Unmasked

Audrey came to check on Matt every day until he recovered. Her visits were so frequent that Cyrus didn't even bother to lock the door anymore, and would just give her sort of a grunt in greeting when she let herself inside, not even bothering to look up from his work. Audrey didn't seem bothered by it, like some people did. There was an understanding that it was just the kind of guy Cyrus was.

Eventually, Matt was able to walk again without feeling severe pain, though Audrey still advised him not to work. However, he didn't listen, knowing that taking more days off work would put him on the path to getting fired. Lawrence was already mad at him when he finally showed up. Matt tried sidestepping around him, but when Lawrence had something to say, he was going to say it.

"These kids have no idea what the hell they're doing while my only manager was MIA for two weeks," he said.

"I was hurt," Matt sighed. "I couldn't physically work."

"You make excuses way too often these days Matt."

Matt felt his blood boil, but pursed his lips into a tight line and held back. Lawrence was right, Matt did call in a LOT lately. What he didn't know was that Matt was calling in because defending the city left a scratch on him every now and again.

"You were here, so couldn't you tell everyone what to do?" Matt said, trying to keep his tone cool and calm. "Why am I your only manager? Why can't you train one of them to run the place?"

"See, the difference between you and those other employees is that they're only temporary, until they find a different job," Lawrence said. "You've been working for me for ten years, and it doesn't look like you're going anywhere. If you want to get higher pay and higher status, this kind of behavior can't continue."

"Oh please, you're never going to promote me," Matt grumbled.

"You're the only one who gives me attitude around here, kid. Stay in line, or you'll find yourself out the door."

Matt said nothing, but was thinking a whole lot of things as he backed up a little bit and quietly got to work wiping down tables. He felt three pairs of eyes staring him down, and tried not to scowl when he saw his three favorite teens sitting in their usual booth with shocked looks on their faces. When Matt got near, Leon was the one to speak up.

"Hey, he's not actually going to fire you, right Matt?" Leon asked.

"Don't you guys ever go anywhere else?" Matt asked.

"Leon, back off a little bit," Mikaela said quietly. "He doesn't look like he wants to talk about it."

"How come?" Leon asked her. "We're his friends, why wouldn't he?"

"Listen to her, Leon," Matt warned. "I'll physically throw you out. Again."

"We'll probably follow you to your next job," Leon shrugged. "This dump wouldn't be the same without you around. Probably for the best if you get out anyways. Go somewhere a little higher up."

Matt rolled his eyes, but Leon's words echoed in his ears as he walked away from them. He didn't have much a reason to leave, until he met Audrey. Now he felt like she deserved a boyfriend who was a little more respected than a pizza man. It was a long day, and Audrey showed up to get him at the end of his shift. She gave him a quick kiss hello and handed him some folded clothes.

"You can change in the car," she told him. "I'm taking you to the chocolate fountain place because I am a wonderful and spontaneous and exciting girlfriend."

"That's what makes you so wonderful," he laughed. "But drive a little slower. It's hard enough to change in a car without you swerving around."

"No promises."

Sure enough, she drove the same reckless why she always did, and Matt hit his head against the window twice before he was able to pull his pants on. When they finally pulled up and got out of the car, Audrey took one look at him and laughed.

“What?” Matt frowned.

“You’re silly, that’s all,” she grinned, taking a step forward and starting to unbutton his shirt. “You got the buttons all wrong and your hair is sticking out all over the place.”

“Hey, I can’t just disrobe in the parking lot, Audrey,” Matt muttered, looking around.

“Relax, you nun,” she laughed. “No one is around. Besides, you’re quite a sight to see when you’re ‘disrobed’. They’d be lucky to catch a glimpse.”

“Audrey.”

“Matthew.”

She fixed his shirt and combed her fingers through his hair to push it back, then took his hand and led him towards the restaurant. He looked around in awe at the brand-new, chic looking place. It was a pretty modern establishment with sleek metallic tables and uncomfortable-looking but attractive chairs, and like Audrey said, each table had a chocolate fountain that was turned on when a platter of fresh fruits and candies was brought over for dessert.

“Aw, you’re practically glowing,” Audrey said as they took a seat at their reserved table. “I knew you’d like this place. You’re like a little kid.”

“I almost want to skip dinner and go straight to dessert, but the salmon at that other table looks incredible,” he said, trying to take it all in.

Even after they’d settled and ordered their food, Matt was still distracted by his surroundings, eyeing every person sitting at every table. He still felt like he didn’t belong, but no one stared the way he thought they would. Audrey reached over the table and took Matt’s hand, and his attention snapped back to her.

“You okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’m good,” he nodded. “It’s just a lot to take in. Maybe I’m just exhausted.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I should’ve asked if you were up for it before taking you out here.”

“I’m never too tired to spend time with you, Audrey. You know that.”

She smiled, and soon after, they were just making small talk when their food arrived. It wasn’t until they finally made it to dessert and the chocolate fountain was turned on that Matt brought up his doubts from earlier.

“I think I’m going to quit my job soon,” he said, out of nowhere.

Audrey looked up from the skewered strawberry she was dipping into the fountain, raising a brow at him.

“Quit pizza?”

“Quit pizza.”

“What brought this idea on?” she asked.

“I’ve just been there for so long,” he shrugged. “And I’m treated like absolute shit. I’ll be twenty-seven years old in August, and I’m still working the job I got in high school. I guess I’m trying to grow up.”

“Do you know where you’d go?”

Matt went silent, stabbing a marshmallow with a skewer.

“In that case, I’m glad you ran this idea by me first,” she smirked. “I support you, Matt. You know I do. Just don’t rush this, okay? Find a new job before you quit this one. I’ve actually been meaning to tell you about an annual gala that NMI hosts. I can only hope you’re going to be my debonair date.”

“A gala?” Matt repeated. “Audrey, do I look like the kind of guy who will fit in at a gala for a bunch of super-genius doctors and technicians.”

“Not with that attitude,” she said. “Don’t worry about how you look. I can take care of that. What I’m trying to suggest that it’s a good place to make some connections with the ‘super-geniuses’ who have had little too much champagne and might want to hire you.”

“No one at NMI wants to hire me and my G.E.D.,” Matt reminded her, lowering his voice so no one around them would hear that he was barely able to finish high school. “I heard you can’t get a job there without completing a masters program at the very least.”

“You have drive,” she told him. “You’re a person who doesn’t give up or get disheartened. I’m convinced that you don’t even know how to get angry. You hurt yourself that bad and tried to convince me that you could still work. I think an employee like you would be great to have around. Maybe not performing heart surgeries, but I’m sure that someone there would have a desk job for you. You just have to get some phone numbers. Besides, you have something that no other applicant out there has.”

“And what would that be?”

“Your girlfriend owns the company,” she grinned.

“Sneaky, Audrey,” he laughed. “I’ll come with you to your gala, but I won’t take any part in blackmailing your coworkers.”

“Deal,” she said. “I’ll take care of the dirty business, and you just sit there and look pretty, like the pretty boy you are.”

They clinked their wine glasses together to seal the deal, spending a little while longer to stuff their faces before finally heading back to Audrey’s apartment to watch a movie. By then, Matt was practically falling asleep on her couch, while she aimlessly flipped through tv channels. She stopped on the news, and Matt sat up a bit when he saw a familiar video being played on it. Crappy phone footage of him fighting Slab from a few weeks ago, followed by a mug shot of slab and a news anchor announcing that he’d escaped the prison with some help from some other criminal friends.

“The incident comes just a week before ‘Carbon’ was found mangled in an alleyway, by a group of superhuman criminals who have yet to be identified. ‘Carbon’, whose identity remains a secret, is expected to make a full, but difficult recovery by December. There is reason to believe that the criminals who assisted with the release of Slab and the beating of Carbon are the same, and possibly forming an alliance of sorts.”

Matt felt his heart sink when the screen showed pictures of Carbon’s broken body being carried into an ambulance. Felix was yet another victim of the IHC’s new, flawed system. And he wouldn’t be the last. Matt just felt bad for his wife and baby, who were stuck on their own until he recovered. He looked over and found that Audrey’s eyes were just as glued to the screen as his were, though the video had changed. Now it was an older one, of Cryogen and Phantasma. Another one that ended in her getting away.

“What do you think?” Matt asked her.

“Of what?”

“Them. All of them,” Matt shrugged.

“There’s a reason for everything,” she said simply. “I don’t really know.”

“I think they’re annoying,” Matt said bluntly. “No one asked them to save the world. They just showed up with their flashy ‘powers’ and put themselves in charge. And normal people have to pay for it when they fail.”

Audrey went silent, looking from him to the tv.

“I guess. Not all of them make a mess, though. Cryogen doesn’t.”

“Cryogen is an overrated prick,” Matt said, a little too harshly. “He can’t handle his own job.”

“I read on a blog once that he admitted to crying when he watched Titanic,” Audrey giggled. “You think that’s true?”

“He... what?” he frowned. “What blog was that?”

“I dunno,” she shrugged, changing the channel. “This whole ‘heroes and villains’ thing sucks, though. We still haven’t picked a movie. Want to watch Titanic?”

“Uh. Not much of a fan. Let’s try something else.”