The Nebulous Meaning of 'Hero'

Chapter 7: Absolutely Truthful

a/n: so i know I'm supposed to be getting my other stories updated before this (sorry!!) but i was lacking inspiration and just really in the mood to write this one so here's another update. updates for the others are in progress!! 

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Wes walked into Teamwork and Coordination the next day feeling nervous, but determined. He was going to get to the bottom of this. He was going to – subtly, and sensitively, in a true Wesley way – discover the truth about Vincent's superpowers.

Ah, fuck. Who was he kidding. He was probably just going to blurt out,

"Um- just wondering whether your psychopathic father stole your powers and you, er, miraculously survived or anything?"

Anyhow, whatever the method, he was going to get some answers. He was gonna be firm and purposeful and productive. He was gonna be the epitome of confidence- of persuasiveness- and-

Vincent wasn't there.

Vincent had freakin skipped. After all that. How utterly- rude of him to decline Wesley's unspoken invitation to come and be subtly (but firmly) interrogated. Wes sunk down into his chair, trying not to look at all the other hero-sidekick pairs getting on famously, chattering away. Laughing. Getting to know each other better. The only way Wes was going to get to know Vincent better, apparently, was through quasi-stalking his background via Dad.

"Ditched already, are we?" came a familiar sneer. Fucking Eric. Could this day get any worse? Wes didn't bother lifting his head from where he'd laid it down on his arms in despair. "I would say I was surprised, but I'm really not. What did it take?" He paused for effect, looked exaggeratedly at his watch. "Two minutes, for Odisti to discover what a shit sidekick you'd make?"

Wes closed his eyes. Just ignore him, he told himself, trying to think of relaxing things like beaches and cups of tea. It doesn't hurt! You're untouchable, now, you're a rebel with a cause. ...No matter if he didn't have a fucking clue what the cause was yet. No matter if it did, kind of, hurt.

"Poor Odisti was actually quite slow on the uptake, huh?" Eric was continuing, quieter now. He dropped softly into Vincent's chair. "Didn't take me that long, did it? You remember, your dad said 'play with little Wes' and I said no because Wesley's a baby and a weakling and he's always going to lose."

"Your memory's got you with quite the vocabulary for a three year old," muttered Wes sarcastically. He sat up slowly. Eric was sat sideways on the chair, facing him with a smirk. His blonde hair was perfectly arranged, his blue eyes bright. He was Hitler's bloody wet dream.

"Nice eye," he said, smiling as he pointed to the faded bruise on Wesley's face from their fight, dark green and purpling on his light brown skin. "Who gave you that?"

Wes swallowed, feeling angry and inadequate and all the other feelings that trailed at Eric's golden heels. He was, of course, about to say something suitably and stunningly scathing back when the teacher walked in.

"So today," began Mr Blake, "I've got a couple of things for you to do. Firstly, everyone's gonna need to sign up for costume fittings via the school's online portal. We've got two days set aside for this class at the school tailor's, so please select a time that suits both you and your sidekick and get the online form submitted as soon as possible. Second- this lesson, you're gonna be deciding your codenames. Only you and your sidekick can know these names, okay? You're also gonna need team names, which are given to the school and then onto the country's security forces, so they can identify who's at work in their cities. Thirdly – and perhaps most importantly - I'm going to hand out some question forms now. You will each fill them in before swapping with your sidekick, and then you've gotta learn your partner's answers. You need to know them like the back of your hand, because communication and understanding is a major part of an efficient team. I'll be testing everyone on them next Monday so you'd better learn them properly."