Things Humans Do

•••

Willam's behavior as soon as he was left alone with Mark and I was somehow more erratic than I had ever seen him. The minute Rick left to attend the rest of his classes he was ecstatic. He talked at speeds rivaling an auctioneer and it seemed he had an endless list of questions. Although now would be a perfect time to come clean, I worried his brain would spontaneously combust.

"How long have you been a superhero? How long have you known?" New questions came spilling out of William's mouth before anyone could answer the original ones.

"William," Mark groaned.

"I'm your best friend!" William exclaimed. "Best friends don't just not tell each other they're superheroes!"

I shrunk in on myself slightly as he said that, shooting Mark a subtle look. I pursed my lips, feeling the slight bit of guilt I'd always felt just a little harder.

"Can I go flying? Please?" William begged.

"You should take him flying," I suggested with a nod. Mark shot me a pointed look.

"Have you been flying?" William exclaimed, his eyes bugging out of his head. "This is so not bro code! I mean, I get it, but to make it up to me you better take me right now or I won't forgive you."

With a grumble, Mark grabbed William and the pair shot out the window. I could hear William's hoots and cheers at they flew at rocket speeds, wind rustling in their hair. I knew the feeling all too well, the air knocking out my breath and my stomach dropping.

When they got back, William was wind blown and wide eyed. "That was awesome!" he exclaimed. Mark sighed. "Can I try on your suit?"

My face perked up. "Can I?"

Mark scoffed, shaking his head. "What? Guys, no. Hard no."

"Worth a try," William commented with a shrug, looking to me. I frowned slightly, although now that the idea was planted in my head I wasn't planning on dropping it.

William still had half a million questions to get through before he was finally relaxed enough to chill out. He sat on the couch, calling Rick. He was planning to leave soon, to grab something to eat and surprise Rick with a walk back. He wouldn't be staying long. From the guest bedroom, I could hardly hear anything.

With William in the other room, Mark and I got a chance to reconvene. I stood beside him, investigating his skin for any sign of bruises. He allowed me to remove his shirt, my fingers brushing lightly against him. I stopped over anywhere I saw an injury, taking the little hits as my own.

"We make a good team," Mark commented, shivering slightly as I touched a bruise. "You're just as strong behind the scenes as you are on the field."

"Not like I did much of anything today," I remarked honestly. I wasn't going to take credit for anything I didn't do.

"You shouldn't have had to. Neither of us could've predicted that," Mark responded. "There's a reason Infinity is such a good name for us. We're perfect teammates."

I smiled. Together we could be infinite. Everything and anything.

"If you let me try your suit I'll let you try mine," I offered, running my hand over a scratch down his lower back. I slowly paced around him, looking for anything I could heal.

Mark shook his head, chuckling. "I wouldn't even fit in your suit. You have to make me a better offer than that."

"I'll give you a kiss," I offered. My hand floated up to his cheek where the lightest scrape rested. I ran a finger over it, the skin immediately returning to its neutral shade.

Mark smirked, placing a hand on my waist. Our eyes locked together, the space between us electric. "Two kisses and I'll think about it."

"I can give you so much more than that."

The space between us disappeared as our lips fell together, moving in sync. Mark placed a hand on the back of my head and the other around my waist, pulling me toward him. I nipped at his lip, the softest smile on my lips.

Standing pressed against each other, Mark wasted no time heating up the kiss. I had a hand in his hair, the other cupping his face, and while gripping tightly to me, he turned me and advanced toward the wall.

My back hit the wall hard creating a loud thud and Mark gasped. He immediately let go of me and stepped back, staring at me with wide eyes.

"Oh my god. I am so sorry," he began to ramble. "I didn't mean to do that. I got excited and I guess I forgot my own strength-"

I laughed, although it was breathier than normal. "Mark, I'm okay. You're okay. I was just surprised. You didn't hurt me."

Immediately, color flooded back into his face. "Oh, thank God-"

"What just fell in there?" Williams voice shouted through the wall. Mark and I both shared a look of embarrassment. I was thoroughly convinced we were alone by now.

"Nothing," I responded hesitantly. "Everything's all right."

"Alright. Would you two keep it down?" William yelled back. "I can't hear myself think."

"Weren't you leaving?" Mark suggested.

"Well, yes. Yes I was," William confirmed. "But I couldn't hear myself think to remember that."

Mark and I locked eyes, fighting laughter. Quiet giggles threatened to slip out, waiting until the coast seemed to clear.

After a few moments, a sly smile crossed my face and I switched roles, instead pressing Mark against the wall. Though I was much gentler, well aware of my own strength, it didn't stop the thin walls from shuddering.

"Seriously!" William screamed.

"Leave!" Mark and I both cried, our faces red.

"You guys are lucky I was just about to!" William yelled. His tone was playful, despite the annoyance I'm sure he felt. I did feel guilty for scarring William, but most likely he would forget about it by the end of the day.

The door slammed hard enough to shake the posters on the wall, sending Mark and I into a fit of giggles. The laughter didn't last too long, though, before the two of us were back at it again. Although William had left, we ended up taking it to the bed. It was a marginally quieter crash pad.

The kiss turned quickly heated, my hands exploring lower and lower down his body. Mark grew increasingly vocal, not complaining once. His warm skin felt heavenly against mine, his body resting just above me.

As I felt myself wrapping my fingers around the waistband of his jeans, I paused for a moment, breathless. This always was the point where we stopped, either though extenuating circumstances or lack of experience, and although every atom of my body wanted more, I was terrified to initiate it.

"Mark," I mumbled into his lips, barely able to pull away, "Mark, are you sure this is okay?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you the same question?" Mark asked, pushing up to look into my eyes.

"I asked you first," I countered.

"It's more than okay," Mark replied. "I want you."

Those words were like music to my ears. He wanted me.

"I want you too," I replied simply. The two of us shifted around, Mark lifting off my shirt and throwing it to the ground. I immediately moved to unbutton his jeans, my heart racing ten miles per minute.

All of the sudden, the door flew open.

"Rick needs help," William announced, holding out his phone to show us. On it was a black screen. Mark and I froze like deer in headlights.

"Can you knock?" Mark exclaimed after a minute. That seemed to be the key to set everything in motion, a light blush spreading across William's face as he covered his eyes.

"Oh my God. Sorry! Sorry!" William exclaimed, turning around and walking out of the room and closing the door behind him.

Mark and I wordlessly put our shirts back on and fixed ourselves up. After a moment, William knocked on the door and let himself in.

"I was calling Rick and all of the sudden his phone just cut out," William exclaimed. He once again showed us his empty phone screen.

"It's probably an internet issue William," I reassured, thankful that was all it seemed to be. Although it ruined the mood, I figured I owed him one.

"He's not answering! We need to look for him," William pressed. He looked toward Mark for this, clearly meaning Invincible needed to look for him.

Mark sighed, shaking his head gently. "You don't want my help. Everything I try to be a hero I make things worse."

I sighed, my eyes soft. I knew how that felt, exactly what he meant. Trying to help Titan, solve a small time dispute, and ending in pieces. Ending with everyone in pieces. I hadn't realized how much it had weighed on him.

"What if it's that thing from earlier?" William argued, his voice growing in anxiety.

"You saw me kill it," Mark reassured.

"It killed itself."

"Whatever! It's dead."

"I'll go look with you," I offered. I could see how much it meant to William. Although I couldn't imagine it was truly an emergency, I was willing to spend a little time humoring him to assuage his worries.

"Well?" William asked, turning to Mark. "Will you help? Please."

Mark groaned. "I'll come. Let's go."

I wasn't expecting us to actually find anything. William had us walking all around town, trying to find the spot that most resembled the scenery from the video. Luckily, there were only so many places around campus he could be.

Ice trickled down my back when I caught sight of the blood splattering the sidewalk. Outside of a closed pizza place, right in front of a sewer drain.

"This has to be Rick," William uttered, his voice catching as he spoke. "We have to find him."

I looked to Invincible. Mark was fully suited up. He stuck out like a sore thumb compared to us, especially in such bright color, but it was so late that nobody was going to see us.

Invincible bent down and lifted up the manhole cover, allowing us all access. He bent his arm like he was going to frisbee throw it but eventually simply set it down on the ground. William had no hesitation climbing half way down the ladder and jumping into the sewer, splashing water at his feet.

Invincible and I soon followed, taking in our surroundings. It was mostly water and bricks.

We called out for Rick, wading in water half way up to our calves. I couldn't find any more signs of life, but the darkness unnerved me nonetheless. Just because you can't see something doesn't mean it's not there.

When something mushy floated past and rubbed against my leg, I cringed. We should've been doing anything else. Eating dinner, maybe partying.

Eventually, we arrived at a fork in the sewer.

"Everyone, make sure we stick together!" Invincible stated. "Don't get separated."

I would've agreed, except at that moment four cyborgs appeared from down one path. Most likely, that was where we needed to go. Unfortunately, even just one of them seemed difficult to deal with.

"Maybe we should scatter," I stated.

"You want to split up?" William exclaimed. "What if one of those things gets you?"

"It's better than it getting all of us," I countered. "Everyone run a different direction on three?"

Although nobody seemed very excited about this, I wasn't hearing any better ideas. The cyborg men sped up, giving me hardly any time to say the first number. I ran. Invincible ran. William ran.

Invincible ran straight at them, buying time. William ran down the empty dark path, turning off his phone light in case they could see it. I turned and ran back exactly the way I came.

This was a horrible idea.

It felt even worse when one of them came barreling down the same path I was walking on. I could hear it behind me, meaning Invincible wasn't able to take on all of them. I ducked under the water, holding my breath and praying it would pass. Each second in the sewer water felt like an eternity.

Once I was fairly confident it was gone, I moved as quickly as I could back to where we had split from. I could hardly see, my eyes barely adjusting to the dark. Everyone and everything was gone.

"William?" I called. "Mark?"

Silence.

My heartbeat sped up, the lack of a response worrying. The lack of any noise at all felt even worse.

I set off in the direction the robot men had came from as quickly as I could. Fear welled up inside of me, spurring me on. Wishful thinking tried to convince me everyone else had escaped, but anxiety made an argument.

"Invincible!" I yelled again, running deeper into the sewer. "William!"

My feet stumbled as I ran, dredging up water. I kept going until I came across another fork in the path. On the left, darkness. On the right, a faint light.

I ran down the right path, hoping it was right. "Willi-"

My breath caught as I slammed against the wall. I felt brutal pressure on all sides, squeezing me like a hydraulic press. The bricks dented but hardly crumbled. My body, however, felt the full impact.

"Fuck!" I exclaimed. Wet blood flowed down my face. When I came to enough to understand what was going on, I was face to face with one of the cyborgs. For all I knew, the original one could've caught up to me.

Before I could steel myself to throw a punch, it started punching me, leaving me with only enough time to defend. I could feel my body breaking as it turned into power, but every time I swung for a hit, it only hit me back twice as strong. It was smart enough to go for my weak spots.

Just when I thought I might be getting the upper hand, another one came along. The other one grabbed me, picking me up as if I weighed nothing. Although I punched and kicked and squirmed, it held on to me with the grip of a viper.

I couldn't see where we were going. It dragged me down the hallway, deeper and deeper. My body continuously was healing itself, bones and bruises and all, and the robots hardly broke a sweat.

All of the sudden, we came to a room. A bright room, designed similar to the rest of the building but with one stark difference.

From the ceiling, three more of those cyborgs were chained.

And when my eyes took in the rest of the room, I realized something worse. William was strapped to a chair, screaming. From beside him, the weirdo from class stood with a power tool.

"William!" I screamed, thrashing in the bot's arms. My fists met metal, finally managing to knock away its head piece.

"Rick!" William exclaimed, his eyes looking just past me.

I turned around, thinking Rick had stumbled in with us. All color drained from my face as I realized the truth. He had a thousand yard stare and completely shaved head, but it was him all the same. Rick was the cyborg carrying me in his arms.

Rick, or what used to be Rick, pulled tighter against me. Invincible was fighting with another squadron of them, putting up a better fight than I was but getting just as beaten. I grunted and kicked again, right into his knee, and Rick stumbled, giving me room to free myself.

The other one in my area didn't waste any time, picking me up and throwing me onto the ground. I stood up shakily and delivered a strong punch to its gut, the unnamed cyborg stumbling backwards. It hardly seemed to feel it, even though to a normal human that hit would've been lethal.

"Rick, it's me, William!" William screamed. He thrashed against his restraints.

"Don't bother appealing to emotions," D.A. Sinclair, the guy from class, explained snootily. "He can't feel anything."

Proudly, he gestured a finger toward discarded brain matter. The chunk had to be worth about a fourth of the brain. To see it outside of the head was disturbing.

"Do you remember last summer at the boat house?" William continued. Tears formed in his eyes. "It changed my life. We had sex by the water. It was the best thing that ever happened to me!"

"Oh. That's a bit personal," Sinclair remarked. I stood up only to be volleyed between the two bot men.

The whir of a blade echoed through the room and William cried out. Sinclair's eyes were crazed, impossibly wide. His yell was primal, pain deep within himself. Sinclair took a saw to William's arm, cutting skin.

"William!" A voice that didn't sound like mine cried. Noise wouldn't come out of my mouth, I could hardly catch my breath.

It was Rick. He stopped, freezing in place. His eyes glossed over.

"Yes, Rick! It's me! Help us!" William thrashed.

Rick, in a moment of clarity, began to rip a piece of metal out of his head. I turned my attention to the other bot, creating a much fairer fight.

"No, no, stop!" Sinclair exclaimed, gripping his head. He reached out toward Rick, as if he might be able to stop him.

After freeing himself, Rick turned and began attacking the other cyborgs. His strength and smarts were a much fairer match for the rest of them. Rick took out the bot I was fighting with, only to turn on the ones battling Invincible. He went straight for their heads, taking off the metal caps protecting their heads.

Despite the difficulty Invincible and I had, Rick made light work.

Invincible rushed to free William, breaking his bonds with immediate ease. Sinclair tried to run, escaping during the scuffle, but William was faster. Hot on his heels, he immediately tackled him.

I'd never seen William so fired up. His fists rained down upon Sinclair, exhibiting an anger I hadn't known William contained. He punched until he ran out of steam, and even then, he continued.

I sat down beside Rick, who had all but passed out from exhaustion. Likely, his body trauma was not doing him any good. His eyes were hardly open as he watched me tentatively, ready to use the last fight left in him.

My heart throbbed. I rested a gentle hand on his, careful not to startle him. Rick was still human, his emotions showed that. Using the remaining stored power from the fight, I funneled it into his body. I wasn't sure what good it would do, but anything had to help.

Bruises and cuts cleared up, and he seemed to slowly relax into me. I was fortunate to have sustained so many injuries, allowing me to heal both myself and Rick. I was glad for a moment to be facing such powerful foes.

Rick's eyes slowly closed, my power giving him a kind rest. His chest still rose and fell, a gentle breath leaving him. My heart rate slowed, relief washing over me. He would be okay until someone else could help.

If anybody could help him, it was Cecil. This was out of my range of abilities. I didn't have the precision to repair a brain.

I stood up, walking away to spectate the others. William finally stood off Sinclair, who slowly pushed himself off the ground. He stood, shuffling backwards away from the scene.

"Don't you understand?" Sinclair exclaimed, coughing out blood. "This is about progress!"

Before he could say anymore, Invincible punched him in the jaw. Blood gushed out of his face, teeth flying loose. He crumpled to the ground, his jaw completely destroyed. On impact, he passed out.

I stood, looking down at him. He was pitiful in all forms, although I had to give him credit for his work. It was horrifically bright. It was truly a shame he had such horrible intentions.

Invincible stood, contacting Cecil. I shot him a look, to which he gave me a pained smile. I would be checking on him later.

Behind me, William stood with Rick.

"God..." I muttered. I tried to take light steps, walking up beside him. "William, I'm sorry..."

William stood silently, his face forlorn. His body shook slightly, silently. Rick laid on the floor, motionless.

"I loved him, (Y/N)," William commented in a whisper. His eyes never left Rick.

"I know..." I replied, silently reaching out to lace my fingers with his. I gently squeezed. Even as Affinity, I couldn't fix that. "I know."