"Oh my god, Delta! Delta!" a woman's voice cries out from the crowded street. People look around, spot Carl, and take out their phones. The woman bounces through the crowd towards us.

"Shit," Carl says through a smile. "I thought the beard would hide me."

I squeeze his shoulder. "I told you it wouldn't. Want me to pick up your coffee and meet you at the office?"

"No, this won't take long." I'd hoped he would tell me to go ahead. This always happens when I'm out with the other members of the Summer Squad.

"Should have used a mask like me," I say.

"Mask. Good idea." He fishes around in his pocket.

"Delta! Can I get a selfie?" the girl asks as Carl pulls out a facemask. She's wearing a black shirt with the Summer Squad logo.

"Sure. Keep walking. We cant hold up traffic." He lets the mask hang by an ear while she snaps a dozen photos, then secures it across his face as she puts her phone away.

"What was it like on the moon?"

"Dusty."

"Were you scared?"

"Not really."

"What did you do on the way there?"

"Watched movies."

"What movies?"

"Look, I don't want to be a dick, but I'm with..." He gestures to me. I wave.

"Oh, I didn't notice her." Nothing new. Carl strikes an imposing figure at seven feet, compared to my five. "Who is she? Your girlfriend?"

"A friend," I say. Carl gives me side eye.

The girl's eyes go wide. Shit. She recognized my voice. "Seraph?"

"A true super fan. Want a selfie?"

She turns her focus back to Carl. "Can I give you my number? I run a popular YouTube channel about the Summer Squad. I have over ten thousand subscribers." She digs through her purse and withdraws a pink and purple business card.

Carl takes it. "Yeah, sure. Have a great summer." The girl squeals and practically skips away. Carl hands me the card. "Maybe this one will want to hear you out."

"No one ever does." I take it anyway.

"It'll just take time."

"This whole generation will have to pass away before anyone thinks of me as anything other than a villain."

"Eventually they'll see you've changed."

"Not anytime soon."

He sighs. "Fine, maybe not. But honestly babe, can you blame them?"

"Don't go there."

"I mean, twelve cities is kind of a lot. It'll take some time to regain their trust after you've killed all their family and friends."

"You don't have to be such a dick about it."

"You didn't have to kill all those people."

"You'd have done the same thing in my position."

"Unlikely. But more importantly, why'd you say 'friend' back there?"

"What?"

"When she asked if you were my girlfriend, you said friend."

"Oh Jesus, Carl." I roll my eyes.

"Don't 'Oh Jesus' me. This isn't even the first time."

"Do you really want to be associated with me like that?"

"We've already had this conversation."

"Babe, it'll ruin you."

"No it won't. It can only be good for you. It'll show you're rehabilitated."

"I really don't think so. They'll either think I'm a manipulative psychopath or you're gullible."

"What are you doing right now to change people's perception of you?"

"You mean besides keeping the city intact when you guys try to throw buses into buildings?"

"According to you, that'll never work, so yes, aside from that."

"Fucking nothing I guess."

"Then what's the harm in trying literally anything?"

"I've already told you."

"And I've told you. And what's more, I don't want to keep this a secret anymore. I'm sick of it. And if you still want to keep our relationship secret, I'm done."

"Carl--"

"It's your choice."

I feel a hot flash of anger swell in my chest. It's not fair. He wants me to hurt him. He doesn't understand what he's asking for. It's not fair!

I'm transported back to Los Angeles. Duplication, flight, lightning speed, titan strength, psychic shields: I used them all to make myself an atom bomb. I remember the feeling of a hundred copies of me striking our fists to the ground at the speed of light. I remember the smoke and ash surrounding me, even as I flew up and up, over the brown, craggy mountains, over the gray clouds. I remember the crater my rage left in the dusty ground. I remember that same hot coal burning in my chest, wishing I could have destroyed more.

It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that everyone else got to have dinner with their families when I watched my parents get murdered. It wasn't fair that the rich kids were accepted to my dream university while I was stuck in a job that didn't pay enough for rent.

More importantly, it wasn't fair that rich and powerful men got even more rich and powerful while they took food out of my own mouth. My landlord, my boss, every stinking billionaire and politician took their pound of flesh until there was nothing left. And once I was out on the streets, I decided that there was only one thing to do: hold the country hostage until someone did something.

My rage of being robbed destroyed cities, killed millions. No one could stop me, not even the world famous Summer Squad. It's a miracle I didn't kill them all, though I came close. Even Carl once caught a fist that nearly sent him into orbit.

No one could stop me, except for the universe. All it took for me to see clearly was a couple tabs of LSD. Suddenly, I was confronted with the horror of what I'd done, and I saw that there was only one way forward:

From here on out, do no harm.

I came to the Summer Squad within a week. I told them I was done, that I'd seen the error of my ways, that I wanted to help. With the understanding that no prison could hold me and I refused to fight, they let me join the team as collateral damage prevention. They could set off a nuke in the middle of Times Square (if it still existed--my bad) with the assurance that there wouldn't be a scratch on anything but the sea monster or mole people or whatever it was they were fighting.

It took them some time to come around, but they came to respect me, then like me, then appreciate me. And Carl, over time, came to see me and understand me and love me in a way I'd never been loved before.

I take a deep breath. Hold it. Let it out. Feel the coal cool off. I take another, and another, and the coal turns to an ember.

"Fine," I say. "Next person who asks, I'm your girlfriend."

"Good. I love you." He reaches out and squeezes my hand.

I squeeze his back. "I love you too, you asshole."