(Old Version) Hopelessly Heroic

six

The first time the police showed up at my house, I wasn't home. 

Predictably, I was at Willow's. We were probably sleeping, or doing other pointless things to pass the time. When I eventually returned home, days later, it was to a handwritten note on the back of a parking ticket taped to my door. I was lucky it hadn't rained. 

Willow was with me, as she was worried I'd be ambushed if I was alone, and she ripped the note off the wood and out of my eyesight before I could read it. I didn't bother trying to grab it back, knowing I'd see it soon enough. She read it as I unlocked the door, eyebrows pushed together and lips pursed. I had to pull her inside behind me because she was so focused on whatever it said. 

As soon as she looked up, I was grabbing it. My first thought was to check the actual parking ticket side, just to make sure I wasn't wrongly being fined, and I was relieved to find it empty. The lock clicked, and I glanced at Willow to see her peering out the window next to the door, squinting into the darkness. I rolled my eyes fondly and started reading the note.

Juniper (Tidal),

It has come to our attention that you have betrayed your allies and are aiding and abetting in many crimes alongside The Flamethrower. Please be aware that the police have your identity and that you are now a wanted criminal. If you do not turn yourself in immediately, we will be forced to use other means to take you into custody.

There was a phone number at the bottom. There was no name.

"Did a fifth grader write that?" Willow said, ripping it away from me again and making her way up the stairs. 

"What are you doing?" I asked, staying exactly where I was. She paused halfway up and looked back at me.

"Going to your room. Where there's a bed. Where we can do some stuff." She said.

I shook my head, crossing my arms. "You read the letter. I have to turn myself in."

"For what?" She asked, giving up on going to my room and instead walking back toward me. "Not letting yourself be bullied into submission?"

I sighed. "I betrayed my team. I ran away with a villain. I've avoided my responsibilities."

Willow raised an eyebrow, leaning against the wall. "They illegally obtained your identity, came to your house, threatened you, read your mind, and blackmailed you. You're not in the wrong here."

"I've been keeping you safe since way before any of that. That's terrible. It's my job to put you in jail, and I never even tried. Lily and the others were just trying to fix me before I went to the other side."

Willow was quiet, just staring at me contemplatively for a while. It made me nervous, not knowing what she was thinking. 

"If you turn yourself into the police, they're not going to put you in jail."

"What?" I asked, confused.

She sighed, dropping her arms to her side. She suddenly looked tired.

"Turning yourself in is just proving that you feel guilty, and they're going to use that to their advantage. They're going to use you to get me, and they're going to pretend it's retribution."

"Don't you mean restitution?"

"I don't know." She admitted, looking largely unbothered. "But if you go there, we can't see each other anymore. At all. Unless, you know, you're cuffing me and dragging me into a prison cell."

"You could just burn me." I said meekly, watching her eyes flicker to my chest.

"You know I wouldn't."

We stared at each other. She looked sad, like she already knew the outcome of this before I'd even made a decision. And maybe she did. Maybe she had a second power, and maybe it was predicting outcomes. Or maybe she just knew the way the world worked.

"I'm a hero, Willow." I began quietly, and the light in her eyes was already dimming. "I can't... I can't not do the right thing. This might be my chance to make up for everything I've done wrong."

She nodded, but not in agreement. It was just acceptance. 

"Yeah," She said, pushing off the wall and tucking her hair behind her ear. "So this is it, then."

I swallowed. My chest was aching where I'd been burned. Or maybe it went deeper than that. 

"I guess." I mumbled, but it felt wrong to say. 

Then she was walking forward, pushing me against the door behind me and kissing me into it. Her hands held my face, keeping me steady, while mine just hovered unsure in the air. She pressed her whole body against me, sliding her lips over mine as if it was the last time. And I wondered how the first time could feel like such an ending.

Her lips parted mine, and I let out a shaky moan that was almost a whine. I was ready to give up being the good guy and run away with her to a different country, where we'd be the perfect secret duo, just like she'd wanted. I wanted to run upstairs and pack a bag and tell her we were leaving. 

But then she was pulling back, just an inch, putting her hands on my chest to prevent me from kissing her again. "How hopelessly heroic of you," She breathed, leaning just close enough that her lips brushed mine, and I remembered my role in all of this.

"Seriously," She stepped back, putting a foot of space between us, "Hopeless."

And then she was gone, closing the door gently behind her.