Zoom, Academy for Superheroes: Part 1

Feel Again

"Heart's still beating but it's not working, it's like a million dollar phone that you just can't ring, I reached out trying to love but I feel nothing, my heart is numb. But with you, I feel again. Yeah, with you, I can feel again. I'm feeling better ever since you know me, I was a lonely soul but that's the old me."
-One Republic

*****

As the end of November approached, the days got colder and shorter. This particular evening, the team sat in the lounge and had gotten to reminiscing. They had all met almost exactly a year ago, it was mid-November when Jack, Marsha, and Grant decided that these particular four children would become the new Zenith team.
Jack may have been bitter about it at first, and, on days, he still was, but he really wouldn't have it any other way. Being dragged back to this place that he only knew as hell, was the best thing that ever happened to him. He met his family, and he wouldn't give that up for the world.
The six superheroes were all scattered on the couches of the lounge, by now, they had all acquired their own particular spots in the lounge. Dylan, Summer and Cindy shared the biggest couch, Tucker sat on the chaise, and Jack and Marsha were always on the love seat. It was just one of those things that they'd fallen into a habit of doing during their early days here, and it stuck.
Right now, they were talking about those first days here. First meetings, first impressions, things they hadn't thought about in a while.
"I think that we have to talk about the first time we all met Mr Shepherd, because I'm sure we had some, different, views than we do now." Summer said with a laugh.
"Well, that's easy, my first impression of him was a washed-up loser." They all laughed, those were, in fact, Dylan's first words about Jack.
"I thought that he was definitely going to need some work." Summer commented.
"I was under the impression that he was unimportant to us, I didn't realize that he would be the one training us. When I found out that he was actually responsible for our success as a team, I was fully prepared to up and run away from Area 52."
Everyone laughed once more as Tucker depicted perfectly how everyone felt about Jack the first time they'd met him.
"Why is everyone picking on me? Come on, Cindy, I'm sure that you have something nice to say."
"Actually, Mr Zoom, I thought that you were nice."
"Finally."
"Until you started talking." Cindy finished with a laugh and Jack threw his hands in the air, turning to Marsha in exasperation. She just smiled and shrugged, she couldn't defend him, God knows that if this was how the children felt about him when they'd first met, she felt about ten times worse.
"I mean, he obviously didn't want to be any part of the new team, how did you guys even manage to get him back here?" Summer asked Marsha, Jack scoffed as he remembered exactly how they got him here. Beside him, Marsha's face turned slightly red.
"Well, it's actually a, um, an interesting story."
Jack laughed some more as they recounted the story together.
"This one day, Dr Grant just came up to me and said that he needed me to be the "bait". He just left it at that, he didn't even explain what that meant. He threw a green dress at me and told me to meet him in a few minutes." Marsha began the story, but, of course, Jack eventually interrupted.
Hey, I just realized that we were both "the bait", as Grant would say." He chuckled and Marsha looked on at him curiously, waiting for him to finish. "Well, I mean, I was Connor's bait, the only reason you guys needed me was because I was luring him back here, and you were my bait."
The kids were confused, but had a feeling that they would understand by the end of their story. Marsha continued, "So, there I was, wearing this ridiculous green dress, and-"
"What do you mean "ridiculous"? You-" Jack tried to interrupt, but Marsha just shook her head with a smile and continued.
"And I was thrown into this nice car with Dr Grant and a pair of bodyguards. During the drive, Grant informed me that we were going to Long Beach to get Mr Shepherd and bring him back to Area 52 to work with the new team, but they had a feeling he would need a little convincing, so that's where I came in."
The kids could see where this was going, they listened in amusement as Jack gave them his point of view.
"So, I'm just minding my own business, going about my day as usual, when I look out the window and see this beautiful brunette across the street in a green dress. And, I mean, I'm only human, so I go out to get a better look. It didn't take long for me to realize that she was crazy, though, because she started to walk across the street while this speeding car was coming straight at her."
Marsha put her head in her hands as Jack recounted the story. "Now, this car didn't even come close to hitting her, but she falls anyway because, well, you know Marsha."
The kids giggled as they imagined the scenario.
"Ok, so the theatrics were weak, I'm really not cut out for acting, now carry on." Miss Holloway said with a laugh as Jack looked at her and smiled before continuing.
"So, being the gentleman that I am," The others rolled their eyes and quietly objected to his suggestion. "I ran over to help the damsel in distress." He finished, giving Marsha a challenging look.
"Yes, my knight in shining armour." Marsha said with a roll of her eyes.
"Anyway, I'm walking her back to the shop, and she immediately slipped and fell on some oil, making that twice she'd fallen already and I didn't even have time to learn her name yet."
The kids laughed as Jack teased her, but Marsha ignored it, she was surprised that Jack remembered such small details of their first meeting. She was also frustrated that he had to remember the embarrassing details.
"All of a sudden, the crazy car that had almost hit her before pulls up outside and out steps Dr Grant with his bodyguards. And they all start talking to me about superhero stuff that I hadn't heard in 25 years and, just as I'm about to object, Grant pulls out this dart gun and starts saying something about authority."
This caused more laughter as the children imagined the odd scene of Miss Holloway in the green dress, the serious bodyguards and Dr Grant threatening to shoot Mr Shepherd.
"So, this one," Jack pointed at Marsha beside him. "Decided it would be a good idea to push the gun away from Grant in an attempt to stop him from shooting me, but as she does, the trigger was pulled and the stupid dart bounced off the ceiling and into my shoulder."
The children were now in stitches. They never would have imagined that that was how Jack was brought back to Area 52. They imagined him being escorted by an entourage of bodyguards, bribed, or forced by military officials. Not being lured in by a pretty girl and then shot with a dart.
"Well, what about the next day? You know, when you woke up here?" Dylan asked, wanted to hear more, hoping that what followed was just as comical.
"Well, I woke up with Dr Grant yelling in my face, which wasn't pleasant, and I was taken down a hallway while Grant was still going on and on about the Zenith Program. That's when Miss Holloway came into the picture again. She fell, of course, and then I was introduced to some other scientists and led to the room where I would meet you guys and hold the auditions and stuff."
"Wait, Marsha, what was your first impression of Mr Shepherd?" Dylan asked, though he was certain he already knew the answer. Marsha looked at Jack and raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I thought that he probably could be a nice guy, but-"
"Oh no, there's always a "but"." Jack interrupted.
"But, that he was sarcastic, arrogant, selfish, and rude."
"Hey, those are some of my best qualities all have you know."

*****

The team had been chatting for a while, and we're still on the topic of their first days at Area 52.
"Alright, Mr Zoom, what did you think of all of us when you first met us?" Cindy inquired.
"Well, Dylan for example, I thought he was a lazy, stereotypical teenage boy with nothing on his mind but, like, skateboarding, girls and sports."
"Fair enough." Dylan replied, Jack wasn't exactly wrong.
"I thought Summer was just weird. Come on, she moved things with her brain and "felt things", it wasn't exactly normal. I thought Tucker was pretty funny, he never really knew what was going on, and Cindy? Well, I thought you were-"
Marsha shot him a look that meant be nice.
"Adorable..." He said uncertainly, both Cindy and Marsha smiled.
"And you?" He began, turning to face Marsha. "Well, Sweetheart, you looked good in that dress, that's all I remember."
Marsha rolled her eyes and settled back into the couch. She looked at Jack and tilted her head, obviously wanting more that just that.
"Well, I don't know, one minute you were all happy and enthusiastic, but the next you were all annoyed and mad, and I really just couldn't figure you out. I was serious about that bipolar thing."
She scoffed and hit him jokingly on the arm. The team laughed and shared stories all evening, throughout this past year, they had been thrown into some military installation with four children, a sarcastic man who was supposed to be training them and a kind-hearted woman who helped them along the way.
Somehow along the way, they had managed to find friendship, family and love. No matter what they said or thought on the worst of days, they wouldn't change a thing.