Fallen Heroes

Chapter Five

"How's he holding up?"

I looked over from my spot in the armchair by the fireplace to see Hunter poking his head around the living room door. Rylan was asleep on the couch, exhausted and sore following his superhero battle, but he had made it out in one unbroken piece.

Rylan looked so innocent in sleep, his lips pouted, fingers limp and hanging off the cushions. Leaning forward, I lightly ran my hand through his rumpled hair. Rylan twitched but didn't wake. "He's fine," I said. "Achy... but fine."

Hunter coughed, forcing my eyes away from the sleeping boy on my couch. "Umm... I actually meant Connor...."

I shook my head in disbelief. "Of course you did." Pressing a finger to my lips, I waved Hunter toward the kitchen door. "Come on, I don't want to wake him."

Once in the kitchen, Hunter immediately tore into a bag of Italian bread sitting on the counter and rummaged around the fridge for ingredients to make a sandwich. He loaded three slices of bread with turkey, roast beef, pickles, both cheddar and mozzarella cheeses, and a big glob of mayonnaise. After taking a bite, Hunter's eyes rolled back in his head. This was one of those moments that reminded me how Hunter and my brother had become friends. Sure, superpowers were a good bonding agent, but an obsession with food and a blatant disregard for others' personal property was better.

Leaning next to him on the kitchen island, I asked the question that haunted me since the television flickered in Mrs. Amherst's study hall.

"Hunter, what was that thing?" In all my years living in Morriston, I had never seen anything like the robot man. Supers tended to favor spandex suits with bright colors—the more outlandish, the better—not full body armor.

Hunter tore off another bite of his sandwich. "I don't know."

"Do you think it's going to come back?"

This time, he offered me a bite. Noticing the pickle juice and mayo dripping from the bread, I declined. "I don't know." He paused, eyes raking over my face. "Did you tell Connor?"

I stiffened. "Tell Connor what?"

Hunter shrugged. "Sarah texted me. She told me you want to find someone to help him."

"Oh. Of course she did." Not that I could blame her. But fantasizing about pulling a super out of retirement to help my brother was one thing. Successfully finding that certain super was the real issue.

Hanging my head, I started picking at my fingernails. Now I regretted not taking Hunter's sandwich. I needed something to hold onto. "No. I haven't told him yet. I—I will, but I'm just—"

"Worried it won't work? It's a good idea, Abby. Word of advice though, figure it out sooner rather than later. Dude's messed up enough as it is."

"Who's messed up?"

Our heads snapped to the doorway as Connor strutted in the room and began fixing a sandwich nearly identical to Hunter's. He scowled while forcefully spreading mayonnaise, splattering the cabinets with little white dots.

"Uhh... Rylan?" Hunter said his name like it was a question. I elbowed him in the ribs, and he instantly started filling his mouth with food.

"Oh yeah," Connor said. "I saw him in there. Almost pushed him off my couch."

"Connor!"

"But I didn't." Connor brandished his mayo knife near the tip of my nose. "Because I'm nice. It's his own fault though. If I were fighting that thing today, there's no way in hell I'd let it hurt me that easily."