Hopelessly Heroic (Rewritten)

twenty

Life after Willow was weird.

Mind Mania had been released from jail and stripped of her title. There was no public notice about it, so people just assumed she had quit. Since June didn't know her real name, she couldn't look her up to see what she was doing. She didn't want to, anyway.

After a short investigation and a month's probationary period, June was allowed to continue being a hero. She did, for a while, but she hung her mask up for good after a few months. It just didn't feel right anymore. With Willow gone, she didn't contribute much, anyway. She felt tired all the time. A few of the lesser known local heroes stepped in to fill the empty spaces. 

Lily didn't get in any trouble because they couldn't prove she knew anything, and she decided to keep fighting crime, occasionally visiting June to make sure she was doing alright. She quickly became the top-dog, training harder to prove to herself that she was doing a good job. She never took a day off. 

The day after the police raided Willow's house, June decided to go for one last visit. A tiny part of her hoped that she would still be there, sitting on her bed and waiting. She would smile smugly, and saunter over to June. Maybe they'd kiss again. June hoped so. Willow would call her stupid for thinking she'd ever leave her behind. She'd already have a bag packed for her, and she'd say they had to leave immediately. June would try to persuade her to just lay down for a bit, but she'd be persistent that they had to go. Eventually, she would give in and let June have her way, because this was a fantasy, and in it, everything was perfect.

In reality, June walked into an empty house. Willow wasn't there, and neither were a lot of things she had gotten used to. She couldn't see any gadgets or weapons lying around, and didn't know if Willow had taken them with her or if the police had seized them. The sheets on her bed were ripped off and crumpled on the floor; her mattress flipped. Couch cushions were tossed to the side. The fridge door was open, but the light inside was off. The electricity had been cut. All of the dresser drawers were open. June pretended it was from Willow looking for something to wear, and not from the police looking for any hidden things they could steal. She tried to pretend everything was the way Willow had left it, but this mess was different than her mess. This mess was careless.

There were still clothes on the floor. As she walked through the small space, she picked them up. She didn't fold them, but she did stuff them into drawers that she then closed. Out of sight, out of mind. She closed the fridge. Put the couch cushions back where they belonged. She put the sheet back on the mattress, and then pulled one corner off, just the way Willow always had it.

Then she went to the bathroom. Not much had changed, but she closed the cupboards. When she came out, she noticed a shirt hanging off the back of a chair. It was the one Willow usually chose to sleep in. June took it with her when she left; a lonely artifact of the life she wished she could have. 

When she couldn't take it anymore, she packed up and moved. She needed a fresh start away from all her wrong decisions. Lily told her she thought she was doing the right thing, and decided to come with her, continuing her hero life in a new city. 

She got her last cheque from the police station, and when she left, she didn't look back. The TV mounted on the wall was running a segment on Flame's latest antics, and June didn't want to see where she was now. It was just further proof that she wasn't missing June, and she didn't want her to come find her. 

Lily turned out to be a good roommate. Being a hero paid better than the job June got at a bookstore, but she insisted they split the rent evenly. As she did so, the voice in the back of her head that sounded suspiciously like Willow screamed at her. 

Hopelessly heroic hopelessly heroic hopelessly heroic hopelessly heroic

She'd learned long ago that she couldn't shut it up or ignore it. Even now, two years later, she still heard it all the time. Sometimes it was comforting, but mostly it just made her cry into her pillow until Lily came in and rubbed her back. 

It sucked; missing someone who so clearly didn't miss you back.  

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lazy writing 101: copy and paste entire paragraphs from the original version and call it a day