FSE

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Cam stared at Allie, who had ripped off a large chunk of her sub and was struggling to chew it. He smiled at how ridiculous she looked. The two were eating at his apartment, having stopped at her favorite sandwich shop on the way home. He would have preferred her place, but it was outside of town and Allie had not wanted to make the trip, since she was still technically on call. He would just have to make do with his cramped table next to the nook that the landlord called a “kitchen." It had everything a kitchen was technically supposed to have, but there was only about a foot of usable counter space and the oven door was blocked from opening fully by a cabinet knob.

“Careful," he said. “You continue eating like that and I'll start to think you'll have me next."

Allie chewed a couple more times, then swallowed heavily. “I'm hungry," she said. “I didn't have any breakfast today." She tore off another large chunk of sandwich, oil smearing the fur around her mouth. He blinked at the sight of a fully grown anthro wolf struggling to chew the massive hunk of bread and meat in her mouth, cheeks bulging and eyes watering.

Cam shook his head. To think that some people called her a superhero.

“You're such a child," he said. “Here." He grabbed a napkin from the bag on the table and reached out to wipe her face. She stopped chewing and pulled away, pouting. Her ears swept backwards, folding flat against the top of her head. Following her muzzle, Cam tried in vain to wipe the mess from her snout. Dodging his outstretched arms, she darted forwards and smooshed her muzzle against his cheek.

“Knock that off," he said, recoiling. She followed his face, making sure to thoroughly cover both sides of his mouth with oil. He could feel the smile on her face as she did so.

“You do look pretty tasty right now" she said, puffing a breath into his ear. She gave his cheek a slow lick.

“Gross." He felt that the smile on his face ruined his serious tone.

“I told you that I was hungry." She licked his cheek again, wide tongue placed flat against his skin. A blush grew on his face, and he looked down at Allie's wagging tail. She wrapped her arms around him and a pleasant warmth seeped into his chest.

Her tongue left his face, leaving it cold despite the flush of blood. She lowered her head into his neck and took a deep breath. One of her ears twitched. Cam wrapped his arms around her, placing a hand on the back of her neck. Digging his fingers into her fur, he felt out the muscles underneath and stroked them. Allie shivered.

“That's the spot," she said. Cam brought his other hand to bear on her traps and she moaned.

“You went for a big tumble this time out," he said.

“She had you." Cam pressed down on a knot and her back twitched violently. Her breathing hitched, and then she gave a relieved sigh.

“You keep pulling stunts like that and you're going to end up hurting something, super-strength or not."

Allie hummed. “As long as I have my personal masseuse I'll be fine."

Cam worked his way down her neck and onto her other shoulder. When he finished he paused for a moment to burn as much as possible of the scene into his mind. The soft brush of her fur on his skin—the motion of her chest from her breathing. There was the grumbling of the city from the open window and the taste of a breeze rustling the curtains. He thought he could even feel the faint beat of her heart.

If only he had the ability to step outside his body and take a picture. Everything was perfect, and so too would be that photo.

“Sometimes I wish I had a time-related power instead," Allie said. Cam hummed in response, afraid that moving would disturb the photo constructed in his mind. “I want this moment to last forever."

“It's a good thing I'm a photographer, then," Cam said. He pressed his head against Allie's and gave her a quick squeeze. She tightened her grip in response. He grunted, the air being forced out of his chest by her strength.

“Sometimes I think you shouldn't be."

The photo constructed in his mind disintegrated. “It's my job. I enjoy it."

“You could just do the promo shots at the events and stuff."

“They have their own people for that," Cam said, shaking his head. “Besides, you like me chasing you around, don't you?"

Allie huffed and held him tighter. “It's not worth it if you end up hurt."

“I've been doing this for a long time. I know what I'm doing."

She pulled away and looked up at him with blue eyes the color of the ocean on a warm summer day. “You almost got hurt today."

Cam crossed his arms. She refused to meet his eyes. The heat from her embrace faded away and he was left on edge, wanting to pull her back in but knowing that it wouldn't be helpful.

“But I didn't," he said.

“She had you in a hold," she said, staring at a shelf of lenses.

“Jealous?" He paid close attention to her ears, but they didn't so much as twitch.

She shook her head absentmindedly. “If I had been a second slower or done the wrong thing, she would have snapped you in half."

“Excuse me, who was the one that elbowed her in the gut and gave you that opening to attack?"

“She's a super villain," Allie said, turning back to him. “A super villain with super strength. If I hadn't been there she could have easily done much worse to you when she recovered, and there would have been nothing you could have done to stop her."

Cam frowned. “You're sounding like my mom after I started shooting you guys full time instead of becoming a wedding photographer or some equally boring garbage."

“I don't think you really understand how dangerous it is to get that close." She crossed her arms and glared at him, blue eyes piercing his soul.

“And I don't think you understand that I was doing this for years before I met you," Cam said, gesturing around at his apartment. He did his best to tamp down the anger flaring up in his chest but she had poked at old wounds and he was mostly acting out of habit now. “I can handle it just fine."

“Can you? What if I wasn't there today? How would you have fought her off by yourself when she's probably ten times as strong as you?"

“First off, Nightfang isn't that strong. Second, she's stronger, not faster."

“Being stronger automatically makes you faster."

“No it doesn't."

“Yes it does. I'm faster than you."

“No you're not. I ran track in high school. I went to states, even."

Allie snorted. “How many years ago was that?"

“I still run regularly, you know that."

“That doesn't make you faster than me. I could literally throw you across the room with a single hand."

Cam threw his head back and groaned. “Again, being stronger doesn't automatically make you faster."

“How does that make any sense? If you're stronger then you can move more weight faster, that's what being stronger means."

Cam covered his face with a hand. “That's not how it works," he said, doing his best to keep his voice even.

“Yes it is," Allie said, leaning forward to poke him in the chest.

“If it is then why are runners lean and not jacked like bodybuilders?"

“Those are normal people, you can't apply that to supers."

“Yes I can—when was the last time you saw a speed super that had muscles as big as yours?" He leaned over and poked her nose with a finger. She scrunched her face up, eyes meeting his.

Allie opened her mouth, snapped it shut, and flicked an ear. She turned away and huffed. “She still had you in a hold," she mumbled. “You wouldn't have been able to get out of it if I hadn't already punched her in the stomach."

Cam rolled his eyes and looked down at the table. The sandwiches lay on top of their crinkled wrappers, looking deflated and cold. He breathed in deeply and let it out through his nose. The conversation had strayed too close to those phone calls he had with his mother when he first moved to the city. He wanted nothing more to do with it.

He picked up his sandwich, watched a bit of tomato slip out from under the bread, and set it back down. His appetite had disappeared, replaced with a burning need to show that he wasn't completely helpless. In the back of his mind he knew he was fighting a losing battle but he wasn't about to let that stop him. Moving to the city and working as a contract superhero photographer had not been a mistake. It had been the best decision of his life, even if he had to live in a shoe box and deal with the occasional bolt of energy thrown in his general direction while on the job.

Allie's cellphone rang and she pulled it out of her pocket. She flipped it open and stared at the screen, mouth moving slightly and eyes darting from side to side. Cam sat back in his chair, the wood creaking and shifting. She snapped her phone shut and scooted back from the table, chair bumping up against the wall. Shuffling sideways, she did her best not to bump the table too much.

“Got a message asking for help," she said. “Cat says there's a robbery going on downtown at a bank."

“Okay," Cam said, waiting for her to continue. She refused to meet his eyes, ears pinned to the top of her head and tail hanging lifelessly against the back of her legs.

“You're not coming with me this time."

“Why not?"

“Because you've already got enough photos for the day, okay? We'll talk more about this when I get back." Back straight and hands clenched, she bored a hole in his door with her eyes.

Cam squashed the bit of petty anger that whispered in his ear to stay in his seat and stood. He went and hugged Allie from the side, arms wrapping around her stomach. She relaxed somewhat, wrapping an arm awkwardly around his back and pressing the side of her head against his.

“I'll see you later," he said. “Love you. Don't go and throw yourself into a food cart again, okay? There's only so much massaging I can do."

Allie sighed and nuzzled his head. “I'm sorry," she mumbled. “I don't want you to get hurt."

She reluctantly pulled away, still no meeting his eyes. After a moment's silence, she left, the door thudding shut behind her.

Cam looked around at his apartment. It felt smaller than usual, cozy turning into confining. Camera gear littered most of the surfaces, and some of his favorite shots hung on the walls. Most of them were of Allie. His heart clenched in his chest. He grabbed his laptop from the couch and stuffed it into his backpack. He would head down to the library and work there for the day.

***

Allie jogged down the sidewalk, dodging around asshole tourists that meandered aimlessly from side to side. She thought about taking the rooftops, but that would require her to get up there in the first place—not to mention she would have to get down again when she got to the bank. Then there was that time she missed a jump and smashed straight into someone's bedroom. That had been a total nightmare, especially since she was just starting out as a hero and was still in the probation phase for the League.

So today it was the surface streets for her. She didn't trust herself at that moment to stay focused—she had already run into the back of several tourists that were looking everywhere but where they were going. Once she got to the fight she would be okay, but at the moment she had nothing else to think about but Cam and the argument they just had. Was it a fight? She didn't know, and that stuck in her chest like a needle.

She needed to punch something, get in a proper fight, throw hands with some villain so that she could think about something other than Cam's defensive tone when she tried to explain that he was in real danger whenever he went out with her to shoot photos.

A “don't walk" light at a crosswalk halted both her and her thoughts. Cars streamed past and she found herself staring at the drivers. Who were they? Where were they going? None of them looked like they cared that there was a robbery happening at a bank a couple blocks away.

“Excuse me," asked a hopeful voice next to her. “You're White Wolf, right?"

Allie turned, slapping her “no need to fear, citizen" smile on. She looked down at a female ferret anthro with unkempt hair in a ponytail and a hungry glint to the eyes. Allie perked up, the rumbling of the city around her fading into the background. She could tell that the ferret wanted something. Were they one of those cape chasers that always went a little bit further than she was comfortable with? Her gut certainly said so. There was something about the ferret's eyes.

“That's correct, miss," Allie said, feeling her smile grow brittle. She glanced at the traffic. If it came down to it, she could probably just start running. Hell, she could probably jump over the street, but space on the opposite sidewalk looked scarce. She didn't feel like landing on another person today.

“I saw you this morning," the ferret continued. “You're very strong."

Allie nodded like she had heard it before, because she had. Many times. It was practically the first thing her fans—if you could call them that—said when they met her.

“Is there something going on right now?"

“There might be a situation," Allie said. “It's under control." She had learned that it was better not to outright state if there were crimes happening when she was en route. Best case they would stop talking and run away from the scene, worst case they would start pestering her with questions and follow her to the location. It didn't stop the more curious types but she found that most stopped caring.

The ferret squeezed her hands together, and dropped her gaze to Allie's chest. “That's good. Are you alone?"

“There are already several heroes on-site." Allie glared at the crosswalk signal. She wanted to get going by yesterday—she had only taken the invite to get away from Cam for a bit and to stop thinking about the various ways he could be injured. Having to deal with nosy fans had not crossed her mind and she was starting to regret it a little.

“I mean, is that camera man with you? Cam? He's your boyfriend, right?" The ferret glanced around, then met Allie's glare unflinchingly.

Allie clenched her jaw and forced her ears to stay neutral. “I don't see how that's any of your business," she said. So this ferret was one of those fans, then. She eyed the traffic, seriously giving thought to making a run for it.

“You almost let him get hurt today. You should do better or someone might take him away."

“Excuse me?" Allie blinked, caught off guard. She had been expecting some inane question about their relationship, not an ultimatum. The ferret's eyes caught a flash of light from the reflection of the sun on a passing car. Allie wasn't sure if she should defend herself or ignore the obviously mentally unstable ferret.

Before she could decide, the ferret turned and slipped away through the crowd of people waiting for the crosswalk signal. Allie took a step forward and then the signal changed and the crowd surged around her. She stood for a moment, then turned and continued her jog towards the bank.

She had better things to focus on.

Several blocks later she ran into a police blockade, two cruisers parked sideways across the street and a handful of officers standing around talking to each other. A group of onlookers stood some distance away from the police, and parted reverently to let her by. She slowed to a stop by a cruiser and one of the officers, an anthro doberman, turned to greet her.

“Hey Paul," she said. Paul nodded at her.

“Hey yourself," he replied. “Cat and the other guy are further up the block. I don't think she's started yet, since I haven't heard any fireworks."

“Cat was a bit light on the details," Allie said, glancing at the human officer next to Paul, the face familiar, the name stuck on the tip of her tongue.

“They've got a couple of hostages in the lobby," Paul said, “but it seems that most of the employees managed to escape out the back when the alarm was pulled."

“Who's 'they?'" Allie already had a guess from how dumb a villain would have to be to try and rob a bank by forcing a hostage situation. It was probably one of those no-power losers that fancied themselves a criminal mastermind, like Johnny Nigma or MasterMind. She mentally rolled her eyes. She would have to add that to the list of reasons why she shouldn't have responded if it was one of those nerds holding up the bank—or worse, both.

“It's MasterMind," said the officer next to Paul. Joe, Allie's brain helpfully supplied. “And he's got a couple of grunts that he either conned into helping or is paying off. We think that one of them might be Pinkie, a low-tier super villain, strength-type."

“That's real great," Allie said, already moving off down the street. “Guess I'll be seeing you guys again in a couple of minutes."

“Try to go easy on the guy," Paul called after her.

“'Go easy' on him, he says," she muttered under her breath, snorting. She didn't need to be here at all if it was just MasterMind and a couple of goons. If she was lucky she might be able to punch that Pinkie guy, but looking at her luck so far they would both be regular people and she would have to pull her attacks.

Allie could see faint shapes moving around through the tinted glass of the bank's front facade as she grew closer to the building. On the stone wall above the windows was the logo for the bank, a red outline of a rectangle with the name “The Hero's Bank" inside in a thin serif font.

Two supers were standing in front of the main entrance to the bank. One was a black cat anthro dressed in a tight black suit that you had to stare at to even distinguish from her fur. That was Cat. The other looked like some kid out on their first day of being a hero, what with his awkwardly-fitting suit and the way he clearly had no idea what to do with his hands. He was human, and couldn't possibly be older than twenty. Not that she was much older than that, but he looked like some kid cosplaying at a convention.

“Hey there, superfluff," Cat called, waving an arm at Allie.

“Don't call me that," Allie said in a defeated tone, walking up to the two. She didn't have the energy to deal with Cat using her old nickname on top of everything else. She glanced at the other super. He was staring up at her with awe, and she gave him a weak smile.

“You doing alright?" Cat asked, pale yellow eyes sweeping up and down Allie's body. “You're looking a bit stiff."

“I got into a bit of a tumble this morning with Nightfang and then I basically came straight here. You even interrupted my lunch." Technically she had interrupted her own lunch, but Cat didn't need to know that.

“Oh, I'm sorry, I would have asked someone else to come if I knew you already gotten some action for the day."

“It's fine, but why did you send me a message about this? Did you not know that it was MasterMind or something?"

“I was showing the new guy here the ropes and we were the first to hear about it, and we were in the area so I thought why not? But then I thought it would also be good to bring in some muscle—just in case, you know?"

“I guess."

Cat clasped her hands together and made a little gasp. “Oh, wait—White Wolf, this is Wardo. Wardo, White Wolf."

“It's an honor to meet you," Wardo squeaked out.

“He's a speed-type," Cat said proudly.

Wardo frowned. “Actually, I slow time—" Cat waved a hand.

“Same thing," she said.

“It's like the exact opposite—"

“Okay, do either of you have a plan?" Allie asked. She did not want to get mixed up in another argument about semantics.

“Hey!" called a nasally voice from the bank. “I specifically said no more supers! Are you people deaf?"

Allie turned to see the anthro rat MasterMind in all his white-furred, red-eyed glory. He was hanging out of the bank's front door, hand on hip, glaring at her. “Who else do you have in there with you?" she asked.

“Wouldn't you like to know," he said, drawing himself up and adjusting his lab coat. “If you don't leave in the next ten seconds I'm going to start dealing with the hostages."

“You do that and I promise I will personally throw you through at least one of those windows."

“O-one!"

Allie turned to Wardo. “Can you get inside and grab the hostages?"

He looked at his feet and twisted a shoe against the pavement. “I can't do that," he said. “My power only applies to myself. Well, it's a little more complicated than that but—"

“Okay. Cat?"

“Two!" MasterMind called.

“Yeah-huh?" Cat said, not taking her eyes off the rat. Her tail twitched.

“Please tell me that you have a plan," Allie said.

“Three!" MasterMind's voice grew more and more strained with each number.

“I was thinking of rushing in there and beating them all up," Cat said. “Just like old times."

“And the hostages?" Allie asked, irritated.

“F-four," MasterMind said.

“Wardo can run interference while we kick the door down," Cat said, and pulled a sphere off her belt. Wardo swallowed audibly. “And I can do this." She chucked the black ball at the rat.

Allie watched MasterMind's eyes grow wide and he ducked, though the ball had clearly been aimed over his head. It landed with a soft pat. The rat picked his head up.

“Five!" he called.

The sharp crack of an explosion made him jump and spin around. A massive plume of gray smoke rolled into his face and he stumbled backwards into the street, bending over and coughing.

“Pinkie," he said between coughs. “Pinkie, get the hostages!" He scrambled back into the bank, hunched over with one arm covering his mouth and the other outstretched to feel his way through the smoke.

“That's your cue," Cat told Wardo, and handed him a piece of cloth. “Cover your mouth with this. Try not to breath too much of the smoke. It's not bad for you but it makes you cough a bunch."

He nodded, face pale, and vanished.

“Dammit, Cat," Allie said, hustling towards the entrance and the gray smoke billowing out. “I hate your smoke bombs. It takes like three showers to get it out of my fur."

“I didn't see you offering any other ideas," Cat said, voice muffled from a black neckerchief wrapped around her mouth. She caught up to Allie and handed out another piece of cloth. Allie took it and wrapped it awkwardly around her muzzle before diving into the smoke. She could feel some of it sneak past the cover and tickle the inside of her nose. She fought against the sensation, squinting through the rapidly dissipating smoke.

“I got the rat," Cat said, splitting off from Allie. Cat leapt onto a blurry form in the smoke that was hunched over and attempting to hack up a lung.

“Get off me, feline!" MasterMind cried, writhing under a purring Cat. He fell into a fit of coughing that turned the bare skin of his ears turn red.

“Absolutely not," she said. “You've been a bad boy."

MasterMind let out an incensed screech before going back to choking for air. Cat pulled a pair of cuffs off her belt, humming.

Allie swept the rest of the bank lobby and found two burly men—one of which was swinging a knife randomly around himself, crying out in panic. The other was much larger, two heads taller and shoulders nearly double the width of the smaller man.

“Shit, where'd he go?" the small one shouted.

“He was right by your arm a second ago," the big one said.

Their head swiveled around, and Allie could see that their faces were completely covered except for the eyes. It looked like they had taken the lazy route and cut a pair of holes into a hat to cover their face, but it seemed that it worked out in the end for them. No matter, it would be an easy thing to take them out, coughing or not.

“The hostages," the small one said, spinning around. “Pinkie, you let them escape, you dumbass!"

The smoke from Cat's bomb had settled to the point where Allie could see the two men clearly now. If it was the same Pinkie that Joe had talked about back at the cruisers, then maybe Allie would get her fight after all. The man certainly looked big enough for the job. Wardo popped into existence beside her.

“White Wolf," he said, breathing heavily, “you're here, thank the League. The big one almost got me with a punch."

She cracked her knuckles. “I'll take out the small one first and then you can cuff him. Try to stay out of my way."

Striding forward, she pulled off the piece of cloth covering her muzzle. The inside of her nose stung a bit more, but she didn't want to give them an easy grab point, regardless of whether or not they could actually get close enough to touch the fabric.

The smaller man noticed her first, eyes growing wide. “I knew working for that rat was a fucking mistake," he said, raising his knife. The point wavered in the air.

Allie slid into his reach and batted his arm away before he could react. She laid him out with a punch to the chest and he rolled over, moaning in pain.

She turned to Pinkie. The man's eyes seemed unnaturally small and had a film like he had been drugged. He looked at her without any sort of fear in his body language and raised his knife.

“The boss said no supers or we kill the hostages," Pinkie said methodically, as though he was recalling a dream. “But now there are no hostages so I guess we kill the supers, right?"

“I'd like to see you try," Allie said, throwing a quick glance at the smaller man on the floor to make sure that he had been cuffed by Wardo.

Pinkie grunted and lumbered forward. Allie met him with a sweep of her arm. It bounced right off his forearm and she ducked under a swing. She smiled. She was going to get her fight after all.

She uncoiled from her crouch with an uppercut, pulling a little less power from her strike. It connected, but he rolled his head to lessen the blow. She jumped back out of his reach and shifted from leg to leg. Eyeing his shoulders, she waited to see what his next move would be. He lowered his head and fixed his beady eyes back onto her. Stepping forward again, he swung his knife in a big ark.

Dodging the swing, Allie's hopes fell. This man was too dumb for a proper fight, even if he might have been able to take a couple of her punches without exploding. She went after the opening created by his swing and slugged him in the chest. He stumbled back, eyes confused like he had been expecting to hit her, instead of the other way around.

Allie decided that it was time to end this. She wasn't going to have any fun playing around with a sapient brick wall.

She moved in and punched him again even harder. He stumbled back, arms windmilling. She punched him again, and then threw a kick into the side of his chest for good measure. He was sent flying across the lobby and slammed into the row of teller desks. She walked over to him, carefully eyeing the knife.

“Cat," she called, “gonna need a pair of heavy-duty cuffs."

Pinkie picked his head up off the floor and threw his knife at her. She kicked out with a leg, frantically trying to dodge out of the way. In the back of her mind she knew that her suit would probably be able to stop it but that didn't mean she wanted to get hit by it.

Wardo materialized in front of her, holding onto the knife. Its momentum pulled him off his feet and he fell over, smacking into the stone-tile floor.

Allie stomped over to Pinkie and grabbed him by the neck. “It's over," she spat into his covered face. “Understand?" She shook him for good measure and then released him when she saw a dumb realization enter those dull eyes.

“All done?" Cat asked, raising a pair of cuffs.

“Just cuff him." Allie turned to a moaning Wardo, who was now sitting up and holding his head with both hands. “You alright? Thanks for the save back there."

“I think," he mumbled. “My head hurts."

Cat clicked the cuffs shut around Pinkie's wrists and then went over to crouch next to Wardo. “Welcome to being a hero," she said with a smile, and patted him on the back.

Allie shook her head and glanced around the lobby. The smaller man was sitting back where she had first dropped him, looking on with eyes as wide as the holes in his face covering. Pinkie was staring dumbfounded at the cuffs on his wrists, and MasterMind was squirming his way towards the front door like an earthworm after a rain.

“Let's go and hand these assholes over to the police," she said.

On the way out she gave the rat a kick in the butt and felt an unreasonable amount of pleasure from the squeal he made.