I know that on the DVD it says that the Thrilling Three Towers were in the nation's capitol, but how would they travel back and forth between D.C. and Metroville? Transportation technology wasn't that great in the 1950's, the supers just had a few neat little gizmos and gadgets because they were supers. I try to stick as close to the NSA files as possible with character personalities, powers, costumes, and whatnot, but this made no sense to me and had to be changed for the sake of this story. Sorry if you don't like this, believe me, I don't like it either.

Chapter Seven – A Heart's Heavy Burden

And so, as fate would have it, the first 2 people that would learn of Apogee's secret identity would be a good-natured, but not too bright, construction worker and a male opera singer with a serious inferiority complex. If it were up to Agatha, she would've been happier if nobody knew about her non-super life, but as she was now a part of The Thrilling Three, it was imperative that the 3 teammates know each other's identities in case of emergency.

Dynaguy had rented out something called The Thrilling Three Towers smack dab in the middle of Metroville, which served as their headquarters. It had cameras that watched over the city, and was connected to the police and fire stations, as well as the hospitals of Metroville. If anything were to happen, The Thrilling Three would know about it. There was also a pending communications link between The Thrilling Three Towers and the Beta Force and The Phantasmics' headquarters, as well.

As a finishing touch, a short-distance teleporter (state-of-the-art technology) had been added to her apartment room so that she could instantly travel to The Thrilling Three Towers when called. It was free of charge, though Agatha had to wish that she could've had it route to other places as well. Agent Dicker, the man in charge of the supers' funding and negotiations, had told her that transportation technology was still in its development stages, and as of right now, teleporters could only go to one place, and that place had to be within a 5-mile radius.

Agatha now had Mark Harris (Dynaguy) and Felix Ricatto (The Phylange) on her telephone's speed-dial, and she walked around her modest apartment with Agent Dicker to observe the new changes. "Are you sure you don't want an automobile? It would make things a lot easier on you. You're young, and you can't spend too much time walking around in the sun," Rick reasoned.

Agatha shook her head with a smile. "Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to say no. I like the sun, you might have realized, and I don't have the money for a car,"

"The NSA would be happy to suck the funds from the taxpayers for you," he laughed in reply. Agatha chuckled a little, but still refused. "Well, if you're that adamant, there's not much I can do about it."

"Rick, a beautiful gal like me's got plenty of men waiting on her hand and foot. Walking's the only way I can stay fit. Nobody likes a fat super saving the day," she joked.

--

The next day, Agatha was back at work. Strangely enough, even though she now knew that The Boss was Gazerbeam, it didn't affect the way she acted towards him at all. Lately the entire firm had been working on a rather tough case, and Mr. Paladino had been seriously stressed out. They were suing a large corporate company (Washington Energy) that had allegedly been dumping radioactive waste into a lake in a nearby town. Despite her good intentions, Agatha could do little for The Boss, as she was only a secretary. Still, she tried to be extra neat and tidy, and was careful not to be late to work again.

Agatha glanced at her watch, which also had a beeper connected to The Thrilling Three Towers. It was nearly 12 o'clock, now. In the past, staying past 6 PM had annoyed Agatha to no end. She found it strange that she was now working 6 hours overtime and didn't care. Agatha got up out of her chair to go brew some coffee, and on her way back, found Mr. Paladino still in his office. "Sir?"

Mr. Paladino jumped, as if he had been in a trance and she had called him out of it. "Agatha. You're still here?"

"Well, yes. I was filing more papers from the Washington case." She explained. Agatha walked over and set a mug of coffee on his desk.

The Boss stared at the mug tentatively for a few seconds, then sighed and took a sip. "That damn case has us working all sorts of odd hours, eh?"

"Well, you know what the Spanish say: 'A happy death is better than a lawsuit.'" Agatha grinned. "You should probably go home, sir. I'm not sure the employees would like you being cranky tomorrow. Tough day ahead."

"I think I will do that, Agatha. Wonderful idea." Mr. Paladino yawned, then took another gulp of coffee. "And you know what the Chinese say, 'It's better to enter the mouth of a tiger than a court of law.' Tomorrow's going to be hell. You don't look so great yourself."

"Your sense of humor is improving, sir." Agatha interjected politely. "Well, I'm going to go back to my office and finish putting things together, then I'll head home as well." Mr. Paladino got up before her, and they both walked out of the room.

Just as Agatha was about to go in the opposite direction to her room, Mr. Paladino said softly, "You know you can trust me, right, Agatha? If there's ever anything on your mind, you have but to tell me." Agatha, with a maelstrom of emotions rushing through her, nodded. Mr. Paladino smiled, and the 2 went their separate ways.

As soon as Agatha entered her office, her beeper went off. Agatha quickly shut the door and pushed the receive button, speaking into it: "Yes?"

"Apogee! Bomb Voyage is back. You better get down to the art museum, quick!" The Phylange yelled over the communicator.

"I'm on my way, Phylange," she replied. Thoughts of the case vanished from her mind as she undid her blouse and pulled down her skirt to reveal the blue and yellow supersuit beneath. Agatha was about to put on the goggles and head covering when the door opened. Instinctively, Agatha froze.

In the doorway was Mr. Paladino. Oh no, how could I be so careless? STUPID! STUPID! STUPID! She thought to herself. "I—"

"I was about to come in to thank you for the coffee. What an idiot." He laughed, though it sounded forced, cutting her off. "You're Apogee?" he asked. His voice was hoarse. So different from the strong, confident Gazerbeam she knew.

"Gazerbeam, I—"

"You mean all this time you were my secretary, and you didn't tell me?" he questioned incredulously. Agatha wanted to scream.

"All this time? I've only known about your super identity since Saturday!" she argued. Mr. Paladino threw his hands into the air in frustration.

"But you knew! That moment when you woke up and saw me, you knew! Why didn't you say anything? I trusted you! Both of you!" his tone was desperate, pleading. Agatha knew that there was no lying. Nothing could get her out of this one.

"Am I supposed to tell you everything? So what if you're my boss, it doesn't change our relationship! It's not my duty to tell you about my private life!" she yelled, equally frustrated. Why was he getting angry with her? Why did he have to be so difficult?

Mr. Paladino laughed, his voice a bitter sound. "Is that all I am? Your boss? The man that supplies your paycheck? Is that all I am to you? I've saved your life!"

Agatha couldn't deny that Gazerbeam had been more than a friend to her. Yes, he was annoying. Yes, he was terribly overbearing. Yes, if he said that joke about the electron again, she'd probably beat him. But to her, he was…what?

"You're my boss! A fellow super! Nothing more than that!" Her voice was shrill, and it hurt her heart to say these words. But they were the truth…weren't they? "What are you going to do about it?"

Mr. Paladino stared at her through his sunglasses, and Agatha knew that if he hadn't been wearing them, she'd already be a pile of ashes due to the intense gaze. The 2 supers were frozen in place, tempers flaring and confusion ruling over all other emotions. "What do I want to do about it?" he asked, his voice soft. In just a few footsteps, Mr. Paladino closed the distance between them. He slipped his arm around her back and pulled her to him, giving her a deep kiss. It was over as quickly as it began, however, and Mr. Paladino pulled away before Agatha had a chance to react. "Damn it all," he muttered, and strode out of the room, slamming the door.

Agatha stood where she had been…frozen to the spot. "Apogee? Where are you!" Dynaguy and The Phylange were yelling at her through the comm-link. But Agatha didn't hear them…she was in another world, far far away, and the hollow place, where she knew her heart should be, ached.