One…more…pull, Tobey thought to himself as he yanked on the wrench. Repairing things around the ship could be simplistic processes. However, when it came to the crime detection unit, the very idea of an easy fix went directly out the nearest window. The gadget had been giving both he and Becky trouble for a couple of months. It would work for a few weeks, then suddenly shut down for two or three days. Considering its vitality to their operation, this cyclical happening was incredibly concerning. Time after time, Tobey thought he had found the solution only to discover that the machine had some new method of dysfunction.
"I hate this thing sometimes," he said out loud, thinking that he was alone.
"Yeah, it can be a real pain," a familiar lilting voice said, causing Tobey to start.
"Oh, Becky," Tobey said, blushing at his surprise. "I didn't realize anyone else was in here."
She smiled and walked over to him. "Any luck?"
"No," Tobey said, "and I'm about to toss this infernal contraption into the bowels of whatever hell it decided to crawl out of!"
"Easy, boy, easy," Becky said, putting a calming hand on Tobey's shoulder.
The boy genius instantly felt a warm sensation run up and down his arm. Becky had a way of doing that to him. Though they'd now enjoyed a friendship for a while, he still hadn't uncovered his true feelings for her. That said, he could feel them growing stronger than ever before. His daily assignments felt light when he remembered that Becky was constantly working with him. He loved being around the ship, but he loved being around her even more. Not only was she visually appealing, but he'd also come to treasure her intelligence and wit. Her sarcasm was of particular note. He remembered being on the receiving end of it. Now, he relished getting to hear her use it to knock his former colleagues back a peg or two. In short, he loved everything about her…but he wasn't quite ready to tell her so.
"Hey…you okay?" Becky asked, causing him to start once more. "You kinda drifted into a reverie there."
Beside her, Bob chirped inquisitively.
"Oh, well a reverie is when someone is in a bit of a daze or a trance like state," Becky defined. "For instance, when you see a plate of chicken enchiladas, it can take me a minute to get you to focus on anything else…or, last week, when we couldn't get TJ to stop watching that one episode of Pretty Princess. Those are reveries."
Bob seemed satisfied, so she turned back to her newest confidant. "Got anything else planned today?"
"Eh, not really. I'd like to get this bucket of bolts fixed before tomorrow, but it's getting late and Mom's gonna start wondering where I am."
"Yeah, I know what that feels like," Becky said sympathetically. "By the way, how have you been keeping our little secret?"
"Oh, I make up different excuses," Tobey said. "I figured, if you could do it with your family, so could I."
"Yeah…" Becky said, her voice fading from its usual brightness into something a bit more forlorn.
Tobey took note of this alteration. He watched as his best friend sat down in the chair opposite where he was standing. Her eyes became misty and she reached for a nearby tissue dispenser to clear them. The reaction reminded Tobey of the night he had first discovered her true identity. He remembered how sad she'd been when presented with his smoking gun. His mind also played the video itself, shedding particular light on how much her duties as a superhero strained her familial relationships. He suddenly thought that his comment about excuses had been rather out of place. So, he took a seat himself and reached a kind hand over to her knee. '
"Hey…sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have said that."
"No, no," she said, wiping a stray tear away. "It's…okay."
"No, it's not okay," he said. "I should've been more tactful. Obviously, you deal with something that completely supersedes anything I could ever dream of."
"That's not true," she said firmly, her voice returning to its authoritative, yet friendly, tone. "You and I are in this together. That's what it means to be partners…and friends. This is no longer my mission, nor even mine and Huggy's mission. It's OUR mission. We keep the city safe, Tobey. While I appreciate your admission and your apology, it has nothing to do with tact. It has everything to do with keeping everyone around us safe. We lie so that they can live…and so we can live normally."
Tobey swore she was glowing at the end of her small speech. He nearly stood and applauded. Still, though, through her bit of heroic eloquence, there was a definite pain. He could feel it jutting out of her like stalagmites rising from a cave floor. Her journey as an alien superhero hiding in the guise of a normal young girl had not been an easy one. In fact, he could tell that it took every fibrous structure within her just to keep her secret every day. He was beginning to feel the same way. Having to lie to one's family in order to protect the greater good wasn't easy, but he also knew that it would be worth it. Somewhere, somehow, it would.
—
After the small emotional scene, he and Becky left the ship and returned home. He had never felt such a heavy presence of silence between them before. What Becky had said about being heroes had given him quite a bit to ponder. His mind churned away while she flew them back over the lake and into the city itself. Once there, they walked the rest of the way while the thunderous silence prevailed. It was rather obvious that Becky, in spite of her speech, still felt stung by Tobey's words. On the other side, Tobey was still grappling with everything she had said.
She's so damn quiet, he thought. Especially for her. Words give her purpose…and now she's not using them.
"Becky," he said as they arrived at her front walk.
"Yeah?"'
"I…I want you to tell me you're alright."
She turned and gave him an odd look. "Excuse me?"
"I want to know that this sudden silence is…not my fault," he admitted. "I mean, with the whole 'excuses' comment."
She smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. "Trust me, Tobey. None of this is your fault. Like I said, we're heroes. We have to make sacrifices every single day, and one of them is keeping all of this to ourselves."
"Yeah, I guess," he said. "Still…I just…I hate the thought that I might have…you know, said something to hurt you. I'm so new to this friendship thing that I…I guess I say stupid things."
"We all do," Becky said. "But, again, the excuses are part of what we do. I accepted that a long time ago. Yeah, it hurts to have to lie, yet I always remember the reasons for my dishonesty. Like I said before, we lie so they can live. Now, it's late. I need to get to bed. See you tomorrow?"
"Same time, same place," Tobey said with a small grin.
"Goodnight, Tobey." Becky said as she and Bob turned to head inside.
"Goodnight."