"In the end, my girlfriend became my arch enemy, my arch enemy became my best friend, and my best friend became my girlfriend. But, hey, it's high school."

~ Will Stronghold

We called the police after finding Andromeda gone. Missing persons were normally the job of the police force, and Elise was technically kidnapped, even if by a super. Said super was now gone, so The Marvel and I were done.

The Marvel and I were perched across the street on a rooftop as the police vehicles finally pulled up. Elise was waiting outside for them, us having left only seconds earlier. The first officer on the scene quickly checked Elise for injury before turning her over to her parents, who had rode to the scene with the officers.

The way they embraced each other, it made me ache inside for a family like that. Even her overactive little brother was there, hugging her just as tightly. I always wanted siblings like that. My mom and I never got time for family outings (not to mention the money) and we never got too much time to bond. Those families like Elise's, who were so tightknit, they made me envious. I never had that, and I'll probably never have it t0o. My dad was long gone and my mother, until recently, never opened her heart out to more love.

Soon, Elise was sitting in the back of the ambulance, getting her red wrists wrapped up, while extra officers were searching the premises. Perhaps they thought they'd find Andromeda, or give clues to where she was.

"Well, this had been fun, White Lightning, but I have a city to get back to." The Marvel said, bringing my attention away from Elise.

"Yeah, thanks for coming, though. Without you, Andromeda probably would've succeeded. And she won't be the last one either. The Obstructer won't stop sending supers after me."

The Marvel raised his eyebrows. "The Obstructer?"

I shrugged, "Oh, yeah. I basically have a faceless villain out to kill me. He was the one who got Captain Impossible killed, and now he wants me dead too."

The Marvel whistled. "Man, been there, done that. Nemesis's main goal was to capture Arabella more than anything, but if we got killed along the way, it would've been an extra bonus for him."

Nemesis was the old mayor of Empire City who was Arabella Jones's father. Apparently he was also responsible for her powers that made her the super, Sonic. He even broke The Manipulator out of prison in his attempt at turning the public against supers. If he hadn't been defeated, I would be out of the job right now.

"How are things between you two anyways?" I asked tentatively. "What happened?"

The Marvel shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I wasn't there for her enough. If maybe I had told her about who I was after she lost her memory of that weak when she found out. If maybe I had made her stay in Empire City after senior year. If maybe I would've admitted how I felt before all the chaos. If maybe I had made the right choice when that super villain made me choose between her and that civilian . . . it doesn't matter now. She made her choice. She was the one who threw away the ring."

I didn't understand most of that, but I got the last part.

"You two were engaged?"

He looked down and back out at the scene below us, where Elise was cuddling up next to her little brother. His eyes were longing, maybe the same I felt – for a family of his own. "We were. It only lasted a couple weeks before . . . before the incident." He looked back up at me, determination in his eyes. "Don't do what I did, White Lightning. Don't wait until it's too late."

I looked back down at Elise, understanding perfectly what he meant.

She was my Mary Jane. My Lois Lane; my Iris West; my Pepper Potts. I couldn't help that I wanted to be with her, even with my dangerous lifestyle. I couldn't help that I wanted to keep her safe forever, even if she didn't want the help. Elise Howerton was my only weakness.

The Marvel seemed to understand my line of thinking. "I once had to tell a friend of mine that we heroes weren't supposed to get the girl. When a super loves someone . . . it doesn't end up pretty on either ends. They can be your only weakness. Villains know that they can hurt you just by hurting the one you love. It's kind of ironic, isn't it? The heroes never get the happy ending in the end.

"But it doesn't have to be like that. If you try, nothing can stop you." He paused again, looking out over the horizon. "If you want to get the girl, don't wait. Don't tell yourself that it'll be better for the both of you this way, because it won't. You might think that you're protecting her from all of this, but you're not. You still have a chance, so don't do what I did. Don't wait."

"I won't" I assured him.

And I wasn't going to. If I really wanted a relationship with Elise that went anywhere, I would have to tell her eventually. She would have to know about who I was and what I did. I couldn't keep that from her forever.

I needed to tell her, but even with The Marvel's warning, I knew I could let it wait. She just got back to her family after being kidnapped and almost watching me die. She needed time to recover.

He nodded. "I'll see you around, all right, dude?"

I smiled and he took off into the sky. He would be back in Empire City before anyone knew he was even missing. The perks of flying at superhuman speeds, am I right?

With one last look at Elise, I headed off into the night.

*

*

*

:Elise:

"And set that press release for the morning. I want the world to know that even super villains can't intimidate a Howerton." My father said into the phone, most likely talking to his assistant, Joy.

I sighed and let my head fall back. Even after his daughter was just kidnapped, my father was still all business.

"Drive a little faster, Raymond." My dad directed the driver.

I hated that we had a driver. I hated that my mother or father couldn't drive me like normal families. I hated that my father was never my dad. He was always too busy being Mr. Howerton for the role.

After the police officers assured my parents I didn't need to go to the hospital, we hurried back to the station for the car. Raymond, the driver, was already there, waiting.

I also hated how he turned what could've been a life threatening situation into another press opportunity. It was all for the family name.

Our precious family name.

Sometimes I wished I was born in a normal family. One where there wasn't a driver and a nanny. One where the kids grew up spending time with their actual parents, not another nameless, faceless nanny. One where the kids went to a normal public school, with sports and fine arts. One where the family wasn't like mine. We were dolls with painted expressions and perfect exteriors. No one could look at our 'happy' family and see what really happened on the inside.

"Now, honey, we need to get your story straight. What exactly happened?" My father asked sternly.

I crossed my arms defensively. "Andromeda was already in my room when I got home. She knocked me out and I woke up tied to a support beam in that building. She took me as bait for White Lightning, she said as much. When he came, Andromeda tried to kill him. And then . . ."

I don't know why, but I couldn't say about what happened next. About how Empire City's favorite super barged in and saved the day. My father hated those supers after the Revealing. He didn't think it was suitable for teenagers to be practically running that city because of their powers.

He didn't trust millennials with that kind of power.

"White Lightning electrocuted her. He untied me while she was down, but by the time he turned back around, she was gone. He called the police and left only seconds before they showed up. That's all."

"Are you sure?" He asked tentatively.

"Yes. That's all."

He tsked. "Are you sure you didn't use your . . ."

I scoffed, looking away from him. "Yes. I'm sure. Besides, even if I had, no one would've known. I was stuck in there alone with Andromeda before White Lightning came."

"But it's the principle of the thing." My father urged. "If anyone found out what you could do-"

"And what is it that I can do, father?" I spoke, my voice dangerously low. "You don't even know if I can do anything. You don't want to know. You want to believe that I'm still your perfect little daughter, your perfect little puppet. You want to still believe that I'm not abnormal. You don't want be to be like those abominations, right? The ones out there saving the day? Or, that's right, you don't want me to be another privileged millennial who thinks they can go around saving the world. You don't trust people my age with power they didn't ask for. You think only adults can make the important decisions that change the world. Well, news flash, these 'rowdy teenagers' are going to rule the world next. If those superheroes could do more to save a city than any politician ever did, then I'd put my faith behind them, and not a money driven, power hungry old white guy who wants to do the same exact things the last guy did."

"Elise!" My mother scolded, "Don't talk to your father like that!"

I lowered my eyes and clenched my teeth. They didn't understand, did they? As if finding out that their daughter had ADHD and ADD wasn't an embarrassment enough, but to find out that the medication prescribed to her to get rid of those problems might be giving her unnatural powers? Well, my parents probably thought they had the worst luck in the world.

When the car finally stopped at our much too large house, I ran inside immediately. I didn't want to talk to my family any longer. My father might've been the White House Physician, but that didn't mean he believed what the current president did. In fact, my father was one of the leading supporters of the Remedist party. Imagine the embarrassment he would face if his daughter was found out as one of the abnormal human beings that his party was trying to 'protect' the nation from?

My mother was no better. She might've been no trophy wife, but she still hung on my father's arm like she was. My mother was a world-known doctor. She was perhaps smarter than my father ever would be, but she didn't show it. In my eyes, she was just as ignorant as he was.

My parents didn't understand. They wanted me to be more social, but scolded me on befriended kids outside of the one percent. They wanted me to talk more, but chided me when I spoke out to them. They wanted me to be their perfect daughter, but they didn't know that wasn't what I wanted.

I locked myself in my room and fell on my bed. I was exhausted with everything. My parents and their ideals, my inability to stand up to them for longer than two minutes, White Lightning . . .

I perked up at the thought. White Lightning. I had forced myself to keep him out of my mind until now. What Andromeda had said about me knowing him had stuck with me. And then when White Lightning kissed me . . . I felt it.

A spark of electricity had traveled between us, and not just a metaphorical one. A real spark had traveled between us, something I felt before. He had tried to play it off by ignoring it and claiming I was imagining things, but I knew now that it had been real. As real as it had been when White Lightning kissed me, because they were one and the same.

I pulled up the two pictures on my phone right next to each other. One of the famed man in spandex, the other of the boy I had liked since he came to Eldredge Academy all those years ago. They looked so alike that I don't know how I didn't see it before. The familiar jawline, the striking blue of his eyes, the caring smile he seemed unable to put away.

Oliver Storm, my boyfriend, was White Lightning, the hero of DC.

White Lightning was Oliver Storm

T H E E N D

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So, how about that for an ending?

There will be a sequel, do not fret. I will post it next week, and it's definitely worth the wait. It will be called True Sidekick and focus around Olly and his new sidekick he will acquire. Also, a couple of other problems will arise. The first chapter will be in Ian's point of view, so look forward to that.

As always, please vote, comment, and share this with friends! :D