Irradiance's entire body language changed. Before, she'd been overly relaxed, flaunting her own carelessness. Now she had gone taunt—not in the sharp way Chara went when she was pulled tight, ready to snap—but in a looser sort of readiness. She set the polish bottle down on the counter and shifted her feet to stand wider, blocking the way in from the door.
For several heavy seconds, nothing moved.
Zephyr shot up over the open front door. Irradiance fired from her finger and missed. She didn't get another shot—Zephyr had stopped in the corner by the ceiling, and the lintel of the bathroom door blocked her view. She'd have to step outside if she wanted to try again.
Chara's heart was pounding. She'd never gotten this close to a real hero fight—it wasn't safe.
Wind burst into the room as Zephyr dropped down into the doorway. Irradiance shot at him, laser flashing red, and Chara heard something shatter. Then Zephyr was flying backward again, hand around Irradiance's wrist, pulling her out after him. Instantly, they left her line of sight. Then the sounds of a struggle started up—Irradiance firing over and over, loud thumping as the wind threw things around.
It had been hard to see with the air moving so quickly into her face—like standing at the front of a motor boat—but now that they had gone she could take stock of things. The ground was a mess. Near the baseboard at her feet were the remnants of the cute soap dispenser. In the instant Zephyr was inside, it had flown across the room, shattering against the wall. Farther away, near the door, was the mirror that had hung over the sink. It was shattered too, the glass broken away—and there in the center of the wooden back was a faint burn mark. Chara recognized it.
Irradiance hadn't hit Zephyr just now because he'd thrown the mirror off of the wall, and the strike had refracted backward.
Slowly, Chara turned her head, looking for the burn mark on the wall above her. It wasn't anywhere. Confused, she looked behind her at the shower—then she leaned back and looked around the rail she was chained to. It was hiding there, just on the other side, where the top part connected to the wall.
Chara didn't know how to describe her own feelings. This was her storybook escape, the one she hadn't been able to solve, sorted out and handed to her freely.
With both hands she grabbed the metal bar and yanked the top part out of the weakened wall. Then she slid the handcuff up and pulled it over the loosened end.
When Chara crept out of the bathroom, the fight had already moved to the kitchen. The living room was a wreck—all the furniture had been thrown across it, piling up against the wall by the entrance. The door was buried somewhere under it all.
Realizing that the main exit wouldn't work quickly enough, Chara moved the other way, toward the balcony. She kept her feet light, kept her eyes on the fight.
She needed Zephyr to see what she was doing.
The glass balcony doors were shattered, so Chara stepped over the jagged bottom of one and through the opening. Out here she could hear the city, distant sirens piercing through the clatter of cabinets blowing back and forth, slamming over and over. Night had fallen while she'd been inside, but the city lights threw up a haze against the sky. It was cold.
Stepping up to the railing, Chara climbed up and over it. She stood on the other side, looking back and over her shoulder. There was a blur of movement, and the doors blew open.
Chara jumped down. For a split second she dropped, stomach flipping, and then the wind came up from behind. Zephyr grabbed her, and they shot forward along the line of the road below. It was all rush. Chara's shawl whipped around, nearly flying off her shoulders. She might have been laughing, the noise carried away with the air.
It was over all too quickly. Soon they had touched down, safe on the sidewalk, and Zephyr was pulling her into the mouth of an alley.
"I'll tell my husband what you did," Chara said, suddenly sure she couldn't wait another instant to get it out.
Zephyr stopped in his tracks, turned to face her. They hadn't gone far—the light of a streetlamp still shone over him, peeking out from the corner of the alley wall.
"He works at—he can help you with what you're doing," Chara continued, "He'll be thankful, like I am."
Slowly, Zephyr drew closer to her. He reached up, pulled his faceplate up and back.
"I know," Joseph said. Then he kissed her.
Chara jerked back, pushing him away by the shoulders. For a moment they both stood there staring, only an arm's length away.
"The whole time!" Chara shrieked.
Light flashed behind her, and Joseph yanked her forward. She tripped into him, head turned just right to see the line of fire trace diagonal along the pavement.
Joseph grabbed her arm and took off running, dragging her along. "Try not to shout," he said, and he pulled his faceplate down again.
The wind was still with them, pushing them forward. Chara didn't think she could have run fast enough otherwise. Every time they came to a fork in the road, Joseph turned randomly. He was trying to lose their pursuer.
Maybe she should have been a little more focused on their current deadly peril, but Chara's mind was whirring. Somehow this had not even occurred to her as a possibility. Even now, it felt like it couldn't be happening. And yet, when she'd met him before in the office, in the halls—hadn't her heart burned within her?
Her shoes were slip-ons, and they flapped as she ran. Eventually she gave up and just stepped out of them. Right now, she couldn't let anything hold her back.
Abruptly, Joseph stopped. He reached down and grabbed her discarded shoes.
"You're ridiculous!" Chara snapped. Then they were running again. and she didn't have the air to say anything else.
Of all things, she felt a strange sort of comradery with Victor coming over her. There was nothing she'd like more right now than to take Joseph by the shirt collar and shake him around a little. She couldn't remember ever feeling that way about Joseph before.
Eventually, Joseph pulled her into the mouth of a stairwell, and they ran down and under the level of the street. Once her eyes adjusted, Chara realized that there was a parking garage down here. They ran along the rows of cars, and then Joseph dropped her hand, reached into his pocket and pulled out a key fob. He clicked it, and Chara noted where the lights flashed—four cars ahead.
"You drive," Joseph said, and he tossed the keys at her.
Chara fumbled, but managed to catch them as she ran. "What?" she demanded, "I never drive!"
They came up to the car, and Joseph ran around to the passenger side. "I have to change clothes," he explained, "You can do it." Then he opened the door and hopped into the back seat.
Hands shaking, Chara opened the driver's door and slipped in. She knew how to drive, but didn't prefer it, and it had been a while. She hoped that it was the same as riding a bike, as singing an old tune, that the right motions would come back to her.
"Don't rush yourself," Joseph said from the backseat, "But also, Irradiance will eventually figure out where we went."
Quickly, Chara buckled herself in, turned the key, and backed out of the parking space. The movement was a little jerky, a little too quick, but she didn't actually run into anything, so she was going to count it as a win.
Joseph leaned forward between the seats, pointing. "Just turn right at the end of this row—the exit's on this level." It was a useless instruction, since the path to the exit was clearly marked.
They made it out onto the street without getting shot at, but their sustained luck didn't do anything to settle Chara's nerves.
"I don't know where I'm going," Chara admitted.
"Oh," Joseph said, "Just head to the other side of town."
"I don't know where I'm going," Chara repeated. Everyone always assumed that just because she'd lived here for a while, she knew how to get places.
"After four blocks turn right," Joseph said, "That'll let you merge onto the interstate."
Chara nearly groaned. She hated the interstate. But she did think she could do it—she could at least do it better than taking a slower route and dodging lasers on the way.
Shaken by that thought, she glanced up at her rear view mirror to check for approaching supervillains. Instead, she saw Joseph in the backseat, partway through putting on a shirt. Before she could think about it, she'd reached up and pushed the mirror up, hard. Now she couldn't see backwards at all.
"Chara," Joseph said, almost laughing, "We're married."
"Do you want to die?" Chara demanded, "You want me to wreck this car?"
"Chara—"
"Shut up!"
Joseph shut up, though she couldn't ignore him, because she could still hear him moving around behind her. Still trembling, Chara flicked on her signal and got ready to turn into the merge lane.
Chara made it past four exits before she had to get off of the interstate. She found a spot along the street, parked the car and unbuckled herself. Then she waited.
Soon enough, Joseph had appeared just outside to open the door for her. He was back in his regular business clothes, though his hair was a little rumpled.
Chara stepped out onto the sidewalk. Then she walked past him—around the front of the car, until she was standing by the passenger door.
Silently, Joseph followed her around and opened that door for her too.
Chara climbed back into the car and smoothed down her skirt. Her phone was still in her pocket, a weight against one thigh, and her feet were sore from running over the pavement. She still had the set of handcuffs attached to one wrist, a burn across one cheek.
A door closed, and Chara looked right, only to realize that Joseph wasn't there—that he'd closed her door ages ago and was already back in the driver's seat.
"Listen—Chara," Joseph started, "I'm sorry,"
Chara kept her head facing forward, but her eyes flicked to the side, watching as well as they could.
"I should have—I should have told you. That wasn't how—but I, I just kept thinking that—well, you're so smothered by obligation." He pulled his hands off of the wheel, ready to gesture, and then he put them right back on, running his palms along the rim. "I thought if you ever found out that I was someone that—if you thought you were supposed to—feel a certain way about me, that maybe when that happened, then you wouldn't anymore."
There was a kind of terror in her, but not like the one they'd been running from. She could remember playing hide and go seek, crouching in the sand under the playground at school, knowing that nothing would happen if she was caught and feeling her heartbeat through her ribs anyway.
"And I shouldn't have kissed you," Joseph continued, "So much had just happened, and I didn't ask, and there was no reason that—"
Chara grabbed him by the collar, yanked him forward, and kissed him on the mouth.
When she finally pulled away, Joseph didn't move. He didn't go back to whatever he'd been trying to explain either.
"There," Chara pronounced, smoothing out her dress again, "Now we're even."
Slowly, like he wasn't quite sure how moving was supposed to work, Joseph sat back in his seat. Then he shifted the car into gear and pulled out of the parking space.