Author's Note: A million thanks to my team for always being there for me. :)
Written for…
Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition. Team/Position: Holyhead Harpies, Seeker. Task: Green Lantern (2011) - superhero!AU
To Save a Life
1,002 words
The headaches started small. A pain behind the eyes when he'd been reading for too long, or a dull ache when it was getting late. Percy never paid much attention to them, no more than he did with any other illness he developed. When your mother could heal most minor injuries, you stopped paying attention to such things.
Almost all of his time was spent at a desk. People often told Percy how boring they thought that must be, but Percy enjoyed his work. When Charlie slipped up and incinerated an entire building, or the twins blew something up, it was left to Percy to deal with the insurance issues.
The hardest part was having to hear so much about his family's antics. It wasn't as if he tried to follow them. He didn't even read the newspaper. But somehow he always heard about it anyway.
"Did you hear that Freebird just saved those bank hostages?" one person told Percy at the water cooler. "He just phased right through the wall and knocked out the robbers."
Percy sighed. Bill had been phasing through walls since he was four. This was nothing new.
"Harpy just took down the head of a crime family in New York." He was sure his mum would be bragging about Ginny over Christmas dinner.
All in all, Percy thought superheroes were kind of a pain. All they did was make more work for him. He'd always been the one cleaning up their messes, ever since the twins developed their powers and kept accidentally blowing up toys. And it wasn't because he didn't have powers. No, Percy didn't get jealous. He just preferred staying where it was nice and safe to running all over the city and beating up bad guys.
"He's so cool," Percy's officemate, Oliver, muttered as he watched a clip of Lion Lad tackle some bloke in the street.
"He's really not," Percy replied, thinking of when Ron wasn't able to control his transformations and would sometimes spend weeks as a lion.
Oliver stopped the clip and turned to Percy, watching as the redhead worked quietly, compiling a file for his latest client.
"You really hate superheroes, don't you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Really? Because you kind of have something negative to say whenever a hero is mentioned."
Percy rolled his eyes. "They're just so dramatic."
"Are you kidding? They're awesome!"
"They dress in silly costumes and parade around the city like they're better than everyone. They're not awesome; they're fools."
Oliver shrugged and went back to watching clips. Percy just shook his head and tried to tune out the roars.
Oliver, like most people, had come from a non-powered family. He could never understand how powers could be a nuisance, especially to a young child who just wanted to read all day. Percy's childhood had been filled with life or death scenarios, from dodging Charlie's first blazes to the possibility that his father may not make it home.
Never developing powers had been a blessing, and a curse. He could live out the nice, normal life he wanted, but he would have to do it separate from the family he loved. They had never told him so, but he knew. He saw their pitying looks every time one of them used a power. He didn't want to be the outcast; the disappointment.
:-:
When the Dark Legion attacked London, Percy had been on his lunch break with Oliver. They'd been out of the office at the Chinese place on the corner and didn't know anything about the attacks until they left the restaurant and were met with three masked attackers.
"Stay calm," Percy murmured. He knew his family couldn't have been far off, and their team as well. Someone would come to save them, he only had to stall the attackers for a few minutes.
"We'll give you whatever you want," he said, slowly pulling out his wallet and nudging Oliver to do the same. "We don't want any trouble."
"Money's not of interest to us," one of the attackers - a woman - said. She walked closer to them, pulling a gun from her purse.
"This isn't necessary," Percy tried again, but she wasn't aiming for him.
She fired the gun, and time seemed to slow down.
Percy couldn't explain it. He was sure he was in shock, but it was definitely a bullet flying through the air towards Oliver's head. Without even thinking, he reached out and swatted the bullet from the air.
Seconds later the bullet clattered to the ground and time seemed to start again. Oliver stumbled back, expecting to get hit.
"How did you do that?" their attacker demanded of him, cocking her gun again.
"Stay away from him," Percy warned, surprising himself. He'd never been particularly brave - not when he had two powered older brothers to fight his bullies for him - but this woman was threatening his only friend and he simply couldn't allow that.
The woman rounded on him, gun pressing up against his chest. "And why should I?"
The street lamp next to them shattered, and it distracted the attackers long enough for Percy to turn and run back into the restaurant, dragging Oliver behind him. The sounds of gunshots and explosions started up once they were safely inside, hiding in the kitchen with the restaurant staff.
"It's okay," Percy told Oliver quietly as they tried to catch their breath. "My brothers will deal with them."
"Your brothers? They … you saved my life!"
Percy was stunned into silence for a moment as the realization hit him that he had, somehow, protected Oliver. He looked down at his hands, which were still pale and rather unextraordinary. He didn't appear to have changed in any way, but he would have to do some further investigations. Was it even possible to develop powers this late in life?
"Let's not make a habit out of it, hmm?" he said, trying to smile.
Perhaps he wasn't as useless as he'd thought.