My head slipped through my hands and I jolted awake, my eyes opening widely before I squinted at the bright light of the computer screen in front of me. I groaned and rubbed at my eyes before picking up the microphone that sat on the desk. Stifling a yawn, I frowned and said, “Search keyword. Crime.” The POWER group’s supercomputer activated at the sound of my voice and began searching through every database in the world.
I ended up with over a billion searches.
“Search keywords. Crime and…Mistress.”
Only a few hundred million hits this time, but most of the articles were about people killing their own personal mistresses or people killing the mistresses of their spouses. I sighed again and groaned, lacing my fingers through the knots that had developed in my hair while I was sleeping.
“Did you stay here overnight again?” I heard Tempus Manum’s voice behind me, and I twirled around in my chair, slamming my wrist against the equipment. I clenched my eyes tightly closed at the pain and rubbed my sore wrist. Tempus Manum raised an eyebrow. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s okay,” I said, taking the cup of coffee he offered out to me gratefully. It was perfectly made, just like every cup of coffee he’d brought me many morning for the past month and a half. “Thanks for the coffee. I don’t know how you get it so good.”
“Perks of experience being a barista,” he said, raising his own mug to me in salute before taking a sip of it. “So did you find anything new last night?”
“Not even close,” I said. “Every time I try, no matter what I look up or what keywords I use, I never get anything even closely relating to Mistress or the EVILS or anything we could use.” I yawned again and rubbed my cheek, feeling the mark left by my palm. “There are times when I seriously hate her.”
“Does that mean there are times when you don’t?” he asked and I rolled my eyes when he grinned. “Alright, if you can’t narrow it down based on the obvious, have you looked at the not-so-obvious?”
“Believe me, Temp, I’ve looked at everything,” I said exasperatedly. “There’s nothing more I could have looked for.” He leaned over the computer and pushed me to the side so he could face the interface. He took the microphone away from me and held it up to his own mouth.
“Search keywords. Crime and Mistress and United States.” At the sound of his voice, the computer whirred again and a list of results popped up. This time it was only a few dozen million entries. Tempus Manum grinned again and proudly placed the microphone down on the desk. “Were you searching like that?”
“Why, no, Tempus Manum. It never occurred to me to try narrow down the search by location, especially if that location happens to be the country within in which we both reside and the crime is most likely.” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. I shoved him out of the way and scooted myself closer to the screen so I was once again in control of the computer. “I’ve been searching for answers every free moment of my life for the past month and a half; if there’s a term that even slightly relates to Mistress, the EVILS, America…take my word that I’ve searched it.”
“Hey, it didn’t hurt to check.” He took another sip of coffee. “So, what do you have on the schedule for today?”
Before I could answer, Nova burst into the room, humming casually as she balanced a backpack, her purse, a box of donuts and a cardboard tray with two coffees in it. “Morning, Stryke,” she said cheerily, far too happy for someone who I knew had only woken up half an hour ago at the maximum. “So, I wasn’t sure what kind of donut you wanted because you didn’t text me back, so I brought a few choices for you. And I know that you need coffee to operate almost as much as you need your pills so I also…” She placed the box down on the conference room table and looked up to see Tempus Manum and I standing by the computer. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you had company.”
“Sorry, Nova,” he said, grinning at her. “Stryker and I have a standing appointment in the morning. If I’d known you were coming in today, I’d have told you to skip getting coffee because I happen to make the best.” He shifted away from my chair and moved closer to her, ruffling her hair like she was twelve and not nineteen. Scowling, Nova ducked away from his hand and pulled her hoodie up to cover her white wig so he couldn’t touch her anymore.
“It’s fine,” she said curtly. “I like the coffee at the diner, so I get my coffee at the diner because I have monogamous tastes.” I rolled my eyes at her not-so-subtle jab at me; I’d grown used to it in the time I’d been seeing Tempus Manum. Nova slid the box of donuts across the table to me and flipped the lid open to reveal the dozen inside. “The chocolate frosted is mine, but please, choose whatever you’d like.”
“Tough choices here,” said Tempus Manum, grabbing a cruller. I frowned. Understatement of the century right there.
“I got her a chocolate glazed and a Boston Crème,” Nova said, taking her own donut and eating a bite. “Chocolate glazed is her usual and Boston Creme just a craving she’s had for a while. Her ‘flavor of the month’, if you will.” She was starting to lay it on a little thick now. “I mean, personally, I’d choose the chocolate glazed because it’s dependable and always there and you know what you’re getting with it, while the Boston Crème is delicious in the moment but can make a huge mess…”
“Nova,” I said, warningly, flicking my eyes up from the box to glare at her. She shrugged.
“…But hey, you can have whatever you want. Because you’re the boss, Stryker, and you make all the decisions.” She picked up her coffee and turned on her heel, practically strutting out of the room with an air of superiority. “Anyway, I’ll be filling out paperwork in the Sidekick lounge if anyone needs me.”
Tempus Manum stared after her, frowning in confusion. “She’s a very opinionated person, isn’t she?” He turned back towards me, hand on the back of my chair.
I shrugged and rolled my eyes, turning back to the computer in an attempt to concentrate. “Yeah, that’s Nova. She judges, and never silently.”
“She’s judging your life choices.” He leaned down so that I could feel his breath tickling the back of my left ear. I could sense him just outside of my field of vision, but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of looking; I’d never get my work done if I did. “Regarding me.”
“She judges all my life choices. You’re not an exception.” He chuckled slightly and I failed to resist shivering as I felt it tickle my ear.
“Neither is boyfriend, it would seem.” His lips were right next to my ear now, the skin of his lips just barely brushing against my jawline.
No. I would not be doing this. My breath was not getting hitched in my throat as his teeth grazed my earlobe. I was hard at work and would be distracted by nothing. “Why are you so curious, Temp?”
“I just want to know what donut you’d like,” he said, twirling my chair around so that I was looking at the box…but even more so at him. “Simple question.” Jesus Christ, now he was doing it, too.
“I like both chocolate glazed and Boston Crème,” I said, trying to twirl the chair back, even though he held it tightly in place. “It’s impossible for me to choose between them.”
“I know that, but I just want to know which one you want right now?” Man, he was not going to let this go unanswered. No matter what, I wasn’t going to get any work done, it seemed.
“I think…” I closed my eyes and smiled. He may have been difficult to read when we’d first met, but even a first grader would be able to read this situation. I knew exactly what he wanted me to say. “I think I want Boston Creme right now.”
“Sounds good,” he said, smirking as he leaned towards me. “And the best part is, it’s readily available for you.” He leaned forward to kiss me, but there was a loud rap at the door to interrupt us.
“I know you two are in there!” said Psychico loudly, hitting the door once more quite loudly. “And I can tell exactly what you’re planning to do! This is a community space! Take it up to your room, Temp!”
Temp smiled softly, his lips brushing against mine in a pseudo-kiss and sending electricity running down my spine. “Do you want to, or do you still have to work?” he asked me, pulling away so that I could see his raised eyebrow.
“I think I can take a break,” I said, giggling slightly as he pulled me up to my feet. An instant later, we were running through the halls of the POWER group’s building, and heading up in the elevator to his apartment.
As Tempus Manum unlocked his front door, I stood against the far wall away from from his apartment. When the door was opened, he turned back towards me and kissed me roughly with rabid need.
Something had changed now, though. The fire and the passion were still there, but the everything about it just seemed softer. Sweeter. More like the way Ezra kissed me. I pushed him away at the thought, frowning. In this instance, Ezra completely killed the mood.
He wrapped an arm around my waist and tried to pull me back in for another kiss. “Temp, no,” I said loudly, placing my hand on his chest to keep us apart. I could feel the groan he let out rumble in his ribs.
“Oh, come on, Mina,” he said, pulling at the back of my mask so it fell away from my eyes. “Live a little. Have some fun.” He nuzzled against my cheek. “With me.”
“I said no! God, Temp, what is wrong with you?” I yanked his hands off of me and took a step back angrily. He sighed and walked into his apartment, dropping his mask onto the table next to the door as he passed. I followed after him. This wasn’t like Tempus Manum. “Seriously, man.”
“Nothing’s wrong, Mina,” he said, sitting down on the sofa. He patted the empty space on the cushion next to him. “I just want to…you know…”
“Temp, I’d like to think that after a month of having sex with you, I can tell when something is up with you. I can’t help with the problem if you don’t tell me what it is.”
“Who says this is something that you can fix?” he snapped at me angrily. “You may be a superhero, but I don’t need you to save me. I’m perfectly capable of doing that on my own.” I raised an eyebrow, unfazed, and crossed my arms over my chest.
“And yet here you are, yelling at me instead of fixing your problem,” I said. He glared at me, but only for a second. He rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand and sighed, flopping his head against the arm of the sofa.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. It’s just…it’s about my family and that can be hard for me to talk about here. You know that.” He groaned and closed his eyes.
Finally, we were getting somewhere. I sat down next to him in eager anticipation of getting new information about his life. “Temp, what’s wrong with your family?” I was desperate to learn anything that I could about his life; to be honest, the only things that I knew about him outside of the POWER group was what SnowSword had told me during her rant a few weeks ago. “If you tell me what’s going on, I might be able to do something to help, even if you don’t think so.”
“There’s nothing you can do. It’s just complicated.” He shook his head and blinked roughly. “And I know, I really shouldn’t be telling you this, but…” Tempus Manum paused and pinched the bridge of his nose of his nose with two fingers before sighing. “My younger sister got accepted into Everground University.”
“That’s amazing, Temp,” I said, picking up his hand and squeezing it. “I don’t see how that’s a problem, though.”
“My family lives in Wilson.” Now I saw the problem he was presented with. To residents of Everground, attending Everground University was a quick and easy decision; the school some of the best programs in the world. Their teachers were at the top of each of their respective fields. And there was no better option, price-wise; the school would do whatever it took to get residents to come, even stooping to automatically accepting every high school graduate.
Unfortunately, for everyone outside of the city’s limits, it was a long and trying process to get accepted into the school. And while Wilson was just a mile or two away, it was technically outside city limits. The prices were sky-high, and scholarships were few and far between; everything combined created an exclusionary environment for Everground’s citizens.
“And I can’t afford to foot the bill with the rest of my expenses.” He ran a hand through his hair angrily. “Damn it. Why did Willow have to be so fucking ambitious?”
“Well, why don’t you just sponsor her?” I asked, propping my head up with my hand on the back of the sofa. “You don’t have any sponsorships yet, right?” Sponsorship was an option that POWER group members had. If a person wanted to come to Everground to work or study, they could apply to be sponsored by a Hero. The sponsored person was brought to the POWER group building, where they lived in an apartment and become an official Everground citizen. They also learned the identity of the POWER group member who sponsored them. Energia had been sponsored by Serpentia, as were many of the younger sidekicks. Over the years, sponsorship had become less and less common. Now, the only one who sponsored people anymore was Psychico and that was done sparingly.
“She can’t know what I do,” said Tempus Manum, shaking his head. “It..it puts her at risk and Willow’s kind of got a big mouth.”
“I could sponsor her.” I sat up a little straighter the moment the idea popped into my head. He raised an eyebrow skeptically.
“You’d be willing to do that? For me?”
“Of course, Temp,” I said, smiling at him and putting my hand over his as I squeezed it tightly. “Everyone deserves that education, especially your sister.”
“Thank you so much, Mina,” he said, wrapping me into a hug. I froze for a second, before relaxing and hugging him back. I rested my head on his shoulder as he rubbed my back slightly. This was the first time that I’d ever seen Tempus Manum so vulnerable. It was nice. It was comforting.
It was like an actual relationship.
I jumped up quickly, nearly tripping over the back of the sofa. “I have to go.” The words stumbled from my mouth as quickly as I stumbled away from him. “I can’t…I have to…” I struggled to find the words to express myself—it was too much like a relationship, this was getting too serious, someone would get hurt—but failed and just gave up instead. I rushed for the door, but despite my ample head start, Tempus Manum beat me there. He leaned his body against the door, using his weight to counteract my cyborg strength.
“Stop. Mina, stop it,” he said calmly as I struggled with the handle. My hands were shaking as I tried my best to keep all my emotions under control…but I was failing at that, too. I ignored what he was saying and just kept trying to get out. “Mina, just talk to me.”
“Let me out, Temp.” I twisted the knob again to no avail. “Let me out or I swear to God, I’ll…I’ll jump out the plate glass window in your bedroom and cause the biggest PR scandal. You're going to have to practically live with Randi." Was that the best threat that I could come up with? Man, I used to be good at this.
“I can’t help with the problem if you don’t tell me what it is.” At his repetition of my words from just moments ago, I froze, letting the knob slip through my fingers. He gently walked me back over the couch and sat me down again, this time keeping a greater distance between us. “Mina, what’s wrong?”
I sighed and hung my head. “It felt real. Sitting here with you, I mean. It felt weird and open and real. For the first time, it really felt…” I huffed, blowing my bangs out from my face. “It felt wrong. Someone’s going to get hurt here, Temp. Things were fine back when it was just us having fun, but now you’re telling me about your family and--” I took a second to wipe the tears off my face. “And I’m sitting here crying in front of you. I don’t do that, I don’t just cry in front of people.”
Tempus Maum put his hand under my chin and lifted it slightly so I was looking at him again. “Do you need me to say it to you?” he asked as I took a deep breath, trying to keep myself from crying anymore than I already had. I nodded, not really looking him in the eye.
“Mina Percival, I promise that I am not, nor will I ever be, in love with you.” He smiled softly at me and brushed the hair out of my eyes. “Okay? I promised you that a long time ago and I always keep my promises. Now, come on, let’s…”
“I’m not in the mood,” I said, pushing his hand off my face.
He chuckled at my interjection. “Do you really think of me as that depraved? You’re sobbing on my couch because things got to real. I’m not an animal, Mina; I was going to suggest we just watch a movie.”
“Oh. Okay, sure. Put something on, I don’t care what it is.” He walked over to his bookshelf full of movies and grabbed one, placing it in the machine and pressing play before coming back to sit with me. I curled up next to him as he wrapped an arm protectively around my shoulders.
Half an hour into what seemed like the most overtroped movie imaginable, I was slowly falling asleep. My eyelids drooped, and I yawned once before they closed completely.
With my head propped up on his chest, I was able to feel Tempus Manum’s slight chuckle. The arm around my shoulders shifted slightly as he brushed a strand of hair out of my face, and then disappeared completely. He gently lowered my head down onto the pillow he’d been leaning on and pressed his lips to my forehead. I fought back a shiver—not wanting him to know I was awake—as electricity ran through my skin wherever he touched me. He stroked my hair once more before exiting the room.
As soon as he was gone and I could hear the sink running in his kitchen, I knew it was safe to sit up and open my eyes. Those motions…what they meant was as clear to me as what my response meant. There was no doubt in my mind that Tempus Manum was falling in love with me, and I was scared that I was doing the same.
A second later, I was out the door and running out of the building as fast as my robot legs could take me.