The Sidekick Club

0.2

"Are you sure about this?" Emily mumbled under her breath, watching the guy with the gun standing in front of her.

"Heroes love damsels. One of them will come," the low voice of Nefarious answered through her earpiece.

She rolled her eyes. Of course it would be his idea to put her in danger to capture a hero.

"Give me your money," the man said.

"Do it," he told her.

Emily pulled a few crumpled ones and fives from her pocket and held them out to the man. He tore them from her grasp and stuffed them into his own pocket.

"What else you got?" he eyed her up and down, tightening his grip on the gun. Emily wasn't afraid. If he shot it, she could just turn intangible and the bullet would fly right through her.

The man grew impatient and moved his gun, shooting the wall behind her before aiming it at her forehead. "I won't tell you again, girl. The next one goes straight through your skull."

"Beg," Nefarious instructed.

"I don't have anything else," she found herself saying. "Please don't hurt me."

The man didn't have a chance to respond, because a streak of blue spandex suddenly dove in front of him. She thought it might have been Talon at first, but when the boy stopped moving, she realized it wasn't.

"Damn. Sidekick," Nefarious cursed in her ear.

"Do you want him?" she whispered lowly with her hand over her mouth in case anyone happened to be looking.

"No," he sighed. "He isn't a threat to me. I can't afford to waste any of the serum."

Before she could realize what had happened, the man was unconscious on the ground and the sidekick was emptying the bullets from the gun.

Looking at him now, she realized it was Talon's sidekick Mr. Dependable. She'd had her fair share of scuffles with him in the past, but it was rare to see the one without the other. It was even rarer to see the sidekick saving the day by himself.

"You- you're not a hero," she said before she could stop herself. She immediately regretted the words when she saw his features fall.

"I did just save your life," he said, masking his disappointment well as he looked down at the gun. "Doesn't that classify me as a hero?"

"That's not what I meant," she tried to defend herself, knowing first hand what it felt like to be the sidekick. Except her circumstances were a bit different than his. Nefarious figured out what she was before even she knew, and he'd been holding her identity over her head as a form of blackmail. She didn't have a choice. She had to help him. It was either that or be exposed. "I- I just meant that you're a sidekick. I was surprised, that's all."

"Mm," he hummed, not sounding like he was convinced. She bit her lip, feeling guilty now.

"I'm Emily," she said to fill the awkward silence. She hoped the change of subject would lighten the mood a little. "Emily Peters."

"I'm-"

"Mr. Dependable," she cut him off with a small smile. "I know."

He looked up at her with a new expression that she couldn't quite read but knew all too well. It was the same look she got when someone called her Phase.

It was a bit of confidence, mixed with surprise and pride.

It wasn't hard to sense his mood change. As she looked at him, he stood up a little straighter and puffed out his chest a little.

"Can I walk you home?" he asked her with a small smile on his face.

Emily's heart fluttered a little. She'd never been the damsel before. This was a new experience. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as Nefarious spoke.

"Go ahead," he told her. "It's getting too late for damsels in distress to be roaming the streets. I'll pick you up after school tomorrow."

Emily nodded, and then realized Mr. Dependable was still standing in front of her and added, "If it's not too much trouble."

"It's not."