We Don't Wear Tights #JustWriteIt #Wattys2015

Never Number Nine Notes

"So, were you totally and completely lost without me?"

I had to roll my eyes.

"You almost die, and the first thing you have to say to me is that?" I asked, although an easy smile was creeping up my lips.

No, bad smile.

Shoo.

Sin was lying in the small MedRoom's medical recliner. I leaned against the door frame. "How're you feeling?" I asked, noting that he had no shirt on, with a large amount of bandages covering his abdomen. "Eh, shitty." He deadpanned. I nodded, still staring at the bandages. "We could see you. From the screens, I mean."

I didn't know why, but I felt strangely detached. Which definitely wasn't what had been happening when I was running through the halls on an injured leg. Sin looked up. "You saw...that thing, right?" He asked, focusing his eyes on his hands. "I saw it almost kill you." He looked up at this, confused. "...Kill me? What're you talking about? It didn't even hurt me."

"No. No, I saw it charge at you. I saw it make impact. How was that not attacking?" I felt confused, but only at Sin's disoriented state. "It was helping me." He said quietly. I opened my mouth to reply, but no words came out.

I didn't know what to say.

A silence lapsed out, strange and quiet. Secrets practically hummed in the air, burning their prescence in my mind.

"What happened after Happy and Dopey?" I blurted out. I might as well know. Sin was the only other person who knew about what we'd seen. That is, yes the IT folks saw it, but not like we did. They didn't see it. And any conversation was better than this silence.

Sin still wouldn't meet my gaze. "Have you ever realized...?" His voice had a distant edge to it. I remembered what Wire had said, in my strange and panicked daze, I'd caught on to that small piece of information. Or at least I remembered it now. "He's on the same meds you were on before. It's a bit like steroid morphine, if you will. Only keeping him on it a bit...or else it might amount to problems." I figured she'd meant addiction. Morphine wasn't exactly a safe drug.

But the distance in Sin's tone wasn't something medical. It seemed more like a personal thing. "What?" I asked. He was still staring at his hands.

"Why do we become superheroes? If we wanted to save people, we could become members of the military, of the police force, become doctors or scientists. People making a difference for humanity, not just one human, you know? Not just one city. Think about it. There's all those people working so hard, and the ones appreciated are superheroes? How does that make sense?"

Sin sounded reflective, like he'd been thinking on the concept for a while. I bit my lip, thinking about what he was saying. "I don't know. But if there's so many people out there saving humanity, someone has to be out there saving them too." I said, cocking my head to the side. Sin nodded. "The real superheroes are there for us. Who's there for them?" He asked.

"Us." I replied, my tone set in belief.

Sin met my gaze. He looked...different. Older, mature, like he'd seen things a sixteen year old guy shouldn't have to see.

And I wasn't talking about his dad's Internet history.

"Sin, what happened?"

And then he closed his eyes. Wire entered the room, leaning over my shoulder. "Hey, Sin? The Principal wants to talk to you too." Sin nodded, his eyes closed. "Okay." He said wearily. I turned on my heel, and walked out the door.

**

"Yo, Frost!" I knocked on Squad Eight's door. I remembered her Squad number, and was interested. I wanted to know how she was doing. And any info was nice too. A boy with blond hair light as snow, eyes grey as a storm, and skin pale as a cloud, opened the door. "Are you Frost's secret brother?" I asked, smiling. He looked like he should be called Frostbite a lot more than my tanned, blue-haired friend. He shook his head silently. "No." He said quietly. His voice was a bit raspy, like he didn't use it much. Maybe he didn't.