It's a lot different than what I usually write about. But hey, I gave it a shot. Hope you like it.
He watched the winning duo and his damned sidekick leave the facility, and he ran over to the crying ball of cape.
His best friend.
His Sue Tenny.
With cradling hands, he stroked her small face, a deep thought on his mind. He couldn't just leave her here. That wouldn't be right.
Sighing, he clutched the tiny being to his chest, his eyes closing. "I'll take you home, Sue. I'll take you home." He smiled at the thought. "You'll be Daddy's little girl."
He changed her name after that.
To Gwen.
Gwen Grayson.
Something easy to remember.
She couldn't live another life as Sue Tenny. Never could. Shouldn't.
He watched her grow. Grow to be the beautiful young girl that he fell in love with in the beginning, back in 1983. Power Placement freshmen year.
-
For some reason, she was confident at becoming a Hero. He, however, was in no way going to be placed into that track.
He had no special powers. No powers. When he approached her in the Gym, she gave him a smile, his insides melting as he almost failed at waving back.
"Hi!" She said excitedly, fiddling with her large-rimmed glasses. "My name is Sue."
"Ivan." he replied, taking his hand in hers and giving it a strong shake.
"What's your power?" She asked, tilting her head as they waited to be called up.
His throat was caught, and he blinked several times. "I, uh...don't have one." He whispered, looking to the ground in embarrassment. A hand held his shoulder.
"Well, that's okay. Maybe when I'm a Hero, we'll break the unwritten laws. We'll be friends." Ivan smiled, and nodded once, hearing his new friend's name being called to the front.
Things didn't go as planned for Sue. Ivan saw this immediately as she stomped off the platform, her eyes dark and her hands closed to fists. When Ivan admitted to the man in charge that he had no powers, he slowly walked off quietly, sending himself away to the sidekick side of the room. He didn't really mind now that he had such a pretty girl right along side him, right along side him in the sidekick track - even if she didn't like it. But they were friends.
-
Yet now as she sits across from him, chewing her bowl of Cheerios silently, Ivan stroked the bald spot upon his head, wishing that Homecoming would come soon. Sue could alter the time and send him back to the age she was now, and they could be the same once more.
Best friends.
Sourly he bit into his toaster strudel, watching "Gwen" toss a strand of hair behind her ear.
Shuffling his feet he sighed, looking away and out the window. "Are you going over there again today?" He whispered, chewing the inside of his cheek. At the corner of his eye he saw her nod, a small smile on her face.
She looked so young again. Daddy's little girl.
"Yes. Penny and I planned a new scheme to get a hold of the Pacifier. We're going to hold a party at the Stronghold's." Ivan's eyebrow's furrowed, and he played with the bridge of his nose before pushing his glasses up to his eyes. He didn't really need them - but he was getting used to them. It was a bad thing.
"How are you going to do that?"
"Simple." She stood up, adjusting her skirt with a mirrored smirk at Ivan's, her nose partly in the air. "I'll have Speed rush in and grab it." Ivan scrunched up his face and Sue merely smiled at him, grasping her messenger bag from the seat beside her, her mouth open as she breathed out. "Don't worry, Ivan. We'll get this over and done with soon. Sky High will go down. Will is putty in my hands."
Ivan gave Sue a weak wave, his eyes closing as he heard the door shut.
"I am as well, Sue Tenny."
-
Later that night he heard the door open and slam shut, sobs coming from the girl he's loved for so long. "Sue?" he called from the living room, muting the television. "Sue, you okay?"
Footsteps fell through the hall and into the room, causing Ivan to get to his feet, his body being knocked into by Sue. His little girl was distraught.
"Ivan - my plan. It's backtracked." Her arms wrapped around his torso, his heart fluttering as he placed his chin upon her head.
"What do you mean?"
"It's the night before the damned dance, and Will fucking dumps me. I know it was just a way to get into their Sanctum, but it hurt. No one's ever dumped me before." She laughed once as she leaned back to look at her best friend. "Well I was a science geek before, but now this time I'm attractive, right?" She lowered her voice to an unsure whisper as she stepped back. "Right?"
Ivan could only nod. If only he could tell her what he truly thought.
"Ugh..." she muttered, wiping her face as she shook her head. "I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning, Ivan." Giving him a kiss upon his cheek she kicked off her shoes, walking up the stairs to her room.
He took a glance at the clock, smirking at the time. "It's only 8:30." She waved him off, shutting the door. "Daddy's little girl." he chuckled, tossing his head to the ceiling in a laugh as she opened the door again, her head poking out with a glare in her eyes.
"Don't call me that!"
-
And now he stands behind the Commander, a smug look upon his face as his arms fold over his chest. "Gwen" was approaching the podium, her poised figure in the dress she made herself, the smile on her lips. Ivan almost shook his head to look away, but he knew that that would look quite suspicious.
It would take only seconds for him to smile, to change into his costume and put on his mask, but he waited until she took a step away from the podium, a smirk on her face before it went dark.
In his mind he thought that this would be successful. Boy was he going to be wrong so very soon.
-
"Stitches took me away and raised me as his daughter -"
"Daddy's little girl!" He cried, a sneering laugh leaving his mouth. Sue turned to him darkly and yelled his way.
"I told you never to call me that!"
Slowly Ivan came back to reality, his head down in embarrassment.
But what was she, then?
-
Time passed. They had failed, being locked in the detention room with three others. The delinquents. Ivan glared at the boy in stripes, who glared right back.
"Fuckin' retarded." he muttered, picking at his striped sleeves against the desk.
"I went through puberty twice...for this?" Sue growled, her eyes on the door as Ivan bounced slightly beside her, trying to get her attention, trying to make her feel just a little better.
After all, what were friends for?
-
They were transported to the Supers Jail soon after. As they all stood in the cell, Ivan watched Sue slump to the floor in the corner, her head lowered to her lap. He immediately went to her side, his body collapsing right beside her, her tears landing on her legs.
"I failed, Ivan. My plan. My life goal. Ruined."
His arms wrapped around her shoulders, leaning her into his chest as he shushed her quiet, his eyes closing as he inhaled the wondrous scent of her skin.
Slowly he reached up to pull off his mask, breathing out as he stared at the cement wall. "It's okay, Sue. I'm here." He felt her arms wrap around his torso gently, pushing him into her just a little bit closer, her wet eyelashes upon his neck, the loud sobs of failure echoing around them all. "Sue Tenny, don't cry. It's not worth it. One day you'll let this pass." He chuckled lightly. "But you'll always be my little girl." He smiled, kissing her hair helplessly. "Daddy's little girl." Ivan held her a bit more tightly, so that she sprawled upon his chest entirely, his back upon the floor.
And for once, Sue Tenny hadn't protested his words of love.