Chapter 1
It was late at night when he got home. His arms and back ached from another long night of crime fighting. He slipped over the fire escape into the open window of his flat. From there, he snaked into the bathroom and quickly changed out of his costume into sweat pants and a shirt. Slipping the bloodied costume into the bottom drawer of his dresser, the man, known as Derek Sewell, climbed into bed for a long deserved winter's nap. Even heroes needed sleep.
She was incredibly sore. Her bones ached from fighting off her foe. The woman, known as April Velasquez, dropped into the back alley adjacent to her flat. She picked up a box from next to the dumpster and changed into citizen clothing. Carrying the box under one arm, she calmly walked up to her apartment building and climbed up to her flat. She shuffled to her room, sliding the door open quietly so as not to wake her flatmate just a room away. From there she climbed into bed, deciding her wounds could wait until tomorrow. Even villians needed sleep.
The next morning she woke up to the smell of pancakes. It seemed her flatmate was off work, as it was almost noon when April roused. She went to sit up but fell back due to a pounding headache. Her bruised arms and sore back brought back the fight last night against her foe. She almost wished Derek went to work so she didn't have to fake an excuse. Her MMA card still worked, so maybe she could say she did some late-night training. Crawling to her desk, she picked up her first aid kid and trudged to the bathroom. First, she removed her clothes to assess the damage. A softball-sized bruise graced her left side and just below it was a thin gash. Thankfully, that was the worse bit of damage. More minor cuts traced her arms and legs but she grabbed a shower and bandaged up. Even if Derek would stay home, she needed to get out and clear her head.
He made pancakes for himself and his flatmate. April was kind enough to do it for him, he wished to return the kindness. Derek had looked worse for wear with a broken collarbone. Thankfully, his speed healing would fix it by the time she showed up. Now for the rest of his wounds it would be tricky. How does one explain a black eye when all he was doing was studying? He considered saying he went down to the corner bar and got in a fight, but his disgust for beer made him decide to keep thinking. Derek then realized he still had a membership to the local YMCA. If anything, a short boxing round would do that to him, right? It was too late to consider further. April opened her door and entered the kitchen.
They faced each other and for a moment glanced the other over. They both were patched up and Derek had on sunglasses. A single awkward moment was shared before they both blurted their excuses.
"MMA practice." April said first.
"YMCA boxing." Derek replied.
Seeing as the flatmates bought each other's excuses, they sat down for breakfast. The pancakes were burnt and rubbery but neither minded. Derek would blame it on his poor vision with a swollen eye but April always considered her taste buds dead, so burnt or not the food was fine. Small talk was casually avoided, with avoiding eye contact and a particular interest in their phones. April looked at job offerings while Derek searched for any sign that a hero would be needed. Then, it was off to start the day