Rapscallion

I Vote Kidnap, Jane Votes Murder

I feign surprise. "What? What are you implying? I think maybe you've had a little too much of that." I nod towards her drink and wag my finger at her.

She laughs, shaking her head. "Whatever, keep your secrets. I've got to go, walk me out?"

I grin. "Sure."

She stands, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "It's nice to meet you all, I'm so sorry for intruding," she says. She smiles at Jane, nods at Art, and avoids Void completely as she links her arm through mine and tugs me towards the door.

Her closeness makes the awkwardness worth it times a million, and when we step out into the frigid night I'm warm head to toe.

Marjorie spins to face me as soon as the door closes behind us, eyes sparkling. "So are those all your Supervillain friends then? They seem nice, for criminals."

I grin. "Nah, Art and I are the only bad guys."

"Ah, drinking with the enemy then?" A dark brow arches neatly.

I nudge her with my elbow. "Hey, I'm actually a pretty good guy. Day job, remember?"

"How could I forget?"

The air between us is suddenly magnetic. She's only more gorgeous this close; my fingers itch to touch her soft skin, trace her delicate lips. Easy there, tiger.

"I've been waiting for you to come by for coffee."

I swallow. "I know. Things have been hellish. I'll come by tomorrow?"

"Ok." She doesn't need to say more, since that smile has already snatched my heart from my chest. I watch as she carries it away with her, turning around once she gets to the corner and waggling her fingers at me.

At the moment, I couldn't bring myself to care that her "stopping in for a drink" is unlikely to be coincidence, or that she definitely has some kind of history with Void, the super that is suddenly suspicious of me, or even that my shin is still throbbing from Jane's kick. Even with my heinous existence threatened along with my fellow supers', all I feel is giddy. I'll face reality in the morning, when I no longer have liquor to soften the blow.

This girl's got me good, and not much else matters right now.

I head back inside to find John wiggling his eyebrows at me and mirroring my stupid grin. "Nice little lady-friend you got there, Ben," he drawls, leaning his elbows against the bar.

"Are bartenders always as nosy as you?" I quip back.

John is the least nosy of the crew tonight—I sit back on my barstool and am instantly assaulted physically and verbally.

Physically, of course, only by Jane, who grabs my ear and yanks me to her, hissing, "what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Not cool bro," Void mutters. "Exposure like that was totally unnecessary."
Art just shrugs.

I smack Jane's hand away. "Calm down, I'm the one who supposed to be in jail right now. It's not like either of you are in danger here."

"It doesn't matter if we're heroes or villains," Jane growls, "We're supers. Exposure is dangerous, and you know it. We have loved ones to look after, unlike your single ass." Her eyes spit out molten gold.

I try not to be offended, even as Art chuckles. "It'll be fine, I trust her. Besides, you guys were asking for it."

"Whatever," Void mutters. "Now can we please go back to the part where Mrs. Know It All said we're all going to die?"

I rub my forehead."Happy sponge," I mutter. "She wants me to work with her. She has this crazy plan..." I trail off, glancing up at John as he pauses next to us, frowning.

"Everything alright over here? You all look a little... serious." His eyes shift between us. "Need another?" he offers.

"We're alright. Ben was just telling us about the end of the world as we know it," Jane explains flatly.

John pulls at his collar. "Oh."

I roll my eyes. "She's kidding. Thanks man, but we're fine. Just personal stuff." I wait until he retreats out of earshot and then continue explaining our doom. "She wants to reverse the Virus by using the infected's white blood cells to create Selophil."

Jane swears, eyes flashing, and the glass she's holding explodes in her hand. She looks down at the glass raining onto her lap and the floor. "Oops."

I know Jane well enough to predict her breaking things so luckily I'd turned intangible in the nick of time. Otherwise I'd have received a faceful of glass that Void and Art weren't so fortunate to avoid. They both stare at Jane with a mixture of awe and annoyance, little droplets of blood appearing on their faces.

John's bewildered face pokes around the corner. "What is going on?"

"Sorry," Jane mutters, "I broke a shot glass."

"You...?" He peers at the blood all over her hands and their faces. "How...?"

She shrugs. "I dropped it and then tried to pick it up. I guess some of it hit Art and Ryan. Sorry, John, I'll clean it up."

He slowly hands over a towel. "Um... ok. Let me know if you need help?" His eyes don't lose their puzzled expression as he backs away.

"Just so you all know," I say, "I am never going out with you all at once again. Ever."

"Ow," whimpers Void.

Art flicks a piece of glass off his nose. "What's Selophil, and why is it so important Jane shattered a shot glass with her bare hands?"

I wiggle my foot and shards clink to the floor. "The amount of Selophil we have in our bodies determines whether or not we can fight the Virus. So in order for supers to not be wiped out this last phase, we'd need more Selophil. And in order to do that..."

"—we'd have to harvest the infected," Void finished flatly.

I wince. "Harvest? That's a little, um, barbaric."

"Realistic, though," Jane mutters from the floor. "What a psycho."

"And she tried to convince you to help her?" Art strokes his stubble. "What'd you tell her?"

Damn, nothing slips past this guy. "The hell do you think I said? I don't know why she even asked, which is what I'm most suspicious about." I may be a supervillain but Philly supers know I rarely injure or kill, never mind harvest sick people for their blood. There's no way the Clairvoyant actually thought I'd agree to her plan. Which means she had some other motive of telling me and risking me blabbing.

Void grunts. "Maybe this is her decoy plan."

Jane dumps a handful of glass on the bar and leans her hip against it, eyes narrowed. "We should just kill her," she decides.

Art raises his eyebrows. "I like her," he tells me, pointing. "Why can't she be the one that bothers us on our heists?"

"Because then we'd actually lose," I admit.

Void gasps like he's never been so insulted in his life, and then slowly adds, "Maybe I should go threaten her, you know? Convince her we can find another way?"

"Those don't exactly go hand in hand."

He huffs, crossing his arms. "Well no offense, but I'm way more intimidating than you. I'll get a straight answer out of her, at least."

"Fine. If that doesn't work though... I vote for kidnapping her."

A/N: Hey guys! My apologies for the sloooow update. I suck. Sorry. I hope this chapter makes you giggle a bit, I know it kind of drags. Writing fluff is my biggest pitfall. Gah. I swear I'll get the action poppin next chapter :)