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  I expected blood and gore to pour out, but instead, I was met with a high-pressure spray of oil and stringy tissue that looked like plastic instead of muscle. Under the outer flesh, the bone was indeed metal, maybe how Magnetaur controlled them, and sparks flew from exposed circuits. These things weren’t mutant dinosaurs.

  They were freaking dinosaur Terminators!

  Stone shattered on steel behind me as Paragon and Magnetaur’s orbits of animated material collided with each other. Roaring, grunting, and the echo of sledgehammer blows rang in my ears as I threw the now-deactivated body of the bio-beast at its fellows. Following right in the path of it, I hit the next bio-beast right after its downed comrade did. Thrown off by the body crashing over it, the thing was wide open for me to plant a full-strength uppercut right under its jaw.

  “Paragon!” I shouted as the robot’s reptilian head snapped up and back at an awkward angle and didn’t come back down to normal. “They’re robots! Inorganic under the surface!”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him glance back at me as he shoved the thirty-foot-tall mammoth of an Allosaurus away from him with seemingly little effort. “Of course. You knew I wouldn’t use my full strength on a living creature, and that I wouldn’t think to use my molecular powers on them either.” As Magnetaur stumbled back into one of the partly-intact walls, taking it the rest of the way down in the process, Paragon simply snapped his fingers. “Very clever, Magnetaur, but your little game is at an end.”

  A spark of blue energy started from that snap and ran like wildfire across the ballroom, even as I met another beast’s pounce with a leaping kick of my own, splintering its snout under my boot. Paragon’s power danced from robot to robot, burrowing through any available gap in their organic facades. As I landed lightly from that mid-air collision, my dance partner hit much harder away from me, right before it exploded messily, the robotic endoskeleton being ripped out in one neat motion.

  One by one, each bio-beast was ripped asunder by Paragon’s absolute mastery of molecules, his focused gaze following each bursting beast and directing his power to gather up all the twisted robotic pieces into one lump at the center of the blasted chamber. That did distract him from Magnetaur himself, and though already looking badly beaten, the Jurassic monster rose with alarming speed, the air around him starting to surge with a sickly green glow.

  “Force my hand, will you?” he roared, no doubt unaware of his unintentional joke as he flailed his little, clawed arms. “If magnetism won’t end you, then this gamma burst will do —”

  I’m no scientist, but I knew plenty enough to realize that unleashing gamma rays were certainly possible for something that controlled the electromagnetic spectrum. I also knew that doing so would kill a lot more people than us, and that made me angry. It was one thing to threaten a superhero, that was just part of the job, but to be willing to essentially nuke the entire neighborhood in the process, I couldn’t stand for that. Plus, I was getting a little sick of the monologuing.

  Before Paragon could spin and before Magnetaur could finish his little speech, I had launched myself across the room with one titanic leap, confident that I could go full force on the giant Allosaurus with no fear for his safety. His little reptilian eyes widened a split-second before I plowed into his snout with my fist and his little arms tried to get in the way, but that was a hopeless effort.

  Even though he was far tougher than his minions, there was a satisfying crunch of cartilage and bone as blood ran out of Magnetaur’s nostrils as his massive head rocked back on his ruffed neck. Those tiny arms flailed madly, trying to keep his body upright, but it was a losing battle. As I landed in the field of rubble left over from Magnetaur’s magnetic tempest, the mighty mutant dinosaur teetered back and fell, shaking the ground with the force of his impact. Even with my increased toughness, I still hurt my knuckles on his stupid face, but Magnetaur wasn’t getting back up.

  “That’s for calling me a wench,” I growled as I shook out my aching hand. It stung, but considering how fast my bullet wound healed, I knew that it’d be good as new by morning. Yeah, I could get used to this superhero thing.

  11

  I’d never seen how ugly the press could look despite being one of them until I was on the other end of the questioning. While I appreciated the lust for truth some of them had, most of them were motivated purely by greed and sensationalism. I thought Magnetaur and his organic robot things were bad, but I would face them a thousand times over if it would mean never dealing with a barrage of questions like this again. Of course, I knew that wasn’t going to happen. I’d just have to get used to it.

  At least Paragon never left my side. He hid his pangs of annoyance with the crowd and the destruction well, feeling an overwhelming need to protect me. While I didn’t really need it, I knew how these guys worked, after all, that protectiveness filled me with added confidence and reinforced my deep-down desires.

  As we wound up at the top of the front steps, New Harbor E-SWAT officers keeping the journos at a safe distance, a piercing voice broke over the din. “Samantha Conner, Super News Network!” I did say she was the loudest of their talking heads for a reason. “I don’t mean anything by this, ma’am … but who are you?”

  Ignoring my aching knuckles, I planted my fists on my hips. “You can call me Ms. Miracle, Samantha, and I’m just glad I was here to help.” I smiled as I joked, “You don’t need to see my card, do you?”

  There were a few smiles now among the generally serious faces.

  “No, but to elaborate on that,” the still-perfectly primped and powdered anchor pushed on, ignoring the clamor of her fellow reporters, “why are you here?”

  “That’s an easy question.” I gestured over to where the boys in blue were operating a remote-controlled crane to lift Magnetaur, bound and muzzled with reinforced ceramic bonds, into a power-dampening cell. “I’m here because —”

  A strong, gloved hand fell on my shoulder, cutting me off. “Ms. Miracle is here under my invitation,” Paragon said, his deep voice overwhelming mine and silencing the crowd. “We crossed paths on patrol last night, and I was impressed. Considering what happened tonight, we should all be glad she accepted that invitation.”

  That put an end to that line of questions. The curiosity of the crowd wasn’t fully quenched, not by a long shot, but these were all old hands. They knew that when Paragon said something, that was that. The reporters knew their place.

  I should have been annoyed. I didn’t need someone to speak for me, and I didn’t need someone to swoop in and save my day. I was perfectly capable of day-saving on my own now. And yet, I wasn’t, not really. What woman didn’t want a shining knight to rescue them from time to time? I’d simply return the favor later.

  A few of the bolder reporters shouted a few more questions at Paragon, but he raised a hand to ward them off. The SWAT officers read the message loud and clear, taking that as a signal to clear the civilians from the area. Looking back over my shoulder, I caught Paragon’s eyes with my own.

  “I appreciate that second save for tonight,” I whispered, confident in his superior senses to pick up my words. “You didn’t even have to fib for that one, but I still have questions.”

  His knit brow smoothed as he gave me a faint smile. “Sometimes, the best way to tell a lie is with the truth. As for your questions, I will be happy to answer them. Come with me.”

  A thrill ran through me as he gave my shoulder a faint squeeze. The whole fairy tale vibe seemed to sink back into place as Paragon turned and started back through the ruined front door of his home. Though that mild annoyance with the damage remained, it didn’t really grow, and that got me curious. Not one to turn down the invitation to learn the truth, I followed him, catching up with a few quick strides as we left the cacophony of the press and the police outside.

  Not that outside was exactly a well-defined thing at that particular moment. Magnetaur had done a number with his dramatic entrance, and what was left was torn apart during th
e battle itself between the magnetic dino and Paragon’s own matter manipulation. This wasn’t exactly a new thing. Super battles were hard on the infrastructure, after all.

  “Why aren’t you a little angrier about all this?” I said as he floated through the ruins of the entrance hall. I had to pick my way through, occasionally leaping over the bigger pieces of rubble. “I understand that you’re rich and that you could rebuild a lot of it with your own powers, but there looked to be a lot of vintage art in here.”

  “That’s not the first question I expected to hear,” he said with a polite chuckle. “But I did say I would answer all your questions, so we’ll begin there.” Paragon drifted through the felled wall into the ballroom, off-handedly gesturing. The azure glow of his power flowed out, reconstituting basic structural supports out of the debris strewn about. “While few villains have had the gall to attack my home, I always consider it a possibility. All of the original artwork, anything of value, is stored in a vault down below. Everything you saw in the brief time before the attack were all reproductions, perfect down to the molecular level.”

  I smiled. “And that would be Robert Washington, the forward thinker, talking.” Smiling at my words, he passed his hands across the room, his eyes glowing blue, his powers washing across the ballroom, walls repairing themselves along with the hardwood floor. “So, my next question, off the record, is why?”

  The reconstruction slowed as he looked at me, eyes returning to their usual warm hazel. “Why what? For a renowned reporter, that is an extremely unfocused question.”

  “I don’t know,” I grinned. “’Why’ is usually the most important question anyone can ask about anything. As for this particular one, why are you doing any of this for me?” My expression grew serious, putting the full weight of my gaze on him. “I appreciate the attention, anyone would, but there are worthier reporters and superheroes to invite to a private meeting.” Still ignoring the throb of my knuckles, I wagged a finger at him, my other hand on my hip. “And don’t give me any lines about expanding the hero community or getting to know new locals. That was something someone like Fortress would say. Not that you don’t work with others from time to time, but you’re mostly a solo act.”

  Half-expecting the world’s greatest hero to take affront at having some newbie challenge his intentions, I was surprised when the emotional feedback off of him was relief and maybe a hint of a deeper desire. “Good, I wouldn’t expect you to accept a pandering explanation like that.” He drifted towards me and landed, the force of his physical presence stoking a fire of desire in my core. “As for what you said, while there may be some possibly worthier in both respects, they are few and far between. You may know, Christine, that I am a keen observer of humanity. It’s one of the few ways I have left to connect with my fellow man with how far I’m removed from it. So, believe me when I say that there is something in you that is … unique.”

  I was about to argue that point when he raised his hand. It wasn’t that I didn’t feel unique, everyone was unique in this great big world of ours, but unique didn’t mean worthy of this moment, no matter how much I wanted it. I learned a lot from my own parents, and one of those things was that you never got something for nothing. Still, he was asking for time to make his point, so I gave it to him.

  “When I first found you last night, I was indeed simply searching for the heroine who had saved my employees and those other innocent lives, and I was primarily doing so because of the little wager I had presented to me. What you don’t know is how long I observed the situation. I saw your inexperience in your movements, but I also saw dedication, perseverance, and a willingness to put the well-being of others before your own. You might be surprised how rare that can be, even among superheroes.” Robert (I was growing more comfortable calling him that in my mind by the moment) leaned his bearded chin thoughtfully in one hand, propped against his other arm around his chest. “You know, it is strangely coincidental you mentioned Fortress because he was the one who presented me with this little challenge.”

  Fortress was one of New Harbor’s icons, but in a very different way than Paragon. A hero of the streets, dedicated to cleaning up organized crime and other, more insidious crime, Fortress and his partner, Ballista, sweep out of the shadows, clean up the trash other, more powerful heroes don’t bother with. While inspiring abject terror in the criminal element, the Implacable Detective (don’t blame me for that one, SNN came up with that name) was an inspiration to the downtrodden looking for a brighter future. He was also the kind of hero that will be the first to help another hero with a case, a virtue that made him one of the most well-liked of his kind among his peers.

  While Paragon never refused a request for aid, he stood at the apex of the pyramid, so to speak. He rarely asked for help himself and never seemed to need it, standing more as an immutable pillar, a savior figure more than a beacon to aspire to. I had a suspicion that was far from his intentions.

  “Okay,” I nodded slowly, taking a step towards Robert, drawn forward by his honesty and the keen of loneliness that started to ache inside him. “I believe you. I may not fully accept the gushing praise so far, but I won’t deny it either. There is such a thing as false humility, right?”

  He had a moment of surprise at my advance, but it melted into that growing desire, an impulse at war with his loneliness. “Correct. Acknowledging who you are, what you can do, isn’t the same thing as arrogance. What doubts I had left about you were put out by how you handled yourself tonight. Again, without a moment of hesitation, you were ready to pit yourself against one of New Harbor’s most dangerous villains to save innocents and equally willing to risk yourself for me.”

  Robert let out a brief chuckle, his façade still guarded even if I could sense past it. “I could make an argument that shielding an invulnerable man might have been a bit ill-advised but …”

  I was close enough now to feel his warmth, to take in his scent, the smell of cedar and heady spices. I was also close enough to poke a finger right into his stupid, perfectly sculpted chest. “Did you notice the venom on the bio-beasts’ quills? Do you think that Magnetaur and whoever built those things thought they were going to bite you to death?”

  He opened his mouth to retort, but a curious expression fell over his face. “No, I suppose I didn’t see that. Considering you were dealing with their threat gamely, I simply calculated that Magnetaur deserved more of my attention as he was the larger threat.” He shrugged lamely, another of those very human things that you never saw Paragon do publicly. “So many villains have said this or that new weapon is the one that will finally spell my doom that I mostly ignore them at this point.”

  “Well, I’d stop that,” I said with a shake of my head. “The world needs you, and you can’t assume that you’re invincible. Every day, new people” – I put a hand on my chest and could feel my heart pounding – “are getting weird new powers. Someday, someone is going to come along who can hurt you.”

  Though his mask of perfect reserve didn’t break, it did slip for a moment to show the cold loneliness I had only felt to this point. “Yes, the world needs me. It needs me to project that invincibility you say I cannot assume. Wise words, Christine, but I can’t allow myself to follow your advice. I have to act as the world expects or who knows what will happen?”

  Maybe what came out of my mouth, what I did next, could be seen as presumptuous, arrogant, even rude, but when Robert said that, I felt like I knew what my purpose here was. The electric tingle of my powers ran through me as if to tell me I was right, that my heart was true, and so I said what it told me.

  “If that’s how it must be, if you need to be this monolithic, invincible god to the world, then you need me.” I slipped my silver-gloved hands into his, something I couldn’t do without his permission, and squeezed tight. Meeting his confused yet yearning eyes with my intense emerald gaze, I pressed on, letting all of my own worry and desire for him out. “You’re desperately alone, I can see right into your heart, and y
ou refuse to watch your own back. I can stand beside you, I can be there for you, be the protector you need so that you can keep protecting the rest of the world.”

  Robert was a thinker, first and foremost, and I could see the gears turn in his magnificent mind, even if his heart was trying to crank them faster. The conflict in his expression matched the one in his heart, the pain of his lonely vigil as Earth’s champion warring with the fears that anyone he let in would be a target he might not be able to protect. All of that was compounded by the raw physical desire he felt, his heat rising in equal time to my own because I wanted him just as badly.

  I wanted to be the pillar he could lean on, I wanted to fill his heart, but I also wanted to taste his lips, to have his hands on my body, to feel him inside me. Whatever the source of these great powers I had wanted that too, the sparking sensation running through me stronger and stronger. Hands still entwined, as Robert fought his own inner war, I stepped closer, until our bodies were barely touching, letting our warmth mingle.

  “Christine,” he whispered softly, “I don’t know if this is the right thing, even if it was one of the reasons I invited you here. I’ve been looking for someone like you, even if I didn’t always realize it, for years.” Those beautiful eyes of his closed for a moment. “But even now, with you right here, even with my emotions saying yes, I can’t be sure if this is logically what I need to do.”

  He was so wrapped up in logic that he was choking his own heart. I couldn’t let him do that. Slipping my hands free of his, I let them roam up his muscular arms, over his broad shoulders, to cup his magnificent chin. Robert’s eyes snapped open at the intimate contact, and I looked up to catch his gaze. “Robert, you can’t see the future. You can’t calculate every possibility, but you can listen to your instincts. It’s time for you to stop being alone before you break.”