Disclaimer: I own nothing.


"No more Stacie I'm begging you."

"Nope you're not getting out of this, you're the one who has chosen to ignore one of the largest media hits in the last decade. Consider this your reckoning." Apparently Stacie had been serious about giving Beca a crash course in being a superhero by forcing her to watch every single movie on the subject. And despite Beca's adamant protests Stacie had managed to force feed all of the X-Men and Spiderman movies as well as over half the MCU.

"Come on there all the same," Beca whined. "Hero fights villain, villain wins, hero learns some sort of life lesson and eventually wins the rematch. And for some reason they all have a thing for redheads."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Really," Beca shot Stacie a disbelieving look. Going by Stacie's face Beca knew the other girl was yanking her chain but she continued. "Mary-Jane, Pepper Pots, Jean Grey, uh whatever Dr. Strange's girlfriend's name is, Need I go on."

"First off you're clearly enjoying this more than you say if you can remember all those names," Stacie pointed out. "Second, do you have something against redheads?"

"No nothing against redheads I'm just pointing out that the creators clearly had a thing." Beca shrugged as she slipped on her shoes to go to the local theater. She knew by now that there was no way out of seeing whatever movie Stacie had decided to torture her with.

"Just wait until we switch over to DC heroes." Stacie said as they made their way out the door.

"There's more! I thought we were almost done." Beca couldn't comprehend how there were so many superhero movies.

"Oh you poor, ignorant, movie deprived hobbit. We're not even halfway through." Stacie stopped on their porch and looked over Beca's shoulder to the house next door.

Beca spun around and felt her breath catch in her throat. Hopping out of the back of a moving van was single handedly the most stunning woman Beca had ever seen. The first thing she noticed was the shock of beautiful red hair. The girl was dancing around to music that must have been in her head and her hair was bobbing and weaving along with her. Beca realized that she was staring when the girl turned and waved at her. Beca attempted to wave back but if the girl was beautiful from the back then she was drop dead gorgeous from the front. While Beca could appreciate the girl's body it was her eyes that had rendered any rational thought from entering Beca's head. The girl's eyes were a startling icy blue that only grew more beautiful the closer they got.

Wait.

"Hi I'm Chloe, your new neighbor." She held out her hand to Beca but Beca could only stare at it.

Seeing that Beca was star struck, Stacie stepped in and shook Chloe's hand. "I'm Stacie and my functional mute of a friend here is…"

"Beca! My name's Beca," She gave a little wave while desperately trying not to make a fool of herself.

"Well nice to meet you Beca and Stacie, it's nice to know that there are girls my age around here. I was a bit nervous about switching schools senior year," Chloe said with another blinding smile.

"Oh, are you starting at Barden this fall?" Stacie asked since Beca was seriously dropping the ball in the conversation department.

"Yup, is that where you two go?

"Ya we're seniors this year too."

"Awes, maybe we'll have some classes together." Chloe couldn't seem to stop smiling. They all jumped when they heard Chloe's dad call for her. "Well I'll catch you girls later."

"See you later." Stacie said.

"Uh, ya catch you later." Beca mumbled as Chloe walked back to her new house to help her parents unpack. Once she was out of earshot Stacie rounded on Beca and cocked an eyebrow at her.

"And you have the gall to make fun of some comic book nerds for having a redhead fetish." Stacie's face was one of complete amusement as she watched Beca squirm.

"Shut up." Beca was trying to get her blush under control but Stacie had noticed and was going to have a lot of fun teasing Beca.

"Oh no, I'm going to make it my mission to get you and ginger spice over there together."

"No! Stacie please. She probably already thinks I'm weird. I don't need you making things worse."

"Don't see how I could make it worse. You could barely speak to her. All you did was stare at her with little hearts in your eyes."

"I did not!"

"Did too. Somebody's in love." Stacie said in a singsong voice as the two got into Stacie's car and headed towards the theater.

"I am not." Beca let out with a huff and Stacie graciously dropped the topic. As they got closer to the theater they became aware of sirens coming from behind them. Stacie pulled over and they both watched as a fire engine roared past them and hung a right on the next street. Beca was half way out the door when Stacie grabbed her arm and handed her a small device.

"That's a special bluetooth headset I made. Stick it in your ear and I'll be able to track and get in contact with you just in case." Stacie watched as Beca nodded and placed the headset in her ear before getting out of the car. "Testing. Testing. Can you hear me?"

Beca jumped and leaned over to glare at a laughing Stacie through the window. Beca flipped her off before ducking down an ally and focused. She was hit with the now familiar itchy feeling of the nanites flowing out of her pores. In a matter of seconds they had formed the protective purple armor and Beca took off at a dead sprint behind the disappearing fire truck.

Thanks to the nanobots giving her muscles a boost Beca could give a cheetah a run for its money with how fast she could run. She managed to catch up to the fire engine in no time and saw smoke rising above the skyline. Beca kicked it up a notch and made it to the burning building in less than a minute. She hesitated before going in, for all she knew there was no one in the building and she could possibly make the situation worse. Then a fireball erupted from the third story and she heard a scream. She threw caution to the wind and charged into the burning building.

This first thing she noticed was the oppressive heat pressing in around her. The nanites were giving her a bit of protection but she knew that she couldn't stay in the building for long. She also knew that the nanobots were doing nothing for the smoke which was the true danger in this situation. She pushed herself and managed to make her way up the flights of stairs to the third floor where she had heard the screams coming from.

"HELLO, CAN ANYONE HEAR ME!" She yelled into the apartments. She could be hearing things but she could have sworn she heard a banging noise coming from down the hall. Rushing towards the offending door, Beca stopped and yelled a warning to whoever might be inside. Hoping that whoever it was heard her, Beca took a step back and launched herself through the door. She looked around and saw a woman huddling in a corner with a small girl in her arms.

Beca approached the pair with her hands raised, trying to calm them down knowing that her helmet wasn't exactly the most approachable. "My name's Avalon, I'm here to help."

They all jumped when the ceiling collapsed near the door, effectively trapping them in the room. Beca turned back to the two victims and thought up a plan. She reached out to take the girl but the mother retreated. "Hey, I promise I'll get you both out but I need to do it one at a time." Beca watched as the mother considered her options. Eventually she nodded and handed her daughter over to Beca.

"Sweety I need you to listen, I need you to go with this nice person. Don't worry I'll be right behind you." The little girl nodded and clung to Beca's neck as tight as she could as Beca stood up and walked towards the window. She focused and the nanites responded, a large ball formed around her right hand and she used it to smash the window open. Beca braced herself at the sudden influx of air and the increase in heat. She tried to cover the little girl as best she could before letting out a breath and jumping through the window.

They landed with a large thud and Beca managed to roll without hurting the little girl. She stood up and rushed towards some paramedics and handed her off before turning around and running back towards the building. A hand reached out and grabbed her arm before she could make it back.

"Where do you think you're going you can't go in there!" A fireman yelled at her. Beca knew she was running out of time so instead of trying to argue with the fire fighter she used one of the new judo moves Lilly had taught her. The man easily had a hundred pounds on her but he flew over her shoulder and she was running before anyone else could stop her. Going back up the stairs would waste precious time and besides the door to the room was now blocked. So instead Beca took a step back and jumped as high as she could. She knew from training that she had some serious vertical now and she sailed easily through the window she had just jumped out of.

"You...You came back, is she safe? Please tell me she's safe." The woman was clearly terrified but never underestimate maternal instincts.

"She's alright, she's with the paramedics. Now let's get you to her." Beca picked her up bridal style and made her way towards the open window. Only just as she was about to jump they heard a terrible grinding noise and the building came crashing down around them.


Stacie watched from the sidelines as the building crumbled and trapped her friend under the rubble. She couldn't believe it, this was Beca's first day as a superhero and she was already gone. Stacie tried to reach Beca through the earpiece she had given her but she wasn't getting a response. She tried to approach the building but the police officers stopped her before she could get close. Stacie felt like she was about to burst into tears. She had only known Beca for a few months but the smaller girl had become one of her closest friends. She was certainly better than the airheads that usually surrounded her at school.

Before Stacie could fall apart she heard the crowd around her let out a collective gasp. She looked up to see a small purple pyramid rising out of debris. Stacie let out a sob of relief as Beca emerged from the pyramid, the nanites retreating back to Beca's body, and carried the woman she was holding over to some paramedics that were attending to a little girl. Stacie scanned the area and noticed several police and firefighters making their way towards Beca and she knew that her friend needed to get out of there.

"Beca can you read me?" Beca's head shot up and her head swiveled side to side looking for Stacie. "Stop looking around," Beca stopped moving. "You need to get out of here before the cops can question you, make some sort of grand exit and get out of there." She could just make out Beca nodding her head before stepping away from the ambulance and launching herself up onto the roof of a neighboring building. Stacie could hear the cops yelling for her to come back but she knew they were in the clear. She returned to her car and was slightly surprised to see Beca waiting for her in the passenger seat. When she got in the car she saw that Beca's face had gone completely pale. Now Beca was usually pale but now she looked like she had seen a ghost and was then possessed by said ghost.

"Beca are you all right?" Stacie was worried that she might be injured.

"That was terrifying." Beca could barely mutter out the words. Stacie figured that Beca would be riding on a high of adrenaline and a job well done. But if Beca's face was any indication, hero work was much more horrifying than what the movies would lead you to believe.

"You know how they say your life flashes before your eyes when you're about to die?" Stacie nodded her head, it was a common enough saying but she doubted if that actually happened. "When the building started to fall, I thought I was going to die. I saw my parents the day before they were killed. They cooking dinner and singing together, it was probably the happiest I had ever seen them. Then they turned to me and said I had to keep fighting." Beca reached up and whipped away a tear that was sliding down her cheek. "I managed to snap out of it and saw that the nanites had protected me. I had completely forgotten about the woman until she made a whimpering noise." Beca turned toward her friend in the driver's seat. "Stace, I don't want to die."

Stacie reached across the console and pulled Beca into as tight a hug as she could. "Beca it's okay to be scared. Those without fear aren't brave, they're crazy." Beca leaned back and gave Stacie a confused look. "Fear is what keeps us alive. It's an instinctive reaction to dangerous situations. It makes you run faster, jump higher and your reflexes go on a hair trigger. Do you understand?" Beca nodded and calmed herself down. "Bravery is for those who face their fears and overcome them and Beca you have got to be the bravest person I have ever met."

Beca let out a sob and pulled Stacie back into a hug. The two sat there for a while, they only pulled apart when they noticed the sun going down. "How about we skip the movie today," Stacie suggested. "It's not like anything on the big screen could compare to what just happened." Beca just nodded and leaned into her seat as Stacie turned on the car and pulled out into traffic. They made it back to their house in no time but before Stacie could get out of the car Beca grabbed her hand.

"Thanks for talking me down. I let what happened get to me and you managed to keep me sane." Beca gave Stacie a rare genuine smile, "You've kind of become the sister I never knew I wanted and I know I can do this hero thing if I have you watching my back." Stacie smiled and when they both got out of the car she pulled Beca into a proper hug. They stayed like that until Beca started to squirm. "All right enough with the weird fuzzy feelings, you're going to ruin my badass rep."

"Oh please you never had one to begin with. I saw you crying when we watched Marley and Me." Stacie couldn't help the teasing, after a stressful day it was nice to return to the status quo.

"And I stand by my theory that anyone who can make it through that movie without crying isn't human." They made their way inside to find Dr. Conrad was waiting for them on the couch with a raised eyebrow.

"Anything you two want to tell me?" The two girls glanced at each other trying to have a silent debate about who would fess up. Dr. Conrad just reached for the TV remote and turned it on to the local news station.

"Reports from the scene describe a short person wearing purple armor rushing into the burning building. They then reappeared after jumping out of a third story window with a small child in their arms. But they didn't stop there, once the child was safe they leapt the full three stories back through the same window and managed to survive the building collapsing on them. Not only did they survive but they managed to save the little girl's mother from a fiery death." The screen shifted to show the woman that Beca had saved holding her little girl.

"I don't know who they were but I'm so thankful that they were there. I couldn't hear very well but I think they said that their name was Avalon or something like that and I just wanted to say thank you for saving my daughter."

"Well there you have it folks it sounds like San Francisco has its very own super-"

The TV shut off and the girls turned back to see that Dr. Conrad was fighting to keep a grin from showing. "Good work, but next time please be careful. Beca I know that you can take a beating but that doesn't mean that you can just rush in half cocked. Make sure you have a plan."

Beca wanted to argue that it had happened suddenly and she wasn't really given any time to prepare but she knew that arguing would be pointless. Stubbornness seemed to be a family trait and if she couldn't talk Stacie out of going to the movies then there was no way to keep her mother from badgering. So instead Beca just nodded her head and mumbled something about working on it.

"Good, now the two of you need to get ready. I invited the new neighbors over for dinner." Dr. Conrad stood up from the couch and made her way into the kitchen. Beca went pale at the thought of having to sit down and eat with the beautiful redhead that she had almost forgotten about in all the excitement. Stacie shot her a knowing glance and placed her palm on Beca's forehead.

"You okay there B, sure we don't need to get you an ice pack for dinner?" Beca shot Stacie her best glare but as usual Stacie remained unaffected. They both managed to shower and change before a knock came from the front door. Beca was the closest so she begrudgingly moved towards and then opened the door. She was met with that same brilliant smile that had greeted her before.

"Hey, Beca right? Nice to see you again." Beca could hardly believe that there was someone this bubbly, but the evidence was standing right before her. "It was nice of you guys to invite us over."

Beca just stood there for a second before she realized she was gawking like an idiot. "Uh, yeah sure no problem. Come on in, the food should be ready soon."

Chloe practically skipped inside the house. Her parents followed soon after, both of them with slightly amused faces at the actions of their daughter. Behind them came a boy who couldn't be more than twelve years old. He had the same blue eyes as his sister but his hair was brown like his father. The boy was obviously more reserved than his older sister as he shyly introduced himself as Charlie. Beca closed the door once everyone was inside. Before any conversation could start Dr. Conrad emerged from the kitchen and declared that dinner was ready.

Once everyone was seated at the table they delved into various conversations ranging from politics to local happenings. Beca managed to tune out most of the conversation and focused on her food. That is until Chloe changed the subject.

"So did you guys see the news today? Someone in some sort of fancy armor rushed into a burning building and saved two people." Beca's head shot up and she glanced at the redhead who was staring right back at her.

"Really I hadn't heard anything about that," Dr. Conrad said.

"Oh totes, they showed some footage of the person jumping like three stories to rescue someone and then when the building collapsed they walked out of this pyramid thing holding a woman." Chloe shifted her gaze to her parents as she talked and Beca was given a chance to put on her poker face. Stacie glanced at her and smiled at the girl's obvious crush. She managed to mouth the word hypocrite to her friend and Beca responded with a pointed glare.

Mr. Beale let out a huff before commenting. "Civilians shouldn't be getting in the way of trained professionals."

"But if they hadn't interfered then that woman and her kid would have died." Everyone at the table turned to look at Beca. Beca was just as confused as everyone else until she realized that she was the one who had spoken.

Chloe's dad was giving her a dirty look as he spoke again. "But they could have caused more problems for the firemen on the ground. Those who aren't trained for those situations will only end up making things worse."

"I think it's kind of cool." Charlie said from beside his sister. Chloe reached over and rubbed his back while their dad just let out another huff. Mrs. Beale made the smart decision and changed topics.

"So Abigail, where's the husband we'd love to meet him." And of course she just had to switch to an even more awkward topic.

"Um, John died eight years ago. Car accident." Stacie reached over and squeezed her mother's hand.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," and to her credit Mrs. Beale looked rather embarrassed. They ate in an awkward silence for a while. Luckily Stacie was a pro at breaking the ice.

"So Chloe, are you excited to start at Barden next week?" Chloe must have caught on to what Stacie was trying to do and jumped right in.

"Of course! I was a bit nervous since you know being the new kid senior year kind of sucks." Despite her obvious nerves Chloe still managed to flash her blinding smile. Beca wondered how someone could be set to happy by default but Chloe appeared to be on a mission to challenge all of her preconceptions. "Plus it'll be easier now that I have some friends in the same year." And while Stacie matched Chloe's smile Beca was left wondering when they had become friends. Sure she might have a crush on the redhead, something that she may or may not be in denial over, but usually it took Beca forever to make friends. Heck the only friends that came to mind were Fat Amy and Stacie, Amy because she just wouldn't leave Beca alone and Stacie because of the surgery. Now here was this redhead who was declaring her friendship after barely an hour of knowing each other.

"Don't worry ginger, you'll fit right in," Stacie threw Chloe a playful wink and Beca was drawn back into the conversation. Stacie was telling Chloe about various clubs that their school had and Chloe perked up when Stacie mentioned Barden's a cappella team that she was a part of.

"Oh my gosh I love a cappella! I'll totally sign up for that. Are you part of the group Beca?" The question caught her off guard and Beca sputtered around the drink she was sipping from.

"Um no, I don't really sing." That earned her a pointed glare from Stacie, who knew that Beca could sing, and a disappointed look from Chloe. Beca knew she was in trouble if that one look from the redhead caused her stomach to do cartwheels like it was in the freaking circus. She managed to avoid conversation for the rest of the night and let out a sigh of relief when the Beales began to get ready to leave. What she was not expecting was the sudden hug from Chloe that she managed to awkwardly return before the redhead was pulling away and skipping out the door.

Before Stacie could lay into her about lying to Chloe, Beca excused herself and made her way up to her room. She moved across the room and opened the window before jumping out and grabbing the branch of the tree that grew right on the property line. It was an old tree with rough bark and a branch so big that it could classify as another tree altogether. Beca made her way over to said branch and planted herself between it and the trunk. She was grateful for the relatively cool weather, Beca always did prefer the cold to heat and this summer had been blissfully mild. She let the sounds of nature wash over her and tapped out a beat on her leg in rhythm with the swaying branches.

"You're not a peeping tom are you?" The sudden voice startled Beca so much that she had to scramble for a handhold. "Oh my gosh are you okay? She turned to see her new neighbor looking at her from a small balcony that must have led to her bedroom.

"Um ya I'm okay. Sorry I'm not used to anyone being in this house." Beca took a second to let her heart calm down a little before turning towards Chloe. "I'll just uh go back inside," Beca said as she turned to climb back through her window.

"What was that song you were singing?" Beca turned around and stared at Chloe. She hadn't been aware that she was singing anything but she did know that she would sometimes subconsciously hum under her breath. That was how Stacie figured out she could sing when one time the taller girl caught her and forced Beca into a karaoke night.

"Um nothing, not really. Sometimes when I'm lost in thought my brain just defaults to music and some random tune comes out." Beca's hands began to fidget and she stuck them in her pockets hoping that Chloe wouldn't notice.

"Oh I totally get that. My little brother is always complaining about me dancing around and singing all the time." Chloe leaned against the railing to get closer to Beca. "You have a lovely voice. Why did you say you can't sing?"

Beca lifted her head and looked Chloe in the eye. "I never said I couldn't sing, I said that I didn't. There's a difference." It took Chloe a second to process Beca's statement and eventually had to agree to Beca's point. That being said Chloe was now determined to get to know Beca and find out everything about the smaller girl.

"Well you were singing Titanium right?" Chloe thought she had recognized the song but if Beca was just mindlessly singing then she could be wrong.

Beca just stared at the redhead for several seconds. "Um, maybe. It was one of my mom's favorite songs and we used to sing it all the time. She always liked uplifting songs like that."

"Ya I've always liked that song. Probably for different reasons than your mom did though." Beca gave her a funny look but Chloe ignored it. She wasn't about to tell Beca that her mom's favorite song was her lady jam. "Would it be okay if we sang it together?" She watched as Beca seemed to mull the question over. Chloe could tell that Beca was about to decline so instead of waiting she just jumped right in.

~I'm Bulletproof nothing to lose~

She grinned when Beca joined her on the next line.

~Fire away, Fire away~

~Ricochet you take your aim~

~Fire away, Fire away~

~Shoot me down but I won't fall~

~I am titanium~

~Shoot me down but I won't fall~

~I am titanium~

Chloe gave her a beaming smile and Beca had to admit that they sounded good together. "Would you please consider joining the Bellas with me? I'm still kind of nervous about the whole new school thing."

"Really? You seem like someone who would be pretty confident about all that," Beca made a vague waving gesture towards Chloe and the redhead just shrugged.

"Usually I would be but as of right now the only people I know are you and Stacie. I know that I come off all happy and giddy but I'm used to having my small group of friends from Florida and I'm not used to being on my own." Beca watched as the light in Chloe's eyes seemed to dim a little and she hated that it happened in the first place.

Beca let out a resigned sigh, "Fine, I'll think about joining the a capella team." The smile she got from Chloe made the whole thing worth it. They talked for a bit more before Chloe excused herself to get some sleep.

As Beca swung back through her window and got ready for bed all she could think about was how nice and caring Chloe was.

"I am so screwed."


I would like to say thank you to everyone who went out of there way to prove me wrong about the whole "superheros have no parents" thing. I bow to your superior nerdhood ;) My point was that most superheros have a parental death as a motivation start point. Batman and his parents, Spiderman and Uncle Ben, Flash and his mom. It's a common enough trend that I just find it interesting. And even if they have both parents those parents usually aren't winning any parent of the year award.

RJRMovieFan: No this isn't supposed to be a Bionic Woman reboot. If I have somehow copied from that show then that was completely coincidental. There is a hero that I'm using as inspiration but as to not give anything away I'm keeping that to myself.

malexfaith: You are welcome, thanks for reading!

StarsAligned: Thank you for reminding me about Miles Morales. The others that you mentioned are some that I'm not really familiar with but i should have remembered Miles.

Mein Gott: The X-Men are tricky since most of the time you never hear about their parents and when you do they are usually disapproving. Which is sad since it's not the kids fault. And my knowledge of the X-Men comes from the Evolution cartoon so I'm not sure how accurate it is.

Songs used:

Titanium-David Guetta, Sia