Unmasked

"I told you you'd be back." Fade melted out of the shadows and Audrey immediately trained the barrel of her gun on him. He held up his hands with a chuckle.

"Deja vu, Lady Phantasma. I believe I told you last time we met that there was no need for that."

"And I believe I told you I wasn't going to take your word on that," Audrey retorted. "I don't have time for chitchat, Fade. What's your big plan?"

"You may have noticed that the IHC hasn't been on top of its game lately," Fade said. "They're vulnerable right now, making it an excellent time to strike. We have inside help."

Audrey jerked slightly. "Inside help?"

Fade nodded, a devious light forming in his eyes. "We're going to lure them out," he explained. "Make sure as many of them as possible are gathered in one place, then catch them by surprise with unexpected reinforcements."

"What are you going to do to draw out that many heroes?" Audrey asked skeptically.

"We're going to attack the Sunflower Festival and the North Bridge."

Audrey narrowed her eyes. An attack like that could result in a lot of casualties.

"See you soon, Lady Phantasma." Fade winked and started to slink away.

"Wait a minute," Audrey called after him. "Who's this rogue hero helping you?"

Fade paused. "You'll find out." He waved cheerily and vanished into the shadows. Audrey stashed her gun back in her pocket and trudged home. She went through a mental list of every hero she could think of, trying to think of who might be helping a bunch of villains take out the IHC. She immediately dismissed the two morons who had tried to intercept her at the Westin-Clark, and she snorted a laugh when she thought of Cryogen. There was no possible way it was him.

Her shoulders stiffened slightly as another name crossed her mind; she couldn't think of Titan without feeling like the air was being squeezed from her lungs. A white hot bolt of fury coupled with knee-weakening terror shot through her as soon as she pictured his masked face looming over the gutted bodies of her parents. Audrey shook her head, as if she could physically shake the images out. She made sure her gun, mask and wig were safely hidden away in the secret compartment in her trunk before she went inside Slice of Heaven to find Matt.

Some of her tension eased as she found him yelling at Leon, who was wearing a tablecloth as a cape and pretending to fly around the pizza parlor.

"I'm trying to work, goddammit!" Matt shouted, scowling fiercely while Cal and Mikaela nearly fell out of their booth they were laughing so hard.

"No time for work! Hamster Man must spread the word to the entire world: pineapple does belong on pizza!" Leon struck a Superman pose and swished his checkered cape.

"I thought it was Hamster Boy," Audrey said from the doorway. Leon broke into a sunny smile at the sight of her.

"I can assure you, fair maiden, that underneath this cape I am all man. I would be more than happy to show you."

Matt poured a glass of water over Leon's head and he yelped.

"That's fucking cold, Matt!"

"That was the point. Give me back my tablecloth."

A brief scuffle ensued and Matt claimed victory, wrenching the tablecloth away from Leon and promptly smacking him in the face with it. Audrey slid into an empty booth while Mikaela shouted at Leon to stop shaking like a dog and getting her food wet.

"What can I get you, before these adolescent idiots burn the place down?" Matt asked, setting a glass of root beer in front of her.

"I have to agree with the rodent, pineapple does belong on pizza." Audrey grinned. "Pineapple, pepperoni and extra cheese."

Matt made a face. "I can't believe you pair pineapple with pepperoni."

"Don't knock it till you try it, pizza snob." Audrey swatted him with a napkin. When he returned with her pizza she caught his hand to keep him there.

"We're having a date night on Friday," she informed him. Matt frowned.

"I have to do the night deliveries on Fridays."

"Not this week. I paid off your boss."

Matt let out a startled laugh. "What did you have in mind?"

"No idea." Audrey shrugged and nibbled at her slice of pizza.

"You should go to the Pier and win her a giant stuffed panda," Leon called from his table. "If you think you're man enough."

"Shut up, Leon. That's the stupidest-"

"That sounds fun," Audrey said excitedly.

"-best idea you ever had," Matt finished. Audrey smirked.

"We can double date," she added. "Bring that cute roommate of yours; Nichelle is curious about him."

"It won't be easy to drag him away from his computer but I'll do my best-you think Cyrus is cute?"

"I'll text Nichelle right now," Audrey said, ignoring him. Nichelle didn't seem overly thrilled about going to an amusement park but she caved under Audrey's relentless nagging. Audrey could tell that Nichelle wanted to ask her about what she had discussed with Fade, but she knew not to press Audrey about things she wasn't ready to talk about. She hoped trip to the Pier would help take her mind off of the attack Fade was planning. She couldn't stop wondering who the IHC traitor was.

She and Nichelle met Cyrus and Matt at the Pier, and Cyrus looked a little less grumpy as Audrey introduced him to Nichelle.

"Okay, I take it back. This wasn't such a lame idea after all," Nichelle whispered. Matt stepped forward to wrap an arm around Audrey's shoulders and a strange look passed over Nichelle's face for a moment. It vanished as soon as it had appeared though, and Audrey didn't think anything of it. Nichelle seemed to mostly forget that Audrey and Matt were even there, chattering away at Cyrus. It was a good thing he was quiet by nature, because he wasn't going to get a word in edgewise anyway.

“Let's go on the ferries wheel,” Audrey said, tugging Matt away from the cotton candy stand. She noticed Nichelle watching them, her gaze oddly intense.

“I'll hold your cotton candy till you get back,” she offered, holding out her hand to take Matt’s cotton candy. He shrugged and handed it to her. Audrey saw Nichelle brush his wrist with her fingertips as she took it from him, that intently focused look still on her face. Audrey frowned slightly. Nichelle found subtle ways to touch people, usually their hands or wrists, when she was trying to get a sort of psychic read on them. She said while auras were visible, they had a sort of tangency for her and were made clearer with touch. Audrey couldn't imagine what she was trying to glean from Matt.

“Be careful,” Nichelle said, her gaze skipping over Matt’s shoulder to meet Audrey’s. Audrey offered her a reassuring smile even though she was beyond confused, and led Matt to the ferris wheel.

“Nichelle and Cyrus seem to be getting along pretty well,” he remarked.

“How can you tell?” Audrey laughed. “Cyrus has barely said a word all day.”

“He hasn't made any excuses to try and leave early and go home. That means he's enjoying himself even if he won't admit it.”

Audrey leaned her head on his shoulder as the ferris wheel made its lazy rotation. “Don't forget you owe me a giant stuffed panda.”

Matt snorted. “I really wish those kids would go back to school already and quit bothering me all the time.”

“I think you secretly kind of like them. You have a real mother hen sort of vibe going here.”

“Thank you. That does wonders for my masculine self-esteem.”

Audrey tapped his nose playfully. Nichelle relinquished his cotton candy when they returned, then promptly whisked Audrey off to another stand to get some funnel cake.

“You don't like funnel cake,” Audrey said.

“Sure I do.”

“Shelle, is something wrong? You're acting kind of weird.”

Nichelle glanced over her shoulder. “I have to tell you something but-“ She broke off as Matt and Cyrus joined them. Matt finally caved to the pressure and went in search of the game that offered the largest stuffed animal as a prize. It wasn't a panda; instead it was a gigantic stuffed elephant that Audrey wasn't even sure she'd be able to carry. Nichelle stuck close to her side, almost acting as some sort of human barricade between Matt and Audrey. In the end, Matt was victorious and won her the giant elephant.

“Hopefully it'll fit in my car,” Audrey laughed. “Cyrus, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you give Nichelle a ride home?”

“Of course.”

“Wait, you're not going home?” Nichelle asked.

“No, I'm going to Matt’s tonight.”

Nichelle pursed her lips, shooting a brief glance Matt’s way. She pulled Audrey into a hug.

“Call me when you're on your way home tomorrow,” she whispered. “I have to tell you something.”

“Okay, I will,” Audrey promised.

“What was that about?” Matt asked once he'd managed to secure the elephant in the trunk.

“No idea. I've never seen her act so weird before.”

“I thought she liked me.”

“She's the one who insisted I give you my number.” Audrey shrugged helplessly. “Maybe it's not you. Maybe she just has something on her mind.”

Audrey slept fitfully, accidentally smacking Matt in the face in the middle of the night. She rose early and made him breakfast before he left for work. Still feeling troubled, Audrey sent Nichelle a text when she arrived home. Instead of a phone call, Nichelle fairly knocked the door off its hinges when she arrived.

“Took you long enough. You're alone now, right?”

“Yes, I'm alone. Nichelle, what the hell is going on with you?”

“Cryogen came with another hero to see Madame Mystic a couple of weeks ago.”

“Okay? And this concerns me because...?”

“I thought something seemed vaguely familiar about him, but I couldn't place it. Then we saw your beau at the Pier yesterday and it clicked.”

Nichelle stared hard at Audrey but Audrey just stared blankly back. Nichelle huffed and grabbed her shoulders.

“Audrey, I know this is going to be hard for you to hear or accept. But you know I'm not wrong about things like this, and if I had even a trace of doubt in my mind you know I wouldn't be telling you this.” Nichelle took a breath. “Audrey. Cryogen is Matt. Matt is Cryogen. They're the same person.”

“No.” Audrey shook her head, stepping back. “No, you have to be wrong this time.”

Nichelle just looked at her sadly and Audrey's mind began to race. It couldn’t be true. Matt wasn't a superhero. He delivered pizzas, for God’s sake. What kind of superhero would have that as their day job? She felt her breath catch and then her heart started pounding. The mysterious injuries he claimed were from falling down a flight of stairs.

She pushed past Nichelle and went to her TV. She recorded and saved most footage of IHC fights. She clicked wildly through until she found the fight between Cryogen and Slab. She watched it three times, watching Cryogen intently and taking note of the injuries he sustained. They definitely seemed to match the ones she had seen on Matt.

Audrey felt like her rapidly beating heart was withering. The pictures she had found in his old house; showing a little brunette Matt. She had been more than a little skeptical of his story about the radiation but had let it go. Now it was impossible to ignore. She turned off the TV and slumped to the floor, feeling sick even as her mind still desperately tried to rebel against this.

Nichelle knelt down next to her, prying the remote out of her hand. “I'm really sorry, Audrey. I want you to be happy and I know Matt does that, but I thought this was something you deserved to know.”

“Matt is IHC,” Audrey whispered. “He's one of them.”

“Do you want me to stay?” Nichelle asked. “You look a little green.”

“No. I'll be okay. I think I just want to be alone for a while.”

“I'm coming back later to make sure you've eaten,” Nichelle warned. Then she pulled Audrey into a tight embrace. “I'm so, so sorry.”

Audrey sat there huddled on the floor for she didn't know how long, staring blankly at the wall and trying to process that her boyfriend was also a tool of the IHC. At some point her phone chirped and she looked down to see a text from Matt, wondering if she wanted him to stop by after he got off work and bring her a pizza. He promised it would have extra pepperoni and extra pineapple.

A strangled sob rose in her throat and Audrey pushed the phone away without answering. She ran to the bathroom and retched.