Ever since I was a child I wanted to be a super hero.   Well, first it was a baseball player, then a rock star but at 7 I settled on super hero.  I use to shovel drive ways and and deliver papers just so I could go down to the local comic store to buy the latest issues in their store. Stories of grand battles with world wide stakes. The great, evil, incredibly powerful villain would for no particular reason want to control or destroy the world. Only to be foiled by great effort by earths most powerful heroes. I much preferred them to reality.

In reality the super heroes never had giant fights that ripped through time square with humanity laying in the balance. Oh, there were a few times it was a bit like the comics. There was a man with superpowers; I think his name was John something... I never remember the real names of them. Only those handles they picked up some way or another. In any case he was involved in criminal activities involving drugs, prostitution and murder. His ability was to stretch his body to abnormal lengths. Not terribly uncommon but the length and elasticity he had was particularly unusual. In either case he was very unhinged and would certainly not be taken alive. In the end 7 cops were dead, 5 civilians and 1 super hero. Not to mention those he killed while running his organization. I remember I read he use to make his arm stretch for 30 feet and wrap it around competitors or people who thoughts may be informants. Then slowly constrict it back to normal size. Really sick shit. Needless to say a lot of closed casket funerals. In the end about half a block was damaged badly to get the job done but he was taken in. Not alive.

They rarely took people in with powers alive for violent crimes. Too hard to hold them or dangerous to mix them with a the rest of the prison population. This is not official policy of course but I never heard anyone get shit for being over zealous in those few rare cases. Mostly people with powers used them on people without them. To help police bring dangerous situations to an end or catch people leaving the scene of a crime or committing one.

First let me make clear all powers that have ever existed are based on the physical in some way. No one can lift objects with their mind or shoot lightning from their fingers. That is purely for the comics and movies. However people can have great physical strength, tough skin and bones, contort their bodies or otherwise manipulate them, have superior seeing or hearing. Things along those lines where fairly common powers but of course there are many ways it can manifest itself. I waiting when I was a child for it to manifest with me. When I was 8 I thought I was just a late bloomer. When I was 10 I was sure I had a power of some kind but could not discover just what it was. I still have a scar on my right hand where I stabbed it to see if it would heal quickly. It didn't. It went straight through.

I was asked why I tried to hurt myself. Did I think about hurting myself a lot? Did my parents hurt me too? It was hard for them to believe I was just so sure I had some sort of super power. I was sure for a long time. Blinded and convinced I was truly special. Well eventually I realized it wasn't something meant for me. I believe I was 13. I didn't come out of my room for a week. It was one of the only time in my life I really cried. It is an odd feeling to feel like you lost something when you never had it.

After that I had to decide what I wanted to do with my life. That might be one of the most odd things of all. How many 13 year old really decide what they want to do with their lives and know for sure that is it? Well I was one. I was never going to be a super hero or have amazing powers. I wanted to be part of that world though. I wouldn't allow myself not to be. Though I said I wasn't special that is not entirely the case. While it is true I don't have super powers I do have something many people don't. That is genius level intelligence. Oh I wouldn't compare myself with Einstein or Newton surely but clearly I am not normal. Rarely do I meet someone I feel is a true peer.

So I changed gears. I had a working knowledge of how the system worked. If I wanted to become someone who worked with super heroes I would need to join the company. That is what people who worked their called it. Yes they have an official name and acronym as well. I just always liked calling it the company. It is a government run program responsible for support and logistics for people with so called “super powers”. This is an organization devoted to civilian protection and service. I knew I didn't want to get into the military or spy industry. No, this was my new goal and I began to set myself up to make.

To explain how it works I need to explain how it use to work. During the founding of this organization in 1937 when the first adults with powers where just coming up it was known throughout the entire organization who they were and what their real names where. Oh It was kept secret to a degree but with enough clearance anyone could look up any information about any person who possessed super human ability. Needless to say leaks happened. Leaking is bad enough when it is a government agent or embarrassing secret. A leak being made of a so called super human (that is the official company term) is a very big concern. One such person whose name was leaked had their daughter kidnapped and was forced to rob a bank and leave the money at a designated location. He never found his daughter's body.

Since such incidents it became clear the number of people who should know a super human's true identity should be very few with even less having access. In addition to an outfit designed to hide their identity and leave no DNA or finger prints only a hand full of people would know their true identity. Each super human would be given their own secret office unless called into head quarter. The only people who would know the identity of a super human where the person themselves, their designated partner or partners AKA sidekick, The area director who was responsible for running operations out of a particular city or state, the vice director and director of the company and the president. Also the family members of the person in question. As for myself if I wanted to be a sidekick I would of course have to sign a confidentiality form that made revealing such information tantamount to treason.

This was the safest way to avoid such situations in the future and had generally worked very well since implemented over 60 years ago. But before I that I would need to get into the company. Needless to say the completion is farce. Some of the greatest minds compete for those jobs and they accept nothing less than a great mind and a skill set that is useful. I would make mine useful. I made it a point to learn everything I could about computers and practical weapons technology. I wanted to be able to hack a security system and create my own as well as any other program I may need. I also learned about various types of body armor and ballistics as well as explosives,

I didn't know exactly what they would want but I had a general idea from the information I found and focused my efforts there. I did this while being sure to keep a 4.0 GPA and finished 2nd in my class. I could have been 1st had I put more time in but I was busy learning the skills I would need and knew high school was not where I would make my case. I applied to a number of top school but knew the one I wanted was MIT. I got in on a partial scholarship. I didn't need it though. I was able to make a fair amount of money in during my high school years doing some online programming. I decide to start a double major in Science, technology and society as well as Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science. I got into MIT a year early and I didn't plan to be there long. I knew the company had their own brand of education.

I finally found a way to make my mark. In my 3rd year I designed a new form of body armor. It was specifically designed to stretch and move with a person whether their muscles enlarged or their arm extended. Such things existed already but I managed to make mine for a mere 20,000 dollars including research and contractors. It was in some way superior to the current model they had though it had its own flaws. I simply didn't have the money or resources to take the ideas further. I am sure they would have found out about it eventually but I was impatient. I wrote them a letter on who I was and how I had gone about making this body armor and asking for an appointment to go over practical applications.

A few days later I receive an invitation and free round trick plane ticket. I didn't intend to make the return trip. I flew over to their office in New York and had a meeting their with their R&D director as well as the vice area supervisor. They were interested in my design and if I would need funding to further explore such an idea. I told them I would be willing to sign the idea over to them for a job in their R&D department. This was clearly not expected and at first it seemed a bit too forward. In the end I went through their traditional hiring process and did not move to make any patent on my intellectual property.

This may no doubt seem strange as I was throwing away a potentially multimillion dollar idea. To tell the total truth money simple was of no interest to me. Ever since I was 16 I found it easy to make and had nothing I cared much to spend it on. I suppose it is fair to called me a naive idealist. I would simply say I was not interesting in what others thought I should be. The whole idea of being interested in the things other suggested you should be to me is the truly odd idea.

Slowly I moved up the ladder learning more and more. I was sent to their private classes and training courses and did my own studying as well. After 3 years I knew it was time to get the job I really wanted. I told my manager I wanted a transfer to the direct super human assistant program. It was hard to get into as much for the clearance and training needed as just the pure rarity of spots. In NY at this time there were only 40 registered super humans and about 110 assistants or side kicks. Some had only 1. Some had a teams with as many as 4 or 5.

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It was all preference and comfort with the amount of people knowing your secret. A sidekick would have to be someone you trusted completely. They would know the entire details of your life and your power, They would be the person or people most responsible for your personal security when off duty or keeping your privacy. They would be involved directly in managing information and helping design equipment specifically to match your abilities while covering for the short comings of them. Of course there were general R&D teams and logistical support teams who had information on persons of interest and surveillance. But it was all passed secure to the sidekicks to go to the super hero in question. The thought was the less people in contact with him or her the better.

To be a sidekick you not only had to have a strong general knowledge on various activities you had to pass a basic training course. This included aggressive and evasive driving, shooting, hand to hand and general spy craft. It is more impressive than it sounds. Yes I could reliably hit a target 20 meters away with a hand gun and certain could do a few nifty turns behind the wheel but we were not being trained to be field agents in any sense. It was clear our role was to be support. In the end I passed the 3 month program. It was the first time I didn't finish near the top of my class in my life. Actually I was below average in a few things. My hand to hand clearly was not up to par and my ability with a gun was not particularly impressive. However I did get the highest form in spy craft. I was drawn to the odd logic it followed. How to not stand out or follow someone without being noticed. Those things I certainly could get by head around.

In the end I passed along with 15 other people in my location. The company likes to offer matches on who would fit the based with who gets on their calculations but in the end the super human and sidekick both get a choice on if they like the match or not. If personalities clash it can be a big problem. The company told me I would do well with a man by the name of Miles Nash AKA Brute Force. Actually he picked that one himself.

As you no doubt guessed he had a physical enhancement of strength of general sturdiness. He could lift up to 1000 lbs with the same amount of effort it would take a normal man to lift up 20lbs. This 50:1 ratio in strength was particularly high even for people with the same kind of power. He was young. Only a year older than me and considered a very promising up and comer. I don't really know why were were paired together. He came off as a bit arrogant to me at that first meeting. If I knew now what I knew then I would have surely turned it down.

However I was eager to start and sure I was unlikely to find such a promising partner in the future in all likelihood. As it turned out I would be the first sidekick he was assigned and the only one. That did ruffle a few feathers. I was mentioned as too inexperienced to be in charge of managing such a potentially important asset by myself. However the area supervisor believed in me. I made a strong impression with him in our first meeting and continued to do so. Yes I had a few extra meetings I needed to take about how to set thing up properly and a temporary adviser was brought for the first 3 months. He never got to know Nash's name or face. I was very careful of that. I think that's one of the reasons after 3 months I was given the green light to run the operation myself.

After a year we were a well oiled machine and started getting set on bigger and bigger jobs. I put in request for his armor and weapons. I tested his abilities very carefully. For instance he could lift and throw and jump and hit at all super human level. I wanted to do something about his lack of range. It seemed like a big problem. In the end I helped design with R&D a strong heavy steel pole that could extend up to 30 feet. It was about 1.5 feet long but inside was a smaller hallow pole and inside that one a smaller one and so on. It was amazing how tricky that was to make. I had to train him to not hit too hard with it or it would break. Worse case he could kill someone. Also the body armor was tricky as well. He had an impact resist body but cold and heat would be issues. I sought to do something about that. Also his eyes and the inside of his mouth for some reason where no different than a normal person. I assuming the extra toughness in his body had a lot to do with the skin. I decided to develop bullet proof goggles and a mask he would wear over his mouth. One unlucky bullet there would be the end.

While you might think fighting crime is the majority of the work they do that is just not the case. Most crimes happen without a super hero or a police man being in a position to do much of anything about it even with our resources. In the majority of the time is spent with civilian outreach and publicity. Yes publicity for the agency and to steer the hero political agenda is a very big part of the day to day. The company tried very hard for year to hide these people entirely from the spotlight. That was simply not a possible so it became policy instead of fighting the public’s fascination to use. They spoke often about the work they did and the need for more funds to continue to fight crime as well a crime prevention.

While not the prettiest picture the money at least goes to something good and worth wild. These people have prevented mass terrorist attacks and dead hostages time and again. There are worse things for Charity fundraiser and tax dollar to go to. Over the next 6 years his star would rise even more. I began to find it odd why everyone knew about the famous heroes but none of their side kicks. You would think that would interest someone. It never seemed to. In the present year our relationship had become more and more strained. That is the year he reached #9 in most popular hero in the United States.

He had been rising up for a while. A few impressive feats here and there and I have to admit he was damn charming on camera. He knew the right things to say and against my protest he took off the part of the mask covering the bottom of his face at such events so everyone could see that bit white toothy smile. That big fake fucking smile he did only for the cameras.

When did I start to hate him? I mean really hate? I guess 2 years ago. I remember we got a call about an abused boy and his alcoholic father who showed up drunk for the visitation. Apparently it had gotten violent and the police were scared to enter the house as it was reported he was armed. He told me “That shit doesn't play well for the camera's. Yes go down their and look intimidating but once he sobers up it is just gonna end and I don't get to do 1 impressive thing. It ain't that kind of job that gets you that high quality pussy ha-ha!”. Something about the way he said it got under my skin. I realized for the first time he really just stopped caring about the people. They were just a vehicle for him to do his rescues and profit from it.

Also this was about the time he started his affair. Oh yes, he was married. To his college sweet heart in fact. A p regency sophomore year and married their junior year. No, I don't think it was just a marriage for the sack of their kid. I honestly think for a time they really loved each other. She still loved him at the least I was pretty sure. I saw them together early on when we first started. It honestly made me think that I'd like to be a father one day. Now seeing him I was not so sure. So yes, he fucked around and he got bored of them just as quickly as he picked them up. That was before the affair though.

You no doubt remember when I said he was the 9th most popular super hero in America? Well it just so turns out he was having an affair with the 2nd most popular. If you ever saw her you would know why. Oh she was pretty power. She could move incredibly fast and her reaction time and reflexes where some of the fastest known on record. But what made her the 2nd most popular was the fact she simply oozed sex appeal. I have never seen her with her mask completely off but more than most. The outfit she fought crime in was designed on purpose to show off her body. He partially masked face was on the cover of magazines. She has been on TV shows to guess star even for small roles. I met and talked to her a few times at social events and the in the company over the year. The top heroes and by proxy the top side kicks bump into each other on occasion. I think I even know the party it all started at though I can't be sure.

I found out about them following him home. Something I do every now and then just checking for any possible tail and to be sure he was following procedure to cover his tracks. He was always careful with that. No, it was not something every sidekick did. I just like to be very careful. I didn't try to pry into his personal life. But it was a meeting directly after his shift and right out in the open. I was surprised he wasn't more secretive. I guess by now he is very sure of his wife's schedule or maybe he just doesn't care if he is caught anymore. At first I couldn't place her. But something she did with her hand gave away who she was. It was something only someone who knew her would know. If I was not watching closely I would have missed it.

Super heroes meeting together in public out of costume was highly frowned upon. It up the risk greatly If one was exposed you could expose the other. And now I knew the identity of a 2nd super human. A highly classified piece of information. I was suppose to report that I knew immediately. It was regulation. But how do I report it? What lie could I make up? There was probably an equal chance I would be polygraphed than not. It would look bad for everyone. The problem is sidekicks are just more expendable and replaceable. I was not 1 in 100,000. No. I would have to break the rules and keep my mouth shut for now.

I followed him a few more times more than I would have over the next few months. They kept meeting. It was a bad situation. The moral implications aside it put him and me in danger. What if her sidekicks followed her? They could expose him and expose me by proxy. I decided I had to say something. I wasn't going to go to the company yet. Just to him. I wanted to see if I could get it stopped. It would be great if he just went back to the girls he had been seeing. It would make it so I could avoid reporting it and just forget it all. It was the outcome I was hoping for but probably unlikely to get. I looked back at my life a lot this morning. Now it was time to look at the future. I hoped I had one with the company but super heroes just didn't mean what they use to to me.

I looked at my clock. It was 8:55am. He would be in any minute for my morning briefing. It was going to be a hell of a briefing. I steeled myself and knew what I had to say and do. I was honestly curious how he would respond. He had started to become more and more of a bully as time went on so I was half expecting that reaction. I didn't care. I was sick of him. I wondered if all heroes turned into insufferable pieces of shit by their power corrupting them or just him. Probably I got a particularly lucky exception. I was finding I was kind of hoping he would make me report to the company. At least I would never need to see him again and move on from this job guilt free knowing I tried to help as many people as I could. As it turned out I would see him only 2 more times. This morning was the last time I would see him alive though.