The scent of pine and damp earth filled my nostrils as I lay on a bed of needles, the cool leather of my pants contrasting with the warmth of Elijah's hands. He'd pulled them halfway down to wipe the blood away with his soft and faded orange prison shirt, now soaked from the cool spring rain. To get through the pain, I twisted my head to focus on the shadows cast on his chest by the new muscles I hadn't yet caressed. He'd clearly changed since a year ago, but the familiar wolf tattoo over his left pectoral was so familiar. I had traced its outline with my finger many times.

The forest was silent, except for the two of us, giving us a sense of aloneness and safety while we waited for my powers to recharge so I could fly us the rest of the way to the evil lair.

"I can see the bullet. It's not deep. The leather and distance probably slowed it down enough that it barely penetrated your skin." Elijah's hand pressed firmly against one cheek.

I groaned, trying to mask my pain with humor. "Can't you tell me it's terrible so that my whining is justified? Come on, please? It hurts like a mother…"

He chuckled, a sound that brought back a flood of memories. "Okay. I was wrong. It's a terrible injury. You're lucky to be alive. Seriously though, we should get the bullet out. What do you have in that fanny pack of yours?"

"Evil utility pouch," I corrected, through gritted teeth. "Something besides lipstick?"

"As useful as that is, how about something sharp?"

I wretched my hand to my back and unclipped the pack, pushing it off for Elijah to rummage through.

"Maybe your lock picking tools…" He pulled out a few of my different size thin metal hooks. "Yeah, these will work. I'm going to dig the bullet out. Are you ready? It'll hurt."

"Really? I was thinking this would feel as good as a full body massage at the spa."

As Elijah worked, good memories flooded back – we met only a handful of years ago, on the frickin’ subway. He looked all panicked and I said something quirky to calm him down. He ignored me at first, so my quirkiness got more annoying until he couldn’t ignore our chemistry. He started throwing banter back to me and before I knew it, we were back at his place making out. Little did I know he had just escaped Dr. Quackery’s control and hadn’t yet plotted his revenge.

My earpiece buzzed, but it was shorting out in the rain. "Emily… Okay… Where… You…"

"I didn't get that," I said back to Hannah at our evil lair, but only buzzing returned. I pulled the annoying electronic out of my ear before a shooting pain in my butt shot a jolt of pain through my system. "Ow, ow, ow. I always knew you were a pain in the ass, but this is different."

Another soft chuckle. "I was never a pain in the ass. We were an amazing pair. If I would have known you had an evil bone buried somewhere in that hot little body of yours, imagine the team we could have made if we nourished that part of you."

The first part was true. Elijah was never a pain. "Fine. I admit I used to enjoy spending time with you… when you prioritized me over revenge."

"Revenge was a short-term plan. You were for the long haul. Once I got the Wonderful Wons out of Obsidian City and made Dr. Quackery pay for creating superpowers in the first place, all my time would have been devoted to you." As Elijah pushed on the tender flesh of my backside, he made small talk. I knew him well; he was trying to distract me. He had done this after he got my broken body away from Dr. Quackery right before handing me over to the police where I betrayed him. "Tell me about this master plan of yours. Why did you break me out?"

Stolen novel; please report.

My mind raced, torn between the familiar comfort of Elijah's presence and the memory of why I'd walked away. Was I making another mistake by involving him in this plan? I pushed the thought aside and focused on answering his question.

"Because of all the villains in the world, it would be my ex who got rid of Shadow Strike and brought the superfoursome down to a superthreesome. You were on your way to take out the other three Wonderful Wons when… well… when…"

"When you stopped me." His voice was matter-of-fact. "We wouldn't be here now if you didn't turn me in. I would have succeeded and there wouldn't be superheroes anymore."

"Bygones. That wasn't the right time, but now is." I laughed, but I knew Elijah had been serious. Then a big twinge of pain from my backside. After I cringed and he chuckled, I knew he did it on purpose. "Okay. I see how you're still mad about that."

"No, Darling, I'm over your betrayal. What really felt like a punch in the gut is that a month after sending me to prison, you slapped me with divorce papers."

"Ha! That's why you're bitter? Come on Elijah. You killed someone. You went to prison for life. You were a supervillain. What was I supposed to do? Can you imagine how I felt having to confess to all my friends and family that I was married to the notorious SuperBoom? And that being your wife wasn't safe? That it left me with two black eyes and a broken rib? What was next?"

"That's why I went after Doctor Quackery. I would not let it happen again." He was quiet long enough for me to hear his heavy breath, in and out while he focused on my bare ass. His powerful voice fell soft. "And then he still orchestrated that attack on Obsidian City from behind bars… and that missile he let loose killed Ellie. Ems, I wish both those things never happened. I've run the events over and over in my head and wish I would have made different choices, but that's the past. I can't do anything about it now. I'm truly sorry that all happened to you… to us."

"You're placating me. Earlier you told me you wouldn't apologize. And even back during your trial, all you did was gloat."

"I was playing the role of the villain. A year behind bars should have taught me to let that part of me go. Knowing the Doctor is in prison makes me happy, but… maybe there was another way. Every day I debated that after I got you away from the Doctor, I should have hung up my mask and vest and got a boring nine-to-five job so I could focus on being your husband."

"Because then you wouldn't have ended up in prison."

"No." Elijah's voice was firm. "Because then I wouldn't have been served divorce papers."

Now, I didn't know what to say. I wouldn't apologize for turning him in, testifying against him, or asking for a divorce. "I couldn't just sit back and watch you destroy your… our life. I had to do something."

"Do something? I think there were less extreme routes to take besides sending your hubby to prison for the rest of our lives." Elijah's softness was slowly dissipating. "But no, you just threw me under the bus and walked away. You didn't even have the whole story."

"The whole story? Ha! Like the secret lair of weapons? The army of henchman you were gathering? Or about how your plan to make superheroes leave Obsidian City had morphed into killing them, one-by-one?"

Another sharp pain from my backside made me shut my mouth. Elijah was silent for a minute as he worked on my cheek. Finally, he backed away with bloody fingers holding the bullet. "You'll need antibiotics, but I know you can't go to the hospital. A bullet wound would certainly connect you to the prison break tonight."

I breathed slowly, focusing on containing the pain. Bit by bit, it got under control. "I released you from prison. We're even now, right? I testified against you, but then saved you. It's a wash."

He chuckled. "For me going to prison for nearly a year? Sure, we can be even for that one. But I just pulled a bullet out of that hot ass of yours and you owe me for that. And for two, regarding the divorce. I never agreed, so technically, we're still married."

"Not in my head." But Elijah was right. Here in Obsidian City, if both parties didn't sign off on the divorce, it wasn't final until a year after filing. That year would be up next month.

"Oh no… not good." Elijah said, but he wasn't talking about my divorce comment. "There's more blood than I expected." He folded his already bloodied shirt and held it tightly to my ass. "We need to get you somewhere to stitch this… or cauterize it."

"Are you just saying that so I can whine some more?"

But his face was as white as a ghost.

Oh no. This was getting serious.

And the worst part? I couldn’t even come up with a damn joke.