"Do you think we should start training?'' Freddy said from his chair in their room, eyes trained to the screen, pale fingers typing fast on the keyboard.
Billy was reading one of his roommate's superhero comics, deaf to the outside world. Not because it was that interesting, but how it reminded him of everything they went through.
Around two years has passed since their 'adventure' at the Chilladelphia amusement park. They were almost seventeen. A lot of things have changed since then but a lot of things have remained the same. Much or less. Like the money thing was not happening, no matter how much they wanted to go to the supermarket and buy all kinds of shitty snacks and not care, but they have agreed upon doing the good deed and the good deed did not involve selfies, tricks and other stupid stuff he used to do.
The whole family was as close together as ever, Billy and Freddy even more so. The lair was frequently visited by all of them, except Victor and Rosa, of course, but that was understandable. Billy sometimes got the vibe that they suspected something happening between their children, but seeing as it was making them understand each other and spend more time together, they were fine with whatever secret the kids were keeping from them. Even if it was about their children fighting petty and maybe not so petty crimes around the city.
So when a crutch poked his side unexpectedly, he surprised even himself with his reaction. In seconds he had Freddy pressed against the mattress, where he had been contemplating their life not long ago. Billy looming atop the defenceless body of his friend, mouth agape, pressing a skinny hand agains the boy's back in a strong hold.
"I think you're developing some serious reflexes right there, dude," Freddy said, voice muffled due to his face being pressed agains the bed covers. "So going into my list of superpowers.''
Billy released his grip as if he was burned, feet stumbling upon one of the many crappy stuff Freddy had in the room, falling on his ass on the floor. Freddy rolled onto his back and laughed at his clumsy friend, who was still looking at him with kind of scared expression.
"No big deal, dude,'' Freddy ruffled his black hair and moved his body into a sitting position. "You still didn't answer my question, tho.''
"Ugh, what was it again, didn't really hear you,'' Billy stood up from the ground and went for Freddy's chair instead. Reversing their previous positions. "Zoned out a bit, I guess.''
"Well, you guessed correct,'' Freddy raises an eyebrow at him. "As I was saying, do you think we should, you know, train to fight better or some stuff like that?''
"Are you for real?'' Billy laughed at the idea. "We have superpowers, dude, practically invincible in every aspect. What is the training for?''
"There is no need to mock my idea!'' Freddy huffed, crossing his arms. "I thought we could use it to understand our abilities a little bit more and to control them better. It took you one hell of a beating to learn how to fly!''
"You have a point there, but really? Training?'' The kind of condescending look Billy gave him, made his blood boil.
"If you have a better idea, I'm all ears,'' Freddy rolled his eyes.
To be honest, Billy's speciality wasn't ideas or anything close to creative thinking. And the more he thought of it, the more it sounded like a good plan. Who knows, they could even discover some new abilities.
"We should discuss it with the others, if they are in, there is no reason for us not to learn some new tricks,'' there was something really captivating in the way Freddy's whole face lit up. Deep inside himself Billy did not want to admit but he felt pleased with himself every time he made Freddy happy.
"Deal.''
"So how are we doing it?'' Pedro asked, from his 'throne'.
"I don't know, sparring partners?'' Offered Mary and Darla chuckled.
The young superheroes had gathered in the lair to discuss Freddy's offer as Eugene started to call it. They had all agreed that they could use some training to unlock potential powers or just to master old ones. It would definitely be handy.
"I choose Freddy then,'' Darla giggled like the good sister she was.
"I think it would be better if we draw straws,'' Eugene offered while typing something really fast on his phone.
"Well, there are no sticks here,'' Pedro inclined his head towards the vast hall.
"We could use rocks!'' Darla beamed and got up to go and find some three pairs of identical stones.
"I got Mary!'' Darla immediately hugged the older girl as soon as she saw that the rocks they were holding matched.
"I'm with Pedro!'' Eugene said, phone laying forgotten on his chair.
"Dude, I'm fucking stuck with you again,'' Freddy groaned after looking at both his and Billy's rock.
"These should be my words,'' Billy rolled his eyes and threw his stone somewhere in the hall. "Prepare to have your ass handed to you in no time, dude!''
"Look who's talking,'' Freddy growled and leaned in Billy's personal space, then suddenly laughed and bumped a small fist in the taller's boy shoulder. "Challenge accepted, dude, you don't know what you have gotten yourself into!''
Only if Billy knew how right Freddy's words would turn out to be.
It started soon after Billy had turned seventeen. It has been happening for a few months, but Billy had dismissed it as his body growing, hormones going in a frenzy, adrenaline levels spiking way too often.
But three days ago he kind of found out his body is not reacting like that with everyone as would be normal for a teenage boy. Freddy had some school project which he could not postpone much longer and had to sit his ass down and do it before his History teacher called Rosa and told her that one of her foster children wasn't doing a shit at school. Then it definitely would become real game of thrones around the house.
So Billy was left without a partner for their usual training session on Wednesday, which sucked. But as it turned out Eugene had some game tournament happening that week, therefore he was also unavailable, so Pedro and Billy decided to partner up. Both still not wanting to partnered with the girls, afraid of hurting them, even though they had proved themselves more than capable of kicking the boys' asses. It's not that they hadn't kind of exchanged partners before, but they usually stuck with their training buddies throughout most of the session.
The training itself had been quite sick actually, Pedro was one hell of a fighter in his Shazam form (as they had started calling their older versions). It was what had been going on his mind after it. Billy found that during the training compared to the ones with Freddy, he was less aggressive, mind clearer, movements smoother and more precise, less tension, just less domineering. He did not feel the need to press his partner's body harsh onto the ground, bend it over some surface, pin it by his own, grip his throat hard, hear the panting beneath himself, the whimpers. None of it.
Not that Freddy was not a challenge, quite the opposite. It was too much of a challenge trying to always show his best friend who was more powerful, who was in charge, especially when Freddy was extremely fast, agility at it finest, calculative and most of all always bent on winning every duel. Billy took great pleasure in the fact that no matter he always won, Freddy's fire never extinguished. Always ready for more sparring.
This time Billy had been calm, collected through the whole training session, he had landed some really good punches as well as Pedro. As a whole it was productive and something different. His body was not frustrated at the end of it nor his nerves stretched thin from all the restraint he forced upon his urges. That was the moment Billy realised how bad the whole thing was turning.
Yesterday he even tried visiting the strip club to see if this was only happening when with Freddy or it really was his teenage body's hormones wanting to get laid. Maybe his body just didn't react to Pedro.
Man, he felt so disgusted with himself just by thinking this shit.
In few words, he felt even more disgusted the moment he stepped into the club. A woman touched his arm and he was ready to throw up on the spot. He couldn't even comprehend how he went there the first time. When he felt a hand on his thigh he bolted as if the Devil himself was after him.
Billy had returned home as his teenage self, it was late at night, he had told Pedro he should head home to dinner while he had to some things to do. Pedro had thrown him a strange look but said nothing nonetheless. Billy went for the kitchen first to grab something to eat, when someone coughed from the other side of the fridge's door. Billy stood there frozen with his head between the cool shelves of the fridge.
"Young man, where have you been this late?'' Victor voice although hushed, still boomed through the whole room.
Billy sighed and closed the the door of the fridge. His mind going miles per hour, trying to figure out some believable excuse.
"I-I went-" he gulped as Victor raised his eyebrow. "I just... my mother called, she wanted to see me after work, and she works late, so yeah,'' Billy rubbed his head at the back of his neck.
Victor sighed and put his hand onto the boy's shoulder.
"Call us next time, okay? We were worried.'' Victor smiled encouragingly at him.
"I'm sorry,'' Billy officially felt like a dick. "I'll call you next time, it was just unexpected and I...''
"Don't worry, son, nothing to be sorry for,'' Victor released his shoulder and turned towards the door of the kitchen. "Food's in the oven, it's your favourite.''
And with that he left the young boy to be by himself.
"Yes, lasagna,'' Billy clapped his hands and went to get it out of the oven. He was more than famished.
"Where were you yesterday?'' Freddy asked suspiciously in the following morning while he was slowly descending the stairs after the taller boy.
He had been waiting for him to watch the new episode of the Walking Dead until he finally fall asleep with his phone probably onto his face. Or at least he thought so, because he definitely didn't remember leaving it on his desk. Which meant two things.
Either Rosa had come into the room to check if both boys were in there, saw the phone plastered on his face and decided to spare him the humiliation of waking up like that, or Billy had done it. When he had gotten home. In the middle of the night. God knows from where.
Freddy didn't know how to feel if it was the latter. Like did Billy check on him in the complete darkness to see if he was truly sleeping. Gosh, he was such an idiot, where did those thoughts come from? The dark-haired boy was so deep in his musings that he barely registered that he didn't position his crutch well. Freddy braced for the painful fall, that should have followed. But instead he found himself being engulfed into the arms of his best friend, who was standing on the last step. His crutch fell, though.
It was quite a loud fall in the vacant hallway.
Freddy was kind of paralysed in their current predicament. He didn't understand how he felt with a nose buried in Billy's neck, who, on the other hand, was holding Freddy with his both arms gripping his waist.
"Dude, you okay?'' Had Billy's voice become deeper or were his ears failing him either? Freddy laughed and nodded his head. Billy released him and turned immediately towards the crutch and went to return it back to its owner.
"Yeah, thanks a lot, dude! I almost screamed Shazam, you know,'' both boys laughed and walked towards the kitchen, where everyone was talking about around it.
"Boys, go take a seat, the pancakes would be ready any minute now,'' Rosa told them from her place in front of the hob.
Mary and Victor were pitting the table on while Darla and Eugene were arguing which tastes better on pancakes - chocolate and banana or jam and cheese.
"Maple syrup, jeez, you have no taste,'' Freddy said when he passed around them.
"Boring,'' both Darla and Eugene said simultaneously.
Billy cackled but stopped the moment Freddy pierced him with a deadly glare around his shoulder.
"You wanna go to the movies tomorrow evening?'' Victor asked from his place at the end of the table, but before anyone could answer Mary decided to drop the bomb.
"Can't,'' Mary said while munching on her chocolate drenched pancake. "'Got a date.''
"Oh, a date?" Rosa inclined her head quizzically.
"With who?" Victor asked immediately.
"Is he handsome?" Darla giggled, fingers sticky and red covered in jam.
"Does he play video games?'' Eugene asked from behind his phone.
"Is it the blonde boy from last week?'' Everybody turned towards Pedro. "I just saw 'em together 's all.''
"Well, yes, Pedro, it is,'' Mary smirked, "and he is super smart,'' she winked at Eugene, "and he is really handsome.'' The older girl winked at Darla too and they both giggled.
Freddy and Billy gagged.
"It sounds like quite the catch,'' Victor mused. "You can bring him too if you'd like.''
"Okay, I'll think about it,'' Mary said and decided to change the topic. "So what movie are you planning upon watching?''
"Ooooh, there's a new sick superhero-" Freddy was interrupted.
"No more superhero movies, we've been watching only them for the past million times we've been to the movies,'' groaned Victor.
"Well, there's a Disney movie-" Darla started.
"No!'' Everybody said simultaneously, not wanting to hear anymore. They went to watch Frozen one time, ended up crying their eyes out, never again.
"I saw a billboard of some new family comedy with Kevin Hart, we could give it a try perhaps?'' Rosa offered and most of them agreed, which excluded, of course, Freddy whom together with Darla were sulking and eating quietly. Billy was...he didn't care much, though it would have been cool to see the superhero movie, but he did want for the whole family to be together. Maybe he and Freddy could go and watch it some other time.
Billy turned towards the boy to ask him, when he stumbled upon a view, he was definitely not ready to see. Freddy was licking the fingers on his left hand, completely covered in his favourite syrup. The end of his pink tongue darting swiftly over the tips of his fingers, trying to remove any syrup off them.
The older boy gulped, his vivid imagination immediately drew a series of pictures which all ended with Billy's hand gripping Freddy's mop of dark locks, guiding him, encouraging him as the smaller boy made him see stars.
Freddy looked at him and furrowed his brows, not understanding why Billy was watching him silently. The green-eyed boy quickly averted his gaze and took a deep breath.
This was spiralling out of control rather quickly and Billy had not idea what to do.
They were on school ground already, when Billy heard a piercing scream for help. He turned to the direction it came from, ready to bounce off and see what was happening.
"Freddy,'' he said sternly, not even looking at the other boy, "you have to present your History project today.'' Billy thought this was enough of an explanation, no need telling him he couldn't come.
"Somebody is in trouble, dude, I'm not sitting there explaining the Second World War in front bunch of students, who will be doing anything else but listening to my tirade,'' Freddy told him, eyebrow raised in you've-got-to-he-shitting-me grin.
"Yes, but our teacher will,'' Billy bit back.
"Just because you are the origins of our powers doesn't mean you are the only one who could be a superhero,'' Freddy immediately closed his mouth when he felt how wrong that sounded. He knew Billy was doing it for his own good, but he couldn't help but feel neglected as usual.
"Is this what you think I'm doing here? Really?'' The taller boy huffed and turned his back to the shorter one.
"I didn't-'' Freddy tried to apologise.
"Good luck on your project,'' and with that Billy started running, he had lost enough time already.
"Fuck!'' Freddy groaned and hit the street lamp as hard as he could. He hissed from the painful impact and immediately withdrew his arm, looking blankly at his chafed knuckles. Yeah, he knew it, he was the weak one. Why would they ever need him? Always so pathetic.
A group of boys passed by him, snickering.
"What are you laughing at?'' He growled at them and one of the boy flipped him the finger.
"Can't cry on your boyfriend's shoulder now, huh?'' Other boy said to him and they all laughed. "You'll always be pathetic, Freeman!'' They turned towards the school and got inside.
Sometimes Freddy really did wish to just disappear. But the worst thing was whenever he went, people wouldn't be treating him any differently.
Two hands wrapped around his waist.
"We are family, Freddy, don't ever forget that!'' Darla smiled at him.
"Yeah, I know,'' he sighed and petted Darla's hair. That was the only thing he lived for.