Superheroes, Super Problems

*9* Convenience

I woke up the next morning with surprisingly no headache from drinking last night. I opened my eyes and found myself rightfully in my bed still dressed in last night's clothes, only now I had Boon lingering in my room with his back to me. Now, he was wearing his full grey, black, and navy uniform that still possessed a hood. Through my dresser's mirror I could see him reading Cavalier's note.

"He left that the night after he and Emma broke up," I notified, sitting up in the bed. Boon slowly turned around after placing the note back where he found it.

"So you figured it out beforehand, I'm guessing," Boon assumed. I nodded and ran a hand through my hair. Boon looked at me directly into my eyes and his dark ones made a connection with me that I couldn't put my finger on. "You know, he and Emma didn't break up so he could go out with you."

"I know."

"Then why are you trying to find him?" he asked, causing me to sigh. "This note is him telling you in clear words that he doesn't want to be with you."

"Alright. That's fine. I can live with the fact that we can't be together because I know that he likes me and I definitely like him, but I'm not just going to let him die. His life is important to people in this community with or without me," I told Boon with a clear voice. He stared at me for a moment before eventually accepting it and nodding.

"Alright, so what's the plan?"

"Plan? You're the superhero," I reminded. He should have more experience enough to concoct an idea. "But then again, you're just a sidekick—"

"I'm not a sidekick," he denied.

"Amery?" I heard my name called and then remembered Vixen in the other room. I didn't even have to look at Boon before he slid into my closet, reminding me of all the elaborate places I used to have to hide Sutter when he slept over some nights. Suddenly, Vixen opened my door and I spun on the bed to face her. "Hey," she greeted.

"Morning," I smiled. She frowned.

"Um, it's two in the afternoon, A," she laughed. "I was going to ask you when you got home last night, but I guess that greeting means pretty late."

"I guess," I nervously laughed. "What's up?"

"I was just making sure you're alright before I head out—"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Where are you going?"

"Just out with a friend for our research project," she answered.

"Oh. Well then I guess I'll see you later. Have fun..."

She smiled and then closed the door simultaneously as Boon exited from the closet with a familiar piece of literature in his hand. I immediately escaped the sheets of my bed to run over and snatch my diary from his hands.

"What the hell!?" I scolded.

"What?" he shrugged. "Part of being a superhero is understanding people. I feel like you're kind of defensive so understanding you would be easier by reading your thoughts on paper since I'm not exactly blessed with telepathy."

"I'm not defensive," I said ironically. I rolled my eyes before a smirk could completely form on his face. "And we don't need to understand me. We need to understand who Dagger is because if we can figure out who he is, maybe we can figure out where he's keeping Cavalier."

"Why don't you just call him Declan? We're the only ones here."

"Because Dagger took Cavalier; he doesn't have anything against Declan," I answered.

"That you know of," he figured. "Someone could hate Declan as a normal kid and then hate Cavalier as Dagger. Duel hatred leads to murderous cravings, I bet."

I glared and then rolled my eyes.

"So does anyone hate Declan?" Boon inquired.

"I don't know. You work with him. Does he talk about anyone hating him?"

"Just some kid named Mike Steele," he scowled.

"It's not Steele," I said.

"How do you know?" he asked. "Are you friends with him or someth—"

"Amery, your sister looks so hot right now," a familiar voice began saying while the door opened. Boon's eyes widened in fear, but when I recognized who it was, I just kept in place, calling for Boon to wait before leaving. "Well hello Mr. Sidekick."

"I'm not a sidekick," Boon grumbled.

"Boon, Leighton. Leighton, Boon," I introduced and he gave me a weird look. "She just wants to help."

"Man, you're hot too," she checked him out and smirked. I noticed that her curled hair fell, her makeup wasn't as aggressive, and she was in more lounge-worthy clothes. But she still fell back onto my bed in a resting position.

"Thank you?" Boon replied in a confused manner but eventually shook his head to dismiss the encounter. "So this Steele kid—"

"Are we talking about Mike Steele or some metahuman with the ability to turn into steel like other than the Cavalier?" she asked, making Boon give me another pressing look.

"Mike," was all I said.

"There's no way he's Dagger," she said in a heavenly sigh. It made me question what exactly happened to make her say that so surely. I think she noticed the intrigue because she rolled over and smiled before beginning her story. "He was a complete gentleman and—"

"That doesn't mean anything," Boon already interrupted. "In real life, I'm an asshole and here I am saving people—I'm just an asshole with morals to use my powers for good. Being a gentleman can just be a cover for an asshole using his powers for crime."

"He was a gentleman," Leighton repeated to disregard his interruption. "He basically took care of me last night and then said he liked me but doesn't want to because he didn't want to mess up our friendship," she elaborated, gesturing between me and her. I frowned. "He just said he was into you for the longest time that even if he wasn't into you now, he'd still not want to ruin anything for you."

"Meaning what?"

"Meaning that he just wants you to be happy, Am," she pouted. "He said that if you were still in love with Sutter he'd be happy for you—he even said that if you fell for Declan, who he hates, he'd make sure to stay out of you guys' way if he's who made you happy."

I wanted to say "aw" at that and forgive him for all the turmoil he caused between me and Nicole but then Boon denied the congeniality.

"That's a bit too convenient."

"He was being honest," Leighton insisted with a frown.

"Yeah? I bet he was just trying to get in your pants."

"Ha! Well if that was his plan, he failed because after he drove me home he said he was done with me unless things were cool with Amery," she informed. There was tension between Leighton and Boon and it needed to be ended.

"It's not Steele," I simply said and held up a finger to silence Boon's objection. Then, he sighed.

"Well just in case, I'll pull all the files and incidents Dagger was involved in to see if there was a trend."

"Fine," Leighton said like a whining child.

"Hopefully when I come back, she won't be here," he grumbled.

"Nice to meet you too!" Leighton called outafter him.