"How's the patient, Doc?" I came in with a big bundle of flowers and a grin on my face.
Melody smiled from the hospital bed at the sight of me. "Miles! You didn’t have to come. I won’t be in here long."
She said those words, but the grin on her face told me I’d made the right move and that the flowers were getting me extra credit.
"The smile on your face is worth it." I handed her the flowers and bent down to kiss her before Doctor Wells cleared her throat to get my attention.
"We gave her a rabies protocol. So far things look fine besides the nasty puncture wounds on her shoulder. She's super enough that it should heal in a day or so after we stitch it up." The doctor seemed bored with such a simple problem.
Lifting myself off a blushing Melody, I turned to face Wells. "Thank you. Seriously, I was concerned for her."
"She's a hero protecting the city. It is the least we can do to make sure she recovers quickly." Doctor Wells took it in stride. "Would you mind if I hooked you up and checked your vitals while you are here?"
The change in topic caused her eyes to light up.
"Fine. As long as I get to hang out with Melody." I sat on the edge of her bed.
"We can do that." She pulled out a syringe and needle.
"That seems big." I nodded at the needle.
Melody playfully slapped me. "Don't be a man. That was nothing compared to the rabies needle."
Doctor Wells reached into the cabinet on wheels near her and pulled out a much larger needle. "This was the rabies needle."
"No thank you. I’ll take the first one. I'm not the biggest fan of needles." They reminded me of my nightmares. Being dissected and poked and prodded was not how I wanted to spend my life.
A shiver ran through me.
"Are you cold?" Wells cocked her head.
"No. Never mind. Just use the small needle and let's get this over with."
The doctor hooked me up. She slipped on the blood pressure cuff, the little finger clip, everything. Then she jotted down all my results, one by one, scribbling them on a little notepad and falling into her research before she finally looked back up.
"Everything seems normal. I ran a genetic analysis on your blood. You still only have the super gene on your X chromosome. We can only postulate that the serum is ineffective on men, or that it works outside the genetic level. Pity, really." Wells scribbled down more notes.
I knew powers were more than just genetics, though. I could feel the network of energy in people's bodies, just not my own.
"Why is it a pity?" Melody asked behind me.
"Because the problem of how few men there are will only get worse unless they can figure out how to get the super gene on the Y chromosome. At least, that's how they think they'll fix the imbalance," I oversimplified the challenge.
Wells nodded along with me. "There are more extreme options, like requiring everyone to have IVF and preselect the sex before implantation. It would be cost prohibitive for most unless the government ponies up a huge sum. We have Ramon's body, though. I hope to have his genetic analysis completed by tomorrow."
Melody blinked several times, trying to keep up. "So, if he has a super Y chromosome, that means that Monster Fruit could save humans?"
"Yes. But it is clearly an inferior product. The chance of cancerous growth is too high." Doctor Wells was much happier talking about this topic.
"Can the Monster Fruit be improved?" Melody asked, and I felt a sudden pang of warning.
She had already been nursing a feeling of inferiority among the rest of us, and now she’d been injured on the job. I'd have to be careful that she didn't do anything drastic.
"Maybe when the scientists finish with Liberator's samples, we could get you set up for a trial?" I half asked Melody and half Doctor Wells.
"It will be opened to all heroes once we complete a few more tests," Doctor Wells confirmed. "Given that it isn't improving the situation with the gender imbalance, it is unlikely to be made available to the public."
Melody seemed discouraged, but I put a hand on her knee before she could speak. I understood how she felt, but now wasn't the time nor place.
Doctor Wells unstrapped the blood pressure cuff and unhooked everything else. "You are fine; so is she. She'll have to keep from over-exerting that arm for forty-eight hours. After that, she should be all good to get back to some light heroing. Though I wouldn't get in a wrestling match with anything for at least a week."
Healing was an extremely rare power. But supers tended to regenerate faster than non-supers. It also helped that we had top-notch care from the Bureau. Melody would be back to full strength in a week.
I rubbed my hand over her shoulder, trying to feed her cells a little more ki, not entirely sure if it would heal her, but hoping it might speed it up. I didn’t really have super healing, but I had minor regeneration after I stuffed myself full of ki.
The door closed behind the doctor, and Melody's forehead hit my shoulder. "I'm so stupid. I didn't see it."
"Melody." I wrapped my arms around her. "You did just fine. There were dozens, and I had asked you to fight all on your own. If there is someone to blame, it's me."
She just grunted into my shoulder. "I'm the woman in the relationship. It's supposed to be me taking the blame."
"Sucks. I'm just not the type of guy to let the girl take the brunt of it like that." I kissed the top of her forehead and rubbed her back. "After you were taken to the medical unit, you have no idea how many times I replayed 'what if' scenarios. I could have had Venus start with the air or support you the whole time. Or heck, I should have been paying closer attention."
"Miles. Stop. Let's just say we both fucked up and promise to work on it in the future."
"Deal. Now, it sounds like I'm allowed to take you home. Do you want to go in that hospital gown, or do you want to get dressed first?"
Melody wrinkled her nose. "My suit is being repaired, and my shirt isn't going to fit well." She seemed to struggle with a decision for a minute before resigning herself to the situation. "Let me see if I can't get a jacket somewhere in here. Besides, don't you have paperwork?"
I grinned sheepishly.
There was a lot of paperwork, but that was secondary to checking on her. And she was a great excuse to make my analyst team work on it.
As if I’d summoned them, I noticed that they were headed toward the medical ward with Stella, Mona, and Emma. As they moved a little closer, I saw Angelina trailing a little bit behind them.
I waved to them as they pushed open the door.
"Oh my gosh. Melody!" Rachel stepped forward to look at the bloody bandage and assess Melody. "You took one for the team."
"She did a wonderful job," Mona agreed. "We all share some blame in it. We should have each other’s backs better than this."
"Maybe we need a few more heroes on the team?" Melody hazarded. She'd wanted that before, and I was having a harder time denying her that now.
But we did have a perfect new team member right there with us. "Emma was just saying how she was going to join and support us."
Everyone stared at her.
The ruby-haired woman was examining her sharpened nails, seemingly unaware that we were all looking at her. Getting bored, she glanced up, her face growing confused at all the attention. She replayed what I’d said, and a look of minor horror then filled her face.
"Me? A hero?" Then she burst out laughing. "Gonna put me in a suit, too?"
"A pretty. green one. Skin-tight, with space for jewels," I pushed her.
The gears in her head started turning at my words before she shook it off. "No. I don't think I'm going to be great material for patrol. I can't fly like the rest of you."
Ben pointed at me. "Miles can't fly—they carry him."
Emma studied Stella, clearly not sure that she liked the idea of Stella carrying her.
My succubus whistled and walked past her to sit on the other side of Melody's bed. "So, are you still able to have sex, or is that going to reopen the wound?"
"Stella!" I admonished her.
"What? These are important details." Stella kept a straight face.
"So, tell us the story. We only got to see satellite images, and even those were hard to decipher. They only update every few seconds, and you were zooming back and forth so much," Mary pressed Melody.
I knew Melody needed rest, but I wondered if retelling the story while they all listened and egged her on would make the experience feel less like a failure. So, I sat back while she started in, surrounded by the group.
Kim showed up next. When she saw that the room was crowded, she waved for me to step outside with her.
"Get that jacket. I want to bring you home soon." I patted Melody's hand and got up.
Kim walked with me out of the room and looked back in over my shoulder. "How's Melody?"
"Blaming herself," I acknowledged, running a hand through my hair.
"They always do. That's how you know they will work hard to fix it for next time. But that's not why I came. It's that other woman." Her eyes landed on Emma.
"What's wrong?"
"She's a felon." Kim's face pressed into a hard line.
I groaned and rubbed my face. "Yeah, I know. She went in for tax evasion."
Kim rolled her eyes. "The tax evasion was just dressing. There's no way a freaking orphanage manager walks around with that much jewelry without it being ill-begotten. I am having B look into it deeper. I want to know where those came from."
That was a problem. Emma's jewelry was almost certainly stolen. And talking about the woman had drawn her attention.
Emma stepped out of the room and faced Kim.
The two of them were similar in a way. Both were fit women with bright red hair, though Kim's was brighter like fire, while Emma's had a deeper ruby red.
As they faced off, I found myself picturing them both leaning in and kissing. Just making out right there in the hallway. It felt almost real, and as I sorted through the shock, Mona’s laughter suddenly filled my head.
The imagery of the two of them cut out to change in turn to the two of them staring oddly at me.
"You okay, Deputy?"
"You okay, Darling?"
I held my head for a second. "Dizzy, that's all."
Mona, we'll talk later, I scolded her.
But you liked that. I could feel it. You loved seeing the two of them make out, she protested.
I rubbed my head. Not the point.
"Sorry, I think it's done." I blinked and straightened as I looked at the two ladies.
Kim nodded. "It's been a hard day for you. Go home and get some rest."
"I will as soon as we can wrap up. As for Emma. You are right, she's one hundred percent a criminal."
Emma's claws dug into my arm. I could tell that she was frightened with the way I was taking the conversation, but I felt confident.
So, I pressed forward. "I'm hoping to work with her like I have Angelina and Stella. She wasn't a violent criminal. Just... well, her power has to do with gemstones."
"Miles." Emma hissed, feeling uncomfortable with her power being mentioned out in the open.
"Calm. If you are going to join me, we need to get some things out in the open so that we can work in the open." I put a hand on hers and pried her claws off my skin.
Kim paused, staring between the two of us. "I see...."
She rolled a fireball in her hand and glanced back at Emma, who glared at the fireball as if it were an affront to her.
"We don't normally advertise it, because it causes problems, but we often bag a villain and have a bunch of valuables that never seem to have an owner." Kim rolled the fireball between her two hands, keeping them busy.
I squeezed Emma before she said something stupid about heroes. "I wondered what happened to everything."
Kim shrugged. "We can't sell it legally. At least not for seven years, so we sit on a small pile of valuables."
Given what I knew, I was fairly sure that 'small' was an understatement. But I kept my mouth shut and let her continue.
"We couldn't give it to you, but we could loan it.... Yeah, we could put it into your super suit... that is, if you are interested?" Kim offered Emma.
Emma worked her lips and turned to me as she settled on a pursed expression. "Is this what you wanted?"
"Yes. Take the offer, and we can put your nighttime habits to better use." I knew I was forcing her to some extent, but she needed to be pushed.
"Fine. I'll be a hero as long as you help me put pretty gems in my costume," Emma finally agreed to it.
Kim raised an eyebrow in doubt but shrugged. "I trust Miles. If he says you are worth a shot, then you are. We’ll see you nice and early. I'll have someone do a power evaluation, and we'll get you suited up."
"Early?" Emma balked.
"Just this once," I promised her, knowing she would most likely be sleeping in every day.
She held out her hand for me to shake on it, and I did.
"Wonderful, I'll be in early tomorrow. And then you’ll never see me before ten again." Emma pumped my hand. "This seems like a great day. Securing a contract to sleep in and getting to become a hero." She grinned at Kim. "And I got to meet the infamous Wrath."
There was a slight glint of malice in her words, but it was subtle. I only picked up on it because I knew her so well. I’d forgotten that she hated Kim, and it was my fault. Kim’s speech had led to my state when I’d shown up at Emma's orphanage.
"Wonderful," Kim echoed Emma. She wore a strange expression, almost like she was struggling with what exactly to say. I’d never seen her at a loss for words, but Emma had her on edge.
She continued, clearly wanting to be the last one to speak. "You've raised a lot of wayward souls in your previous career. I hope that you can do just as much good in this one. Maybe you can make up for any damage you've caused in the past."
There was an awkward moment where the two of them just stared at each other. I noticed that Emma’s ears flattened, as well. I was about to step in, but they broke the stare down a moment later.
"See you tomorrow, Emma." Kim walked away, waving over her back.
"I don't like her," Emma scowled at the Director's back.
"Then let's get out of here. Looks like someone got Melody a jacket, and I want to get home." Turning back to the medical ward, I decided that any paperwork could wait until another day.