” Kim pointed out.

I was surprised to see Rocksolid on the list. But I figured he was probably hard to move distances, and he was strong. He could protect the city.

I noticed he was the only S grade hero staying behind. Besides him, most of the other heavy hitters in the city were heading out on the other two lists.

“Those in the center screen will be on titan duty. Remember, we can’t kill this thing. The best we can do is drive it off. There are three key weak points.”

The screen changed to an estimated form of the leviathan, even though most of its body remained under water.

It was like some sort of prehistoric whale gone wrong. It had a massive maw that jutted out in front, and four short, stubby legs along its long body.

Tentacles rose around its neck, one of the highlighted regions, and a tail poked out at the back.

“These are your target areas.” She pointed at the screen. “Here at its neck, under the tentacles, should be your target. It’s the weakest point. Those on titan duty will mostly be trying to sever as many tentacles as possible to clear the way for a few heavy hitters to get in there.” She continued motioning.

“Its eyes and the bottom of the jaws are also vulnerable areas. Don’t risk the bottom of the jaw and keep in mind that its eyes are tougher than you’d expect. There is a clear eyelid protecting them.”

Kim slowly looked around the room, but we all understood what we were up against.

“Now, what every hero hates.” She pointed at the last list. “Collateral support.”

With dread, I found Stella’s name there.

“These heroes are in charge of catching falling buildings, swooping in, and pulling people out of the damage caused by the Leviathan. Reduce casualties. I know with the titan there, getting this job is not ideal. But it can often be the most critical.”

A manager raised their hand. “Any chance I could argue for my hero to move up to titan duty?”

“No.” Kim spoke swiftly. “This is primarily built upon experience. Titans are no joke. We’ll lose heroes, and those without titan experience are always on collateral support.”

I was not looking forward to telling Stella.

AN - Just finished SS at 38 Chapters. Phew. Doing an editing blitz this weekend to get it ready for my editor. I feel it's a good story, maybe not perfect for the center of the harem market, but it is the story I wanted to tell. I hope you all enjoy it.