A/N: This chapter is gonna read like a love story, but we all know it can't stay that way for long, because this is Eddie we're talking about, and Sally, and the Minutemen.

Of course, Eddie's affection for Sally only grew over time, and the more time he spent trying to win her over, the more he became convinced that she was just as interested and that all he had to do was make his move. He knew he wasn't imagining her giggles when he said something funny or the way she would bat her lashes at him. She was a flirt, but he couldn't help but think things were special with him.

He found out that was nineteen, just three years older than him, and he let her know his real name and said it was fine for her to call him that whenever they were alone. They were friends, and he loved that, but he couldn't wait for the day when they turned into something more.

"She's real special," he would say to Bill.

"Of course she is," his friend would reply, unfazed by the potentially blooming romance. "She's a celebrity, remember?"

"Not like that. I mean, she's special to me, ya know?"

And then Bill would inevitably tease him about going after older women, and the dangers of flirtation, and all sorts of other things, and they would have a good laugh about it. It was nice to know, at least, that Bill was not competition, and that he was not jealous of the time they spent together like Eddie knew Larry was.

~X~

As the year drew to a close and Christmas approached, Sally suggested they have a party for the holidays. Captain Metropolis and Nite Owl were both enthusiastic about it and set to planning while Larry saw to obtaining a camera so that he could take some photos of the party for publicity.

Eddie, who still had the same mundane factory job, began saving what he could to buy Sally a nice Christmas present. He figured she deserved it for being so nice to him and all, and maybe that would be the proper opening to pursue their relationship. He wasn't exactly sure what to get a girl like her, but he figured something would come to him, and, soon enough, he found a pair of pearl earrings that he was sure she would love.

When the day of the party came, he kept the earring box in his pocket, waiting for the chance to get her alone. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits and nobody bickered; everyone was getting along, for once. The night was going well for the whole group, and even Hooded Justice was a bit more talkative than usual. Eddie supposed he was drunk, but that was alright; it was Christmas Eve and even he had had a bit that night despite his age.

"Havin' fun?" he asked Sally, walking over to her. She had been in a conversation with Nite Owl for a while, while Eddie had been chatting with Bill, subtly watching and waiting for the chance to approach her.

"Of course!" she said, laying a hand on his arm as she did so. She smiled warmly at him. "It's such a lovely night and everyone's having so much fun!"

"Yeah, well, ya had a good idea," he replied. "Not surprisin', though. You're pretty good at a lot of stuff."

She swatted his arm playfully and laughed. "Oh, cut it out! Flattery gets you nowhere, you know!"

"S'gottin' me plenty of places before," he replied with a smirk, leaning in.

"Watch out, lovebirds," a deep voice said, and they looked up to see HJ looming over them, mistletoe in hand. He was most definitely drunk, but that appeared to be working in Eddie's favor.

He grabbed Sally by her arms and started to pull her in for a kiss when he was interrupted by Captain Metropolis shouting, "Everyone hold your poses!" He had been fiddling with the camera for a while and was ready to take their photo. Sally pulled away from Eddie a bit so that she was visible, and the two grinned while they waited for the flash.

When the picture had been taken, Sally pulled away from his embrace to rub at her eyes, and HJ vanished to talk with Captain Metropolis. The mood had passed, and Eddie wasn't sure if it would be possible to reclaim it. Unless, of course, he played his ace a little early.

"Say, Sal," he said, stopping her before she could walk away, "I wanted to give ya somethin'. Just a little Christmas present, since you're such a good friend and all..."

"Oh, Eddie, you really shouldn't have," she said, her voice playful.

"Yeah, well, I did anyway," he replied, pulling out the small box and handing it to her. She opened it and gasped, looking up at him with surprise on her face.

"Why, these are...they're so beautiful!" she said, turning her attention back to the earrings. "How did you get these for me? They must have been expensive."

"Oh, it was no big deal," he said modestly, shrugging. "Just saved up a little bit, is all. But you're worth it, ya know?"

"That's so sweet of you," she said, and leaned up to give him a light kiss on the cheek. It wasn't the long, passionate kiss he had been hoping for when they had been under the mistletoe, but it was more than good enough.

The rest of the night, Sally hung off of Eddie as she drank more and more. Her affection became less subtle, and he knew that anyone looking at them would be able to tell that there was something going on between them. He was pleased to see Larry glaring at him a few times, and even noticed Bill giving him a thumbs up. It was the best night of his life.

Just before Sally was about to head home, he caught her and finally gave her that kiss he had been planning on. She giggled and stumbled out with Larry following, and Eddie waved goodbye. It had taken alcohol and some very expensive earrings to do it, but he was sure that they had finally managed to start their relationship.

~X~

Christmas passed, and a few days after, the team got together for their usual meeting. Eddie sometimes had to be late, due to his job, but he had barely been able to contain his excitement about seeing Sally over the past few days and cut out a little bit early, consequences be damned. He couldn't wait to see her again.

But when he walked into the room, she was hanging off of Hooded Justice's arm, laughing at something he'd said and giving him the same eyes she'd given Eddie at the Christmas party, and he didn't get it. He didn't understand why Sally, his girl, was treating some other guy like that.

But he didn't say anything. Even though he wanted to yell and rave and throw punches, he didn't say a damn thing. He just sat in his usual seat and kept his eyes trained to the floor. To say that he was humiliated would be an understatement. He was positively mortified, and he was sure that everyone else could tell.

After all, they had all seen the way he and Sally were at the party. And now, here she was, treating HJ the same way. Everyone would see them together now and see how disappointed Eddie was, and know that he had been played for a fool, that he had honestly thought he had a chance with Sally.

As he sat there, silent for the duration of the meeting, his shame started to fade as his anger grew. It wasn't his fault that Sally had led him on like that. It wasn't fair for anyone to think that Eddie was a fool; they would have fallen for her charms the same as anyone else. For all he knew, she playing Hooded Justice just the same.

Anger was a good response. Anger was something he knew how handle. Shame and sadness were not, and so he focused on his anger with Sally, with the situation that she had put him in. He had to know what was going on. By the time the meeting had ended, he decided he was going to have a discussion with HJ.

He walked out with everyone, clenching his fists and trying to keep his breathing level as Sally pecked HJ's cheek- over top of his hood, which Eddie would have laughed at, had he not been resisting the urge to rip both of their face's off. He hung back outside, pleased to see that HJ had not left with the others. Once he knew that everybody else was gone, he would go in after him and ask him what was going on.

His mind drifted to various scenarios, all of them ending with him making some pun just before he pulled the noose around HJ's neck tight enough to kill him, or pounding his face in, or snapping his neck. He was so distracted by these thoughts that he lost track of who all exited the building, but soon, he was sure that all were gone except for Hooded Justice.

Slipping quietly back into their headquarters, he paused when he heard hushed voices. It seemed that he had missed someone in his count, and tried to remember who he had seen and who he hadn't. He approached the source of the voices noiselessly, peeking through a crack in a door to see Captain Metropolis.

"Are you sure everyone's gone?" the man asked.

"I'm sure," replied Hooded Justice.

"I mean, are you absolutely sure?" He sounded nervous. Paranoid.

"I said that I was sure and I meant it." HJ sounded irritated. "If you keep asking me, I'm going to have to punish you. In fact, I think I'll do that anyway. On your knees."

What the hell is this? Eddie thought, watching the two men with shocked interest. He already had a few ideas about what this scene could be, but he could hardly believe that these two men, of all people, would be doing something like that.

Captain Metropolis, despite being threatened with punishment, looking all too pleased, all to eager to do as he was told and dropped to the floor. HJ waved his hand as if to say, 'get on with it', and the blonde man nodded, tugging on HJ's tights and pulling them down just enough to free his already hard member.

His mouth slowly parted, inching forward to meet his cock,and Eddie turned away before he could witness what was obviously about to occur. He hurried away, trying to remain as quiet as before, and tried to process exactly what he had just seen. It was not until he was back in his own apartment that he allowed himself to burst out laughing.

"I can't fuckin' believe it!" he said to himself, howling with laughter. "Those two are...oh, Jesus Christ, this is too good!"

When he had recovered from his fit of laughter and caught his breath, he was able to think a bit more on the subject. It was a hilarious and interesting discovery, but it shed no more light on the Sally situation. Why was Hooded Justice seeing her if he was already seeing Captain Metropolis? Did she know about what was going on or was she being tricked?

Eddie almost sympathized with her for that before he remembered the way she had looked at HJ at the meeting and remembered that he felt tricked himself. Besides her involvement, he wondered how this would affect the rest of the team. He had not been to church since running away from home, had not touched his Bible, and had nearly completely forgotten how to pray the rosary, but he knew what he had been taught about homosexuality. Should men like that be allowed to run around with other men, protecting the city?

As much as he hated the idea, he knew he would have to talk to Larry about this. He was the only person who could do anything about it, and the most logical person to approach about the subject. The next day, Eddie would meet with him. They had all been given his phone number in case of emergency, and he planned to call and schedule a meeting first thing.

~X~

When he walked into the diner that he had agreed to meet Larry at, he felt incredibly out of place in the loud yellow outfit and mask, but he wasn't sure if he was supposed to reveal his identity to the other man or not. He had no idea how much he could be trusted, after all.

"Alright, let's hear what this is all about," said Larry, looking impatient. "I've got more important meetings after this, so go on, out with it."

"Hooded Justice," said Eddie. "I saw him. Last night, I saw him with Captain Metropolis and they were-"

Larry laughed. "What? Do you wanna describe it in detail for me? How long did you watch them go at it?"

He blinked, letting the older man's words sink in. "Ya mean you knew about them?" he asked.

"Of course I did, kid. I know everything that goes on in this little group. I knew it was only a matter of time before everyone else started catching on, though I have to admit I'm surprised you were the first to figure it out on your own," said Larry. "You're pretty observant, kid."

"But...but..." Eddie stammered. "He and Sally...yesterday they were..."

Larry laughed even harder at that. "Oh, so you're telling me you haven't figured that one out, smart guy? I told you, I knew it was only a matter of time before everyone else caught on. If even a Bible-thumping, do-gooder like Dollar Bill could believe his teammates were doing that, imagine how long it would take for the public to figure it out. Our image would be ruined!

So I had to do something to delay that, at least for as long as I could. So, after the Christmas party, I had a little chat with Sally, and she agreed to pose as his girlfriend to help things along. I told her she couldn't tell anyone about it, or it might ruin the authenticity. Of course, you understand, right?"

"Oh, I understand," snarled Eddie. He thought about clocking this creep right here and now, but he refrained. It would be a temporary satisfaction, but it wouldn't fix the problem and the diner was too public. No, something like this required more work than a simple punch, and, though he may be a fighter, that did not mean that he could not see the better alternative.

"Be seein' ya," he said, getting up to leave.

"Of course," replied Larry. "I hope you enjoyed our little chat as much as I did."

~X~

"Can you believe that slimy bastard?" asked Eddie. "I mean, how can he just use her like that?"

"That is terrible," said Bill. "Poor Sally...not to mention the fact that he's trying to cover up something so terrible. I can't believe Captain Metropolis, of all people..."

"And you know he's doing it for double the reward. He gets to protect his pressure image and he's keepin' me away from Sally. Ya shoulda seen the eyes he was givin' us at the party. It's no coincidence he decided to ask her right after!"

"I'm sorry that happened," his friend consoled, "but I'm not sure if there's anything you can do now but wait."

"Oh, hell no," he replied, chuckling. "I'm not exactly good at that. But what I am good at is gettin' even, and what better way than to win her back? Trust me, I'm gonna figure out exactly what I gotta do to make Sally mine again, and then I'm gonna expose those queers, and then I'm gonna tell everyone what Larry did."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Of course it's a good idea!" he said. "I'm not gonna lose, not now. I was so close to winnin', I'm not lettin' that pass me by again."

"It's just..." Bill sighed. "I'm getting concerned for how you're talking about Sally. You're not acting like she's a person anymore, just a trophy. All this talk of winning and losing...you sound like my old football teammates, and not in a good way. It's not a competition, if you really care about her. You need to respect her more."

Eddie scoffed. "Whatever. S'not like you have any idea what you're talkin' about anyway. I still care about Sally plenty. I respect her plenty. I just don't like other people takin' what's mine, is all."

Again, Bill sighed.

A/N: Uh oh, looks like we're finally catching glimpses of how gross our main character is. Next chapter, I think you all know what's coming. Looks like my archive warnings will be changing.