After the scolding and a slight praise from Sarah, we went to eat at Pomino’s Pizza.
Vanessa and I ate a large pizza between the two of us but without asking each other any kind of questions, savoring every piece of pizza as if hunger was the only thing that existed at that moment.
The place was quite full for that hour.
There was a family at a nearby table where a small child was trying to stretch the cheese from his slice as much as he could while his mother told him to stop playing with the food, but the child did not listen and kept lifting the pizza as if he was doing some kind of important experiment.
At another table two office workers were arguing about some superhuman who had destroyed half a street the week before. One of them said that the agency should pay for everything and the other said that if it were not for the heroes they would all be dead.
There was also a large screen in one corner of the restaurant showing local news, although the volume was low and only the subtitles were visible passing too fast.
Every so often the New Kroy logo appeared and some images of heroes with suits much more impressive than my jacket.
That bothered me a little.
Not because their suits were better.
Well, maybe a little because of that.
But I still had that discomfort in my chest going around in my head, because every time I thought about what had happened I ended up reaching the same conclusion.
Vanessa had been there.
Vanessa had helped me.
Vanessa had appeared at the important moments.
And although that was not bad, because she was my partner and she also had experience, I also could not accept that my story as a hero started with the feeling that I always needed an invisible someone behind me so that things would turn out well.
That was not what I wanted.
If I was going to work at a superhero agency, make money with my powers, and stop feeling like someone replaceable, I had to start solving my own missions.
The next mission they send me I have to solve it myself using my great powers and not depend on anything else.
Vanessa was in front of me looking at me fixedly with those gray eyes and from time to time licking the pizza with her tongue in a way that made the way she ate almost erotic. It was clear that she had other intentions or at least she knew perfectly well what she was doing.
The worst part was that she did it with a face that was too calm.
As if she was not trying to distract me.
As if she did not know that I had eyes.
She took another slice, bit the tip, and the cheese stretched a little until she cut it with her lips in a way that made me look away for a few seconds.
I could not let myself be trapped by that now.
I needed to set a limit.
She had to give me my space to grow as a hero and not be saved at any moment. I could not stay as a support hero for the rest of my life.
In the end it would mean repeating what happened at my previous company, only now it would be much more serious because this time I actually had a clear way to climb.
Before at Animal Stars everything was about enduring, obeying, and hoping that at the end of the day I would not feel so miserable.
Here it was different. I had fire powers, a hero jacket, I had an account that could receive silver coins for each mission, and I could become someone.
But if every time a problem appeared Vanessa jumped in before me, then I would keep being the guy who accompanies the real heroine.
And no.
I did not awaken fire powers to become the invisible extra of an invisible girl.
I took a deep breath while cleaning a bit of grease from my fingers with a napkin.
“Vanessa, we need to talk about something.”
She sent a bite of pizza to her mouth and when she chewed she answered with difficulty.
“About what?” Vanessa asked while her face became worried and she made a slight pout while chewing the pizza.
Outside the restaurant a motorcycle passed making too much noise, so much that some customers turned to look toward the window. A Pomino’s delivery guy almost crashed into a chair while carrying two huge boxes to a table at the back and apologized several times although no one answered him.
I waited for the noise to go down. I did not want to say it in a weak way.
I also did not want to sound like I was asking for permission.
“I have to fight my own battles. On the next mission do not run to help me. Do you understand?”
Vanessa kept chewing until she swallowed the pizza. Then she moved her head from side to side in disapproval but without saying a single word.
That bothered me more than if she had said something.
Because that way of denying with her head was as if she had already decided that she was not going to listen to me.
She was challenging me and with that she thought she would keep interfering in my progress as a superhero. She was a very stubborn woman although also affectionate, but I should not let myself be carried away by her slight tenderness.
“Vanessa.”
She took her soda glass and drank a little without stopping looking at me.
Her gray eyes did not seem annoyed at first. They seemed more like they were measuring how serious I was being.
“Oliver, you only joined the agency today.”
“I know.”
“And Corvus appeared too fast.”
“I know that too.”
“And you almost got into something you did not understand.”
I squeezed the napkin a little between my fingers.
I did not like that she said that, not because it was a lie, but because a part of me knew that she was right.
But that was not the point.
“Precisely because of that I have to improve.”
“You can improve with help.”
“No.”
Vanessa raised an eyebrow. “You cannot just say no.”
“Yes I can.”
She blinked.
I was also a little surprised by how firm my voice sounded.
A couple at the next table stopped talking for a moment, perhaps because they noticed the tone of our conversation, but then they pretended to look at their phones as if they were not listening.
I leaned a little forward.
“I do not want that next time everyone says that Vanessa had to save me. I do not want Sarah to see me as someone who needs a babysitter. I do not want the criminals to think that if they separate you from me I am nothing anymore.”
Vanessa put the slice of pizza on the plate.
Her expression changed a little.
She was still annoyed, but she no longer seemed simply angry. She seemed like she was understanding where all this was coming from, although she did not want to accept it.
“I do not think that about you.”
“But you can make others think it.”
She opened her mouth, but she did not say anything.
That gave me more strength.
Because if she did not have an immediate answer it was because something I said had reached her.
“If I want to be a real hero, I need to have my own victories. I need that when a problem appears, my first thought is not to look where you are.”
Vanessa lowered her gaze toward the pizza.
For the first time since we sat down she did not seem to have hunger.
A form crossed my mind so that she would not intervene in any way. It would be a definitive method, but I would have to do it for my growth as a hero.
I did not want to say it.
But I had to do it.
“Hmm Vanessa, if you interfere again in a mission when I can solve it alone, we will never talk again…”
I put too much emphasis on the “never again.”
It was totally necessary.
Her eyes became surprised. She even seemed like she was going to disappear and leave for another place, but she sighed and her face turned half angry, frowning.
“But…”
Before she could answer I stopped her.
“No buts, Vanessa.”
“Oliver, that is exaggerated.”
“No buts.”
“And if you are in danger?”
“If I am unconscious or a civilian is going to die, do what you have to do. But if I am only fighting, do not get involved.”
“That is still stupid.”
“No buts.”
She pressed her lips together.
The discussion repeated itself several times, almost like a fight without punches. Vanessa tried to find an exception to get in the middle, and I cut her off before she finished building it.
Not because I wanted to hurt her.
But because if I gave in a little, she was going to take that space and turn it into a huge door to keep appearing every time she thought I was in trouble.
In the end she let her back fall against the seat and crossed her arms.
“You are an idiot.”
“Maybe.”
“A stubborn idiot.”
“That can also be true.”
“And if they break your face I am not going to feel pity.”
“Perfect.”
Vanessa looked at me fixedly.
I held her gaze.
I did not look away, I did not smile, and I did not try to soften it.
For some reason, that made her stay silent longer than normal.
Then she sighed, took another slice of pizza, and bit it harder than necessary.
“Fine. I am not going to get involved.”
I felt something loosen in my chest.
It was not exactly happiness.
It was more like I had just recovered a piece of myself that I had not used yet.
“Thanks.”
“Do not thank me. I am angry.”
“I noticed.”
“A lot.”
“I noticed that too.”
Despite that, the tension lowered a little.
The noise of the restaurant started to feel normal again. The conversations, the glasses hitting the tables, the sound of the soda machine, the delivery guy shouting an order number, and a girl laughing because an olive fell on her skirt.
Everything started moving again.
I took another slice of pizza.
This time it tasted better.
Not because the problem had been completely fixed, but because I had finally said what I had to say.
Vanessa did not seem happy, but she had accepted.
That was enough.
For now.
Then my smartwatch vibrated.
Once.
Then again.
I looked at the screen thinking that maybe Sarah wanted to confirm that I had not escaped or something similar.
But no.
The message was from the New Kroy agency.
And below appeared Sarah Murphy’s name.
MISSION ALERT: Two superhumans are causing problems in the commercial area near Lily Jewelry. Possible damage to civilians. Oliver, you are nearby. Respond immediately.
I stayed looking at the notification for a second.
Vanessa also saw it.
The silence between us changed. This time it was not discomfort. It was something much simpler.
The opportunity had arrived too fast.
I closed my fist, then I stood up from the chair.
“It seems I am going to have my next mission.”
Vanessa did not move.
She only looked at me from her seat, still with a slice of pizza in her hand.
“You said I should not get involved.”
I nodded.
“That is what I said.”
She squeezed the pizza a little between her fingers.
“Then go.”
I adjusted my hero jacket.
The door of Pomino’s Pizza opened when I went out, letting in the noise of the street and the cold afternoon air.
This time I was not going to wait for Vanessa to appear behind someone.
This time it was going to be me.