FSE

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It was a cold Saturday in January as Erin O'Neill made her way through the skies over Rondville. It was late in the morning and it had warmed up from well below freezing to just a little below zero. Thankfully inside the Damselfly armored suit she was perfectly comfortable. She wasn’t on patrol or investigating a lead, Erin was meeting with a friend. She slowed her speed down as she approached the roof of a mid-sized office building in the commercial district.

When superhuman crime was at its peak in the small city of Rondville, there were a lot of heroes in the city to counter it. An enterprising landlord saw a need for a business that catered to the heroes, and had established the Café Freem on top of his building. It was perfect for heroes that flew, leaped or swung from the rooftops of Rondville. Even when things calmed down in later years, thanks in great part to the original Damselfly, the unique location remained popular with the remaining heroes and other powered individuals as a place to relax and eat without being stared at.

Erin touched down and folded her wings as she looked at the Café Freem. Really, it was more of a diner, but what mattered was good food in an atmosphere surrounded by her peers. She opened the door and stepped into the foyer. Waiting for her by the gumball machine was her friend Harmony Sarif.

“Hey, I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long.” Erin’s modulated voice sounded bright and cheerful.

“Harmony hugged her. “Not at all, I just flew in maybe a minute before you got here.”

They walked through the inner door and into the Café Freem proper. They weren't crowded, but the pair were far from the only people there. They were seated in a nice quiet booth by the hostess. Harmony took a moment to fix her plumage before picking up the menu.

“You know, even after the fire and I learned how to fly, it didn’t occur to me that I could actually visit the famous Café Freem until I got your invite.” She said as she glanced over the menu.

“I’ll be honest with you, it's my first time here too, even if there is a picture of Damselfly on the wall over there.”

Harmony giggled. “Has anyone else figured out the truth?”

“The people who actually know my mentor, of course. And then there’s…” Erin trailed off as the waitress came for their order.

Harmony ordered a redeye with whip cream while Erin ordered an iced mocha.

“So, how was your trip?” Erin asked after the waitress had left the table.

“Interesting.” Harmony said as she played with the sugar packets. “I always wanted to visit BC. I should go back again when the weather is nicer. Anyway, the family records I tracked down were accurate and I found the old Sarif cabin, along with an old Sarif still in it.”

“You had said it was a great uncle or something, right?” Erin tilted her head slightly.

“Add a few more greats,” Harmony raised an eyebrow, “he was my age in the 1860’s.”

“What? Really?” she couldn’t help leaning in closer.

“Yeah, apparently Manticores can live for a long time. Relative to you and me he’s like middle aged at this point.”

“Manticore, like with the scorpion tail and everything?”

Harmony nodded. “Yeah, our family is apparently two for two when it comes to becoming an anthropomorphic monster from Greek myths.” She let out a soft sigh. “He’s not completely isolated, he’s friends with a few of the old families out that way, and he’s got a radio and reads newspapers and such. So, when he heard about the phoenix rising from the ashes of a torched dorm building who just happened to share the same last name, he figured I might come looking for him.”

“Ah, so was he able to help you at all?”

“Yes and no. I mean, connecting with my family’s past through someone who was there was kind of cool, but he had no idea how he became a manticore himself. We talked about what it was like going from a normal human to something else, and he’s grateful things are better for ‘odd folk’, as he put it, these days.

Erin couldn’t help chuckling. “Odd folk, really?”

“Cut him some slack, that was probably a pretty PC way of saying it back when we were still subjects of Queen Victoria.”

Erin chuckled again. “Fair enough.”

The waitress returned with their drinks. Erin opened a small hole in her mask, just enough to slip the straw in. She took a sip of her iced mocha and let out a soft sigh.

Harmony smirked. “Now you really look like a bug.”

“Oh shut up.”

Harmony giggled. “I’m sorry, it just looks kind of weird, even if I get that you’re protecting your identity. Why don’t you just open the mask enough for your entire mouth?”

“Because I’m in enough trouble already with maintaining my identity for starters.” Erin said before continuing to drink.

“What? What happened? We were just talking last week and this didn't come up. Did you get unmasked?”

“It’s complicated. There’s this guy, he calls himself Riot Wasp.”

Harmony licked a bit of whipped cream off her beak. “Another insect themed guy?”

“It’s popular, just trust me. Anyway, he was drawing attention. One second he’s beating up a mugger and the next he is knocking over a pawn shop. Only it turns out the places he was hitting weren't exactly on the up and up.”

“A vigilante then?”

“Yeah. I caught him breaking into a pawn shop and emptying the jewelry case. I decided I needed to have a little chat with Riot at that point.”

Harmony leaned in closer. “Talking with fists?”

“Pretty much. Then some hired muscle attacked him for all the trouble he was causing the local organized crime guild and I ended up pulled into it too. And get this, the thug was ripped out on buffmax like it was the 1990’s”

“Where did he even find some? I thought that all dried up by the time the new millennium started.”

“We’re still trying to find that out, actually. Anyway, we get the guy knocked out and Riot wants to talk somewhere away from the cops and I follow him to a shack up on a roof. We start arguing, things getting out of hand and then he takes off his mask and…well I already knew him. Once he knew that, what choice did I have?” Erin shrugged before taking another drink.

“God, I bet your mentor wasn’t happy about that.”

Erin shook her head. “No, she was not.”

There was an uncomfortable silence as they both drank. It hung over the booth like a storm cloud, waiting to burst.

“What happened after that?” Harmony said, breaking through the awkwardness.

“Well, I, we…” Erin looked away. “Things got a little out of hand.”

“God! Did you two?”

“Shhh!” Not so loud!” Erin sighed as she looked down at the table. “But yeah, we did.”

Harmony reached out and placed her hand over Erin’s. “It’s alright.”

“I’ve been told these things can happen sometimes, but they sure don’t make it into the comics.”

“I guess not. So are you two dating now?”

“I don’t know. We haven’t really been in contact since that night.”

“At least if you do start dating you don’t have to worry about keeping it a secret from each other, right? As for me it’s pretty obvious with Kareem and I. You can’t really hide the fact with a big bird and a snow leopard are walking down the street holding hands”

“How are things between you both? I know you were together before the fire, but with all the life changes...”

“We’re good, great even. The cold and fire powers kind of cancel things out so it’s been easier to be intimate.”

“I think that’s enough information for me.” Erin laughed.

“I do worry about him and the hero's work though. I know in his family it’s kind of just accepted to use their powers for good when someone receives the gift, but…” She shook her head. “Don’t get me wrong, I like what I am, but I don’t know how you two can do the things you do. I just want to live as normal a life as I can.”

“It’s a choice, that’s for sure. I had planned to work in the hero support field when I ended up stumbling into things so I just went with it. Is he pressuring you or anything?”

“No, but he does want me to at least talk to the fire department. They’ve been reaching out to me. I really just want to be left alone to finish my education and get a normal job. No offense, I appreciate the work you and other heroes do.”

“I doubt the FD wants you punching people for them.”

“I know, but I just want to leave people alone and be left alone. That’s why I agreed to the meeting, just to make myself clear to them.”

“When are you going to do that?”

Harmony checked her phone. “In about an hour and a half.” She finished her drink. “Then I can get back to working on my project.”

“That reminds me, I’ve got some papers I really need to work on.”

“No rest for the hero, huh?” She shook her head, “That’s another reason for me. I’ve worked too hard to get where I am right now and even dying in a fire isn’t enough to stop me.”

Erin shuddered. “It’s still really creepy when you bring that up.”

She shrugged. “Sorry, I can’t help it.”

Erin shook her head as she got out her money for her part of the tab. They got up to leave and headed out together. They walked out into the cold January air. Harmony’s feathered ruffled before she could warm up enough with her powers.

“Good luck with your meeting,” Erin said as she gave the phoenix a hug, “And tell Kareem I said hi.”

“Thanks, and I will. Good luck with your papers.”

They both flew off in different directions from the rooftop. Harmony had time to kill so she decided to just fly around the city a bit. She was still getting used to navigating Rondville from the air. She preferred to fly these days over taking the city bus. Partly because it was fun and partly to avoid the looks she got on public transit. She felt her phone vibrate, reminding her of her meeting and made her way to the fire station. As she circled around the building to land she saw Lieutenant Segal exiting the building to meet her. Her landing had improved a great deal since her first flight and she touched down right in front of him.

“Hey Charlie.” she said as she smoothed a few ruffled feathers.

“Good afternoon. I’m glad you finally came out.

“I figure I owe you at least enough to hear you and your chief out.” she said as she followed him into the station.

***

Erin was back in her small apartment. She was sitting at her kitchen table dressed in sleep pants and a tanktop as she tried to focus on her schoolwork. Behind her the TV was on low volume as the local news station reported on the events in the greater Rondville area. She used to do this all the time, just relying on the news as background noise, but now that she was an active hero she kept finding herself being distracted. She turned her head for the umpteenth time as a report on a robbery was being covered. With a heavy sigh she reached for the remote and switched the TV off.

I need to find something else to listen to while writing a paper. She thought as she started to type once again.

She was about a paragraph in when she felt Chloe paging her. With barely a thought, she summoned her helmet but without the face mask.

“Hey Chloe, what is it?”

“I take it you remember the big guy you and Riot Wasp fought?”

“The one on buffmax? I never caught his name.”

“That would be Brian ‘Biff’ Conner.”

“Biff, really?”

“Yeah, muscleheads aren’t known for creative nicknames. Anyway, I’ve been doing some research on where he even got a hold of buffmax.”

“I admit, I’m curious about that too. That stuff was out of circulation before I was even born.”

“Exactly. I was on the ground floor when it hit the streets. We worked hard to put an end to it back in the day and I’ll be damned if I let it become a problem once again. Anyway, I have a few leads I'd like you to investigate.”

Erin stared at her laptop screen for a moment before sighing. “I wasn’t getting anywhere with this paper anyway.” She said as she closed the screen.

“This shouldn’t take too long, just call it a study break.”

“Shouldn’t a professor be more serious about class work?” Erin said as she got up and stretched.

“Don’t forget, I’ve been in your shoes before. I’ll help you with your paper later, assuming it’s not for one of my classes.”

Erin smiled slightly before pulling off her tank top. Her sleep pants and panties followed as she tossed them over the back of her couch. The now familiar sensation of the armor emerging from her skin to cover her body followed. She tested her secondary arms a bit before heading to the window. It faced an old warehouse, now converted into loft apartments. Lucky for her, however, there were no windows on that side. Erin poked her head out and looked for anyone nearby but the alley between the buildings was empty as usual. She swung out of the window and closed it firmly before spreading her wings. She flew slowly through a maze of alleys before lifting up above the skyline.

“Alright, where am I heading?”

"I'm pinging the location now. It’s an old paint factory, it went out of business years ago. Because of probable ground contamination no one has wanted to buy or tear down the old plant. On paper the bank owns it, but I know the former owner was a suspect in the old buffmax ring. Nothing was ever proven, but their finances took a bad turn after the drug was removed from circulation.”

“Sounds suspicious. Do you think there was a secret cache of buffmax hidden in the factory?”

“Possibly. An abandoned paint factory would also make for a decent drug lab if they are somehow cooking up more of the drug.”

“Alright, I’m making my way there now.”

***

Harmony sighed heavily as she walked out of the fire station. She had listened politely to what the station chief had to say. Her immunity to fire and smoke and ability to consume flames would make her an incredible asset to fighting fires and saving lives. Harmony could see the logic of it all, but she couldn’t see herself in the business of saving lives. As gently as she could, Harmony informed them that she had to focus on her education right now. She didn't have the heart to tell them she didn't have the mental fortitude to do what they do. They were as much heroes as the ones in capes, and she was just an aspiring engineer.

The meeting had left her feeling both drained and slightly depressed. Harmony didn’t feel like flying just yet, instead she opted to walk. She made her way down the sidewalk, the talons on her feet occasionally digging into the concrete. She wasn’t paying much attention to the world around her, she was lost in her own thoughts. That was until she started to hear the yelling. Crashing back into awareness, Harmony’s eyes darted around her. She was surrounded by people, and none of them looked happy.

“There’s one right here! Look at this freak!”

“Earth is for humans you fucking monster!”

“You’re stealing jobs from decent people! Get out of Rondville!”

She saw the signs and logos plastered over their coats. C4H; Canadians for Humans, a human purist organization. They argued that human rights were just that, human rights. Mutants, artificial intelligences, experiments gone wrong, and other beings had no such rights, or a place in society. Harmony was a perfect target for their hate. They crowded around her shouting and throwing cups of coffee and drink bottles at her. Her first instinct was to fly away, but she couldn’t spread her wings while trying to shield her body from projectiles.

“Get away from me! I didn’t do anything to you!” She shouted back as she cowered.

“You were born, that’s enough!” someone shouted and the mob echoed their sentiments.

“Let’s pluck this chicken!” Another shouted and the crowd laughed along.

“Leave me alone!” Harmony screamed as her internal heat flared.

She was suddenly as hot as a bonfire, it was enough to make the people closest to her to back off. But the mob took it as an act of aggression.

“Get her before she has a chance to get us!”

“It’s us or her!”

Above the conflict, Damselfly was flying. Her HUD alerted her to a thermal bloom and she looked down to see protesters surrounding the heat source. Zooming in, she gasped when she saw it was Harmony. Without a second thought she dove down to street level.

“Back off!” Her modulated voice was amplified to an almost painful volume.

It got the attention of the mob at the very least. They turned toward the hovering hero. Seeing the logos of the C4H didn’t do much to improve her mood. Although the organization wasn’t explicitly anti-hero, many heroes' powers came from sources they didn’t approve of.

“Here we see another goon trying to suppress our right to protest and make ourselves heard.” One of the leaders immediately spoke up.

“Your rights to protest don’t give you carte blanche to assault other citizens.” Damselfly landed and walked towards the cowering Harmony. “And despite what your bigoted mind might think, metahumans are guaranteed the same rights as you. If you don’t like that, I suggest you leave Canada.” She placed a hand gently on Harmony’s shoulder. “It’s going to be ok.”

“You care more about the monster than real humans!”

Damselfly slowly turned her head to face the mob. “If you’re worried about monsters, look in a mirror.”

A protester let out a yell and swung his sign like a club at Damselfly. She caught it effortlessly with both her right hands and then snapped it like a toothpick.

“Anyone else want to try?” She asked as she tossed the snapped sign to the ground.

“Erin, police are responding to the disturbance.” Chloe informed her over the com.

Sirens started to fill the air. The mob panicked, dropping their signs and scattering as several cruisers approached the scene.

With the police dealing with the C4H mob, Damselfly turned her attention to Harmony.

“Hey, are you hurt?”

Harmony wrapped her wing arms around the heroine and hugged her tightly.

***

After talking to the police, Harmony was flying home. Damselfly was flying beside her, making sure she made it back safely. When they landed on the top of the apartment building Harmony called home since the fire, Kareem was waiting there for them. He looked like a snow leopard on two legs, and was comfortable enough in his fur to be shirtless in the cold.

Kareem was born looking like a completely normal baby to a pair of normal looking Canadians. However his family line carries the ‘Gift of the Snow Leopard,’ which manifests every few generations. As he hit puberty more than just the normal changes happened to Kareem. When the fur started to sprout in his late teens it also came with ice manipulation powers. He went by the hero name Flurry, and was just starting to establish himself in the local scene.

Kareem rushed over to Harmony and held her tightly. She quickly returned the affection, holding onto her boyfriend for dear life.

“I think you’re in good hands.” Damselfly said softly.

“Thanks for bringing her home.” Kareem replied.

Damselfly nodded. “Get her inside, and get her a pizza. A real one, not one of those crappy frozen ones she fills the freezer with.”

“H-hey!” Harmony ruffled her feathers.

Kareem just laughed, “Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of her.”

“I need to get going, I still have to finish my investigation and a paper that’s due on Monday. Otherwise I would stay for a bit.”

“I get it. I know it’s rough balancing uni and fighting crime.”

Harmony left her boyfriend’s arms to give Damselfly a goodbye hug. “Thanks for saving me.”

“You don’t have to thank me, you’re my friend.” She returned the hug before backing away slightly. “I’ll text you later, ok?”

“Ok.”

Harmony watched as Damselfly took off, then let Kareem bring her back inside and into their apartment. Kareem pulled her down onto the couch and cuddled up against her. She sat silently, still processing everything while cuddling up tighter against her boyfriend. Feathers brushed up against fur as they snuggled. Harmony started to relax and nuzzled his check with her beak. He responded with a soft kiss.

Harmony could feel herself getting warmer, and it was not unnoticed by Kareem. The air around him chilled just enough to keep him comfortable. Harmony moved from beside the snow leopard to straddling his lap. She pulled his head into a deep kiss. As Kareem returned her kiss, his hands slipped up her back and found the ties to her halter top. Slowly he pulled the bows until the top slipped down in between their bodies.

Since he was already shirtless, the phoenix instead started to tug at his sweatpants. It was a bit difficult with her sitting on his lap, but the grinding only added to Kareem’s excitement. Eventually his sweats and shorts were worked down to his knees. His hand slipped down to her waist, and slid to the front to unfasten the custom skirt. The skirt joined her halter on the floor. Kareem pulled at the bows securing the bikini-like bottoms and they fell away easily.

Now it was nothing but fur and feathers between them both. If it wasn’t for the moist air generated by their auras interacting, static electricity would have been a problem. Kareem’s hands ran firmly down her back as she pressed her chest up against his. They broke the kiss and their eyes locked. Kareem made the next move, reaching his hands under her rear and lifting her up. Harmony closed her eyes as she was slowly lowered onto his shaft. She let out a long sigh as she slowly enveloped the cat. Muzzle touched beak as they held the moment before Harmony started to move.

At first she gently rocked her body, letting her body grow used to the intrusion. But before long she was lifting herself and riding her boyfriend. Kareem gripped her hips tightly, meeting her downward plunges with an upthrust from his hips. The heat radiating from Harmony’s body would have set the couch on fire if it wasn’t for Kareem’s cold powers. Still, wisps of flame and smoke flickered around her feathered body.

Kareem held onto her tightly as he felt her climax hitting. Harmony threw back her head and let out a loud avian cry as she was pushed over the edge. The pair was left panting, unable and unwilling to move just yet. Slowly, Harmony’s inner fire calmed and as she cooled Kareem pumped out less cold. They laid down on the couch cuddled tightly together, enjoying the afterglow quietly.

“Are you feeling better?” Kareem asked after several minutes.

“A little.” She curled in tightly against her boyfriend. “How do you deal with it?”

“Deal with what?”

“Being hated by people because you aren’t completely human.”

“Most people don’t hate me.”

“Enough do that they have a whole damn organization with t-shirts and everything."

“I really don’t care what they think. For generations my family has had the Gift of the Snow Leopard passed down. As much as there have been racist jerks, far more people have looked up to us as heroes. Those are the people I care about.” He reached down for his discarded pants.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting my phone to order us some pizza, just like Damselfly told me to do.”

Harmony rolled her eyes, but she was feeling a bit hungry after her exertions. As Kareem placed the order she took the time to think about what he had said.

“Do you think if I was a hero that they wouldn’t have attacked me?”

“They may have been more cautious about it, maybe they wouldn’t have crowded in around you but they could have still chucked their drinks at you. It hasn’t happened to me personally, but I’ve heard stories.”

“Hmmm…” Harmony stared up at the ceiling. “I don’t think I could fight crime the way you and Damselfly do. I’m not cut out for something like that no matter how powerful I actually am.”

“I would never ask you to join me on patrol.”

“I know you wouldn’t.” She rested her head on his chest. “But maybe I should still do something.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll explain after dinner.” She closed her eyes and snuggled up against him. Wake me when the pizza gets here.”

***

The air was heavy with smoke and the scent of burning. The Hellfire Gang had attempted to set an entire apartment block on fire as a ‘sacrifice’. While several heroes dealt with the gang, it had been the Rondville Fire Department rescuing the trapped civilians and dealing with containing the blaze. The media was on the scene and Fire Chief Tom Harrington was giving an interview.

"We relied on the heroes on scene to deal with the arsonists so that we could safely contain the blaze and get everyone out of the building, not that I had any issues ordering my men to hose down some of those cultists who were actually on fire. Better safe than sorry." Though his face was calm and collected, there was definitely a glint in his eye over that bit.

“Were there any casualties?” A reporter called out.

“Thankfully no, we were able to get all the residents evacuated, thanks in large part to the latest member of our department.”

Away from the lights and cameras, Harmony was wrapping an awestruck young child in a blanket.

“What about you? Won’t you get cold dressed like that?” The boy asked.

Harmony was wearing a halter-top made of non-flamable high visability material emblazoned with ‘RFD’ across her chest and a matching pair of shorts that made an allowance for her feathered tail.

“Don’t worry about me, my feathers keep me nice and toasty.”

“Thank you!” The boy’s mother was in tears. “There was no way out. We would have…”

“Shhh,” Harmony placed her hands on the woman’s shoulders, “it’s alright it’s our job.”

“Harmony,” Charlie said tapping her shoulder, “I think the chief wants you to come up and speak to the press.”

“Really? Oh god, what do I even say?”

“Just let the chief do the talking and nod along, that’s what I always do.”

Harmony shook her head as she followed the Lieutenant to the bright lights of the press.

“Hey! Isn’t that the bird from the Thanksgiving dorm fire?” Someone called out as she stood beside the chief.

“Ah, yeah that’s me.” She tried her best to not come off as nervous.

“Ms Sarif gained her unique metahuman abilities in that blaze, abilities that make her perfect in both fire control and rescue operations. She personally pulled people out safely before we could even get ladders up and reduced the intensity of the hottest parts of the fire allowing us to quickly get the fire under control. We are proud to have her working directly with the RFD and we hope she will be the first of many in the Enhanced Firefighter Program.”

“I’m only a part timer though, I’m still working to finish my university degree. Really, it was all of us working together that helped to avoid any tragedy today, and it was the leadership of chief Harrington that really saw the rapid resonance here today.”

***

Back in the lair, Erin and Chloe were watching the news broadcast. Erin smiled as she saw the slightly nervous Harmony sharing the credit with the rest of the fire department.

“Not all heroes wear capes, huh?” She smiled over at her mentor.

“Very funny. Still, I’m glad your friend has found a way to use her abilities to help protect the people of Rondville. Speaking of protecting people, good work with the investigation.”

“I mean, all I found was an empty sealed vault and what may be a used buffmax syringe.”

“But it’s something, it might even lead to us finally catching the one that got away. I’m arranging for you to meet up with an old friend of mine. He’s a research scientist first and foremost and has access to equipment to analyze those samples you found at the factory.”

“Field trip? Sounds like fun.”

“It depends on how fun you find chemical analysis.” Chloe smirked. “Anyway, in the meantime, I reviewed that paper you wrote and I’ve got more than a few things to discuss with you about it.”

“Lay it on me, I need a good grade on this one.”

_________________________________________

Characters are property of Gryphus1

Written by Syntaxerror37

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