The Sidekick Club

0.8

Emily, afraid of what Nefarious was planning to do to the heroes, decided it was time to break free from his grasp. She couldn't just leave, though. In order to escape him, she needed leverage, and in order to get leverage, she needed to call upon some serious FBI skills.

"Oh my poor defenseless ears," Nefarious complained as he locked the door to the basement. If Emily strained her hearing enough, she could faintly make out the sound of muffled screams.

"How'd it go?" she asked, wanting to know if he was successful or not.

"Well, I've determined that for a grown man to be affected by the serum, it takes around two-point-three milliliters and twenty-two seconds for it to take its full effect. Now I just need to see how long the effects last."

Emily nodded, feeling bad for Edison.

"Is it pain or anger?" she asked, gesturing towards the basement door.

A savage smile grew at the corners of his lips as he answered, "Probably both."

Emily nodded again, keeping her face emotionless as she looked at Nefarious. She kept her voice steady as she told him, "I'm going to get him something to eat, and then I'm going to go home."

"Whatever," Nefarious dismissed her with a wave of his hand as he plopped down on the couch and put his feet on the table. He really had made the coffee shop into his own little hangout.

Emily went to the back where he kept the stash of food and pulled out a package of trail mix and a glass for water. She filled it up quickly and phased through the locked door to the basement, heading down the rickety stairs and towards the screaming super.

A layer of sweat glossed his face and he jerked violently against his restraints, screaming profanities at the top of his lungs all the while. Emily was glad she didn't have enhanced hearing, as the sound was deafening as it was already.

"That'll do you no good!" Emily shouted over him. He stopped briefly to glare at her and she simply held up the glass of water to bribe him. "Want something to eat and drink before you scream yourself hoarse?"

Edison eyed her suspiciously as she came to stand beside him.

"You like trail mix?" she asked, holding up the bag a bit for him to see.

"I guess," he muttered, his voice already strained from the shouting.

"Good. Because that's what I brought."

"What did you do to me?" the man sounded broken as he asked.

Emily couldn't meet his eyes, so instead, she answered with, "I brought you some trail mix and water. Which would you like first?"

"What's in the water?" he asked suspiciously.

Emily shrugged. "I don't know. It's tap water. There's probably some minerals and stuff in it."

"Not what I meant."

"I didn't drug it. Why would we drug you after drugging you?" she tried to reason with his logic. He studied her for a while before finally relenting.

"Water, I guess."

Emily brought the glass to his lips and slowly tilted it, being overly cautious to not spill it on him. After a few seconds, she set down the glass and tore open the trail mix.

"Hungry?"

"Ravenous," he responded, opening his mouth as she poured a handful into it.

He chewed what was in his mouth and swallowed before turning to study her.

"You're not like him," Edison noted, taking her a bit off guard. She looked into his eyes for a second before giving him more trail mix.

"Yeah? What's your point?"

"Why are you here? Of all places? Helping him?" He glanced up at the ceiling, probably trying to glare a hole into Nefarious's feet.

"Not all of us get to choose what we are," she answered cryptically.

"You could let me go," Edison tried weakly, "I could get us both out of here."

"With all due respect, Edison, you really don't stand a chance in the state you're in," before he could object, she continued. "Besides. I can't leave. Not without leverage."

"Why?" he asked, probably doing that superhero thing where they try to help everyone that's in trouble.

"He's got dirt on me," Emily answered honestly before feeding him the rest of the trail mix and water. She cleaned up the little bit of a mess she made and said, "I'll see you tomorrow, Sparky."

And then she left. She changed out of her suit before she left the coffee shop, and soon after found herself walking the dark moonlit streets all alone.

Or maybe, not as alone as she thought.

"Out and about again, I see," Mr. Dependable said as he stepped up beside her, making her jump slightly.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, peering down the street like they were going to be attacked.

"I was just heading home for the night when I thought I'd stop by," Mr. Dependable smiled lightly at her, "but what I want to know, is what you are doing out so late on a weeknight."

"I worked a late shift," Emily shrugged and hiked her backpack higher on her shoulders.

"Do you work a lot of late shifts?"

"Far too many," she grumbled.

"Well, here," she looked at Mr. Dependable to see him holding something out to her. She took it cautiously only to see it was a can of pepper spray. "If you're going to be walking home at night on a regular basis, then you should have at least some way to protect yourself."

"Thanks," she said, looking down at the can.

"Don't mention it," he grinned and pointed to his right. "I'm this way. Will you be alright walking the rest of the way home by yourself, Emily?"

"Don't worry," she held up her new pepper spray, "I'm invincible now."

Mr. Dependable chuckled a little as he said his goodbyes. Then, Emily shook off the small smile that had grown on account of him remembering her name and walked the last couple of blocks to her home.

This Mr. Dependable guy was kind of growing on her.