AN: This chapter follows up from "Life and Times" chapter 16 ("An Evening at Home").

To Anon: We are potentially getting to that point…

To Lyger 0: The "super-juice" can certainly create some "odd couples"!

"What is happening? What is happening? What is happening?" Sacha sat on the living room floor, looking around Kim and Ondine's wrecked apartment. The bodies of the two thugs still lay in the middle of the living room area, burned holes visible in their chests. The ruined body of the man that M. Damocles had ridden down to the apartment remained sprawled on the ground near the balcony. Shattered glass, along with the remains of the living room furniture, covered the floor from one side of the apartment to the other. M. Damocles had tried to shut the front door, but the broken door hung askew on the hinges, only barely holding shut. Broom in hand, Ondine carefully swept the broken glass into a pile, only to let out a hiss and jump away from it, looking down at her foot and clutching it in surprise, propping herself up with the broom.

"You need to sit down," M. Damocles chided her, placing a chair next to her before kneeling to inspect her foot. "You should not be doing that in stocking feet."

She groaned irritably. "I can't just leave it like this," she retorted, wincing.

"All the same…" M. Damocles ripped a piece of cloth off of one of the men's shirts and dabbed the wound on her foot, frowning. "That looks deep, my dear," he warned her. "You will need to avoid putting weight on this foot and keep it elevated as much as possible, at least for the next few days."

Gritting her teeth, Ondine shook her head jerkily. "I've had much worse. I'll be fine."

"Still, I had better get that glass out and get the wound sorted out," he told her, sighing heavily. "But I have no tweezers…"

"Bathroom medicine cabinet," Ondine told him, breathing raggedly through her nose. "You'll find tweezers, gauze, tape, bandages… And there's some superglue in there, also. Kim," she added, almost as an afterthought.

M. Damocles nodded and stood up. "You stay right here," he instructed her, patting her on the shoulder before rushing back through the apartment, looking around for the bathroom.

"And here I thought we were taking care of him," Ondine muttered under her breath, shaking her head. She groaned and looked over toward Sacha. Her eyes widened, and she leaned forward slightly. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked him, concern evident in her voice.

Sacha stared at her in surprise. A thin trickle of blood still wept from the cut on her foot, the piece of glass just barely visible protruding from it. Pain still left a strain on her facial muscles. Bust still she was worrying about him. He swallowed. "Just great," he grumbled, frowning. "We get attacked, and I manage to do next to nothing while they try to kill you. And you end up getting hurt. All because I was useless." He rubbed at the collar around his neck irritably. A reminder. Of what he had become. Of what he needed to control. Of what could happen if he lost control. When it had first manifested, he had been in abject terror, afraid of what he could do, the power he could suddenly wield. Had it not been for King Monkey and the Owl, what might have happened? In the weeks since the Heroes of Paris had given him the collar, he had only removed the collar twice – both times with Mme Agreste and Sabrina. He had wanted to remove it tonight, to unleash the power within and save Ondine after she and Kim had welcomed him into their home. He owed it to them. But after all the counseling, all the practice…

He had hesitated.

"Hey," she told him sharply. His eyes snapped up to find her staring at him with a severe expression on her face. "Don't think about that. These guys were bad news. They tried to hurt us, and we fought them off to defend ourselves from them. Just the fact that we're still alive is a victory."

"But we didn't do what we could. Or I didn't." Sacha sighed heavily. "After all, I'm the one with powers here…"

"That doesn't matter," she retorted. "You tried even without your power. If you're not ready to use it, that's okay. Wait until you're ready. But for right now, you're living in my apartment; you're my responsibility."

"Maybe…"

"Definitely."

Sacha frowned, looking around the apartment. Seeing the blood still weeping from Ondine's foot, he finally stood up and walked over to her, picking up as many of the pillows as he could. She cocked her head in confusion, and he piled them on what was left of the coffee table. "Old M. Owl said to keep your foot elevated, right?"

Ondine stifled a laugh that turned into a wince, resting her foot on the pillows and letting out a breath. "See? It's a good thing you're here. Kim wouldn't exactly be the one to think of that."

He hummed, furrowing his brows in a question. "You really think they came here because of him?"

She nodded, pursing her lips, and glanced out at the city through the broken balcony door. "And he still isn't answering," she grumbled, looking back down at her phone and shaking it. "What if something happened to him?"

"He really can take care of himself," Sacha pointed out, though without any force behind his words.

She barked out a laugh. "Oh, that stupid monkey can absolutely take care of himself," she agreed. "But still. If he doesn't call me back soon… I might kill him myself!" She froze, her eyes wide, as her phone buzzed. "Oh, thank God," she groaned, reading the message before clutching the phone to her chest. "He's okay. They're okay"

Noise from outside filtered through the open balcony door, and Sacha moved over toward it, the broken glass crunching beneath his shoes, and peered outside. Something moved in the shadow of the building. "Good. But if we don't do something quick, we might not be…" he warned, studying the shadows as a group of rough-looking men prowled around toward the building's front door. Off in the distance, flames flickered in dozens of places around the city.

"We have backup on the way," called M. Damocles, finally returning with tweezers, gauze, and superglue. "I apologize for the delay, but the Owl will be here posthaste. But until he arrives…" He looked up at Sacha, raising an eyebrow. "Will you hold them off?"

"Me?" Sacha blinked, staring back at him dumbly.

"Sacha?" Ondine's mouth came open, and she shook her head. "We can't put all of this on him!"

"Unfortunately, we do not have a choice. You are what we have," M. Damocles told Sacha simply. "I must see to Ondine's wound." He winced, twisting his shoulders, rubbing the back of his shoulder blade. "And…"

"I–" Sacha swallowed nervously. He wasn't ready! The last time he had used his power, he had nearly brought down an entire building! He had been working to control it… but he couldn't control it! And if he did the wrong thing, he would destroy the building, including Ondine and M. Damocles!

"Sacha?" Ondine's voice took on a soothing quality. "If you can't do it, then it's okay. We'll figure something out."

"We will," M. Damocles agreed seriously. "But this is the best option we have."

Looking back and forth between them, Sacha groaned in exasperation. "Fine. Sure. Why not?"

Placing his supplies on the counter, M. Damocles put his hand on Sacha's shoulder, looking him square in the eye. "I understand your fear, my boy," he told him quietly. "To be a hero – which is what I am asking of you – is no easy task, whether you have powers or not. It was a terrifying and awesome prospect for me to don the cowl the first time. And I understand that it is doubly so for you. These powers you possess, they can accomplish tremendous things, for good or for ill. You know that. And I do not believe that you wish to hurt people. However, it is not enough simply to have the power; it is also necessary to use it properly: that is what makes you a hero."

Looking down at the floor, Sacha frowned, his stomach clenched. "I'm no hero…"

"What makes one a hero is their actions," M. Damocles reminded him. "You may be afraid, you may be confused. Anyone would be, under the circumstances. Heroes feel fear and confusion, but they face that fear and overcome it. Tonight, we need you to be the hero you can be. Be a Hero of Paris. Make an impact." M. Damocles chuckled, releasing him, and picked up the tweezers. "But the choice is yours."

Sacha nodded, swallowing anxiously, and watched M. Damocles kneel and examine Ondine's foot to find the shard of glass. Ondine was in no position to go anywhere. And M. Damocles had already done so much tonight.

"Just, don't do anything you don't feel comfortable with," Ondine instructed him, hissing as M. Damocles pulled out the glass shard in her foot. "And be careful – I'm not explaining to your parents that we let you get yourself hurt the first time you went outside!"

Sacha nodded, glancing outside once more. Ondine and Kim had helped him so much. They had taken him in and not been scared by these powers. They had made him feel welcome in their apartment. M. Damocles saved them fifteen minutes ago, but he was hurt and tired. Maybe this was why he had been given this gift in the first place.

Now, it was his turn.

Sacha gritted his teeth, reached up, and pulled away the collar in a single swift move. The device blinked a couple of times before the lights along the outside edge faded. Almost at once, he felt the power return, that section at the back of his mind opening up, the tingling sensation along all of his extremities. Eyes closed, he drew in a slow, deep breath and released it the way that Mme Agreste had taught him, grounding himself and centering his emotions. He needed to keep a handle on his emotions, if he was going to keep a handle on his powers, that was what Mme Agreste and Sabrina had told him. Eyes still closed, he inhaled and exhaled once more, controlling his emotions and honing the tingling sensation down to a single defined point. Reaching out with his mind, he issued a simple command. There was a rattling, tinkling sound, and he opened his eyes. The glass shards that had been lying on the floor around him hovered in midair, a few centimeters off the ground, quivering in place. Sacha swallowed anxiously. Furrowing his brows in concentration, he pushed the cloud of glass shards through the open doorway and off the balcony, and released them to plummet to the ground. A dozen shouts of alarm and pain echoed up from below, and Sacha let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"Huh." Ondine stifled a laugh. "Pity you didn't do that to begin with!"

Sacha's mouth set in a thin line, his eyes narrowed. "Stay here. I'll hold them off," he ordered them curtly, racing out of the apartment and sprinting down the hallway, the apartment door swinging off its hinges behind him. Jumping down the stairs three at a time, he pulled out the bronze bandana that Kim had given him, wrapping it tightly around his head to cover his mouth and nose. The brim of his black Owl baseball cap came down lower to hide his eyes, and he reached the entryway and looked out through the full-length glass door just in time to spot the thugs picking their way around the mass of glass that covered the sidewalk. At least five men faced him, though three sported bloodstained cuts and gashes along their arms. Breaking into a spring, the first thug slammed his shoulder into the door, which trembled with the blow. Eyes narrowed, Impact held out one hand, reaching mentally for the trashcan that he knew was just outside the door. The tingling sensation along his skin sharpened into a fine point, aimed directly through the wall. With a creaking sound, the trashcan tipped over onto its side, spilling its contents everywhere. One of the men looked down in surprise and started to back away from it, holding up his hands. Before he had taken more than three steps, Impact raised his hand and clenched it, lifting the can off the ground and sending it hurtling at the closest criminal, who only barely managed to avoid it. The trashcan crashed into the next two men instead, knocking them to the ground. The first thug bolted for the street. Suddenly, the last two criminals fell to the ground as the Owl landed where they had been standing and kicked the last one moving, hard in the back of the head.

Opening the door, Impact cautiously stepped outside. "Glad to see you, Owl," he told him, nodding. "We can use some help here.

"Glad to be here," the Owl acknowledged him. He cocked his head. "Are you…?"

He nodded briskly. "Call me Impact."

The Owl laughed. "You definitely made one here!" Clapping Impact on the shoulder, he jerked his head toward the street. "Let's check the rest of the block. With everything going on around the city, there could be more of them in the area."

"What about here?"

The Owl tapped his ear. "Shut the door securely. M. Damocles will let us know if he spots any more of them." He hummed. "I'm glad we're on the same side this time."

"Agreed."