"'You tell me where my suit is, woman! We are talking about the greater good here.'

''Greater good?' I am your wife! I'm the greatest *good* you are ever going to get!"

~Lucius Best (Frozone) and Mrs. Best

:Elise:

You know, being kidnapped by a super villain was in fact not the worst thing to ever happen to me.

You're probably thinking, 'Oh, she's just trying to be brave in the face of sudden death,' but I'm not. This supervillain didn't scare me one bit.

(Alright, maybe a tiny bit)

I hated bullies and people who used their power to push others down. If I was a superhero, I'd be very motivated at kicking the butts of every villain around. Bullies were still bullies, no matter how much spandex they wore.

I had just gotten home from school when the villain burst into my room through the window. I was mostly too flabbergasted to react at first. I mean – a super bursting into your room and breaking your window was shocking enough, but the fear of why she was there was even worse. Had she discovered my secret?

But, no. Andromeda (a super villain who'd only been seen once in the public eye) said that she needed me for leverage against White Lightning. Why me out of all the other girls in this city? I had no idea.

"I'm bored!" I yelled out at Andromeda, who was currently pacing the floor impatiently.

"I don't care!" she jabbed back.

I groaned purposely annoyingly loud. "I wouldn't have been kidnapped by a super if I'd known it'd be this boring."

"You had no choice in the matter!" Andromeda yelled back.

I scoffed, "Well, if you were going to kidnap a girl and use her as bait, couldn't you have entertained her? I mean, unless White Lightning shows up, we'll be stuck doing nothing for hours."

"White Lightning will come." She assured, pacing some more.

"Yes, of course he will." I mocked under my breath.

(Maybe I could annoy Andromeda into letting me go.)

I fidgeted with the ropes that were holding my arms back and around a pole. The ropes weren't just rope, though. Andromeda assured me that they had Merlonium metal woven into them (the only weakness all supers had) just in case. I had no idea why she thought I was a super, or possibly one. Maybe they were just to hurt White Lightning when he went to untie me. All I knew was that they were tight, and my wrists were red from the rubbing.

"Why do you even think he's coming?" I asked for the billionth time.

She sighed, flipping her purple hair (possibly a wig) over her shoulder. "I know that he's saved you twice now, and he's even visited you at your home. You're special to him."

"Yes, because he's just so stricken with me, Andromeda." I deadpanned for the billionth time.

Andromeda must've had it with my snarky comments because she roughly turned around, walking up to me until we were inches across from each other. "Stop it with the denying, Elise. I happen to know his real identity, girl, and you're special to him even when he takes off the mask. He will come for you."

Andromeda stalked away to keep up her pacing again, but this time I had no snarky comment prepared. I knew White Lightning. I knew the man underneath the mask.

I didn't know how Andromeda even found out who he was under the spandex, or if she was even right, but her words shocked me. Someone I was close to was the hero in spandex that saved the city every day. I knew him.

The prospect was weird to think about. It reminded me of the Revealing scandal back in Empire City. It turned out that Sonic, The Marvel, Tornado, and even Blue Archer had gone to school together, Blue Archer being in a different grade before he originally went missing. I mean, how much of a coincidence was it that they all went to the same public school – in the same grade for crying out loud – and were all heroes? Was it the same thing here?

"That's impossible. I would know if someone I knew was White Lightning."

"Would you?" Andromeda questioned. "People worked with Clark Kent for years and never realized that he was Superman, even with his strange hours and the fact that only a pair of glasses and messy hair separated him from his superhero identity. People only see what they want to see. No one wants to believe that the nerdy intern is a great superhero; that their best friend is actually a super in disguise. The best place a super can hide is in playing sight, Elise."

I thought about it for a second. It seemed unbelievable to me that White Lightning was someone I knew, but what if he was? I mean, it was obvious that the hero was someone school aged, college or high school, so someone had to know him outside of hero work. Someone had to look right at him and not suspect that he was a great hero. Maybe that someone was me.

That was when a beep on Andromeda's phone alerted her. She looked up and smiled at me. "It looks like your hero is here."

*

*

*

:Oliver:

The place where it all began could only mean one thing. It was the place where I got my powers, the place that gave me the ability to be a hero in the first place.

I knew Andromeda would have some way of telling when I arrived, so she'd be prepared to fight, but I was still hopeful to capture her unawares. I just hoped she hadn't hurt Elise too much.

The building where my dad had been murdered was now vacant. The big corporate company he had worked for was caught up with the villain Nemesis's plans back in Empire City. They'd been helping to fund him, and the public had not taken lightly to the fact that they funded the kidnapping of their favorite heroes, sp the building was now abandoned.

I tried contacting Delinquent, but considering that I did not have her number and I didn't know her real identity, it was pointless. There was one other hero I knew well, though. He'd come by only two years ago to help us with a super villain group. I was hoping that he wouldn't come alone.

I paused by the lamppost outside of the building. This was the spot where, during that rainstorm so many nights ago, I was electrocuted by lightning that was conducted through this post. This was the spot where I gained my powers and became something other than just Oliver Storm. This was the spot where it all began.

I opened the big revolving doors and looked around at the abandoned equipment from an abandoned project to renovate the building. There were slabs of wood and equipment everywhere, but no Elise.

And then that was when I saw her.

She was tied to a beam in the middle of the room. She had a gag in her mouth and her eyes were tired and wide. She was still in our school uniform.

I rushed over immediately. I pulled the gag out and rushed to untie her wrists, but as soon as I touched them, my fingers burned. I drew my hands back in pain.

"The ropes are lined with Merlonium, White Lightning. There's no use in trying." Elise stated the now obvious.

The ropes were obviously cutting into her skin by the look of her raw flesh around the bindings. I needed to get her out of these and away from the building before Andromeda came out to play.

"Well, well, well. It looks like our hero is here. Should I call the paparazzi? They sure would love a picture of you, wouldn't they?" said a melodic voice form the corner of the room.

I turned and Andromeda stepped out of the shadows, her purple hair framing her sharp cheekbones perfectly. For some reason, her voice modulator made her sound more human, unlike most.

"Let me get her out of here, Andromeda. You're beef is with me, not her. You lured me here, now let her go."

She frowned. "Awe, but that's no fun, Lightbulb."

I froze. That was what Delinquent called me, only I knew that.

"What?" she taunted. "You afraid of a little nickname, huh? I had a quick conversation with her, Delinquent. Back when I first visited your city I gave her a visit. I thought maybe the local vigilante wouldn't mind helping get the local hero out of the way, but she protested. We fought until she got an alert on her watch. She teleported out of there like a coward. But the fight did bring your attention, something I was vouching for in the first place.

"You see, White Lightning, I came here for you. The Obstructer hired the strong guy the first time they wanted to go after you two. He was able to get Captain Impossible down, but your outburst was unexpected. So, when that guy failed to take you out, The Obstructer hired me. It seems to turn out that I am much better at my job than he was at his.

"You have to do more than just rob a bank and hope to have the power to defeat two supers. You have to investigate them. You have to find out their weaknesses. You have to find out their Achilles heel. It didn't take me too long to figure out your identity. I just looked at medical records, people between the ages of fifteen and twenty who experienced a major accident when they were younger; the type of accident where super powers are a possibility. Then I just cross referenced those with people who'd had contact with Daniel Jackson and weren't present at almost all of their saves. Because, you know, sometimes supers like to build fake alibies at the times that their saving the city instead of at school or work.

"It makes me wonder how those stupid conspiracy theorists haven't found you out yet. I mean, if I could do it, why can't they?"

I clenched my fists. Andromeda was making a reference to Ian, my best friend who was obsessed with finding out my identity. I knew she was. She really had found me out.

"Fine, so you think you know who I am. But what good does it do you?" I fired back.

She chuckled and grinned, an expression not as reassuring as it should be. "Don't you know why your identity is your most valuable possession? Now that I know who you are, I can threaten the people you love the most, like poor little Elise over there in the corner."

"I am not a damsel in distress!" Elise yelled out.

Andromeda's vicious grin perked up, "Of course not. Now all that's left is telling The Obstructer your identity. I'm sure releasing your identity to the world before we kill you will be much more harmful."

"Why haven't you told them yet?" I questioned curiously. "Why didn't you tell them before now?"

She shrugged. "I have my motives."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "You don't believe in their reasoning, do you?"

"Let's just say that they don't like us supers that much. I wouldn't mind making The Obstructer wait."

So, maybe Andromeda wasn't as much of a villain as I thought. Maybe she was just following orders.

"So, does this mean that you'll let Elise go and let me walk free?"

She smirked. "Oh, no. I still plan on beating you down pretty badly. What kind of villain would I be if I didn't?"

Of course. I just had to get the crazy villains, right?

"Fine, then let's fight."