A Husband and Wife Talks

-

"Happy birthday to you~!" Paige smiled as she and her husband clapped. Surrounding them were family friends and "associates" that her husband had invited. Her mother and father had come for Jenny's birthday as well, but the majority of the invitee were those invited by David.

As much as she wanted to say that she was comfortable, she wasn't.

She knew for a fact that of the thirty people who showed up for her Jenny's birthday party,four of them were villains.

"Happy birthday, dear Jenny~! Happy birthday to you!"

And Jenny blew the candles, missing only one. Everyone laughed and clapped. Birthday gifts were soon opened, but Paige was too concerned about the others in the party.

Even as she smiled for Jenny, she glanced at the man standing in the corner of the room and clapping politely. She knew that the man there was the villain known as Baset. He was … not someone she wanted her family around. Baset was a villain who operated in Florida. Having come into the American southeast cape scene less than three years ago, Baset was one of the more powerful grab bag capes. What made her want to distance her family from Baset was the fact that Baset was ahuman trafficker.

What also made this situation awkwardly intense for her was that Baset wasloyalto her husband.

She didn't know how that happened, but it did…. And it happened a lot.

"-mmy! Mommy, look what I got!"

Paige jolted out of her train of thoughts and smiled. "What did you get, Jenny?" she asked.

"Uncle John gave me a shark tooth necklace!"

… Right. Jenny was still at that age where something like ashark tooth necklacewas an awesome gift for her.

"We can get you a Hawaiian dress and you can be an island princess!" she cooed Jenny.

"And Auntie Nan got me … this? What is this, mommy?"

Paige quickly focused on the unknown object in Jenny's hands and saw a tinkertech armored gauntlet. Her stare quickly changed into a glare and her head turned towards the perky young woman standing right next to Baset. Unlike Baset, "Auntie Nan," otherwise known as the cape "Snapfist," was a highly decorated – if a little unorthodox and casual – independent hero operating in New Orleans. She was a tinker who made glove and footwear … and stretched the definition of what was "gloves" and "footwear" by making something like Jenny's gift.

How they were okay with each other – and certainly not glaring or sending any negative messages for everyone to know – was a mystery in and of itself. Heroes and villains weren't supposed to join hands together in their civilian identities and act like there's nothing wrong.

But here they were doing exactly that for the sake of her daughter.

-

The party ended without any abnormal events. No hero barged in to attack Baset. No villain tried to take advantage of Snapfist's civilian identity.

And her honey was about to put on another mask.

It was the oddity that was her husband; as a parahuman, he had three identities that she knew about. With her, he was her loving and tender husband, David, who may be a little too rough in bed, but she liked that. He didn't coddle her when she didn't need it, though he gave plenty of it when she wanted it. He always made time to help her out with her songs, visit the school when there was a school fair to play with Jenny, and always arrived home in time to read Jenny her bedtime story. He was not everything she wanted or asked for, but someone who had become everything to her.

Then there was his second identity, one that was nearly as old as she was. Yes, she knew that her husband was nearly twice her age, even if he never showed gray hair, wrinkles, or even the musky old man smell. It was one of the things he confessed to her as they grew closer. In that identity, he was the mysterious cape known as Vexa. He appeared whenever an Endbringer appeared in the Ameircas and East Asia with few appearances outside of his usual "hunting" territory. He was a cape who grew ever more powerful with each cape fight he participated in. He was Eidolon's opposite; where as Eidolon appeared on stage as this unstoppable "all the powers" and aloof cape who became one of the four (now three) pillars of the Protectorate, Vexa was a lone wolf who appeared only when an Endbringer came by, and started off as this weak runner who rescued people from the rubbles. People even thought that he was a powerless cape trying to die a glorious death. But now, he was referred to as the next Eidolon while Eidolon himself was found out to be slowly losing his powers. His switch time became longer and the powers themselves became weaker while Vexa became stronger, more varied, and far more powerful, though not as powerful as Eidolon, yet.

Finally, there was her husband's third identity, one that he was about to go out in. It was the identity most shrouded in mystery, even for her.

"David, can we talk?" she asked as she placed a hand on the changing room doorway.

David looked over his shoulder for a second, a terrifyingly blank face adorning him, and then he frowned softly. Her body relaxed, unknowingly having been tense when she saw her husband so blank like that.

"Is something wrong, Paigee?" he asked as he put the second mask down and walked over to her. He placed his hands on her waist, and she placed her own hands over his. He stared into her eyes for a second. He always did this before they had a serious talk. It was like he was trying to see through her soul, trying to find out what bothered her.

It was … a part of their relationship. She was a public figure, a renowned singer, while her husband was the shadow behind her who kept her in check, who made sure she was healthy, spent time with Jenny well, balanced the books, always made sure her security guards were proper and strong, and did not let her needlessly do things she could regret. It felt very restrictive sometimes and sometimes without any support, but when she truly needed him, he was there.

But all of this came at a price.

He was shrouded in mystery, and she couldn't strip them until he determined that she was ready for them.

Sometimes, she regretted having agreed to that before they got married. She agreed to them because she believed that he would reveal them very quickly after they truly understood each other. Well, it was her fault for dreaming. She waited and waited, and sometimes even asked like she just did.

And all attempts have been denied.

He smiled.

"I've kept you waiting for a long time, haven't I?" he asked her.

She nodded once. "Yes," she said simply.

He shed his second cape costume and donned a normal attire, and he led her to the kitchen from their bedroom. The late morning sunlight bled in through the curtained windows, lighting everything in light green. He set her down on the kitchen table and extended his hand to her. "What would you like to know?"

She fidgeted for a second. She had a lot of questions prepared but now that she was about to ask them, she felt … anxious? Definitely nervous, but not quite anxious.

"Let's … start with what you do in your other identity."

Her husband, in his civilian identity, was a medium sized business owner, operating a chain of Styrofoam recycling centers.

As Vexa, he was a cape who participated in Endbringer battles only. She knew that David did not participate in those battles for the glory or the preservation of humanity. Something about his parahuman power made it beneficial for him to be near a lot of other capes, but she didn't know the exact details, of how being near other capes was useful. She did make conjectures, and knew that her conjecture was very close to the truth.

How else would her husband wield more than three powers? Outside of him, no one else was capable of wielding more than three active powers.

But the third identity, she knew nothing about. David didn't hide that identity's costume from him. In fact, he used to ask her out on dates after appearing in that costume. Unlike the Vexa costume, the third identity's costume was far more crisp and civilized. It was a business outfit like a business suit but had nothing that restricted movement or prevented the skin from breathing. It had muscular curves rather than the stiff form of a business suit. The mask he wore was also streamlined. Painted white with red simple patterns reminiscent of a tiger, it gave off a presence not unlike Eidolon, Alexandria, or Legend.

But what was it used for?

David leaned back into his chair and seemed to think. It didn't take him long to start.

"This cape identity," he began. "Is called 'The Broker.' This is because of my primary power's secondary function: I am able to bestow downgraded versions of powers I have."

Paigee blinked for a second. Then she waited as her brain digested the information that had been tossed in her lap. Finally, she reacted. Her hands slammed onto the table in an instinctive motion as she shot up from her seat.

"WHAT?!"

Her husband chuckled as if he told an old man joke, butthis wasn't an old man joke! This was big! It was serious!

"We know that I have been around far longer than you've been alive, Paigee," he continued. "I triggered… very young. It wouldn't be false to say that I may be one of the first to trigger on Earth Bet with parahuman powers."

And he just kept on dropping bombs on her.

"And…?"

"Well, the truth of the matter is, I only have two powers."

She leveled a deadpan stare at him. "Nuh-uh, I saw you use more than one on TV. Try again, honey."

He shrugged. "It's my second power that allows me to manifest multiple powers. You see, honey, that power allows me to make copies of other people's powers."

See? He doesn't stop dropping bombs on her! It's kind of the definition of how their relationship played out. First, he, her crush at the time, asked her out. Next, he proposed to her after surprise 3 hours marathon sex. Then, before marriage, he told her about how he was a cape known as Vexa. Finally, he just dropped a huge bomb about his power!

"… And you use that power in your third identity?" she asked.

He nodded. "I take the copies of powers that I attain in Endbringer fights, and sell them. Or trade them for favors."

She nodded. "I see." She really didn't. "And you've been … trading powers since…?"

"Since my first Endbringer fight at New York City. It helped that one of the people who triggered because of Simurgh later on had a Master power that worked kind of like a contract."

"Who do you sell the powers to?"

"Hero wanna-be's and villain wanna-be's."

"… You sell powers to villains?"

David put his hands up in surrender. "Don't misunderstand. I don't sell big powers to anyone and anyone I do sell to are people who really want to just play."

"What do you mean?"

"… Let's take Baset, for example. The man's got a nephew he wants to dearly protect, but he has a lot of enemies."

"He's a human trafficker. Of course he has a lot of enemies," she snorted.

"Well, in exchange for him not touching our quaint city and making sure anyone he is associated to does the same, I gave his nephew a minor Brute power. The kid doesn't have to worry about bullets anymore, that's for sure."

"And all of your 'transcations' are like that?"

"Most of them are. Teenagers want some freedom? Here's a bit of flight. An old man wants to get rid of his cancer? Lung-lite, it is!" he said cheerfully, but then his body language changed to a more quiet tone with the slowness he began to exude. "Of course, not all of them are like that. Sometimes, villains find me. They don't contact me through traceable methods and they always try to extort me. Sometimes, they find out about you, Paigee."

Paigee felt a chill go down her spine.

David's smile was sad but understanding. "So sometimes, I have to give away powers in exchange for favors. There used to be a villain in Los Angelos by the name of Clubber. A real villain bully, anyone can tell you. Well, he found out about me, formed a tiny alliance of villains, and tried to track me down."

"And …?" she asked.

"Instead of giving out powers like there was no tomorrow, I called the Protectorate in my Broker identity. They knew about me, but they couldn't find me. The villains were succeeding only because they had a very specific Thinker among them suited for finding people. Well, I called the Protectorate and made them a deal. I will give new heroes but I wanted Clubber's head in exchange."

Paigee shrunk.

She … didn't know David had this side to him.

"And …?" she asked, her voice growing quieter.

"Less than three hours after my call, Clubber was found dead."

She shivered.

"… Oh."

She didn't know how else to say it. Oh, her husband traded powers forlives. Oh, her husband traded favors forpowers.

"… How big is this… thing?" she asked cautiously.

"… When I said I was lucky with a Master power, I meant it. Through it, I was able to secure quite a bit of heroes and villains to come help me should I ever need it."

"How many…?"

"Roughly? A hundredth of the entire American cape population."

… A hundredth?

USA had an estimated cape population of ten thousand. A hundredth of that was a hundred capes.

Which was … actually a bit underwhelming.

David must have seen her expression because he smiled for her, and it was a sad smile. "It's only a hundredth because more than half of the people I give powers to die within the first year because of their decisions to jump in where they should not have."

"Would I know anyone who you gave power to?"

"Well, you saw Baset, and I told you about his nephew. But you're probably asking me about any big names in the Protectorate, right?"

She nodded.

"Hecarim."

Paigee felt her eyes widen.

Hecarim was … a nerd. Everyone knew that he chose his cape name from an Earth Aleph game called League of Legends. He was often ridiculed because of that and his social inability, but there was no denying that he wasthe strongestcape to have ever worked for PRT Cleveland. A Changer/Mover cape, Hecarim did exactly what his name's origin did: he charged in and struck hard. When he changed into his Changer form, he was as long as a freight container and twice as tall. The only comparable cape to Hecarim was Lung, the Dragon of Kyushu.

It was sad that Hecarim was one of the three casualties Cleveland suffered against the Slaughterhouse Nine, but not before he killed three of their members in 2009. He was buried with full honors and his family received the bounty of the three Slaughterhouse Nine members he killed.

"O-Oh."

"He is both an example of how powerful I can make someone… and how often they die, especially the heroes. All of them have a martyrdom complex or something," he sighed. He stood up, walked over to the coffee machine, and poured them both a cup each. He brought it over and they sipped.

"Was anyone close to you?" she asked.

David stopped mid second sip. He put the cup down.

"Do you remember Madison?"

She nodded jerkily. Madison was one of the first American cities to have been struck by Simurgh. No American forgot Madison and the horrors that Simurgh spawned there.

"Gillium was a rogue. He wanted a power that would help him better tend to his flowers. You actually received his complimentary gift on your eighteenth birthday."

Paigee's eyes widened.

Flowers? Was Gillium related to the Carnivorous Flowers of Madison?

"Did he …?"

"He didn't make it out. Or die."

He sipped his coffee, and Paigee felt the rest of her questions wither.

The blue and yellow flowers she received for her eighteenth birthday were beautiful. She still had them.

"He actually managed a third of my network of rogues, you know," David continued. "Hard worker, Gillium was. Oh, he complained like no one else did and did it loudly, but it was always for the rogues who needed help and not for himself. Well, not very often anyway. We were about the celebrate his fifth anniversary of his business's success..."

"But Simurgh came first."

"I couldn't pull him out in time. It's one of the reasons why I was actually going hard on Simurgh yesterday. Gillium is one of the few names I want to avenge."

She nodded, and silence descended between them again.