Changes

It was a lot of work being a member of the only hero agency in London Creek, Texas. Of course, if you saw Decker Hannon, you wouldn’t really guess. A lot of the small jobs were taken by the less extravagant heroes (as well as the police and other city officials), and the biggest jobs were usually given to whoever fits the criteria needed. Decker sat in the middle of the two, as he wasn’t exactly fit for a lot of the big missions, but he tended to accidentally engage in more property damage than necessary for the small jobs. It wasn’t his fault, he just couldn’t gauge his own strength sometimes. So most of the time he spent back in the agency, waiting for a new job to come in and working out in the gym. While he jogged around the indoor track field, he saw the agency’s director slowly walk up to the railing of the course, her eyes following him.

When he completed his 4th lap, he noticed she was still there, still watching him. She raised her hand and beckoned him over to her. He slowly walked towards the older woman, sweating even more than he had before and face beginning to heat up. What did I do? Is this about the fact that I haven’t had a job in 2 weeks? Am I getting fired? Oh god, oh god.. He thought. His thoughts clouded his brain and caused him to walk into the railing, almost falling over it in the process. The director huffed out a quiet laugh.

“Nice one.” she smirked. Decker looked like a tomato with how hard he was blushing. He pulled himself off of the railing and faced her, trying to keep himself calm and collected.

“Is...is there something you wanted to talk about, Ma’am?” he cleared his throat. She kept her gaze on him, unwavering and steady. She pulled out a clasped document from her satchel and handed it to him, giving him a few seconds to look it over. It was a missing person file from the look of it, minus the picture of the victim. He flipped through the pages and turned his head back to the director. “What’s this?”

“It’s a job. I want both you and that doctor friend of yours to find this man.”

“Wha- why me? And why Kim? She’s not a registered hero and this seems more like a job for someone like Huiliang.” Huiliang (known as the hero “Lucky Cat”) was the best of the smaller heroes, stealthy and agile, and quick enough to catch enemies off guard. A rescue mission seemed more up her alley than up a large, clumsy man who can turn parts of his body into plants.

“Huiliang, first of all, is busy. And we have reason to believe the people who kidnapped this man are the same people that mutated you. Secondly, I believe that with the right coach, Kim can become an excellent hero.”

“So you want me to go back to the place that tortured me for 2 weeks? I don’t even know where it’s located.”

“There’s been reports of an abandoned hospital becoming active just outside of the city borders. Assuming from the ‘Do not trespass, potentially collapsable building’, the people inside are just a bit suspicious. It’s just far enough that the police have no right to search it, but we’re not the police, are we?” she smirked.

Decker weighed his options. On one hand, accepting the job would mean that he would have to relive the traumatic event again, but on the other, refusing it could also possibly get him fired. The director seemed to catch onto his internal struggle and gently patted his shoulder before speaking.

“You don’t have to take the job if you feel like it’d be too difficult. But just know that I wouldn’t be asking you if I didn’t think you could handle it.”

She turned and started making her way to the exit. She was halfway there before Decker spoke up.

“I’ll take the job!”

The director paused and turned her head towards the already trembling man. She gave him a warm smile and continued on her way to the door.

“You’re stronger than you think, Mr. Hannon. I know you’ll do well.”

He made his way to the agency’s primary clinic, where Kim was most definitely sleeping off an all nighter. She was lucky that not a lot of heroes needed medical attention and were a lot more resilient than regular civilians. He arrived at the frosted glass door of the clinic, and took a deep breath as he grabbed the handle and turned it, entering the small clinic.

As per Decker’s requests, the clinic was a lot cozier than one at a hospital. The walls were covered with a pale yellow wallpaper, and had a collection of various family photos from Kim’s family. Near the exam bed, two plush armchairs sat against the wall, covered with throw pillows and blankets. On the wall opposite to the entrance and on the other side of the bed, a wooden office desk stood, almost engulfed by piles of documents, files and books. In the middle of the chaos, he saw his friend just as he thought he would find her, draped over the desk and drooling over an open book. He chuckled and quietly shut the door behind him, tip-toeing his way over to the sleeping girl, careful to not step on the crumpled papers strewn across the floor. When he was only a few inches from her chair, he raised his hands and suddenly poked her shoulders, jolting her awake with a yell.

“JESUS FUC-” she squealed. Kim quickly turned around to face her attacker, her shocked expression turned friendly at the sight of her friend. She giggled and playfully smacked his arm. “Decker, you jerk! Don’t do that again!”

“I promise nothing!” he laughed, shielding his face from her slaps.

She stopped slapping him after a few more seconds, still giggling and now relaxing into her chair.

“So, why are you gracing me with your face today? You hurt yourself in the gym again?”

“No!” he huffed, placing his arms on his hips. “The, uh, Director has requested that you join me in my newest assignment.”

Kimberly stared at him, a mix of shock and doubt on her face.

“You’re joking right?” She glared at her friend when he slowly shook his head no. “Decker, come on, be serious.”

“I am! She specifically asked for you. She thinks it’d be good to test out your new powers in real life.”

“ No, she didn’t! I mean, think about it! I’m a goddamn physician, not a superhero, I don’t know how to fight or save people like that! A-and besides,” she began to tear up, “I already saw the damage my powers can do, I’m not about to let myself hurt anyone else.”

Decker remembered Kim’s power trip well. A year ago, the agency was put into lockdown over a sudden security breach. While other heroes searched for the intruder, Decker made his way to Kim’s office, worried that someone may have attacked her for information. When he heard a shriek from the behind the clinic’s doors, he burst in, already transforming his limbs in case of a surprise ambush. What he found was… terrifying. A small kid, clutching onto several hero medical files lay on the ground screaming in pain while Kim sat in front of them, holding onto their leg and preventing them from running away. Her eyes were like slits, her arms seemed to fade from their normal complexion into a glowing, melting mess, akin to lava. She had her lips drawn back into a snarl and smoke was billowing from her arms as well as the kid’s leg. Decker pulled her off of the child with great difficulty, as it was hard to regenerate the melting bark on his hands so quickly. He called for security and got the kid escorted to the nearby hospital, while he stayed behind and slowly got Kim out of her trance. Security later told Decker that the kid wanted to prove themselves to a local gang in their neighborhood, and that breaking into and stealing information would guarantee them a spot. The kid wasn’t charged for anything and had to go an expensive surgery to amputate their burnt leg (the agency personally paid for it), but the gang was instead arrested that week for endangering a child and theft.

When he told her what happened that day, Kim broke down into tears, and explained to her friend that she couldn’t remember what happened, only that the kid pulled a gun on her and she began to panic. Decker questioned her about her mutation, why she’d never told him and how long she’d had it, but unfortunately that was the first time she’d even known it existed. Decker knew the people that experimented on him were behind it, but it seemed like they were more successful in prolonging the anesthesia used in the experiments than before. She knew less about what they did to her than he did. He stood by her side that day, comforting her and telling her that she was only acting on fear and self defense.

“Kim. The director is not asking you to hurt anyone. She wants me to be your coach, to lean you into controlling your powers better. I want you with me in case I start panicking and am unable to move forward. If it comes down to it, I’ll do the fighting, okay?”

“..No fighting?”

“No fighting. I promise.”

Kim slowly got up from her chair.

“Then I guess I can go. If you really need me.”

Decker smiled and pulled her into a warm hug.

“Thanks, Kim.”

“You’re welcome, ya big lug. Now, when do we start?”

“Right now would be good. This is kind of a ‘time is of the essence’ kind of mission.”

“All right then. Let’s get going.”