I was at home, watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it was one of my favourite shows. My phone started ringing, making my heart race; I quickly paused the show and answered my phone. “Hello.”
“Hello, Cara, this is Pauline. I wanted to let you know that you've got the job.”
“Oh, that's great, thank you.” I grinned.
My dreams really had come true, I couldn't wait to start my very first job, and get to know the superheroes.
“You'll be going out with the London Defenders, but you won't have to fight until you've been trained. For now, you'll just be healing them. You'll be working Monday to Friday from 9am-6pm.”
“Okay.”
“When can you start?” Pauline asked.
“Uh, tomorrow,” I replied.
“Great, I'll see you then.”
“Bye, see you tomorrow.”
I hung up. This was fantastic, I was starting my dream job tomorrow, and I'd be with heroes, who I'd loved for years. But, what if they were horrible people? They always seemed really friendly on TV, hopefully they'd be the same in real life. They couldn't be mean, they seemed so nice when I'd met them. I needed to stop worrying, it was going to be great working with superheroes and being one myself.
****
The next day, I went to the London Defenders building. Pauline walked over to me.
“Good morning, how are you?” She asked.
“I'm good, how are you?”
“I'm good. Follow me and I'll introduce you to the people you'll be working with.”
“Thank you,” I said.
I followed Pauline into a corridor, then we walked up grey spiraled steps. It was a fancy building, definitely fit for superheroes. It was so surreal that I got to work here with my idols. When we got to the top, we walked along another corridor, then took the first door on the right. Inside, was a large room, with differently coloured chairs and sofas; there was a kitchen area with supplies as well. The carpet was bright, red and soft looking. The walls were a happy, yellow colour. It was a very pretty room. All of the superheroes were sitting together.
“Everyone, I'd like you to meet Cara, the newest member of the team. I hope you'll all make her feel welcome,” Pauline said.
“Of course.” Swift Sage nodded.
“I'm afraid I have to get back to business,” Pauline said.
“Oh, that's fine,” I replied.
“If you have any questions or troubles, come and find me. If you can't find me, you can ask at reception.”
“Alright, thanks.”
Pauline left, and I went and sat opposite my new team.
“We should introduce ourselves properly, I'm Sam,” Mr. Mind said.
“I'm Alex,” Strong Sapphire said.
“I'm Pablo,” Swift Sage said.
“And I'm Sofia,” Invisigirl said.
“It's nice to meet you all properly.”
“You too, I'm glad you got the job,” Pablo replied.
It was amazing that I was in the same room as them, and that I was talking to them. If this was a dream, I never wanted to wake up.
“Thanks, so am I.”
“So, you can heal people and bring them back to life?” Alex asked.
“Yep, that's right, I'm also Immortal.”
“That's so cool.” Sofia smiled.
“It definitely is, and useful, too,” Sam said.
“Yeah, now we don't have to worry about dying.” Alex nodded.
“I've seen some of your powers in real life, but I'm sure there are some I don't know about. Could you all tell me what powers you have?”
“I can become invisible and create illusions of myself and others. I prefer to stealthy take down enemies,” Sofia replied.
“That's really cool. I can't fight at all yet.”
“We'll teach you.” Pablo smiled. “Anyway, I have super hearing, vision and reflexes.”
“Oh wow.”
They had such brilliant powers, that was why they made such a good team.
“I can read minds, create shields and move things with my mind,” Sam said.
That was awkward, he could hear everyone's thoughts. I needed not to think about how hot he was, why was I thinking about that? I had to put it out of my mind. My cheeks felt hot, I looked at Sam and he was smiling. He was probably used to people thinking about his good looks, after all, he was the most popular superhero in Europe. Still, it was embarrassing that he could hear every single one of my thoughts.
“Sorry, I'll stop reading your mind now.” Sam chuckled.
“You can do that?” I frowned.
I thought he would've read everyone's minds all the time, I didn't know he could control it.
“Yes, when I was younger, I couldn't control it, but now I can. I'm able to hear people's thoughts when I decide to. Before, everything was so noisy, it was difficult to manage.”
“I imagine it would be.” I nodded.
“I have super strength and can shape-shift to look like anyone,” Alex said, then she made herself look like me.
It was so weird seeing myself sitting in front of me. She had the same long, blonde hair, white skin and blue eyes. Her size had even changed; she'd become a lot smaller and much less muscular.
“This is so weird!” I held my head.
Alex shifted back to her normal, gorgeous self.
“Sam, no more reading her mind, and Alex no more making yourself look like her. We don't want to scare Cara away.” Pablo looked at them.
“Oh no, that could never happen, this is my dream job.” I smiled. “Like all of you are my idols. You'd have to be horrible for me to dislike any of you.”
“We're definitely not going to be horrible.” Sofia shook her head.
“Yeah, I'd say we're friendly to everyone who isn't a villain,” Sam said.
“You all definitely seem friendly.” I nodded.
A blaring alarm went off and red lights flashed on the ceiling.
“What's that?” My eyes widened.
“We have to go out and deal with something, Pauline will tell us what it is,” Pablo replied.
“EVIL are robbing Lloyd's Bank,” Pauline said through a speaker.
I'd seen the EVIL group a few times; there was Vicious Viper, she had super speed and could teleport, Blazing Inferno, he could create and control fire, Dark Demon who had telekinesis, and the creepiest of all, Bloodlust, he could control people's minds and he drank their blood; he was a real life vampire. They all wore creepy costumes. Vicious Viper wore a purple scaly suit that had snakes engraved in it, and a snake mask. Blazing Inferno wore black leather with flames all over, and a mask that was black and red, like a demon. Dark Demon wore all black, and had a horrible white mask, with bright red lips and dark eyes. Bloodlust's costume was dark red and made of leather, with a black cloak and hood; his white mask with cracks in it only covered half of his face, since he used his teeth to bite people and drink their blood.
We rushed out of the building, and my heart was pounding — I was so nervous to go up against these villains.
“Cara, stay away from the fighting as much as you can,” Pablo said.
“Yeah, I will. I nodded. “How do we get there?”
There weren't any cars, helicopters, or planes around.
“I'll fly us all there,” Sam replied, then lifted himself and everyone else into the air, including me.
“Oh no, I don't like this!” I exclaimed.
It felt so weird being off the ground, and having no control over my movement. It didn't help that I hated heights, either.
“You can hold on to me if it'll make you feel better,” Sam said.
I flung my arms around him and clung on tightly, which made me feel a bit better. Sam wrapped his strong arms around me.
“It's okay, we'll be there soon,” Alex said.
As we got higher off the ground, I shut my eyes, it was too scary to look.
“I didn't like this at first, but I got used to it. I'm still not fond of heights, though,” Sofia said.
“I hate them!” I exclaimed.
I could feel the wind rushing past me, as we flew quickly through the air. It was much colder up here, the only warmth was from Sam's body pressed against mine. After a few minutes, the wind stopped, maybe we'd got to the bank.
“We're here,” Sam said.
I felt my feet touch the ground, so I opened my eyes and we finally back on the land. Unfortunately, I was still stressed because we were going up against notorious villains.
“They must be in the bank, we'll go in, you stay outside.” Pablo looked at me.
“Sure.” I nodded.
They all rushed inside, and I stayed back, not wanting to get hurt. I would love to be able to fight and be stronger, then I could help more. I'd never even punched someone before; they'd have a lot to teach me.
The villains ran outside, carrying bags full of money, making my heart race. I didn't want them coming anywhere near me. I loved being around heroes, but villains were terrifying; at least the EVIL group never killed people, they just robbed places, so I probably wasn't in too much danger. My team came out and chased the villains. Sam held the villains back, using his powers, then pulled them all towards him. They all started fighting, it was hard to keep track of because there were so many of them, and it was all very fast. One moment, Alex was attacking Blazing Inferno, the next, Vicious Viper was on her. It was crazy.
If I could've fought, I would've. I just stood, watching in fear and; I was worried for my heroes, but it was incredible being so close to them and all the action. I couldn't believe that I got paid for this.
Sofia had made many illusions of herself, it was impossible to tell which one was really her. Suddenly, she jumped on Viscious Viper and put her arms around the villain's neck. Unfortunately, Blazing Inferno went over and pulled Sofia off Viscious Viper. He threw flames from his body at her and she screamed, as she got burned. It was horrible. Sofia rushed away, and I ran over; the skin on her left arm, and the side of her face was red and black, the burn was severe. It looked pretty disgusting, poor, beautiful Sofia.
“Don't worry, I'll heal you, then you won't be in pain anymore,” I said.
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“Oh, please, be quick, I can't bear this.”
I held Sofia's burnt hand, and her burns glowed golden, then returned to normal. She looked perfect again.
“Thank you so much.” She hugged me.
“You're welcome,” I replied.
“Well, I should get back to it.” Sofia dashed back to the fight.
I felt quite tired from healing Sofia; anytime I healed someone, I became tired, especially if the injury was more severe. If I healed a minor cut, I was fine, but anything more than that, and I needed a nap. I'd just have to wait until we got back. They all kept fighting, Sofia was back in it, more fierce than ever.
It was really weird, my superheroes had stopped fighting, they were all completely still. Why were they doing this, when they should've been catching the criminals? Then, I saw Bloodlust, the scariest of all; there were red foggy lines connecting him to the heroes, he must've been hypnotising them all. That allowed all of them to get away. This had to be the reason why the EVIL team always got away. They were well out of sight when the heroes came back to me.
“I hate that they always get away, if only we could stop Bloodlust.” Pablo sighed.
“I know, if we took him out, they'd be easy to arrest,” Alex said.
“Well, we just have to keep trying,” Sam replied.
“Yeah, definitely don't give up. Yous so nearly got them all,” I said.
“We'll get them, no matter what it takes.” Alex nodded.
“Oh, does anyone else need healed?” I asked.
If anyone else needed to be healed, I could easily do it, I'd just need to have a longer nap.
“If it's not a bother, I could do with some gashes being healed,” Alex replied.
I could see a few slashes in her arms, it looked sore, but not deadly.
“Of course,” I said.
“Uh, how does it work?” She frowned.
“I just need to make physical contact, then I'll heal you, you won't feel a thing.”
“She's amazing, once I was healed, I felt much better,” Sofia said.
Alex held out her large red hand, so I held it, then healed her. All the slashes in her arm disappeared, leaving only dried blood stains, which almost blended with her skin. If I hadn't known she'd been in a fight, I would've thought the blood was part of her natural colour.
“Thank you.” Alex hugged me.
“It's no problem. Although, I'm exhausted now. When I heal someone, I get tired and need a nap. I hope that's okay,” I said.
“Of course, you can sleep when we get back to work. We won't bother you, you take as long as you need,” Pablo said.
“Well, you can wake me up if there's some kind of emergency, like a fire, or if we get called out to deal with something.”
“We will, but I think those alarms would wake you up anyway.” Sam chuckled.
“Speaking of, we should get back to work,” Pablo said.
“Are you ready, Cara?” Sam asked.
“Well, I'm not looking forward to flying again, but I guess I'm ready.” I shrugged.
I hated the feeling of being off the ground, and not having anything firm to put my feet on. I hated rollercoasters, but at least there was a place to plant my feet firmly; planes were the same.
“We can hold each other again, if that helps,” Sam replied.
“Yeah, it helps.” I nodded.
Sam hugged me and I put my arms around him, then we lifted into the air and I squeezed my eyes shut tightly. I trusted Sam, but I hated this strange feeling of flying through the air at such high speeds. The wind from going so fast in the open air was as cold as the Arctic, I didn't like it at all. If any of us fell, we'd be dead within seconds of hitting the ground, it was horrible to think about. But, surely, that wouldn't happen.
“You're okay, we're nearly there,” Sam said.
“I hope you aren't just saying that to make me feel better.”
“He's not, we really are nearly back,” Sofia replied.
“I'm surprised you hate it so much, I thought it was everyone's dream to fly,” Alex said.
“Well, it's definitely not mine.” I shook my head.
Flying would be great if I wasn't petrified of heights and it wasn't so cold. I'd never thought of flying being so cold, they never showed it in superhero movies; Superman never got cold from flying, the only one who did was Tony Stark in one of the Iron Man movies. It really was something you didn't even think about.
“Is there anything that would make it better?” Alex asked.
“I think this is the best it's going to get. Unless, I had something to stand on, that might help a bit.”
“I'm sure I could find a plank of wood for you, then levitate it so that you could stand on it. I'll do that for next time,” Sam said.
“Thank you. Could I still hold on to you?” I asked.
“Of course, that's no problem.”
The wind finally stopped blistering all around me, so we must've arrived. Sam brought us to the ground and I opened my eyes, grateful to be back on the ground.
“I have a question, can you fly faster than a plane?” I asked.
“Unfortunately, not. I wouldn't be able to breathe if I flew that fast. If I had a machine that allowed me to breathe, then I could find out how fast I can really fly,” Sam replied.
“Ah, that makes sense. But, it would be handy if you could go as fast or faster than a plane, then you wouldn't have to pay for flights or wait in any queues.”
“That would be great, but I don't really need to worry about paying or waiting.”
“Why?” I frowned.
“Well, I've earned a lot of money from this job, so it isn't something I need to worry about. I don't usually wait in queues because I go privately in emergencies where I need to help heroes in other countries, or people let me go ahead of them.”
“Wow, that's amazing,” I said.
“Yeah, it's one of the many perks of being a superhero.” Alex smiled.
My eyes were starting to sting a bit because I was so tired; I really had to have a nice, long nap.
“I really need to sleep now.”
“Don't worry, you can have a big nap,” Pablo replied.
We all went inside, and I went to the staff room, which was warm and toasty, the perfect environment to sleep in, after I'd been frozen from flying. I got comfortable on a long, green sofa.
“I'll get pillows and a blanket for you,” Pablo said.
“Thank you.”
“We'll probably be in the gym or the canteen. The gym is at the end of the hall, on the left, and the canteen in downstairs, it's to the right of reception,” Sofia said.
“Alright, thanks. I'll try to remember.”
“If you can't remember, or can't find us, ask at reception,” Alex replied.
“I will.”
“Anyway, we'll let you rest,” Sam said.
They all left, and I thought I'd get to sleep quickly because I was so tired — I hadn't used my powers this much in years. After a few minutes, Pablo came back with a blanket, pillow and glass of water for me.
“What's the water for?” I asked.
“It's in case you get thirsty, I'm always really thirsty when I wake up from a nap.”
“Aww, thank you, that's very thoughtful of you.” I smiled.
“You're welcome.”
I took the blanket and pillow, rested my head on it and wrapped the blanket around myself.
“I'll see you later,” Pablo said.
“Yep, see you later.”
He left and I closed my eyes. I was finally getting a much-needed nap.
****
I woke up and rubbed my eyes, then opened them; Pablo was right, I was quite thirsty. I took a drink of water, then looked up at the clock that was on the wall; I'd been asleep for about two hours. No one else was in the room, so I'd have to go and find them.
I got up, then left the room, and went down the hallway. From what I remembered, they'd said the gym was down the hall and on the left, so I followed their instructions. When I opened the door, I saw a large gym in front of me, there were cardio machines as well as weight machines and weights at the side. My team was working out in the gym, I was glad I'd found them so quickly.
“How was your nap?” Pablo asked.
“It was good, thank you.”
“We were just finishing our workouts,” Alex said.
“I think we should show you around, this place is pretty big, and it's easy to get lost. I certainly got lost quite a bit in my first week here,” Sofia said.
“That would be great,” I replied.
“Let's go then,” Sam said.
They all stopped what they were doing, and I left the room with them. I followed them around the large building, seeing the offices, toilets, canteen, training rooms, meeting rooms and the swimming pool. This place was incredible, so far, I loved this job.
“Hopefully, you'll remember where all the different rooms are,” Sofia said.
“Uh, I'll try.”
This place was so big that I could easily get lost or go the wrong way. Although, I'd probably only be apart from the team when I was taking a nap, or in the mornings when I went into work.
“We'll try to stay with you most of the time so that you don't get lost,” Sam said.
“Thanks, that would help.”
“I'm hungry, let's get food,” Alex said.
“Yeah, actually, I'm hungry, too.” I nodded.
We all went down to the canteen and lined up to get food. I looked at what was on offer and there was a wide variety of foods, like curry, pasta, chips, fish, steak — it was wonderful and smelt delicious. I decided that I'd have a chicken curry, so when it was my turn, that's what I got. Then, I sat between Sofia and Pablo at the table, with Alex and Sam opposite. We were sitting at a round table, so it was easy to see everyone clearly. Alex was having a large steak and chips, Sam was having pasta, Pablo got the fish and chips, and Sofia had a curry, like me. I'd have to try the other foods another day. I ate my curry and it tasted great, I loved that the food was so delicious, it meant that I didn't have to cook for myself. I'd probably only have to cook dinner, which wasn't too bad.
“You know, we should go out for drinks later, to celebrate Cara joining us,” Sam said.
“That would be great!” Alex grinned.
“Do you want to do that?” Pablo looked at me.
“Sure, and I can drink all I want and not get a hangover.” I smiled.
“Wow, that's lucky,” Alex replied.
“I know.” I nodded.
“Then it looks like we're going for drinks after work,” Sofia said.
“Yep, it's a plan,” Pablo replied.
It was nice of them to plan a celebration for me joining the team, and it'd be good to get to know them all better within a relaxed and less formal environment.
“How are you finding your first day here?” Sam asked.
“It's been amazing.” I smiled. “Seeing the villains was scary, but watching the fight was surreal, I've only ever seen it on TV, to actually be there was something else.”
“Well, you have nothing to worry about, we'll protect you, and you can't die,” Pablo said.
“Thank you.”
“Which villain do you find the scariest?” Alex asked.
“Definitely Bloodlust, he's really creepy.”
The fact that he could make anyone do whatever he wanted was enough to make anyone terrified. It was even worse that he drank people's blood, they couldn't even do anything about it.
“Oh, I agree, he's so creepy.” Sofia nodded.
“Yeah, I think he's the hardest for all of us to face,” Alex said.
I had eaten half of my food, even though it was delicious, I was full. The others were still eating, maybe one of them would eat my food.
“I'm done, does anyone want my curry?” I asked.
“Oh no, I couldn't eat two meals.” Sofia shook her head.
“I don't think I could either,” Pablo said.
“I'll have it if you don't want it.” Alex looked at Sam.
“Go ahead,” he replied.
I pushed my plate to Alex, and she ate her own food, as well as mine. She must've had a big appetite, probably because she was so strong.
“Thanks for the food,” Alex said.
“It's no problem, I was done and didn't want to waste it.”
“Well, you can give me your leftovers any time.”
“Sure.” I smiled.
****
We were called out a few more times to deal with crimes, like muggings, fights, and robberies, but we didn't face any more villains. Normal criminals were much easier to deal with because they didn't have any powers. I hadn't even used my powers for the rest of the day.
Since work was over for the day, we went to a pub for a drink. I sat between Sam and Alex, with Pablo and Sofia opposite us. We were at a maroon coloured booth, in the corner. It would be better to avoid most people in case they recognised us, although this pub wasn't very busy, as there were only five other people inside.
“I'll go and get drinks, what does everyone want?” Sam asked.
“I'll have a strawberry Kopparberg,” I replied.
“You know me, I want a beer,” Alex said.
“I'll have a Guinness,” Pablo said.
“I just want a Sprite, since I don't want a hangover tomorrow,” Sofia said.
“Alright, I'll get those now.” Sam went up to the bar to get our drinks for us.
“Oh, does he need help carrying all those drinks?” I asked.
There were a lot of drinks to carry, I certainly couldn't carry all those on my own.
“Nah, he'll be fine, he can use his powers to carry them,” Alex said.
“Oh, that's good.”
My powers were useful for when I got injured or died, but that didn't happen often — although it probably would now that I was a superhero. It would be cool to have powers that I could use in my daily life. But, I was grateful to have any powers at all.
Sam came back with the drinks, he was carrying two, and levitating the other three. He set them down beside us, and I took a sip of mine, it tasted as great as always.
“So, I noticed that some of you have lovely accents that aren't British, where are all of you from?” I asked.
“I'm from Spain. I moved here a few years ago for my girlfriend. Unfortunately, she left me for a villain, who's now in prison,” Sofia said.
“Wow, that's crazy.” I shook my head.
How could anyone leave Sofia for a villain? It was unbelievable, she seemed so friendly and she was gorgeous. It was good to know that Sofia had a girlfriend in the past because it meant that there was potential for her to be interested in me. If she was straight, I definitely couldn't date her.
“Yeah, I was shocked.”
“I'm from America, California, to be specific. I came here on a holiday and helped the heroes here. I realised that I much preferred this team, and they valued and appreciated me much more. So that's why I moved here,” Alex said.
“What was it like being a hero in America?” I asked.
“There were absolutely a lot more criminals and villains to deal with. The team was bigger, with heroes who were extremely arrogant and competitive with each other. I liked it at the time, but when I came here, I saw how much better it could be.”
“My situation is kind of similar. I'm from Mexico and came here on a hero exchange program. I loved it here, but I also loved Mexico. Unfortunately, we got a new leader in Mexico when the old one retired, the new one was bossy and critical of everyone. He also got new people on the team and I just didn't get along with them, and they'd make up lies about me,” Pablo said.
“Wow, that sounds awful,” I replied.
“Well, I've lived in London my whole life. I've been lucky to be on this team since I was twenty-six. But, I was a hero at eighteen. These are the best people to work with, I worked with other people in the past, and they were cool, but not as caring and supportive,” Sam said.
“Aww, we love you, too.” Alex smiled.
“Yeah, we're all very lucky to have each other,” Pablo said.
“What about you, Cara, where are you from?” Sofia asked.
“I'm from Ireland, Belfast, specifically. I moved here because I wanted to be with my boyfriend. He turned out to be such a horrible person.” I sighed.
“What happened to him?” Alex asked.
“I definitely should've dumped him. He was so controlling, he never let me out of the house, and he'd throw food at me if it wasn't to his liking… Last week, he was murdered. I noticed he was home late, but I went to bed, then in the middle of the night, the police told me he'd been murdered. I have no idea who did it or why.” I shrugged. “Other than me, everyone liked him because he faked being a charming, normal person.”
“Oh my, did you do it?” Alex asked.
“No, I hated him, but I'd never do that… but, it's better this way, I wouldn't be here if he was still alive.”
“I was just messing with you.” Alex chuckled.
“Oh.”
“Even if you did kill him, I wouldn't blame you.” Sofia shook her head.
“Thanks.”
I was glad that I had the support of my new team; they all seemed very close to each other, and I hoped that I'd fit in.
“You're free from him now, that's all that matters,” Pablo said.
“Yeah, we're all glad that you don't have to deal with him anymore and that you're part of the team.” Sam nodded.
“As am I.”
“So, what age are you?” Alex asked.
“I'm twenty-five. What about all of you?”
“Same!” Alex held her hand out for a high-five, so I gave her one.
“I'm twenty-four,” Sofia said.
“I'm thirty-four,” Sam said.
“Oh wow, you look younger, I thought you were twenty-eight. You definitely don't look a day over thirty,” I replied.
“Thank you.” He smiled.
“I'm the oldest, I'm thirty-six,” Pablo said.
“You don't look that old, either.” I shook my head.
“Thanks.”
“So, you had a boyfriend, are you straight?” Alex asked.
That was a slightly unusual question, normally people didn't ask if you were straight. It was usually people asking if you were gay, so it was interesting to hear it asked the other way round.
“No, I'm bi,” I replied.
“Oh, I'm the same.” Pablo smiled.
“Aww, that's cool,” I replied.
“Sofia and I are lesbians,” Alex said.
“Wow, it's great to be surrounded by fellow LGBTQ people.” I smiled.
Normally, there were way more straight people than LGBTQ, so it was pleasant for it to be the other way round.
“I'm straight, I hope you don't mind,” Sam said.
“I don't care, as long as you're a supporter,” I replied.
“I certainly am. I don't care who someone dates, as long as they're a nice person.”
“That's the way everyone should be,” Sofia said.
“Definitely.” I nodded.
It was great that everyone here was so supportive and accepting; they really seemed to be the best people to work with. I also loved that all of them could potentially be interested in me, since none of the men were gay, and none of the women were straight. If more than one of them was interested in me, I'd have no idea who to pick, since they were all brilliant so far. I'd pass that hurdle if I came to it. It was possible that none of them would ever be interested in me.