Chapter 4

"Hey, Mon, do you know why one of my socks is smaller…." On his way out of the bedroom, Chandler paused. Monica was sitting on the couch watching the news. She had a tissue box in her hand and was using one to wipe her tears. He sat next to her and took her in his arms. "Honey, what's the matter?"

Monica pointed at the screen. It was another superhero fight, and the good guys were losing. "They need me, Chandler! Why won't they let me help them?"

"Just wait it out. They'll come around," Chandler assured her.

Monica winced as Jack was slammed against a building. "Oh my God!"

"That's gonna hurt in the morning," Chandler commented. "You know, you don't have to watch this."

Monica grabbed the remote before he could change the channel. "No! They could call me in any day now. I need to know what's going on."

"Yeah, but you don't need to know every little detail…" Chandler turned away when Volcano threw a fireball at one of the heroes.

Monica put her head in her hands. "I feel so helpless. It's downtown – I could be there in minutes!" She stood and began pacing the room. "In fact, I don't give a crap what Jack says. I'm getting changed and going down there right now!"

"No!" Chandler ran to prevent Monica from going to the bedroom. "I-I mean, you don't want to do that!"

"Why not?"

"Well, there's the fact that you can be killed," Chandler pointed out. "And that you don't exactly have a handle on your flying skills yet."

Monica flopped back on the couch. "I guess you're right. And it probably wouldn't help me get in good standing with the team if I just showed up."

"There you go. Now why don't we turn this off and go to bed, 'kay?" Chandler got the remote and pressed the "off" button.

Monica resolutely picked up the remote. "You know, Chandler, I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep tonight. I'll stay in here and watch TV."

"You sure you don't want company?" Chandler offered.

Monica got up to kiss him on the cheek. "Positive. 'Night Chandler."

"'Night honey. Don't worry about this too much, okay?" Chandler replied, kissing her back.

"I'll try." Monica waited until he had closed the door behind him. Then she went back to the TV. They were showing footage of Volcano. The villain had sent the police a tape of some hostages he had captured, and the heroes were having a hard time tracking him down.

As the tape played, Monica studied the background. She couldn't help but think that the room seemed familiar somehow. Keeping one eye on Volcano, she scanned the little bit of room she could see.

She gasped when she spotted a sign over the head of one of the hostages. She knew that sign. It was off-white, with faded lettering that said, "Space intended for food storage only. Temperature will be kept at 30 degrees."

That was the warehouse the restaurant used to store extra ingredients! As head chef, she normally wouldn't have to get her own supplies. However, often on off days she would help load ingredients onto the trucks.

Thrilled, Monica jumped for the phone. She had to get this information to the team.

Strolling down the streets of midtown Manhattan, Rachel flashed Chandler a smile. "Thanks for lunch, sweetie. We really should do this more often."

"Yeah, but in all fairness it was either this or…spend my lunch hour banging my head on my desk, worrying about Monica," Chandler replied, his head down as he walked.

Rachel wrinkled her brow in concern. "Did something else happen with her and the…team?"

"Not really," Chandler answered. "But last night I caught her crying while she was watching a fight on the news. And it's killing me that I can't do a damn thing about it."

"That's how everyone feels, but what can we do? This is Monica's business, and only she can fix it," Rachel reasoned, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Chandler sighed. "That's just it, Rach. We're getting married. We're not supposed to have problems that only affect one of us. I should be able to help her."

"None of this is your fault, Chandler, and it's wrong of you to think that," Rachel stated with conviction.

"I know, but this one question keeps popping up in my head, and it's driving me crazy. How…how could I not have known?" Chandler moaned, kicking a random rock on the sidewalk.

"Here's a little secret – the rest of us have been asking ourselves the same question," Rachel revealed, then lowered her voice. "How do you think Ross feels? His own sister's a superhero, for crying out loud, and he had no idea!"

Chandler nodded. "Yeah, but it's not just that. All those years she kept it from us…we could have helped her. And I keep thinking…how many times has she come back from 'work' totally annoyed and exhausted and we came over and bugged her for the next few hours? Or how must she have felt when we made a big deal over a stupid thing, and she's out there saving the world? Or –"

"Stop right there," Rachel interrupted. "You keep going on like that, you're going to drive yourself insane. Tell yourself that that's all in the past. We know now."

Chandler thought about her words as they walked. Finally after a block or so, he put an arm around her shoulders in a half-hug. "Thanks, Rach."

Rachel hugged him back, wrapping an arm around his waist. "Any time."

The continued on for a few blocks, on their way to Chandler's office since it was closer. At least, they would have continued if the police hadn't been blocking their route.

Police cones and barriers were placed around a large warehouse. Chandler instantly recognized the address, since Monica had told him what it was when she came to bed last night.

Rachel got as close to the barriers as the police would let her. "I wonder what's going on. You think maybe they're busting counterfeiting scheme or something?" She protested when Chandler yanked her back, then into an alley in between the warehouse and a pizzeria. Rachel put a hand on her hip. " Chandler! What the –"

Chandler held out a hand. "Quiet down, okay? That's the place where Volcano's holding hostages!"

"How do you know that?" Rachel demanded.

"Monica recognized it last night from the news. She said it's where the restaurant stores ingredients or something," Chandler explained. "Though I don't know why she would call the police instead of the team."

Rachel took out her cell phone. "Let's call and ask her then, shall we?"

"Oh…I don't know…" Chandler moaned. When Rachel looked at him, he explained, "Talk about the team is kind of a sore spot for her. I don't know if she'd want to be involved in this. Maybe that's why she called the police."

"There's only one way to find out." Despite his objections, Rachel pressed the speed dial button for Monica's apartment.

Chandler motioned for her to disconnect, then threw up his hands when Monica answered. Slashing his hand across his throat, he asked, "Does this mean anything to you?"

"Sh!" Rachel hissed, then went back to the conversation. "Oh, hey Monica. Chandler and I have a question to ask you."

"No we don't!" Chandler shouted.

Rachel held out a hand. "Well, we we're standing outside a warehouse near Chandler's office…yes, that's the one…and we were wondering, did you call the police and let them know…you didn't? Then how…oh, I see…"

"See what? See what?" Chandler yelled.

"Will you excuse me a moment, please?" Rachel put her hand on the bottom half of the phone and explained to Chandler, "Monica didn't call the police – they must have tracked Volcano on their own. She tried to call the Center, but the office was closed for the night, and none of the team members would pick up."

Chandler thought a moment, then asked, "Well, tell her she has to do something. The cops are getting their asses beaten over here, from what I saw."

Rachel relayed the message, and listened. Finally she put the call on speaker, so Monica's exasperated voice could be clearly heard. "I've been trying to contact the kids all day! The Center is still not taking my calls – remember, I'm suspended – and the team is off on other business! What the hell do you want me to do?"

Chandler and Rachel traded glances, each thinking the same thing. Reading the silence, Monica exclaimed, "No way! I am not going out there!"

"Why not? You were ready to go out there and kick butt last night!" Chandler reminded her.

"But that was different!" Monica groaned. "The team's not there now! And remember my lack of flying power control? And that I'm not allowed to go? And…I can't do this alone!"

"That doesn't sound like the Monica I know," Chandler replied.

"Yeah, the Monica I knew proposed to her fiancé when she didn't think he would. The Monica I knew was ready to have a baby on her own when she broke up with her boyfriend," Rachel put in. "The Monica I knew came out to live in the city in her grandmother's apartment, when she didn't know anybody. This saving the world stuff? This should be a piece of cake."

"But…"

Chandler let out a breath. "Look Mon, argue all you want to, but what it all boils down to is that…if someone doesn't get out here, innocent people could die."

There was silence, then, "I'll be there in a few minutes."

After hanging up, Rachel and Chandler ran out of the alley to start scanning the sky for Monica. While it was true that she hadn't really mastered her flying power yet, all three had agreed it would be faster than driving. Still, Chandler couldn't help but feel it was weird to be watching for where his future wife would be flying in.

Meanwhile, the fight between Volcano and the cops was intensifying. Not able to wait any longer, the police had burst into the building. The fight had spilled out into the street, so much that pedestrians were warned not to walk down the block at all. Rachel and Chandler only managed to stay semi-close to the action by hiding in another alley

Something caught Chandler's eye. At first he thought it was a plane or something, but then it plunged downward and barely recovered. "Hey, Rach – it's a bird, it's a plane…it's my fiancé."

Rachel winced as Monica almost crashed into a building. "Yeah, I know we said flying might be faster, but maybe it wasn't the safest choice."

After a few minutes, Monica landed in the alleyway between her friends. "Hey guys. Check me out, I'm a flying machine!"

"What are you doing here?" Chandler whispered. "Get in there!"

"What if somebody saw you?" Rachel panicked.

Monica lowered her voice. "Guys, it's ok, no one saw me. The question is, what are you doing here? It's not safe! I came down to fly you out."

Chandler shook his head. "Honey, forget about us, we'll get out on our own. They need you."

Rachel pushed her towards the sidewalk. "Come on, go!"

"Okay, okay!" Before leaving, however, Monica pushed Chandler against the side of the alley and gave him a passionate kiss.

Chandler's eyes widened. "What was that for?"

"Just because," Monica smiled.

For the first time, Chandler noticed her jumpsuit, and the way it accentuated her curves. "Hey, Mon…are you allowed to wear that, you know, when you're not saving the world?"

Monica raised an eyebrow. "Really? A superhero costume?"

"I think it stems from my crush on Wonder Woman when I was like twelve," Chandler explained, hanging his head in shame.

"I'll see what I can do," Monica laughed.

Rachel cringed. "Ok, Hurricane, I think you should get out there now, cause there's tons of news crews out there."

"I can see the headline now – 'Superhero Caught Making Out With Random Guy'…actually, that'd be really cool," Chandler grinned.

"For you, maybe." Monica gave him one last kiss, then took off into the air. "See you two later!"

While Rachel stared in awe, Chandler muttered, "I don't think I'm ever gonna get used to that."

Minutes later, the two were picking their way down the street towards Chandler's office building. It was like a war zone. Monica was doing the best she could, but without the rest of the team, Volcano was still getting the upper hand. Between the policemen's gunshots and the blasts from the lava, Rachel and Chandler were barely staying alive.

After dodging a falling store awning, Chandler spied two men thrown at least a few yards by a six-year-old. "Hey, the rest of the team's here!"

"It's about time," Rachel huffed, avoiding a fresh hole in the street tar.

Chandler stopped moving forward to look at the action. "Do you think they forgave Monica?"

"Right now, I think you'd better move." Rachel yanked him back just as a piece of concrete landed where he was standing.

They surged forward, leaping over downed street lights and power lines. Rachel let out an ear piercing scream when a skyscraper beam crashed to the ground, blocking their path. "Oh my God!"

"It's okay, don't panic…" Chandler wasn't sure if he was talking to himself or Rachel. "We'll just turn around and –" He was cut off by lava blast that whizzed by. "Or, you know, staying right here's always good."

"Are you crazy?" Rachel shrieked, then noticed lava coming straight at her. She shut her eyes. So this is how I'm going to die.

The blast never came. When she opened her eyes, she was around the corner, out of harm's way. Chandler was next to her, also shaken. Rachel gasped, realizing that she had been holding her breath. "What the hell happened?"

Chandler glanced around. "I-I…don't know…" He froze when he saw Jack, a.k.a. Zoom, standing about a yard away from them. He tugged on Rachel's sleeve.

" Chandler, what is it…oh my God," Rachel gasped. Not ever having met Jack before, she was simply in awe of being saved by the famed superhero. "Um, wow. T-thank you so much, I –"

Jack ignored her, pulling Chandler to the side, our of Rachel's ear shot. "How is she?"

Still in shock, Chandler stuttered, "W-what?"

"Hurricane," Jack explained, as if it should have been obvious. "How is she?"

Chandler cleared his throat. "She's…fine. She's doing fine."

"Really?" Jack asked, his face a mixture of concern and sadness.

Chandler sighed. "No. She'd kill me if she knew I told you this…though I probably shouldn't be joking about that since she actually can kill me with her bare hands…but she's absolutely miserable. She's been so depressed. We've all been really worried about her."

"We?" Jack asked.

"Her brother and three of our friends, including Rachel back there…who have no idea why she's so upset," Chandler quickly lied. "Just, please, let her back on the team."

Jack hesitated. "I'm thinking about it. The others are really missing her. It's just…it's not easy to forgive her. I'm not going to be able to trust her again for a long time."

"And that's perfectly understandable. But you have to admit, she's kicking butt out there," Chandler pointed out.

Rachel had inched closer to them, unable to resist the temptation to eavesdrop. Now she blurted, "Yeah, you need Monica!"

Jack stared at her. "What was that?"

"Oh, I meant, you need…" Rachel put a hand over her mouth, realizing what she'd done. "Nope , no way to recover, is there?"

"I can't believe this! Who else did she tell?" Jack demanded.

Chandler panicked. He was a terrible liar, but he couldn't let Jack know that Monica told the rest of the six. "N-no one."

"She only told me because I saw her using her power!" Rachel defended.

Jack glared at them. "She told me she wanted to tell her brother. You really want me to believe she didn't tell him too?"

"I…I…" Chandler stammered.

Jack's eyes widened. "Those other people you mentioned. Dear God…they know, don't they?"

Chandler would have protested, if he didn't know it would be useless. "Yes."

" Chandler!" Rachel chided, glaring at him.

"Does she not want to be on the team ever again?" Jack shouted. "What the hell is wrong with her? She doesn't tell us about her identity, then she goes and tells all of you? What the hell was going through her mind?"

Thoughts raced through Chandler's mind. He had to defend his fiancé. She was already going to be pissed at him when he told her about this. "Zoom, think about how Monica felt through all this, okay? First she has to conceal her identity to everyone for safety reasons. Then the team finds out, and she's booted out of the superhero business. She feels like crap, but she has to keep it all to herself because no one else knows about it. Finally, the others gang up on her, demanding an explanation. She would have kept the secret…she just felt that she already lost you guys. She didn't want to lose her friends too."

Jack looked at their pleading faces for a long moment. "Well, no matter what the reason, she still betrayed her identity to five other people. Keeping one's identity secret is one of the most important aspects of being a superhero. I…I think I might have to cut her from the team, permanently."

With that, he super-speeded back into the fight. Rachel and Chandler stood among the chaos, unable to suppress the overwhelming feelings of depression and guilt.