I'll Be Superhuman (One Direction Fanfiction)

Chapter 22- Louis- Gods Among The Mortals

“Come in,” A sharp voice said behind the door.

Louis swallowed, but kept his face composed as he walked into Simon's office. The walls were lined with bookshelves. All the books were stacked neatly. A few tacky plants were placed in the corners and sat on the top of the mahogany desk. Simon sat behind the desk in a rather impressive chair. He was leaning back with his elbows propped on the armrests, his fingers steepled. The whole scene created an aura of power around the man.

Just outside the bubble of authority sat Harry Styles, looking small, timid, and scared out of his mind.

“Sit,” Simon ordered. Louis obeyed and took a seat next to his friend. To Louis' right were three more seats, waiting to be filled. “We're just waiting for the others to arrive,” Simon said coolly.

There was a knock before Liam poked his head through opened the door Louis forgot to close all the way. “Sir?” Liam asked timidly.

“Liam,” Simon said. “Come in. Make yourself comfortable.”

“Yes, sir,” Liam said, more to himself. He stepped into the room and was just about to close the door, but Zayn called out his name and ran up to the room.

Zayn sat down next to Louis and Liam sat on Zayn's right. They waited for Niall in a few moments of complete, awkward and intense silence as Simon stared them all down from the other side of his desk.

Finally, Niall burst into the room.

“Niall,” Simon said firmly. “You're late.” Niall winced at the words, expecting the worst. Perrie must have filled him in on Simon's foul mood.

“Yes, I know. I'm sorry.” Niall said, staring down at his shoes as he moved to the only empty seat next to Liam.

Simon dismissed the apology and eyed all the boys carefully before speaking. “I have worked very hard to make sure only a small hand full of people know who you are.” He said quietly. Louis braced himself. When Simon spoke like that, he was angrier than if he were shouting. Everyone had to watch themselves now to make sure they didn't say something wrong.

Simon continued, leaning forward in his chair, placing his elbows on the top of the desk and looking at them intently. “Do you know why?” He asked in the most condescending tone possible. The boys sat in silence before they realized the question was not rhetorical.

It was Harry that spoke up first. “So our families can't find us,” He said quietly.

“Yes,” Simon said. “Even more important, you boys are powerful. Like gods walking among mortals. If someone outside our area of protection and safety were to find out about the skills you possess before you are shown off as mine, there would be riots in the streets. You boys will not be shown off as superheros that only appear when there is danger, you will not wear masks or have a secret identity. You will be shown off as yourselves. Of course your families will see you, of course they will try and claim you as their own,” He stood and turned around to a filing cabinet and pulled out five large files. Simon tossed them onto the desk and they splayed out perfectly so they all could see the pictures paper clipped to the front of them.

From where they sat, One Direction could see their own pictures of identification staring back at them on Simon's desk.

“But according to these files, none of you ever really existed until now.” Simon turned to look out the window behind his desk, his hands clasped behind his back. Louis could see in his godfather's body language that he was trying to stay calm and collected, but at a closer look, his shoulders were extremely tense and the reflection of his face on the window made him look older and completely exhausted.