Papers. Papers. Papers.

That’s all Rachel saw on a daily basis. Fortunately, she’d always been very well-organized. Otherwise she’d be lost in a sea of tests, homework and quizzes.

When Dirk Saber offered her this TA position, this was not what Rachel Ducane expected. She’d been a straight-A student, and it helped that her father Roll Cage knew Saber back in the day. Rachel figured her job as a TA would consist of cleaning up the gym, or perhaps, going through Dirk Saber’s extensive fighting routines.

Instead, a job as Dirk Saber’s TA was pretty much like any other job. Rachel had set hours and clear expectations. Saber made for a generally chill boss most of the time - that is, when supervillains weren’t breaking into his office - and for the most part Rachel had settled into a routine.

Then again, what was it Saber always told his class? Routines are the downfall of any hero.

Good advice, but it was hard to follow it when the biggest danger facing Rachel at the copier machine was a paper cut.

Still, death by a thousand paper cuts sounded preferable to thinking about her uncomfortable relationship to Zack.

He’d apologized . . . somewhat . . . and at least she wasn’t intentionally spilling beer on him anymore.

But Rachel couldn’t deny a chasm had opened up between them. It had been there since the day he disappeared, and she…

Rachel couldn’t think about that anymore. The bottom line was that Zack had changed. Into what, Rachel wasn’t sure.

She just knew she didn’t like it.

Rachel finished copying several test materials, making sure they were correctly correlated. She then made her way down the hall to Dirk Saber’s office. Class didn’t start for at least another couple of hours, giving Rachel plenty of time to get everything ready.

She found Dirk Saber in his office, grading papers. He rubbed his eyes as she entered with a stack of papers.

“Please tell me there aren't any more of them,” Dirk said.

“Relax. These are blank,” Rachel said as she set him on his desk. “But they won’t be after tonight…”

“Ughh,” Dirk said. “Don’t remind me.”

“Relax, Professor,” Rachel said in a sing-song tone. “This is only the first test. Just think of how many midterms you’ll have to grade in a month…or finals for that matter!”

“Why did I hire you again?” Dirk looked up from the papers he was grading.

“My sparkling personality,” Rachel said as she sat down across from Dirk and balanced her head on her fist in an exaggerated thinking position.

“Ahhh, well, I might have to give your daddy a call about this so-called sparkling personality,” Dirk said.

“How long are you going to play the ‘I know your dad’ card?” Rachel scoffed.

“Until I think of a better comeback,” Dirk gave an exaggerated shrug.

“Oh you don’t have one,” Rachel said. “That is painfully clear.”

Dirk looked up, narrowing his eyes. “Are you reading my mind?”

“Oh I don’t need to read your mind to know you don’t have any game,” Rachel smirked.

Dirk sighed. “I hate this time of year.”

He leaned back in his chair and stretched. Rachel tried not to notice his taunt biceps ruffle against his tight shirt.

It was an occupational hazard working with Dirk Saber, no matter how much older he was than her.

Dirk finished his stretch and then regarded Rachel for a minute.

“So…” Dirk trailed off.

“So…” Rachel said, mimicking him.

“How’s things with Zack?” he asked.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Rachel looked away. “You must be really grasping for straws if that’s your comeback.”

Still, Dirk persisted, leaning onto the desk with his arms folded. “I’m serious.”

“Why?” Rachel asked.

“Because if you’re thinking about Zack, you’re not here,” Dirk said. “I need your head in the game.”

“Liar,” Rachel said. “When is my head never in the game?”

Dirk relented ever so slightly. “Okay. I’m also your friend and colleague and I’m worried about you.”

Rachel sighed.

She didn’t want to get into a verbal sparring match with Dirk Saber. For all their banter, the guy was as sharp with his words as he was his fists. And on some level, she knew he was right.

“It’s just…I spent so long looking for Zack,” she said. “And he just pops up back on campus like nothing happened.”

Dirk nodded. “Well, what does Zack say about it?”

“Not much…” Rachel said, and then immediately shook her head. “That’s not true. He apologized. And I know I know that should be enough.”

“Then why isn’t it?” Dirk said, fixing his eyes on her.

Rachel leaned back in his chair and started gesturing with her hands. “Because something did happen. I just don’t know what yet.”

Dirk didn’t say anything for a minute.

“Well, it’s been two years since you saw him last,” Dirk said as he looked out the window. “I suppose a lot has happened.”

“But what?” Rachel said. “What happened that made him leave without saying a word?”

Dirk turned back to her. “Could be a lot of things, I guess.”

“That’s what scares me. Not knowing,” Rachel said. Dirk gave a mirthless chuckle.

“We may be superheroes but we’re still human,” Dirk said. “None of us deal with uncertainty that well.”

Silence enveloped them for a moment. Both seemed lost in their own thoughts. For Rachel’s part, she wished she had the power to just make Zack tell her everything he was hiding. But she didn’t have that kind of power, and even if she did, such a violation would be unforgivable.

“You two will figure it out,” Dirk said. “You just need to communicate. He’ll open up…when he’s ready.”

“The voice of experience?” Rachel mused with a smile.

Dirk shifted about uncomfortably for the briefest of things. “Something like that.”

Rachel started to stand up. She needed to get back to her rounds. She heard a noise outside. No, not outside she realized.

It was coming from inside her mind. She was getting several impressions, loud enough for her track without much effort.

Panic.

Fear.

Terror.

As Rachel stood up, the ground seemed to give way below her. She struggled to steady herself on the desk, only to notice it was shaking too. Dirk launched from his chair to steady her. His touch ran a warmth through Rachel she hadn’t felt in a long time.

“What’s happening?” she asked, confused.

“Earthquake,” Dirk said.

“In Illinois?” she questioned, but Dirk was already on the move.

“We need to get shelter,” Dirk said, moving towards the desk. Rachel grabbed him and yanked him back, right before the Omegium swords in his office fell from the wall and cleaved his desk in two. Dirk gave Rachel a grateful look.

“Thanks,” he said. “I guess we’re not staying here.”

“I guess not,” he said.

They ran into the hallway, only to see it flooded with panicked students.

“Stay inside,” he urged. “Find shelter and stay there.”

His words seemed to calm some of the students, but many more rushed forward. Suddenly Dirk’s words about routine seemed to make a lot more sense. The students here were all training to be superheroes, but caught off-guard in a rapidly changing environment…they were helpless.

“We’re on the third floor,” Rachel said to Dirk. “We can’t stay here.”

Dirk watched the crowds surge forward. He was completing the same morbid calculation in his mind. If the quake didn’t kill them, the panicking students would. They could try to rush into another classroom and find a desk to hide in, but doing so would imperil them against the rushing tides of panicked students crashing through the hallways.

“This is really really stupid,” Dirk said. “But I think it’s our only option.”

“What?” Rachel said. She turned to him, trying to get a fix for what he was thinking. Her concentration remained shattered. All around her the ground shook and students cried out. Before she could say another word, Dirk scooped her into his arms.

“When I say go limp,” he said. “Go limp.”

“What are–” Rachel said, but before she say anything, Dirk raced towards the window with Rachel in his hands.

“Now!” he bellowed as he dived out the window. Amid the shattering glass and wind blasting through her face and hair, Rachel managed to remember her training and loosen her body within Dirk’s grasp. She did all of this as she shut her eyes, just as the ground came racing towards her.

When her eyes opened, she found herself and Dirk on the ground. She looked up at him.

“Never do that again!” she yelled as she scrambled to her feet.

“Next earthquake, I’ll be sure to ask first,” he said as a shadow fell on his face.

Unfortunately, Rachel’s feeling of calmness proved short-lived. The ground beneath their feet continued to shake and groan. All around them Rachel heard panicked cries and screams. She looked to Dirk, her mind instinctively scanning his, but she all saw was the same fear and confusion that gripped her.

What she didn't see was the nearby wall collapsing in towards the, until it was too late. She raised her voice in a high-pitch yelled, but her warning proved too little, too late, as darkness overtook them both.