“Hey, hold still,” I complained as Rache pulled her head away for the umpteenth time.

“Be more careful,” she snapped back. “My nose is broken and you don't exactly have a delicate touch.”

“Sorry.” It was sort of my fault.

My hands were still shaky an hour later at Rache's house. We had got a cab after changing back, since a bus would attract too much attention and Rache didn't drive. The cabbie had even been nice enough to give us the ride for free! We weren't even in costume, so it wasn't like we were getting favours because we were heroes.

I gently wiped at the crusty blood under Rache's nose. The damp cloth made quick work, once she stopped running from it. I dabbed at her split lip, making her wince. I withdrew my hand, but she nodded so I continued. Her bloodshot eyes were unfocused, worryingly, but she didn't want to go to the hospital. So, it was me or nothing.

“There,” I said as I wiped away the rest of the blood. Rache...didn't look much better.

“Cool, one sec.”

She rose and walked on unsteady legs into the washroom attached to her bedroom. I heard her take a deep breath, then a muffled cry of pain. I wanted to go check it out, but stayed put; I didn't want to crowd her either. A minute later, she shakily walked back and sat heavily on the bed, swaying slightly. Her nose looked straighter than before.

“Um,” I started, uncertain. “Are you...okay?”

“No,” Rache blurted bluntly. “Nose was broken, my lip probably needs stitches, and I'm pretty sure I have a concussion.”

“Oh.”

“Are you okay?”

“I think so,” I said, uncertain. “I don't, um my power wasn't working earlier. I don't think I got hurt besides a little zap from my taser.”

“Cool,” she said with a sigh. “Not that I wouldn't try to help, I just...well, look at me.”

I did. Rache really was a mess, even though she'd been cleaned up. Dark bags circled her eyes, soon to be replaced by a pair of black eyes from her broken nose. Her long hair, usually bound in tight braids, had flyaways sticking out everywhere and the braids had come partly loose. Her shoulders were slumped and her breathing wasn't steady. I was no doctor, but she probably needed one soon.

“Um.” I paused, glancing at the clock. Eleven, pretty late. “Can we order pizza? Sorry, I'm just...kinda hungry.” Despite the churning in my stomach, I felt the cramps of hunger.

“Oh right.” Rache blinked slowly. “Uh, sure. My phone's downstairs.” Mine was too... “You can order whatever. I'll pay when it gets here.”

“Are you-- should you be alone?”

“I'm concussed, not dying,” she griped. Her eyes widened. “Oh can you get dessert too? Whatever is fine, just no cheesecake.”

“Alright,” I replied. I guess Rache knew herself best. “What about pizza?”

“You can have your Canadian I guess,” she said flatly. “I'm not feeling that hungry.” I rose, but hesitated.

“I think eating would be a good idea.” My voice was quiet. I didn't want to fight her, but she'd worked just as hard as me. “I can deal with meat lovers, if it's what you want to eat.” It really wasn't a big deal to me. Maybe she had something else I could put on my slices though...

“That's cool of you,” she said, nodding. “ 'kay, go ahead.” I nodded and, reluctantly, headed downstairs.

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Our bags were by the door where we'd dropped them, exhausted after the bank. I stumbled over to mine and dug through it clumsily for my phone. Even now I was having trouble catching my breath. Everything winded me, even just running downstairs. I slowly climbed the stairs, phone in hand and breathless. I sat heavily on the bed next to Rache, taking long, deep breaths to try and recover. She stayed quiet for a moment, then slowly turned her head to me. Did she just notice me?

“Did you call?” she asked, sounding half asleep.

“Not yet, just got my phone.” I held it up and she nodded. “Here lemme just...”

I turned my attention to my phone, looking up the nearest pizza place that was open this time. Fortunately it seemed a few were and I picked the one with the lowest delivery time. I started as Rache suddenly leaned against me. I relaxed my tense muscles and looked up. Her red-rimmed eyes were shut, and a faint line of blood glistened on her lips in the light from her bedside table.

“Hey, Rache?” I asked worriedly.

“Mmm?” I got a sleepy moan in response.

“I think you're not supposed to sleep with a concussion.”

“You're not my dad.”

“Sorry.” A beat of silence.

“No, you're right.” Rache sighed and pulled away, just as I had gotten comfortable. “Thanks, Tess.”

“It's cool,” I replied, blushing. “Um, I'm gonna order now.”

I hastily tapped on my phone, selecting a large meat lovers pizza. I recalled Rache wanted dessert too, so I checked their options. Twenty bucks for a pint of ice cream?! Jesus, I remembered when it was seventeen... Oooh, brownie lava cakes for nine bucks? That was...surprisingly reasonable. I selected it, then as an afterthought added a couple sports drinks. We'd definitely earned that.

“So it's uhh.” My eyes widened. “A h-hundred and three dollars and ten cents...plus tip.”

“ 'kay.” Rache seemed unfazed by the total. “When'll it be here?” I quickly pressed the order button and checked.

“Fifteen minutes,” I replied. “Fastest I could find.”

“Pretty good,” she murmured, eyes briefly shutting again.”Whatcha wanna do til it gets here?”

We chattered back and forth for a while in circles about what we wanted to watch. We took so long that by the time we'd decided to watch some GTube videos about takedowns, my phone buzzed to tell me the delivery guy was at the door. I helped Rache down the stairs to pay him, and we took the pizza into the kitchen. She served us on a couple of plates and led me to the couch.

“Figure we watch something,” Rache said, patting the cushion next to her. “'Bite 'n' Hold'”? I grimaced. “Okay okay, you pick.”

I settled on an episode of 'AbWar: The History of Capes in Conflict'. An interesting series by some Canadian company; apparently they called Empowered 'capes' up there. I liked it though, and apparently so did Rache. We settled next to each other and quietly munched on our pizza, watching the show. We finished before it ended and I found myself with my shoulder touching Rache's. How long had I been doing that? I wasn't sure but it...wasn't bad. Like, at all. Weird.

Eventually the show ended and we decided it was about time to turn in. Again I helped her with the stairs and she directed me to an air mattress. I retrieved it and rolled it out on Rache's floor, pressed a button and let it inflate. She tossed a blanket and pillow from her bed on top of it. I gave her a tired smile, grateful. We took turns showering and changing for bed, then practically collapsed onto our respective mattresses.

I closed my eyes, but despite my exhaustion I couldn't get to sleep. I tossed and turned, trying to find a position that I could get some rest but it kept eluding me. I kept trying for what felt like an hour before letting out a quiet huff and giving up.

“Tess?” Looks like I wasn't the only one awake. “Umm, you up?”

“Mm,” I groaned. I wasn't exactly happy about it.

“I'm sorry,” Rache apologized quietly, practically a whisper. “At the bank I...I fucked up and left you alone to deal with a team of villains. I'm not asking for your forgiveness, but I hope I can make it up to you.”

“It was my fault,” I replied quietly. “I didn't warn you in time even though I saw Anvil recovering.”

“I'm not gonna hold that against you,” she said. “I should have had my head up.”

“Maybe we call it even?”

“Yeah.” We sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes.

“Hey,” I spoke suddenly. “My first night, you said my name sucked. And then you said you didn't pick yours. What...what did you mean?”

“That I didn't pick it,” Rache said simply.

“Yeah but like, don't all heroes--.”

“No,” she snapped. I frowned and stayed quiet for a minute.

“Can you change it?”

“Change it?”

“Yeah like...” I paused, thinking. “Rebrand, or something? You could pick your own name.”

“It's fine,” she said quickly. “It's just a name.”

“Okay.” A moment of silence. “What would you pick?”

“Dunno,” Rache answered after a second of thinking. “Something shorter. Snappier. Something a villain could gasp in surprise.”

“Hmm,” I hummed thoughtfully. “Fusil?”

“What?”

“Fusil.” I repeated. “I dunno it's...kinda snappy?”

“Fusil huh...” Her voice was thoughtful. “I don't hate it.” I thought I could hear a smile in her voice and smiled along with her.

“Neither do I,” I said. A yawn ambushed me and I found myself suddenly sleepy. “Mm, g'night Rache. Thanks for tonight and...yeah.”

“Night Tess,” Rache replied gently. “Sweet dreams.” I barely caught her last words as I drifted off to sleep. “My hero.”