"I'm in trouble."

- Gwen Stacy, The Amazing Spiderman

Issue #15 "Unmasked"

"I can explain," I said, first all at once and loud. When Superboy stirred and groaned beside me with the gash on his shoulder being covered by just a red soaked towel, I repeated it. "I can explain, Dad." Slower. More stretched out.

Dad was holding my mask in between his fingers, holding it like a person dangling off of a cliff. "How exactly do you plan to explain this to me," he paused, looked up, and then back down at me. "Or to your mother?"

I turned to the edge of the bed, planting my feet on the ground, trying not to wince since the floor was cold. His house always seemed cold. "You could not have expected me to just not use my powers, Dad," I said.

"When I told you not to use your powers, I did that as a precaution," he told me. His voice went up an octave and he squirmed in his seat, like it as just as cold as the floor. "I did it because sixteen is too young to start a hero career."

"Why is that?" I asked.

"Because you have choices," he said. "You can be whatever it is that you want to be."

"This is what I want to be."

"Are you sure?"

"I am."

He leaned forward, hands on his knees. "When your friends start dying, then you're going to be thinking differently."

I caught myself before I looked back at Superboy. Dad wanted me to in hopes I'd feel guilty. And I did, but he'd win if he ever thought that. Instead, I asked him a question. "Why did you unmask me and not him?"

"I aided you first, rested you in this bed, and took off your mask to see if you were alive." He looked like something was biting him in his suit. "When I saw you." He paused. "When I saw my child under that mask, I didn't want to see your Grandpa, or worse, your mother, under the other one."

I arched a brow. "Are you saying Mom has no boobs and broad shoulders?"

He rolled his eyes and clutched the mask tighter, before just resting it into his lap. "I'm saying, I have no idea who your friend is, and I'm starting to believe you don't either."

"I...do."

"Right," he said. He stood, the mask fell from his lap and onto the floor. "I've called Raven, a healer, to tend to you and your friend."

"He's fine," I said. "One of his powers is Durability. I'm assuming he will heal, if it's not that serious."

"He's still going to look at the both of you," he said. He looked pained again. "You have bruises all over your body, Keegan."

"I'm fine," I said. "I'm hurting, but I'll live."

He nodded and went for the door, but stopped after turning the knob. "A friend is waiting outside for you." He looked back. "You're suit is still in this room. Should I let him in?"

Him? Racer?

"Yeah," I said.

He opened the door and Wren was standing on the other side of the threshold. He wore a suit, a regular one, his tie in his hand, and his hands were clasped in front of him. His gaze went from his shoes to my eyes when the door opened.

I could not help but feel like I ate bad sushi when he grazed over me and the blacks and blues and purples that littered my skin.

"I guess you're going to be wearing long sleeves for a while," he said in his Wren-soft-but-sweet-voice. He stepped in and Dad stepped out, closing the door softly behind him.

I swallowed. Wren looked around the room and focused on my suit hanging from a dresser. "This...makes sense now." He looked back. "The gym attack makes sense now. The first day we were almost attacked makes sense now." He looked at Superboy. "That, however, still doesn't make any sense whatsoever."

I looked back at SB, still asleep, chest rising and falling in a steady pattern. Still hurting. I winced.

"He kissed me," Wren said.

I looked in his direction, but focused on anything but Wren. The small antique TV with the antennas; the ugly painting I did for my Dad of our family when I was six; the picture of Molly and him smiling at their wedding. Anything.

"I'm guessing he kissed you too," he said.

I nodded. Very slowly.

"So," he said, creeping closer until he rested on the bed next to me. "Either he's playing you, me, or the both of us."

"How much time does he spend with you?" I asked.

"A lot," Wren mumbled. "You?"

I could hear the hope that it wasn't much in his voice.

"A lot," I answered.

I saw him nod in the corner of my eyes. "Oh."

"Yeah." I beat passed. "I thought it was Daunte at first," I said. "But now I don't know."

"I don't know either," Wren laughed. "I thought it was Jeremy at first, but then he showed up when I was having dinner with Jeremy to talk to him."

"He's friends with that dick?" I asked, but squeaked out a sorry when Wren's gaze sort of narrowed. If those big blue eyes could do such a thing.

"I don't know," he said. "But they sounded like they were discussing Jeremy's dad and whatever plans are in motion for the heroes."

"What is going on, Wren?" I asked. "What the hell is the mayor planning?"

He shook his head. "I have no idea. All I know is that an emergency meeting has been called and we're going to find out today." He looked back at SB, "But I'm assuming he knows more."

"So, what?" I asked. "We wait for him to heal and wake up?"

"I think it would make much more sense to unmask him and question him later," Wren said. He looked back at me. "But both you and I are now very much afraid of who he is, because I'm in love with him and you're probably not that far behind, are you?"

"He's just a friend," I said, waiving him off. "He's a mentor, kind of really."

Wren's eyes did this thing. I can't explain it. But it's as if they knew I was lying. "How about we talk about the fact that you're a freaking super?" he asked. I could tell he wanted to scream it; he wanted to squeal, but didn't want to risk waking Superboy. "How long have you known?"

I shrugged. My cheeks were starting to burn. I just noticed I was shirtless and in my striped underwear. Yup. Burning up. "I, uh, all my life, really."

"Your Dad is one as well, I've gathered," he said. "Question is, which one is he?" He didn't give me a chance to answer. "I thought I had powers once."

I snorted. "When?"

He giggled and slipped closer. Close enough that I could smell his flower-y shampoo. "It was a while back. I was in the mayor's office and he was talking to me after a meeting with Dianne and I could have sworn I heard something in the corner of the room."

I nodded. Then I stopped. Oh. Oh. I remember that! I swallowed. "So, what? What power is that?"

"Clairvoyance, maybe?" he asked. "I honestly don't know." He moved back again. "But it hasn't happened since, so maybe I was just a little spaced at the moment."

"Yeah, yeah," I said. Wren? A superhero? If he had any power it was probably the ability to make everyone love him. "So, what's next?" I asked. "What's going to happen?"

He eyed the door in front of us, hands in his lap; tie now around his neck. "I'm going to work with the heroes to try and find out what's going on behind the scenes. An inside man"

"Don't," I said. I didn't mean to, it just choked out. Wren smiled, but didn't look at me. "It's dangerous, Wren. Too dangerous. I don't want, you know..."

"Yeah, well." He turned to me. "I don't think I have much of a choice. It's either sit back and watch the people who protect our city get killed - including a friend of mine - or help stop it from happening."

Bad idea. Bad, baaaad idea. "Wren, let us handle it okay?" I asked. I placed a hand on his knee and he covered it with his own warm hand. "I don't think I could handle you getting killed, man."

"And you think I could handle you getting murdered?" He asked. "Or the boy sleeping on your bed?"

I sighed, slipped my hand from under his and ran my hands through what hair was there. "Okay, but be as careful as careful can possibly be." I may not have had intense feelings for Wren, but he was still important to me. My Potato Chip.

He nodded and stood. "I'll be back," he said. He dug into his pocket and took out his phone, staring at the screen. "I'm going to make a few calls and give you and your Dad all the information you'll need to stop this Purge."

I stood up to and walked him to the door. He was the one to open it and walk out; I closed it behind him and knocked my skull against it a few times.

My Dad knew. Wren knew. My mom was going to know. And then murder me. Jesus. What a day.

"And it's not even over yet."

I spun around, back against the door. Superboy was sitting up against the backboard of the bed, one legged folded, the other one stretched out. His hair was covering most of his face. He had a hand wrapped around himself, while the other held the towel over his wound.

"You're okay?" I asked.

"Well, besides the searing pain of having something impale you, I'm fine, really." He patted the space next to him. "Come sit next to the guy that saved our life, Keegan."

I didn't move; instead, I folded my arms. "And how long do you plan to hold this one against me?"

"Well, either until my wound heals or until I get another kiss," he said. "Then, I'll think about it."

"That's not happening, jerk," I responded and leaned against the door.

He shrugged. "Can't blame a maimed guy for trying."

"How long were you up and listening to that conversation?" I asked.

"Lone enough to know that Wren has the hots for me, and you're on the way to having the hots for me." He patted the space next to him again. I ignored it.

"Which..." I stopped. Forget it.

"You," he said. I blinked. He didn't. "You, Keegan. It's you."

My kidneys started doing summersaults. "What about Wren?"

He frowned. "That's really complicated."

"Is it?" I asked. "I mean, either you're playing him or you're not."

"I'm not playing him, Keegan," he said. "Wren's in love with Jeremy."

"And how do I know you're not Jeremy?" I asked him.

"Impossible since I've been in the same room with him," he answered. "Jeremy and I are friends, and we're almost the same person, but we're not."

"So, he's working with us?"

"Yes. Maybe."

I wanted to scream. "Can you stop being so damn cryptic and tell me what's going on?" I asked. "Who are you? Daunte? Donny? Jeremy? Fuck. My gym teacher? The guy that packs the groceries? Grandpa!?"

He faux-barfed. "Gross, Keegan."

"Tell me," I begged. "Tell me. I need to know, right now, who you are. Or you won't ever get a chance. Never."

"Keegan," he said. All calm and shit. "This isn't something that you should want to know. It's going to complicate a lot of things."

"I don't care," I said. "Tell me."

He blinked. He opened his mouth. I narrowed my gaze. He closed it. He sighed. "You're opening up a can of worms that you can't close, Keegan," he said. "If we do this, there is no going back."

"Take it off," I commanded.

He touched his ear. His com was still in. I didn't know if it still was on, or even if it still worked. But he spoke into it. "John-John, guys. I know you're here somewhere. You can come in. I think we're in his Dad's room."

"Do we really need everyone in here while you do this?" I asked him.

"You ever wondered why I called myself John and then John-John?" he asked, running right over my question.

"No," I said. "I don't care."

He chuckled. "Always so feisty, Keegan."

The door opened behind us. His eyes flew to it. He nodded at them. I assumed Caroline and the gang. I could picture her behind me, asking him if he was sure about what he was about to do.

"Take it off," I said.

"No," he responded and gripped my hands, his were icy, and bringing it up to his mask. "You take it off."

My fingers were on it. The mask. I could've just yanked it off. But he was staring at me with those eyes. Those eyes that I knew weren't actually his.

Donny. Daunte. Jeremy.

It had to be one of them. It had to be. Those were the only choices that made any sense.

My grip on the mask tightened. My chest did as well. My heart was chugging.

"Any guesses," he asked, before I pulled it off. "before the million dollar question is answered?"

"Daunte," I mumbled. "You're Daunte."

He shook his head, smiling. "Superboy isn't Daunte," he said.

I pulled it off.

"Liar!" Daunte was looking up at me. "You liar! You liar!" I punched him on his good arm. "Superboy is Daunte!" I repeated it. Again. And again. And again. "You're such a fucking liar!"

He chuckled. "No I didn't!" he laughed. He pointed behind me.

I spun around.

My eyes bulged.

Two other boys standing there.

In Superboy's suit.

Jeremy and Donny.