Supervillain Soulmate

Chapter Eleven

"Didn't I tell you that it was a great name?" Cataclysm beamed after the computer had finished adding Nora to it's database.

Nora looked at him and nodded. It really was a good name, and she was a little upset at herself for never coming up with it herself since really it was just a play on her own name and a hint at her power.

Nora Caine. Plus a numbing power = Novocaine.

Soulmated to a supervillain.

It definitely wasn't where she had imagined her life going, if she was honest.

"Can we get your arm fixed up now?" She asked, reminding Cataclysm why they had come into his secret room in the first place.

"Oh, yes!" He nodded, turning away from her as if he'd forgotten that he'd dislocated his arm pretty badly. Her numbing must still have been working, which was good for the pain, but it was one of the downsides of it.

People who couldn't feel the pain of their injuries tended to forget about them and do stupid or reckless things because of it. When doctors set limitations, they brushed them off because with the numbing they didn't feel like the limitations were necessary.

They saw it a lot in their hero patients. As soon as they had been patched up, they wanted to go right back to work instead of resting, no matter how many times the doctors told them they were going to get themselves killed.

Nora followed Cataclysm through the room, looking around at everything they passed. There were computers scattered about tracking different things. On the far wall was a pin board with a mess of paperwork spread across its surface. Push pins connected by red string formed a macabre spiderweb that made no sense to the casual observer.

In one corner, she noticed THE SAVIOURS was written in chunky black writing. Was Cataclysm planning on taking them down? Part of her itched to go closer and have a proper look at it all. Maybe if she saw something important or useful she could get the information to someone. It would be the right thing to do, right?

Her sudden doubt in her convictions made her frown. Of course she should try and tell someone. She didn't know how she would do that while she was locked in this apartment with no way out, but she would have to at least try? It was the right thing to do.

At the far end of the room was what could only be described as a walk in closet. One wall was lined with various different options for Cataclysm's costume, including several copies of the one he currently wore. There were rows and rows of boots, all the same. Utility belts. Capes. Masks.

He could open his own costume shop at this rate. Villains R US. Or maybe there was already a shop like that out there and he was keeping them in business by buying all their inventory?

Over on the left, though, were a handful of sewing machines. Did he make all of his own things? Nora made a mental note to ask him about it later.

"Here we go." Cataclysm announced, making Nora jump. She'd almost forgotten he was there for a moment. With one hand, he grabbed a kit off a shelf and turned toward Nora, who quickly moved to take it off him and looked for a surface to put it down on.

She moved to the nearest work surface, plonking the kit down on top of the papers and things spread out over it, barely recognising that there was a picture of herself on there.

Flipping the kit open, she rifled through it until she found what she wanted - a triangular bandage she could use to make a splint.

"This is a pretty good kit." She admitted as she peeked at what else was in there.

"Like I said, I can't really go to the hospital most of the time so I have to be prepared to try and fix myself up here." Cataclysm moved close to her. "Where do you want me?"

Turning and finding him closer than she had expected, Nora took a step back and hoped she wasn't blushing. His chest had been right there. "Can you sit down?" She asked, "It'll be easier for me to put the sling on you since you're taller than me."

Nodding, Cataclym moved over to a padded bench and sank down onto it.

"So, how long does your power usually last?" He asked as Nora opened the bandage and started to put it on him, moving his arm as she needed.

"It depends on how much of it I concentrate on an area." She explained as she worked. "If it's just a small wound then sometimes I can just take the edge off and it'll last about twenty minutes or so? But for larger injuries where the patient isn't going to be properly anesthetised for a while I can remove all the pain for a few hours."

"Can you reverse it?"

"Reverse it?"

"Yeah, can you take the numbness away after you've administered it or do you have to wait for it to wear off?"

"Oh, I don't know how to reverse it." She admitted, "So mostly people just wait for it to wear off."

"But do you think you could reverse it if you tried?"

"I'm not sure why you're asking, do you want me to return your pain?" She asked him, tying the bandage behind his neck and double checking his arm wasn't going to slip out of the sling.

"No, I'm just asking that's all. They say that our powers can grow and develop quicker when we meet our soulmates, so if it's something you couldn't do before, maybe you would be able to now?"

"I..." Nora moved back to the kit to pack everything else away. "I think it's something my power should be able to do, sometimes I can feel it at the edge of my abilities, like a whisper." She didn't know why she was admitting this to him, but the words wouldn't stop coming. "I can't test out my powers on myself though, they don't work. And testing them on patients is unethical. I would've gotten fired."

"Test them out on me." Cataclysm suggested.

"What?" Nora whirled to look at him. "You're out of your mind."

Cataclysm just shrugged.

"Why would you want to help me, anyway? So I can help you with whatever evil schemes you're concocting?" Nora asked him, her judgment evident in the tone of her voice.

"Evil schemes?" Cataclysm raised an eyebrow. "That's what you think I do?"

"Well, you are a villain aren't you?"

"Right." Cataclysm nodded, all of the humor draining from his face. "I'm just a villain who does evil things."

His voice was sarcastic and as dry as sandpaper, the words grating against Nora. What she'd said had obviously upset him, but it wasn't anything he didn't already know, was it? He was a villain.

They stared at each other for a long moment before Cataclysm let out an exasperated sigh and Nora turned away to pack everything back into the kit, closing it back up and trying to remember where Cataclysm had pulled it down from.

He said nothing as she lifted the bag back into its place and only rose to his feet and led the way back out into the apartment.

Nora trailed behind him, her head full of questions that she now wanted to ask but felt like she couldn't. She had ruined whatever tentative friendship they had started to build when she'd helped him through the portal and she kind of hated herself for it. Why had she gone and opened her big mouth?

Once they were out of the room, Cataclysm pulled the door closed and made sure it was locked and then he turned on his heel and left Nora standing there.

The silence in the wake of his departure was so loud that she barely heard his bedroom door close behind him.